Weird news on a rainy Saturday, and the Feed

Dad is still doing well, getting around more on his feet and getting up and doing things. He had a busy day yesterday of OT and PT and just getting lots of visitors, so he slept well last night. Me, not so much as I’m out of my pain pills and can’t get my right foot folded up under me enough to get a sock on to wear shoes

Up first, that SC cyclist that “sideswiped” an SUV and was run over by a second vehicle was the alleged perpetrator of a DUI fatality last fall. Victim of Folly Road bike fatality was the driver in Skinful felony DUI The wreck still does not make sense, unless the SUV he sideswiped was parked, because he was forced into the parked cars by motor vehicles passing too close and then bounced in front of the car that killed him. but the fact that he was alleged to be the driver in a DUI fatality and then dies riding a bike, well let’s just say the needle in my irony meter is bouncing off the peg.

A SWSS wreck in Ogden UT. Bicyclist injured when struck by car in Ogden Looking at the bike in the picture, it was definitely struck from the left. The impact seems to be well left of the vehicle center and the bike seems to be sitting in the left turn lane. So from the evidence this does seem to be a cyclist that made a lane change that was either ignored by the driver or too late for the driver to stop. To avoid use intersection protocols, specifically the ones on how to make a legal left turn, and to prevent get the infrastructure right so a cyclist doesn’t have to negotiate a 4-lane highway with motor vehicles moving at high speeds to get from one place to another.

A MI sidewalk cyclist is right-hooked. Accident Leaves Cyclist Injured In Traverse City This one is super-simple to avoid: Ride in the street where drivers can see you and not turn in front of you and also use the rest of the intersection protocols, likewise to prevent get the infrastructure right so cyclists don’t feel compelled to ride on sidewalks.

A UK wreck is easily explained and prevented. Train-death cyclist had headphones on OK I have to do at least one of these every couple of months. These are so simple to avoid I just can’t believe people get hit by trains: Stay off the track when a train is coming. If you have headphones on be very careful about looking around to make sure you are not about to step in front of a moving train.

Last link today is an Infrastructure! article from AZ. Scottsdale Personal Injury Attorney Quoted On Local News About New Arizona Bicycle Law I’m not convinced I like the bit about making cyclists at fault in wrecks, I’m hoping this means only wrecks where the cyclist failed to yield the right of way to the motor vehicle that would have had right of way (like if the driver was first to a 4-way stop or was on a through street and the cyclist had the stop sign).

And that’s all the news that gave me fits today.

Billed @$0.02, Opus

Sugar rush, and the Feed

I was inundated by a load of home-made treats with a limited shelf life yesterday that had to be eaten by today or thrown away. And if that sentence construction didn’t clue you in, I’m in an altered state of mind from all the sugar I have consumed in the last 2 days. Seriously I didn’t get this much sweet stuff the entire month of February when we have 3 birthdays, Valentines Day, and a wedding anniversary to celebrate. That was a lot of cake, ice cream, and chocolate to stuff in one month, but the sucrose content of the stuff people gave me yesterday just blew that away, with everyone giving me stuff with the usual excuse being “I made too much and I know you like this and it won’t keep so eat it!” except I put in spaces between the words so it was understandable. I’m willing to bet that you could hold a microphone to my skin and pick up a low hum, I know I feel a tadly warmish even with the AC on and a fan blowing on me.

The big story today is the father and daughter killed while riding on the sidewalk, mid block, by a speeding SUV. Father, Daughter Bicyclists Killed by Speeding SUV in Concord and Police check cell records in fatal Concord crash and Man, daughter on bikes killed by car another Concord: Father and daughter, 9, hit and killed by SUV while bicycling more UPDATE: Crash Kills Father & Daughter on Bicycles on Treat Blvd. Near Oak Grove not done yet Speeding driver kills father, young daughter on bikes another one Police check cell records in fatal Concord crash oh gods there’s still another page of links Father, Daughter On Bikes Die After Being Hit By SUV another one Father, Young Daughter Killed while Cycling still not done yet Concord SUV kills father, daughter riding bikes I can see the end of the second page Community mourns father, daughter killed by SUV more Police probe driver’s cell phone after fatal Concord crash getting close now Father and daughter cyclists hit and killed by teenage driver I’M ON THE THIRD PAGE OF LINKS! Candlelight Vigil for Father & Daughter Killed on Treat Boulevard in Concord how long can this go on? Father, young daughter killed by speeding vehicle in Concord more Mourners gather to remember Concord man, daughter, killed on bicycle ride why? WHY?! Teen Driver Hits, Kills Father and Daughter Riding Bikes another one Dozens attend vigil for father, daughter killed by teen driver more Teen driver charged with manslaughter after hitting family riding bikes I can has dun yet? California news roundup on page 4 of links now ‘They were a perfect family’: Devoted father and daughter, 9, killed while riding bikes after ‘speeding’ teen loses control of his SUV Cadillac another one Conocrd mourns deaths of father, daughter still more Concord Vigil Held For Family Struck By SUV not done yet more Cell phone use my have triggered fatal Concord crash another one East Bay: Police checking driver’s cellphone records in father-daughter cycling deaths Page 5 (!) Outrage Grows Over Concord Crash; 17-Year-old Driver Arrested for Killing Girl, Father getting close now The Water Cooler: The Nuri Family LAST LINK!! Video: Family, Community Gather to Mourn Hadessa and Solaiman Nuri OK, first there were way too many links to this story, second there was nothing the cyclists could heave done to avoid the wreck, and even SBR would not prevent an idiot at the controls of a WMD SUV from hitting them at the speed he was reported to be driving. The only thing that could have prevented this wreck would be some kind of restrictions on using SUVs, like a license or registration that required demonstration of ability to drive such a large vehicle. And I’m not talking about a regular driver’s license, I’m talking a special license for large vehicles and trucks, with very strict requirements to get that would be very easy to lose.

