Running through life with one good eye again, and the Feed

I woke up again this morning with my left eye glued shut and requiring both hands to pry it open. The sinus and ear congestion from yesterday seem to have cleared up leaving just the eye to deal with. Most of the symptoms are of an allergy attack, but the fact that it’s only in one eye and not both also make me think it might be an infection. It could be caused by flying “stuff” from when I mowed the lawn, which is another thing that makes me think it might be an infection. When I get an allergy attack the reaction is within minutes of contact with whatever allergen caused the reaction, this was 3 days after I mowed. Not that I haven’t had my share of reactions from mowed grass (including having my lower legs covered in welts after getting caught in a discharge from a lawn mower), I am just thinking that this isn’t one of those times. Anyway I know from yesterday that keeping hydrated will keep the eye functional and being slightly over-hydrated will reduce secondary symptoms like the obscuring of vision caused by the discharge and also keep the eye from getting glued closed again. I just have to stop using coffee to stay hydrated.

A PA cyclist is lucky to only get minor injuries when he was hit-and-run by a semi. Mechanicsburg cyclist injured in hit-and-run and Bicyclist reported injured after hit-and-run involving tractor-trailer in Mechanicsburg Since the cyclist was hit crossing an off-ramp this counts as an intersection wreck, so those protocols apply to avoid. However the second link says the cyclist was hit-from-behind in mid block so …? Getting the infrastructure right so bicyclists don’t need to share space with semi-trailers will prevent a similar wreck.

A salmon VA cyclist is seriously injured. Bicyclist Injured in Crash Near Fair Oaks Mall It isn’t obvious from the narrative if the cyclist’s direction of travel had any actual impact on the cause of the wreck as this was also a SWSS. AAANNNyyy way, don’t ride salmon, and use hit-from-behind protocols to avoid. Getting the infrastructure right will keep old guys from getting hit by people driving motor vehicles near malls…

Another VA cyclist was in a hit-from-behind hit-and-run. Injured cyclist wants answers Cyclist was left with no time to react by a vehicle that got too close going too fast. The protocols would be of limited utility in a case like this leaving getting the infrastructure right as the only solution.

Update on a MA wreck. Southborough cyclist seriously injured in crash on Saturday Still a left-cross, still the fault of the driver, still use intersection protocols to mitigate the damages and still needs to get the infrastructure right to prevent.

A KS bike commuter is injured. First payday was a bad day for young bike ride Another left-cross by another oblivious driver puts another cyclist in hospital with broken bones. Intersection protocols to avoid or mitigate, and get the infrastructure right to prevent. At least this time the cyclist survived.

More on that NC case where the driver that killed a cyclist is getting off without even a conviction on her record. Cycling Community Outraged With DA’s Deal For Woman Who Hit, Killed Katherine Shubert

A little bit more on the FL wreck that killed a cyclist earlier this week. Cyclist Struck And Killed In Thomas County The road where the cyclist was hit was just awful, with the shoulder completely ruined for bike travel with full-width rumble strips from the fog line all the way to the grass…

More on the moron that hit a cyclist with what is now known to have been a daylight-visible blinky light on the back of his helmet. Wisconsin: Chippewa County sheriff says driver who killed bicyclist had been at bar I love a pun. I am doubleplus unlove with this driver.

OK one of the weirder stories I have linked to. Groupon offered in memory of cyclist killed in Old Town

Last link is Lifestyle from Dallas. Dallas pro cyclist commutes by bike I look forward to seeing her in kit during my trips around the lake.

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

Billed @€0.02, Opus

Running way late with a deadline, and the Feed

Last night was another visit with the widow women so she can cry on my shoulder night, that ran until very late and resulted in not waking up until after 1300. Breakfast was “interesting”, with corn, mashed potatoes, and chicken stuffing with a little bit of chicken in it. Different in flavors from what I normally have by about the same in nutrition as far as calories, fat and carbs.

One thing I’m still slightly buzzing about is the new welder I got. The arc welder I had before and still have is about 40 years old and replacement parts are becoming hard to find, an old Sears Craftsman 70 amp transformer unit that weights slightly less than my last car, but at least it runs on 110V AC, standard house current. Well the new 90 amp wire welder does that too, but the plus side is the flux is contained inside the wire instead of the outside of the stick electrodes. This is good because it means my welding consumables stay fresh longer and I end up throwing less away. When you pay $20 for a pound of high-tensile electrodes that can be used to weld 4130 steel safely, and you end up throwing most of the pound away because the flux has gone bad, well that kinda burns. This welder the flux will last as long as the wire stays intact and dry. I can get the same kind of wires as I used to buy as sticks, and the welder will go as thick as 3/16″ steel without overloading (but I can only run a bead for 15 seconds at a time). This will make building the frame of the car, or customer bikes much easier.

An elderly man is killed cycling in NYC. Elderly cyclist dead after SUV collision in Brooklyn The NY Post has not been a reliable reporter of wrecks involving bicycles in many years, in this one they changed the age of the cyclist between the opening and closing paragraphs from 74 to 88. Cyclist, 74, is killed by car in Bensonhurst also 74-Year-Old Cyclist Killed In Bensonhurst Cyclist Struck, Killed By Car In Brooklyn last link Shameless: Daily News Tries Linking Death of Senior Cyclist to Bike-Share Intersection wreck, use the protocols to avoid and get the infrastructure right to prevent. “No criminality suspected” means they need to look harder next time.

