Officials with the Department of Public Safety say the semi-truck drivers involved in Thursday’s deadly crashes along Interstate 10 were most likely distracted behind the wheel.
Meanwhile, state and local officials continue to push to make that section of the I-10 safer for drivers.
Casa Grande Mayor Craig McFarland drove by the horrific scene Thursday, a series of crashes along the I-10 claiming the lives of five people.
“It is truly a tragedy, and I feel for the people involved,” McFarland said.
DPS says the semi-truck drivers involved were most likely driving distracted, and the deadly collisions could have been prevented.
“This road is a straight road, you can see for miles and the traffic wasn’t that heavy at that time to where you couldn’t see ahead. And it was dark when it happened, so you’ve got brake lights and all that, and you should’ve been able to see for quite some time,” said ADPS Captain, Keith Gephart.
For six years Mayor McFarland has been working with ADOT on a plan to widen this 26-mile stretch of the I -10 from two to as many as four lanes in an effort to make it safer.
“I call it the choke-point in the state of Arizona. And it starts at Casa Grande and it ends at Wildhorse Pass. It’s literally 26 miles of terror,” McFarland said.
The mayor says they’ve already secured $400 million, but need an additional $400 plus million to complete the project.
ADOT submitted a grant proposal to secure additional funding from a federal mega grant, but mayor McFarland just recently learned that request was denied.
“It was not granted this year, but that doesn’t mean we won’t go for it next year,” McFarland said.
There’s a five-year window to re-apply for the mega-grant funds. The I- 10 safety issues are so critical, the mayor has made it his mission to complete them.
“I’m confident we’ll get it done," he said.
The mayor says even if they don’t secure the mega-grant funding, they may start the project without it while they look for other funding sources.
As for distracted driving, here are the latest statistics from ADPS:
- Out of the 36 thousand collisions investigated in 2022 1,818 collisions involved a distracted driver.
- There were 9 fatal collisions specifically attributed to distracted driving.
- 7,052 citations handed out for the new distracted driving cell phone law passed in 2019.
- 6,609 warnings issued before the enforcement period.
- ADPS has made contact with 17,012 drivers related to a distracted driving situation.