Summer has landed, and the Feed

The post is getting a late start today because I was Doing Things today. First I mowed the lawn again, took a break and answered some e-mail while I cooled off enough to stop sweating for a few minutes, then showered and dressed to go run errands on Blue. I went to the local Post Office where they told me they couldn’t track my package that has been AWOL since Friday of last week (I would call that LOST), then picked up my new shoe from getting the lift installed at the shoe repair. After I got caught in a massive traffic jam caused by some kind of emergency near the house (complete with fleets of TV news helicopters hovering overhead) that all I could see of was several police vehicles and a fire engine, I managed to roll back into Casa de El Poeta just before 1830. And the headline? I was riding in 95 degree weather with a heat index of just under 100°F today, with the heat index in the high 90s while I was mowing.

What was breaking news when I got it, a cyclist was struck by a motor vehicle in PA. Car strikes bicyclist in Carlisle this morning At this point the only thing known is the cyclist was hit in an intersection and was centerpunched by the driver. So intersection protocols to avoid, but I don’t know if infrastructure would have prevented this wreck. I need more information to make that assessment.

More on a wreck in KS from last month. Cyclist’s death should be a lesson for all drivers: don’t kill people with cars One would think that this lesson would be obvious…

In CA a car runs a stop sign and hits a cyclist that had the right of way. Crime Blotter: Bike and Car Collide, Minor Injuries Only I can’t believe that LEO said this wasn’t the cyclist rolling the stop… Intersection wreck, use the protocols to avoid, but since the driver ignored the existing infrastructure changing the infrastructure would not have improved matters any.

More on a fatal CA wreck. Cyclist Killed in Pleasanton “Bright, Loving Person” This was the cyclist that was hit from behind while riding in single file in the bike lane. This was the driver that claimed the cyclists were riding side-by-side all over the road in spite of the evidence provided by the skid marks.

Another SWSS wreck in CA. Cyclist injured in collision on Alpine Road This is an area that has killed at least 2 other cyclists in the recent past, and was scheduled for a serious upgrade in infrastructure this summer…

Still in CA a cycling hazard that is very hard to avoid. Bicyclist shot at, but not injured What is ironic in this wreck is the driver was already in control over a weapon that could have killed the cyclist with no danger of prosecution had he just claimed the cyclist “swerved” in front of him.

A IN cyclist is severely injured in a hit-from-behind wreck. Huntington Co. Bicyclist Airlifted To Fort Wayne Hospital After Hit By Car There is some speculation that it might have been deliberate on the part of the driver, in the comments section.

Another hit-and-run in NYC. Police Search For Driver In Alleged Brooklyn Hit-And-Run Involving Cyclist I fail to see what is “alleged” about the hit-and-run. Since the direction of travel was not given for the cyclist I can’t say if this was a hook or a cross, but intersection protocols either way, and infrastructure to prevent. And make hit-and-run equal in severity to attempted murder if the victim survives, murder if the victim dies. And the hit-and-run was a fact not an allegation.

Another hit-and-run, in CO this time. Family Of Cyclist Struck By Car Makes Public Plea LEO made the statement that the driver could not have helped but know he had hit someone in this wreck, the picture of the bike showed brackets for a headlight and a tail light that were empty, and one additional tail light and reflectors. I would say the cyclist had his bases covered prior to this wreck. Hit-from-behind protocols to avoid and get ALL the infrastructure right to prevent.

A young cyclist is injured in ND. 5-year old West Fargo boy injured when bike struck by car Intersection wreck, but the age of the cyclist suggests that infrastructure would not have been much help. Going with the age of the victim I would say the wreck was in a residential area that would have a 12.5 MPH speed limit under the Dutch model of infrastructure. This might have prevented the wreck or mitigated the damage.

From the Great White North, a cyclist wearing rain gear in the rain is hit from behind. Cyclist in fatal collision identified Update I think the investigation is relying too much on the testimony of the operator of the weapon vehicle on this one, we know from the CO wreck in a paragraph above this one that things like headlights and tail lights tend to not survive violent wrecks. Anyway, hit-from-behind protocols to avoid and get the infrastructure right to prevent.

More on an old wreck in the Great White North. Cyclist killed in collision I can’t see the back of the bike but I don’t see a headlight bracket in the crime scene pictures of the bike, so I can’t say anything about the reported lack of a tail light.

A UK driver is exonerated by claiming against the physical evidence that he was on the right (left) side of the road. Driver cleared after cyclist killed in crash Apparently juries in the UK will believe a driver’s word over the physical evidence to the contrary. I just hope the octogenarian doesn’t run one of them over.

Another link about the report from Enn Zed that HiViz clothing is well-nigh useless in preventing wrecks. High-vis clothing makes little difference for cyclist safety – expert As I posted earlier I wear HiViz mostly as a defensive move for the lawsuit to show I was doing everything I could to avoid a wreck (the full-face helmet is because I don’t want to have to get my face sewn back on a second time. Once was more than enough this lifetime, thank you.

