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

Light on links with a heavy social schedule, the Feed

Yes, I have few links in today’s Feed. I also had a class this morning and a RPG game this evening, so here goes…

Up first a minor injury wreck in the most deadliest state in the US to walk or ride a bike. Cyclist injured in collision with car on Southern Boulevard Causeway The cyclist wasn’t hurt too bad and the bike can be repaired. This looks like a wreck that would fall under the FL 3-foot passing law, but I don’t see the driver getting a ticket. Hit-from-behind protocols to avoid with the built environment, SBR to prevent.

More on “OMG a cyclist hit a pedestrian!” in SF. Attorney says bicyclist in fatal crash believes he entered intersection lawfully and Bicycle groups condemn ‘reckless’ behavior following posts about fatal crash I really don’t see what the noise is about. This is only the second pedestrian killed by a cyclist in over 8 months, there was another pedestrian killed by a car that day, and the day after that were barely mentioned. The cyclist in this wreck was injured trying to avoid the wreck (he actually laid the bike down and slid on his side into the crosswalk). I have only read one account that had the cyclist actually “running” the red, all the other accounts agree with the cyclist’s statement that he entered as the light turned yellow and it went red after he entered the intersection.

Hit-and-run in SoCal. Witness a Hit and Run at Brooks and Lincoln Today? Not much to say about this one as the cyclist had little chance to react and to avoid this wreck. SBR would prevent the wreck.

Bike hate in America’s Copenhagen, Portland. Driver arrested after confrontation with cyclist This is very unusual, not that there was a confrontation, but that the LEO actually paid attention to someone other than the driver (like the other witnesses) and arrested this guy for assault and leaving the scene of a wreck. If you read the comments you can see why I find this unusual, all kinds of bike hate there…

NYPD just can’t seem to get away from cyclists. The NYPD Starts to Track Bike Accidents for Trends and NYPD Now Tracking Cyclist Accidents No, this doesn’t mean they are now going to pay attention to cyclists getting killed by cars, just when cyclists hit pedestrians. Of course they’re probably still going to ignore when pedestrians get hit by cars.

“Interesting” discussion up in the Great White North about infrastructure as two entities battle it out over who has to pay for a cyclist injured by a road defect. City, Britannia Yacht Club in dispute over roadway The cyclist was injured when he hit a drainage grate that trapped his front wheel, and now the two sides are fighting over who was responsible for the grate… In the meantime the injured cyclist has to pay for someone to wipe the drool from his chin since the wreck on his own dime. Both sides are claiming the cyclist hit the grate on purpose (!) but that the other side was responsible for the defective grate that nearly killed the cyclist.

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

Billed @$0.02, Opus

Busy day planned after I post the blog, and the Feed

I have to deliver the mortgage check to the thieves people servicing the loan today, and hope the tax check has cleared so the mortgage check doesn’t bounce. The $$ we would have used to bounce-proof the mortgage check went into paying for a month’s worth of food yesterday. Such is life lived on the edge. As the saying goes, “If you’re not living on the edge, you’re taking up too much space.” And that would be rude.

It looks like I might fall behind pace for completing 2400 miles this year due to a lack of places to go. As my regular readers know, I ride to get to places that are too far to walk to in a reasonable time, and that are not served by transit, or that I would have to carry more stuff on one or more legs of the trip than I could manage on the bus or walking. IOW I ride to get where I need to go, and lately that hasn’t been to enough places that are far enough away to meet my mileage goals. And part of that has been due to a lack of $$ more than a lack of places to go. I need to get some stuff, some of it from quite some distance away, that I haven’t gotten because I can’t pay for the items once I get to the store. Now that I have my tax return that will change a little.

