Sturgeon’s Law applies to the population in general, too, and the Feed

I know that the pronouncement in the headline will go right over the heads of many of my readers, but I don’t care. For those of you interested you can look up Theodore Sturgeon in the Wikipedia. If you’re really interested you can do a follow-up on Kilgore Trout and Kurt Vonnegut. That literary journey of discovery will place you square in the middle of Wonderland, enjoy.

Up first because it’s closest is a wreck in Houston. Cyclist, 68, struck by car in fatal NW Harris crash I noticed that many papers have disabled their comments sections when reporting a bicycle wreck in their online editions. That saves a lot of agita for me. This wreck seems very well defined, the car ignored a traffic control and hit the cyclist in the intersection, the driver is expected to be charged after the grand jury hears the case. I fully expect this case will not languish because of the close relationship between the decedent and a member of the 4^th estate.

In ID a driver is jailed for hitting a cyclist while driving drunk, before he sobered up. Caldwell man charged after car hits, injures cyclist The driver was jailed on charges of aggravated driving under the influence until his case can be heard and bound over for bail/bond. Why can’t TX do that? Why can’t AZ do that?

Another trial over injury to a cyclist that took even longer than TTTWLAMWAMD to come to trial. It’s been a long road to trial in cyclist’s death This was a homicide, the other case was a simple case of assault with a deadly weapon, and yet in spite of the evidence in this case it still has taken more than a year to come to trial. The wait must have been terrible for the family of the victim.

In UT a cyclist asks that drivers hang up and drive. Bicyclist’s instruction Don’t read the comments section, while there is some sentience in there the babbling of the semi-sentient will drive you insane.

In Enn Zed they are cranking up their warm months campaign to alert drivers that there are other people on the roads besides people driving cars. Share the road this Summer Equally, cyclists are very vulnerable and the road can be a scary place if you don’t have the protective shell of a car body. Amen Brutha’! Also, as cyclists we need to obey traffic controls, even when they don’t make a lot of sense for bicycles, and work on legislators to get traffic rules that make sense for cyclists and drivers, even if that will require making different rules for drivers and cyclists.

Another “Share the roads” event, in Oz this time. Riders pedal message to share the road Again the comments section ruins a perfectly good article.

Even in South Africa they are having issues with drivers that don’t want to give up an inch of their precious pavement to other road users. Appeal over Tour training as cyclist killed You have to do a couple of page downs to get to the actual article as there is some kind of issue with the layout in FF or Opera. I don’t have IE because I have a Linux system so I can’t tell you how it looks on that browser. The fact that cycling clubs are leasing race tracks to train because the roads are too dangerous should be a wake up call to the politicians that something needs to be done, ASAP if not sooner.

A motorcycle/bicycle wreck in Nepal kills the motorcycle rider and severely injures his passenger and the cyclist. One killed in Saptari This is one of the few wreck modes where the cyclist is on even terms with a motor vehicle operator in terms of relative injury. In the long run that makes motorcycle operators our allies in the battle to make roads safer.

And an article about something very close to the author of this blog, brain injury. Changed in a moment: Inside the lives of those living with brain injury Yes I have a brain injury, no you can’t tell from my blog. I have a permanent limp, that I try very hard to disguise and mostly succeed in doing so. I have aphasia when I speak, so sometimes my speech is slow and halting. I have anger issues and poor anger control; if you make me mad I will let you know about it in no uncertain terms if I can get the words to come out.

And that’s all I have for today, it’s such a nice day out I think I’ll go for a ride with Gigi.

Billed @$.02, Opus

If I had any money I could have gone to the Black Friday sales, a Sunday weak Feed

Fortunately the nature of the US Thanksgiving holiday makes for very few drivers on the roads, which makes for very few cyclists getting hit yesterday.

From the US we don’t have anything, only one North American report on a cyclist rear ended in the fog in Toronto. Deadly week on GTA roads includes four fatalities Interestingly enough the cyclist that was rear-ended was not among the fatalities from that day, but I don’t know if he’s still alive today.