Some good news about bike infrastructure in TX. On the Lege: HB 200 Signed Into Law This law frees up the cleared right of way under power lines for use for bike trails, giving large wide swaths of land that can’t be used for any other purpose than bike trails and power lines. The power companies can use the paved trails to maintain the power lines as part of the deal. This means the trails have to be strong enough to support heavy trucks, which means the trails will probably outlast the power lines.

And those are all the links that gave me fits today. Programming note I will be working Thursday morning and part of the afternoon, so the post will be late again.

Billed @€0.02, Opus

What is the deal with this %*$(*&^ package, and the Feed

No box of books today. It has been 6 days since the box was delivered to the post office. This has ceased to be even remotely amusing. The books have now spent twice as much time in the local USPS as they spent getting from Lincoln NE to Dallas. I am very unhappy about this to put it mildly. This was money I had to work hard for to get these books, and the books were my reward to myself for doing this work, well half of it anyway. The rest of the money went to household expenses to ease some of the financial burden.

An OH man is killed in a hit-and-run. Cyclist killed in hit and run accident in Dayton It appears that this was an intersection wreck, use the protocols to avoid/survive, and get the infrastructure right to prevent. As part of that infrastructure make hit-and-run a capital crime with sentences that may include the death penalty or life in prison should the run part of the hit-and-run be proven to have caused the death, in cases where the failure to get the victim to medical care in a timely manner directly contributed to the death. Hitting may have been outside of your control, but leaving them to die is entirely within your control.

Update on a NYC hit-and-run. Singapore cyclist in US hit-and-run crash ‘recovering well’ Nothing on the wreck which was covered here last week (the driver was going the wrong way, nothing the cyclist could have done to avoid or mitigate), but I’m glad the cyclist appears to be on the road to recovery.

Update on another NY wreck. Police ID Greece bicyclist hurt on Lake Shore Blvd. Still claiming that the wreck did not involve any other vehicles…

Again a cyclist is blamed more for a wreck than any of the drivers ever get. Pedestrian seriously injured in bike collision in downtown San Francisco I’m so tired of reading stories like this. I know my readers don’t ride on sidewalks that are not marked as MUP, so I don’t know what can be done to prevent wrecks like this on my part. What really angers me though is the resources expended on this wreck will far exceed those used to investigate a motor vehicle wreck with either a pedestrian or cyclist.

More on a CA wreck from yesterday. Pleasanton: Police identify Dublin bicyclist killed in weekend crash and Coroner IDs Bicyclist Killed Riding With Her Husband In Pleasanton Still the fault of the driver that hit the two cyclists from behind.

Another hit-and-run in CA. Bicyclist in hit-and-run accident near Riverbank was from Modesto Hit-from-behind, use the protocols to avoid, and get the infrastructure right to prevent.

More about CA bicycle wrecks in summary instead of singly. Bike-vehicle crashes mounting Most of the wrecks (73%) are the fault of the motor vehicle operator. Interesting to know.

And on the subject of bike wrecks in plural, we get the stats from Boston. What the Boston Cyclist Safety Report actually found Count on bike-hating news media to get it wrong.

A cyclist in SD gets buzzed, and not in the pleasurable way. Bike Rider Hurt on Highway 1804 When Struck by Side Mirror of Passing Vehicle The cyclist was riding according to the law while the weapon vehicle was passing too close. Hit-from-behind protocols to avoid, and get the infrastructure right to prevent. A passing law with promotion should be a big part of that infrastructure.

Part of the problem is demonstrated in CA as a drunk driver is arrested after being clocked at 101 MPH. CHP: Repeat DUI suspect clocked going 101 mph on Highway 101 in Santa Rosa The driver’s license had been suspended 10 times in the last 4 years for a variety of offenses INCLUDING DUI. This waste of human skin should not have been anywhere near the controls of the WMDs we call motor vehicles.

A cyclist is hit in the Great White North. Cyclist killed in Milton Monday evening and Police: Cyclist killed in Milton crash was homeless this one too Cyclist killed in collision more Cyclist dies after struck by vehicle in Milton Hit-from-behind wreck but as they have not immediately blamed the cyclist it may be that the cyclist was legally lighted and reflectored. The fact the they took the weapon vehicle in custody makes me think that there may have been a lighting problem with it also. Anyway, hit-from-behind protocols to avoid and if the infrastructure was done right these two would have never been in wrecking range of each other…

From the UK comes a anti-DUI PSA that has a lot of impact. ‘Pub Loo Shocker,’ British Anti-Drunk Driving PSA, Is So Terrifying It Might Just Save Lives (VIDEO)

From Enn Zed comes news that drivers don’t see HiViz any better than just regular clothes, so making it mandatory by law would have a negligible effect on drivers hitting cyclists. High-vis vests won’t cut cyclist death toll: expert I don’t wear ANSI Safety Lime because I think it makes driers notice me more, but because wearing it is an additional defense in the lawsuit my survivors will file in the event of my death.

From NYC is an infrastructure comment. What’s All the Fuss About Bikes? What indeed.

Last link? Urban Bicycling Is For Lazy People Oh, hells yeah, I’m lazy.