A wreck that does not make sense from the information given in the narrative. Boy on bike killed in DeKalb traffic accident I can see the kid crossing the centerline and getting hit by the SUV, but how did he get hit by the second vehicle? Unless he did what I did in my wreck and went way over the top of the first weapon vehicle. Anyway, not much about avoiding this wreck except not crossing the centerline, and getting the infrastructure right to prevent.

From Canuckistan more on the driver getting sent away for a long time after killing a cyclist. Man sentenced to 4 1/2 years for killing cyclist The one thing I’m very happy about is the 12 year driving ban that doesn’t start until after he gets out of prison. I may not be reading the article correctly but I think it also implies that the ban doesn’t start until all the sentence is complete if he gets parole. So that would mean 16 1/2 years of road that are safe from this drug addict and drunk (actually I think “and drunk” is redundant because a drunk is just addicted to a different drug).

A wreck in Oz. 11-year-old Vic boy dies in school crash Since this wreck was at an intersection that had a crossing guard the wreck itself is a bit suspicious. Get the infrastructure right including what minimal instruction should be needed to cross the street, to prevent.

Last link, because I’m a nerd Who will be Miss Nerd America? I gave up on looking for a nerd girl, and just went looking for a woman who could tolerate my nerdiness. These “girls” seem a bit more than what I would have been looking for back when I was looking.

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

Billed @€0.02, Opus

It’s another Monday, and the Feed

I’m not cooking beans today because we had so much left over from last week. For some reason I just didn’t feel like my usual 3 bowls last week for dinner (I actually had about half that) and nobody had more than a single bowl during the week. So, we have lots that can be put in a 210°F oven in a casserole dish with a dash of soy sauce to spark up the flavor and add a bit of liquid while the mix slowly reheats. Any dangerous microbes don’t stand a chance when I cook because I cook a just enough heat to keep the cooking process going until the food is cooked, thus also killing anything that might be living in the food before I eat it. This also preserves the flavor of my food by not over-cooking it.

Also I have to make a quick run to the local Best Buy to put more minutes on my phone. Apparently the concept of “annual activation” does not mean the same thing to Virgin Mobile as it does to me. To me it means leave my phone turned on for an entire year or until my minutes run out. But to VM it means keep plugging in monthly payment cards or we turn your phone off anyway… I will have to discuss the matter with the VM representative when I get to Best Buy.

I’m not sure if this was a bicycle or motorcycle wreck at this point. Minor Injuries Reported Following Bike Vs. Car Accident The weapon vehicle was reportedly moving at a very slow speed and the bike hit the back of the car which really confuses me as to what happened. And since the video shown with the link never showed the back of the weapon vehicle to have any impact marks (although the right side was never shown) I can only speculate. LEO have not released anything more about the wreck and the reported mode and location (cyclist hit the back of the vehicle mid-block in front of a church) makes me think that this might have been a right hook the cyclist never saw coming. You can see in the video that every space in that parking lot could be reached from the street by making a right turn. But this is just guesswork on my part.

A wreck report that has changed considerably since I first saw it last night in pre-filter. MIT scientist riding bicycle struck, killed in crash The original headline when I first saw the link was “Pedestrian struck by truck in hit-and-run crash” with the existence of a bicycle at the scene mentioned in the second paragraph. Now it’s all MIT Scientist visiting from Japan hit on a bicycle, with nothing about the actual wreck. The pictures indicate an intersection wreck, so maybe intersection protocols to avoid, and get that abysmal infrastructure fixed to prevent future wrecks. Boston streets were never intended for motor vehicle travel, I still say that motor vehicles should be forced to use pilots on foot with waving red flags front and back when driving in the old part of Boston. At the very least it would do something about the unemployment problem in MA.

Another dead cyclist in NYC, at least they aren’t using the “no criminality suspected” line (yet). Cyclist Killed By Livery Cab In Prospect Heights You would think Gothamist would have figured out by now that the driver hit the cyclist with the cab instead of apportioning all the blame to the vehicle… SWSS hit-from-behind wreck, use the protocols to avoid. There was supposedly a center bike lane in the median but I’m still trying to find out how a cyclist was supposed to get to those bike lanes other than at the beginning or end of the lanes. So bad infrastructure may have had a role to play also. More links Cyclist struck and killed near Brooklyn Museum and Fatal bicycle accident in Brooklyn The pictures from that link showed the weapon vehicle was nearly dead-center on the bike when impact occurred, which kinda places the SWSS story in jeopardy. Cyclist struck and killed by livery cab driver in Prospect Heights At least that one managed to mention the weapon vehicle had a driver. The NY Post blames the cyclist for existing Bicyclist stuck and killed after swerving in front of livery cab in Crown Heights At least in that link you get a better look at the impact site just to the left of the license plate with the skid mark from the tire lined up perfectly with the broken grill, and the tail light or rear reflector visible under the seat. Cyclist Struck, Killed By Livery Cab In Brooklyn and Bike Rider Fatally Struck by Livery Cab in Brooklyn last link Taxi Hits, Kills Bicyclist on Eastern Parkway

Salmon cyclist killed in CA. Bicyclist dies in collision with big rig in Industry There’s just not much surviving a head-on wreck with a semi. Don’t salmon to avoid, and it looks like there isn’t much bicycle infrastructure where the cyclist was hit.

The TX fund that’s supposed to take care of people injured in hit-and-run wrecks is depleted less than 5 months into the year. Injured cyclist’s family seeking donations for medical expenses

Another hit-and-run, in VT. 2 cyclists injured in Burlington hit-and-run This one appears to be caused by a driver that did not know where the edges of the vehicle extended possibly combined with under-estimating the speed of the cyclists he was passing. Other than hit-from-behind protocols there ain’t much a human cyclist can do in a wreck like this, but getting the infrastructure right would have prevented the wreck.

