Computer problems, and the Feed

My computer’s power supply is in the process of dying, it stays running if you get it to run, but getting it cranked up is a hit or miss affair. After reading some of the articles in the Feed I almost wish it had stayed busted.

Up first because it’s closest is a kid killed in Edinburg TX. Edinburg teen killed riding bike late at night It took until just before I posted this link for someone to notice that the bike riders were riding the wrong way when they got hit. I know my readers don’t do that, except when they can’t get through otherwise or if they have to backtrack out of a one-way section of road, but how often does something like that happen? Don’t be a salmon.

BikingInLA has a man in the courtroom in the trial of the thing that walks like a man with a medical degree. Evil on trial: UPDATE — Christopher Thompson takes the stand I hope the prosecuting attorney gives him a new one on the stand. Maybe two new ones.

More reports on the man arrested for the death of a Dutch cycle tourist. Man indicted in death of cyclist from Netherlands and Man charged in cyclist’s death Great, stoned on opiates and driving a car. Not any better than drunk, just different impairing substances. Bring on the bicycle chain floggers.

They found the truck in the NC hit-and-run crime, driver to follow. Troopers seize damaged SUV and Editorial: A careless and shameless act And the lawyer’s take on the wreck Hit and Run Driver Kills Bicycle Rider in Guilford County, North Carolina Again I advise against reading the comments unless you already have brain damage and can’t get hurt any worse by stupid people.

Another reason not to run red lights, drivers think they mean “go like hell” instead of “proceed when clear”. Decatur Central Student Killed in Bicycle/Semi Accident But I really can’t blame the truck driver in this wreck, it appears that the truck was already moving well before the cyclist ran the red and ran into the truck. Again, don’t run red lights, unless you think death or serious injury are fun.

And they just don’t take us witches seriously at the ME’s office. Bicyclist died of traumatic head injury, M.E. rules Nobody saw the truck I guess.

Great, the law firm that employed that pedestrian killed by a hit-and-run cyclist is out for blood. Caesar Rivise law firm wants justice in death of beloved longtime employee Why couldn’t they get this worked up over someone getting killed riding a bicycle? And don’t hit the pedestrians, they are on the same side as us cyclists, the bad guys drive cars.

From Jolly Olde, an MP gets a burr up his butt and the police catch a bad case of stupids too. Police launch crackdown on cyclists Just because a cyclist can see where they are going on a well-lit street, does not necessarily mean that they are fully visible to motorists approaching with their headlights on. Yep, car drivers are blind as well as stupid. Just because you’re in the headlights doesn’t mean they will see you. They will run into you but they will claim to never have seen you. That’s why I always use the Honkin’ Huge Taillight^tm when I ride at night. Look like a motor vehicle and avoid that “run down” feeling.

Boris makes more noise about making London safer for cyclists. Newton unsure about London Olympics The article about making London safe is down the column from the headline article.

The rest of the post tonight comes from Oz, AKA the Land Down Undah.

And speaking of having a case of the stupids, some cyclists have near fatal cases. Cyclists not given free ride by police Aside from the helmet laws most traffic laws make sense to follow if only because it makes your actions more predictable so that drivers can better avoid hitting you. That’s the main reason why I say to not run red lights, as it makes where you will be on the road unpredictable and drivers don’t expect to see a bicycle crossing their path when they have the green light, as an example.

It appears that Australian cars are even more deadly than US cars as shown by the graph that goes with this article. Cut speed to let our cyclists live Their near-zero survivor speed is 60 km/hr, but the “knee” speed is about the same as US statistics, roughly 30 MPH (50 km/hr) with an initial rise at 20 MPH (30 km/hr). I didn’t even bother to try reading the nearly 500 comments that went with the article at the time I made this post.

And letter to the editor about a proposal to make bicycles have license plates. Identifying cyclists will not cure road rage apparently this was precipitated by a bus driver nearly hitting a cyclist, who then was able to catch the bus in traffic, get on the bus and beat the tar out of the bur driver for nearly killing the cyclist. This is not something I would recommend but it is something I understand. and I bet this was the fastest extended sprint on the part of the cyclist in a long time if not ever.

And that’s all I have today, maybe I can do another one tomorrow, if the power supply holds up and doesn’t die.

Billed @$.02, Opus

Another Feed full of non-bicycle things

Lots of motorcycle wrecks in the Feed today, and lots of just motorcycle racing. That’s one of the big reasons that humans will still be required in the news compiling business for a long time to come, is the lack of discrimination of machine information gathering. It’s real good at what to bring in, not so much at what to leave out.