And from Jolly Olde, they killed another woman with a large vehicle, a bus this time. Cyclist in bus collision dies When I read about this wreck back when it first happened I was hopeful that we had a survivor, one of the few heavy vehicle/bicycle wrecks in London that didn’t kill the female victim. Unfortunately, she didn’t survive. I have nothing on this particular wreck, but what I know about the other wrecks is the majority are from heavy vehicles making left turns through the cyclist’s path, a Limey left hook (because they drive on the wrong side of the road) when the cyclist is stationary while waiting for a stop light. I don’t know how to fix that kind of wreck except to make turning across a cycle lane illegal, which will bollux up the works no end. That would be the equivalent in the US of making right on red illegal, and all right turns where there is a bike lane illegal. Think about how that will fly.

And that’s all there was today, yay! I like days that don’t have many killed or injured cyclists.

Billed @$.02, Opus

Running late due to trying to donate blood and Thanksgiving perparations, the Feed

I’m officially out of the blood donating business for a long time, I’m still anemic. That would explain the lack of legs on long rides and especially on hills, and the low cruise speeds. I’m still as strong as ever in sprints and up short hills where oxygen-carrying capacity is not the limiting factor, so the strength training has been working, I just lack the oxygen-carrying capacity to go the distance at tempo. meh. For people who have followed my blog from MySpace you know this problem first reared its ugly head summer of 2007 and made my ride at the HHH that year a fiasco, as little girls on BSO MTB with knobby tires passed me any time the road made a slight inclination against me and I had to SAG out at the first rest stop as my pulse wouldn’t come down and my BP went up drastically. Up until them I had been donating every 8-9 weeks, but I haven’t been able to get my counts up high enough since June of ‘07. I guess this would be a good time to get that tattoo.

Up first because something has to be, and because this was appropriate for the season, a bike race/food drive. An Outlaw Street Race, for a Good Cause Basically it’s a race, but to win the race you have to buy the major makings to a Thanksgiving dinner for donating to a food bank. The Witch on a Bicycle blog heartily supports such an endeavor. We’re real big on food around here.

The other US story was about a month old, but still has lessons to be learned. Bicyclist seriously injured in Bybee Blvd. collision Yeppers, it was a left cross wreck, one of the most common but fortunately one that is usually survivable, if you turn with the car to reduce the impact. that assumes of course you have time to recognize the impending wreck and decide if you can stop in time or need to turn, then institute the turning movements to reduce the angle of impact with the car. I’m not too good with that, but fortunately I don’t get that kind of wreck very often and so don’t have to make those decisions very often.

More on the cop v bicycle wreck in SD CA. ‘Ghost Bike’ Honors Cyclist I would really like to see that report from the CHP given all the facts that have come to light since the wreck, the years of experience of the cyclist, the safety gear worn by the cyclist, the lack of flashing lights or siren used by the cop on the way to assist a fellow officer, claims that the officer was at least keeping up with other motor vehicles in the near vicinity contrary to the claim the LEO was driving under the speed limit…

Cyclists are suing the city of Toronto for failing to keep the streets safe for their cycling employees, the bicycle police patrol and the bicycle paramedic squad, total of about 530 employees working the streets on bicycles. Law backs cyclist’s quest for safe roads If you can’t get then to do right by you as a taxpayer, make do right for their employees, and then they also do right for the taxpayers.

On a similar note, the family of a UK cyclist killed in London asks for better infrastructure for cyclists. Family of cyclist killed in crash call for improved safety Really it isn’t all that hard, you just have to decide that too many people are getting killed, and build the infrastructure to prevent that.

And the last story is from Oz, as a man riding home from work is run over by a co-worker (not the legendary cow orker). Cyclist injured At least they charged the driver with something more serious than failure to maintain lane position.

And that’s all I got tonight. Happy Thanksgiving and enjoy your meal tomorrow. Best wishes to our servicemen and women who are having Thanksgiving dinner in the chow hall or out in bivouac in the boonies. I’m thinking about you, and glad I’m not doing that anymore.

