People sent me lots of links today, and the Feed

I got a lot of links that were sent via e-mail and Facebook today, about changes to the legal infrastructure that allows people to add another crime to their event and actually reduce their punishment. I’m referring of course to hit and run. In the vast majority of states in this country if you are DUI and you hit and kill someone you are leaps and bounds ahead to leave the scene. The difference in sentences between hit-and-run and DUI homicide are huge, in many states the maximum for hit-and-run is less than the minimum for DUI homicide. But our first link is an attempt to reduce the incentive to leave when you’re drunk and you hit and kill someone. End Hit and Run Loophole Yes, they are doing something about the disparity between hit-and-run and DUI manslaughter in CO by making them virtually identical in punishment and allowing additional charges to be filed in cases where DUI is suspected but can’t be proven because the driver failed to remain at the scene.

Another one that came both in the Feed and people sending me the link in e-mail and on FB is the news that the man who allegedly killed a cyclist in the bike lane on the Rickenbacker Causeway in Miami in the most deadliest state in the US to walk or ride a bike will be getting less than half the sentence he deserves because he left the scene and destroyed the evidence he was drinking. Trial Date Set For Driver In Fatal Rickenbacker Hit & Run The max he can get is only 15 years, but he should get life for hitting 2 cyclists and killing one. More Hundreds ride in memory of cyclist killed and Memorial Ride for Cyclist Killed in Hit and Run

In CA they are sure the cyclist ran the stop sign, but the driver left the scene which makes the wreck automatically his fault. Bicyclist Seriously Injured In Hit-And-Run To avoid, if the report is accurate then don’t run stop signs, otherwise use intersection protocols. To prevent, get the infrastructure right and make hit-and-run a serious crime like hitting someone while DUI. The rumor is that DUI in the Netherlands is a permanent loss of license, which is not as serious to the driver as it would be in this country where everything is designed for the motor vehicle to the exclusion of all other modes of transportation. I don’t even want to contemplate the horrors you suffer as a ht and run driver…

Another CA hit-and-run. Two cyclists injured in Soquel hit-and-run In this case the cyclists were doing nothing wrong, the driver just failed to make a safe pass and took out two cyclists, by cutting back too fast after passing the rear cyclist. To prevent get the idiots in cars away from cyclists.

On the same theme, a cyclist’s parent wonders why the person that hit her child still wanders the streets while her child remains in a hospital. Injured cyclist’s mother criticizes lack of arrest Depending on who you pay attention to LEO either know who hit the cyclist or they think there is someone else that knows but hasn’t told them yet… Hit from behind wreck, use the appropriate protocols to avoid, and getting cyclists where they need to go without having to ride on major highways would prevent any future wrecks like this.

In PA a cyclist is hit by an errant piece of farm equipment being transferred by trailer. Bicyclist flown to hospital after being struck by farm equipment in Silver Spring Township Yikes! I can’t even contemplate what it must be like to get hit by the mower bar of a tractor, even if it isn’t powered up. There was nothing the cyclist could have done to avoid this wreck as the mower bar was extending from the side of the trailer and below the cyclist’s line of sight, but getting the infrastructure right so that a bicycle was not sharing the road with a commercial vehicle would have prevented this wreck. More UPDATE(2): Teen seriously injured in unfortunate accident with farm machinery

In NJ a cyclist is hit on another busy highway. Update: Bicyclist Hit By Car on Route 1 Has Died I tried to read the comments to find out more from locals about the wreck, but the comments would not pull up for me to be able to read them. Definitely a hit-from-behind wreck, but I can’t say how to avoid a similar wreck. I do know one thing from looking at the crime scene pictures, that this was an infrastructure-related wreck. The two highways basically acted like walls cutting across the landscape for those not in cars, and none too friendly for people in cars that are trying to get from one side of the highway to another.

Update on that hit-and-run in CA where the dead cyclist’s dog stood watch over the body until someone else found it. Santa Cruz: Bicyclist killed in hit-and-run on Highway 1 identified they now Know where the cyclist was hit, and he wasn’t in the road. So the driver had to leave the road to hit this poor guy… More CHP announces suspect vehicle in North Coast fatal hit-and-run with bicyclist

Another link to the cyclist killed riding the Natchez Trace. Doctor killed riding bike on Natchez Trace As I pointed out this is what passes for intercity bicycle infrastructure in this country, which is shared with cars and light trucks at a speed limit of 50 MPH… And death lurks around every turn…

Death and destruction in the Great White North as cyclists get hit in droves. Two killed, one critically injured following weekend crashes At least one wreck was on a straight, flat, road with no impediments to the sight lines when the cyclists were hit from behind by a driver that was not paying attention to the roads. I think you know what comes next:To avoid a similar wreck use the hit-from-behind protocols, to prevent it get the infrastructure right. but since this is in Canuckistan they actually have a decent chance of getting that infrastructure.

And to wind things up, another link sent to me by a reader, this one about legal Infrastructure! Do Passing Distance Laws Really Protect Cyclists? Do laws against murder really prevent people from getting killed? Most people say it’s unquestioned. Then why do they question if laws requiring a safe distance to pass that specify what the minimum is also not protect cyclists from passes that are too close?

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

Billed @$0.02, Opus

Running late again, and the Feed

Dad is doing well, as well as can be expected considering. I’m getting tired, though, and my old injuries from the wreck are acting up. This is not what I want, because it severely limits the level of care I can give Dad.