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

Billed @€0.02, Opus

Running way late again after visiting the Lab Rat Keeper, and the Feed

Well it was a long day today. I rose at 0700 instead of the usual 0900 (because I’m normally up until 0200 watching the Feed come in from Oz) and had a cup of tea instead of my usual half-gallon of coffee because I still haven’t figured out how to break into the disabled coffeemaker and repair it, mostly because it has those stupid tamper-resistant screws holding it together and I can’t locate the right driver to remove them. So I have been going through caffeine withdrawal since Monday, with a massive headache that started on Tuesday and was still going strong this morning. So going through withdrawal and short 2 hours sleep, and I’m apparently the only person in the world that quitting caffeine causes an increase in resting heart rate and blood pressure. Not by much, but enough to disturb my doctor.

On another medical front, I now have an explanation for my muscle aches that never seem to get better while new ones pop up all the time. I have low testosterone. This also explains why my nails have suddenly gotten softer, my hair stopped growing and other things that have recently failed to function to design specs. Basically all the things I have noticed going wrong were the result of that one hormone level being out of whack. Whodathunkit? Now the question is “why?” What caused my testosterone levels to drop suddenly and so far?

Update on that kid getting hit in TN. @White=[C] Boy killed on bike was Jacob Billings This outlet is saying the mode of wreck is not known, and that LEO will release what happened later. So, now I’m confuzzled about if the kid crossed the centerline or not. Still no matter what really happened, this remains a difficult wreck to avoid if the cyclist was forced to cross the centerline or if the cyclist was riding on the correct side of the road for his direction of travel.

A MA cyclist gets hit. Newton native dies in Amherst bicycle accident The mode of wreck wasn’t elaborated upon, but since it involves a turning truck it could only be an intersection wreck, either a left cross or a right hook. From what I’m gathering from the article the driver is getting all the blame for this wreck and there was nothing the cyclist was doing wrong, so I’m hesitant about advising intersection protocols to avoid, as it seems the wreck was not one a mere human cyclist could have avoided. Getting the infrastructure right to prevent I can get 100% behind, on the other hand.

An IL cyclist is seriously injured by a driver that may have been impaired by marijuana. Joliet 8-year-old seriously injured riding bike, driver faces pot charges Th story is behind a paywall, so that’s all I know about it.

A MI cyclist shows how not to do it when merging into the turn lane. Bicyclist injured after hitting car Hit-from-behind wreck, the protocols would definitely have made the cyclist able to avoid this wreck, and getting the infrastructure right would have prevented it.

A strange wreck in the Great White North. Cyclist injured by transport truck on Huron Church You have to admit, just from the headline that is one mighty strange wreck. The actual wreck is much more mundane than that as a SWCT (Single Witness Crossing Truck) runs a red light with a cyclist in the intersection and “brushes” the cyclist with the back tires. Getting “brushed” by 20+ tons of truck makes this a lucky-to-survive wreck. Intersection protocols would not have helped in this wreck, and unless it was completely grade separated standard north american bicycle infrastructure would not have worked either. Notice the LEO attempting to absolve the red-light-running driver of blame for the hit-and-run by claiming the driver may not have known he hit the cyclist. I’m sorry but “not knowing” you hit someone is not an excuse, but another charge to be filed. I guess that would be “driving while stupid”, which is a felony… or it would be if I was king.

Also from Canickistan drivers are mowing down vulnerable users so fast they don’t even get separate articles anymore. Cyclist, pedestrian seriously injured in separate collisions along 118th Avenue and Cyclist and pedestrian injured in two separate collisions near Rexall Place Intersection wreck, at this point they haven’t decided which one was running the red and are not blaming the cyclist immediately. So anyway, intersection wreck, use intersection protocols to avoid, and get the infrastructure right to prevent.

Another article on the deadly doofus who got a gentle caress on the wrist instead of the severe legal beatdown he deserved. 5,000 want driver who killed two cyclists re-sentenced My electronic signature is on there also, but not counted among the 5K because I’m not a subject of the crown, making my sig “unofficial”.

Another strange wreck, this time in Oz. Boys injured after Prospect motorised bike accident The wreck was caused by the passenger riding on the handlebars sticking his foot in the spokes of the front wheel, something that could have happened with or without the motor. The only safe way to take a passenger is to put them on the back on a seat made for that purpose (like an Xtracycle) or ride them on the pegs standing up, assuming you have grinding pegs bolted to the back of the bike. Or buy a tandem bike with the extra seat and pedals and stop taking freeloaders…

What can only be called an act of automotive terrorism, a driver in Enn Zed drives into a bicycle safety class for kids. Driver runs into cycle safety class The kid was waiting at a stop sign for crossing traffic to clear when he was hit from behind by a driver that LEO are waiting to charge until the toxicology tests are done. If they don’t find any intoxicants I suggest attempted murder and terrorism charges, because there is no way a sober driver could have missed seeing the HiViz on the adults leading the class, so if he was sober he must have done it on purpose. Whaddaya know, I finally found a situation that a drunk driver would get charged less severely than a sober one.

Last link is about an 11 YO telling the truth about cars. 11-Year-Old Says, “When You Drive, The Earth Smokes” Children are adversely effected by cars even when they don’t get hit by one…

And those are all the links that gave me fits this evening.