A MD wreck that sounds an awful lot like a hit-and-run. Carroll County Man Injured While Riding Bicycle Yeah that hitting the mailbox hard enough to knock it out of the ground doesn’t sound like a single-bike wreck. Hit-from-behind protocols to avoid and get the infrastructure right to prevent.

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

Billed @€, Opus

Loaded with swag after doing the bike to work station, and the Feed

I got up early to visit the Bike to Work Commuter Energizer Station for a bite and a bit of conversation. Because it was a trifle foggy out I decided to run with my headlights on, and I was glad I did because they both died from discharged batteries during the ride. Since I have to go somewhere tonight I have three battery chargers going at the moment, one for the 4 AA NiMH batteries in the primary headlight, one for the 2 AAA NiMH batteries in my secondary headlight that is aimed to spot street signs, and a third to keep the Chromebook running. And I mentioned swag in the headline, let me recount the swag: 3 water bottles and it would have been 4 if I hadn’t shooed the nice lady away from my bike when she started loading the buckets, a clip-on blinky light, a T-shirt, and tons of literature from DART on taking my bike on the bus including a map to bike racks, coffee, Clif bars, and a banana. And Bike Friendly Garland sticker which was what I actually came for.

Up first an update on a fatal hit-and-run in GA in a town I used to live in (in case you haven’t noticed I have lived in lots of towns). Police say hit-and-run suspect tried to repaint truck I think additional charges of obstruction of justice and tampering with evidence should be tacked on to the hit-and-run and vehicular manslaughter charges. If you are new to my blog you probably don’t know what is about to be posted next, for those of you who have read more than 2 weeks this will be old hat: Chain the guy to the steering wheel and recycle his truck into bicycle parts, the process of melting the truck down will allow the contaminants to be skimmed off the top.

A MO wreck that appears to be a sidewalk cyclist getting cut off at a stop sign. Bike rider hurt in collision with pickup From the picture of the damage on the bike and the position of the debris, assuming medical responders didn’t move anything, the truck and the cyclist were both moving at a fair clip, given the damages to the bike and the place where the cyclist’s shoes ended up. Since the bike had flat pedals with toe clips and not clipless pedals I don’t see any reason for medical personnel to remove the cyclist’s shoes and then leave them at the scene so they must have come off in the wreck. Also the physical evidence shows the cyclist was riding salmon which meant the driver was looking away from him when he pulled out into the street. Lots of blame to go around in this wreck between the salmon cyclist and a driver not looking where he was going. Intersection protocols to avoid and get the infrastructure right to prevent.

More on the IL cyclist killed at an intersection scheduled for a bike overpass in just under a month. Husband mourns Busse Woods bicyclist killed crossing Higgins Road Everything I read about this wreck blames the intersection and drivers that don’t look for cyclists when they turn their vehicles across bike lanes. I don’t know what a cyclist could do in the face of that kind of failure in both drivers and infrastructure. Intersection protocols seem so inadequate when confronted with drivers that face so little in the way of consequences compared to cyclists and who can blame the infrastructure when they can’t blame the cyclists.

More on the bicycle-hating drunk that killed a cyclist driving the wrong direction in a bike lane. Driver in crash that killed cyclist in Lyons expressed growing frustration with bicyclists The driver is still in jail over the wreck. I would hide in jail if I were him, too. More Patrick Ward made anti-bicycling statements before crash that killed cyclist

Another report on the cyclist killed by a man fleeing a shooting that he is alleged to have also committed. Bicyclist Killed By Suspect Fleeing From Shooting I’m getting backchannel reports the weapon vehicle was airborne when it hit the cyclist. As I posted yesterday the cyclist had no chance of avoiding this wreck as he was already in the intersection when the driver ran the stop sign at a high rate of speed.

A RI cyclist is killed. North Providence student killed in bike-car crash At this point all I know is it was an intersection wreck so maybe intersection protocols would have reduced the amount of damage to non-fatal levels. I’m not sure infrastructure would have helped either as the Street View of the site shows a dense residential neighborhood, that would be a shared space with limited motor vehicle access and an 18 MPH speed limit under the Dutch model.

More Ride of Silence links. Locals honor fallen cyclists in silent ride and Memorial Ride Honors Bike Victims also Silent Ride: Remembering Victims of Bicycle Accidents and this Ride of Silence honors cyclist hit and killed on Route 434 don’t forget this link Fort Collins cyclists remember riders hurt or killed with silent ride or this one ‘Ride of Silence’ honors cyclist killed in Davidson County not done yet Cyclists Raise Awareness for Safety on the Roads

Emerging Artist Killed in 2011 Bicycle Crash Gets Posthumous New York Solo Show

Last link 3000 cyclists are expected to descend on the Scottish Parliament to protest lax sentencing for drivers that kill cyclists. Family of Audrey Fyfe to lead 3,000-strong ‘Pedal on Parliament’ I think we might get 30 or 40 cyclists to “descend” on the TX legislature if they had to ride in on bikes.

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

Billed @€0.02, Opus

The Ride of Silence is today here, and the Feed

Today is the day. I’m going to take the train to White Rock Station, and the White Rock Trail to the rally point for the ride, and probably an allergy pill so I don’t sneeze like a steam engine during the post-ride prayer. I might remember to bring my camera and take some pictures to post in tomorrow’s blog post. We can hope so anyway.

