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TUCSON, Ariz. (13 News) - State officials are trying to raise awareness of the dangers of stopping along highways after two good Samaritans were killed in a three-vehicle crash on Interstate 10 in Tucson on Sunday night.
It happened after a car pulled over to help a disabled vehicle near the Speedway exit. It was the second similar crash in the Tucson area in just two weeks. On May 15, a man was hit and killed on Interstate 19 while changing a tire for a family friend.
Arizona DPS said the car that stopped to help Sunday night was hit from behind by a commercial vehicle.
DPS said 42-year-old Stephanie Marie Codina and her 11-year-old son were killed. According to a GoFundMe drive, the boy’s name was Antonio “Daddio” Codina Jr. As of 7 p.m. Tuesday, more than $11,000 had been raised for the family.
The young boy had just been diagnosed with leukemia, according to the drive.
It’s something Governor’s Office of Highway Safety Director Jesse Torrez said has become too common across the state.
“This year, we saw in the metropolitan Phoenix area a father and son who were doing just that. They had pulled alongside Interstate 10 in Mesa, and they were trying to help somebody who was broken down, and what occurred is they were both struck by a vehicle,” Torrez said.
According to statistics from the ADOT, 90 pedestrians are killed on Arizona highways each year.
“That’s 90 some families whose Christmas is altered. Birthdays are altered. Every day is going to be altered for the rest of their life,” Torrez said.
In Sunday’s collision, the person who pulled over to assist the disabled vehicle survived, but two of the people inside their car died.
Torrez said this situation highlights the dangers these incidents can bring.
“I understand that everybody wants to be a good person and help out,” he said. “But after leaving law enforcement, I realized you have to have a mindset – I’m a civilian. I can’t get out of my car. It doesn’t have emergency flashers, etc.”
Torrez said a lot of the risk has to do with where people pull over, with the far-right shoulder providing more spacing than the median, where the collision took place Sunday night.
“We have an emergency shoulder that’s to the far left, that’s typically four 1/2 to five feet wide,” Torrez said, “Then you have that emergency shoulder over to your right, which is almost a full-size lane, a 10-foot lane.”
However, Torrez said there are still ways to help people safely.
“If somebody wants to be a good Samaritan and assist with an accident again, park behind the vehicles that are there,” he said. “Don’t get out of your vehicle.”
But more important than anything is to get first responders to the scene.
“The safest thing you can do is wait for the first responders to get there. Stay in your vehicle. Don’t get out. Put your emergency flashers on if you have them,” Torrez said.
DPS declined to comment on this story but did say it would provide more details when they become available.