Up first by reason of “WTF?!”. Suspected drunk driver hits five teens on bikes The driver hit 5 people on bikes, dragging one bike for an extended distance, then got out of the car and tried to hide in trees after driving as far as his damaged car would take him. To prevent this wreck as a cyclist with current built environment there’s nothing you could do, and even SBR wouldn’t help against a drunk driver unless there were car-proof armored bollards capable of taking out a large vehicle guarding all approaches to the Bike Roads. More links in chronological order. Mount Carmel Teens Hit By Vehicle and Police Say Teacher Was Drunk When Teens Were Hit another More Reaction From Mount Carmel After Hit-And-Run Crash also Shamokin Area teacher suspended after allegedly running into teens not done yet Police Continue Investigation While Victims Of Mount Carmel Hit And Run Remain In Hospital That was a lawyer’s take on the subject 3 still in hospital another link Police: Teacher Hits 5 Teens With Car and last link Teacher Accused of Drunk Driving, Striking 5 High School Students

Still in PA, a slightly less violent wreck in the police blotter. Friday’s Sentinel police log The incident is in the paragraph that begins “Lorrie A. Shaner, 50, of Carlisle was charged with vehicles turning left“… IOW this was a classic left cross intersection wreck. To avoid with current infrastructure apply intersection protocols, and again SBR would prevent this entirely.

By TX standards this wreck was right next door to the preceding one. Bicyclist Hit, Killed in Smith Township I know the OH and the PA wrecks were hundreds of miles apart, I was making a TX joke. This wreck appears to be hit-from-behind, the standard protocol applies.

Another OH fatality, this one a SWCC. Sylvania bicyclist killed in collision on Greenbelt Not much meat in this report. If true then don’t run red lights to avoid, otherwise intersection protocols. SBR would prevent such wrecks, of course.

An almost-appropriate sentence in IL. 10-year prison sentence for hit-and-run driver The driver was drunk and suspected of also being impaired by pot when she was arrested a short time after killing the cyclist, and has been arrested for DUI and possession more than once since the wreck. IMNSHO 10 years in prison would be a good start at proper punishment, but there needs to be more, like making driving a car equal to felony possession of a weapon. Also mandatory payments to the cyclist’s surviving dependants for life or until age 21 for the minors. The article did not mention if the cyclist had any dependants to support in the nearly 2 years since the wreck that killed him.

Trouble in Paradise as a motorcycle crosses the centerline and hits a bicyclist head on. Motorcycle and bicycle collide; 2 men injured, 1 critically There’s little doubt about whose fault this wreck is, as well as how to avoid a similar wreck. To avoid fade right when a motor vehicle crosses the centerline. To prevent make SBR.

Stop the presses, a cyclist has hit another pedestrian in San Francisco. Pedestrian injured in collision with bicyclist expected to survive and Pedestrian, cyclist injured in SF Castro District collision also 72-Year-Old Castro Pedestrian Struck By Cyclist Expected To Survive and SF Media’s Double Standard on Traffic Crashes Rears Its Head Again OOOhhh are they ever not kidding about that one! and final link Pedestrian, cyclist injured in crash in Castro

Infrastructure! news from NYC. The ‘Hipster Highway’ is still a speedway: advocacy group says two-thirds of drivers speed on McGuinness Blvd. With drivers routinely exceeding the speed limit by twice the posted limit, and big rigs seriously compromising their stopping and reaction distances by going 75% over the limit, this road is in serious need of traffic calming.

Also in NYC Infrastructure. Councilman Stephen Levin Proposes Bill Requiring NYPD To Investigate Serious Bike Accidents Just another law for NYPD to ignore like the laws requiring investigation of serious injury wrecks. Unless they put Ray Kelly in jail for every uninvestigated wreck the law requires to be investigated nothing will be done.

A little jab at the legal infrastructure in the UK as regards to “cars paying for he roads”. I agree with David Cameron “I want to give the motorist a fair deal.”

And local LifeStyle as a bicycle culture develops just 40 miles to the west from WoaB World HQ in the beautiful suburbs of Hell. Big wheels turning: Bike culture in DFW Bike culture in DFW, whodathunkit?

And those are all the links that gave me fits today, sorry it’s so late, real life intervened, again.

Billed @$0.02, Opus

I finally got that image I was looking for, Wreck-Free Sunday

Now I have to figure out how to get that image out of the library and into this post.

Incidentally, image © Winston Rowntree, 2012 http://www.viruscomics.com.

