Facing another huge day, and the Feed

I have a couple of trips I have to make on the bike today, with stuff I have to do, and we are out of beans in the pantry so I have no idea on what I’m making for dinner tonight. I only have a limited repertoire of recipes I can make, with beans and rice being my best one from both a taste standpoint and economy standpoint, and besides I don’t have a full ingredients list for any recipe I know. So tonight’s dinner is going to be an “adventure”. I think maybe I have enough lentils and I know I have enough brown rice to come up with something both edible and nutritious. Edit to Add: and no I don’t have any brown rice because it was used in another dish and I wasn’t told about it so when I went to make dinner tonight I came up with raiding the fridge for leftovers.

Up first are links to a cyclist killed by a drunk driver just down the road from WoaB World HQ in the Beautiful Suburbs of Hell. Cyclist killed by drunk driver and Update: Cyclist dies after being rear-ended by driver charged with driving while intoxicated also Cyclist dies after hit by car And the victim blaming gets an early start. Hit-from-behind protocols might have made this an avoidable wreck but reports are the victim was already well-versed in the protocols and was applying most of them at the time of the wreck. Infrastructure could prevent a similar wreck insofar as it provided a barrier between the drunks at the controls of the WMD and the vulnerable road users. And I personally find it utterly abhorrent that the driver staying at the scene merited a positive mention in the reports. Is that how far we have fallen as human beings that actually hanging around after you kill someone is news-worthy?

And practically right in my back yard is a wreck involving a minor local celebrity. Mavs TV broadcaster injured on bicycle Nothing on the mode of the wreck, other than it was bad enough to keep him from sitting behind a desk and watching a basketball game and talking through it. Notice the game of musical chairs to replace this guy went all the way to the Spanish-language AM radio broadcast.

From CA aftermath of a drunk driver killing a cyclist. For Sonoma cyclist’s widow, meeting husband’s killer changed her life I know I could not forgive the driver that killed me, I still have fantasies of wearing out a pair of steel-toed boots on his crotch as I kick his junk over and over until he has a taste of the suffering I went through. I’m happy that she could forgive the driver that killed her husband and the father of her children.

A wreck in CA where they don’t even know the direction of travel for the cyclist… Corte Madera Woman Hit By Pickup At this point not enough is known about this wreck to even say what happened, much less how to avoid it.

An OR cyclist is killed in a wreck that reeks of SWSS. Corvallis cyclist dies after collision Again since I can’t see the crime scene and the only surviving witness is the killer, I take the entire report with about a 2 ton block of sodium chloride. Assuming the report is accurate, you could avoid the wreck by remaining in control of your bike and not crossing the centerline. Getting the infrastructure right would prevent the conflict that resulted in the wreck, regardless of what really happened in this wreck. More Corvallis woman killed in bike crash

Another OR wreck that has the markings of a deliberate attempt to kill a cyclist. Northeast Portland woman seriously injured in bike-vs-pickup crash in Manning The driver went all the way across the road and pinned the bike (but not, fortunately, the cyclist) against a steel fence in front of the restaurant the cyclist was trying to enter. Very little question about who was at fault in this wreck as the cyclist was not even on the road when hit. Intersection protocols for what they are worth to avoid, and get the infrastructure right to prevent.

From the most deadliest state in the US to walk or ride a bike, the trial of an accused drunk driver that killed a cyclist is put off again because the prosecutor was injured. Carlos Bertonatti’s Latest Trial Delay: House Arrest Extended Until January Personally I would be just fine with revoking his bail for drinking again (which he has been reported to have been doing which is a violation of his release). Fortunately for the accused, I’m not a judge. But “stuff” like this is part of the reason why FL is so dangerous to walk or ride a bicycle.

A MA cyclist is hit-and-run. Boy, 13, on bicycle injured in hit-and-run in Leominster They found a mirror from the weapon vehicle but have not been able to identify the kind of car it came from. Hit-from-behind protocols to avoid, and get the infrastructure right to prevent.

Infrastructure! news from TX. Bicycle passing law needs vigorous policing Yeah I think they will start enforcing the passing law when a cop gets killed, or as in most of the cases so far a cop is the one passed too close.

Infrastructure news from Boston, MA. Settling the War Between Bikers & Drivers: The Official Rules of the Road The list is longer for bikes because there are lots of things that don’t normally get covered in discussions about bikes that are generally understood about driving, like how many people you can put in your car, where you can put them and other things that people just don’t know about for bikes. Also there were some equipment rules that just don’t come up for cars because cars come from the factory with all the required equipment and that doesn’t change from state to state like bicycle required equipment does. There really needs to be a Federal regulation that over-rides all the different state laws so that you can buy a bicycle that has all the shit on it you need to be road-legal without having to buy extra stuff from the bike store to cover the stuff that is different for your state.

Infrastructure from CO. 28th St. in north Boulder to get new striping, signs in wake of two cycling deaths It would be nice to get bicycle infrastructure before multiple people get killed for the lack of it.

Interesting infrastructure news from the UK. Road Haulage Interests Must Wake up to Cyclists! Yes, there are other things on the roads besides cars and trucks that are much squishier than your trucks…

And those are all the bicycle links that gave me fits today.

Billed @$0.02, Opus

Another long day in the saddle ahead, plus a project, and the Feed

The long day in the saddle is because I have several places to go today that will have me riding all over the Beautiful Suburbs of Hell. One place I have to go is the Halloween Superstore down the street a couple of miles, to get a Friday the 13^th mask. Now why would I want to by a Halloween mask on Nov. 3 you wonder? Well you read that part of the headline about a project, right? The project consists of taking a pair of busted glasses, that mask, some glue and pieces of foam and making a winter face shield so that my face stays warm and I can still see when I’m riding my bike. The glasses have a single vision lens of my latest prescription, which is still good (it’s the close-up portion of my bifocals that is messed up), so I’ll be able to see traffic around me. And the bits of foam will seal my eyes (and glasses) away from the humid exhaust air from my breathing. It will look a little Darth Vader-ish, but I will be able to breathe and see and not get a cold face.