Billed @$.02, Opus

After I picked up around the yard, a Feed

I have been doing some more pruning on the live oak out back and discovered we had some more damage from the tiny-nado last spring. We couldn’t hear it because of the wind noise, but one of the branches of the live oak was broken and laid over the other direction, but because we couldn’t see through all the small branches that sprouted since the last pruning nobody noticed. so after clearing out a huge number of branches to get to some deadwood I discovered that like half the tree was dead and sitting on top of the live part. And now it’s sitting in the driveway because it’s too big to move to the curb out front until it gets cut into smaller pieces. I’m going to tell the people at church that we have some U-Cut firewood sitting behind the house this Sunday, and if they don’t come get it by Tuesday it’s going to the curb Tuesday night. I think by then I will have recovered enough to actually be able to move that thing with some help. And now the Feed.

New Haven has injured another cyclist. Injured cyclist remains ‘stable’ Don’t read the comments, my head is “pre-exploded” so I can read that “stuff” without damage, you shouldn’t take that risk. The cyclist in this wreck was being harassed by the driver behind him when he rode into the oncoming lane of traffic. All I can say is no matter how bad the sub-human life form at the controls of the WMD aimed at you is behaving you have to watch where you’re going.

Kill a cyclist, and maybe get your hand slapped if you don’t stick around to leave your contact data. Man accused of leaving fatal accident scene faces trial Note that he faces no charges for hitting and killing the cyclist, just for leaving the scene without talking to the cops.

An English cyclist is killed riding the Americas. Islander killed in charity ride and from the Beeb Tributes paid to charity cyclist Even though the wreck happened in another country and is outside UK judicial jurisdiction, old habits are hard to break and the actual mode of the wreck is not to be found here.

What appears to be a hit-and-run on a cyclist in Gloustershire, which is somewhere in the UK from what I’ve been told. Gloucestershire cyclist injured in mystery incident The cyclist has no memory of the wreck, so good luck figuring out how this one happened.

And home of the famous smile without a cat… Ellesmere Port cyclist suffers serious injuries after collision The female motorist was not injured in the incident and is assisting police with their enquiries. Isn’t that just ducky? She’s helping the police. Wanna bet she’s lying like a rug as she “helps” the investigation?

Another wreck in the UK. Bas Clarke killed on A1 – Police seek witnesses to collision You have to watch out for those trucks, even when they’re not trying to hit you they have so many blind spots that they can kill you and the driver would never even notice he hit anything.

And from Oz comes the reports (finally) on the cyclist killed in the middle of the street by a tour bus. Tram tracks trapped cyclist’s wheel: inquest told and Tram tracks a trap for cyclists, police tell inquest and finally Bus travelleling slowly when cyclist killed, inquest told So, synopsis of the proceedings so far, the infrastructure was a deathtrap with less than 5 feet between the tram tracks to the right and the bus traffic to the left with the cyclists in the middle, and this particular one got her wheel trapped in the tracks trying to avoid a bus and fell into the path of the bus, so suddenly as to not give the driver time to react even though he was driving at a walking pace because of the congestion in the area. This is what we used to call a FUBAR in the Army. The situation has been rectified by removing the buses from the area and giving the entire left to cyclists and pedestrians.

I think that’s everything for today, if it ain’t I ain’t coming back to post more until tomorrow anyway.

Billed @$.02, Opus

Meet the new boss NASCAR, same as the old boss, and the Feed

As for what I do when I’m not battling for your (and my) rights to the roads, well I watch motorsports. Yesterday I watched Denny Hamlin win the race at Homestead Miami, while Jimmie Johnson won his 4^th straight championship, a Cup record and I think a NASCAR record. Now why do I watch stock car racing? Well for one thing, there are a lot of people in that line of work that I know personally, having lived in the South all my adult life. But I was a fan of Cup since they called it Grand National, before Winston ever graced the series’ name. Even when I was living in Hawaii I knew Fireball Roberts and Junior Johnson (no relation to Jimmie) were race car drivers, and I would build models of race cars. When I was a young father I would race my Honda CVCC in SCCA Solo II competition because that was safe and also as much as I could afford. Then I built a few cars for the Modified Category in that type of competition. Then I moved away from having a place to work on cars, started working 60 hour weeks in a factory, and had to give all that up. But enough of ancient history, we have a Feed to get through.