Now how the preparations are going for the Bike MS, I still haven’t been getting much in the way of long rides but I have been working on my climbing skills by riding in my 20 MPH gears all the time. This increases my low cadence power immensely, in fact it upped my average speed by over a full MPH to just under 13 for the church round trip. Apparently my endurance cadence is in the high 90 to low 100 RPM range but I make the most power under or around 70. Whodathunkit?

The other Bike MS preparations are in slow more at the moment as we have until April to get things really rocking and the $$ collected. Our web mistress is trying to get the code to install the button to send donations to a separate account in our PayPal account so that we can keep donations to Bike MS separate from donations to our church (hint: Do both). Our artists are still learning how to draw on jersey material, and we have some incredibly talented artists so I am expecting to have the best looking custom jersey at the event. I don’t know how long it will last after the event, but I will look good during the event.

In grandbaby news, the due date has been refined to September 6, 2012. The balance bike project is getting refined as the rake and head angle are being set to give a zero trail so the kid has quick handling to teach how to balance on 2 wheels. The tricycle is still in concept stage as I try to decide what kind of trike would be best for indoctrinating my grandchild into the recumbent lifestyle. A tadpole trike would be better at growing with the grandchild, but a delta would have significantly more “cool” factor as it would look more like other kids’ trikes. Not to mention that a rear-steer delta could “spin out” or “drift” by using the pendulum effect to break traction on the rear wheels. Now for adults that would be a problem, but for kids that would be a positive thing. It may have been more than 4 decades since I was a little kid, but I still remember that I wanted to do the handbrake 180 like the commercial for the original Marx Big Wheel. The trick for that was you needed to have really short legs to do that as the rear wheels had to be lightly loaded for that stunt to work, and by the time the Big Wheel came out my legs were already too long. To be brutally honest I was outside the size range for the Big Wheel by a standard deviation or more, as my butt would just fit on one if the backrest was completely removed. “Butt” for my grandkid I can make the trike to his or her specific size, or make it grow to fit the child so they can do bootlegger turns to their heart’s content. Actually for a rear-steer trike it would be a reverse 180 facing backwards. I could “grow” the trike by turning the seat around and moving the pedals forward from what had been the front wheel that is now the rear wheel, and the steering is now in the front instead of the rear, et voila what had been a front-drive rear-steer delta for a toddler is now a tadpole trike for a 4-6 YO. Good enough until I can make a mini-StratusXP clone that will grow through their tween years.

And now I need to veg out with some comics and a cuppa, before I have to help with evening services tonight.

PSA, opus

Still working on the new tail light, and the Feed

I had to use my pencil torch to solder the cell interconnects last night because my regular soldering iron doesn’t have the BTUs to get the tabs hot enough to solder, but the tiny tank ran out when I was less than half done so I have to get it refilled and do it some more. I did get enough cells connected that I have a good idea of how well balanced the pack will be and also what my final voltage will be when the pack has reached the end of its rated capacity. I think this is going to work out just fine from the discharge side of the equation, but I’m still working on the charging side of the equation. I have a wall wart to use but I still need to do the bridge and filter to make it work. Even with all that it will be a C/10 charge rate, how will that work for NiMH batteries?

Up first a cyclist waiting at a red light is a victim in a pinball wreck. Cyclist Injured in Two-Car Crash This is one of those wrecks that is just impossible to avoid for a cyclist. First of all the cyclist in this wreck was standing with the bike, not riding it, which meant there was no mobility to avoid the wreck. Second when 2 cars collide and one is directed at you by the collision that path is unpredictable because of the fact that tires are not frictionless. They have drag and can regain rolling traction at any time, changing the direction of travel in any other direction (except backwards). So by the time you are certain which way the car is going to go you have no time to react, much less actually get out of the way.