Billed @€0.02, Opus

Once again emulating the one-armed wallpaper hanger, and the Feed

Today’s tasks include making dinner (bean day), producing the blog post, and building a hot water heater for a camp shower. The basics for the water heater are a turkey fryer and a truck heater core, to which I am expected to extend the connections and add fittings to attach garden hoses to the heater core. For this I have been compensated by filling the tanks on my welding/cutting torch that were delivered empty after they replaced the unit that was stolen on the trip to the camping trip several years ago… I do not expect this to be a difficult job with setup being the most time consuming part of the job. Also, this being bean day I am making a significant changes in the recipe because we have ham that needs to be used up so not vegan beans today.

A WI man is killed crossing a street. Authorities investigate fatal bicycle crash in Wisconsin Rapids The position of the dead cyclist and the direction of travel for the weapon vehicle indicate that the cyclist may have been trapped by a stale green/quick yellow and the driver of the SUV may have proceeded through the intersection without paying attention to anything but the traffic light. Intersection protocol may have avoided this wreck, getting the infrastructure right would have prevented it.

A cyclist is hit in NC with very little information to go on. Cyclist injured in Pilot Mountain wreck identified The small amount of information supplied with this article suggests the cyclist or the driver may have drifted over the centerline, and either one could have been crowding the center in an effort to improve grip. Doing a web search for additional articles came up empty of live links (many, many dead ones.)

A cyclist is killed in NYS, no criminality suspected… Bicyclist killed by car in western NY No mode of wreck given, neither direction of travel nor lane placements, only that the driver wasn’t charged with anything in killing a cyclist. More Man Killed By Vehicle While Riding His Bike in Wheatfield and Cyclist Struck and Killed By Car in Wheatfield Those links indicate the wreck may have been a hit-from-behind wreck and there is a possibility that the driver was out illegally after curfew under the NY graduated permit program. But still no charges filed…

A blotter report of a cyclist injury wreck in the Great White North. Man sought by Montreal police for alleged taxi driver assault The cyclist is believed to have run a red light. Intersection protocols to avoid, and don’t run red lights.

A cyclist is… injured in a drive-by stabbing? IN TODAY’S GAZETTE: Cyclist hurt in drive-by stabbing The war on motorists has escalated in the UK as now they are making random attacks?

More on the mayhem at a pay ride in Enn Zed. Seven injured in GrapeRide “No comment” about the driver that ran into 4 cyclists at once…

And those are all the links I have this Monday.

Billed @$0.02, Opus

I can’t believe I’m starting a post this late at night, and the Feed

I had stuff I had to do today, with a long trip away from the house and computers involved. I have that camping trip coming up, well part of that is I have to have a bike ready for a customer that is going to use said bike on that camping trip. I had consumables to buy (tubes and brake blocks) that need to be installed by Tuesday at the latest because the bike ships to the campsite Wednesday morning. I think I might have mentioned that I have been a bit under the weather lately and not much good at going out on trips and buying things or doing anything much more strenuous than placing the laptop sideways as I lay in bed and reading web comics. I’m feeling a bit more active now, so I did “stuff”, but now I’m feeling a bit tired again, so this may be a little terse again.

Up first is a story with more than one link about a little boy killed just feet from where he had been visiting, and only 7 blocks from his home. 10-year-old WA boy hit and killed while riding bike and Spanaway boy, 10, hit and killed by pickup truck while leaving friend’s house on his bicycle This was right in the middle of a residential area, the driver should have been going slow enough to stop when the kid entered the road. Also from the video it looked like this was an arterial road through a residential area and had very poor sight lines because of overgrown vegetation on the side of the road, a lethal combination. To avoid teach children that every driveway is an intersection and to use intersection protocols, to prevent have as few houses on arterial roads as possible, and where arterials have to pass through residential areas have the speed limits as low as possible. Forget the “85th percentile” BS when people’s lives are at stake. I have rather strong opinions on the “85th percentile” rule that I will get into in a Sunday post.

And from the most deadliest state in the US to walk or ride a bike cyclist is left-crossed and blamed for his own death… WTF? Motorized bike rider dies following crash on NW 20th St. The narrative of the wreck makes the mode of the wreck quite clear, then blames the wreck on him for being there to get hit (note, from the comments left with this article, that might change). I checked the entire length of the street in question and there were no stop signs on the street, much less any traffic lights. But the directions of travel for this wreck don’t make much sense as the cyclist was riding on an east-west street if the location was right, or assuming that the directions of travel given for both vehicles was correct then the wreck could not have been on any street in that neighborhood because of a lack of places to travel north and have a car turn east in front of you. This is causing me another WTF? headache as none of the facts are matching the pictures of the area. In particular that bit about the “non-travel lane” as there are no lane markings at all on the street named in the article… I can’t tell you in good faith how to avoid or prevent this wreck until I figure out how it happened, and at this point I’m thinking that it might have happened in an alternate universe because I can’t get any of the facts given in the case match up with the geography of the area. The closest thing I can say is based on the narrative use intersection protocols to avoid and as this was a residential area cars should be moving slow enough to not impede the safety of bicycles or pedestrians.

