Hopefully not a Freaky Friday, and the Feed

Dad is talking with his PT therapist right now and doing exercises to strengthen his legs and core and also walking around the porch working on his balance. I had another good morning and was able to get both socks without breaking any teeth from gritting them or clenching my jaw.

Up first because of lots of links, a Portland OR woman is killed by a semi truck turning across the bike lane in a classic right hook. Portland bicyclist killed in collision with semi and Bicyclist hit by semi in downtown Portland also Police Identify Bicyclist Killed By Truck Last Night The major difference between this wreck and most right hooks is the cyclist was hit from behind and then run over by the cab of the truck, but as I recall from my truck driving days you could hide a Mini in the right front blind spot of those trucks. The cyclist could not have avoided this wreck as you have to depend on other people seeing you at some point or else wait until every other vehicle is gone from the road. To prevent would require changes made to big trucks or the outright banning of the trucks from urban areas, because if you don’t even with the best possible infrastructure you are going to get wrecks at intersections.

Because it’s close to WoaB World HQ in the beautiful suburbs of Hell. Help Out A Fellow Cyclists Nothing on the mode of the wreck yet, but the location is just a ew miles from my home. Comments on FB indicate this might be a hit-from-behind wreck caused by a distracted driver but nothing to verify that from any official source, or even coverage from the local news paper.

A cyclist is killed in CA by a hit-and-run with a rare and expensive car. Bicycle Rider Killed in Hit and Run Identified and Dublin bicyclist killed by hit-run driver is IDd Hit-from-behind and hit-and-run, with a $100K (or more) car. Unless the car was stolen this makes almost no sense. Anyway, to avoid use the protocols, to prevent get cars the heck away from people on bicycles.

Two young boys in UT are hit while riding 2 up on a single trick bike. 2 Payson boys injured after being struck by SUV There was an important detail left out of the narrative of the wreck, when the kids were turning left from the main road to the side road who had the stop sign or red light? Anyway it was during a turning movement at an intersection, so use intersection protocols to avoid. You know what would have prevented this wreck, Infrastructure!

A NJ cyclist is injured crossing the street. Jersey City bicyclist, 21, suffers non-life threatening injuries after being struck by car The narrative so far is the cyclist came from between 2 parked cars (SWSS). Use hit-from-behind protocols to avoid and get the infrastructure right to prevent.

A cyclist is killed right after the RoS in TN. Cyclist killed Wednesday in Lakewood-Old Hickory identified Another blind driver hits a cyclist from behind. Hit-from-behind protocols to avoid, and enforce the 3-foot passing law for crying out loud. To prevent, it’s almost always infrastructure.

From a little further east in TN, problems in the Choo-choo city of Chattanooga. Chattanooga cyclists: Cars often don’t share roads Several hit-from-behind or near misses that cyclists used the protocols to avoid, but they shouldn’t have to be avoiding these wrecks. TN has had a 3 foot passing law for ages and it is seldom enforced. this is a bit of infrastructure that needs to be strengthened.

From the most deadliest state in the US to walk or ride a bike, dead cyclists get no justice after a woman falls asleep at the wheel and runs over 2 cyclists. No criminal charges filed in fatal causeway accident Drugs in her system and asleep at the wheel and they still couldn’t find anything to charge the driver with other than a ticket for failure to maintain a single lane… TANJ!

In the Great White North, tickets were issued immediately to 2 of 3 drivers that hit cyclists this week. Fines laid after cyclists hit Two of the drivers made unsafe turns and hit cyclists at intersections, investigation is still ongoing on the third wreck. Intersection protocols to avoid the 2 wrecks they know what happened and get the infrastructure right to prevent.

Still in the GWN, the local DoT is blamed for roads that lacked bicycle provisions in the wake of one of the most deadly bike wrecks in Canadian history. Transport Quebec defends its road repairs in wake of coroner’s report And we all know that government agencies don’t lie about their performance goals not being met…

A report from Enn Zed about a guy that was hit while riding a bike. Male cyclist, 50, hit by car And that pretty much sums up the entire known situation of the wreck.

Not every European city is like Amsterdam or even Copenhagen. Navigating Europe’s Most Congested City by Bike Scary by European standards, a taste of home for me. I would love to have things so nice in the suburbs of Hell.

And some important things to know when you’re shopping for a new helmet. Best bike helmets to protect riders Just understand this test is totally unlike the real world where people’s heads are not independent of their bodies.

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

Billed @$0.02, Opus

Waiting on the Ride of Silence, and the Feed

No, I’m not forgetting about the Ride of Silence. It’s just that this year I’m going to be in a place without a Ride and also without a bike, which makes me a little depressed about the Ride. I’ll get over it, but for now I’m a bit on the down side. That’s why I’m not posting as many links in the run-up to the Ride as I usually do. Also this is the first time I won’t be able to make the Mother Ride. I mean I have missed a few RoS because of scheduling snafus (the BPAC meeting being held on the same day and a couple of cities away from the Ride being the biggest impediment to attending the Ride), but this is the first time I have had absolutely zero chance of making the Mother Ride.