Up first is the most egregious case of hit-and-run assault I have ever read about, as a driver in Galveston actually talks to his victim before leaving him to die. Cops: Driver talks to fatally injured cyclist before fleeing Since the mode was not mentioned I can’t tell you how to avoid the wreck. But one thing I can say, there is a very high chance that this was not an “accident” but a deliberate act of assault on the cyclist by the driver. More Driver kills island bicyclist

A wreck with a slightly better result both from the LEO point of view and the “Hey, the cyclist is alive” point of view from Portland OR. Ore. bicyclist struck by van, dragged 145 feet I know that headline does not inspire confidence in the outcome, but it was not near as bad as it sounds. Intersection wreck, so intersection protocols to avoid. Get the infrastructure right to prevent, including much tougher regulations for getting and keeping a license than the one that let this distracted goon drive 145 feet with a bicycle and rider trapped under his vehicle. Also riding in the street might have helped with this one.

A MS cyclist is killed on a National Bike Route. Attala cyclist hit on Natchez Trace, killed Hit-from-behind on a road with bicycle priority and great sight lines. I haven’t been the whole length of the Trace but most is 2 lanes with good sight lines even across turns if the drivers are travelling at or under the speed limit and usually quite pleasant to ride on. The driver in this case broke the MS 3 foot passing law as well as the Basic Speed Law that requires a driver to only drive as fast as they can stop in the distance they can see. Since this was already on “bicycle infrastructure” as envisioned in this country, you can see the massive lengths yet to go to reach the Dutch ideal.

In far west NY motorcyclists ride to remember a cyclist killed by a drunk driver. Funeral Held Today for Bryce Buchholz A group of about 20 bikers of the motor variety held a ride for a biker of the pedal powered variety prior to his funeral. This was the rider that was hit from behind while riding salmon, so there wasn’t any way to avoid this one except to not be there to get hit. To prevent, as I posted earlier some way of keeping drunks off the roads would be a great start because this wreck happened in an area that would have been shared between bicycles and motor vehicles at a much lower speed limit in Dutch infrastructure as it was where people live.

After several bike wrecks a community bands together to demand better infrastructure. Salisbury bike lane initiative gains traction Why does it take people getting killed to make the powers that be realize that their infrastructure stinks?

The cyclist that was hit-and-run by a driver that stopped to pull a damaged bumper cover out from under the front of the car but failed to render aid to the cyclist, has died from his injuries. Memorial Held For Cyclist Killed By Hit & Run Driver Another victim in the most deadliest state in the US to walk or ride a bike.

In Oz they’re having an epidemic of “door prizes”. Car doors and city streets a dangerous mix for cyclists The numbers reported were just… wow.

And that’s all I can stand today.

Billed @$0.02, Opus

Still trying to adapt to the new “normal”, and the Feed

Well between my injuries and Dad’s injuries this has been an interesting 24 hours since I last posted. Dad is holding his own and showing some slight improvement since coming home. I have been getting him up to eat breakfast and sometimes dinner, lunch has always been in bed so far. His pain levels are diminishing as long as he doesn’t run out on his pain meds, the biggest problem is that he sleeps through the time to take his next pill and only wakes up when he starts feeling pain again. This results in his not getting the pain pills at the right time and only getting 2 out of the three pain pills he is supposed to get per day. I’m trying to figure out a way that he gets his pain pills on schedule without disturbing his sleep, because he really needs his sleep. Such is life as a care-giver for an injured elderly person. The cat on the other hand has been a total mess psychologically. She expects Dad to sleep in “her” bed and refuses to stay with him in the hospital bed we have moved into the house to make Dad more comfortable, then goes to the bedroom and howls because Dad isn’t there with her. I should mention that this cat is about the same age as Dad in “cat years” working out to about 71 “cat years” old.

Speaking of the cat, up first is a tale of a dog that stayed beside his master’s body for as long as 12 hours before he wa discovered after a hit-and-run in CA. Dog stays for hours with owner killed by apparent hit-and-run driver on California coastal road The mode of the wreck appears to be hit-from-behind, and the dog appears to have been protected when his carrying crate became detached from the bike during the wreck reducing the forces on the dog to those that could be survived. Hit-from-behind protocols to avoid, and getting the infrastructure right to prevent a similar wreck. More Man killed in apparent hit-and-run on Highway 1; dog riding in basket stays by his side

Near the WoaB World HQ in the beautiful suburbs of Hell, Austin cyclists gather to protest lax enforcement against drivers that hit cyclists. Cyclists take short ride for long-term change With two wrecks that have had either little investigation or no immediate consequences for the drivers, Austin cyclists are getting peeved. Both of the cyclists that were recently hit were riding in full compliance with applicable TX laws, drivers were breaking at least one if not multiple laws. Riders were either killed or permanently injured, drivers so far have not even gotten a ticket when they were caught. it just all seems to be a little asymmetric to me… and a lot of other people, too.

Another fatal wreck in SC. Cyclist killed in hit and run on Savannah Highway Aside from the hit-and-run aspect of this wreck I know nearly nothing about it… More links One person killed in hit-and-run crash in West Ashley and One dead after hit-and-run in W. Ashley also Hit-and-run kills bicyclist in Charleston Yep, still know next to nothing about this wreck.

Lots of links to the cyclist getting hit in MD earlier this week. Med Tech Killed While Bicycling to Hospital and Cyclist Dies After Being Hit By Car In Olney also UPDATE: Cyclist Killed On Rt. 108 Identified more Police identify cyclist killed in Olney collision last link Cyclist killed in Montgomery County crash too many of the comments, where allowed. blamed the cyclist for being there to get hit instead of the driver that hit the cyclist from behind. Since it has been established the cyclist was riding in a legal manner the only logical conclusion is the driver was not driving in a legal manner, and should be arrested and charged with something. I think failure to yield would be the most appropriate charge or some kind of charge that showed she failed to pass at a safe distance.

