And the holiday bike wrecks are in, from the UK?

The expected big Feed from the Fourth of July holiday is coming in, but the wrecks are mostly UK (!?) Why would people in the UK be out on the roads in large numbers besides it just being summer with (relatively) warm weather? There are still no more wreck reports from the US than any “normal” summer weekend.

A 90 YO CA cyclist is still alive after being hit by a pickup truck. UPDATE: Visalia bicycle rider, 90, still listed in criticial condition in Fresno hospital after being struck by pickup truck in north Visalia Good for the guy still being active at the age of 90, not so good for apparently cutting the guy in the pickup truck off. Since I don’t know the area I can’t say anything about the sight lines at the intersection or traffic signals at the intersection, but looking at Google Street View tells me there wasn’t a stop sign on Collins although I couldn’t get the pan up function to work to show me a stop light. I didn’t see anything in the Street View that would make me think there was a stop light at the intersection. So at this point there is nothing I could find out about the actual wreck that would make me think the cyclist was solely at fault.

A cyclist is hit-and-run in the deadliest state for cyclists and police say “no big deal”. Bicyclist Injured In Hit-And-Run Actually the quote was “If he would have stopped, troopers said he would not face any charges.” because hitting a cyclist in FL is mostly a matter of getting the paperwork right. And there must be some kind of issue with Google Maps because now I can’t see anything on Street View. Zooming in on the intersection I do see a bike lane on the west bound side of Americana but nothing but 3 lanes in each direction for the other street. And because the only witnesses for the wreck are semi-conscious or on the lam, police are saying the wreck was the fault of the cyclist, except for the fact that the driver abandoned the vehicle at the wreck and fled on foot.

Another kid hit with a car, this time in CT. Eight-Year-Old Boy in Serious Condition After Bicycle Accident “Branford Police Department accident re-constructionists have conducted an investigation with the assistance of East Haven Police Department and determined that the injured boy was not wearing a bicycle helmet.” So therefore the wreck was the kid’s fault? I’m not following the logic on this one. Nothing on who had the right of way in the intersection, just the kid was not wearing a helmet. TANJ! Unfortunately there were trees in the Google Maps images that prevented me from seeing if there was a stop sign in either direction.

A cyclist is killed by a woman wielding a motor vehicle, and LEO call it a “tragic accident”. Bicyclist, 60, killed by car in Blaine I’m sure if the woman had been using any other kind of weapon to kill someone besides a motor vehicle it would not have been a “tragic accident”. This was another report on the Blaine man killed last week.

Another report on the left cross wreck that killed a man in Bremerton WA. A 69 YEAR OLD BICYCLIST WAS FATALLY INJURED IN A COLLISION AT A RURAL INTERSECTION This report completely absolves the driver of any blame for turning in to the cyclist and killing him. This thing makes me so angry, because if the driver had turned her car in to another car and killed the driver it would have been her fault without a doubt, but because the victim was riding a bicycle it was just another “accident”.

The 4th of July wrecks in VA included one of us as this summary reveals. 10 Reported Deaths Resulting from Holiday Traffic Crashes Nothing usable here except statistics, if you need statistics. Notice they talk a lot about seat belts and helmets…

A cyclist injured in Canadia isn’t dead (insert Monty Python skit from Holy Grail) “I feel happy!” Injured cyclist not dead; police correct misinformation Not to make light, but any halfway good news about a cyclist getting hit by or with a motor vehicle makes me a bit Giddy. And that’s all I can say about this one, except the guy that got hit must be as ornery a cuss as I am to survive being hit by what is basically a bus-sized vehicle. I took a look at the intersection with my favorite forensic tool and found there is a traffic signal on the street, but since there was no report that the cyclist was running the red light I’m going to go with the RV being at fault here until more evidence is brought forth.

The rest of the wrecks are from the UK with all the attending levels of detail. You know how much I love the UK media laws.

A man is killed in a hit from behind. Updated: Police name cyclist killed in crash There are advantages in having gone through close to 4000 reports on bicycle wrecks and also being psychic, I can recognize a hit from behind wreck when the evidence presents itself, even evidence as sparse as this. Because the report is so sparse I can’t tell you specifically how to avoid this type of wreck other than the standard, “Keep your attention split front and rear and always leave yourself an escape route.”

Another hit-and-run on another cyclist. Cyclist injured in hit and run Unfortunately not enough information because of lack of evidence at the scene of the crime. Other than this being another hit from behind, there was nothing on the vehicle involved or even the color. As before standard admonishments about hit from behind wrecks apply.

A pop-up gate with a little too much “pop” injures a cyclist. Injured cyclist taking Yorkshire Water to court I love a country where “sovereign immunity” is just a phrase of language, not a criminal defense. Now how to avoid a similar wreck, well that’s what the lawsuit is about.

Another typical UK wreck report. Woman cyclist killed in Stanwell is named Other than the fact that the deceased cyclist was American, there really isn’t much to hold the interest here. Did I mention that I loathe UK media laws? I did? As long as you know then.

And another elderly UK cyclist is hit. Cyclist killed in Belbroughton named Apparently LEO has little to go on in this case and request any witnesses that saw anything before the actual impact please come forward. I find it interesting that so many adult cyclists are getting hit in the UK, even more than the US.

Back in the US a large number of Jewish professionals get together at the crack of dawn to go for a bike ride. Their life cycles And I’m not being anti-Semitic, that’s just the makeup of the group riding their bikes. Me, personally, I don’t care what color you are, or what religion, or your dietary restrictions, so long as you ride a bicycle, you are one of my brothers, except when you’re a sister

And the deadliest state in the US for cyclists ponders why cyclists ride scared? Two wheels vs. four After reading the comments section it’s no wonder that FL kills more cyclists per capita than any other state in the country. One thing that is a problem was that FL was one of the states that made wrong-way cycling the law back 30-40 years ago, and many people did not get the message that the law requires riding with traffic now, and that includes most of the drivers who resent the presence of cyclists on “their” roads. I would say from reading the comments that drivers that don’t know bicycles have the right to the roads, unlike the limited and revocable privilege of motor vehicle drivers.

And that’s the whole mess.

Billed @$.02, Opus