Another allergy attack, and the Feed

Before I did the filtering this morning I went out to purchase replacement CFL bulbs after several “let their magic smoke out” a couple days ago. For the non-technical among my readers, electric and especially electronic devices are actually run on “magic smoke”, and you have to be very careful to keep that magic smoke inside the device. Ever see the smoke come out of some electronic gear? Did it ever work right again? See, “magic smoke” makes electronics work…

Anyway, the wind was blowing like it frequently does in TX in the Spring, which means lots of dust and pollen is in the air, and now it’s in me because I breath like a cyclist, in great volume. Between the dust and the pollen my eyes feel like they’ve been sandblasted, and I’m starting to get trickles of blood from my nose, bit indications that tonight will be “fun” in ways that are normally not aligned with the word “fun”. Fortunately we have diphenhydramine available in large quantities, so I won’t know about the “fun” as I won’t be conscious for it. Or most of it at any rate.

From the most deadliest state in the US to walk or ride a bike, what at this moment appears to be suicide by train until more information comes out. Bicycle rider killed by Tri-Rail train in Deerfield Beach The cyclist was just walking down the track in front of the train and did not get off the tracks when the train engineer used the horn…

From another part of FL, updates on the investigation of murder by motor vehicle of a cyclist. Hit-and-run victim remembered 1 year later I thought they had caught this guy, but from this story it seems the driver and his truck are still at large. Anyway the wreck was head on with the truck on the wrong side of the road, a cyclist would have to be psychic to be able to avoid one like that. SBR might be able to defend against a wreck like that, but I doubt it.

A scary incident in CO. SUNRISE: Bicyclist injured as bullets fly in Springs Again I have no idea how to avoid something like this. The stupid part is the shooter had the perfect weapon and then used a gun, when all they had to do is just run the guy over and leave and report the car as stolen. But because a gun was used the LEO will have to investigate this as an assault with a deadly weapon or even attempted murder. Not the brightest of moves on the part of the shooter.

To back up the statement in the previous paragraph, I present this article. WALLA WALLA: Man acquitted in cyclist’s death Even in the off chance you are charged, a driver has little to fear from the justice system in the death of a cyclist.

In the furthest south of south TX, a ghost bike goes up for a cyclist killed by a truck. Memorial bike honors memory of accident victim Yeah, he was riding salmon.

UK news that a small road defect caused a cyclist to be “flung” into the path of a car. Coroner says pothole most likely cause of crash that led to cyclist’s death, as DfT publishes review of problem Apparently the pothole formed overnight between trips by the cyclist, which is part of the reason it hadn’t been fixed.

And that is all the news that gave me fits…

Billed @$0.02, Opus

Planning another service, and the Feed

Being a ritualist at my church means never being able to say “Done!” We just got done with the April Fool’s service, and now we have a Full Moon service to do Thursday, and another Sunday service to do after that. Now if we had a full-time minister this would be a piece of cake, but we ritualists have jobs to do, yards to mow, gardens to tend, and then we also have to do that same stuff at home. There is always something that the ritualists need to be doing at the church above and beyond just putting on the services.

Up first today is a different kind of bike theft. Tuesday’s Sentinel police log The blurb is well hidden in the link, I will quote it for your assistance: “A bicycle was stolen from a detached garage in the rear of the 100 block of East King Street in Shippensburg between 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. March 29. According to police, the bike is described as a girl’s Schwinn mountain bike, bluish-purple and silver color and a black seat. The bike should have a water bottle on it. Police say another bike was left in its place. The found bike is a men’s Magna mountain bike, silver in color with 26 inch wheels and 21 speeds. Police seek information.” So, not so much theft as an unapproved trade. I wonder if the bike left had a flat tire or other mechanical problem.

First wreck is just down the road from WoaB World HQ in the beautiful suburbs of Hell. Local Bicycle Rider Serious Hurt In Collision With Car Note to the “writer” of this headline: adverbs, learn how to use them. This is another intersection wreck where at least one vehicle ran a red light, so it was assumed the cyclist was the one that did it. Anyway, intersection protocols, don’t run red lights and don’t assume that the people in control of 2 tons of death won’t either. I have to say that the one time I rode down there Waco seemed like a nice place to ride a bike, but I was on the road for about 11 hours and suffering a bit from the heat that time. Can you say 90 miles into a headwind? And that was just Day 1 of a 2 day 250 mile ride (planned). Remind me sometime to relate that tale of a broken tail.

First of a series of bike wrecks with teens and almost no information about the wreck. Minor injuries in car-bicycle accident And the article went, where? There was one sentence in that article, not counting the headline, that covered the age of the victim and the location of the wreck.

Another wreck, another young victim, another article that has almost no information in it. Boy on bike suffers arm injury after collision with vehicle OK a tiny bit more information on this one, it appears to be some kind of right of way violation in an intersection, use intersection protocols to avoid, SBR to prevent.

A sidewalk cyclist is injured by a car running a stop sign in AZ. Bicyclist injured after colliding with car in Yuma Again in spite of irrefutable evidence the driver ran the stop sign LEO managed to blame the cyclist on this one. To avoid, ride in the street and use intersection protocols. To prevent demand SBR.