More links to the kid that was killed in Upstate NY. Boy, 14, killed on bike in hit-run and Boy Struck and Killed by Car in Lancaster also Teen bicyclist hit, killed in Lancaster even Man charged in crash that killed teen not done yet Cops: NY teenager killed in hit-and-run accident another link Community Mourns Loss Of Teen still more Man follows accused hit and run driver are you kidding me? Lancaster Teen Dies In Tragic Hit And Run even more BRIEF: Driver charged with DWI in hit-run death of bicyclist, 14 Last link Buffalo Hit and Run Drunk Driving Incident Kills 14-Year Old Boy OK, synopsis: Cyclist was riding salmon and waiting at a stop sign to cross the road. Driver veered to the other side of the road to pass a vehicle in front of him and hit the cyclist from behind while he was waiting off the side of the road. When the driver was arrested he blew more than .21 BAC% on the breathalyzer. To avoid ride with traffic because the cyclist was technically riding against traffic while he was standing with his bike at the intersection waiting to cross. To prevent, even with the infrastructure being perfect, unless there was a way to prevent this man from drinking 6 beers and then driving home something like this would still have happened as even Dutch-style infrastructure would be shared roads in a residential area like this.

A PA case that was a long time coming to a conclusion. Man pleads guilty to killing bike rider in 2005 and Man pleads guilty in Indiana County bicyclist’s 2005 death also Man Pleads Guilty To ’05 Fatal Hit-And-Run On Rte. 22 No, that’s not a typo or other mistake, it really did take more than 6 years to convict a man of hit-and-run killing a cyclist, because of the driver saying he didn’t know he had hit anybody. Case law now says that you don’t have to know you hit someone to hit-and-run, just leave the scene of a wreck. IOW the law now reads that the fact of leaving a wreck is enough to convict, not any intent to leave, shutting a huge loophole in the law.

Another PA wreck with hopefully a quicker resolution this time. Bethlehem crash involves bicycle, van; bike rider seriously hurt There was a light controlling the intersection, but there is a question about how visible it was in the cyclist’s direction. Since LEO are not immediately blaming the wreck on the cyclist there is also the possibility that the van was the vehicle running the red light. To avoid use intersection protocols, to prevent get the infrastructure right. I mean seriously, I was looking at the Google Street View and this intersection was a cross with one side being the outlet for a one-way street that was 2-way to the right in the direction the van was coming from.

In MO a driver fails to pass safely and severely injures a cyclist. One hurt when car sideswipes bike and Clarence teen seriously injured in bicycle-car collision What do you want to bet the driver was “teaching the cyclist a lesson” when she hit him? Anyway, hit-from-behind protocols to avoid. get the infrastructure right to prevent.

In CA a series of bike v car wrecks are blamed on drivers using cell phones. No safety when cells are in use Cell phone use greatly increases the hazard that drivers will “not see” a cyclist…

A CT cyclist appears to have a loss of control issue and crosses the center line. Cyclist seriously injured in crash with car I don’t know if this was a medical issue, a mechanical issue, or maybe just a lapse in concentration on the cyclist’s part caused by training in heavy traffic, so I can’t tell you how to avoid a wreck like this. I mean cyclists losing control and crossing into oncoming traffic happens about as often as a FL driver getting a ticket for violating the 3-foot passing law.

More on the MT hit-and run that resulted in major destruction of a bike and trailer but no harm to the cyclist and her 4YO passenger. Billings car vs. bicycle hit and run suspect ID’d Intersection wreck, so intersection protocols to avoid and getting the infrastructure right to prevent. But seriously, this was as close to a miracle as I ever want to see.

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

Billed @$0.02, Opus

Today is Super Mule Day, and the Feed

Mrs. the Poet has instructed me to lash our rucks to Blue as payday has arrived and we need to restock our pantry with non-perishable foods. This means that Blue will be loaded to the creaking and groaning point, ditto my back, and Mrs. the Poet shall be tasked with whatever Blue and I can’t carry. Since one of my X-mas/Solstice gifts was a set of tie-downs for externally carried cargo on Blue we have been able to carry large bags of stuff that would not fit in the buckets or the ruck previously. Actually to be precise I can load one large bag of non-refrigerated food per trip, in addition to what fits in the buckets and ruck. Also I am working on new kitty-litter bucket panniers that are removable, meaning I don’t have to ride up to the back door and back the bike up to it. I could just remove the buckets from the bike and carry them into the house where they could be unloaded at leisure. And I could leave them at home on trips that won’t require cargo capacity. This would make such trips a little quicker as the current setup is about as aerodynamic as a cab-over semi with no trailer fairing. Also, I will be able to make the new panniers more weather-tight as I won’t have to drill through the inner shell of the bucket to install the mounting hardware. I have learned much since my first attempt at making kitty-litter buckets work as cargo capacity.

Up first, Albany CA residents ask if the 25 MPH speed limit on an arterial that runs through a residential neighborhood will ever be enforced. You Ask: Do Police Enforce Speeding on Buchanan? This was a street that saw a cyclist killed a few weeks ago that was partially blamed on the driver of the weapon vehicle speeding. The description of the road makes it sound like a good candidate for speed-sensitive road mines what with drivers routinely driving in excess of double the posted limit. I have been working on a compact unit that would be about 1m long, with a shaped charge that would disable the vehicle without damaging the pavement road surface (changed to account for the heavy increase in non-US readers I have gotten recently, outside of the US pavement is a thing, a sidewalk, rather than a surface).