Well after that I really don’t feel like doing more links, but there was more than one wreck over the weekend, like this one still in CA. Rider dies after car, bicycle crash This was either a SWCC or SWSS wreck, not enough information to tell for sure. I couldn’t say how to avoid this wreck but SBR would definitely have prevented it by keeping the bike and the car in 2 different areas.

More stupid from CA. Where I saw it first. Update — L.A. cyclist Susanna Schick seriously injured in DTLA hit-and-run road rage attack and next report Cyclist Hospitalized After Alleged Road Rage Attack in Downtown and Susanna Schick: L.A. Bike Community Rallies For Road Rage Survivor more Cyclist Susanna Schick Recovering After Alleged Road Rage Hit-and-Run, Family Probes Police Presence also Bicyclist shattered by hit-and-run driver in what friends call ‘deliberate act’ still more Road Rage Prompted Collision, Says Injured Cyclist not done yet Friend And Gas 2.0 Writer Susanna Schick Victim Of Hit And Run While Riding Bike another last link Cyclist injured after downtown road rage incident, friend says At this point it isn’t known if the police have even investigated the wreck as an accident much less as an assault with a deadly.

A cyclist in OH is hit crossing in an intersection and assumed guilty (of riding a bicycle). Bicyclist collides with car Saturday SWCC wreck, cyclist not conscious when transported from the scene, not likely to remember getting hit.

Bo Jackson (remember him?) is going to ride across AL to raise funds for victims of last years tornadoes. Bo knows bikes Bo has been riding bikes as part of his rehab when they replaced his hip (remember that?).

And that is all the crazy I have time for today. I have to get to a meeting tonight and all those links in the first paragraph took all day to read and add to the blog…

Billed @$0.02, Opus

Light on links with a heavy social schedule, the Feed

Yes, I have few links in today’s Feed. I also had a class this morning and a RPG game this evening, so here goes…

Up first a minor injury wreck in the most deadliest state in the US to walk or ride a bike. Cyclist injured in collision with car on Southern Boulevard Causeway The cyclist wasn’t hurt too bad and the bike can be repaired. This looks like a wreck that would fall under the FL 3-foot passing law, but I don’t see the driver getting a ticket. Hit-from-behind protocols to avoid with the built environment, SBR to prevent.

More on “OMG a cyclist hit a pedestrian!” in SF. Attorney says bicyclist in fatal crash believes he entered intersection lawfully and Bicycle groups condemn ‘reckless’ behavior following posts about fatal crash I really don’t see what the noise is about. This is only the second pedestrian killed by a cyclist in over 8 months, there was another pedestrian killed by a car that day, and the day after that were barely mentioned. The cyclist in this wreck was injured trying to avoid the wreck (he actually laid the bike down and slid on his side into the crosswalk). I have only read one account that had the cyclist actually “running” the red, all the other accounts agree with the cyclist’s statement that he entered as the light turned yellow and it went red after he entered the intersection.

Hit-and-run in SoCal. Witness a Hit and Run at Brooks and Lincoln Today? Not much to say about this one as the cyclist had little chance to react and to avoid this wreck. SBR would prevent the wreck.

Bike hate in America’s Copenhagen, Portland. Driver arrested after confrontation with cyclist This is very unusual, not that there was a confrontation, but that the LEO actually paid attention to someone other than the driver (like the other witnesses) and arrested this guy for assault and leaving the scene of a wreck. If you read the comments you can see why I find this unusual, all kinds of bike hate there…

NYPD just can’t seem to get away from cyclists. The NYPD Starts to Track Bike Accidents for Trends and NYPD Now Tracking Cyclist Accidents No, this doesn’t mean they are now going to pay attention to cyclists getting killed by cars, just when cyclists hit pedestrians. Of course they’re probably still going to ignore when pedestrians get hit by cars.