I had to take a break from composing this post because we had a tornado touch down a bit to the south and moving west of WoaB World HQ. It’s a bit difficult to compose a post on a desktop computer when you’re sitting in the bathtub trying to keep two cats from getting away while trying to keep track of flashlights and a blinky locater light in case the house falls down on you. Did I mention the cats tolerate each other at best?

Back to the theme of kids on bikes, a 15 YO is hit-and-run in PA. Police Looking for Hit-and-Run Driver The driver in this wreck hit a cyclist from behind in his lane then crossed over to hit a skateboarder in the opposite lane. That sounds to me like a grumpy old man/woman trying to take out as many “rotten kids” as he/she can get to. I can’t tell you how to avoid a driver like this, but to prevent a situation like this you can’t do any better than SBR.

Another hit-and-run in CA of an elderly cyclist. Police briefs: Monterey bicycle accident victim identified Not much here to help other cyclists avoid a similar wreck with the built environment, but SBR would prevent a wreck like this.

A blind driver hits 2 cyclists from behind in MI. Man seriously injured when car hits his bike The driver claimed to have the sun in his eyes when he hit the cyclists @1945 yesterday. This is a major danger to cyclists, as drivers try to maintain their speed even though they can’t see the road in front of them. To prevent we need to have SBR or severe restrictions on motor vehicles so that drivers are at fault when they continue to drive in conditions like this.

A celebrity delivers a door prize to a cyclist in NYC. Tracy Morgan Bike Bust-Up: Cyclist Crashes Into Comedian’s Open Car Door To avoid, ride far enough into the street to be outside the door zone. To prevent, get bikes away from the door zone via infrastructure since SBR are pretty much impossible with the existing environment.

A cyclist is apparently murdered in CA. Police investigate hit-and-run fatality The reason I’m calling this one a “murder” is the weapon vehicle was obviously trying to not be seen, driving without lights, and did not stop after hitting the victim. If I wanted to kill someone, that’s the way I would do it…

Also in CA a driver gets 2 years. Hit-and-Run Driver who Killed Bicyclist Zachary Parke Gets Two Years in Jail and Hit and Run Suspect Sentenced and Santa Cruz area man jailed for two years for hit and run that killed cyclist on Empire Grade Road also Live Oak man jailed for two years for killing cyclist on Empire Grade Road last link Driver sentenced for crash that killed Zachary Parke Apparently killing a cyclist is no big deal in CA, Michael Vick got more time for killing dogs.

A cyclist is killed in far west CanuckistanCyclist involved in collision with car succumbs to injuries and Vancouver police investigating the death of a woman cyclist in collision and Female cyclist dies from injuries after colliding with car in east Vancouver also Cyclist hit at 12th Avenue succumbs to injuries This is the cyclist where they still haven’t determined which one was running the red light.

Moving to the UK, a cyclist is assaulted with a non-lethal projectile weapon from a moving car. Wiltshire cyclist injured in drive-by paintball attack The cyclist took one shot to the face and 2 more to the torso. To avoid, ain’t going to happen, there’s no way to avoid someone out hunting cyclists with a weapon carried in a car. To prevent, well start with confiscation and destruction of the vehicle live on national TV, then a firing squad of paintball guns on a naked perpetrator, also on live TV. Follow up with restitution to the injured victim and a prison sentence, then permanent loss of driving privilege, with mandatory prison if caught driving.

Also in the UK, a hit-and-run victim was a LEO. Injured cyclist found under flyover is police sergeant There is at least a fighting chance that this wreck will be properly investigated. Unfortunately that is only because the victim was LEO.
A wreck in Oz kills a cyclist. Man killed in bike, ute collision and Man killed in bike and ute collision At this point the only news that can be verified is that both vehicles were travelling in the same direction and the cyclist was hit from behind… hit from behind protocols to avoid, there were unconfirmed reports that the cyclist was trying to access a SBR when he was hit.

LifeStyle from NYC. On the trail of ‘ghost bikes,’ families and friends of cyclists killed on the streets of New York rally for more police action

And those are all the links that gave me fits today. Sorry this was so late, but I spent most of the day watching tornadoes tracking through the area on the TV and grabbing the cats to hide in the “safe area” of our house.

Billed @$0.02, Opus

I feel a breeze, and the Feed

Well as of right now as I type these words the video and pictures of losing more than 5 months of hair and beard growth have not yet been posted, but there is a constant draft in my house and in the rest of the world. I know that is because what used to be covered by a thick coat of hair is now exposed, but it still feels on the emotional level like the whole world has gotten drafty.

Up first, more on the cyclist that died in NC after being hit by a drunk driver. Cyclist Hit By DWI Driver In Lexington Dies This was the cyclist that was hit at a speed of between 50 and 55MPH on the shoulder of the road by a drunk driver who also hit-and-run. The driver had almost double the legal limit for BAC%.

Another NC cyclist death by a drunk driver. Greenwood teen charged in fatal bike crash Drunk driver runs off the road, hitting and killing a cyclist, but they had to mention the cyclist was not wearing a helmet… Anyway intersection protocol might have helped, Breathalyser interlocks on motor vehicle engine controls would have prevented this.