The Really Big Story today is the NTSB “suggestion” that states lower their legal limit for BAC% from .08 to .05%. NTSB recommends lowering DUI threshold to .05 I’m not including the other 27 links because they are all the same article from the AP printed in other newspapers. My research on this suggests that initial testing done included too many alcoholics in the sample size, possibly because the testing advertising placed too much emphasis on “free drinks”. Also the legal limit was set high to make sure the driver was drunk drunk and not “a little tipsy”, as the legislators did not understand that “a little tipsy” was in fact too impaired to drive safely. In my lifetime the legal BAC% went from as high as .15% to .08%, with the drop to .10% coming fairly quickly as state troopers used legislators as test subjects and film or video tape to record behavior and driving ability at various levels of BAC% with even the semi-alcoholic legislators seeing that even at .10% when they felt sober enough to drive they were seriously impaired. Further testing with a wider pool of test subjects (and offering money for the test beyond just free alcohol) showed even to conservative legislators that driving was significantly impaired at the .08% level that they felt just fine at. I think also part of the reason for the lower BAC% is that people are drinking less, being less acclimated to the effects of alcohol, and showing impairment at lower concentrations than before, but that is just my hypothesis, I have no way of testing it to raise it to the point of a theory.

Speaking of drunk drivers… $25,000 bond set for Patrick Ward, suspect accused of driving an SUV that hit and killed a cyclist This was the driver that was driving in the bike lane against the flow of traffic so he could make a left turn…

More on the NY cyclist that died from hitting a deer. Medical examiner: Blunt force trauma killed N. Salem bicyclist who hit deer Even though this cyclist was wearing a helmet, and did not hit an unyielding motor vehicle but instead hit a somewhat softer deer, he still got fatal massive blunt force trauma to his pelvis.

A salmon NH cyclist is hit. Girl hurt after plowing into side of car while riding her bicycle As has been said many times by many people, when you ride salmon drivers don’t look for you and just pull right out in front of you (or into you). This cyclist was lucky. Ride with traffic to avoid (and use intersection protocols) and get the infrastructure right so that a 12YO girl can use it.

Two NC cyclists (or one cyclist and a passenger) get hit. Two children riding bicycle struck by car, injured The children had just left their driveway when they were hit. intersection protocols to avoid, and slow down motor vehicles in residential areas to prevent. This makes 3 kids hit outside their or their friends’ homes while riding bikes in the last 7 days. That’s 3 kids too many.

A VT cyclist is Jerry Browned and injured. Rehoboth teen, 14, struck by van while riding his bicycle The cyclist was struck and injured, the bike was untouched. Hit-from-behind protocol to avoid, and a 3-foot law that is rigorously enforced to prevent if they don’t want to spend the money to build bicycle infrastructure.

An IL cyclist is killed. Bicyclist killed in collision with car in Schaumburg At this point LEO do not know who had right of way in this wreck (and I can’t get google maps to open up to check for a traffic control device) so I can’t tell you how to void this wreck beyond advising using intersection protocols. The fact that the cyclist had to cross a high-speed intersection without separation in time and space is an indictment against the infrastructure, which correcting would have prevented this wreck. The Dutch way would have had a grade separated crossing for this intersection.

A serious wreck in CA. Cyclists injured in Harris Grade Road crash While the article doesn’t say the pictures show bikes that have obviously been hit from behind by a vehicle moving at a high rate of speed. I mean you can see a shoe still clipped into the pedal and still tied which means the foot that had been in that shoe was removed violently. Hit-from-behind protocols to avoid and get the infrastructure right to prevent.

A NY police Explorer and cyclist does the right thing, and people are stunned. Greenburgh Police Explorer Keenan Assisted Injured Cyclist I don’t know what the big deal is, he just followed his training and used human compassion. Have we become that jaded that someone doing the right thing becomes big news?

A rigorous study in Canada shows little difference in head injuries between mandatory helmet provinces and those without helmet laws. Cycle Helmet Safety Laws Not Necessarily Reducing Head Injuries, Study Finds There are many factors that reduce head injury in people who voluntarily wear bicycle helmets compared to another group that does not. including riding style, condition of the bike, and other things I can’t think of off the top of my head.

UK cyclists are still livid over a serial cyclist killer getting only 300 hours of community service and a 5 year ban after his second victim. CTC and families of cyclists killed by same driver 25 years apart call for appeal against driver’s community service sentence and Tougher sentence demanded for driver who killed two cyclists also Cyclist Audrey Fyfe’s widower lodges complaint against driver’s sentence

From Oz more on the second driver convicted in a hit-and-run against a cyclist. Second man jailed over cyclist hit-and-run When I went back to get the headline the page had vanished and an “under construction” page was up in its place. So at this point I have no idea if you will be able to read this article when I post this.

Also from Oz a cyclist is rammed into a parked car. Rider, 50, injured at New Lambton And at this point that is all I know from this wreck, that the driver hit the cyclist from behind and rammed the cyclist into a parked car. I would say hit-from-behind protocols but the escape route was obstructed by storage of private property on the public right-of-way. That only leaves putting cyclists on the other side of the parked cars in a parking-protected cycle track.

Still in Oz, doctors reveal a steady stream of injured cyclists hit by cars through their ER doors. Cyclists hurt every week in Cairns say doctors The carnage of the road seems to mostly impact people not in cars…

South Africa is having a spate of hit-and-run lately. Avid cyclist killed in hit-and-run This is he second cyclist hit from behind while riding on the shoulder in a week. I have seen what “roads” are like in Africa and you don’t want to try to run off the pavement on a 23mm wide tire road bike unless you like pain and fixing broken wheels.