First wreck report is from the most deadliest state in the US to walk or ride a bike. Injured cyclist cited for not having lights Another ninja cyclist, part of the reason why FL leads the nation in cyclist deaths. This does not excuse the drivers that hit pedestrians at night because they have badly-aimed or otherwise ill-functioning headlights, but really reflectors are cheap, easy to get and install and make the back of the bike really shine even with bad headlights on the weapon vehicle. I have a couple of square feet of reflective materials on the back of Blue, and as soon as I finish building the charger I’ll have a blindingly bright taillight with a rechargeable battery. More Milton bicyclist hurt in accident

A wreck in San Diego has LEO puzzled as the initial impact location of the cyclist remains unknown after the cyclist was hit 3 times (this is a similar wreck to the salmon cyclist a while back on the same street, but this cyclist was riding with traffic). Witnesses Sought in Fatal Hit-and-Run Bike Accident You notice that in this wreck the cyclist ended up in the correct location and the initial vehicle to hit the cyclist left the scene and has not been located unlike the salmon cyclist wreck where the same make vehicle remained at the scene and the driver rendered aid to the cyclist. All the same 2 wrecks in a short space of time and on the same street gives me a bad feeling. (cue the Lucasfilm logo and Star Wars theme). The same number of vehicles that hit the cyclist is another striking parallel.

A SWSS wreck in far south TX. Victoria woman hurt when pickup hits her bike The only witness that was still conscious to make a report was the driver of the weapon vehicle, so until otherwise verified, this is a hit-from-behind wreck, use the appropriate protocols to avoid, and SBR would prevent a wreck like this.

A WI wreck with independent witnesses for a 11YO boy crossing against the light. Bicyclist, 11, in serious condition after crash Yeah, crossing with the light would most likely prevent this, and SBR would have no impact at all as the 11YO would still have to wait on the light.

A youth in ME is hit walking his bike on the side of the road in a school zone. Boy hit by car back at home The mother in this one is seriously over-reacting, the kid was walking when he was hit by a car that went off the road in a school zone at more than the posted speed limit. Seriously woman, the kid was 100% innocent in this wreck, and the bike made 0% difference in the wreck. This would be like forbidding him to carry a backpack because he had one on when he was abducted by aliens, as if wearing a backpack (or riding a bike) had anything to do with the situation. Unless the driver targeted him because of the bike, of course.

More on the CO wreck initially reported as a “booby trap”. Police: Injured cyclist not the victim of a ‘booby trap’ I still can’t wrap my mind around why the fisherman would have had to be fishing across a bike path, the narrative doesn’t make sense, but glad to know it was not a deliberate attempt to cause injury.

LifeStyle in TX. Cycling notebook: Bike-to-work days roll out this spring Bike to work in Houston, sponsored by the Kevorkian bike club and the organ donors league. Juuust kidding folks, riding to work in Houston is no more dangerous than riding to work in many cities around the world, like Khandahar or Beirut or even Baghdad.

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

Billed @$0.02, Opus

Working up to a couple of exciting rituals, and the Feed

At my church we refer to Sunday services as “ritual”, and the two coming up are ones that I will be featured in and I’m getting really excited about them. The evening service this week we are celebrating Spring, and as part of that I will be getting a really close haircut. Not quite shaving my head, but removing everything except my eyebrow (I have the one that runs from one side of my face to the other and down the bridge of my nose, during the summer I shave out the middle part so I don’t look quite so much like an extra on Star Trek or some other sci-fi program/movie). This will physically symbolize the end of winter and the onset of warm weather. The week after that I’m writing the service for April Fools’ Day based on the book of Job in the Old Testament from a funky translation I remember reading back in the 1970s, and illustrated with a playing of the Chuck Jones film “Duck Amuck” featuring Daffy Duck. Yes I’m showing a cartoon in service, that was also based on the book of Job. The purpose of the service is to illustrate the re-defined role of Satan in the Christian religion, from God’s prosecuting attorney in the Old Testament and through much of the New, to being God’s arch-enemy by the end of the New Testament. I’ll post the script to the service not this Sunday but the one coming up, the day of the service. Also the idea of the service is to Be Silly on April Fools’ Day.

Up first is a bike wreck near where I used to live back in 1971. Bicyclist struck, killed in Middletown and Middletown bicyclist struck and killed on Purgatory Road also Cyclist killed in Middletown crash This appears to be a classic Left-cross wreck, use intersection protocols to avoid a similar wreck. And for long-term readers that wonder how I could have lived in so many different towns, I was a military brat back before they learned that moving kids around constantly was bad for them. My peer group of military brats had a suicide rate and alcoholism rate that was slightly worse than combat veterans of the same era (Vietnam). I actually got psychiatric counselling from DoD because of what was learned after my Dad got out about the trauma all that moving did to us kids. Until I entered High School in 1973 I only had one time to actually attend the same school 2 grades in a row. I had one school that I attended for parts of 3 grades, non-sequentially, because that was the town we moved to when Dad had TAD between PCS, and we went through one spot where we had 3 moves before our furniture caught up with us, which was not the year that I registered in 4 different schools in 4 different school systems but only got to go to classes in 2 of them, the second and fourth. Yes, my life was screwed up as a kid. No, I would not change anything except maybe to make sure there was someone outside of my family that moved with us, like moving a small squad instead of just families so we could develop our social skills a bit better. This is one of the reasons I show asbergers symptoms in spite of not actually having any autism spectrum disorders.

A kid in SC is hit when he was distracted and failed to stop at an intersection. Bluffton boy hospitalized after bike hits van This is a lesson that 1) 6 YO boys are easily distracted, and 2) that distracted driving is dangerous even when the driver is riding a bicycle, but mainly to the “driver” of the bicycle. To avoid pay attention to the road and where you are on it, to prevent SBR that keep bicycles and drivers away from each other, except that this was in an area that even in the Netherlands would be shared with cars. The driver really should have been driving slower and paying attention because kids do these kinds of things all the time.