Up first is another report on the pellet gun drive-by shooting of a cyclist in Austin, from my examiner.com colleague. Cyclist assaulted with pellet gun Notice that even though they know the location of the perp, no mention has been made of an arrest, just charges. It was just a cyclist, don’t want to go to too much trouble. If the perp comes back to TX before the statute of limitations on the charge runs out he might get arrested and tried. Don’t hold your breath.

A cyclist is hit while not riding on the road and is charged for the wreck? Teen bike rider hurt in crash with pickup I don’t know if this is a result of him being a cyclist or having an Islamic-sounding surname, or if he might be a person of color, any of which would explain why he was charged with a traffic offense in spite of not being on the road when he was hit. The only thing I can say about this wreck was the cyclist was riding against traffic direction when he was not on the road but near it.

A similar incident to the Austin TX shooting except multiple victims and no known perp yet, in Enn Zed. Drive-by paintball gun shootings probed The main difference between the weapons used is a paintball gun has a lower muzzle velocity and a much heavier projectile that normally doesn’t penetrate but instead produces blunt force trauma in a very confined area.

Also in Enn Zed is a protest over cyclists’ rights and a memorial ride. Cyclists hold memorial ride for killed colleague

Finally, an infrastructure article from CA. Protecting California Bicyclists No matter where you ride infrastructure both real and legal is important, especially the legal infrastructure. Having roads to ride on won’t matter a hill of beans if there is no legal protection on those roads. And of course laws are useless without law enforcement to back them up.

And that’s all I have for you today. I hope you had a nice weekend and I hope you have a magnificent Thanksgiving feast for my USAian readers, the rest of you have a nice week, too.

Billed @$.02, Opus

Should there be a tougher written exam for driver’s licenses? and the Feed

After reading so many reports on drivers that don’t know the laws on how to drive their cars (there were a lot of car wrecks in the Feed this morning that had nothing to do with bicycles) I have come to the conclusion that either we need to have recurring testing for drivers with a zero tolerance passing standard, or drastically need to increase the PSAs for new laws that are passed for driving. There are just so many people that don’t know how to drive their WMDs within the laws, and who kill or seriously injure other people in the process. Something has to be done. The only other alternative would be to make killing or injuring someone while breaking a traffic law a felony, so that some legal bite could be applied to drivers, and so that LEO could get clear direction about the seriousness of motor vehicle crime.

Up first because there were more than one report on the wreck is a story out of AZ about a possible right hook of a cyclist by a garbage truck. 23-year-old cyclist killed in traffic collision identified and a later report Cyclist dies in collision The media outlet placed a copy of the AZ statute on making turns in the second article to demonstrate the level of care required by law to make a right turn. Many of the comments displayed a shocking lack of concern about the law as it stood and tried to substitute their own anti-cyclist interpretations (the cyclist deserved to be hit because he was there). I’ll continue to keep an ocular opened in this direction for more news.

More proof that gang-bangers are stupid. Cyclist killed in Norwalk, gunman sought See what I mean? They are in control of the perfect murder weapon, all they have to do is run the guy over and then claim he swerved in front of them, and the cops will believe it even after the heated argument if the cyclist is dead. Actually I don’t know which group is more stupid, gang-bangers or cops.

Speaking of stupid cops… Police Cracking Down On Rogue Cyclists Two pedestrians killed in one year and the politicians and the cops go nuts over “rogue cyclists” but how many pedestrians are killed in a month by motor vehicles without a similar crackdown? I won’t say that this was a waste of resources, because there are an awful lot of cyclists that were never taught the laws, but I think a similar effort every time a cyclist or pedestrian is killed by a motor vehicle would also be a good idea. Massive traffic enforcement after every fatality has a proven effect on lowering the fatality rate.

The cyclist from Oz that crippled a team mate while driving drunk loses his appeal of his sentence. Cycling-Australian mountain biker loses appeal against jail term No sympathy from me, as a cyclist he should have known better.

Cycling News has an article about Dave Zabriskie’s campaign to reduce car/bike wrecks in their daily blotter report. First Edition Cycling News, Wednesday, November 18, 2009 The Zabriskie article is second down the list.

Not a cycling specific story but if you wind up on one of my posts this will be valuable information to have. Injured Uninsured More Likely to Die in ER than Insured Yeah, when you wake up (if you wake up) in the ER you stand a better chance of survival if there is some kind of insurance covering you, which makes hit-and-run just that much worse. That is why there needs to be federal level laws that cover against hit-and-run.