Lots of links for tonight’s RoS… Cyclists to participate in Ride of Silence to honor those injured, killed while riding and Cyclists to participate in Ride of Silence to honor those injured, killed while riding Same media outlet, same headline, two different stories? Also Murfreesboro bike ride will be in remembrance of MTSU student killed in February Another one Ride of Silence honors cyclists injured or killed on the road

And those are all the links that were still alive after I filtered the Feed, and gave me fits.

Billed @€0.02, Opus

Not Bean Day, and the Feed

Well, still Bean Day, just not a day I have to cook beans. We still have large quantities of leftover beans that haven’t been (bean?) consumed, so while we are still eating beans all I will be doing today is putting beans in the oven to reheat them. My bean reheating method is to set the oven for 205°F and let the beans sit in the oven in a Pyrex casserole dish until they reach a stable temperature. This kills any bacteria and also restores some of the flavors that faded out during storage while still keeping the “melded” flavors that develop after storing overnight.

Big story today is from my former home state. Cyclist dies in 3 State event on Lookout Mountain, Tenn. and UPDATE: Bicyclist killed in car crash identified As I read the reports today the cyclist lost control in a tight “s” bend and slid under an oncoming car. Weather may have been a factor for many reasons. To avoid moderate your speed in bad weather, I’m not sure how infrastructure could have made a difference without completely destroying the character of the event. More Report: Jacksonville cyclist killed in Tennessee accident and State briefs: Bicyclist killed in collision with car; Memphis officer indicted, suspended; teen suspect in slaying was under DCS supervision also Bicyclist killed in collision with car

Another cyclist is killed by another DUI driver, with a twist. Chambersburg bicyclist dies after hit by vehicle Hit-from-behind wreck, use the protocols to avoid or mitigate the results, get the infrastructure right to prevent (if the infrastructure had been good the drunk might have been riding another bike, so even if he ran into someone he would have caused little to no damage). Did you see the twist in the last paragraph? It makes it almost sound as if the driver was being investigated for something else and the DUI just added to the list. I don’t know if that’s the case or if the writer just truncated too far, but what was there when I read it makes me want to go up there and ask some questions. More Chambersburg man killed while riding bicycle

Dead cyclist in paradise. Maui bicyclist killed in collision with commercial van At this point it is reported the cyclist ran a red light just before he was hit. Intersection protocols to avoid, and get the infrastructure right to prevent.

An ID child riding a bike is injured when one vehicle stops but not another. 5-year-old severely injured after riding bike into traffic The 5YO was crossing the street riding in the flow of traffic when a second vehicle went around the first on that had stopped and hit the child. The child appears to have been riding in a fairly mature manner, but not the driver of the second vehicle… Given the age of he cyclist I don’t know what could be done to avoid or prevent the wreck, except to issue tickets to people that pass cars stopped at intersections and hit pedestrians or cyclists. The car that stops in front of you most likely stopped for a reason, respect that.

From the Great White North a cyclist is killed while apparently preparing to make a left turn in a legal manner. Police Further Investigating Fatal Collision Involving Cyclist All I know at this point is the cyclist was killed in the left turn lane and was not suspected of riding salmon. Intersection protocols (because at or almost at the intersection) to avoid, and get the infrastructure right to prevent.

A UK cyclist is run off the road and into a temporary sign. Cyclist seriously injured after collision with road sign in Horsham And the driver that ran him off the road is uninjured… DOYH!

Not-unexpected news from OZ about the truck driver that Jerry Browned a cyclist who ended up tangled in the wheels of the truck. Cement truck driver Luke Stevens found not guilty over death of cyclist Richard Pollett Given what I have seen posted online to Aussie news articles about cycling and the dangers of motor vehicles, I can’t say I was shocked at the outcome, but I am saddened. More Truckie not guilty over cyclist’s death and same headline but different report Truckie not guilty over cyclist’s death

My first RoS link of Bike Month 2013. Slow, silent bike ride in New Orleans honors cyclists killed or injured on public roads

Infrastructure! news from Canuckistan. Cycling accident prompts calls for bike lanes

State-by-state bike rankings. Bicycle Friendly State: 2013 State Rankings Texas ended up middle of the pack in spite of bottom-feeding infrastructure.

And those are all the links that gave me fits today, except the motorcycle wrecks. Those give me fits, too but are not suitable for discussion in this blog.

Billed @€0.02, Opus

Brr!, and the Feed

If I’m reading the weather crawl on the cable box right, we had a record low this morning in the Beautiful Suburbs of Hell, 39°F. This is a record for 2 reasons, only one is because it was the lowest temperature recorded on this day of the month, the other being it was the latest date that had a recorded temperature lower than 40° before Summer. This is following the warmest Summer in history, which was even warmer than the year we had more 100° days than we had official days of summer if you can imagine that. We had fewer days that were incredibly hot, but we also did not have any days that could be called “cool” either. We have already hit the forecast high for today but it hasn’t reached noon yet as I type this. I would say “typical Texas weather” except that records are by definition not “typical”.

From just down the road a bit from the WoaB World HQ in the Beautiful Suburbs of Hell a cyclist recovers from a stupid driver trick. Injured cyclist urges drivers to put away the phones People need to know they are guiding a projectile as deadly as a howitzer shell with the destructive force of a 200 pound bomb, which is not something to be taken lightly. If a weapon was as dangerous and deadly as a motor vehicle it would be classified as a WMD not fit for use against civilians or soldiers not in armored vehicles. Interestingly enough driving a motor vehicle deliberately into either of those groups is treated the same as attacking with a WMD… Because it is.