In the most deadliest state in the US to walk or ride a bike for 6 years running, a police chief hits a cyclist while running a red light in his unmarked cop car and doesn’t even get a ticket. Car driven by Davie police chief hits teen riding bike to school; boy not injured and Davie police chief hits teenager on bicycle while driving unmarked car The poll that accompanied the article indicated the slightly more than 80% of people think the chief should get a ticket for an at-fault wreck, even in cases where little or no harm was involved (and we all know that in cases where a cyclist is hit the difference between scared but uninjured and a trip in an ambulance is measured in single digits of mm). Anyway to avoid the cyclist was already committed to the crossing and had the green and the right-of-way, so unless he was Kreskin there would have been no way for a human cyclist to avoid this wreck. SBR might have prevented the wreck because the cyclist would not have been crossing on the street the driver was trying to turn onto, and would not have been trying to make a right on red in any case. (Worst. Law. Ever.)

An OH cyclist is hit by a turning vehicle and blamed for being in the road. Teenager injured in bicycle-car accident in Lorain Notice the they didn’t say the cyclist was in motion or in the intersection, only that she was riding in the street the car was turning onto. Intersection protocols to avoid, but if the wreck went down as I suspect it did with the driver cutting the corner rather than the cyclist running the light, intersection protocols would have been useless SBR would prevent wrecks like this as he cyclist was approaching one of the few bridges accessible to cyclists in this area when she was hit, her direction of movement indicates that she was going to cross that bridge when she came to it.

That touring cyclist that was hit on a busy surface street with an Interstate designation in NC has died from the injuries he sustained when the drunk driver went off the road and hit him. Bicyclist dies from injuries The wreck was dissected in detail last week, RIP cyclist. May your killer rot behind bars.

A WI teen hits a car that didn’t run the stop sign. Teenager taken to hospital after bike crashes into car Looking at the scene of the wreck there was a lot of debris in the sidewalk that made stopping or steering “sketchy”, bottom line the cyclist was going too fast for conditions and should have been in the street. SBR would have prevented the wreck as the driver would have been stopped behind the cyclepath waiting for the cyclist to cross.

More on the trial of the man who was both drunk and stoned when he hit 2 cyclists from behind in NC. Revisiting River Road: Friend of cyclists killed calls for safer lanes This article examines the conditions at the scene of the crime, which were atrocious, narrow bike lanes full of debris next to 55 MPH (or faster) cars.

Charges have been dropped and reduced in the trial of a drunk driver that was driving by braille when he killed a cyclist in CA. A year on, still waiting for justice in Tehama County Local readers to this case, get on the DA about it, murder by motor vehicle is still murder…

Assault with a deadly weapon in Ireland. DJ drove over cyclist in rage over girlfriend Apparently the girlfriend was not too bright either after having unprotected sex with at least 2 men resulting in a pregnancy from the person that assaulted the cyclist with his car. And I don’t see anything that prevents the “Low-functioning” driver from getting back behind the wheel as soon as he gets out of prison.

Infrastructure! in Va. Beach VA. New bike line opens along Shore Drive in Va. Beach Now if they can just keep the drunks from trying to drive in it and keep the debris out of it it just might be a way to get people from one side of town to the other, on a major through corridor.

More on the stinky ball of goo that is the NYPD accident investigation squad. Local Pol and Cyclist Group Want More NYPD Accountability for Fatal Traffic Crashes

Final link, the only pedestrian killed by a bicycle in the last 3 decades in the state of TX is brought up in an article on the trails system in Ft. Worth… Price: Tour de Fort Worth weather means lots of people on the Trinity Trails Riders, DON’T HIT THE PEDESTRIANS! Pedestrians pay attention, MUP are roads with no cars, not free zones to do what you want. Ride and walk to the right unless passing, and try to leave room for other trail users. And everybody remember, it was more than 20 years between pedestrian deaths by bicycle in the state of TX, it is seldom more than 2 days between deaths by motor vehicle.

And those are all the links that gave me fits today. I think I will go for a ride.

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

I need idiot repellant, and the Feed

I’m trying to figure out how that would work, but I’m drawing a blank, a serious blank, here. I mean I could hang a big sign on the back of my bike (“I have video cameras going AND I SUE”), but first that’s not going to help deal with people to the front, and second that will be of little use off the bike. Oh and the minor thing that if they look right through me now what good is a sign going to do? The concept is, intriguing, though. Instead of putting on perfume or aftershave, you splash on a mildly pleasant smelling liquid or use a spray, and stupid and/or crazy people can only get so close before deciding they need to be on another planet, in another solar system, somewhere where you aren’t. I guess it would be a little lonely at first, and you would still have to deal with idiots on line or on the phone, but not having to deal with idiots in person or on the road? Priceless…

I’m going to open with a DIY project that shouldn’t be DIY, it should be a regulatory requirement. Car Door Warning Color Considering the number of cyclist who “win the door prize” every year not to mention cars and trucks that hit open car doors, this is a no-brainer. This should be a law, like yesterday… ANSI Safety Lime except for cars that have a paint color that doesn’t contrast with ANSI Safety Lime should be painted Florescent Orange.

First wreck is one of the most avoidable wrecks you can die from. Bicyclist Struck, Killed by Tri-Rail Train in Fort Lauderdale Yes, another cyclist struck by a train after seeing one cross going the other direction. Just stay behind the crossing arms until they rise indicating that the way is clear. That doesn’t relieve you of the need to look when crossing, but it does indicate that there is little likelihood of a train being on the track to hit you. In this case the fact that it was in FL (the most deadliest place to walk or ride a bike 6 years running) is immaterial.