Just a short drive from the previous wreck, a cyclist is killed in a SWCC. Man hit, killed while riding bike Google Maps was unable to locate the intersection where this wreck was supposed to have happened, and I did a manual search for the intersection myself from one side of Sumter county to the other on US15 with no luck either in locating any kind of “Road 404″. The only 404 I found was a 404 error, So either this was a local designation that was not incorporated into Google Maps (and just to be sure I zoomed in to the shows lot boundaries level of zoom) or the intersection was mis-identified, or the wreck never happened and the whole article was a ruse to drive web traffic and gather eyeballs for the ads. Assuming the wreck really did happen as described it had to have been at an uncontrolled intersection where the cyclist must determine that there is a big enough gap in traffic before attempting to cross. I didn’t see many intersections where the speed limit would have made it impossible to see a car coming at night before you could cross on a bike. But the wreck supposedly happened @ 0545, still deep dark in the early morning. Anyway, intersection protocols to avoid, SBR to prevent.

In Eastern WA, a motorcycle hits a bicycle killing both riders. Neighors not surprised by deadly motorcycle, bike crash Nothing on the mode of the wreck, but locals say that motor vehicle traffic was routinely too fast for conditions there. There was an intersection mentioned in the article I read (which may be different from the one there when you click the link) so I’m going to suggest intersection protocols to avoid the wreck, and SBR to prevent it completely.

Another link to that smelly ball of goo that NYPD wreck investigation has become. A Push For More NYPD Accountability For Fatal Cyclist Crashes Yep, this one is turning into a hold-your-nose kind of deal.

Speaking of hold-your-nose, the killer of an RAF officer in the UK is sentenced. Delivery driver hit and killed RAF officer who served as Queen’s aide – but escapes jail as he was ‘blinded by the sun’ Apparently it is peachy keen to continue at speed when you can’t see past the front end of your vehicle, even if it kills someone.

Another UK killer of cyclists is actually sent to jail. Learner driver from Rainham jailed for killing schoolboy Thomas Stone Well, this driver was not even fully allowed to drive alone, was not insured, and at the time of the wreck was alone in the car…

LifeStyle! ALEXANDER: Disabled athletes should inspire us Handcycling can be fun, and is a great form of low-impact cross-training. It would be better if the vehicles didn’t cost as much as a decent used car, but given the production volumes and the fact that they’re subsidised by insurance for most of the people that need one, I don’t see prices coming down in the near future.

Last link is to an article on possible post-lithium developments in battery technology. Supercharged! Battery Power for the Future In case you wonder why this is important in a bicycle blog, one of my passions is e-assist bikes, and one of the stumbling blocks for those is a lack of both power- and energy-dense batteries at a reasonable price, that can be recharged as fast as filling a tank on an ICE-assist bike. Also the lack of good batteries are the major impediment to electric cars, for pretty much the same reason. And electric cars will be much easier to live with than ICE cars because drivers will have to drive slower to conserve what energy they can get in the car unless they want to have to charge every time they stop. IOW unless there is a major change in battery physics that makes batteries equal to gasoline I don’t see e-cars being driven as hard or as fast as ICE cars, because they will be stuck away from the charging point. I don’t see an easy way to bring a few Wh of electricity to a stranded e-car that has depleted the battery, like you can bring a jerry-can of gas to a car…

And last thought, Yehuda Moon is coming out from behind the paywall for a week, if you haven’t read it, or haven’t read it for a while, you should click the link in the sidebar and go there…

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

Billed @$0.02, Opus

Mule day duties again, and the Feed

Today is grocery-buying day, also called Mule Day at our house because someone (me) gets to act as a pack animal and bring home the merchandise from the store. Well today the mule doesn’t have much to carry, as the budget for this week is $5.01 after raiding the couch cushions and picking up every penny we saw on the sidewalk. As Mrs. the Poet says we are no longer po’, we’re down to p’ (can’t buy a vowel). Fear not there are still ample supplies of beans and rice in the pantry, I just need to get items that don’t keep very well, like milk and bread. Those are items we normally consume a lot of here at the “ranch”, that I will have to get the cheapest available, even if that means buying white bread (ugh!) Starvation is not imminent, we have plenty of food, just not the food we would normally eat this time of year. There is the distinct possibility that we might actually cook the frozen okra that has been in the freezer since sometime around 2009.

Anyone that has been on the wrong side of a local delivery truck at a stop light will appreciate being next to one of these. Smith Electric will build EV trucks in New York, files $125m IPO All-electric delivery truck, saves about $90K over the lifetime of the truck in fuel costs and maintenance (at current prices). IOW this truck pays for itself in savings compared to a diesel. The batteries go in what would be wasted space under the cargo area and in front of the rear wheels, making for a bicycle and pedestrian friendly design that diverts these road users away from the potentially fatal area of the truck. So I heartily endorse these over huge semis with diesel engines.

Up first, the family of the victim of the hit-from-behind wreck of the sweep rider of a group of more than 30 cyclists on the shoulder of a road in AL responds to the driver’s indictment. Family of Killed Cyclist Responds to Indictment Sure the driver is sorry now, he’s looking at a potential year in jail and $5K fines. For. killing. a. human. being.

A MI hit-and-run results in minor damage and slight injury to a cyclist. Bicyclist not seriously injured in Center Avenue collision with truck, police look for driver The bike looks pretty good, the cyclist will probably be sore and stiff for a few days, and I have no idea how they plan on catching the driver given that there is probably no damage to the weapon vehicle.