“Interesting” discussion up in the Great White North about infrastructure as two entities battle it out over who has to pay for a cyclist injured by a road defect. City, Britannia Yacht Club in dispute over roadway The cyclist was injured when he hit a drainage grate that trapped his front wheel, and now the two sides are fighting over who was responsible for the grate… In the meantime the injured cyclist has to pay for someone to wipe the drool from his chin since the wreck on his own dime. Both sides are claiming the cyclist hit the grate on purpose (!) but that the other side was responsible for the defective grate that nearly killed the cyclist.

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

Billed @$0.02, Opus

The tax check is deposited, and the Feed

I had to make an early trip to the bank today to deposit the tax return check. The hoops I had to jump through were ridiculous. First, something I expected was I couldn’t deposit the check in two accounts, mine and Mrs. the Poet’s. What I wasn’t expecting was that I couldn’t deposit the check into Mrs. the Poet’s checking account, even though I am a co-signer on the account. Another thing I wasn’t expecting was the check had to clear to be spendable. Apparently there is a lot of counterfeiting of IRS checks going on… And before I can transfer my part of the return into my account, the check has to clear first. So, still p’ at the moment, waiting to be upgraded to po’.

Up first, NJ moms try to come up with reasons for kids to wear helmets besides “I told you to.” Bayonne-based fohawx! makes wearing bicycle helmets cool OK, if this will convince kids that wearing helmets is “cool” enough to keep their little noggins intact until they reach majority then I say “more power to them”. But I think this will be a short-lived fad, that will play out after a year or maybe 2 and we’ll be right back to draconian measures to prevent child brain damage from bicycle wrecks and continue to ignore the larger problem of children dying from motor vehicle wrecks and childhood obesity rates exceeding 30%, setting them up for early deaths from heart disease and diabetes…

Our first wreck link is actually the outcome of a wreck. Victim’s family outraged after guilty plea in hit-and-run case The plea was so watered down that the driver will probably be back out of prison before Christmas, and that’s because so much of the evidence was tainted by the act of the hit-and-run that any conviction other than for the hit-and-run could not be proven. So, again hit-and-run proves to be a good legal strategy from the defense’s point of view. The relatives of the deceased are lobbying for hit-and-run to be made a major felony, with the lesser included offense of destruction of evidence in cases where DUI is suspected but can’t be proven because the driver was not caught in time to test for impairment.

A possibly drunk cyclist hit in CA, again. CYCLIST INJURED IN EL CAJON Don’t ride drunk, don’t even ride a little tipsy, because even if you are not legally drunk you will be blamed for the vehicle that hits you.

That CO wreck initially thought to be a booby trap is now thought to be a fishing accident. Police: Injured cyclist not the victim of a ‘booby trap’ Something is still “fishy” about this story though, like why was the guy fishing across a bike path?

The smelly ball of stinky goo that is NYPD investigations of traffic wrecks just keeps getting bigger and stinkier and just as sticky. Councilman Brad Lander joins bike suit against NYPD When the boss’s boss gets involved in a suit against you on the side against you, you know you are in it big. This will cost NYPD dearly and may cause a serious revamp of the way the NYPD is organized, because it isn’t just cyclists that are getting short shrift from NYPD, it’s anyone hurt that wasn’t riding in a car at the time of the wreck. People are getting tired of major injury wrecks being treated like fenderbenders, when felony charges could and should be brought against drivers for criminal violations in these wrecks. And charges are not being brought because the wrecks are not investigated leaving prosecutors with no solid evidence to prosecute. And it’s not just criminal proceedings that are being affected, compensation for victims is being lost in civil courts because determination of fault is being based on the driver’s statement while the victims are being carted away unconscious or dead and unable to make their side of the story known, while physical evidence is ignored and uncollected even in fatal cases with felony charges possible against drivers. TANJ! More NYPD May Be Forced To Investigate Serious Car-On-Bike Crashes

A cyclist is hit in Canuckistan and there is question about who ran the red light. Vancouver cyclist in critical condition after collision with car The cyclist was at an intersection with a separate signal phase for bicycles and pedestrians, and it is believed possible that either operator could have run the red to cause this wreck.

Not an actual wreck but an assault on a cyclist has lead to felony charges against a pedestrian. Edmonton man admits to deadly 2008 attack on cyclist The man knocked the cyclist off his bike, then proceeded to kick and stomp him until he was unconscious and dying.

Legal Infrastructure! in ID fails as their 3-foot passing law bites the dust in this session of the legislature. No Boost for Bike Safety in Idaho Maybe they can introduce a new bill in the next session.

More infrastructure news from ND via DC. Bicycle group warns riders to steer clear of North Dakota’s oil patch due to dangerous traffic It’s sad that such an historic bike route is being abandoned because of heavy truck traffic, and increasing numbers of rednecks who can’t drive. More Cyclists warned to steer clear of ND’s oil patch

Another infrastructure report from Rapid City SD. Report On Risk To RC Pedestrians, Bicyclists So what I think I’m reading here is that Rapid City has an urban density that attracts cyclists and pedestrians, but most of the drivers come from the wide open spaces outside the city and don’t know how to drive around, you know, people that aren’t in cars.