Update on that wreck from yesterday about the SWCC in FL. Bicyclist hit, killed while crossing Dixie Highway in Deerfield Beach The second driver in this case was driving too fast for conditions if they were not able to see and avoid an adult human in the road for at least 10-15 seconds prior to impact, as the first driver pulled over and stopped and attempted to warn other drivers about the cyclist in the road. Intersection protocols to avoid, get the infrastructure right to prevent.

An OR cyclist rides drunk, into ditch. Cyclist injured after crashing bike in ditch Don’t ride drunk, and keep your vehicle under control at all times. Single-vehicle wrecks are so easy to solve…

A cyclist in Oz has a narrow escape. Struck cyclist is lucky to be alive The cyclist was trying to use the infrastructure as designed to be used and there was just too much speed on the part of the motor vehicles to actually ride a bike on the bike lane which vanished just as the cyclist got to the intersection.

A cyclist in Enn Zed on a paid ride with lots of signs warning drivers to be alert for cyclists on the road gets hit by an idiot. Cyclist injured on fun ride Of the four cyclists hit, only the 63YO victim needed transport. I’m sorry for the cyclists, but this comes down to drivers not paying attention to the roads as they use deadly weapons for transportation. Hit four at once with one needing hospitalization on a route that has signs warning drivers to watch for cyclists in the roads… If the driver wasn’t near-terminally stupid he should be charged with assault.

Infrastructure! news from NYS. Half a Billion to Treat Pedestrian and Cyclist Injuries, and That’s Just the Hospital Bills Those are direct costs of favoring the motor vehicle over all other modes of travel, and not even a full accounting of those costs as it doesn’t include any medical costs after the injured vulnerable road user leaves the hospital, and I can tell you that is an astronomical number, easily exceeding the amount spent in hospital. My total costs for just medical expenses came to almost $250K, of which about $100K was in-hospital…

Infrastructure in WY, as the bridge where a cyclist died from hitting bad pavement and then going over the guard rail gets repaved. Repairs set for bridge where fall killed biker According to the WYDoT spokesperson the work had been in the planning stages prior o the death of the cyclist…

Sad infrastructure news from Jolly Olde. Hackney council to remove ‘ghost bike’ in memory of killed cyclist Someone made the comment that the bike was a constant reminder to the council that bad infrastructure killed the cyclist and that’s why the bike had to go.

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

Billed @$0.02, Opus

Catching up on links, the Feed

I have been a bit out of it for the last couple of days, but I managed to get in my first bike ride since Saturday this afternoon, and have been able to sit down and type coherent sentences for the first time in a while (and I sincerely apologize for that almost random words from the keyboard post from yesterday).

Up first because Florida is the worst place to walk or ride a bike in the US AGAIN… Bicyclist Fatally Struck by Two Cars on Deerfield Beach Road, One Driver Fled Part of the problem here is a culture that thinks anything on the roads that is not a car or truck is illegal, and may be run over at will. Even when you have a case where a driver hits someone because they are not actively watching for anything smaller than a Fiat 500 on the roads with them but stops to alert other drivers not to hit the guy he just hit, since the driver is in fact smaller than a Fiat 500 (by how much I’m not sure) he gets ignored along with the body on the road that was just hit and presumably still alive. Other than banning motor vehicles in the state of FL for a year and applying stringent medical, psychological, and legal testing combined with extensive practical testing, I don’t see any way to avoid wrecks like this. Seriously, you have a whole state full of people that should have never been issued a license combined with people that are no longer able to function as drivers who don’t know they are no longer competent to drive a deadly weapon as transportation, and throw in a rather large population that either by choice or economic necessity is not using a car or other motorized armor, then throw in the third factor of infrastructure that was designed by someone who never heard that people walk or ride bikes for anything other than exercise, and you get Florida, the most deadliest state in the US to walk or ride a bike for NINE YEARS running!

Still hittingkilling cyclists in FL. Young teen struck by vehicle on Hutchinson Island dies LEO originally though the youth was riding the bike but additional investigation showed he was walking across the road with a friend when hit. The condition of the friend has not been released.

A little north of the most deadliest state we have a SWCC death. Cyclist struck, killed in Beaufort Co. Since the media outlet chose a stock photo collage over pictures of the scene I can’t make any comments on the story except that it wasn’t said where the cyclist was crossing from and to, and the only witness to the wreck was the driver of the weapon vehicle.

An IL man is killed riding his bike. Bolingbrook man struck and killed by car in North Riverside and Bolingbrook Bike Rider Struck, Killed by Car Hit-from-behind wreck, use the protocols to avoid, and get the infrastructure right to prevent.

Justice delayed in a fatal LA bike wreck. Judge reschedules hearing for suspect in cyclist’s death No reason given for delaying the hearing.