In the most deadliest state in the US to walk or ride a bike, someone that should be riding a bike hits someone riding a bike. Boy on bicycle hit, injured by 15-year-old driver in Brooksville and Underage driver accused of hitting 10-year-old on bicycle, fleeing Side story in the second link a 15 YO riding a bike modified for half-pipe tricks (no brakes, among other things) ran a stop sign and into a vehicle or in front of a vehicle, so 2 stupid 15 YO in this story. As for preventing this wreck, the first thing I can think of is parental control, keeping car keys in a safe place, etc. Second thing would be infrastructure where a 15 YO would not find it necessary to steal a car to get around unless he was REALLY lazy. There wasn’t enough information given about the first wreck to be able to tell how a cyclist could have avoided it as it was described as a SWCC, but 10 YO cyclist, it’s a possibility.

And a cyclist is hit-and-run by a driver fleeing from a previous hit-and-run. Bicyclist Critically Injured by Mercedes in Bensonhurst This was a wreck the cyclist could not have avoided as the driver came around a corner out-of-control and then hit other vehicles. It is probable but not certain that SBR could have prevented this wreck. You can see that the vehicle probably side-swiped the cyclist because of the lack of damage to the bicycle which could probably be placed back in service with a few adjustments, from what I could see from the pictures. Also notice that you can see a discarded bicycle helmet in the street a fairly large distance from the bike.

A driver is jailed for 2 years and fined $5K in AR. Woman gets two years, $5,000 fine for fatal hit-and-run accident Given the number of previous wrecks she had in that vehicle, she got off remarkably light for killing a man.

A salmon cyclist is killed in CA. Bicyclist killed in traffic accident on Balboa Ave by I-805 and Bicyclist killed on Balboa Avenue The problem was the cyclist riding with the sun at his back, on the wrong side of the street. To avoid, ride with trafic. And SBR would have definitely prevented this wreck.

In the Great White North, a cyclist has a “coming together” with a streetcar. Cyclist in hospital after collision with streetcar There was nothing about the mode of the wreck in the article, but I have to remind people that streetcars are only found where there are streetcar tracks. I’m not going to go as far as to place the blame on the cyclist, but unless there was a third vehicle involved that forced the cyclist into the path of the streetcar, I’m going to make it a high probability that the cyclist was mostly at fault.

NYPD’s mass fornication just keeps getting smellier. Lawsuit Seeking Information on Cyclist’s Death Gains Support Eventually NYC is going to make NYPD pay for these lawsuits by taking it out of the sued officers’ pay.

Infrastructure! from DC. D.C. struggles to keep pace as bike population grows DC residents are switching to bikes faster than the city can paint bike lanes to accommodate them… And drivers don’t know the laws or how to drive around bicyclists.

Last link is a driver that should have been riding a bicycle in PA. Police: Man pulled over in Upper Allen shouldn’t have been driving until 2040 Multiple DUI, Habitual offender status. Illegal vehicle. And where did he spend the night? The report doesn’t say so probably not in jail…

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

Billed @$0.02, Opus

Really annoyed at my cable provider, and the Feed

This is something I should really just chill about, but I can’t. I think I might have mentioned this a couple of times, but I’m a geek. I’m not a Geek with a capital “g”, just your average garden-variety geek. One of the geeky things I do is watch anime, animated cartoons from Japan. Or I should say I used to watch anime, because my cable provider decided that not enough people were watching the anime channel (Funimation Channel), and without so much as a “would you like to pay extra for that?” dumped it from the lineup. The excuse given was that not enough people watched the channel to make it worthwhile to carry it. Well I’m sure that out of the 400 or so channels they offered there were more than a few that did not get watched very often, but none of those channels were dumped, just the one that I was watching on a daily basis. Back in the old days when a credit card that wasn’t maxed out was good enough to get territorial distributorship rights I sold anime VHS tapes at local cons, but now you have to have storefront and web access to get that, no more case lots sold at cons, so the only contact point I had was Funimation Channel programming. Now I don’t even have that, and there were 2 series that had not finished (one was 2 episodes in, the other was 2 episodes from finishing) that I will never get to see the endings. Actually more than that as they had just started on the new seasons of 2 other series that were open-ended (crime dramas that always had new criminals popping up, just like the real world). Plus I wanted to catch up on the repeats of series I had already seen but missed some episodes of (I finally caught the middle 3 episodes of “Birdy the Mighty: Decode” that I missed when I was visiting my dad in TN last summer, but I kept missing the “Chobits” episodes because they would get re-aired when I was away from the house doing things). And of course in spite of the fact that I no longer have access to that channel I still have to pay the same amount for my cable/phone/Internet package. TANJ!

Up first be proximity to WoaB World HQ in the beautiful suburbs of Hell (which is actually pretty nice this time of year) a SWCC wreck in Beaumont. Cyclist critically injured in late night traffic wreck No further information has bee released on the direction of travel for the cyclist or his condition. Apparently intersection protocols should be applied given what little information I have at this point.