And LifeStyle from the most deadliest state in the US to walk or ride a bike 6 years running. Wrigley remembered at Inaugural Velo Fest This blog in no way endorses the political views expressed on that linked site.

And those are all the links that gave me fits today, now I’m waiting on my $500M lottery ticket to pay off. I figure it has to eventually, in spite of the odds. Hey! I died once and came back, I got luck just oozing out of me.

Billed @$0.02, Opus

Spring is here and I’m ready to DO something, and the Feed

I’m really in the mood to build something, but I lack a certain something required before any project can be contemplated, a budget. I have so many things I want to build: a low-racer recumbent, a 20/20 crank-forward bike, a cargo trailer that can actually carry enough food and equipment to self-sustain a week long camping trip riding from one campsite to the next, a streamliner bike, a long-range electric-assist recumbent. I have actually planned out all of those bikes and happened to have components to build them just laying around to do so, some of the bike plans would use the same components for different bikes, like the low-racer, the e-assist bike, and the streamliner are all basically the same bike geometry with slightly different configurations, but realistically I could build one of those 3, the crank-forward bike, and the camping trailer, if I had the $$ to get the rest of the materials and consumables and spent less time sitting at my computer thinking about building things.

Up first is not a bike wreck, but a warning on a new hazard developing out there on the roads. OnStar To The Rescue: Police Find Driver Suffering Diabetic Reaction Because of the obesity epidemic (caused by cars) there are millions of people out there that don’t know they are at risk to lose coherence behind the wheel as a result of out-of-control blood sugar. The results are similar to drunk driving with the lovely “benefit” of the driver not knowing they are no longer totally in control (IOW even less likely than a drunk to know they need to slow down and be careful). I’m still researching this to see what the signs are from the outside of the car that a person is Driving While Diabetic, other than looking pretty much the same as a drunk driver.

From the most deadliest state in the US to walk or ride a bike, one of the reasons why it is so deadly. Carlos Bertonatti Gets Ninth Delay In Trial For Killing Biker On Rickenbacker Causeway If drivers see that they won’t get punished for killing cyclists except to see a slight rise in their insurance to repair the sheet metal damages to their cars, then they won’t be too worried about hitting cyclists, unless they actually see cyclists as being fellow human beings that feel pain &tc…

We had 2 big stories today, one US and the other international. The Big US strory was a woman hit in a SWCC wreck in OH. Bicyclist who died in collision is identified and Bicyclist Struck, Killed By Minivan In Ross County another link Chillicothe Bicyclist Killed In Crash And how I wish that ONN was The Onion… Ross County’s 8th fatal crash in 2012 raises concerns After I read all the articles and saw several pictures of the victim’s bike, I have come to the conclusion that despite the only witness to this wreck being the driver the story is accurate, the cyclist failed to stop at the stop sign or stopped but failed to yield to the oncoming vehicle. The level of destruction to the bike and the car show how violent this wreck was. It is for cyclists like this woman, who was developmentally delayed, that SBR are most necessary.

NYPD screws up again. City Councilor Files Amicus Brief in Mathieu Lefevre Case This mass fornication just keeps getting bigger and bigger. like a smelly snowball, or that thing in the video game where you roll the sticky ball around that just keeps getting bigger and bigger until it gets bigger then the solar system.

In Middle Canukistan another report on a cyclist hit by a semi. Cyclist killed in highway crash The cyclist was hit from behind on the shoulder of the road while wearing the requisite helmet and glow in the dark clown suit (during broad daylight hours), it is now known. No word on any charges to be filed.

Also from the Great White North, the cyclist hit by a cop in an unmarked cruiser has died from his injuries without regaining consciousness. Cyclist dies of injuries: News Briefs

The cyclist that hit a jogger still has not regained consciousness or been identified. Qualicum Beach cyclist injured in collision with jogger Another reason to have wearable ID when you go for a bike ride. More RCMP discover identity of badly injured cyclist and Vancouver Island cyclist who collided with jogger dies in hospital and Cyclist dies after collision with jogger Another senseless jogging-related death. Something must be done about these people that just run around willy-nilly killing innocent cyclists. The need to have jogging licences and carry insurance and have their shoes registered…[/sarcasm]

The other really big story is a SWSS involving a billionaire’s son and a car reported to cost almost a half-million dollars. The Billionaire’s Son, The Dead Cyclist And The Tweeted Manslaughter Defense I have to say that is the first time I have ever linked to a wreck report from Forbes Billionaire Heir Accidentally Kills Cyclist With $450,000 Mercedes and The Son Of Brazil’s Richest Man Is Being Investigated After Killing A Cyclist With His $450,000 Mercedes and Car Crash: Billionaire’s Son Hits Cyclist with SLR McLaren and last link Son of billionaire tycoon in police probe following deadly crash in £750,000 supercar that his father keeps in his LIVING ROOM The pictures are of such a violent wreck I just can’t imagine the forces involved. The cyclist’s body nearly took the roof of a car designed to survive a rollover wreck at 100 km/hr without collapsing. I just can’t believe the driver was “only” going 110km/hr (~70 MPH) when he hit the cyclist. Other witnesses claim that just before the wreck they saw the cyclist riding on the hard shoulder of the 2-lane highway…

LifeStyle article about support for the family of a child killed while riding a bicycle in front of his home. Community rallies to help family of boy killed by car

Infrastructure! from TN of all places. City walk/bike trail boosts child exercise Whodathunkit? Giving children some place to be active results in children that are more active, and less fat. (Thanks to BikingInLA for the link).