Up first from OR a cyclist riding on the soft shoulder (not even on the paved shoulder) is hit by a vehicle that crossed a 4-lane highway and a median to hit him. Teen cyclist seriously injured in Hwy 99 crash The cyclist was completely off the road when he was hit as you can see from the blood stains on the gravel shoulder. I have no idea how a cyclist can avoid a vehicle that leaves the road on the opposite side of the road for the direction of travel. No infrastructure can prevent this either, except by barriers that confine everyone to their own direction of travel, and even then there would have to be breaks in those barriers for cross roads and to allow access to the other side of the road for commercial purposes (retail, farm vendors, restaurants, things like that). More Bike rider, 16, hit by SUV on Highway 99E

An AZ cyclist hit by 2 vehicles that failed to stop while she was in a crosswalk has died from the injuries. Girl on bicycle who was hit by car dies of injuries She was hit by one vehicle in the crosswalk after crossing the other 2 lanes in the opposite direction, then hit again while trying to get off the road from the first wreck. I’m still trying to figure out why there were no tickets for hitting a pedestrian in the crosswalk, after the first impact she was walking with a bicycle not riding.

From OK, and update on a cyclist killed after being hit by multiple vehicles, only one of which remained at the scene. Former local man killed in Tulsa while riding bike At this point they don’t know how many vehicles hit the man or what they were, only that when the last vehicle stopped he had been hit at least once previously.

From Far West Canuckistan a cyclist is hit from behind and the driver leaves the scene. Cyclist: Hit and run Hit-from-behind protocols to avoid and get the infrastructure right to prevent, including making hit-and-run equivalent to attempted murder in severity. The cyclist in this case was doing everything right, lights, brightly colored reflective clothing, and a helmet, but was still hit by a driver either not paying attention or who decided to “teach a lesson” to the cyclist.

From the UK another example of the “War on the Motorist” as a hit-and-run driver gets fined for leaving a cyclist injured in the street. Motorist fined for driving away after hitting cyclist in Cheltenham “A MOTORIST has been fined £220 for driving off after a collision saw a cyclist crashing into the windscreen of her car.” The “war” is being fought with pea-shooters and small arms against tanks and WMDs.

Infrastructure! news from WI. Death By Auto There really needs to be a model VU law in the UTC so that we don’t get another example of piecemeal and spotty coverage for these laws. Right now we have less than 10% of the states that have VU laws, and the laws vary wildly from one state to another where they do exist.

Infrastructure from Enn Zed. Another bike crash stokes call for change

And those are all the links about bicycles that gave me fits today. I have shared some of the ones not about bicycles in my Facebook wall…

Billed @$0.02, Opus

Running way late with a busy evening ahead, and the Feed

My part-time gig as a crying pillow for a widow woman went late because she stayed up late crying on my shoulder, and then her meds kept her asleep until 1300. I was awake at 0900 but she couldn’t wake up until much later. The bad thing about that is if she doesn’t wait to let herself wake up when the meds wear off then she’s impaired for several hours after she would have been fine otherwise, and I would have been even later getting home.

Up first is a link via BikingInLA to testimony from the trial of that guy that went on a drunken rampage in a Hummer a couple of years ago running smaller cars off the roads and targeting cyclists in the bike lanes. Ex-Ventura police officer describes trying to save bicyclist At the time I was wondering if the driver had reverted to the “unwritten road rules” of his home country. Some of what I have read about this trial makes me think that this might have happened due to his emotional state prior to getting drunk, and then the massive amounts of alcohol he drank prior to the rampage. This is another driver that I would like to see watch his vehicle get recycled from behind the steering wheel. Infrastructure might have saved the cyclist from this madman but would not have helped any of the other victims. This report earns the “Waste of Human Skin” tag for the post today.

Also from CA is a deliberate assault of a cyclist on Halloween night. Preteen struck by car door on Halloween in Santa Cruz There is no way for a cyclist to avoid something like this, and no way for infrastructure to prevent it either. I hope they keep looking for this pair and charge them with attempted murder and conspiracy to commit murder.

Still in CA a funeral for a dead cyclist. Funeral Services Set for Teen Cyclist Still plugging the SWSS angle. >sigh<

Just up the Left Coast from all that carnage a little girl is hit-and-run riding to school. Car strikes, injures Kent girl riding bike to middle school | Update From what I can determine the cyclist does not have life-threatening injuries, just really bad ones. Remember every driveway is an intersection and use intersection protocols to avoid a wreck like this one and get the infrastructure right to prevent another one. And lock up all hit-and-run drivers as flight risks until their trials.

From the Windy City come links to a cyclist dying in a right-hook wreck. Cyclist hit by truck, dies and Bicyclist Struck, Killed By Truck In Noble Square also Fatality Tracker: Driver turns truck right in front of cyclist, killing him Shouldn’t the driver have gotten a bit more in the way of consequences for the wreck that a stinking ticket? Anyway, intersection wreck, use the intersection protocols to avoid and get the infrastructure right to prevent. And make no bones about it this was an entirely preventable wreck.

More on the wreck that killed a cyclist in OH. Driver charged in cyclist death Serious charges for a serious crime.

A MA cyclist is hit by a drugged out driver with 4 kids in the car. Cyclist dead in Calverton crash; cops: driver that hit him was on drugs, had four kids in car No way for a cyclist to avoid a wreck like this where the driver crosses the entire highway to hit you head on when you’re riding on the shoulder. Infrastructure won’t help much either unless there is something like a Jersey barrier to keep idiots away from bicycles and vice versa.