A little further east from that wreck we have a SWSS. Cyclist killed in Livingston Parish and Vehicle crash claims life of young cyclist also Vehicle crash claims life of young cyclist Apparently the LEO in this case has not been apprised of the LA 3 foot to pass law. Nor most of the rest of the vehicle code for that matter. You know the one about the passing vehicle must always make sure the pass can be completed safely, that is in the vehicle code of every state. To avoid with built infrastructure use hit-from-behind protocols, or make SBR part of the infrastructure instead of sharing with people that can’t drive.

Sliding a tiny bit further east, a driver that hit a cyclist on the shoulder of the road from behind while she was riding sweep on a tour group on a charity ride, is indicted for the death. Driver charged with killing female cyclist, 22, during a charity bike-ride and Former DeKalb County investigator indicted in cross-country bicyclist’s death also DeKalb County man indicted in death of charity cyclist last link Man Indicted in DeKalb County Cyclist’s Death OK I’m sickened by this, the most lenient possible charges that could have been brought for killing an innocent human being who wasn’t even riding in the road but hit from behind on the shoulder of the highway where the truck did not even belong. Hit-from-behind protocols but the only thing that will prevent wrecks like this is SBR. And taking away cars from people that kill. Even if we don’t lock them up, when you kill with a car you should lose that car with no insurance payout to replace it. We don’t give the guns that kill back to the shooters, do we? Then why allow drivers that kill continued access to their weapons?

Continuing the eastward slide, a little girl riding a tricycle on a sidewalk is killed by a hit-and-run driver in the most deadliest state in the US to walk or ride a bike, (or trike). A 5-year-old girl struck and killed in Fort Lauderdale by a hit-and-run driver I don’t know what the child could have done to prevent someone from driving a large cargo van over her while she played in front of her house.

Another wreck in the most deadliest state in the US to walk or ride a bike 6 years running. Fatal bicycle crash in Lutz Another SWCC wreck as the cyclist “went into the part of a Ford Fusion” which I interpret as the cyclist got inside the car before he was hit, or maybe as he was hit (“Pardon me, but I think that may have killed me, can I take a rest in your car?”).

And completing the slide east, the killer of 2 cyclists in NC faces trial. Jury selection begins Monday in Grooms murder trial and Jury for Doolittle deaths to be chosen in Jacksonville The good thing is this is getting charged as a murder, as the driver was both drunk and stoned on “bath salts” at the time of the wreck. I have zero qualms about people getting drunk or stoned, as long as you are not in control of a deadly device like a motor vehicle do what you want with your body. however if you are driving in that condition and you kill a cyclist, I want your butt under the jail, in a coffin, filled with concrete and a stake through your heart, after you get shot with a silver bullet. IOW I want to be absolutely sure there is no way you will ever drive a motor vehicle again.

A wreck in Canuckistan that is almost a carbon copy of an earlier wreck. Cyclist killed by semi I don’t know if it was the same road or driver but this is the second wreck where a cyclist was killed by a truck turning right onto the road he was riding on. I can’t find the link to the earlier story, so I guess I must have missed posting it earlier. To be brutally honest I can’t see any version of this wreck that isn’t 1000% the fault of the truck driver no matter where the cyclist was hit. The truck was turning from one road to the road the cyclist was riding on, exactly like the previous wreck, and should have yielded to the vehicle that was already on the road. For you to avoid a wreck like this, Intersection protocols with the built environment, or ideally SBR to keep bikes and semis from ever coming in contact with each other. A later link that just came in Police identify cyclist killed over the weekend

Another wreck in Canuckistan, this one between a jogger and a cyclist. Police need help to identify injured cyclist Another example of why you should have wearable ID when you ride a bike.

Another truck killing a cyclist in Canuckistan, with about the same degree of information as the other link. Cyclist killed after hit by truck on highway The headline makes it sound like he was put down like a horse with a broken leg instead of dying from getting run over by a semi. More Cyclist killed in collision near St. Anne Ahh the cyclist was hit-from-behind on a clear road with unrestricted visibility and good lighting, and the one comment I see says how sad it was for the driver of the truck. Hey, bud how about how sad it is for the cyclist that was run over from behind?

From that same town where a driver hit a kid from behind in LA, an Infrastructure! link. Groups pedaling a message of safety Enforcing the laws would help, for cyclists as well as for drivers, as was pointed out in the link to the wreck that killed that kid.

LifeStyle in NYC. Rides in Five Boroughs Call Attention to Bike Safety Annual Tour de Ghost Bikes, bigger every year…

Another ride in NYC, this one for a recent fatality. Cyclists honor RJ Tillman, Wagner student killed in hit-run crash The sad part was as they gathered at the wreck site they were repeatedly buzzed by rude drivers attempting to disrupt the ceremony.

A pretty bike picture. Twin Cities Bike Picture of the Day: 3.19.12 If Washington Irving had been born in the 20th Century just think how different “The Headless Horseman” would have been.

Last link for those who think the government is of the insane and by the insane (as if the previous links weren’t enough). 9-year-old boy summoned to jury duty in Mass. And people wonder why we can’t get decent infrastructure with people like this running things?

