Police determined that a driver failed to stop for a red light at the intersection and collided with the second vehicle. The vehicles then collided with two self-driving Waymo cars
Tempe, AZ – Three people were hospitalized following a crash caused by a driver who ran a red light at an intersection in Tempe early Sunday morning, according to the Tempe Police Department.
Authorities received reports of the collision in the area near Baseline Road and Priest Drive on Sunday, January 18.
Police determined that a driver failed to stop for a red light at the intersection and collided with the second vehicle. The vehicles then collided with two self-driving Waymo cars.
The Tempe Police Department and Tempe Fire Department crews responded to the scene and attended to the involved parties.
Medics transported three parties involved in the first crash to a hospital and were said to be in stable condition. One of the Waymo cars was unoccupied while the second had one passenger, who was uninjured in the incident.
The intersection was expected to be shut down for hours as authorities investigated the incident.
The Tempe Police Department officers were at the scene gathering more evidence as they work to determine what led up to the collision. The investigation is ongoing.
In 2023, Tempe experienced a notable increase in total traffic collisions, with 7,299 accidents reported, up from 6,585 in 2022. This continued an upward trend in crash numbers since 2020, though the total remained below the pre-pandemic peak of 8,899 crashes in 2019. The total number of fatalities in Tempe climbed significantly in 2023, reaching 30 deaths compared to 20 the previous year. Injuries also rose slightly to 3,199 in 2023. Drunken driving incidents in 2023 saw 319 crashes, almost identical to the 318 in 2022, but the number of associated fatalities dramatically increased six-fold, from two in 2022 to 12 in 2023.
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