And after all that mess, a pretty picture. Twin Cities Bike Picture of the Day: 3.21.12

And those are all the links that gave me fits today (actually there were a few more that had nothing to do with bicycles, but hese are all the ones that had something to do with bicycles).

Billed @$0.02, Opus

Time to buy gas and mow the lawn again, and the Feed

I’m going to make this one quick, because I only have a limited amount of daylight to cut grass in. This is one of the few times I actually have to buy gas, I think I burn maybe 3 gallons a year cutting grass because the species of grass I planted has this bad habit of sending up seed stalks overnight (it seems that way anyway) that exceed the height my old HP reel mower could cut rather than just roll over it. The grass itself was only about a half-inch higher than the last time it was mowed because of drought conditions, but the stress made the grass seed instead of growing. After a few times fighting that we got a stinky mower (the HP mower had a wheel lock up so I needed to get a new mower anyway).

Up first because it shows how far we have to go in getting death by car treated on an even plane with other forms of homicide, a woman that killed a cyclist by hit-and-run and them conspired with her father to hide the evidence and the weapon gets prison time in CA. Oxnard Woman Sentenced To Prison In Hit-And-Run Death Of High School Senior and Woman Sentenced to Nearly 3 Years in Jail For Hit-and-Run Death of a Teen on a Bike another one Hit-and-Run Driver Gets Nearly 3 Years in Death of Chatsworth High Student more Woman And Father Sentenced In Hit And Run Death And Attempted Cover Up last link Woman, father sentenced to jail for hit-and-run death of Chatsworth H.S. soccer player The thing I am especially mad about is the sentence her father got for conspiracy to obstruct justice in a homicide case. In cases where the weapon was NOT a motor vehicle those charges usually result in years in prison, not days in jail as in this case.

Still in CA, a cyclist gets caught in streetcar tracks and falls under a bus. Cyclist Injured in MUNI Crash and Cyclist seriously injured by Muni bus Aside from advising to stay away from streetcar tracks I have few clues as to how to prevent a similar wreck with existing infrastructure.

Another link to the story on the waste of human skin that hit-and-run a cyclist in the bike lane in the most deadliest state in the US to walk or ride a bike for 6 years running. Bond revoked for hit-and-run suspect The less I say about this the better…

A former LEO gets a slap on the wrist for killing a kid while drunk. Officer gets 3 years in deadly DUI crash Change that headline to “Off-duty Officer Kills Minor While Drunk” and see what kind of flameage you get in the comments, instead of mentioning that the weapon used was a motor vehicle.

In Far Wast Canuckistan, a SWSS wreck. Vancouver police seek witnesses to west side collision that left cyclist critically injured “The eastbound truck stuck the cyclist who appears to have ridden off the sidewalk onto the road and into the path of the truck.” Classic SWSS narrative, cyclist is in a coma but still blamed for the wreck because the only witness didn’t see her until contact (if then) and tries to “explain” how he didn’t see the victim.

And last link from Oz, they are finding a significant source of mayhem to cyclists comes from car doors. Bicycle accidents from opening car doors It’s a lawyer site, but still valid in spite of that

And those are all the links that give me fits today (grammar corrected version of sign-off).

Billed @$0.02, Opus

Still alive, doing better than Rush, and the Feed

I survived another idiot in the street last night, who was almost enough to ruin my ride. Not entirely, because riding in mid-60° temperatures with mild breezes was just too nice to let an idiot behind the wheel ruin it for me. This is one of those brief periods during the year when the winds die down for a bit without temperatures going into the deep freeze or the oven in the suburbs of Hell. Actually I can’t remember the winds quitting while the temperatures were in the deep freeze, so no breeze with no 110°F temperatures then. Anyway, it was a really nice ride last night in spite of the idiot that almost hit me.

Perhaps the guy that almost hit me was trying to get away from this wreck. Piedmont Pastor Seriously Injured In Bicycle Wreck If he couldn’t see 2 bikes in the street in front of him in broad daylight, I wonder how he didn’t get a ticket for failure to yield. TANJ! To avoid use the hit-from-behind protocols, to prevent use SBR.

In the same state as WoaB is a report on a man that was apparently deliberately struck from behind while riding on the shoulder of a road. Bicycle rider struck, killed “Our news partners at the Beaumont Enterprise report the car swerved out of its lane and struck Gumberger.” That sounds like a description of a deliberate act to me. Lawyer’s take Bicyclist George Gumberger Killed Riding Along Shoulder of Texas 105 in Beaumont, Texas And in none of the reports I read on this wreck do they even mention the driver’s name, mush less any action against him.