I’m not going to post any links to the death of the cyclist killed when she hit the back of a team car during a race in CA, but that doesn’t mean I disregard the death. It was just as meaningful as any death, but it was during a race on closed roads and there is nothing I can say that would apply to people riding on the roads in “normal” traffic. So while I feel just as bad about this wreck as I do about all the rest of them, I’m not going to link to this story.

Up first a NC cyclist was wearing clothes instead of a glow in the dark clown costume so it was obviously his fault he got hit, right? Cyclist was wearing dark clothing, lacked large reflectors on bike The cyclist in this case was seen to be drinking prior to the wreck, so there is a possibility he was impaired and rode out in front of the driver too close to be avoided. To avoid use intersection protocols and wear lights on the bike, to prevent get the infrastructure right so cyclists don’t have to cross busy high-speed highways to get to or from things like restaurants.

A little away from that wreck the guy that died on Folly Road in Charleston was also charged in a DUI death of a pedestrian on the same stretch of road. Skinful felony DUI suspect under legal limit for alcohol, tested positive for THC I’m still trying to get a handle on this wreck as a local tells me that there were no parked cars on the street where the cyclist was killed, but that this was a street that saw a lot of bike traffic because of the bridge it connected to and that trying to ride on side streets would cause you to keep crossing Folly as the through streets crossed the road several times. As far as the previous wreck is concerned he may not have had enough alcohol in his blood to be legally drunk but add a contact high from pot… and I’m still of mixed feelings about this. Sure he was a drunk/impaired driver who killed a pedestrian, but he died a cyclist… So does he go to the hot place of eternal torment because ha drove drunk and killed a pedestrian, or the comfy place with bad music because he died a cyclist? Questions like that are beyond my pay grade and security clearance…

A CT cyclist and several passengers are injured when a bus is hit from behind as the cyclist was loading his bike on the bus front bike rack. Several Injured After Truck Hits Bus OK there is no earthly way a cyclist can avoid this one as it was a pinball wreck where a second vehicle hits the cyclist after being hit itself, and in this case the bus was hit out of the field of vision of the cyclist or any of the rest of the passengers of the bus. To prevent this would be a good case for installing bike/bus lanes so that there would be no trucks in the lane to hit the bus from behind at a high rate of speed.

A really nasty hit-and-run in PA. Charges Expected In Weekend Hit-And-Run From the information in the article I would say that this was either a case of an impaired driver or a deliberate assault on the cyclist for being “in the way”. To avoid use the hit-from-behind protocols from the link at the top of my blog, to prevent get the stupid infrastructure right so drivers don’t feel compelled to get angry at a cyclist “in the way”.

A cyclist in Enn Zed gets right crossed (the equivalent of the left cross for those that drive on the wrong side of the road). Cyclist hit in rush hour traffic Not much I can say about this one really except the usual platitudes about using intersection protocols to avoid a similar wreck and getting the infrastructure right to prevent a wreck like that from ever being able to happen.

Infrastructure! news from around NY. Westfielder Walker Makes Strides for Safety at Tamaques Park Apparently pedestrians feel like they should walk in the bike lanes. And the sidewalk, and anywhere else they feel?

Another article ranking infrastructure along with intangibles for cycling in the US, by city. Minneapolis Ranks #1 For Cycling…. Again. I noticed that Dallas and Garland both failed to make the top 1000 of cities in their size…

Cyclists in Jolly Olde don’t like being stationary targets. We jump red lights for our own safety, cyclists claim I have been hearing this for years, and there is some factual evidence to back them up on this one, specifically the study on why more women than men are killed by HGV at intersections. Advocacy & Safety – “Are women cyclists in more danger than men?”

Links to Ride of Silence events. The Ride of Silence: a loud cry for bicycle safety and Freeloaders: Two wheels are better than four

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

Billed @$0.02, Opus

To the gills with coffee, and the Feed

I haven’t even looked at the Feed folder this morning as I plow through the rest of my daily correspondence required to make the house and writer function, and I have already polished off the first pot of coffee for the day between breakfast and lunch. As the glow from my eyes glares from the computer screen I will have to don shades just to filter the Feed today

The big story for today is still the Pinkybike wreck in L.A. Police skeptical that cyclist was injured in road rage incident and LAPD Reversal: Cyclist Crash Being Investigated as Crime also Police Continue ‘Exhaustive’ Investigation into Susanna Schick Biking Accident, Hope It Doesn’t Create ‘Bike Versus Car’ Mentality Again, the injuries suffered by Susanna just don’t mesh with either speed reported in the media for the wreck, impossible at 18 MPH, highly unlikely at 30 unless there was something in the bike lane to run in to, which would have had to have been invisible because nobody reported seeing any sort of obstructions in the bike lane. I personally have had several wrecks at the speeds in question and on smooth unobstructed pavement like that in the incident in question have never been injured worse than road rash and bruises. The only reported road rash in this case was to the rider’s face (another reason I wear a full-face helmet). The facts in this case are like 2+2=pi, just not adding up. There is additional information being left out by someone, most likely the LAPD.

The next biggest story is the kid hit on a bike at the curb in NYC. Bicyclist Killed While Riding in the Bronx and Bronx teen on bike hit and killed It’s so nice for the driver that NYPD immediately absolved (him/her?) of any possible guilt in the wreck before the cyclist’s body had even gotten cold.