Moving west to CA, we find a cyclist hit in an area that was posted as too dangerous to ride because of improperly installed drain grates was hit because he wasn’t wearing a glow in the dark clown suit. 22-year-old cyclist from Lancaster killed in Highway 70 crash is named “According to a California Highway Patrol website, Castaneda-Romero was seen about 7:08 p.m. by a motorist eastbound on the West Branch Bridge, who called 9-1-1 to report he narrowly missed hitting the man in a traffic lane.” Which means that drivers with functioning headlights and brains could see the cyclist in spite of the lack of the aforementioned clown suit. Still, it is good sense to make yourself more conspicuous on the roads. I have enough reflective material on the back of my bike to get reported as a UFO, and for cars to back wayyy off at night. And I’m building a light that is even brighter than the legendary Honkin’ Huge Taillight™ to put on the back.

Still in CA, closure may be ahead for cyclists injured in a hit-and-run. Case unfolds against suspect in hit-and-run of two cyclists There was so much Obstruction of Justice going on in this case it made my head spin, like the telling the mechanic to buy the replacement mirror out of state… Anyway like I said in 2009, hit-from-behind protocols to avoid this wreck.

One of the downsides of living where the weather allows year-round bicycle riding is you also get year-round bicycle wrecks. 13-year-old girl on bicycle critically injured in hit-and-run Intersection wreck, assume intersection protocols would help prevent or reduce injury levels until a more complete report on the wreck comes out. One thing is for sure, somebody violated a right of way.

A cyclist that killed a pedestrian in SF gets treated more harshly than a driver that kills in identical circumstances but that isn’t enough for some people. Randolph Ang, S.F. Cyclist Who Killed Pedestrian, Should Get Jail Time Ang got more punishment than 65% of the drivers convicted of the same crime, but only 7% of those drivers are even prosecuted, even fewer convicted. But 100% of the cyclists that killed a pedestrian were prosecuted and convicted… TANJ! On the other hand DON’T HIT THE PEDESTRIANS!!!

A wreck in LA that reads more like a UK story than one published in the US. Girl hit while riding bike Aside from the fact that the wreck was in an intersection or very close to one I have nothing on this one.

Update on the SUV that flipped over on a cyclist riding in a cross street in TX. Tech student, bar being sued for wrongful death Note that the suit is not filed on the behalf of the cyclist but one of the passengers in the SUV that flipped. The most accurate information I have about this wreck is the cyclist was still 3-4 feet from reaching the intersection when he was hit by the SUV.

I’m including a rare (for me) link from the UK today. Cyclist injured when Toyota Yaris mounts kerb to pass queue of traffic in Fallowfield The cyclist was waiting for a traffic light when the weapon vehicle started to drive on the sidewalk to get around the traffic at the light. This was not a wreck that the cyclist could avoid. Besides the fact that he was stationary at the light, how can you expect someone to drive in the sidewalk because the light is red? Only crazy people do that. Well actually either one, drive on the sidewalk or expect people to drive on the sidewalk.

And that’s all the crazy I can take today…

Billed @$0.02, Opus

Asymmetric warfare and bicycle commuting, and the Feed

You might be asking what does asymmetric warfare have to do with bicycle commuting. You might also be asking what the bloody blue blazes is asymmetric warfare? Well, in one of my previous careers I did military things, and asymmetric warfare is using a small, quick reacting unit against a much larger and more heavily armed unit on the tactical level, or on the strategic level it is a conflict between two groups with one group that has much better arms and larger forces than the other. Recent US examples of asymmetric warfare are the Vietnam conflict, the Panama conflict, and Iraq I and II, and Afghanistan. Vietnam was our first long-term experience with asymmetric warfare, and the results were rather unspectacular for the US as Charlie basically kicked our butts. So what does this have to do with bicycles? Well, in traffic with cars and trucks bicycles are like bringing a BB gun to a tank battle, so to survive we must employ the tactics of asymmetric warfare. The first rule of asymmetric warfare is to never engage the enemy on his terms, or in other words no direct contact. As cyclists this means not mixing with cars, because people in cars want to kill us. There aren’t very many of them who do, but it only takes a few to destroy cycling in a community. This means that segregated infrastructure is required to protect cyclists from homicidal drivers. The second rule of asymmetric warfare is that control of the narrative is imperative to survival, you have to make the backers of the superior force feel bad about their war. For cycling this means we have to wrest control of the media from car companies and oil cartels, not an easy task, or divert public attention from media controlled by them to media that is friendly to us if not controlled by us, also not an easy task but possible. The third rule of asymmetric warfare is to find where the enemy is weakest and concentrate on that until he falls or protecting that exposes another weak point. Right now the weak point of car culture is it kills the participants by the thousands in the US, of the 33000 people that died as a result of motor vehicle wrecks only about 5000 were not using a motor vehicle in some way, also Americans are dying of diseases related to our car culture in the millions per year, either from pollution from the vehicles or creating the fuels for the vehicles, or from diseases related to a sedentary lifestyle. The leading cause of death for those under 35 is the motor vehicle wreck, for those over 40 it is diseases related to a sedentary lifestyle and pollution. If the motor vehicle was recognized as a disease there would be telethons to raise money for a cure. Instead we spend an average of 25% of household income on buying, caring for and feeding our cars, and then throwing them away after an average lifespan of 10 years. If one was to use some other way to get around and invest the difference the average person would have $2M by 60 even at current rates of return on savings, I will return to this theme at a later date.