Up first is more from the trial of the thing that walks like a man with a medical degree. ‘I wanted to teach them a lesson.” — Road rage trial resumes. I told you he freely admitted guilt to the cops, now it’s part of the trial transcript. He deserves to never breathe free air again, but that ain’t gonna happen. I’ll settle for never being allowed to drive a car again, for the rest of his miserable life (and living where he does, not being allowed to drive will make his life miserable).

Up next is a rare kind of wreck, the bike on pedestrian with pedestrian injury. Comatose man apparently had been hit by bike Pedestrians should be wearing helmets to prevent brain injury, see what happened to this guy!?!?! Getting serious, don’t ride on sidewalks, but if you ride on sidewalks don’t hit the pedestrians. If you do ride on sidewalks and hit a pedestrian, stop and make sure he or she is OK before you leave, and leave contact information when you do leave.

A rare and exotic wreck again, the double SWSS. Police release name of Farmington teen struck and killed “The van tried to avoid the first cyclist and he did that very successfully, but it was unable to avoid the second since they both swerved the same way,” Drury said. Umm, yeah, two cyclists swerving the exact same way… That said the report indicates a lack of reflectors and lights on both bikes, so reflectors and taillights. Remove any excuses that drivers use to hide their bad driving skills. Then follow hit-from-behind protocol to avoid the idiots that shouldn’t be on the road in the first place.

Another report on the woman killed by a truck in Chicago. Cyclist Killed After Being Pinned Beneath Truck Interesting choice of words in this article, she wasn’t hit by the truck, she fell underneath it. Whatever it’s still male bovine digestive byproduct. I can no longer tell you how to avoid this wreck, as nobody is giving a straight story. None of the reports are consistent even on the location of the bikes at the time of the wrecks with locations reported from in front of the bus to between the truck and the bus. The only consistent fact besides the dead cyclist is filtering past stopped vehicles. I know breathing bus fumes at a stoplight is unpleasant, but breathing bus exhaust and surviving is preferred to filtering up and getting killed by an irate driver.

Next is a report from a not-so-jolly Jolly Olde. Cyclist injured in car collision Interestingly enough instead of all the anti-cyclist comments, most of the UK comments lately have been about the drivers not paying attention to the roads thereby hitting the vulnerable cyclist. This would not be the case in the US.

Now for my readers that are real infrastructure wonks (like me)… House of Commons Committee Publishes Repot on Road Safety Focuing on Pedestrians and Cyclists The spelling and grammatical errors are in the original, I just used copy and paste. One of the interesting things about the report is the identification of the number of wrecks that caused injury to cyclists and pedestrians but which were not reported to police in spite of requiring more than simple first aid. This tells me that unless you have severe injuries even a hit-and-run isn’t going to be reported, that the rate of hit-and-run has gotten so high in the UK that it just gets ignored in many cases. This is a terrible thing.

Another report for the wonks in the crowd. Which K Street do you prefer? My vote would be the option with bike lanes and fewer car lanes, option 3.

And that’s the whole mess for this morning. Something special is coming up later in the day.

Billed @$.02, Opus

Lots of links today, both updates and new reports

I thought a descriptive if wordy headline best suited today’s Feed. We had several stories that had multiple reports, and some updates reports on old stories as well as new stuff. Hopefully I will get this all straightened out and not put reports in separate paragraphs that belonged together.

Up first is another report on the American Fork canyon incident in UT. Mesa Cyclist Injured In Utah Crash This doesn’t add much to the reason for the crash, but it does tell us more about one of the victims.

There was a bad bike wreck in CO. Madison cyclist killed in Colorado accident and Cyclist crash fatality is first in monument It appears the cyclist hit something in the road that caused a front washout throwing the cyclist to the pavement where he sustained fatal head injuries. There were no other vehicles involved in the wreck. How to avoid: watch for road debris and ride in the clean line even if that requires riding in the lane with cars.

An elderly MI an suffers head injury in a wreck with a slightly less elderly woman driver. Elderly bicyclist injured in crash Not clear here why the cyclist proceeded in front of the car nor why the car failed to stop in time to not hit the cyclist.