More on distracted driving and infrastructure. Breakfast links: Consequences of distracted driving, biking Yeah, some doubleplusungood things going down here. For those who haven’t read 1984 that means very very bad.

Infrastructure in suburban LA. Two wheels and the future They are facing a monster of Hobson’s Choice there, can’t afford to go it, but can’t afford to not do it either. Not building bicycle infrastructure will cost them millions in increased medical costs and lost productivity from traffic jams, while building will also cost millions to build and maintain. I say go in the direction of increased happiness and health when faced with this dilemma.

And infrastructure in Jolly Olde. Convex Mirrors to be trialled on cycle super highways Given the huge number of cyclists killed, well actually not huge in absolute numbers but in proportion to other modes of fatality, killed by large vehicles turning left at stoplights (right cross for those of us driving on the right side of the roads), this is potentially a major invention. Trucks and buses turning over stationary cyclists at stop signs and lights are a major mode of cyclist fatality in London.

And that’s all I have this morning.

Billed @$.02, Opus

Ugly wrecks and multiple reports, the Feed

We had some ugly wrecks in the Feed today, which is not to imply that there are ever any pretty ones, just more or less ugly. Today we had some that were very ugly indeed.

The worst of those was a cyclist/pedestrian wreck with a little boy and a hit-and-run cyclist. Boy injured by alleged hit-and-run cyclist Don’t hit the pedestrians, if you do hit the pedestrians don’t leave until contact information has been exchanged and/or the pedestrian has been transported by medical caregivers. Or until you are transported, because bicycle/pedestrian wrecks are one of the few modalities that allow pedestrians to give as well as they get. But, don’t hit the pedestrians.

And this one was ugly because of a lack of information. Cyclist Killed By Car OK all we know at this point was the car hit the kid on the bicycle, it wasn’t a hit-and-run and the driver will get away with it.

Another SWSS in WA state. Bicyclist killed in collision with tow truck and Leavenworth bike rider killed in collision Interesting how the cyclist turned left but still got hit on the shoulder of the road… For those trying to avoid a similar wreck, use hit-from-behind protocols posted elsewhere in my blog. Use “protocol” as your main search term.

And more multiple reports of the man killed on US 23 in OH. Crash kills Piketon bicycle rider on U.S. 23 and Cyclist struck, killed in Ross County Another hit-from-behind wreck, what was once the most rare of wrecks is still pretty rare but extremely fatal as cars are going faster and drivers pay less attention to things outside the car.

A wreck caused by bad infrastructure in MA. Cyclist dies from Rt. 2 crash The cyclist hit a hole that was either unmarked or poorly marked and partially hidden by fallen leaves. The fact that the cyclist was riding on a sidewalk is not germaine to this particular case as leaves pile up on streets and roads as well as on sidewalks and there are utility access panels on streets as well.

This is an interesting wreck. Cyclist hurt in smash with car in Solihull I wonder what made the car overturn and was the car in the act of overturning before or after it hit the cyclist? This could have been a very interesting story had it happened outside the UK.

Another hit-and-run cyclist, but with a twist. WALTHAMSTOW: Injured artist calls for change to “dangerous” road layout The victim never saw the cyclist before the wreck, and from the article the cyclist never saw the victim, and the victim is blaming the infrastructure rather than the cyclist. Presumably the sight lines were such that a cyclist would be screened from pedestrian view and vice versa and cyclists would be therefore intent on oncoming traffic from the left rather than expecting a pedestrian from the right.

A report on the death last year of an Australian cyclist. Cyclist saw Swanston St rider fall to her death Heavy bicycle traffic and streetcar tracks, and adjacent bus traffic equals dead cyclist. Not a pretty equation, and to be right next to it would be horrific.

Another bike ride to honor another cyclist murdered by a driver. Cyclists Honor One Of Their Own There have been too many of these rides lately, even one is too many. Something must be done so that cyclists can ride without drivers trying to kill them.

And that’s all I have for you this day.