Up first is an update on a hit-and-run in FL from last year. Mom seeks justice for son killed in hit and run Now after a head on wreck, wouldn’t you consider that this might have been on purpose, especially after a hit-and-run? So shouldn’t this be a murder investigation? Just another data point to prove that if you want to kill someone at random and get away with it in the US just run over someone on a bicycle, particularly in FL. Even when you commit a second crime and leave the scene unless you left a ton of debris or a license plate, even if they identify the vehicle you’re still highly unlikely to face arrest, much less prosecution.

More on the cyclist hit-from-behind in FL on his way home from work. Friends Raising Money for Bike Accident Victim Still nothing on the status of the first driver that hit the cyclist, rumors of intoxication notwithstanding.

Moving up the Right Coast a bit, a cyclist ends up next to a partially consumed can of beer after a wreck so is assumed to have been drinking. Man critically injured in bicycle accident I don’t think anyone made the connection about how unlikely it would be for a partial can of beer to remain in close proximity to a cyclist after a wreck as violent as the one described in the article…

North of the first article but south of the third, what may be a case of assault with a deadly in NC. Avery County cycling incident: Car swerved to hit cyclist, says coach Yeah a car crossing the yellow stripe to hit you head on (even a grazing head on) sounds like assault to me.

And a hit-from-behind wreck just across the river from my former duty station. Man dies, wife injured in wreck on Banks Mill The victims were signalling a left turn when they were hit-from-behind by a car whose driver was too impatient to wait until the turn was completed to continue their journey. There was nothing the cyclist could have done in this case to avoid this wreck, it was more than entirely the responsibility of the driver of the weapon vehicle. More Couple Riding Tandem Bike Struck; Husband Killed another link Aiken man, 68, dies after vehicle strikes tandem bike Another one Aiken Man Dies After Being Struck By Vehicle While Riding Bicycle last link Couple riding tandem bike hit by car, man dies

On the Left Coast a cyclist gets left crossed and seriously injured. Bicyclist injured after being struck by truck in North Park Intersection protocols might have helped if there was time for the cyclist to react to the left cross. More Bicyclist injured in North Park crash

Moving up to OR, a cyclist fails to stop at a red light and has a painful encounter with a semi. Bicyclist hit by semi-truck in North Portland Intersection protocols, the most basic of which is to obey traffic controls. While I feel compassion for this man as a fellow cyclist, he was riding with a companion who managed to stop for the red light, he should have also.

The cyclist hit by a drunk driver in front of LEO investigating a previous wreck caused by the driver is still alive, so far. Cyclist remains in critical condition This was the driver that was charged with 7 criminal offenses last week that won’t have a chance to make bail until Thursday at the earliest.

Infrastructure! news from the UK. MP calls for all new bicycles to be fitted with lights [UPDATED]

A DC cyclist and journalist condenses what I have been saying all these years in WoaB wherever I have been posting it. Assumptions, Part 1: The Dangerous Kind This article is kind of a generalized statement about what I have been saying for individual wrecks, but with less advice. Does that make any sense?

That’s all the news that gives me fits today, I’m going to find a nice brick wall to pound my head against now and make it feel all better

Billed @$0.02, Opus

Almost like a Monday after missing the Feed yesterday, and I’m on a time crunch

Filtering the Feed today is almost like filtering on a Monday after Wreck-free Sunday because I got home so late yesterday from my trip to Arlington. That trip was 99% useless as all it was was a public hearing to explain how they had to move pots of money around because certain projects had been declared off-limits to certain sources of funding, but they played the shell game so that everything was still the same as far as funding levels are concerned. As far as enhancing non-motored access to roads paid for with general funds, well in spite of state and federal laws requiring such it seems that only the minimum will be done. The position I have been told about that would require an actual bicycle rider to inspect the plans and determine if they were safe to use is still in the plans but funding for it has yet to materialize.

I’m not sure how well this link will work, for some browsers it’s fine, but for others it won’t work. Bob Mionske dissects the Driver’s Get Out of Jail Free Card. The “Ignorance is Bliss” Defense The thing is you know and I know that “I didn’t see him” is an admission of guilt when a driver hits a cyclist unless the cyclist was doing something that prevents a driver from seeing him, like riding ninja, but for a cop that doesn’t ride a bike it’s a perfectly legitimate excuse to not charge the driver. Then the cop can say “It wasn’t intentional on the driver’s part, the cyclist didn’t make himself sufficiently visible,” in spite of anything the cyclist might have done to enhance their perspicuity.

First wreck because of proximity to WoaB HQ in the suburbs of Hell is a kid on a bike on her way to school getting hit in the madhouse that is the school drop-off zone. Student on bike hit by car near elementary school I’m wondering about that picture, because if that is connected to the kid getting run over on a bike then the driver was seriously impaired in some way. The picture appears to show a street/stop sign knocked to the ground presumably by the motor vehicle involved. The mode of the wreck wasn’t specified so I can’t tell you (or your kid) how to avoid a similar wreck.

More on the backlash from the local cyclist getting hit on a bridge that had been slated for bike lanes but they weren’t installed. Cyclist injury strikes a chord with community activist, pushing for biking safety

Still in TX (this is our busy season for bike wrecks because of the mostly good weather south of Dallas) another cyclist is riding drunk. Man killed on bike identified Drunk and riding on a kids’ bike and running a traffic control, at sundown. A really, really bad combination.

A LI driver that attempted to hit-and-run a cyclist but couldn’t because she was so impaired praises her victim? Or just tries to get a more lenient sentence. LI Driver Who Killed Cyclist Says Dead Woman Saved Her Life Given the overcrowding that is currently the condition in most state prison systems she will probably be out before the end of the year, given that she was sentenced last summer. for a crime that took place in 2010.

