MESA, AZ — A driver was speeding on Southern Avenue Wednesday when he hit a curb, sideswiped a car, and rear-ended 23-year-old Karen Maldonado while she was stopped at Stapley Drive, according to police.
The crash pushed Maldonado across the intersection. Both vehicles were then hit by other cars.
Maldonado died at the scene and the driver was taken to Banner Hospital. Police say he was not impaired.
As ABC15 has reported, this is a problem intersection for crashes, even after a federally funded capital improvement project.
ABC15 met with Sabrina Castillo-Miller, the owner of Babydoll Hair Salon on August 3.
She feared a serious crash could happen as a result of the newly added raised median, in front of her business, just one block east of Stapley and Southern.
On August 3, Castillo-Miller said, “We've been reaching out to the city to try to find a solution. But the solution has been for them to put up a ‘No left-hand turn, no U-Turn’. So now you cannot turn left into the place of our business.”
The median was added by the City of Mesa to make the area safer, but Castillo-Miller said it has only made it less safe.
ABC15 met again with Castillo-Miller following Wednesday’s deadly crash.
“I just want acknowledgment. And then what is the plan,” Castillo-Miller asks.
Maldonado's family has set up a Gofundme to help with funeral costs.
ABC15 reached back out to the City of Mesa and provided this statement:
“The City of Mesa Police, Transportation and Fire & Medical departments meet frequently to discuss serious injury and fatal crashes occurring in Mesa. As a result of these meetings, we are taking action through engineering, enforcement and education initiatives to help reduce serious injury and fatal crashes.
From an engineering perspective, the City of Mesa looks at short-term and long-term projects that can help reduce crashes. Information from interdepartmental meetings has resulted in changes to traffic signal operations at multiple intersections to reduce left-turn collisions, typically one of the most dangerous accidents. These intersections include Power Road/McDowell Road and Ray Road/Sossaman Road since the beginning of the year, where left-turn signal phasing has been changed to only allow left-turns on a green arrow. Larger Capital Improvement Projects, like the Stapley/Southern project recently completed, are planned out for years due to their cost and complexity.
From an enforcement perspective, the City of Mesa Police Department uses data from recent crash trends to direct traffic enforcement at the hot spots for serious injury and fatal crashes. Mesa has identified these hot spots and the time of day these crashes usually occur to use their enforcement resources most effectively.
From an education perspective, Mesa’s Fire and Medical Department holds classes on distracted and impaired driving for teens and their parents or guardians. Mesa and other regional agencies also continuously post safety messages for drivers, cyclists and pedestrians on social media platforms. The theme of these communications is to be aware of and have respect for everyone around you.”
The City of Mesa adds, “All improvements at Stapley and Southern have been completed. We inform the community about our crash reduction projects and initiatives through public notices, newsletters, press releases to the media, and social media.”
Castillo-Miller reemphasizes, "I feel like I'm a pretty patient person. I understand that it takes time, but the lack of communication is definitely the challenge in this scenario, and any acknowledgment of, ‘We hear you’."