Another MA cyclist is hit in an intersection. Fall River Police: Bicyclist injured after colliding with car The cyclist was riding ninja not that that would have made a difference in this wreck, as the bike hit the car going through the intersection after coming to a stop. Intersection protocols to avoid, and since this would be shared infrastructure under the Dutch plan, the infrastructure would not need (much) adjustment to prevent.

Another one of those BikingInLA links has an RAF pilot explaining how evolution has ill-prepared us for driving to the detriment of mainly motorcyclists, bicyclists, and pedestrians. What an RAF pilot can teach us about being safe on the road Basically our eyes were designed to work from a stationary platform up to a speed of about 20-25 MPH. Any faster and we are literally flying blind to a greater and greater degree as speeds increase. What helps prevent massive carnage by motor vehicles is we have changed the roads to accommodate these limitations and armored up our vehicles to mitigate the failures when they happen. Neither of those things work if you’re not riding inside a motor vehicle made in this century.

One of those links that I really needed to get up sooner except I didn’t see it until now. They Don’t Make ‘Em Like They Used To: a 1946 Griffon & Howle Rando-Broom Actually brooms are decidedly Old School for witches these days, just ask Gigi (if you can chase her down).

Infrastructure! news from the Great White North, as they seek to discover how to stop killing cyclists and pedestrians with motor vehicles. Bronson speed limits could be cut to promote cyclists’ safety Here’s a hint: Make drivers responsible for controlling their vehicles around vulnerable users like cyclists and pedestrians.

Infrastructure for South Africa. Law may change to assist cyclists One point five meters is a touch under five feet, for the metric impaired among my readers.

I don’t know exactly how to classify this one, because this computer doesn’t have sound to go with the video playback yet. Austin Cycling Community Raises Awareness and Money for Injured Cyclist I’m going to go with a mixture of LifeStyle and advocacy from what I can see.

And those are all the links that gave me fits today/tonight.

Billed @$0.02, Opus

Role playing got moved, and the Feed

The role playing game has been moved to a new location because I was the only church member still playing in the game, which means the RPG is no longer a covenant group that allows outside people to attend as outreach but an outside group with one guy from church attending, This means the Role Playing game has to pay building rental of $40 a game night now to continue at the church. So we are moving to one player’s house which is a little further away than the church is for me, a 12 mile round trip as opposed to the 7 mile trip before. I just have to find a good route, especially for the return which may be well after midnight on a Saturday/early Sunday morning. We will see how the ride goes tonight.

It amazes me sometimes just what people think about cycling and the distances involved. Bicyclist killed while riding near Frankenmuth had logged more than 1,000 bike miles this year That’s less than 100 miles a month, or roughly half to 2/3 of what I do. Anyway, hit from behind wreck, use the protocols to avoid and get the infrastructure right to prevent, with a major part of that infrastructure being that hitting a slow-moving vehicle from behind should be a crime, not an “oops”.

Ninja cyclist killed by a driver going too fast for conditions in IL. Teen on bicycle struck, killed by pickup Notice that it wasn’t the cyclist riding salmon in this wreck that was hit, but the one riding in the correct lane that “swerved” and was hit. The driver actually saw the cyclists “when a southbound pickup truck crested a small hill and saw them, Marks said” but was going too fast to stop or avoid them as “the bicyclist in the southbound lane pulled directly into the truck’s path.” Or in other words the cyclist that was directly in front of the driver was still in front of the driver when he was hit by the weapon vehicle. Hit-from-behind protocols to avoid, and get the infrastructure right to prevent. More Funeral arrangements final for teen killed in bike crash

Update on the condition of the MD cyclist hit by a school bus. Cyclist Struck By School Bus Identified, Still in Critical Condition I have noticed that LEO have still not managed to blame the cyclist for this wreck, which makes me think that something else was up. Looking at the wreck scene in Google Street View shows a rural intersection with a stop sign on the cyclist’s street and a through road for the school bus. This really bothers me, because the only way for the cyclist to not be at fault in this wreck would be for the school bus to have hit him when he was waiting at the stop sign. Anyway, still an intersection, use the intersection protocols to avoid, and I’m not real sure as to what infrastructure changes would have prevented this wreck. There’s just so little to go on until LEO comes out with their report, and the fact that they still haven’t made a preliminary report 4 days later just makes me think something is “rotten in the state of Denmark”.

More on a story that was just breaking yesterday from Albuquerque. Home Arrest For Bike Death and Cyclists push tougher law for fatalities The maximum she could get for killing the cyclist was 90 days and $300, while for passing a bad check you can get 10 years. TANJ!

Infrastructure! news from the Great White North. Roads with streetcar tracks three times more dangerous for cyclists: study All of a sudden cyclists are getting wrecked on the streetcar tracks, which means something has changed. It’s either the bikes are more susceptible to getting caught in the tracks, somehow cyclists have forgotten how to negotiate streetcar tracks, or drivers are acting in such a way as to force cyclists into the streetcar tracks at the wrong angle to avoid getting caught in the tracks. Actually I think that all three statements are true to some degree.

LifeStyle in CA. Bike ride for injured veterans makes stop in Ventura Glad to see my fellow vets out improving themselves and the environment in one simple step.

LifeStyle, and a Ghost Bike in WI. Bob Avery: Ghost bike a reminder to drive attentively

And those are all the bicycle links that gave me fits today.

Billed @$0.02, Opus

Out of coffee fixings means OUT OF COFFEE!! and the Feed

That’s right, I’m doing this post sans hot beverages of choice and second choice, because I need the same things for tea as I do for my coffee. I’M WORKING CAFFEINE-FREE HERE!! >shudder< I know why I'm in this pickle, the food budget was $0 last week and we had to ride on what was in the pantry. Then the pollen hit and I was chugging tea and coffee like my life depended on it (and for reals my voice did depend on it). I went through what would have been a ten day supply of milk, creamer, and sugar in less than 5 days. I still sounded like a frog, but an intelligible frog. And now we won't have any money for more until tomorrow so I'm sitting here without coffee, and will be for tomorrow's post also. Pray the Beautiful Suburbs of Hell survive through Friday when things will get back to "normal".