Another bike/ped wreck in NYC, cyclist came out the worst. Cyclist Strikes Another Prospect Park Pedestrian From what I can find on and off line the cyclist hit a pedestrian outside the crosswalk and fell and broke his hand. The pedestrian was transported as a precaution to be checked out better in a hospital. To avoid I suggest an air horn, like the AirZound, or a car horn and a small 12V battery. More Another pedestrian struck by a cyclist in Prospect Park

More Infrastructure! news from the UK. Cyclist death roundabout safety plans proposed because of Cyclists bring junction to standstill with rush hour protest which actually they didn’t, rush hour traffic brought the cyclists to a standstill most of the time. Except for that one guy with the bus.

And that’s all the bike news I have today.

Billed @#0.02, Opus

Making sure the lights stay on, and the Feed

One of the major problems with being an impoverished bicycle blogger is keeping the lights and other electricals powered. The money that comes in doesn’t always match the expenses going out, usually because of a timing issue. Well, that’s the situation I’m in again today. I finally have the $ to pay last month’s electrical bill, which I will do promptly after finishing the blog post.

Up first is an international story, an Australian Professional cyclist is killed on a training ride in Europe, with multiple links. Cyclist dies after being hit by car and Carly Hibberd Dead: Australian Cyclist Dies After Being Hit By Car that link was sent to me by FaceBook, in my Feed, and forwarded by one of my Internet friends Australian cyclist Carly Hibberd killed during training ride As of composing this post what is known about the wreck is there were 2 cyclists and one car, the other cyclist is alive, but there was nothing about if she was hit too or just there when it happened, and there is nothing about placing on the roads or directions of travel for the 3 vehicles involved. IOW there is a pro cyclist dead in a road wreck and that’s all anyone is saying at this point.

Moving to more domestic concerns, it looks like a dangerous driver isn’t going to skate by in IL. Prosecutor says he’s still weighing charge in crash that killed cyclist in Jersey County The cyclist was hit from behind while making a left turn. Witnesses say the cyclist didn’t signal until right before the intersection at which time the SUV was already trying to pass. I don’t know if the bicycle involved had hand brakes which require both hands on the handlebars for safe stopping like most road bikes, but passing in an intersection is wrong anyway, plus IL has a 3 foot passing law for cyclists. There was just so much wrong here I can hardly type… To avoid, well that would require the driver in the back to be able to avoid hitting a cyclist making a left turn.

More on the cyclist knocked over a railing on a bridge by a person driving in the shoulder. UPDATE ON CYCLIST KILLED: Fellow doctor comments on Dr. Hollon’s death Not much to add to the previous reports, cyclist still hit from behind while riding on the shoulder, still died of massive blunt-force trauma, still no way for the cyclist to dodge this wreck…

After all that it is actually a relief to have a link where a bike wrecked and no second vehicle is suspected. Bicyclist Suffers Head Trauma in Fall in Glendora Yeah, watch for loose trash on the road surface that might make you fall, and wear a helmet. You don’t have to go as far as I do with the full-face but you should get one with a hard shell that will slide on the road so as to not cause neck injury while it prevents breaking your skull. I wear a full-face helmet because I don’t want to get my face sewn back on, again. Once was more than enough, [elvis voice]thenkyewverraverramuch.[/elvis voice]

A hit-from-behind wreck in Denver CO. Cyclist Hospitalized After Being Hit During Rush Hour The cyclist hit the windshield of the weapon vehicle such that the entire windshield was shattered, which implies some amount of angularity in the impact. Aside from the picture of the windshield and knowing there was a wreck I don’t have anything more I can say about this wreck, but that didn’t prevent people from making comments about why wasn’t the cyclist on the sidewalk (hint: not legal in Denver).

Up in the Great White North, people are getting all bent out of shape because a cyclist hit a pedestrian and got a typical fine for hitting a pedestrian or cyclist. Cyclist fractures pedestrian’s skull, gets $400 fine Seriously, the $400 fine is more than most drivers get for injuring a cyclist with a much more deadly vehicle, and where was the pedestrian’s helmet? Didn’t she know it’s dangerous to walk the streets without head protection? Getting really serious here, DON’T HIT THE PEDESTRIANS!

Interesting Infrastructure! report about TN laws from a CA perspective. Streetsblogger Report: “Give Me 3″ Law Gets Empowered in Tennessee I’m going to be visiting TN next week, I’ll ask my friends what they know/think about the new law.

