PHOENIX — A Phoenix city hearing officer was killed last month in a city-owned parking garage, prompting immediate and long-term safety changes to all nine garages operated by the city.
On February 11, just around 4:20 p.m., Susan Hawkins, 60, was coming out of the elevators in the garage when she was hit by a truck making a turn.
She was taken to the hospital, where she died. The driver of the truck stayed with the police. Following up with Phoenix Police, the department says there is no update to the incident, which at last check remains under investigation.
Hawkins served as a Phoenix court hearing officer, at times overseeing traffic cases.
Her husband, Mark Hawkins, spoke with us the day after her death.
"It was an honor for her to serve, and I would just say it was too soon to say goodbye," Mark Hawkins said.
"It's heartbreaking, especially hearing it was a city employee," said Jerry Harper, the director of the Phoenix Convention Center and Venues.
Part of Harper's job is to oversee the nine parking garages owned by the city. He said the city made immediate adjustments to parking garage operations following Hawkins' death, including reducing the speed limit to 5 miles per hour and adding pedestrian crossing signage, which was done in a matter of 48 hours.
Harper said longer-term safety considerations include speed bumps, flexible delineator barriers and a speed gauge trailer to show drivers their speed. He said the money for those long-term projects is already in the city budget.
Recently, the city walked through the garage with a third-party safety consultant to learn how they can make the parking space safer.
When asked why these changes were not made sooner, Harper said the city's existing safety measures were intentional.
"I can tell you, with confidence, all the safety measures that were put in the garage are deliberate, they're based off of our understanding, our general understanding that were adopting by garages in general, a lot of cases we go above and beyond especially when you understand it's our staff our employees that use these garages, unfortunate anytime there's a tragedy, it presents an opportunity to reflect to and react to see is there something else that could have been done," Harper said.
Hawkins was known as an Arizona history enthusiast who served on the board of the Mesa Historical Museum. She was an accomplished harp player and grandmother. Donations can be made in her name through this link.
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