Another fatal wreck in the most deadliest state in the US to walk or ride a bike for 6 years running. Bicyclist dies after riding into path of car in Lee County Again the narrative does not fit the evidence. The cyclist was hit in the left rear by the right front of the car that “veered sharply left” while crossing the road. If the cyclist had been crossing with the left side facing the driver, then veering left should have resulted in a left-FRONT impact. If the cyclist was hit in the rear while crossing in front of a vehicle that veered LEFT the cyclist would have been hit on the RIGHT rear. The wreck impact as described would have had to have been a pass that was too close to the cyclist by more than the 3 feet of clearance required by FL law when passing cyclists. IOW this driver rammed the cyclist from behind while the cyclist was proceeding in a lawful manner down the road.

A driver that killed a cyclist in a left-cross is absolved of blame. Driver not charged in cyclist death in Middletown “I didn’t see him” invoked again. I hope all the LEO involved in this one have terrible nightmares the rest of their lives of blind drivers almost running them over.

The big overseas story is from the UK where a truck driver that ran a cyclist over from behind on a clear day with unobstructed sight lines is spared jail time. Family dismayed by light sentence for driver who killed cyclist and Lorry driver sentenced after he ploughed into cyclist and killed him also Speeding lorry driver who killed racing cyclist escapes jail more Lorry driver who claims he didn’t see time-trial cyclist he killed escapes jail gads, not done yet? Suspended sentence for driver who killed Karl Austin and Lorry driver receives suspended jail term after death of cyclist Karl Austin The facts of the case are undisputed, the driver had most of a mile to see and avoid the cyclist who was doing and estimated 20 MPH at the time he was hit, and the driver’s on-board speed recorder showed he was 6 MPH over the local limit for his vehicle. The cyclist was dressed in a HiVis jersey, and had a very bright blinky light on the back of his bike. The impact threw the cyclist more than 150 feet before he stopped, and died on the spot. To describe the event as “careless” is a gross understatement. And the sentence, the hardest part of which is the 4 month curfew, is nothing short of ludicrous. He should be in jail, and the hardest thing he gets is he can’t go to the pub for 4 months. TANJ!

A cyclist is injured in Enn Zed. Cyclist hospitalised with head injuries If there as less information in this report we wouldn’t even know there had been a wreck, not to mention that there were actually 2 cyclists in the article in 2 different wrecks, a motorcycle and a bicycle. I find it interesting the bicyclist had a head injury in spite of NZ’s country-wide helmet law for cyclists…

More on the new PA law that requires drivers to give 4 feet of clearance when passing. Cyclists give ‘cushion of safety’ in new law I really like Chip’s grasp of the physics involved in hitting a semi, too bad he is completely wrong about it.

And to close, a pretty bike picture. Twin Cities Bike Picture of the Day: 4.13.12 Ain’t that nice to look at?

And that is all the news that gave me fits today.

Billed @$0.02, Opus

In a rush rush rush, the Feed

Well in a rush and in pain. I had to mow the lawn this morning, and my hip muscles decided to go on strike, the ones that had been bothering me most of the winter. I thought they had finally healed up, because it had been a couple of weeks since I last had any trouble with them, but I was wrong. About halfway through when I couldn’t walk any more I had to stop and sit down for a while, which was a whole ‘nother story in pain. After that subsided a bit I had lunch and completed mowing the lawn, whereupon I retired to my bed with a massager to force the muscles into compliance with my desires and followed that up with a couple of ibuprofen and now I can sit at the computer and wince a bit when I move… what would normally be a 2 hour job turned into more than 4 hours, between having to wait until the mower decided it wanted to start (it runs fine when the temperature is above 75°F but refuses to even putt-putt once the temperature drops below 74) and having to stop and regain use of my hip. So now I’m typing like a house afire trying to get all the links read and posted.

Up first is an update on the cyclist who was hit riding salmon in Brownsville near the US-Mexico border. Boy, 14, identified as victim of weekend accident OK now we know the destination, and I was wrong, it would have been more than 5 miles out of his way to ride with traffic rather than salmon. The takeaway from this is bicycle infrastructure needs to be installed at the border because there appears to be a significant amount of bike travel through there anyway, they might as well do something to accommodate it.

A cyclist is killed by an Amtrack train, on an article I left a comment on that raised quite a ruckuss. Man struck and killed by train in Antioch As I said in my comment, trains are easy to see, easy to hear, and only found on train tracks making them easy to avoid. I apologize (again) for emotional discomfort this may have caused the survivors of the deceased cyclists, but momentary or permanent you have to do something stupid to get hit by a train.

More on the driver actually getting a ticket for breaking the new PA passing law after hitting a cyclist. Driver cited under new bicycle law after striking cyclist on Fahy Bridge The comments on this article are just hilarious (not). Seriously, do some people not know that calling someone gay as an epithet is a hate crime? Another Cyclist Hit by Car on Fahy Bridge

In the Great White North a cyclist’s killer is sentenced. Man sentenced for drunk driving that killed cyclist in Long Plain The perp has just passed 2 years in jail and will have to spend another 2 years for a total of 4 years behind bars, plus 2 more years of supervised probation (no drinking allowed) then another 12 years of no driving (but they still didn’t make driving itself a crime for the perp).