A cyclist in the Great White North is knocked down at an intersection then run over by a truck. Cyclist killed in Griffintown Given the fact that the cyclist was filtering up between stopped cars in heavy traffic there is the possibility the cyclist was doored first then run over by the truck. To avoid filter up the outside, not between lanes so that you at least have a possibility of falling on the sidewalk away from motor vehicles. To prevent get the infrastructure right so that heavy trucks are not sharing road space with cyclists. More Cyclist killed in Griffintown collision

From Oz comes a report of a ninja driver hitting a lighted cyclist. Cyclist lucky to escape serious injury Driving with provisional plates (P Plates) without lights and in the bike lane, I don’t see anything wrong with permanently denying this person’s application for a license. Also take his car. The cyclist on the other hand was lighted front and rear and wearing reflective clothing (that only works when the car has its headlights on…) and not in the road. More Cyclist injured in hit and run – Port Macquarie

LifeStyle in GA. Bike Ride Set To Honor Fallen Police Officers

From Enn Zed a driver actually admits they did not look before opening a car door and killing a cyclist. Driver admits fault in cyclist’s death The “small amount” the car door was opened was enough to knock an experienced cyclist off the bike and half a lane over into traffic moving much faster than the cyclist’s speed before the impact and definitely more than the now stationary cyclist. This wreck was not avoidable by the cyclist under Enn Zed law that requires a cyclist to remain in a bike lane if one is provided, and could only have been prevented by a driver actually looking before opening a door into the bike lane.

More from Enn Zed. Cyclists feel vulnerable New Zealand is the Florida of the Antipodes with bad infrastructure magnified by bad attitudes on the parts of transport ministers and drivers alike.

Infrastructure! news from the UK. Cyclist warned of death danger at west Hull roundabout This is why infrastructure projects need cyclist review, this cyclist was able within 3 minutes to tell this intersection would not work and would in fact kill cyclists that tried to use it as designed. Of course those 3 minutes were as he was getting hit by another vehicle that “did not see” him…

Legal stuff from DC. DC Should Be Tougher on Drivers Who Hit Bikers This is in response to the DC case where a driver used his vehicle as a weapon against a cyclist and then left the scene, and got community service.

Infrastructure from NYC. Pedestrians Who Follow Rules Still Risk Injury, Study Finds Interesting that more than 1 of three cyclists going to ER are sent there by cabbies trying to get to the next fare. Also interesting that only 10% of injured cyclists or pedestrians were distracted by cell phones or music devices when they were hit. This is much lower than indicated by the number of people walking around in a cell-induced haze, or riding as an “iPod Zombie”. You would think that with such a high percentage riding distracted they would form a larger percentage of the victims, but apparently distracted cyclists still pay more attention to their surroundings than distracted drivers.

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

Billed @$0.02, Opus

About to go work some more, and the Feed

Two things about this post. First this is the first post I’m making on my new laptop, and I’m working in the dining room instead of my office. Second I have to rush because I’m supposed to help Mrs. the Poet clean an apartment this morning and unlike my desktop computer I can’t suspend this box with the windows still open and resume from where I left off.

A young NH cyclist is being blamed for a driver not watching where they were going while backing into a driveway. 7-year-old cyclist injured after being struck by car The kid was riding on the sidewalk when the driver backed into the driveway. All traffic on the sidewalk has right of way over all motor vehicles, that’s the law. Any bets on the law being enforced in this case? Segregated infrastructure would not have helped prevent this wreck as it was in an area that has to mingle motor vehicles and all other modes of traffic.

A CA cyclist dies from a hit-and-run wreck. 18-Year-Old Cyclist Injured In Savage Hit-and-Run Has Died The kid was walking his bike in the crosswalk when an older male in an Mercedes SUV ran the red light and hit him so hard that the bumper cover was torn off the vehicle. This would make the vehicle easy to find if the LAPD could actually be arsed into doing their jobs and solving crimes. This is not a wreck that could be prevented with either protocols or infrastructure as the weapon vehicle operator ignored laws and existing infrastructure when he hit the cyclist. And as always in hit-and-run cases where the victim dies, I hope the driver watches his vehicle recycled into bicycles, chained to the steering wheel.

A cyclist is hit and killed in Enn Zed. Cyclist killed near Temuka named As of composing this post the mode of wreck has not been determined, not even the exact location of the wreck has been released, so the best I can say is use intersection protocols to avoid, and there probably should be some bicycle infrastructure to keep drivers in a hurry to get to/from work away from soft and squishy human riding bicycles.

And given the sever time crunch I’m operating under today, those are all the links that gave me fits today.

Billed @$.02, Opus

Doing another day imitating that chicken, and the Feed

I had a gig this morning that extended into a full day of work, but when I filtered what was in the Feed this morning there wasn’t anything that pertained to this blog. Now that I have a few minutes I can filter the afternoon links and post any that are germane to this blog…

A dead CA cyclist will be remembered. Memorial For Bicyclist Killed on San Tomas Expressway is Wednesday A little late to attend, as this link was posted in my search folder @1515 with the service @1530, so I’m sorry but even if I hadn’t been working by the time I knew about the service the service was starting. This was “an accident” so the driver that left the road to hit him faces no charges.