From the US Mecca for cyclists, a really stupid one gets hit/hurt. Bicyclist injured in collision with security patrol car near Rose Garden Arena That’s right, no lights or reflectors at night, riding salmon and running a red he couldn’t see because he was facing the wrong direction. A class-A Bozo. To avoid just do almost everything exactly opposite from this clown. To prevent get the infrastructure right, although I don’t think that would have actually done anything for this doofus.

A NJ youth suffers disfiguring injuries in a wreck with a commercial vehicle. Teen Bike Rider Suffered Non-Life-Threatening Injuries After Union Hill Accident First of all the fact that it was news that the driver remained at the scene is just sick. Second there was no mode of wreck or direction of travel given for either vehicle as the coverup investigation is still ongoing. Since the wreck was very close to an elementary school I would say this wreck was in a residential area that would be shared space for motor vehicles and bicycles under the Dutch system, so the most significant change to the infrastructure for this wreck would be a speed limit under 20 MPH and statutory laws that find the motor vehicle operator at fault for hitting a minor even when the minor was breaking the law, because minors don’t think straight and have diminished capacity. The only time a driver is not at fault for hitting a minor on foot or riding a bicycle is when the minor’s actions were such that the driver had no time to react to what the minor was doing.

More from the most deadliest state in the US to walk or ride a bike for 8 years in a row on a cyclist killed trying to get across a road. Police confirm identity of man killed while riding bike in Bradenton The cyclist was trying to cross a road with an offset to the other road and a median and was hit in the turn lane because not all the traffic was stopped for the red light at the offset street.

I’m not exactly sure which Ladysmith this is, but I do know it is in the Great White North. Distracted cyclist hits, injures walker The cyclist was listening to an MP3 player while riding on the sidewalk, both no-nos under Canadian law and neither one considered “best practice” in any country. To avoid watch for pedestrians especially when you’re riding on a sidewalk, don’t ride on the sidewalk, don’t use music players or listening devices, and DON’T HIT THE PEDESTRIANS! Getting the infrastructure right would have prevented this wreck because every mode would have a safe, segregated place to be.

And we had a very light Feed today, those are all the bike links that gave me fits, since this is not a political blog I’m not posting the others.

Billed @$0.02, Opus

Another day of time constraints, and the Feed

Today’s time constraint is first I got up too late after visiting the grandson in Sanger because I got home late, and second I’m going to address the Garland City Council again to try to get them off the dime on drafting a Master Bike Plan. I’m pushing for a MBP that includes Dutch-style infrastructure. with residential areas that have slow streets with lots of room for bikes and cars to mix (which will take a change of law from the legislature) that feed into bike arterials just like the roads now feed into car arterials. Garland (aka the Beautiful Suburbs of Hell in this blog) is mostly flat, so there is no reason why more people aren’t riding bikes except that it’s dangerous as hell out here because of drivers being insane. Since getting insane drivers off the roads is an even larger task than getting the legislature to reduce the speed limit in residential areas, we have to get the bikes away from the insane drivers. That’s what I’m going to try tonight, version I Lost Count Years Ago.

Up first, an update on the condition of the cyclist who was hit by an impaired driver that drove off with the bicycle still stuck under the car for several blocks. Mother of cyclist injured by hit-and-run driver wants more cyclists wearing helmets The cyclist is about 50/50 on survival right now, and even less optimistic on recovery. Again this was a wreck that the cyclist could not avoid because of the excessive speed of the weapon vehicle (he hit a car in the same collision that he hit the cyclist, which knocked a wheel off the SUV that was the weapon vehicle). And also infrastructure would not have protected the cyclist unless there was something like a Jersey Barrier between motor vehicle and bicycle traffic, not a notable feature of Dutch bicycle infrastructure.

Another link to the Reno cyclist hit by a SUV. Bicyclist versus SUV accident leaves one injured And why can’t it ever be the driver of the SUV being the only one injured? Anyway, still a red-light-runner, still intersection protocols to avoid, and still get the infrastructure right to prevent.

An IN cyclist is injured while Being Stupid. Teen seriously injured after riding bike into path of semi on U.S. 30 The cyclist was above the legal limit for BAC%, underage for consumption of alcohol, riding at 0300, and not paying attention to large objects moving at high speed on the road. With the existing infrastructure that is a recipe for a dead cyclist, which he was lucky not to become. Getting the infrastructure right would have guided this drunk cyclist to a safer place to ride his bike, maybe.

A GA boy dies from getting hit by a truck near his home. Waycross boy dies from injuries after being struck on bicycle Saturday And they fixed the headline after I filtered the link to include it. The previous version left out the word “boy” between Waycross and dies. This could have been prevented with Dutch bicycle infrastructure because they would have never placed a 45 MPH highway through a residential area. Kids do stupid things because they are kids and don’t think the way we do as adults, the infrastructure should protect them until they are capable of adult reasoning. I lay this entire thing at the feet of whoever put the highway in the middle of the residential area or failed to reduce the speed limit when it became a residential area. Minor quibble, the driver claimed to lock his brakes and swerve to avoid this wreck, which is a physical impossibility. Once the front wheels are locked there is no steering control over the vehicle any more.

Another cyclist killed in the most deadliest state in the US to walk or ride a bicycle for 8 years running. Wycliffe senior VP killed when car hits him on his bicycle in Avalon Park This is an update on an earlier story, the impaired driver hit the cyclist from behind in the bike lane. more Wycliffe Bible Translators’ VP Forrest Flaniken Killed While Riding Bicycle Also FHP: Teen likely high on K2 hit, killed cyclist

Update on an earlier story about an AZ cyclist death. Neurologist killed while cycling in Fountain Hills This was a wreck where the cyclist was also hit from behind in the bike lane, at such a speed as to crush the bike frame. Pictures from the scene showed the top tube of the frame broken and the down tube broken in 2 places. When a bike is hit from behind damage to the front triangle of the frame means the weapon vehicle was moving at extreme speed or had a large amount of mass. Given the light pickup truck that was the weapon vehicle I think we can probably establish the extreme velocity.