A PA cyclist is killed by a UPS truck. Harrisburg bicyclist killed in crash in Swatara Township No verifiable word on the cause but from the comments section I think we can rule out not seeing the cyclist. The bike was reported to have been festooned with reflectors, and the driver reported no trouble seeing the cyclist according to another comment. Why the driver failed to avoid the cyclist he had no trouble seeing is a question best left to the courts.

The other PA wreck was a single vehicle wreck on a bike trail. Maine man killed in W. Pa. mountain bike crash and Maine biker killed in Beaver County accident Another reason to not ride off road without a riding partner. His helmet was not very effective either. Wear a helmet but wear it right to prevent facial injuries. The bottom of the front of the helmet must be no more than a finger width above the brow ridge on your skull.

Another hit-from-behind wreck, this time in MO. Bicyclist injured after being struck by car near LaGrange Usual precautions against being hit from behind, plus because this was a night wreck add a bright taillight to the list. I recommend the Honkin’ Huge Taillight^tm. Click the tag to find a list of materials to build your own HHT.

Another drunk hits s cyclist head on, this time with a twist. Joliet bicyclist seriously injured; motorist detained Yes another salmon cyclist gets hit. There was lots of blame to go around in this one starting with the drunk driver and extending to the cyclists riding the wrong way on the street. Hasn’t the news gotten out yet? Ride with traffic on the right side of the street/road. Don’t drink and operate a vehicle (car, truck, motorcycle, bicycle…). Just don’t.

A cyclist in CA gets hit while crossing a road in the crosswalk. Bicyclist struck, injured in College Terrace Since we don’t know which direction the cyclist was traveling in this wreck it’s hard to say who was at fault. Using Google Street View we can see the intersection was between 2 light controlled intersections, so the cyclist may have started crossing the 6 lanes of traffic when the way was clear, but been caught out after the light changed.

LEO aren’t saying much about this wreck in NC. Bicyclist Injured In Greenville Accident About all we know from this report is a cyclist was hit by a motor vehicle and was not killed.

ID LEO are busting speeders that endanger children. Law enforcement cracking down on speeders in school zones As I pointed out in an earlier post, going from 20 MPH (most school zones) to 30 MPH (speed at which cops will ticket you for speeding in a school zone) raises the fatality rate from 5% to 50%, and reduces the walk-away rate from 45% to 5%, not to mention that drivers have 50% less time to react at 30 MPH than they do at 20 which means that hitting those kids is more likely. It’s a bad combination of more likely to hit and more likely to kill if you hit.

It has been a bad year for cyclists (relatively) in HI. Bicycle Riders Face Grim Statistics Of Injury Or Death In Hawaii Notice that the statistics were drawn from a very bad year for cyclist deaths. Lately the numbers have looked much better.

This was just brought to my attention today, even though it’s more than 7 months old. OYO RESTAURANT TREATS CYCLISTS LIKE PESTS Well restaurants have the right to refuse service, but that doesn’t mean I have to like it when they do.

Cyclists ride for a good cause. Riders take to streets for Special Olympics “Shave your legs and saddle up!” We have good deeds to do.

A rather breathless helmet-centric “safety” article from my SF colleague at examiner.com. Save Your Life! Always Wear Your Bike Helmet! Yes, always wear a helmet when you ride, just don’t expect miracles from it. Mine saved my life when I was attacked and left for dead by a pickup truck wielding terrorist back in 2001, but it didn’t prevent my brain damage. I have about 2/3 the mental ability I had pre-wreck, mostly lost in my ability to communicate verbally. I’m alive but no longer able to find work outside of posting to the internet. And if you think posting to the internet will make you money I would like to show you my last paycheck for 5 months of work for examiner.com of just over $26.

And another in a inconsistent series on why I consider motor vehicles to be WMDs. Vehicles crash into buildings Monday and Tuesday I wonder how the reinforced cinderblock garage is doing after getting hit @80MPH or so? And what caused the homeowner to build a reinforced cinderblock garage in the first place, most detached garages are barely enough structure to survive twice the expected snow load in that area.

And that’s all I have for today.

Billed @$.02, Opus

Long day, and a big Feed

It was a long day today at the lab rat keeper’s place. Pee in a cup, stand on a scale, take blood pressure, do mad scientist experiments with non-invasive measurement techniques, pee in a cup again, draw 5 tubes of blood, drink orange flavored syrup, take a 20 minute nap, draw more blood, take another 20 minute nap, draw more blood, another nap, more blood, about a 45 minute nap, and the final tube of blood. I had a late lunch, then a psych test to see if I was having sexual performance issues, then a few minutes after 2PM I could go home. I stopped off for a haircut on the way home, and finally unlocked the front door a little before 1730 (5:30 PM).