More on Levi’s Spanish wreck. US cyclist Levi Leipheimer breaks leg after being hit by car in Basque training I think they meant “when”, or “by”, rather than “after”. US cyclist breaks leg in accident with car

In Enn Zed, a man is arrested and charged for leaning out of a car to assault a cyclist. Man faces court for pushing rider off bike I have an idea, set up a gantlet (that is how it is supposed to be spelled) of cyclists with frame pumps and U-locks 100m long with a cyclist on both sides every meter (so that everybody has room to swing) and if the perp wants he can walk down that and go home, or he can go to jail until his trial. If he breaks into a run he has to go back to jail. If he dies, then no big loss. Don’t have to pay for the trial or putting his worthless hide in jail.

LifeStyle from San Diego. Bike rally honors cyclist killed during commute This is for the cyclist who was killed riding salmon that wasn’t riding salmon by at least one driver that left the scene. this whole wreck was just so confusing what with the rider riding the wrong way then the right way and all the drivers stayed at the scene and then one driver didn’t even though news and crime scene pictures show the impact on what was supposed to be the first car in the wreck (which now they are saying wasn’t the actual first car in the wreck, just the same model as the first car in the wreck). If I hadn’t just shaved my head I would be pulling out my hair…

Now I have to jump in the shower and go to a board (bored) meeting and decide how the church should spend money. yuck!

Billed @$0.02, Opus

I had another whiskey tango foxtrot moment, and the Feed

A couple of days ago I linked to a report of a driver having a diabetic incident that was caught by the OnStar unit in the car. I made a comment that the incident reminded me that there were about a million drivers with undiagnosed diabetes out there that had never been screened, who this could happen to without warning. I made a comment about this at the linked article, and you would not believe the flack I have gotten for that remark, some of which made no sense at all. And for those wondering what the headline is referring to, think International Phonetic Alphabet…

Up first, a BUI (Bicycling Under the Influence) rider who was hit by a passing car has died in the most deadliest state to walk or ride a bike in the US 6 years running. Bicyclist, 54, dies after being critically injured in crash with van and Bicyclist dies from injuries sustained in Sunday crash also Cyclist Died After Being Injured in Late Night Seminole Crash I can’t stress enough that riding under the influence of alcohol is a potentially deadly action. BUT, and this is a big “but”, BUI is thousands of times less fatal to other people than DUI. If you have to take a vehicle to get home from drinking BUI only places your life at risk, DUI places everyone within the lethal radius of your vehicle at risk, except you. Statistically DUI is relatively safe for the driver, by roughly a 3:1 ratio (for every driver killed DUI, 3 passengers or drivers of other vehicles die). If the choice is to drive or ride a bike, put your butt on that bike. Ideally you would take a cab if you get drunk away from home, but that isn’t always available.

A SWSS injury wreck in VT. Vermont State Police Log: Triathlete hit by car while riding his bike Notice the narrative, the cyclist swerved into the passing vehicle’s right quarter panel. Now, how many believe the driver cut over too soon and never allowed enough room to pass? To avoid use hit-from-behind protocols, SBR would prevent the car from being there to hit the cyclist.

It’s “OMG, bicycles!” again in NYC. Cyclist and pedestrian collide in Prospect Park … again OK 2 serious injury wrecks in almost 6 months, nobody died and both parties to both wrecks had to be transported for treatment. In one wreck the injured were treated and relesed, I still have no news about the other wreck. In between those two wrecks that did not result in fatalities, roughly 20 people were killed while they walked or stood on the sidewalks of NYC, with little to no press coverage. This is not including the pedestrians that were killed in crosswalks or jaywalking. Still, DON’T HIT THE PEDESTRIANS!

Meanwhile they have been mowing them down left and right in Albany, CA. Two More Cyclists Injured in March Three cyclists, 2 pedestrians, and so far only one ticket, for hitting the pedestrians in the crosswalk.

A cyclist that was hit in the Kiwi version of a right hook by a car pulling through a group of cyclists to get into a driveway asks drivers to be a little more considerate. Call for increased awareness of cyclists The driver in this case cut through a group of cyclists and then stopped short of clearing the road leaving the back of his car in the road where the cyclist ran into it. There was no way a human cyclist could have avoided this wreck.

Those are all the links that gave me fits this day.

Billed @$0.02, Opus

Another Bean Day, and the Feed

While Mrs. the Poet “enjoys” a day away from work by being able to sleep in ’til about 6:30 rather than her usual 3:45 AM rising time, I’m still doing my usual Monday job of making beans and rice. Ordinarily the cats get her up around 5-5:30 when she doesn’t work, but because of the time change yesterday they woke her on Standard time while us humans were on Daylight time. That’s good for right now until the cats’ internal clocks adjust to Daylight time, then come Fall they will be waking us at 4-4:30 AM.

Our first links are to a protest in Peru against the usurping of the streets by motor vehicles. 300 naked cyclists protest reckless driving in Peru and Nude cyclists hit the streets of Lima to demand safety measures There were no NSFW pictures in either article, darn the luck. This was the original purpose of the World Naked Bike Ride, to protest that people riding bikes are essentially naked compared to the protection provided by a car for drivers who act aggressively against cyclists. Now the protest is about the “indecent exposure” of people to pollution created by motor vehicles and also by the support industries for motor vehicles, which in the suburbs of Hell combine to account for about 50% of the pollution on a typical summer day.