The mode of wreck has been released in that Seattle wreck, and surprise surprise the truck driver violated the right of way of the cyclist. Followup: Bicyclist identified as Lance David; crash brings safety concerns back into spotlight I quote the wreck report:”Preliminary investigation indicates that a 53-year-old man driving a flatbed semi-truck was attempting a right turn from westbound South Hanford Street to northbound East Marginal Way South. At the same time a 54-year-old male bicyclist was northbound on East Marginal Way South approaching South Hanford Street. For reasons that have yet to be determined, the bicyclist collided with the truck-trailer’s left side wheels in or near the intersection and went down. Fire department medics responded and after administering CPR treatment, pronounced the bicyclist dead at the scene.” The truck driver was turning right into the through street of the T intersection, which means the cyclist had the right of way. Between the documented pavement issues and the truck that pulled out in front of him the cyclist had no way of evading impact.

Another child cyclist is killed in CA. Boy, 14, Killed By School Bus While Riding Bike in Glendale From other reports I can’t link to I know the child was riding on the sidewalk against the direction of traffic for the side of the road he was on, making him essentially invisible to the bus driver. This is the result of not having SRTS instituted for every school, the cyclist was more or less forced to ride the sidewalks by adults with the mistaken beliefs that it would be safer than the road when riding in the roads is safer by a large factor (which I know is counter-intuitive). The way to prevent this wreck is infrastructure,INFRASTRUCTURE, and MORE INFRASTRUCTURE! Until there is a bicycle-friendly route to this school the school should be closed. And I’m NOT KIDDING! If there were gang wars being fought on the only ways to get to this school something would be done about it, well there are already random projectiles being fired down the street, they just have people in them.

And yet another fatal wreck in CA, this one courtesy of Ted Rogers of BikingInLA. Bicyclist struck, killed in Santee No mode of wreck given, just the vague note that the cyclist was found in the intersection by first responders. So, intersection protocols to (maybe) avoid, and get the infrastructure right to prevent.

What I didn’t know until recently was code for a “Door Prize” in the UK. Cyclist injured after hitting parked car in Shrewsbury The car is parked, and then the driver or passenger opens the door in front of the cyclist, but instead of correctly labeling the wreck as a dooring incident the cyclist is blamed for running into a parked car.

And those are all the links that gave me fits today, less the motorcycle wrecks of course. I’m getting way too many motorcycle wrecks in the Feed again as some news outlets don’t differentiate between bikes with motors and those without and frequently it isn’t until I click the links to other reports that I find the wreck was a motorcycle one and not a bicycle one.

Billed @€0.02, Opus

Can’t think of a funny headline, and the Feed

My comedy writing skills are eluding me at the moment and I can’t think of a short description of what I plan or what has been going on today. I was up until way after 2AM today because a mockingbird has roosted outside my bedroom window and has decided that midnight is the perfect time to start a 3 hour set of bird cover songs. I never hear this bird during daylight hours, but midnight to about 3 he cranks out (I’m assuming it’s male mockingbird that does the concerts) hit after hit from his extensive repertory. And that is why I can’t come up with a short funny headline.

I don’t remember this wreck from before, but there was a flurry of wrecks in CA the last few days so I might have covered this one and don’t remember. Bicyclist hit by car in Chula Vista dies Not much in the way of information on this one, intersection wreck so intersection protocols to avoid, a comment left by someone claiming to have been a witness said that the cyclist was at fault without supplying any information to back that up. Infrastructure to prevent, but getting all the infrastructure right is required, not just putting some paint on the road.

Another CA wreck with more questions than answers. Two bike riders injured in weekend crash Head-on wreck, and nothing was mentioned about salmon riders or crossing the centerline? This was either bad reporting or something is being covered up by LEO. But because this is a binary situation we know there is something missing, because there are only two ways for vehicles to crash head on, one has to be on the wrong side of the road, or in this case either the bikes were in the wrong because of bad education, or the driver was in the wrong because of …?

A UT cyclist is injured in a wreck with little information as of the posting of the link. Cyclist critically injured in Salt Lake City accident Intersection wreck but other than that I can’t say much, this was a crossing point for going to the other side of the freeway and as such was a bottleneck that jammed bicycle and motor vehicle traffic together without any alternatives for getting across the barrier of the freeway. More Bicyclist hit near freeway onramp in critical condition Interesting comment on that link as I post this Vehicle strikes bicyclist in downtown Salt Lake City and Driver who hit bicyclist likely won’t be cited With the other links the official story is the cyclist was trying to beat the light and didn’t make it.

A GA cyclist is killed in a confrontation with a police cruiser. 14-year-old boy on bicycle run over and killed by police car in Georgia From the witness reports it appears the young cyclist did not look before he pulled from a driveway into the highway. This is another case where the infrastructure was built for rural needs and the area became residential without any changes to the speed limits, a common situation in the southeastern US. Intersection protocols to avoid, and get the infrastructure right to prevent.