The Big Story is a cyclist struck and killed in Enn Zed> Cyclist killed in crash named and Second cyclist killed in Christchurch also Cyclist killed in Christchurch crash more Cyclist killed in Christchurch crash named not done yet Cyclist killed in crash named still more Second cyclist killed in three days are you kidding me Cyclist killed in Christchurch crash named AFAIK the cyclist was waiting her turn at an intersection when a vehicle turned left and went wide into her lane (same as a vehicle making wide right in the US) and ran her over. This is not the kind of wreck a human cyclist can avoid, and there are only 2 things that can prevent it: stricter licensing requirements and segregated infrastructure. The Street View of the scene shows a traffic light and a well-marked bike lane where the cyclist supposedly was hit. I might change my assessment if I get other information about the wreck, but from what I know now, this is 100% the fault of the driver…

And that’s all I got today(tonight).

Billed @$0.02, Opus

Another Bean Day, and another Feed

Even though Mrs, the Poet is not cleaning the church today she will be out and about doing things that need to be done so I’m making the beans again today. Yay, cooking! Actually if the “cooking” was any easier it would just about make itself so I’m not complaining, and this is the only way to get one of my favorite foods. I couldn’t get it before precisely because it takes so long to cook if it’s done right, which is perfect for me in this situation, where I work from the house and can stay with the slow cooker to tend the beans until they are nearly done, then season and add rice that also takes nigh onto forever to cook. I mean seriously the brown rice takes right at 2 hours to reach edible consistency after the beans reach a state that will allow adding the rice. Total cooking time is right at 6 hours with brown rice, just under 5 hours with white rice. For some reason (I’m sure Alton Brown could tell me) the beans seem to stop cooking when I add the brown rice, as I pull a bowl for the picky housemate that doesn’t like rice cooked with the beans and those beans don’t seem any different in “doneness” compared to the ones that have sat in the pot an extra 2 hours with the brown rice. Like I said, I’m not sure what is going on with this particular part of the process, I just know that it works. The rice gets cooked, the beans don’t get over-cooked, and I have a tasty meal.

I had my first bowl of the rice porridge for breakfast today, and wow. I backed off everything from the Vegan Rice “Pudding” recipe, less sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and vanilla, but a touch more salt, and a cup more water for the cooking, then into a covered dish for refrigerator storage until time to eat then microwave a bowl. The stuff sets like concrete in the fridge but returns to a smooth consistency after reaching eating temperature. In fact I think that’s what I’m going to look for when I nuke it in the future, when it gets soft and squishy it’s warm and ready to eat. The taste is less overwhelming than the pudding version, a little more of the nuttiness of the brown rice comes through, and again is something I could eat regularly for a fairly long time, which is good because nobody else will and a post makes about 8 servings for a normal American, 12 servings for people in the rest of the world, or 4 servings for a daily bike rider… And that’s 500 words about food with this being a bike blog, something’s a bit off here. Well I have seen pages and pages about alternative fuels for performance in Hot Rod Magazine, and food is fuel for the cyclist. I’m just writing about alternative fuels for people that ride bikes?

From the most deadliest state in the US to walk or ride a bike, a driver treats a cyclist like something stuck to the bottom of his shoe. Driver Dragged Cyclist Under SUV, Killing Him, Before Fleeing Scene: Miami-Dade Police The driver hit the cyclist from behind, then swerved from side to side to dislodge the cyclist from under the vehicle before fleeing the scene. Hit-from-behind protocols to avoid, and get the infrastructure right to prevent, particularly in the department of driver licensing which should have caught the sociopathic tendencies of this driver before allowing him access to a weapon of mass destruction. The driver should be prosecuted for murder if he gets caught, but given who’s on the case I doubt he will get caught. This is the real Miami PD, not CSI: Miami.

A cyclist is injured in MD. Cyclist seriously injured in accident This seems to be a popular route for cyclists as it is mostly residential, and the Google Street View even has what appears to be a cyclist on the road. 8280 WB&A Road, Severn MD There was nothing given about the wreck for either party’s lane position or direction of travel. Actually the fact that there was another vehicle is just barely mentioned, that he was hit and that’s the last of the other vehicle in the article.

Update on the blind driver that hit a cyclist in CA. Authorities identify Bay Area cyclist killed in Clearlake Oaks Still focusing on the lack of reflective clothing rather than the fact the driver apparently could not see out the windshield to avoid the cyclist…

Another low-information article, this one from the Great White North. Cyclist injured in collision with SUV Serious enough injuries, but no information about location, direction of travel or anything I can use to give cogent advice on how to prevent this other than “Infrastructure!”.

A far-West Canuckistan cyclist is hit from behind by a minivan. Cyclist struck by van at Bay and Blanshard streets in Victoria dies Intersection wreck, use the protocols to avoid, and get the infrastructure right to prevent. That trailer was just flattened when the van ran it over, which caused the cyclist to lose control over the bike and caused him to sustain head injuries too severe even for the helmet he was wearing to protect him. And then they just let the person in control of the deadly weapon drive off with the weapon vehicle. I’m sorry, but there is just too much of this going on, where people driving motor vehicles get to blame the victims with no other evidence that the victim did anything wrong and LEO take that at face value and let the driver go without consequences from the legal system.