After coming back from the lab rat keeper I found a more than full Feed, with 5 reports instead of the normal 4, which took a while to filter. But I did it because I know you depend on me to bring you the bicycle news, Non-racing edition.

Up first are updates on the right hook wreck in Baltimore. Bicyclist killed in accident identified and also Bicyclist Killed In LaFayette Street Crash and Spotlight on safety after cyclist killed Some of the comments show a lack of understanding of a right hook or how to avoid one (hint, turn away, don’t try to stop).

A VT cyclist is KO’ed by a backing truck. Bicyclist injured in Colchester This is almost impossible to avoid even if you are hyper-vigilant. The best you can do is leave yourself an escape route, and also not ride next to the curb (no being a gutter-bunny).

Another TX rider is killed by a hit-and-run. Plainview bicyclist killed in hit and run At this point they are saying the rider failed to yield right of way, so it looks like they will try to sweep this under the rug despite the hit-and-run.

FL tallies another dead cyclist in the deadliest state of the Union. Bicyclist Killed In Wellington Crash Hit from behind and they suspect the rider was drunk? That bike in the picture looked like it was pretty squared up before getting hit. As always, watch from behind to avoid getting hit from there, watch where you’re going, and leave yourself an “out”.

More carnage in CO. Bicyclist killed in hit-and-run was Greeley man They have no idea even the basic class of vehicle that hit him, but other reports indicate he was hit from behind. Typical instructions about being hit from behind, see the previous paragraph.

More updates on the cyclist killed in AB. Cyclist killed on Yellowhead and Dead cyclist hit twice, Edmonton police say Witness reports claim the bike had no lights or reflectors, and the victim was wearing dark clothes at night and trying to cross the highway. If true, this was a case of death by stupid, no ill towards the dead intended. Lights, lots of them and pointed over about a 90 degree spread 45 on either side of center are what you need to avoid an accidental hit from behind. This is no guarantee but this will at least allow the drivers that don’t want to hit you (the vast majority, even of the drivers that don’t like bicycles on the roads) to be able to see and avoid you. I recommend the Honking Huge Taillight^tm because it makes your bike look like a motor vehicle from behind which makes drivers avoid you just that much more, because you’ll scratch the paint worse

I don’t know where this happened as I don’t recognize any of the place names, but they have the right idea about Weapons of Mass Destruction. Mob torches four trucks after cyclist killed by truck I mean wow, burn the truck that was used to do the deed plus 3 more just because, that’s hard core.

Infrastructure going in on the ground in Seattle. New ’sharrows’ on 32nd Ave. NW Sharrows are a good idea for an area that sees lots of bike traffic but lacks room for a dedicated bike lane, but they are no substitute for education for drivers and cyclists.

An article that also covers infrastructure and education in SC. Making Roads Safer for Drivers and Bicyclists

Legal infrastructure is as important as concrete and asphalt. The road rift

And another phrase for “car-head”. Bus driver experiences “windshield perspective”

And that’s everything, I’m going to bed.

Billed @$.02, Opus

Two days of a light Feed at once

For those of you who didn’t read down first, I didn’t do a report yesterday because I was doing some mods to Gigi to enlarge her cargo capacity over her previous water bottle, patch kit, and light lunch, to a pair of motorcycle saddlebags that will carry some groceries, or all the clothing I need for a weekend camping trip plus personal food for 3 days. In the process I had to change the mounting of the Honkin’ Huge Taillight^tm from chopper style low on the left side to a high center mount. It was time to change the mount anyway as I discovered when I pulled the old mounting bracket off and found a crack running from one hole to less than a millimeter from the edge of the mount. I don’t think the taillight would have fallen off had the crack continued to propagate, but it might have pointed in the wrong direction. I also had to attend the public meeting of the NCTCOG, the people that decide how state and federal dollars are spent for infrastructure and environmental projects in the area. Public meetings are where we get to have our say in what needs to be done, and my voice is finally being listened to. Persistence pays off in the long run. This really deserves a separate report that I haven’t even finished reading all the data for yet.