First wreck, a cyclist is left-crossed by… a motorcycle? Bike, motorcycle collision leaves one seriously injured Yep, he got wrecked by one of our allies against distracted driving and cognitive blindness, a motorcyclist. Intersection protocols to prevent or reduce injury.

Several links to a wreck reported on here Saturday as more information is released. Police investigate fatal crash in Swatara Township involving 15-year-old bicyclist and Swatara Township police identify teenager killed in bicycle crash There is some indication that the cyclist had the right of way and the driver that hit him may have run a stop sign, the wreck site is a T intersection with a stop sign on the street that ends at the through street. Intersection protocols might prevent or reduce the severity of this wreck, and it’s in a residential area so SBR would not be applicable as cars should already be driving at a speed that’s safe to ride a bicycle around. There were other links in the Feed that died before I could post them to this paragraph. I wasn’t able to get a Street View of the site but the satellite picture showed a quiet residential area with a T intersection near the wreck address.

Sentencing in a DUI hit-and-run homicide of a cyclist in CA. Woman Who Hit, Killed Cyclist Sentenced To Prison Six years isn’t much for taking a life, but it’s one of the harshest sentences I have seen coming out of that crazy state for such a crime.

And to highlight the inequality of cyclists and drivers, the only cyclist to kill a pedestrian in S.F. CA was convicted of running a red light and violating the right of way of a pedestrian in a crosswalk for a 100% conviction record against cyclists vs a 7% prosecution rate against drivers. Cyclist Who Killed Woman Dodges Jail, Not Husband and Widower to face San Francisco cyclist at trial There were no comments allowed at that last link.

And in the most deadliest state to walk or ride a bike for 6 years running, they got another one. Cyclist, 73, dies after being struck on Main Street Another SWSS blamed on the cyclist instead of the driver that failed to follow the 3-foot-passing law. Anyway, hit-from-behind wreck, hit-from-behind protocols. This is an area where they could have SBR easily if they wanted, they seem to find the room for 8-12 lane motor vehicle roads that are only close to capacity for about 1 hour out of 24 during 5 days a week.

Still in the most deadliest state, a cyclist is killed when he attempted to cross a road with the right of way. Traffic: Monday’s commute included closure of Skyway, cyclist hit, live wires down and fuel spill

A wreck in Oz. Cyclist hospitalised after Gheringhap collision I can’t say how to prevent a wreck like this as aside from the report of it being at or near a rail crossing and a group involved nothing was said about the actual wreck. I suspect hit-from-behind but because I can’t see either the bike or the car. I see 5 bikes and what may be a 6th and none of them have damage visible in the picture.

A bike wreck in Enn Zed. Cyclist injured in crash I could only see one wheel of what I assume is the bike involved in the wreck, and it appeared to be undamaged, so all I can say about this wreck is it appears to not be a hit-from-behind.

A bike race that is also a huge social event. Bittersweet Argus win for Moolman Pasio and Sweltering Cycle Tour a success For the metric-impaired 45°C is dang hot 113°F. I have ridden in heat like that, but only because I needed to get somewhere, not to race. More Cycle tour hype misses townships and Zille saddled with upset tummy in her first race That link was a bout a rider that carb-loaded with curry the night before the ride. As far as difficulty is concerned the HHH is less demanding terrain but similar heat and about 70% longer on the Century course, but the Argus has about 3 1/2 times as many riders. Cyling pulls you in and stuffs you up Typo in the original article. Actually there were lots of typos in the original article.

Infrastructure! from the most deadliest state in the US to walk or ride a bicycle. James Thompson: Cycling can be a safe way to get around The majority of the LEO problems mentioned in this article are problems of will, not of law. The laws already exist that allow much of this to be punished when not prevented, but too many LEO have a windshield perspective because they spend 8 hours a day sitting in their cruisers, then drive home in private vehicles after work.

And those are all the links that give me fits.

Billed @$0.02, Opus

Still alive, doing better than Rush, and the Feed

I survived another idiot in the street last night, who was almost enough to ruin my ride. Not entirely, because riding in mid-60° temperatures with mild breezes was just too nice to let an idiot behind the wheel ruin it for me. This is one of those brief periods during the year when the winds die down for a bit without temperatures going into the deep freeze or the oven in the suburbs of Hell. Actually I can’t remember the winds quitting while the temperatures were in the deep freeze, so no breeze with no 110°F temperatures then. Anyway, it was a really nice ride last night in spite of the idiot that almost hit me.

Perhaps the guy that almost hit me was trying to get away from this wreck. Piedmont Pastor Seriously Injured In Bicycle Wreck If he couldn’t see 2 bikes in the street in front of him in broad daylight, I wonder how he didn’t get a ticket for failure to yield. TANJ! To avoid use the hit-from-behind protocols, to prevent use SBR.

In the same state as WoaB is a report on a man that was apparently deliberately struck from behind while riding on the shoulder of a road. Bicycle rider struck, killed “Our news partners at the Beaumont Enterprise report the car swerved out of its lane and struck Gumberger.” That sounds like a description of a deliberate act to me. Lawyer’s take Bicyclist George Gumberger Killed Riding Along Shoulder of Texas 105 in Beaumont, Texas And in none of the reports I read on this wreck do they even mention the driver’s name, mush less any action against him.