Billed @$.02, Opus

You didn’t miss anything yesterday, but I feel much better

Well, in spite of not making a post yesterday you won’t miss anything because I didn’t flush the Feed I just waited until today to post the link from it. You didn’t misread that I did in fact use “link” singular rather than the plural form of the word. Sunday has been the lightest day for the Feed followed closely by Monday, so it looks like from here on out I will be posting only 6 times a week barring breaking news items getting sent to me like the conviction of TTTWLAMWAMD. BTW if someone in the LA area would like to place themselves in the courtroom for his sentencing and e-mail me what the outcome of that is I could make you semi-famous. That and $3 will get you a cup of coffee that you could get for $2.60 otherwise… Seriously I will post your name or Internet handle, pseudonym, or any other form of written identification (I’ll even make up a cool acronym) if you so desire if you send me an e-mail when TTTWLAMWAMD is sentenced, whatever sentence he gets. I won’t even blame you if he gets probation

First up is your link from Sunday. Bicyclist without helmet critically injured Obviously the lack of a helmet caused this wreck. Actually what caused the wreck was whatever made the cyclist lose traction while rounding a corner around 25 MPH (a speed which I find highly suspect as I have heard people estimate the speed of my bicycle at anywhere from 5 to 40 MPH at the same time and in the same place (18 MPH)). Not having a helmet only contributed to the severity of the subsequent injury. I should also point out that this is a situation for which helmets were intended to be of use, even though the certification test doesn’t do anything to test for the motion of the helmeted head over the ground.

A wreck in OH that we don’t know much about because of a news blackout by LEO. Bicyclist Killed In Collision With Van At this point the best guess from what limited information is available (and my OH backchannel is shut down for this story) is the cyclist was hit from behind, and because of the blackout there is a strong possibility that the driver did it intentionally. I’ll continue to keep an ocular open on this story.

An ME cyclist in a single vehicle wreck requires extraction from a bad location. Cyclist hurt in York woods near Folly Pond Fortunately for the cyclist he was in an area with cell reception so he could call for help. This is a good idea for every cyclist even if you never leave concrete and asphalt paving. Always carry a cell phone and make sure the battery is charged before you leave, If you’re going on a several day long trip you might want to have spare batteries, depending on how good your phone is on talk time. Obviously if there is any doubt about capacity or endurance you’ll want to leave the phone turned off until needed.

From Oz the report of a little girl injured on her bicycle by someone with a learner’s permit. Cyclist, 13, injured in learner driver collision This sometimes happens with new drivers. The Witch on a Bicycle blog understands that and will refrain from calling for the hide and various bits of the driver’s anatomy in retribution for this CARnage. Should the driver be at fault, the staff at Witch on a Bicycle suggest that a 6 month ban on driving and a requirement to ride a bicycle during that ban be imposed on the driver in lieu of a jail or prison sentence.

A year after a driver hit 10 cyclists injuring 5 and nearly killing one of those, it’s time for El Tour de Tucson again. Focus on safety as countdown to bicycle race begins And it took only 4 comments before the strawman of bicycle taxes was brought up by Jim S. (kingrat). Well Mr. S. I strongly suggest that you stay west of the NM/TX border, as you have not paid TX taxes so you are not permitted to use our roads

A memorial ride for the cyclist murdered in NC. Memorial Bike Ride Honors Man Killed in Hit-and-Run I don’t care what the charges are, when someone crosses the road to hit a cyclist head on and then hangs a U-turn to escape that’s a murder in my book, maybe not 1^st degree or capital (in TX) but murder at any rate.

A suggestion that cars share the roads with cyclists is falling in hearing-impaired ears in SD. Proposal: Let bicycles, cars share road Don’t read the comments on this one either.

And that’s all I have today.

Billed @$.02, Opus

A near-empty Feed

Not much cooking in today’s Feed, but a lot going on with me. I had committee meetings out the wazoo today starting at 10 AM and not ending until after 5 PM at church, plus more in the coming week. Yuck! Being in an Organized Religion is a lot of work. Imagine all the work you have to do as a solitary and then double it as you have to either teach your rituals to someone else, or learn how to do their rituals. This ain’t like sitting in a Christian church and listening to the preacher spout, uh-unh. Not only are you responsible for your religious celebrations but you have to bring along the nubes and hold their hands until they get up to speed and can work without the training wheels. It’s called giving to the next generation and passing on what you have learned. And it’s my turn.