A wreck in MO that has weird written all over it. Bicyclist who fell in road is run over by vehicle and killed in Smithton The cyclist had been riding salmon but had stopped because of a problem, then fell off the bike for some reason and as another witness was calling 911 to request medical assistance for the rider the weapon vehicle ran the cyclist over. From my reading of this report the cyclist may not have even been on the bike when he fell into the road. More Bicyclist Killed On His Way To Work and Police: Cyclist falls onto road, killed by vehicle and a page of mostly good comments Comments for: Belleville man falls from bike, dies after being run over by car

A MI cyclist is killed crossing the street. Bicyclist killed in Holland crash The text reported the cyclist was riding salmon but the video said he was crossing against the light, so until they get the story straight I’m not saying how to avoid the wreck, but getting the infrastructure right still most likely would have prevented it. More Elderly Man On Bike Killed After Being Hit by Car also Holland Bicyclist Killed at Busy Intersection still more UPDATE: Police identify bicycle rider killed at U.S. 31-16th Street not done yet Holland Man Killed While Riding His Bike Identified another link Police: 70-year-old bicyclist dies after crash Getting close now Bicyclist struck by car, killed and last link 70-Year-Old Bicyclist Killed In Crash As the later links have come in the story is settled on the cyclist running the red into traffic moving “at highway speeds” after leaving a grocery store. So intersection protocols to avoid (especially the one about not running red lights), and as suspected infrastructure also had a great deal to do with the wreck. The grocery store the victim had just shopped at was located in such a way that the victim had to negotiate a busy highway in order to shop there. That should never be allowed to happen.

Death in the Great White North. Cyclist killed after hit by bus in L’Assomption At this point the narrative is the wind blew the cyclist unexpectedly, leaving the bus driver with no time to react. I don’t know if the cyclist was blown out of a bike lane or just in front of the bus as it passed him. The report as I read it now makes it look like the cyclist was not pointed in the direction he was headed, hence the suspected gust of wind.

Signs the economy is still down the tubes. Bike-By Shooting Wounds Two Teens In Crown Heights At least this time the guy on the bike was dishing it out instead of having to take it.

A wreck in Oz that was particularly gruesome. Luke Stevens pleads not guilty to death of cyclist Richard Pollett, 25, on Moggill Rd, Kenmore in 2011 The driver “Jerry Browned” the cyclist who was left with no room to move away from the truck and went under the rear wheels. Not a wreck that a human cyclist can avoid without being willing to dive at speed from the bike onto the side of the road. The truck was right at 8 feet wide give or take a few inches, and the lane was less than 14 feet wide, or under TX laws not wide enough to share and the cyclist should have taken the lane. I’m not sure what Oz laws are on taking the lane, from what I have read they are not very good for cyclists.

Infrastructure! news out of DC. League Statement: Nomination of Anthony Foxx for Transportation Secretary I reserve judgement until I see more facts.

The modern-day version of the bake sale to get stuff for your school. Students ‘crowdfund’ bike racks for school One question, do the students have to go begging to get the parking lot paved and striped? If not then why do they have to go beg to get bike parking restored?

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

Billed @€0.02, Opus

The wind is insane out there, and the Feed

I’m running a little late getting started today because I had banking to catch up on before my trip starts tomorrow. Reminder on that trip, this blog will be silent until Monday April 15 as I will be outside mobile range and away from communication devices until then. Anyway, the wind was so bad that I had to chase my bike down the sidewalk as the wind pushed it along while I was trying to handle banking business (and no bike racks at the banks (Plenty of free parking for motor vehicles was provided, though)). It was another one of those days in Texas where you have to drop into really short hill-climbing gears to ride upwind, but can coast up moderate hills downwind. If I remember my readings correctly I had an average speed of just under 11 MPH for the whole trip and a maximum speed of 24 MPH over a very flat trip. Starting Wednesday I will be doing a very different kind of riding as I will be riding on packed gravel roads petering off into dirt tracks as I run messages and tote water around a campsite for a religious retreat. Don’t worry, I’m not going stupid on y’all, there will be a clothing-optional drum and dancing circle around a bonfire every night of the gathering so I’m just expanding from my Pagan roots, not making any changes. IOW it’s Happy Naked Pagan Camping Time where my attire will be a pair of spandex shorts and a HiViz vest as I ride around the campsite making sure everyone has enough water and we don’t get any heat injuries this year and the only reason I will have the shorts on is because riding a bikeBlue without shorts is painful… I might be wearing tights in the mornings as the forecast is a bit on the chilly side until near noon.

Most of the links today are away from TX and the US, we have a couple of CA links like this one about a SWCC wreck. Bicyclist Struck and Killed on Valley Boulevard in Pomona The thing I find interesting about this report is they can’t decide if the cyclist was riding salmon or crossing the road. “(T)he bicyclist was heading east, riding across the westbound lanes of Valley Boulevard,” when he was hit. That was one talented cyclist, riding across and against traffic at the same time like some non-Euclidian alien. The only witness was the driver of the weapon vehicle, which means that absent a thorough investigation of the wreck we will never know what really happened, just what the driver thought he saw. Also the driver left the scene and returned as noted in the “the wreck was thought to have been a hit-and-run.”

An apparent California stop where an Idaho stop would have been a better choice. Bicyclist injured after hit by SUV in Oakland hills There are several possible scenarios for this wreck dependent on exactly what traffic controls were in effect at the intersection. One is a classic Idaho stop where the cyclist assumed a higher speed for the SUV than was the case, or just flat out ran the stop sign. Another that happens to me is I will wait my turn at a 4 way stop and someone on the cross street ignores me as I go and almost sideswipes me as I cross the street because “Eff You I’m driving a car here” only in this case it was a full contact “Eff You”. But since Google Maps just shows me the inside of the tunnel instead of the cross roads when I try to find the wreck scene I’m going to go with a California Stop with contact. Intersection protocols to avoid, and get the infrastructure right to prevent.