Still in CA with the closure of one of the bike/ped crossings on the Golden Gate Bridge the congestion has gotten so bad that cyclists are looking for anything that will get the tourists to stop standing in the middle of the path gawking at the view. Cyclists Need Air Horns, Not Bells, to Clear Crowds on Golden Gate Bridge

Last link, a missing cyclist has been found alive and apparently uninjured after dropping his cell phone. Missing cyclist spotted uninjured in Roseville You can stop looking now.

And that’s all I have today.

Billed @$0.02, Opus

Blue is almost back together, and the Feed

Yes, poor old Blue is currently sitting upside down in my garage awaiting installation of new tires after an all-day battle to fabricate and install a new front fender. I used a rear fender identical to the one on the back as a starting point, made mounts for the fender stays that cleared the quick-release, and cut the fender for ground clearance and installed a mudflap made from milk jug plastic to catch the crud that had been going under the old fender and also provide something less jarring when it catches the curbing leaving what qualifies as “bike parking” in Garland. The new fender also covers more of the top of the tire than the old one did, reducing the spray that used to come off the tire and into the headlight (and my face ). While Blue was down I went ahead and charged all the batteries on the lights and trued the front wheel which was a touch out of true after almost 2200 miles since he rolled into my life.

Up first is not a car on bike wreck but a trend that was disturbing in the Feed today, bicyclists hit-and-run against pedestrians. The first is from a Portland OR sidewalk. Sandy sidewalk collision raises issues There is some contention that the section of the law that allows cyclists to use sidewalks unless prohibited also negates the need to share contact data in a wreck (the law gives sidewalk cyclists the “rights and duties” of pedestrians while on the sidewalk, and pedestrians are not required to share contact information when they knock each other over) but still, when they take someone away in an ambulance you should provide the victim with a way to get in touch about the bill.

Second one was this one from a CA parking lot. ESCONDIDO: Police seek teen cyclist in hit-and-run This was a kid-on-kid wreck, with the cyclist as young as 13 (maybe) so I see less culpability that for the adult cyclist in the Portland case, but still, you hit someone and hurt them you stay on the scene. It’s common courtesy that I guess isn’t all that common any more.

Our first actual cyclist injured report is from TX where a driver blinded by the sun hits a cyclist from behind. Cops release more information on unidentified bicyclist Notice that in spite of clear-cut fault in this case (driver failed to reduce speed when visibility was impaired) there were no arrests or tickets in this case, because it was a cyclist and they can’t find her ID. This is the reason I wear custom dog tags with my name, address, phone number, and blood type on them. If you have more money than I do (and if you have more than 2 dimes to rub together you have more than I do) that you should click over to the BikeJournal.com Store and get yourself and loved ones RoadID. Anyway to avoid use hit-from-behind protocols and apply a clue-by-four to the forehead of the driver as required for sense to appear.

Final link is from the Beebe where a driver admits to killing a child cyclist in the road because he was driving like a twit, and without a license or insurance either. Taunton crash: Driver admits killing Amy Hofmeister, 13 My cold and cynical mind suspects this is a ploy for lenient sentencing rather than a true feeling of remorse. But, the driver admitted guilt and the victim isn’t even buried yet, I feel a small sense of pyrrhic victory here. A dangerous driver has been removed from the roads, and we only lost one soldier (cyclist) in the process. The fact that the “soldier” in this case didn’t even know there was a war going on and was completely unarmed in the conflict, well… I’m tempted to say something along the lines of “Sacrifices must be made” but honestly and truthfully this is a conflict that has gone on far too long and has been unequal from the start.

And that’s all I have today.

Billed @$0.02, Opus

“Mule Day” again, and the Feed

It’s beginning to look like I will never get a day home again, as I have to go haul groceries again today. For those who don’t read the other pages on this blog, getting groceries was the origin of Gigi’s name: Grocery Getter> G.G.> Gigi. Food is a Big Thing here at WoaB, because if the motor on my bike runs out of fuel things get real bad real quick for everything else. Bonking (running out of energy) is just the first stage in that disaster… Anyway, after today’s blog post, food will be purchased and I will get to haul it home. Good thing, too. I’m almost out of peanut butter, one of the major sources of both calories and protein here at WoaB World HQ in the beautiful suburbs of Hell.