Up first from the Feed is a report on some really bad infrastructure that damaged a bike and injured the rider. Cyclist injured in crash at road work site There was a road cut that was not marked and caused an unsuspecting cyclist to blow a front tire and crash. Personal experience tells me that even a low tire will cause a crash if it’s on the front, a front blowout is a crash the first time the rider has to move the handlebars to keep the bike under him or her, like within a few feet of whatever caused the blowout.

Officials have now decided that the man killed Friday at a train crossing was not suicidal but may have thought the crossing gates had malfunctioned. Bicyclist killed by Caltrain identified as 38-year-old San Jose man There were 2 trains crossing the road at nearly the same time on separate tracks, and the rider did not see or hear the second train, the one that hit him, as he was fixated on the first train. The moral here is to wait until the crossing gates go back up before crossing the tracks.

More reports on the man killed in Mankato MN. Prior Lake bicyclist killed when struck by car and Authorities ID bicyclist killed in Mankato Nothing more to add to this that I haven’t posted before.

A cyclist is injured in a possible right hook. Bicyclist injured in accident on Broadway in Saratoga Always be ready to stop when being passed and there is an entrance or intersection coming up, but this wreck is the fault of the driver that failed to complete the pass before making the right turn in front of the cyclist.

An impatient driver hits a cyclist at an intersection. Bicyclist injured at Woodley & Division The cyclist and driver both stopped at their stop signs and then the cyclist proceeded in the crosswalk, when the driver pulled forward and hit the cyclist. And LEO are saying the cyclist was at fault for riding in the crosswalk…

A bike ninja gets hit in the rear wheel. Teen on bicycle hit by car He almost made it. Moral of the story is don’t be a bike ninja unless you have the speed and traffic skills to pull it off, and this guy didn’t have those skills or the speed.

A bike-v-bike wreck in Canuckistan. Cyclists injured in head-on bike path collision The moral here is to slow down to a speed that lets you keep to your side of the bike path around turns, especially turns that you can’t see if there is traffic coming the other way.

A cyclist is injured in a hit-and-run in Jolly Olde. Cyclist injured in hit and run in Hatfield Not much to say here except the driver may not have even known he or she hit someone, this appears to be one of those “soft” wrecks that are very quiet. And because it is a UK report there is nothing on the actual mechanism of the wreck so I can tell you how to not be in a similar wreck.

Infrastructure, we have lots of infrastructure reports. Lots of people are concerned with and about infrastructure. A Safety Move That Cyclists Call a Menace This report details changes made to roads that make them unusable by cyclists, kind of like the boulderseal used in Collin County when a road gets too popular with cyclists. In the NY case it was aggressive rumble strips on the shoulders, in Collin County it’s a chipseal done with excessively large aggregate that makes a road unridable without wide tires, like 4″ wide or wider. The vibration caused by the large aggregate increases rolling resistance and also causes vision issues and mechanical problems. The rumble strips have caused at least one injury crash, and remove a large portion of the shoulder as a safe place to ride, forcing cyclists into the main travel lane where cars travel at speeds in excess of the 55MPH posted limits.

An off-road infrastructure problem is settled between the horsey set and MTB riders. Bike, horse riders agree to share paths at Oconee’s Heritage park The bike riders don’t get much from this “compromise” except the “right” to build their own trails like they already have, but not where the horsey people want to ride.

And a different kind of infrastructure as other media discover that there is a safe passing bill waiting Rick Perry’s signature here in TX. Bill before Gov. Perry aims to help drivers, cyclists share the road The comments section is worth ever penny you pay to read it. XP

And that is everything thus far, more if I feel like posting wrecks, but there will be a report on the NCTCOG meeting last night.

Billed @$.02, Opus

Hey Freddy Mercury, another one bites the dust

For all you young’uns out there, there was this group called Queen, that did a song about gang violence called “Another One Bites the Dust”. Freddy Mercury was the lead singer for the group and wrote most of the songs. Do a Google search for the video, it was pretty cool for the ’80s. So what does a Classic Rock hit from the ’80s have to do with people getting killed riding bicycles? Not much, but it got your attention didn’t it?

A cyclist with the CPSC reflectors still gets hit while riding at night. Baldwin County bicyclist killed by car Apparently AL LEO don’t regard killing a cyclist equipped with legal reflectors to be a big thing, as no charges or citations were issued, because he didn’t add more reflectors. BTW reflectors are pretty much useless unless you are directly in front of the car’s headlights, I prefer the Honkin’ Huge Taillight^tm made from this light and this battery on the back of my bike with this switch.

Billed @$.02, Opus