Getting closer to home as more links come in, a wreck in Austin. Blotter: Police identify cyclist killed on North Lamar I really don’t understand how this wreck happened. Why was the cyclist kneeling beside his bike? Why was he hit in the turning lane? The interesting thing is this is being investigated as a homicide rather than as a traffic “accident”. More Man hit by car, killed on North Lamar on Thursday night and Man ID’d in auto-ped crash The only thing I can come up with that makes any sense is that this was the second wreck of the night for the victim, he was hit by another vehicle and knocked off his bike into the center turn lane, and as he was collecting his wits and the bits off his bike he was hit a second time by the vehicle that killed him.

More news on the hit-and-run driver that killed a cyclist in the bike lane in the most deadliest state in the US to walk or ride a bike 6 years running. Driver in Fatal Rickenbacker Causeway Crash to Remain Behind Bars The driver is going to be held without bail because he violated his parole after a drug bust. While it is good that he is being held where he can’t hurt any more cyclists, drivers that aren’t on parole from drug busts are just as dangerous and still get released on ridiculously small bonds.

Another article on that report on how much danger HGV represent to cyclists. HGVs pose increased risk of death and serious injury to cyclists Again the news that uncontrolled bleeding is the major single factor leading to death is really surprising to me.

More infrastructure news from Scotland. Safety call after second cyclist death

Serious problems with blind drivers in Oz. Off yer bike: Brimbank’s sorry tale Three out of 4 wrecks happen during broad daylight by drivers that claim to have never seen the cyclist until after they hit him or her. That says nothing good about the state of driver’s licensing in Oz.

And more infrastructure in Enn Zed. Campaign over hazardous cycle spots Another Anglophone country that has ceded its roads to the motor vehicle and discovered that making those roads safe again costs a whole lot more than they gained by giving the roads to cars…

And those are all the links that give me fits today (correcting my grammar from previous posts).

Billed @$0.02, Opus

Another Bean Day, and the Feed

Yes, I have gotten the crock pot out and warmed it up and done all the prep and started the 3 different kinds of beans cooking at a slow simmer in preparation for serving Spicy Beans and Rice tonight. This recipe is Vegan, not because I’m adverse to eating the tasty animals, but because it doesn’t need animal protein to have complete protein. And it’s high in fiber, very low in fat, and a good source of complex carbs (the good kind of carbohydrate). It would be even better if we hadn’t run out of brown rice at the same time as the local grocery store we shop at. Brown rice is so much better as a source of vitamins than white rice, not to mention that I prefer the taste of brown rice. I used to call this Cajun-style beans and rice, but the seasoning has evolved and simplified so much that now I just call it “Spicy” and leave it at that.

In spite of having 2 full days of Feed to draw from I don’t actually have a lot of links to actual bicycle stories. I have lots of links to motorcycle stories because I also search for the word “bike” because many do not differentiate between bikes with or without motors. I used to get lots of stories about people falling off of bulls because they were paid to ride them for 8 seconds, but they fixed that so I don’t get those links any more. Unfortunately they didn’t fix people getting paid to ride bulls for 8 seconds, that still happens.

Up first a cyclist in NYC is hit by a second car after being cut off by an illegal move from another car. Cyclist Critically Injured After Being Struck By Car On 2nd Ave. This is another link to the wreck I mentioned on Saturday, where the driver at fault did not even get a scratch on their car, but 1 bike was totalled (there might be a few parts that can be recovered and re-used), a car was damaged enough to require a trip to the shop before driving it again, and a cyclist is in critical condition.

A cyclist gets a small amount of justice in the UK. £11k Compensation for Cyclist after Hit and Run Accident and Cyclist gets compensation over hit and run Notice that the driver did not get anything against him in a criminal court, not even an arrest recorded against him, because assault with a deadly weapon is just not that high a priority there…

A story that has me more than a little upset, the family of a man who was injured when a car costing more than $1m crashed into his bike at about 130MPH in an urban bike lane separated by a guard rail from the road (IOW the driver was so totally responsible for this wreck there is no question about it) are having troubles paying for the upfront costs of the surgeries he needs to recover/survive after the wreck. Kin of injured cyclist in Lamborghini crash finding it difficult to raise money for surgeries The driver died in the wreck, which I guess under Indian laws prevents the victims from recovering damages? I’m not sure how this works in India. I know in Texas the driver’s insurance would still be on the hook for paying damages, and that doctors would have to do any medical care required to save the victim’s life (not sure about restoring his ability to live as he did before the wreck) and then sue the driver that caused it for compensation. Even in the US it’s convoluted, but I have no clues about what it’s like in India.

A mystery wreck in Oz, where at least they can recognize that you can cause serious or even life-threatening injuries with a car without doing anything else to the rider or the bicycle. Cyclist injured in mystery Frankston South incident

A cyclist is killed in Enn Zed. Cyclist killed in Dunedin crash named They didn’t say anything about the mode of wreck in the article, but the picture showed what looked like a touring bike that was hit-from-behind at the base of a slight hill before an intersection, with HiViz covers on the panniers.