Up first is an update on a hit-and-run story in AZ. Unlicensed woman arrested in hit-and-run case As was suspected in the comments sections of previous articles on this story, the driver had neither license nor insurance when she hit the cyclist. As I pointed out if they just kept up surveillance of the windshield repair shops they would eventually catch the driver, because that is exactly what happened. Because the driver had the windshield replaced she is also facing additional charges of concealing/destroying evidence. That is a charge I wish would be placed against every hit-and-run driver. I mean think about it, what can you say about the BAC% of a driver that you don’t find until 24 hours or more after the wreck? Even given evidence that the driver had been drinking heavily for hours prior to the wreck, the way most DUI laws are written now without lab results showing a BAC% over the legal limit you can’t convict.

Moving to another case of hit-and-run, this time in VA. Reward doubled in hit-and-run of Virginia Beach bicyclist This was another one of those wrecks that a mere mortal cyclist had no way of avoiding.

Another reason not to hit the pedestrians, it hurts! as this UK cyclist can attest. Injured cyclist still in hospital Nothing about “Lycra louts” or anything else derogatory in this article so even given UK media laws it is apparent that the pedestrian caused the wreck. That is one of the beauties of cycling, in a wreck with a pedestrian the chances of injury are slightly biased in the favor of the pedestrian so cyclists will avoid such wrecks. Many times in wrecks with pedestrians the operators of motor vehicles are unaware they even hit anybody.

Infrastructure! from the UK. Investment is needed, say Bradford cyclists If what is stated in the article is correct, that cyclists suffer 5% of the fatalities but only account for 0.5% of the mode share, then the local governments are guilty of gross negligence at the very least, if not outright acts of terrorism. I mean a 2 foot wide cycle lane that is frequently covered by parked vehicles as an example of bicycle infrastructure?

Final link is another RoS story, a personal look at one of the victims of road violence. Doug Ray’s Story a lesson for cyclists I don’t know how this is more a lesson for cyclists than it is for drivers. Doug was the victim of a crime, hit-and-run, and probably an assault if the driver did it on purpose, while riding legally on the road.

And that’s all I have for you today.

Billed @$0.02, Opus

Plugging away on a Secret Project, and the Feed

OK so it isn’t all that big a secret Secret Project, but I’m using a buttload of T 1 3/4 white LEDs on a backplane behind a lens with a beam guard at the focal point to create a very bright headlight with a sharp horizontal cutoff of the beam pattern. The hard part is laying out and drilling 117 5mm holes in hexagonal closest packing array, which I’m still doing, everything else except painting and final assembly has been done. The light will run off a 8 Ah 12v SLA I had laying around and with the tail light I had to work with it should have about a 12 hour burn time without noticeable dimming. The tests to get the beam guard placed properly were done with only 24 LEDs, and even at that low power the beam was blinding to look into. With the full 117 it should be almost as bright as a car low beam, which means no more hidden road trash to get run over in the dark, yay! me.

Lots of hit-and-run in the Feed today, and a few updates. Many of these stories are achingly sad, just as a warning.

Up first is what I think is an update on an earlier report, or it could be I have done this so many times all the reports are starting to blur together into a mental pile of broken bodies and bicycles. Oak Park bicyclist injured in hit and run I hope the catch the driver and find a place under the jail to keep him for a long time. No bail because he already demonstrated that he is a flight risk by leaving the wreck and not turning himself in, I use the pronoun “he” because it’s most likely that the actual driver that hit the cyclist was male. The person that owns the car and was arrested for the wreck is male.

A lively elderly person is hit-and-run in GA. Update: Hit & Run driver injures cyclist Apparently this was a pretty severe hit as the man’s bicycle was dragged over a quarter of a mile from the impact site, stuck under the weapon vehicle. The cyclist in this case seems to have done everything in his power to prevent this wreck except shooting the driver before he started the car. I think that in this case that might be the only thing that could have prevented this wreck.