Getting closer to home as more links come in, a wreck in Austin. Blotter: Police identify cyclist killed on North Lamar I really don’t understand how this wreck happened. Why was the cyclist kneeling beside his bike? Why was he hit in the turning lane? The interesting thing is this is being investigated as a homicide rather than as a traffic “accident”. More Man hit by car, killed on North Lamar on Thursday night and Man ID’d in auto-ped crash The only thing I can come up with that makes any sense is that this was the second wreck of the night for the victim, he was hit by another vehicle and knocked off his bike into the center turn lane, and as he was collecting his wits and the bits off his bike he was hit a second time by the vehicle that killed him.

More news on the hit-and-run driver that killed a cyclist in the bike lane in the most deadliest state in the US to walk or ride a bike 6 years running. Driver in Fatal Rickenbacker Causeway Crash to Remain Behind Bars The driver is going to be held without bail because he violated his parole after a drug bust. While it is good that he is being held where he can’t hurt any more cyclists, drivers that aren’t on parole from drug busts are just as dangerous and still get released on ridiculously small bonds.

Another article on that report on how much danger HGV represent to cyclists. HGVs pose increased risk of death and serious injury to cyclists Again the news that uncontrolled bleeding is the major single factor leading to death is really surprising to me.

More infrastructure news from Scotland. Safety call after second cyclist death

Serious problems with blind drivers in Oz. Off yer bike: Brimbank’s sorry tale Three out of 4 wrecks happen during broad daylight by drivers that claim to have never seen the cyclist until after they hit him or her. That says nothing good about the state of driver’s licensing in Oz.

And more infrastructure in Enn Zed. Campaign over hazardous cycle spots Another Anglophone country that has ceded its roads to the motor vehicle and discovered that making those roads safe again costs a whole lot more than they gained by giving the roads to cars…

And those are all the links that give me fits today (correcting my grammar from previous posts).

Billed @$0.02, Opus

Another Bean Day, and the Feed

Yes, I have gotten the crock pot out and warmed it up and done all the prep and started the 3 different kinds of beans cooking at a slow simmer in preparation for serving Spicy Beans and Rice tonight. This recipe is Vegan, not because I’m adverse to eating the tasty animals, but because it doesn’t need animal protein to have complete protein. And it’s high in fiber, very low in fat, and a good source of complex carbs (the good kind of carbohydrate). It would be even better if we hadn’t run out of brown rice at the same time as the local grocery store we shop at. Brown rice is so much better as a source of vitamins than white rice, not to mention that I prefer the taste of brown rice. I used to call this Cajun-style beans and rice, but the seasoning has evolved and simplified so much that now I just call it “Spicy” and leave it at that.

In spite of having 2 full days of Feed to draw from I don’t actually have a lot of links to actual bicycle stories. I have lots of links to motorcycle stories because I also search for the word “bike” because many do not differentiate between bikes with or without motors. I used to get lots of stories about people falling off of bulls because they were paid to ride them for 8 seconds, but they fixed that so I don’t get those links any more. Unfortunately they didn’t fix people getting paid to ride bulls for 8 seconds, that still happens.

Up first a cyclist in NYC is hit by a second car after being cut off by an illegal move from another car. Cyclist Critically Injured After Being Struck By Car On 2nd Ave. This is another link to the wreck I mentioned on Saturday, where the driver at fault did not even get a scratch on their car, but 1 bike was totalled (there might be a few parts that can be recovered and re-used), a car was damaged enough to require a trip to the shop before driving it again, and a cyclist is in critical condition.

A cyclist gets a small amount of justice in the UK. £11k Compensation for Cyclist after Hit and Run Accident and Cyclist gets compensation over hit and run Notice that the driver did not get anything against him in a criminal court, not even an arrest recorded against him, because assault with a deadly weapon is just not that high a priority there…

A story that has me more than a little upset, the family of a man who was injured when a car costing more than $1m crashed into his bike at about 130MPH in an urban bike lane separated by a guard rail from the road (IOW the driver was so totally responsible for this wreck there is no question about it) are having troubles paying for the upfront costs of the surgeries he needs to recover/survive after the wreck. Kin of injured cyclist in Lamborghini crash finding it difficult to raise money for surgeries The driver died in the wreck, which I guess under Indian laws prevents the victims from recovering damages? I’m not sure how this works in India. I know in Texas the driver’s insurance would still be on the hook for paying damages, and that doctors would have to do any medical care required to save the victim’s life (not sure about restoring his ability to live as he did before the wreck) and then sue the driver that caused it for compensation. Even in the US it’s convoluted, but I have no clues about what it’s like in India.

A mystery wreck in Oz, where at least they can recognize that you can cause serious or even life-threatening injuries with a car without doing anything else to the rider or the bicycle. Cyclist injured in mystery Frankston South incident

A cyclist is killed in Enn Zed. Cyclist killed in Dunedin crash named They didn’t say anything about the mode of wreck in the article, but the picture showed what looked like a touring bike that was hit-from-behind at the base of a slight hill before an intersection, with HiViz covers on the panniers.