Something of an Infrastructure! story from the UK. Trauma study is first to show how cyclists are injured and killed on city streets Surprise surprise, helmets would not prevent the most common mode of death, uncontrolled bleeding. The severity of the injuries is no surprise to me, having survived a fatal wreck.(Yes, I died. Yes I came back. Read my About Opus page.) More Cycling injuries ‘treble in six years’ Roughly 20% of bike/motor vehicle wrecks were with HGV, but HGV are only 5% of the motor vehicles on the road, making HGV 4.75 times more likely to be in a wreck with a bicycle than a car. And per wreck you are 3 times as likely to get killed in the wreck with an HGV. I think I got the math right on that one.

In Oz cyclists are calling for their version of a 3-foot passing law after a rash of cyclists are hit-from-behind. More than 8000 Perth cyclists call for buffer zone I read about roads that are too narrow for a bike to ride a safe distance from the curb and get passed at 1m clearance, but really the roads are more than wide enough for bicycles. It’s the cars that are too big to use them safely.

LifeStyle in TX. Memorial ride planned for cyclist struck, killed by truck

LifeStyle in CA. Going on tour: More than 300 people ride in Tour de Ed, a fundraiser for injured cyclists and A Day on the Bike Beat

And if you think right-of-way issues are a (derogatory term for a female dog) now, just wait until driverless cars become common. Our car/bike/ped fights will get fiercer with driverless cars

More Infrastructure from the most deadliest state in the US to walk or ride a bike. Can bike-car wrecks be eliminated? From what I have read about FL this would take a major reconstruction of just about everything in their transportation infrastructure from attitudes on up. The first place to have to change would be the attitudes that moving cars is the highest priority for streets, that streets are made for cars and not people, that the person riding the bicycle is always at fault in a wreck…

A pretty picture with bikes in it. Twin Cities Bike Picture of the Day: 3.5.12

And that’s all the links that give me fits today.

Billed @$0.02, Opus

Too busy to go get free stuff, and the Feed

I got another one of those flyers from a car dealer in the mail, and I was considering riding the 20 or so miles round trip to get the “prize” I’m most likely to get, the $5 gift card from Target. I could get one of 2 free cars, but I think the contest is rigged so that the person that won a car already knows they won. But anyway I was going through my schedule, and I don’t have the time to take the trip to get that $5 “prize”, between doing things like getting groceries today, church board meetings tomorrow, regularly scheduled activities like my qigong class and writer’s group meetings in the morning and RPG in the evening on Saturday I just don’t have time to take a 20 mile round trip on Blue and do a blog post. And I can’t not do a blog post and disappoint both my loyal fans[/sarcasm]. I know there are more than 2 of you out there, I have 14 people subscribed to the blog, and 23 (different) people that have subscribed to comments on individual posts. So while I’m not the Huffington Post, I do have enough regular readers that I would feel bad about taking a day off without warning that I’m going on vacation…

The Feed today is remarkably devoid of new wrecks, but has a metric buttload of Infrastructure! articles.

A IL kid that was hit by a driver not paying attention to the roads is still in bad shape. Downers Grove teen hit by car on bicycle remains hospitalized No charges have been filed yet in the assault…The cyclist was crossing legally in the crosswalk when he was hit and trapped under the car. The only legal action taken so far is to issue a ticket for failure to yield to a pedestrian in a crosswalk.

A WI driver who was drunk when he killed a cyclist enters a plea of “not guilty”. Driver who struck, killed Henry Dennis enters not guilty plea Hopefully the driver will have a severe sentence, or at a bare minimum be banned from driving for life.

One of the really big Infrastructure links is a report that Scotland Yard is investigating the government agency responsible for a major intersection that has caused several cyclists’ deaths. London roads agency could face corporate manslaughter charge over cyclist’s death Someone could be going to jail for these deaths, which is utterly incomprehensible to me here in the States. Hold someone in government criminally responsible for dangerous road design/construction? That would never happen here.

Back in the States, our big story is people are getting killed in South FL because of crappy infrastructure and people are just now discovering that the infrastructure is crappy. Committee works for S. Fla. bike safety and Quick safety improvements pledged for Rickenbacker Causeway cycling and Cyclists demand new law for drivers after bicyclist killed that link was a little misleading, the cyclists were demanding the existing laws be enforced, not new laws created. The “reporter” did not know about the existence of the laws.

And in TN a family insists that their child did stop and look at a stop sign where he was hit on his bike, but because of the speed limits and the acceleration of bikes, the cyclist was hit by a vehicle that was not visible when he started to cross the road. Family Says Danger Lies In Road Design

Bobby Labonte is a good dude, a native Texan, a serious cyclist, and a NASCAR Cup series driver. Bobby Labonte Foundation Announces Second Annual Archdale Drug “Share The Road” Memorial Bike Ride

And that’s all the links that give me fits today.