An odd wreck in Enn Zed. Young cyclist dies in hospital The cyclist crossed the centerline and hit the motor vehicle head on and then the motor vehicle went off the side of the road and hit a power pole, really? That would be the ultimate in SWSS wrecks to have the cyclist cross the centerline… To decide on the veracity of the driver’s report I would need to know which side of the street she hit the power pole on, if it was the left side for her direction of travel that would tend to back up her claim as that would have been the reflexive avoidance maneuver for a person driving on the left side of the road. More Cyclist critically injured in crash and Cyclist hit by car in Christchurch also Cyclist hit and killed by car named

Lifestyle from Enn Zed. Wheels raised in tribute

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

Billed @$0.02, Opus

Things that I don’t understand, and the Feed

Here at Casa De El Poeta we have taken in roomers to help make ends meet. One is our son, the other is an elderly woman who may not have both oars in the water, has come slightly unclipped from one pedal, not playing with a full deck, and nine other euphemisms for not entirely sane. I have discovered a recipe for a rice porridge that makes a wonderful breakfast (a less sweet version of the vegan rice “pudding” I made a few weeks back) so I bought a full bag of brown rice to make sure I had the ingredients to make the recipe (2 cups of brown rice, 8 cups of water, 3/4 cup sugar and cinnamon, nutmeg, and a tiny dash of ground cloves and a little salt) so that there would be no “issues” with the recipe (which makes enough to feed me about 4 breakfasts). So I have all the ingredients, and go to get the slow cooker, and there’s a brand-new in the box fondue set where the crock pot is supposed to be. I tear the kitchen apart looking for the crock pot and it’s nowhere to be found. So here I am ready to cook, and the device I need to cook with is MIA/AWOL. In its place is a fondue set, which is lovely but in no way substitutes for a slow cooker. My son has no notion of what happened to the slow cooker, and claims this was the first time he had seen the fondue set. As he has demonstrated no previous desire to “do” fondue in the thirty-mumble years I have known him. I believe him. This leaves one other person to mess with the slow cooker and leave a fondue set, the crazy lady in the other bedroom. I know Mrs. the Poet would not substitute a fondue set for a slow cooker as 1) this would require spending money she does not have, and 2) she has no more desire to consume fondue than my son. So by process of elimination we have only one suspect left… and I still don’t get to make my rice porridge.

LA cyclists have been dealing with a minor spate of attempted murder on the roads. Second cyclist struck by hit-and-run driver in Ascension The know the second vehicle was a white F-150 pickup from debris left behind while the first vehicle remains unknown because of a lack of debris from the wreck. Hit-from-behind protocols to avoid, and prevent homicidal maniacs from having access to weapons of mass destruction to prevent. Also some decent inter-urban bicycle infrastructure would be of great help, both in keeping the WMD away from the vulnerable road users, and in giving the homicidal maniacs some other way of getting around after they get out of prison/the nut-house.

One of the drawbacks of aftermarket lighting for bicycles, they don’t stay put in a wreck. Bicyclist injured on Milledge Avenue The GA cyclist was hit head on by a vehicle turning into his lane from another street, and they are more upset the cyclist can’t locate his headlight after the wreck than the fact the driver was in the wrong lane? TANJ! Intersection protocols to avoid and get the idiots off the road that can’t see a cyclist until he’s sprawled across the windshield to prevent. And make headlight brackets strong enough to survive a wreck that was survivable by the rider, I can’t tell you how many headlights I went through back when I was working the convenience store down the street (that was very bumpy and full of pot holes), but I averaged about one per week until I bought a full-suspension MTB. This was in the days of halogen bulbs as the state of the art in bike lighting and getting more than a few hours out of a set of batteries meant you bought really expensive batteries, and the (cheap) batteries were lasting longer than the lights I put them in. I postulate that a similar situation befell this cyclist, either the light fell off just before the impact, or did not survive the impact and investigators were unable to locate the remains of the light in the dark.

A cyclist in Oz is involved in a similar wreck to the GA wreck listed above. Teen cyclist injured in crash at Foxground The cyclist in this wreck fared much worse than the GA cyclist as he had to be transported with serious multiple injuries after the wreck. As of the moment the cyclist was not accused of riding salmon so we have to assume the driver crossed the centerline of the road for some reason.

What a dead cyclist “means” in Enn Zed. The impact of a cyclist’s death I can see the video but not hear it, so I don’t know what the people are saying on it, but as this includes the funeral of a woman killed by a truck that passed too closely, I’m assuming it is at least somewhat positive.

And a cyclist that died in Thailand will have to be identified from DNA records as he was hit so many times not enough pieces of him (?) were left intact to identify him. Horrific death for cyclist (pix) hit-from-behind protocols to avoid, and get the idiots off the roads to prevent. I mean seriously hit guy was hit so hard that tiny shreds are all that is left, even though the bike was almost undamaged. This implies a buzz job at an immense speed for the initial impact, something well in excess of 100 MPH (160Km/hr).

And those are all the live links that gave me fits today, that last link in particular >shudder<.

Billed @$0.02, Opus