Something of an Infrastructure! story from the UK. Trauma study is first to show how cyclists are injured and killed on city streets Surprise surprise, helmets would not prevent the most common mode of death, uncontrolled bleeding. The severity of the injuries is no surprise to me, having survived a fatal wreck.(Yes, I died. Yes I came back. Read my About Opus page.) More Cycling injuries ‘treble in six years’ Roughly 20% of bike/motor vehicle wrecks were with HGV, but HGV are only 5% of the motor vehicles on the road, making HGV 4.75 times more likely to be in a wreck with a bicycle than a car. And per wreck you are 3 times as likely to get killed in the wreck with an HGV. I think I got the math right on that one.

In Oz cyclists are calling for their version of a 3-foot passing law after a rash of cyclists are hit-from-behind. More than 8000 Perth cyclists call for buffer zone I read about roads that are too narrow for a bike to ride a safe distance from the curb and get passed at 1m clearance, but really the roads are more than wide enough for bicycles. It’s the cars that are too big to use them safely.

LifeStyle in TX. Memorial ride planned for cyclist struck, killed by truck

LifeStyle in CA. Going on tour: More than 300 people ride in Tour de Ed, a fundraiser for injured cyclists and A Day on the Bike Beat

And if you think right-of-way issues are a (derogatory term for a female dog) now, just wait until driverless cars become common. Our car/bike/ped fights will get fiercer with driverless cars

More Infrastructure from the most deadliest state in the US to walk or ride a bike. Can bike-car wrecks be eliminated? From what I have read about FL this would take a major reconstruction of just about everything in their transportation infrastructure from attitudes on up. The first place to have to change would be the attitudes that moving cars is the highest priority for streets, that streets are made for cars and not people, that the person riding the bicycle is always at fault in a wreck…

A pretty picture with bikes in it. Twin Cities Bike Picture of the Day: 3.5.12

And that’s all the links that give me fits today.

Billed @$0.02, Opus

Real life interferes with my blogging, and the Feed

I had to go make a house payment in person at the bank again today because of a check that took until yesterday afternoon to clear and a cash deposit that didn’t show up until last night. All told I had to ride 9 miles to make sure I had a place to park my bike at night. I’m still on track to record 2400 miles this year, which is a good mileage to let me ride the Bike MS (though I had forgotten about that, didn’t you?) without having leg issues. I have decided to clean up the kitty-litter buckets and ride with them on the Bike MS. I figure watching someone ride with two of those on the back of a bike with big chrome fenders catching the breeze with a sit-up-and-beg riding position for 150 miles would be demoralizing in extremis.

The cute news today is this link from Cycle Twin Cities about happy hour at a bike shop .

A cyclist moving on the bicycle phase of a traffic signal is hit by a truck making an illegal right turn on DC. Bicyclist Hit By Truck In DC The reports I’m getting now are that the truck made a right turn during a bike and pedestrian phase of the traffic control signal when right turns are illegal. The big thing on the initial reports was that the cyclist was not wearing a helmet on his rented bike. BLASPHEMY! Don’t they know a foam hat will prevent cars from hitting cyclists?[/sarcasm] More Bicyclist injured after collision on U Street NW

A killer driver pleads guilty and is sentenced for killing a cyclist while driving drunk and texting. Newport Coast woman pleads guilty in fatal crash and Newport Coast Woman Heads to Prison in Crash That Killed Cyclist Personally I would prefer to read a headline that reads “Drunk driver that was texting when she killed a cyclist in the bike lane sent to Death Row”, but that ain’t going to happen any time soon. What I am disappointed by is she could have gotten 10 years in prison and a permanent ban on driving, but will only face a 3 year ban after she gets out.

The teens that assaulted a cyclist on a bike trail resulting in the cyclist shooting 2 of them and killing one, are formally charged with the assault (except for the dead guy, he’s already in a box). Charges for 2 Teens in Pa. Bicyclist Attack Apparently the cyclist just missed a second head shot, the surviving attacker had a neck wound. Good shooting for a combat situation. he took out 2 of 3 assailants with no collateral damages or serious injuries on his part, except for the punch in the face from the initial attack.

An OR driver that ran a cyclist over in the left turn lane while she waited for oncoming traffic to clear faces homicide charges and is being held without bail. Motorist charged in wreck that killed bicyclist Fortunately there were cyclists who witnessed the wreck and saw the victim signalling her turn before she was hit from behind.

A child cyclist is hit in a crosswalk in the Great White North. Boy injured in crosswalk The cyclist activated the crosswalk warnings that gave him right of way in the crosswalk and then used his bike to clear the crosswalk as quickly as possible and was hit with a truck for his troubles, But the media outlet that carried the story still somehow managed to blame the kid for getting hit.

A bad spot to cycle in Enn Zed takes down another cyclist. Cyclist hit by car at site of earlier accident Something that is infuriating me about wreck reports from NZ is the constant “HiViz and helmets” barrage as if these would prevent wrecks even when it’s proven to not be effective (as in this wreck).