A much more recent crime against a cyclist, in IN. Teen Critically Injured In Hit-And-Run Accident The SUV hit the cyclist from behind and apparently the cyclist was riding far enough to the left that he bounced into the oncoming lane of traffic to get hit by the Neon. The cyclist was already using best practices to be visible and still got hit from behind.

A driver hits a cyclist and tries to leave, but has another wreck instead. SUNRISE: Driver hits cyclist, may face DUI charges “Givens was arrested on suspicion of reckless driving and driving while intoxicated, and was booked into the El Paso County jail.” Apparently leaving the scene was not a consideration in this wreck?

A salmon cyclist is hit in CA. Bicylist injured in San Diego accident This is one of the reasons why salmon cycling is so dangerous, it can hide you from drivers until it’s too late to avoid you. This is exactly the same thing that happens at intersections, drivers are not looking where they are going but where the biggest threat is coming from. That’s how pedestrians are hit crossing the street, too.

A cyclist trying to walk his bicycle across a dangerous bridge that is the only access between 2 areas in NOLA falls from the sidewalk into traffic. Bicyclist killed on Elysian Fields Avenue in New Orleans traffic accident and this was a separate article when I filtered but it might go to the same report by now… Cyclist killed walking across Elysian Fields Avenue overpass is identified The cyclist in this case was doing nothing wrong except expecting local infrastructure to be safe to use as designed, ditto the driver that hit him.

A rare case of LEO actually following evidence in a case of hit-and-run of a cyclist. DNA sample connects car to bike accident, Anne Arundel police say When yo consider how recently a cyclist running for elected office was killed and the driver not charged for the hit-and-run in the same area, the fact that they used DNA to match the weapon vehicle with the victim is nothing short of a 180 turnaround for LEO.

More of the same from the most deadliest state in the US to walk or ride a bike. Bicylist Injured in Hit-And-Run The cyclist was hit-from-behind, use the protocols to avoid and in this case a video camera would also be a good idea to capture the license plate of the weapon vehicle…

And I have to go now, more later but I have another commitment to fulfil at my church.

Billed @$0.02, Opus

Watch my mind wander, Wreck-Free Sunday

As this week of gratitude winds down I’m getting ready for the second of 2 services today, getting my mind together for another round of things I’m grateful for. Well before I do that again I’m going to think of things that I would rather do without:

I would rather do without the Occupy movement, not because I don’t think they’re right but because I can see that this will not end without bloodshed from the 1%. Seriously I see at least 4 and as many as 10 public executions of the richest people in the world for “Crimes Against Humanity”, unless something happens to divert that in the next 2 weeks.

I would rather do without bicycle “infrastructure” that gets designed by people that haven’t ridden a bike since they turned 13 at the latest. Seriously, I have seen “infrastructure” that if used as intended and designed would get cyclists killed about half the time they use it unless drivers are very careful. Another thing to remember is that there is no formal instruction on bicycle usage in the US, any infrastructure has to be totally intuitive to use with as few signs as possible because the vast majority of users barely know which side of the road to ride on.

I have mentioned this one before but I still would rather do without mandatory helmet laws. Bicycle helmets are a joke that has had the punchline repeatedly edited for the worse. Studies done in the 80s and 90s on the effectiveness of helmets are totally non-valid now, because helmets made since the adoption of the CPSC standard don’t have anywhere near the protection of earlier helmets with hard shells that could stand more than one hit to the helmet. Even when a helmet is within its envelope of protection it still doesn’t do much, one hit and a CPSC certified helmet is used up and unable to protect even in a place on the opposite side of the head from the first hit. Every once in a while a bicycle helmet will prevent a brain injury by pure chance, and some people want to mandate taking that chance. I should note that I wear my Bellistic full-face helmet every time I ride my bike except during the winter when I use a full-face motorcycle helmet to keep my face warmer. I modify this helmet by installing a foam rubber gasket to keep my breath from fogging up my glasses and depend on the vents in the chin bar to keep my lower face from turning into a swamp.

Another thing I would be grateful to do without would be people that pass me on the right in my lane, or what is more likely pass me on the right partially in my lane, and halfway off the road. I would dearly love for someone to leave a big, car-wrecking thing in the grass off the side of the road and have one of these jerks passing me on the right drive over it and rip out something vital from their car. There are times when the only safe pavement I can ride on is the 6″ (15cm) to the right of the yellow line that marks the left side of the lane. That doesn’t mean I’m letting people pass to the right, that means there is enough bad pavement to the right that I can’t get any further over without risking losing control and crashing in front of those idiots trying to pass on my right. Many times I see large areas of broken paving with piles of loose gravel that was supposed to be a patch laying over it, with a driver angry that I’m not riding my bike more to the right.

Speaking of that, another thing I would be grateful to not have would be those “repairs” that consist of a bad batch of coldmix patch compound scattered thickly over badly broken pavement. I couldn’t ride there before and I still can’t ride there safely after the “repair” but drivers can’t tell it’s a deathtrap for a bicycle because they can’t feel the pavement move under their wheels or don’t notice that just off to one side is a large pile of really loose gravel that has come up from the “repair”. I would be overjoyed if all of those “went away”.

And while I’m at it I would be ecstatic if there was never another drunk driver on the road with me. Seriously, let them ride bikes if they have to drink away from home, the worst thing that could happen is they could kill themselves. I mean when was the last time you read about a person riding a bicycle drunk or sober running into a car full of people and even injuring one? Aside from scaring the used food out of them that is? Sure it is upsetting to see a drunk kill themselves on your car with a bicycle, but think about the motor-driven alternative and drunks on bikes is a hugely preferred alternative to drunks in cars, or any other motor vehicle.

There are other things that I would be grateful to live without, but I think that might be better for a Yule or New Year’s post, don’t you?

PSA, Opus