Billed @$0.02, Opus

Running ridonkulously late after visits to the Lab Rat Keeper and a potential source of income, and the Feed

Yep, I had another visit to the LRK for more meds to control my BP (which is V good, average under 116/75) and record my weight (holding just under 206). I also visited the local plasma center to find out how much I could get selling my blood plasma ($50/month) until my job reviewing road and highway projects for not killing bicyclists comes through. Another reason I was late today was because the Daytona 500 ran into Tuesday morning after Juan Pablo Montoya’s car broke at the exact wrong time while passing one of the jet dryers and ran into the trailer with the jet engine and 200 gallons of jet fuel and then hit the truck towing it breaking the 50 gallon tank of diesel fuel, causing a fire that burned for quite a while until trackside firefighters could get it under control and then out. I have been watching NASCAR racing since I was tiny (OK tiny-er much smaller than I am now) and this is the first time I can remember seeing or hearing about a race car hitting a safety vehicle during a caution. I recall there were a couple of incidents in F1 back about 20 or 30 years ago that led to changes in yellow flag rules to prevent such things from happening again, and a tow truck was hit during an SCCA race back in the late pleistocene when someone was passing the car being towed and didn’t see the truck actually towing it.

I open the day’s link-fest with this bit of non-yogurt bicycle culture. Tiny Bike Shop Concert Returns Thursday If you are in the area drop in for a listen and/or watch. And a pretty picture, too

First up, a sentence that seemed to come from Bizarro World. Colorado Springs man sentenced to 8 years in prison in crash that killed cyclist Yes, you read that right, a halfway reasonable sentence for killing a cyclist, even when they couldn’t prove the driver was drunk. More Eight years in prison for driver in cyclist hit-and-run and Man gets prison time for crash that killed cyclist

Arrest in a fatal hit-and-run in the most deadliest state in the US to walk or ride a bike. Tampa police arrest man in deadly hit-and-run In the comments we find the victim had not exactly led a spotless life as a driver or as a cyclist, but that still doesn’t mean that he deserved to die at the hands of a drunk driver.

Another guilty driver gets a hefty sentence in SC. Man sentenced to 15 years in fatal hit-and-run I have to say that just a short couple of years since an off-duty firefighter shot a cyclist in the helmet and got away with it the fact that a driver in a fatal wreck with a bicycle was given such a harsh sentence surprizes me some. More Clover driver pleads guilty in crash that killed Rock Hill bicyclist So many of the comments were about the drunk driver being in the wrong in this case after the last link.

Another report on a NJ bike wreck. Bicyclist killed in Egg Harbor Township identified as Mays Landing teen, 2010 Mainland graduate AFAIK this was a hit-from-behind wreck which most likely would be the fault of the driver, but since the driver is LEO what will be decided is questionable.

A kid in IL gets trapped under a car that hit him while he was legally crossing a street in a crosswalk. UPDATED: Bicycling Teen Trapped Under Car, Seriously Injured in Darien From the report it appears the driver was seriously distracted by an impending court appearance. As for the cyclist he had no chance to avoid this wreck as he had committed to the crosswalk and was not going fast enough to be able to avoid a motor vehicle crossing his path.

A terrible situation in CT. Cops: Teens Beat Girl, Rob Bicycle A group of older children/young adults assaulted the girl in the road in broad daylight and beat her up after stealing her bicycle. Not something you can avoid except by looking “badder” than the punks, which is hard for a 14YO girl to do.

Cyclists in Oz share a common complaint with cyclists everywhere, LEO go after cyclists out of proportion to their numbers and their offenses because cyclists are easier to catch than any other vehicle. Bikes ‘the focus’ in cop road sting In spite of cyclists only being 2% of the traffic, and cyclists not breaking the law more than any other group on the road, the cyclists managed to rack up 10% of the tickets…

Infrastructure news from NYC. Bike, walk or run in Prospect Park? Big changes coming down the road Changes are made to reduce the exposure to the most dangerous thing in the park, the motor vehicles, Car time is reduced to a couple hours a day during the week and none at all during the park’s heaviest use during the weekend.

More infrastructure news from the Big Apple. Making Cities Safer for Cyclists and Pedestrians The trick is if you get enough people out of cars you automatically make life safer for everybody else, because the deadliest thing in a city is the motor vehicle. In NYC motor vehicles kill more people on the sidewalks in a week than bicycles kill anywhere in the city in a year. In Dallas we had a fatality in 2010 that was the first pedestrian killed by a cyclist in the entire state in this century, so the fewer cars you have on the roads and the more people you have riding bicycles and walking, the fewer people are going to get killed by any means or method of mobility.

Infrastructure news from the Great White North. Trail’s dangerous rail crossing to be fixed If they had bothered to build it right in the first place they wouldn’t have to be spending more money now to tear out the mistake and build it right.

And that’s all the news I can stand today (tonight?).

Billed @$0.02, Opus