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

Billed @$0.02, Opus

I finally got to mow the lawn, and the Feed

The planets finally got in proper alignment, or whatever it was because the lawnmower started on the second pull yesterday and on a single pull every other time I had to re-start it, after doing nothing more than putting fresh gas in the tank and letting the thing sit for a few days while the yard became walkable (barely) for me again. So the lawn is mowed and I have enough gas to do it again in a week or 2 as needed, assuming cooperation with the weather. Tonight I’m going to pedal my bike Blue over to the church for our bi-weekly game of Dungeons and Dragons 3.5. I have enough bonus points on my normal attack of Eldritch Blast that I can usually get some damage as this particular magic attack completely bypasses whatever armor the victim is wearing and attacks as if the victim was nude, with pretty devastating effect. This is especially true since I’m now getting 2d6 of damage. Also I have gained the feat of Rapid Fire which allows me to use the attack twice per round with a -2 from my regular bonuses to attack. This makes my character very effective in a fight now, and I’m taking out almost as many NPC as the barbarian in our party while taking much less damage (which is good as I have only 16 HP compared to his 42). The Eldritch Lesser Pantsing blast is still being approved by the DM (who thinks it might be a little advanced for my level character).

The big story today is update on the wreck I had an initial report on yesterday of a cyclist hit in MS. Pass cyclist killed in Bay St. Louis Now we know this was a SWSS wreck, great… Pass woman hit, killed on morning bike ride and Cyclist Killed In Bay St. Louis and Cyclist killed in Bay St. Louis I was looking at the crime scene pictures and there is no shoulder on that road for the cyclist to have swerved from. For the narrative to have been true the cyclist would have had to been riding in the ditch, not on the paved surface at all. Another thing I noticed was the cyclist was hit from the left front according to the damage to the bike. That could have been tumble damage after the impact with the cyclist’s body. This is a very confusing wreck.

Next wreck a firefighter commuting to work is hit and killed. Firefighter Dies Riding Bike To Work and Aurora firefighter killed in bicycle accident Comments were shut off for that link Aurora firefighter dies after being hit by vehicle and Aurora firefighter hit, killed while on way to work still more Aurora firefighter dies after bicycle accident and Aurora Firefighter Dies After Getting Stuck By Car While Riding Bike and Aurora Firefighter On Bike Killed In Accident last link Aurora firefighter hit, killed while on way to work I flagged several comments on the links that allowed comments that blamed the cyclist for being there to get hit instead of the driver that ran the red light and hit him. There was even one that blamed Obama for the wreck… I blame the driver that could not see that there was a red light in his direction of travel and hit a human in a school crossing. There would be no way to avoid a wreck like this even with SBR, as you can’t fix stupid. And driving blind and hitting someone while running a red light qualifies as “stupid”.

A CT woman is hit in a crosswalk with her bike. Bicyclist hospitalized after being hit by car on River Road I don’t see what the cyclist could have done to prevent this as she was already in the crossing when the other vehicle made a left turn into her right of way. And as this was an intersection between a SBR and regular roads there wasn’t anything that changing the infrastructure would have done about this wreck. The only thing that could have prevented this wreck would be for the driver to watch where they drive and make sure the way is clear before making a turn.

Update on the condition of the ID cyclist hit in NC this week. Cyclist still listed in critical condition I managed to look up the wreck site in Google Maps Street View, and this was not a road that falls under the types of roads where bikes would be banned, it is a surface street with a median and uncontrolled intersections. IOW the cyclist had a right to be there. and it was 100% the drunk driver’s fault for leaving the road to hit him.

A strange bike wreck in the Great White North. Cyclist, 20, dies after falling into Lake Ontario near Yonge St. At this point LEO know he was riding a bike, and somehow ended up face down in the lake. What happened between those 2 events is unknown. His Bici bike was found undamaged near the body.

There have been a lot of cyclists hit-and-run in Oz recently. Cyclists left ‘like roadkill’ With all the casualties cyclists are getting a little edgy there. More Vicious cycle

Same song, different city, still in Oz. Cyclist injured in hit-run crash This one was in Adelaide instead of Canberra, but it’s still a hit-and-run against a cyclist that could have ended up dead.

LifeStyle in NYC. “Unnamed” Ghost Bike Memorial To Be Installed Outside 90th Precinct Station In Williamsburg Sunday Would that this would be the last Ghost Bike needed in the entire city…

Infrastructure! news from DC. Drivers, Cyclists and Walkers: Keep Those Heads Up, Eyes Open and Ears Clear, Please Try to stay alert out there people, especially the people guiding the WMD that can kill dozens at a single strike.

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

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

After two crashes yesterday, I bring you the Feed

Well, I guess I need to explain the headline. If you read yesterday’s post you know about the one crash, the pickup truck that hit me at the red light. The second crash was that adrenaline thing I was telling you about, because I was on that adrenaline “high” for so long after the wreck when things finally shut down and tried to go back to “normal” I had a massive crash. I never did any stimulants stronger than caffeine but people who used to do meth told me about coming off the high and it sounds almost exactly like what happened when I came off the adrenaline. I was like “bleah” and all shaky and limp at the same time, and I could barely move for about a half hour. It was terrible, and my muscles hurt something fierce. The only major difference between what happened to me and people coming off meth was the amount of time involved. I was “high” on adrenaline for about 4 hours after the incident, as I still had to ride my bike so the stress levels were up for an extended period after the wreck, and the crash after was about a half-hour. The people I know told me about being awake and “high” for 3 or 4 days with a full day of wipeout after coming down from the high.