Up first because something had to be, is a family asking LEO to be more cognizant of dealing with human beings when they kill someone while on duty. Cyclist’s Family Wants Cops to Care Yeah, good luck with that one guys.

A compliment to the previous article is this one on s cyclist killed in the turn lane blamed for his death because he was riding a bicycle in the street. Death highlights bike safety The cyclist was more than visible enough under the street light while trying to make his turn to be seen and avoided, but to remain blameless you need to have a headlight and taillight on your bike. I strongly recommend such any time you are out after dark, so that you can be seen and also so you can see. It doesn’t do any good to be lit up like a Xmas tree for drivers to avoid hitting you if you can’t see where you’re going.

Infrastructure in CA, funded by a Girl Scout door-to-door fund raising drive. Girl Scouts go door-to-door to raise funds for speed bumps on 38th Avenue What gets me about this was not that the cyclist was hit, but the drivers honking their car horns at the people trying to help because they blocked the road, and then the people having to raise money to protect themselves from the city’s poor planning and failure to enforce the speed limits.

People helping other people while riding bicycles. Taking the chai road Raising money for a kids hospital and riding in Israel, what a deal.

And that’s all I have today. Just a reminder I will be out having a life tomorrow after church, so no blog post until Monday evening.

Billed @$.02, Opus

Another mild Feed

Yes we had another mild Feed today, with only 6 bicycle-related links, and one of those was not related to a wreck or infrastructure, with one other infrastructure article, so 4 wrecks or related to wrecks. That’s a Good Thing in my book.

Getting to the one that wasn’t a wreck or about infrastructure first, there was a bike-jacking in Daphne AL. Man shoots Eastern Shore teen in the arm, steals his bicycle, police say A bike thief with a gun, joy. Well if you’re too stupid to cut a chain or pick a lock then you have to steal them when they aren’t locked. I hope when they catch this guy they throw a couple of tons of books at him, but since he’s already 24 and still robbing kids on bicycles (with a gun) I don’t hold much hope that trying to educate the perp is going to help much, you can’t cure stupid. To avoid a similar situation, shoot back and aim center mass.

A situation that a little more experience and judgment on the part of the cyclist might have helped prevent. High school student on bike injured after hitting firetruck in Santa Rosa The cyclist was riding the wrong way in the bike lane and the firetruck had the flashers going and the backup alarm sounding and still the kid hit the firetruck. I am hopeful he learned something from this experience. I am also hopeful he continues to ride his bike with a greater appreciation of the safe way of doing so.

From Jolly Olde a bad wreck. Cyclist fighting for life after accident The driver was uninjured, joy.

They laid a cycling advocate to rest in Greenburgh, NY. Riders pay tribute to Greenburgh bicycle advocate killed in bus collision The best thing I can say about this wreck is it illustrates exactly what the guy was trying to tell people, that frequently the only option to get someplace by bicycle is to ride in traffic on high speed feeders and arterials because there are no other connecting routes. This is the same problem we have in Garland, the planning done in the 1970s and ’80s created superblocks that were only connected by arterials with 40-45MPH speed limits, and all the commercial development (grocery stores and other retail) was on those arterials. This is great as long as everyone has a car, not so great if people want to walk or ride a bicycle.

A NYC weekly complains about infrastructure that is supposed to protect cyclists from cars still being overrun by motor vehicles. Make bike lanes safe The wreck in question was on a protected bike lane that was commandeered by a garbage truck. An analogy would be herded animals on a freeway, they don’t belong there and create a hazard for those for whom the infrastructure was intended.

And finally if your bike is equipped with an Easton EA30 stem, stop riding it immediately (well, you might want to ride home very carefully and then park the bike) and contact your LBS about a replacement. Bicycles Recalled by Easton Sports; Stem Failure Poses Fall Hazard The stem was OEM and also available as an aftermarket replacement part, so be sure to check which stem came on your mountain or hybrid bike. I built the stem on Gigi myself, so I don’t have to worry about this recall, just the quality of my workmanship.

And that’s all I have for this morning.

Billed @$.02, Opus