More on the cyclist killed by being run over by a bus in CA. Bicyclist killed after collision with MTA bus in Malibu and from BikingInLA PCH fatality may have resulted from bad roadway; LACBC issues call for safety; and former UCLA neurologist killed in AZ hit-and-run the wreck seems to have been caused by a longitudinal seam with a ledge the cyclist was caught with her center of gravity on the left of, and her tires on the right and the tires could not get past the seam, causing the cyclist to fall to the left. IOW the road itself caused the wreck. There are many streets and roads in the Beautiful Suburbs of Hell that have long longitudinal cracks and ledges in the road surface that I would like to report but since I lack both short-term memory and a cell phone, I can’t get the information to the people that can do something about it.

In AL they found the driver that killed a cyclist riding to eat at a local restaurant. Driver identified in fatal Baldwin Co. hit-and-run When I filtered this link they hadn’t found the driver, just the cyclist’s body and broken bike, so in the space of a few hours they found and arrested a killer. A better rear light might have avoided this wreck, but a better driver with better infrastructure would have prevented this wreck. Going out for a bite to eat should never be a life or death proposition.

A cyclist is injured in East Canuckistan. Cyclist in serious condition after being hit by car And that is almost the entirety of the story, 82 YO cyclist hit by 64 YO driver, both transported one with serious injuries the other with psychological trauma. Nothing on the mode or anything except a mention the wreck may have been in or near an intersection. So I’m just flat-out going to blame this one entirely on the infrastructure. Get the infrastructure right.

A cyclist is killed by a truck in Enn Zed and they can’t figure out how. Family find teen cyclist killed in tanker crash The cyclist and the tanker truck were traveling in opposite directions when the truck struck the cyclist in the middle of the lane. Someone is being obtuse here as the cyclist was on the correct side of the road for Enn Zed, which means the tanker truck was over the centerline. The mental gymnastics of the police trying to blame the cyclist for getting hit on his side of the road are astounding.

LifeStyle for a PA cyclist injured while walking with his bike. Church sponsors blood drive for injured cyclist I didn’t see this in my Feed when the incident first happened, but apparently the person with the knife had a real dislike for cyclists and attacked him because he had a bike in a pedestrian area even though he wasn’t riding it.

Lots of links to a report from the Great White North that cyclists that died from road wrecks weren’t wearing helmets. Bike Helmets Cut Risk of Fatalities And bullet-proof vests reduce my risk of dying when I’m shot, but that still doesn’t change my likelihood of getting shot. More links to the same report Helmets can prevent fatal head injuries in cyclists, Ontario study shows Also Cyclists without helmets triple their chance of death by head injury

How not to get hurt on a bicycle, with all the onus on the cyclist. The Cyclist’s Guide to Injury Prevention You know the “funny” thing about this guide is it focuses on road cycling but the lead picture is a wreck on a MTB on a trail…

Infrastructure! news from the UK. Injured Shropshire cyclist in calls for improved safety The article mentions prosecuting drivers that hit cyclists and punishment suitable for the results of the crime, some physical infrastructure changes, all of which are going to be needed to get the UK back on 2 wheels.

And those are all the links that gave me fits today.

Billed @$0.02, Opus

Going to see my new grandson, and the Feed

OK once again I’m working under a time constraint, this time for a more pleasant reason. After Mrs. the Poet gets off work we are going to visit my daughter and grandson in Sanger (well the son-in-law will be there too…). I didn’t go see the grandson while he was in the hospital in Denton because the trip was just too long and not planned far enough in advance for me to get everything buttoned up here before I left. This time is different, I know ahead of time I need to get things wrapped up in the blog before 1600 when Mrs. the Poet gets home from work, because as soon as she gets changed out of her work uniform we are hitting the road to go visit the grandkid.

Up first is a blotter report on why drivers should wait until they can pass safely before trying to pass a bicycle. Monday’s Sentinel police log Second paragraph, someone tried to pass a bicycle on a blind hill crest, there was traffic in the oncoming lane and fortunately the oncoming traffic went off the side of the road instead of hitting the idiot passing a bicycle head on.

More on the TX cyclist hit about a day’s ride east of WoaB World HQ. Lakeport man on bicycle struck, killed by vehicle “A lack of lighting and a practice of riding the bike in rights of way” They mean he was actually riding his bicycle in the road as per TX VC 551.103(a)ii, but he really should have had a reflector on the back of his bike to comply with the law. This still does not relieve the driver of responsibility for the wreck under TX VC 545.351(a) & (b)(1).

A wreck in SoCal severely injures a cyclist. Police investigating Santa Rosa off-ramp crash that injured bicyclist Nothing on the mode of wreck from the article except that it took place in an intersection, a comment with the article made it sound like the cyclist ignored a traffic control device of some kind but I can’t get the street view of that intersection to pull up right now. Actually re-reading that comment somebody ignored a traffic control, but I can’t say for sure it was the cyclist. Anyway intersection protocols to avoid, and get the infrastructure right to prevent.