Up first a SUV crosses 2 lanes of traffic to hit a cyclist head on and then hits several objects off the road before smashing the wall of a house, no charges expected from the most deadliest state in the US to walk or ride a bike. Bicycle rider hit in Sarasota No I wasn’t kidding, even hitting a cyclist head on in a bike lane is an “Oopsie!” with no blame assigned to the driver now in the state of FL. More Bicyclist seriously injured on Siesta Key and Bicyclist Struck on Siesta Key another one Bicyclist injured in crash on Siesta Key

Moving to LA, more cyclists are hit in Shreveport. Three Cyclists Hit In Two Days In neither wreck was the cyclist at fault, and in the truck wreck the cyclist had zero opportunity to avoid the wreck as he was coming to a stop at the stop sign.

On the other side of the country a driver in AZ makes sure they won’t be charged by leaving the scene after hitting a cyclist. GV woman injured in hit-run From the limited description in the article this might have been a hit-from-behind wreck, so use the protocols to avoid a similar wreck, and carry a video camera facing rear to capture the license plate of the weapon vehicle.

A Seattle cyclist “wins” the “door prize”. Update: Bicycle rider collides with car door, taken to hospital No word on if the driver was even ticketed.

Up in the Great White North, LEO are absolutely certain a cyclist was not at fault in this wreck. Man arrested after cyclist struck How did they know the cyclist was not at fault? Because they saw the driver run into the cyclist from behind, after leaving the scene of an earlier wreck they were investigating.

Cyclists in the UK and their supporters are getting up in arms after a report that shows roads getting safer for everyone not riding a bicycle. The ‘ghost bike’ revolt: Families demand action on cyclist deaths and Cycling injuries in London increase by 13 per cent in three years and ‘Cycle Safety Campaign’ Backed by National Accident Helpline another one The politics of cycling safety

After 2 workers for local TV stations are hit by the same drunk driver Shreveport media is suddenly all about bicycle safety. Recent accidents point up the need to respect bicycle riders’ rights to share the road

LifeStyle from the UK. Cyclist Richard pedalling hard for injured brother Good on ya’ mate!

And that’s it, all the news that gives me fits.

Billed @$0.02, Opus

Still drying out, and the Feed

We are still trying to get soaked wearables dried out here in the suburbs of Hell where we had another day of downpours during the morning commute. We are getting lots of runoff which is good for the local lakes and reservoirs, but we need to get deep soil moisture back for this drought to truly be over.

On a different note the battery pack I was building for my new tail light has a bad cell that will have to be replaced. No biggee except it’s in the middle of the pack and will require un-gluing it from its neighbors as well as unsoldering the interconnects, then replacing all of that when the new cell is installed. In case you were wondering when I did the last burn test of the pack I was checking cell voltages as well as pack voltage and that cell went consistently bad first, dropping to essentially zero volts 3 hours into the first burn test, and under safe minimum levels 1.5 hours into the second burn test, for what should have been a 12 hour burn test to safe minimum voltages. This is where the OCD comes in handy, had I not been so obsessive about details I would have been out on the road when the pack failed instead of watching volt meters at the dining room table. The world needs people like me, I’m just not sure it needs so many people like me.

Up first is a new technology invented to protect us from hazards created by another new technology, the cell phone. This little box will prevent your kid from texting and crashing I foresee a day when technology like this will be required for all new cars with all new cell phones required to function in concert with it. The only place you will be able to text or take calls while in motion in a vehicle will be public transit. You will have the choice of staying connected or with using a car, which I think is a perfectly rational place to be.

Recall news has some replacement handlebars being recalled because they can break in use. Bicycle Handlebars Recalled by Euro Asia Imports; Handlebars Can Break Resulting in Loss of Control and Fall Hazard Yeah, get those replaced. Instructions for getting a replacement are supposedly in a link in the article. I didn’t check that link as none of my bikes are equipped with the recalled handlebars. I do know their link to the picture of the recalled item is broken.

A common theme of the Feed today is cyclist-involved shootings. One teen killed, another wounded in shooting along Schuylkill River trail At this point all I know is the cyclist was in a confrontation with 3 teenage boys and 2 of the boys were shot. Who had the gun, if any of them, is known only to LEO as I compose this post. From what I know about civilian shootings any of the people could have had the gun including one of the boys that was shot. More Man, 65, Kills Teen Robber That Knocks Him Off Bicycle The armed bike in the picture with the article is obviously only transporting the weapon, not having it ready for use. Had it been intended for quick use the weapon would have been positioned so that it could be mounted to the shoulder without having to dismount from the bicycle.

Continuing on that same track we have a man being charged in the shooting of a cyclist. Trial nearing for man accused of killing Watsonville teen in 2005 Sheesh! Coming up on 7 years after the crime here. The shooter running for 4 years and then getting caught breaking the law in another state had a bit to do with that, but they still could have started the trial any time in the last 3 years.

Now we find that both cyclists hit by a DUI driver in Baton Rouge were employed by TV stations, just not the same ones. Mother of injured cyclist staying strong The dead cyclist was employed by the ABC affiliate, the surviving cyclist is employed by the NBC affiliate. The DUI driver will be an unpaid employee of the state shortly…

More on the Lefèvre wreck in NYC, as we discover that the Brooklyn DA’s office has an investigating unit for investigating vehicular crimes not submitted by the NYPD for prosecution. Now why would they have someone to do that? Brooklyn DA Reviewing Deadly Cyclist Hit-and-Run After NYPD Investigation Criticized Why indeed?