After police refuse to act, an injured cyclist’s family turns to civil law for justice and recompense. Injured cyclist’s family sues car driver for $10M and Comatose bicyclist’s family sues 83-year-old driver for $10 million The cyclist in this case was right-hooked in the bike lane by a driver turning into a driveway. The cyclist did not have any time to react before hitting the car and going under it by one story, another report has him locking up the brakes and sliding under the car trying to avoid the wreck. Either way this was not a wreck that the cyclist could have avoided and under MD law is 100% the fault of the driver. Why LEO refuse to prosecute the matter is beyond my comprehension.

Going west to OR, we have another hit-and-run against an elderly cyclist Just Riding Around. Van’s Driver Sought After Bicyclist Hit-And-Run From the crime scene pictures I don’t see how this could not have been deliberate, the road was straight and nearly flat with nothing that would have prevented the driver from seeing a cyclist. The remains of the bike in the one picture were blood-curdling, as it appeared the bike was lying broken in a pool of blood in the ditch, the van had to be travelling at a high rate of speed to do that kind of damage. I sincerely hope the cyclist recovers from this wreck, but having been through something similar in the past when I was much younger and knowing how hard it is for older people to heal up, I’m afraid this guy’s cycling days may be over if he even survives the complications of so much blunt force trauma.

Moving to the Great White North (and many thanks to SCTV for coming up with this nick-name for Canada) a cyclist riding without lights or reflectors after dark is killed while making a left turn. Cyclist killed after being struck on Island highway Yes, the cyclist did so many things wrong in this wreck it isn’t even funny, but wearing a helmet was not going to save this cyclist. He didn’t wait until traffic was clear before starting his turn, riding without lights or reflectors after dark, his choice of clothing was not appropriate for the time of day he was riding… but not wearing a helmet was not the main issue in this wreck.

In Jolly Olde that bill to punish cyclists that hit pedestrians more severely than drivers that do the same is generating some comment. Commons to hear of Buckingham girl killed by cyclist and Comment: Reckless cyclists should face the consequences I wouldn’t mind them changing the law for cyclists killing pedestrians if it wasn’t that drivers kill pedestrians at a rate thousands of times that of cyclists in the UK and kill cyclists (and other drivers) and are given not even a slap on the wrist, I mean drivers have been found guilty of killing cyclists by careless driving (same charge as the cyclist that killed the pedestrian was found guilty of) and have only paltry court costs to pay, not even a fine. Make killing someone with a motor vehicle a serious offense and then we start worrying about the cyclists that kill once in 3 years. Unlike the US the UK keeps track of pedestrians injured by cyclists and that happens at a rate of one bicycle wreck induced injury to a pedestrian per 263 motor vehicle wreck induced injured pedestrians. The fatality ratio is even wider with 500 pedestrians getting killed by motor vehicle wrecks in the most recent reporting period (2009) against an average of 0.3 per year for bicycles, or one bicycle wreck fatality per 1500 motor vehicle wreck pedestrian fatalities. So, given the hullaballoo over the cyclist hitting that one pedestrian 3 years ago, being found guilty and paying close to the maximum fine, shouldn’t there be 1500 times the ruckus over the number of pedestrians killed by motor vehicle drivers? And as always, don’t hit the pedestrians.

Last link, the widow of the last person killed by a bicycle in NYC is working to reduce all those pedestrian deaths caused by cycling. Nancy Gruskin Launches Delivery Cyclist Safety Campaign Again, one person a year on average gets killed by a cyclist in NYC, but the last one was almost 3 years ago now. And this is the most important thing she could do to remember her husband’s death? She could do more by creating a bike lane or other infrastructure on every major street in NYC, reducing the speed of traffic to the speed limit, or even just getting all the illegal drivers off the roads. But in the meantime, don’t hit the pedestrians, mm’kay?

And, finally, that’s all the news that gives me fits today. The weather is nice, I might go for a ride today.