Still in SoCal a cyclist is hit by a bus. Cyclist Killed After Being Hit by Metro Bus in Malibu At the moment they still don’t know what caused the wreck as the investigators are not tuned to what causes bicycles to fall over. Since the cyclist was riding in the bike lane at the time she fell over it could have been anything in the way of debris that made her fall and the infrastructure did not allow for something like that to happen without dumping her right in front of high-speed traffic. Since the cyclist was already using bike infrastructure and still died, this gets placed in the “get the infrastructure right” bin. More UPDATE: Bicyclist Killed in Crash With Metro Bus

A wreck that I was first alerted to by a Facebook posting from a witness. Endicott Woman Killed While Riding Bike and Woman killed in bicycle accident in Southern Tier The driver was reported to have swerved sharply by a witness report on the Facebook page where I saw the initial report from the person riding immediately behind the cyclist. That person was not hit in spite of only being a few feet behind the victim. That is a very abrupt departure from the road and to me strikes of a deliberate action unless the vehicle’s steering came completely unhooked from the front wheels. Hit-from-behind protocols would not have helped avoid this wreck as there was not enough time to react, and I’m not entirely sure anything in the way of infrastructure short of a Jersey Barrier would have prevented this wreck. If the driver had control over the vehicle (not a mechanical malfunction or medical emergency) then this needs to be charged as a crime, assault at the least, some kind of homicide most likely.

An AZ driver kills and flees… Mesa man arrested after bicyclist is hit, killed The cyclist was hit in the bike lane and the pictures from the wreck show a bike that was pulverized by the impact. This was not a wreck that could have been avoided by the cyclist, and needs to be charged as a homicide. It won’t be, but it needs to be charged as a deliberate attempt to kill the victim. That is among the infrastructure changes that need to be made to prevent wrecks like this.

From the most deadliest state in the US to walk or ride a bicycle for 8 years in a row. Port Richey teen injured when truck hits bike he was riding Alleged red-light running cyclist, again. Intersection protocols to avoid, get the freaking infrastructure right to prevent, again, still, always in FL.

A driver in the Great White North is charged in a wreck with a cyclist. Volunteer firefighter charged with impaired driving after cyclist struck in hit-and-run Thanks to good police work they were able to find the driver still in the car and still drunk, then match the debris to the car… Hit from behind, use the protocols to avoid and get the infrastructure right to prevent. More Firefighter facing drunk driving, hit-and-run charges

Infrastructure! news from L.A. CA. Dangers of biking in Los Angeles confirmed by Michigan study Nobody said riding a bicycle was perfectly safe, but it does look like there are more people riding in L.A. than have been given credit for…

Infrastructure news from Oz. Putting cycling safety on right path Interesting in that helmets were only mentioned in passing, but were mentioned because it’s almost like a law that when you have a bike safety article in Oz you have to mention helmets positively.

And those are all the links that gave me fits today.

Billed @$0.02, Opus

Day 3 of what’s going to be a very busy week, and the Feed

Thanks to a tight schedule at church this week I’m going to have a very busy rest of the week. I have a class on ethics tonight, a session helping a widow woman get over her dead husband on Thursday, a church board meeting on Friday that I need to attend because as the last person left on the Social Justice committee I am the de facto chair of the committee, and RPG on Saturday. So, I have lots of bike trips into Downtown, at just over 7 miles per trip. Last night I had Ritual Planning and of course service on Sunday. And I just remembered we are going back to two services on Sunday this week, which means as a ritualist I have to ride in twice on Sunday, until we get back to summer and the AC bill starts getting astronomical again. Wheee!

More links about the NYC hit-and-run. Cyclist killed in Bushwick hit-and-run Nothing new, just another report of the same information. More Brooklyn drummer riding bike struck and killed in hit-run accident

For some reason jurors in NM have a problem convicting a driver that left the road to kill a cyclist on a nearby but not really adjacent bike path. Suspect in fatal bike crash in court This bike path was separated from the road by a hill that the vehicle had to climb after it went off the road. As far as I’m concerned that fact alone makes this a criminal act, when combined with the fact that a motor vehicle is a deadly weapon (which is why you have to have a license to operate one). If you leave a road you have lost control of a deadly weapon that can kill at many times the rate of a machine gun…

More on the LA woman killed hit by a drunk driver. Allegedly drunk driver hits bike; rider knocked to pavement, dies Again the article refers to the cyclist not having reflective gear on when she was killed. Not blaming the drunk for driving drunk (again!) and hitting the cyclist from behind, blaming the cyclist for not wearing a glow in the dark clown costume. Also they now seem to be blaming the road for killing the cyclist, somehow. She didn’t die because the cars hit her after she fell, she died because she hit the pavement. THEN the cars ran her over coming from the other direction.

A ninja salmon in NV. Man on bike struck by vehicle That’s right, riding at night, without lights or reflectors, and salmon. Hello, Darwin Awards? It wasn’t mentioned if the rider was wearing all black and a head cover to hide his face. This one definitely earns the Stupid Cyclist tag for this post. I mean usually there was something a cyclist could have done but didn’t that makes me add that tag to the post, but this one deserves to be called out for it and mentioned in the paragraph.

Back to NYC for a celebrity texter riding a bicycle. Valentine Hurt After Reading Text Message on Bike Reading a text instead of watching the road and almost hits two pedestrians (don’t hit the pedestrians!) and then slides off the road. BRILLIANT!

A wreck in OR. Bicyclist crashes into curb avoiding car Other than the fact that the cyclist was avoiding or run off the road by a car that was not described or otherwise mentioned, I have nothing on the mode of this wreck. That front wheel looks like toast, but replace the rim and it should be usable again, perhaps even with the same tire. But how to avoid a similar wreck, I haven’t a clue. The cyclist appeared to be competent so far as appearances go, so I can’t say what you should do with the current built environment. I can say that the current built environment has to go and infrastructure needs to be rebuilt to accommodate all modes of travel.Or in fewer words, get the infrastructure right.

A CA cyclist injured in a single vehicle wreck. Pasadena cyclist injured in crash in Sierra Madre I much prefer wrecks like this to wrecks involving multiple motor vehicles and a cyclist in the middle. To avoid just ride slower.

Slight Justice in the Great White North. Road-rage cabbie who hit cyclist jailed 2 years This was the cab driver that backed into a cyclist and pinned him against a concrete pillar causing the loss of one leg more than 4 years ago.