Another report on the driver that ran over a 6YO cyclist riding on the sidewalk in the Great White North. Driver charged in young cyclist’s death I know this looks exactly like the link from yesterday, but this is from a different media outlet.

Another Canuckistan wreck, this one an apparent hit-from-behind. Regina cyclist killed in collision At this point the released details are sparse but both vehicles travelling in the same direction is a good indication that this was a hit-from-behind, use the protocols to avoid a similar wreck.

A Ghost Bike stands silent guard over an intersection that has just gotten a Barnes Dance pedestrian crossing. At ‘Ghost Bike’ crossing, pedestrians will be able to stop traffic 4 ways And yeah, I don’t know what a bicycle fatality has to do with improving pedestrian facilities either, but I’m glad some good has come from it.

Infrastructure! in SC. Charleston cyclists want access to bridge Well it’s either let them use the bridge that’s already there, or pay to build a new bridge, or force drivers from a different bridge for sole bike/ped use.

And that’s all the links I had today.

Billed @$0.02, Opus

Trying to find a new helmet, and the Feed

Mrs. the Poet is concerned about my head and wants to either fix my old helmet or get me a new one, but she has the same problem as I do, lack of $$ for big-ticket items. So, I’m going to renew my request for a size M reline kit for the Bellistic helmet at a reasonable price, or a full-face bike helmet in the $50-80 range. I know there are a lot of NASCAR teams that got pallet-loads of helmet liners for the Bellistic, I don’t know if they are allowed to sell any of them. As for why I’m insisting on a full-face helmet, hey, I already died once, with a standard bike helmet, and I had to have my face sewn back on after I came back and that itches like all getout. I would rather have something between my face and the pavement if I wreck again. It’s as simple as that.

Up first because it’s weird is a cyclist running into the back of a stopped mail delivery vehicle with the flashers going. Man dies from injuries in bike-postal truck crash It wasn’t like the cyclist couldn’t see the truck he hit from behind, and the article suggests that he was having a medical emergency when he hit the delivery vehicle. Because of the severity of the injuries and the fact that the cyclist did not answer any questions about the wreck before he died we will never know what caused this wreck.

Another report on the cyclist hit-from-behind by a truck in the Harlem area of NYC. Teenage Cyclist Killed by Truck on 125th Street Truck hits cyclist from behind in NYC, NYPD blames the cyclist for being there to get hit. I’m really glad that I don’t live in NYC…Other reports on this wreck have quoted NYPD as there was nothing they could charge the truck driver with, as if cyclists don’t deserve the protections accorded other vehicle operators under the law. Bicycles are vehicles, too and are entitled to all the protections of the law. Pretending that because other cyclists run red lights or ride against traffic all cyclists are not deserving of the protections of the law is as silly as saying that because one cop tackled a cyclist off his bike for no reason that all cops deserve to get U-locked in the head, or because one cop raped a drunk woman that all cops should be castrated.

More on the NYPD’s “handling” of cyclist fatalities. NYPD Criticized for Handling of Investigation in Brooklyn Cyclist’s Death and Family: NYPD doesn’t care about dead cyclist

In the most deadliest state in the US to walk or ride a bike for the 5th (6th?) year running (I have lost count) more on a cyclist who was hit-from-behind. COLUMN: Life, death and cell phones in paradise This was, if you forgot, the wreck where they said they couldn’t prosecute because they didn’t know if the cyclist was riding in the shoulder or in the lane.

From Jolly Olde, a driver that stalked a cyclist to run him down with his car is sentenced to 16 years in prison. Man jailed for Leicester cyclist murder What else can I say about this one? This was an impossible wreck to avoid. With any kind of luck this driver will die in prison.

From Oz, two cyclists “won” the door prize. Cyclists hurt in Dromana, Southbank The first cyclist never knew what happened, riding along one minute, then laying in the street with a broken collarbone the next. The other cyclist was apparently able to make some avoidance maneuver but not enough to prevent contact with the door. To avoid don’t ride in the door zone, but if you must by law then be looking for people moving in the windows of the cars before you pass them.

And in Infrastructure! from CA, Davis police are going to be gunning for cyclists to ticket after the New Year. Davis police to begin new year with push for bicycle safety Another “cyclists don’t stop at stop signs” pig-headed enforcement crackdown that goes after the symptoms rather than the cause, which is using stop signs as traffic calming on bike routes. I don’t have the link handy but a study that was actually done in Davis found that excessive stop signs on bike routes reduced a cyclist’s average speed by 30-50%, and decreased their range before exhaustion by 25-33%. IOW you get there slower and more tired with no real improvement in safety.

LifeStyle from CT as Ghost Bikes start to become common there. ‘Ghost Bikes’: Moving Memorials And A Warning To Drivers When a memorial starts to become common, as in more than one on a particular stretch of road, then things need to be fixed ASAP. In this case they have 4 on one road in 2 years.

And that’s all the bicycle stuff I found in the Feed today.

Billed @$0.02, Opus