Still in Kiwi land, a couple riding a tandem get a bad case of the speed wobbles and crash heavily. Tourists riding tandem bicycle injured in crash If the cyclists were riding a rented bike hopefully the bike shop will not be renting that bike to other people now that it’s crashed and caused injury. If they were riding their own bike they don’t have to worry about shipping it home now…

The big Infrastructure! news has been that bridge in the Twin Cities that had a structural failure (fortunately an easily repairable failure). As I guessed from the early reports there had been several motor vehicles over that bridge just before the failure was discovered. Ambulance Drove on Sabo Bridge Days Before Failure The blog that broke the story Two-cents on the Sabo bridge deal. Apparently the bridge is designed to carry one or 2 motor vehicles at a time, but something wasn’t up to spec in the construction and caused the 2 cables to fail. And the bike link that told me about it Twin Cities Cycling News From Around the Web

Infrastructure news from the most deadliest state in the US to walk or ride a bike for 6 years running, after yet another fatal wreck involving a cyclist in the bike lane. New bicycle advisory committee hopes to make biking safer in Manatee and Cyclists, Politicos Convene Bike Safety Summit

More infrastructure from the land of the cheese heads. Tougher Penalties Loom for Injuring Bicyclists, Other ‘Vulnerable Road Users’ The best illustration of why this law is needed is by reading the comments on the article.

And that’s all the links that give me fits.

Billed @$0.02, Opus

Still waiting on the 500, and the Feed

Well I’m still waiting on the rain to quit and NASCAR to get the Daytona 500 started. The current news is that they hope to have the track dried out and the race started shortly after 1900 EST, when I have a ritual planning session I have to leave for an hour later, so I will probably miss the finish.

Up first because the Feed is a dog’s breakfast of unsortable links, is a wreck in IN (I think). Bicycle rider dies after being struck in Jeffersonville The wreck appears to be a SWCC at this point, but is still under investigation. The cyclist appeared to be legally crossing the road at the time of the wreck. Until I know the mode of the wreck I can’t say how to avoid it with the current built environment, SBR would definitely prevent it in the future. More Cyclist dies of injuries from accident in Jeffersonville Well at least I know the direction of travel now…

Some kind of a turning movement into a cyclist in NJ. Irvington man killed after SUV hits his bicycle in Newark Aside from the turn to the street I can’t find a direction of travel for either of the vehicles in this wreck. Another link with nothing more to add Traffic Accidents Claim Two This Weekend From what I can get from these reports is that the cyclist was JRA and the SUV turned into his lane and hit him. What I can’t find out is if the SUV hit the cyclist from the front because the driver cut the corner, or if the SUV hit the cyclist from behind because the driver did not pay attention to what was in the road in front of him before and after making the turn. Either way there was no way for the cyclist to make an avoiding maneuver in the amount of time he had to assess the situation, he went from JRA with no other vehicle on his street to BAM! lying on the road, dead. The only thing that would prevent a wreck like this would be SBR…

A cyclist is hit-and-run in NC. Bicyclist injured in hit and run in Orange County I was able to see a few frames of that video and the road did not look good, but if the driver had been actually driving instead of just sitting behind the wheel of the car and keeping it between the ditches it would have not been a problem. Of course there is the possibility that the driver did it on purpose, but unless that is proven I’m going to say hit-from-behind protocols would work with the built environment, but SBR would prevent it entirely.

In the most deadliest state in the US to walk or ride a bike for 6 years running, not even members of the local gov’t are immune from idiots behind the wheels of cars. Bike collisions with vehicles on rise on Marco; three bicycle committee members hit Note that of the three wrecks none were the fault of the rider, all involved a motor vehicle violating the right of way of the person riding the bicycle, including one driver that ran a stop sign (something only cyclists do, right?)

A really strange wreck in GA as a cyclist is hit by a stolen… firetruck? Makeshift Memorial Marks Site Where Pedestrian was Killed by Man Driving Stolen Firetruck Apparently the cyclist was pushing a bike when he was hit…

A serious wreck in Enn Zed as a cyclist is hit so hard he ended up inside the weapon vehicle. Cyclist in hospital after windscreen collision Not much there on the mode of the wreck, but SBR would have prevented it…

Infrastructure! from Seattle. 104 pedestrians killed in 8 years; more Seattle streets should be on a diet, advocates say

Infrastructure from the afore-mentioned deadliest state. Make streets safer for bicyclists and everyone else Notice the number of comments screaming “roads are made for cars” and that everyone else should just stay home…

A person that has been trying to get decent infrastructure to the rest of the world has taken his fabulous blog off line because he can’t make any money off it and people that should be paying to use his content are stealing it without attribution and passing it off as their own. David Hembrow, A View from the Cycle-Path As sad as I am to lose this resource (that I have sent my elected officials to on numerous occasions) I see his point. He has done a ton of work on this and has made less than $15/year in compensation for it…

LifeStyle from MD as they remember a cyclist that died from a right hook by a driver that was half-blind from the effects of age. Family, friends and cyclists remember Krasnopoler – and pledge to fight for him and Hopkins student Nathan Krasnopoler remembered at candlelight vigil one year after bike accident And Hopkins Student Killed In Collision Remembered At Vigil The calls for better infrastructure, better laws, and better law enforcement against drivers that kill are the same thing I call for every day in this blog, sometime explicitly, sometimes implicitly.

And as a reward for reading this far, a nice picture

And that’s all the links that give me fits today.

Billed @$0.02, Opus