More reports on that wreck involving 3 cyclists in the GWN, but no new information. Cyclist killed in Mariposa Township crash and Mississauga cyclist killed in Mariposa Twp. |UPDATE LEO! The driver hit THREE cyclists, killing one of them. This was not an “accident”, this was either an assault with a deadly weapon, or this driver needs to be kept off the roads for everyone’s protection. Just the mere fact you can’t immediately blame the cyclists for their own demise means this was at the very least the fault of the driver in a civil sense. It could be much worse than that! Exclamation points! CAPS LOCK!! INTERNET EMOTIONS RUN AMUCK!! GAHHH!

A MO Ghost Bike. ‘Ghost bike’ marks wreck site RIP cyclist. I have to say this is one of the nicer ghost bikes I have read about.

LifeStyle about a bike movie filming in CA. Filmmakers visit site of cyclist’s death on Highway 1 as part of their cross-country journey examining bicycle safety

And those are all the links that gave me fits today.

Billed @$0.02, Opus

I’m back and not hung over, and the Feed

Well, this was a disappointing B-Day. Basically it was Saturday, with cake, no ice-cream. I forgot to get the paper so I can’t post my year-in-advance horoscope on my monitor this year. I got a Cars2 Pez dispenser for my only gift, of the 2 cards I got one was from a car dealer thanking me for all the customers I had steered their way (and they are welcome, my last car was that make of car). Oh and I got a broken computer that I had to fix to make it usable, the box I’m currently abusing.

I also got warned that next year will be more abusive as I turn 55 then, and the day falls on a Sunday that will be celebrated just because it’s a pagan holiday and my church celebrates those in a big way. Also Mrs. the Poet is looking to get back at me for the “Flaming cake o’ death” I did last year when her B-Day fell on a Sunday. Did you know that when you put 116 birthday cake candles on a cake you can make the frosting burn? I didn’t even know cake frosting was flammable. The joke was I was trying to make with the doubled number of candles was “time flies when you’re having fun, so this is how long you really lived while you were having all that fun…” What that was all about was the church was showing their appreciation of what Mrs. the Poet does for the church by having a celebration of her birthday during service. well next year is going to be my turn, I have been warned.

Up first is a blotter notice of a hit-and-run wreck down the road a day’s ride from WoaB World HQ in the Beautiful Suburbs of Hell. The Blotter: Cyclist killed in hit-and-run; Resident injured in apartment fire From the location I can presume this was a hit-from-behind wreck, use the protocols to avoid and get the freaking infrastructure right to prevent. From the amount of water and detergent cleaning up the blood from the wreck (human blood is a hazmat situation here in TX) I would say this was a very messy wreck. And from what little else I could read in the article it looks like LEO is going to allow the blind driver defense if they already haven’t. TANJ!

From the most deadliest state in the US to walk or ride a bike for the last 8 years running, a bike ninja is killed. Bicyclist dies after being hit by two cars in Pasco County Ordinarily I would point out the drivers either had improperly aimed headlights or were overdriving their headlights, but this numb-nuts was riding around in black clothing at night on a bike with no reflectors. Don’t do that. Reflectors are cheap and do not require batteries to work, only properly aimed headlights on the cars behind you. More Bicyclist killed on Pasco County road identified

Another blind driver in FL. Panama City Beach Man Killed in Bike Accident I can’t say for sure but it looked like there were reflectors on the back of the bike that was hit, so yeah, blind driver syndrome strikes again. Hit-from-behind protocols to avoid, get the infrastructure right to prevent, and start throwing drivers that can’t see a cyclist in the road in front of them in jail, or crush their cars with the drivers inside.

From CA a cyclist injured in a left cross wreck has finally died from the injuries sustained. CYCLIST DIES FROM INJURIES IN VALLEY CENTER COLLISION And nothing will happen because the driver has already been absolved from the wreck because he was blind… More Bicyclist injured in Valley Center crash dies also Triathlete Riding Bike and Hit by Car Dies Sunday and Cyclist dies after being struck by car

Another OR wreck between a bike and a train. Police identify cyclist in fatal train accident I have said it too many times, this is the easiest kind of wreck to avoid, even with headphones on. All you need to do is LOOK before crossing the tracks. It’s not like the train is invisible even if you can’t hear it…

A wreck in rural WA that so far hasn’t even generated a ticket. Bicyclist struck by pickup killed near Brier Once again if you aren’t impaired and remain at the scene of a fatal bicycle/motor vehicle wreck you can pretty much get away with murder. No mode given for this wreck, but since they were so nice as to give an intersection as the site of the wreck I’m going to assume that intersection protocols would have helped avoid this wreck, and getting the infrastructure right would have prevented it.

A wreck in KC with no mode given, but it seems like it’s probably a hit-from-behind. Two Girls Injured After Being Hit by Vehicle AFAICT this was 2 girls riding on one bike with one girl standing on the stunt pegs while the other pedaled. This is not an invisible thing, if anything the rider standing on the pegs is even more visible because of the added height. I mean seriously, this shit about not being able to see people on the roads has got to stop. If you can’t see a 9YO child standing in the road in broad daylight you need to stop driving. If you can’t see an adult riding a bicycle you need to stop driving. And let’s face it there are a lot of people out there that seriously need to stop driving.

From the Great White North a pedestrian with a bicycle (walking the bike) is hit with a car. Police investigate after cyclist, 20, injured in hit-and-run crash No clue on how to avoid a wreck like this, once you get off the bike you’re a pedestrian and I don’t know what to do to keep cars from hitting you on the sidewalk where this wreck happened. Fortunately the car left paint on the scene of the wreck (probably on the curb it had to cross to hit the pedestrian on the sidewalk). More Cyclist struck in hit-and-run crash

The reason I don’t do more UK reports is this is the only time they actually say what everybody was doing in the wreck, after the trial. Almost four times over the limit drink-driver Christopher Hogan jailed for killing OAP cyclist The cyclist was hit from behind by a driver with a 0.135% BAC which is 4 times the UK limit and almost twice the US limit. Hit-from-behind protocols to avoid, and get the infrastructure right to prevent including making DUI that kills the same as murder with the same penalties. Personally I would add “depraved indifference” to the aggravating factors of this wreck, because the driver was riding on the rim for quite a distance before hitting the cyclist, which severely impaired his control over the car above and beyond his being drunk.