Billed @$0.02, Opus

Wishing I was working on other things, the Feed

Yes, ideas about things other than killed or injured cyclists are buzzing through the grey matter today, making it very hard to concentrate on filtering the Feed. But I have Work to do and until that is done designing cute little single-seat cars that get 200 MPG highway will have to take a back-burner. mainly because that car wouldn’t be street-legal in the US.

Up first is a local to me story about the jogger killed on the Katy Trail last year. Details emerge about jogger’s death on Dallas’ Katy Trail I don’t know how many will be able to read this report, but for those that can it includes more information about what happened. The cyclist speed would not have been enough to get a citation under the proposed speed limits for the trail (15 MPH proposed, cyclist actual speed 17 MPH upper estimate).

Next is a 13 YO running a stop sign in Lancaster PA. Car collides with bike in Lancaster, teen cyclist injured I looked at the site on Google Maps, and unfortunately there isn’t a street view available, and the satellite view isn’t conclusive about how many stop signs there were at the intersection, but from what I could see there is a very good chance that on-street parking would have blocked the view of oncoming traffic from the stop sign until after the bicycle was in the lane of travel. In other words this street would have resulted in a wreck no matter what the person in the cyclist’s position on the road was driving. To avoid, in this case you would have to use all your senses to tell that this car was coming, and be ready to back up if the way wasn’t clear. To really avoid, this would require LEO to tow vehicles that obstructed visibility for road users stopped at the stop sign. Still, the kid should have watched where he was going a bit better.

In NM a doctor is killed while riding in his lane, apparently waiting to make a left turn back to his car. Doctor’s death moves colleagues, patients, cyclists I don’t understand why LEO refuse to enforce the Basic Speed Law in incidents like this. Let’s assume that the doctor was driving a car and making a left turn when he was hit from behind and killed. Same situation, different vehicle. Would the reaction from LEO be the same? Would the comments with the article be the same? Anyway, hit-from-behind protocols, except that if he was waiting to make a left turn he would have been unable to use an escape route.

Another report on the hit-and-run death of a senior cyclist in San Diego CA. SENIOR CYCLIST DEAD FROM COLLISION WITH VAN Nothing mentioned of the fact that he was hit from behind, nor of the decrepit state of the van, or that the van was being driven on the sidewalk when it hit the cyclist in the street. The pictures from the article I linked to earlier in the week tell so much more about the wreck.

Moving to Enn Zed we have two reports of a young cyclist killed by a motor vehicle. Napier boy cyclist dies despite first aid and Boy cyclist killed in Napier crash This was truly tragic as the lad was hit at a school crossing, there were trained medical personnel at the site as the wreck happened, and still the boy died. I blame the driver for hitting the boy in an area that was marked as a place where children would be on the road and still he (?) managed to hit one of them. The (?) is there because neither article ever mentioned the existence of the driver or the vehicle that hit him, it’s as if he was struck down by Jeebus or sumthin’.

Now we have Infrastructure! articles and Ghost Bikes. First of those is a woman expending entirely too much energy trying to fix a problem that doesn’t exist except in her mind. NYC Widow Pushes ‘Pedal Pledge’ To Keep Pedestrians Safe Really, more people were killed by drivers driving on the sidewalk than were killed by bicycles in the entire city. Of course when that one person killed is your spouse then perspective is sometimes a little hard to attain.

Pundits in SC ask if enough is being done to make roads there safe for cyclists. How safe are South Carolina roads for bicyclists? I’ll give you a hint: Start making getting a license much harder, start making losing a license much easier. Raise the cost of licenses and vehicle registrations, and itemize it so that there is a huge chunk labelled “Hit-and-run victims fund”, another big chunk with the tag “Air pollution victims fund” and so forth. Those are external costs that are currently being picked up by the victims.

A Ghost Bike in NYC. Fuen Bai Ghost Bike Now at Ludlow and Delancey It’s been so long since she died I had forgotten this one… How many hundreds have died that I have forgotten because hundreds more took their place? how many more will I forget because legions have passed since they did?

And that’s all the news that gave me fits today.

Billed @$0.02, Opus