Infrastructure! of the legal kind in GA. Are Georgia’s Cycling Laws Adequate Protection for Motorists and Cyclist? Don’t read the comments

More infrastructure from LA. Attic Salt for Sept. 23, 2012 Two dead cyclists and another that might as well be dead because he’s never going to get out from under his medical bills that are pushing $500K. All because someone decided that bike lanes cost too much, that “someone” needs to be paying the injured cyclist’s medical bills right now…

Infrastructure news from CA. State report: Newport rates high in bike accidents It’s a bit of a slog to read, but worth the words… Something less wordy but the same subject Back-to-Back Bicycle Deaths Shine Spotlight on City’s Fatality Record

Lifestyle from CA. Public Invited to Saturday Memorial for Cyclist, Shape-Up Nutritionist Sarah Leaf

LifeStyle from AZ. Chandler festival all about bike safety Amazing, an article about “bike safety” and no mention of the word “Helmet”.

A bit of LifeStyle from the UK. Hall for Bridgwater cyclist killed earlier this year

And those are all the links that gave me fits today, plus or minus.

Billed @$0.02, Opus

Still working, and the Feed

While I’m waiting for that first cup of coffee to kick in I am just more or less typing words at random here. Verbs, nouns adjectives and adverbs thrown up in semi-random order as I wait not for inspiration but for that flow of consciousness that comes when I’m in my “writing zone”. It’s like meditating with a keyboard, the “monkey mind” shuts up and what is really important to me comes through unfiltered by the monkey. Unfortunately I have to keep at least one of those monkeys on hand to correct the typos and other mis-spellings or nobody (even me) would understand what I was trying to say. Think of that as my monkey J. Jonah Jameson (and is he even in the movie version of those stories?).

One thing that comes to mind on this day is how berserk we went over 3K people and some private property that was heavily subsidized by taxpayers were destroyed in a single act. An apt comparison would be that 5K pedestrians and cyclists are killed every year by motor vehicles, and aside from people that know the victims personally and people like me trying to stop the CARnage nobody even notices it. Almost 2 9/11 per year gets ignored, but we start wars over cheap oil for our gas-guzzlers? Excuse me, but I think I’m the sane one, can I get out of the asylum now?

Up first, the most deadliest state in the US to walk or ride a bike 8 years running gets even deadlier as people are taking pot-shots at cyclists. Man shot, killed while riding bicycle identified by Jacksonville police Can’t tell you how to avoid one like this, and as for protective gear I don’t think they make a wicking body armor. Maybe getting the infrastructure right could prevent it, but haters gonna hate, knowhatimean?

A hit-and-run in AZ. Truck hits, kills NAU student riding bike in Flagstaff Hit-from-behind use the protocols to avoid, and get the infrastructure right to prevent. When Police found the weapon vehicle the owner was examining it for damage and claiming to not know how the damage got there. Isn’t there a law against lying to LEO? As this was a hit-and-run recycle the weapon vehicle, and as the victim of this hit-and-run died allow the driver to watch the recycling from the most intimate vantage point possible, chained behind the steering wheel. One visual I’ll never forget is from Monster Garage when they destroyed a failed build in a shredder. They placed a grill-sized bottle of propane in the inside of the vehicle that erupted in a giant fireball as the shredder consumed the doomed vehicle. I think for a slight additional fee for the driver, he or she could get that service to go out in a blaze of “glory”. More information including how locals trapped the weapon vehicle in the neighborhood. NAU student cyclist killed in hit-and-run identified

A PA man hit from behind gets a ticket. Bicyclist injured, cited in accident with SUV Yep, if you’re not riding a bike covered in lights and reflectors and wearing a glow-in-the-dark clown costume when you get hit from behind in the dark, it’s your fault, not the driver that was over-driving his headlights.

A SWSS wreck in the Great White North. Boy on bike injured after being hit by car in Sydney This was Sydney NS not in Oz. Because of the poor investigation and reportage, I have no idea what actually happened in this wreck, other than I find the listed cause both rather generic and unlikely. Also “not wearing a helmet” was listed with the causes of the wreck again! Helmets do not prevent wrecks, and in some cases can actually cause them (drivers tend to not give as much room to cyclists wearing helmets).

From Oz, the comments on the rider killed last week have left a bad taste in many people’s mouths. Vale Vikki Riley – “a beautiful woman lost” … and still the trolls come out to play I was disgusted at the number of comments to the effect that roads were made for cars. Umm so what did the roads do from 2000 BCE to 1900 CE? “Don’t mind us, we’re just waiting for cars to be invented”?

Infrastructure! from NYC. Increase in Cycling Collides with Pedestrians and Traffic Laws I must point out that the article mentions the most recent person killed by a cyclist in NYC, a hit-and-run (sort of) where the victim initially walked away from the wreck but died a few hours later from a blood clot on the brain, in 2009! The most recent person to die from getting hit with a motor vehicle while walking on a sidewalk died last week, and since the last person killed by a cyclist died, more than 150 people have died from people driving motor vehicles on the sidewalks.

LifeStyle from CA as people come to the aid of the victim of the attempted murder by motor vehicle. CHRIS SMITH: Oakmonters help to lift up injured bicyclist And jjalequa16, Gigi is watching you! You had better not ever even buzz a cyclist with the comments you have left on various sites and about various cyclists’ injuries and deaths. You have demonstrated pre-meditation by your comments and there is no way you can claim it wasn’t deliberate if you even buzz a cyclist.

And that’s about all the “fun” I can stand.

Billed @$0.02, Opus