A cyclist narrowly avoids a potentially tragic hit-and-run in Far West Canuckistan. Masset RCMP seek info after accident I find it interesting that hit-and-run is an “accident” while riding without a helmet on the sidewalk is a crime… Anyway the cyclist used good situational awareness to avoid a serious wreck and got away with only minor injuries, but getting the infrastructure right would have prevented this wreck. Oh and that other stuff in the article can be avoided by removing Windows and installing a Linux-based OS…

From the UK a driver that ran straight over a cyclist is on trial for careless driving. Lorry driver on trial for killing cyclist This is another case where several drivers on the road were able to see and avoid the cyclist before the wreck, but for some reason the driver that killed him never saw him. Perhaps his vision will be better after his (should be) mandatory 10 year ban from driving. Hit-from-behind protocols to avoid, and get the infrastructure right to prevent.

Terrifying Infrastructure news from Oz. VIDEO: Cyclists fear another tragedy If I read the transcript right there is 4″ between getting run over in the traffic lane and hitting the curb with a pedal and no room to take the lane on the bridge because of the speed of the motor vehicle traffic and no place to pass. That drivers seem unable to slow down for other road users’ safety (or any other reason) seems a bit off to me. That they are unable to slide over to the other lane to keep from hitting cyclists seems more than a bit off.

UK cyclists think that single-mode transportation planning needs to go as an intersection takes another life. Safety pleas after cyclist killed at west Hull roundabout Not much I can add to this one…

And final link, wouldn’t it be nice to just take the shopping cart from the store after you fill it and hook it to the back of the bike? Burley Travoy Trailer Review: E-Bike Cargo Hauler & Shopping Cart! [VIDEOS] Seriously, a bike trailer that can be used as a shopping cart, then hooked back to the bike to transport the goodies home.

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

Billed @$0.02, Opus

Things that I don’t understand, and the Feed

Here at Casa De El Poeta we have taken in roomers to help make ends meet. One is our son, the other is an elderly woman who may not have both oars in the water, has come slightly unclipped from one pedal, not playing with a full deck, and nine other euphemisms for not entirely sane. I have discovered a recipe for a rice porridge that makes a wonderful breakfast (a less sweet version of the vegan rice “pudding” I made a few weeks back) so I bought a full bag of brown rice to make sure I had the ingredients to make the recipe (2 cups of brown rice, 8 cups of water, 3/4 cup sugar and cinnamon, nutmeg, and a tiny dash of ground cloves and a little salt) so that there would be no “issues” with the recipe (which makes enough to feed me about 4 breakfasts). So I have all the ingredients, and go to get the slow cooker, and there’s a brand-new in the box fondue set where the crock pot is supposed to be. I tear the kitchen apart looking for the crock pot and it’s nowhere to be found. So here I am ready to cook, and the device I need to cook with is MIA/AWOL. In its place is a fondue set, which is lovely but in no way substitutes for a slow cooker. My son has no notion of what happened to the slow cooker, and claims this was the first time he had seen the fondue set. As he has demonstrated no previous desire to “do” fondue in the thirty-mumble years I have known him. I believe him. This leaves one other person to mess with the slow cooker and leave a fondue set, the crazy lady in the other bedroom. I know Mrs. the Poet would not substitute a fondue set for a slow cooker as 1) this would require spending money she does not have, and 2) she has no more desire to consume fondue than my son. So by process of elimination we have only one suspect left… and I still don’t get to make my rice porridge.

LA cyclists have been dealing with a minor spate of attempted murder on the roads. Second cyclist struck by hit-and-run driver in Ascension The know the second vehicle was a white F-150 pickup from debris left behind while the first vehicle remains unknown because of a lack of debris from the wreck. Hit-from-behind protocols to avoid, and prevent homicidal maniacs from having access to weapons of mass destruction to prevent. Also some decent inter-urban bicycle infrastructure would be of great help, both in keeping the WMD away from the vulnerable road users, and in giving the homicidal maniacs some other way of getting around after they get out of prison/the nut-house.

One of the drawbacks of aftermarket lighting for bicycles, they don’t stay put in a wreck. Bicyclist injured on Milledge Avenue The GA cyclist was hit head on by a vehicle turning into his lane from another street, and they are more upset the cyclist can’t locate his headlight after the wreck than the fact the driver was in the wrong lane? TANJ! Intersection protocols to avoid and get the idiots off the road that can’t see a cyclist until he’s sprawled across the windshield to prevent. And make headlight brackets strong enough to survive a wreck that was survivable by the rider, I can’t tell you how many headlights I went through back when I was working the convenience store down the street (that was very bumpy and full of pot holes), but I averaged about one per week until I bought a full-suspension MTB. This was in the days of halogen bulbs as the state of the art in bike lighting and getting more than a few hours out of a set of batteries meant you bought really expensive batteries, and the (cheap) batteries were lasting longer than the lights I put them in. I postulate that a similar situation befell this cyclist, either the light fell off just before the impact, or did not survive the impact and investigators were unable to locate the remains of the light in the dark.

A cyclist in Oz is involved in a similar wreck to the GA wreck listed above. Teen cyclist injured in crash at Foxground The cyclist in this wreck fared much worse than the GA cyclist as he had to be transported with serious multiple injuries after the wreck. As of the moment the cyclist was not accused of riding salmon so we have to assume the driver crossed the centerline of the road for some reason.

What a dead cyclist “means” in Enn Zed. The impact of a cyclist’s death I can see the video but not hear it, so I don’t know what the people are saying on it, but as this includes the funeral of a woman killed by a truck that passed too closely, I’m assuming it is at least somewhat positive.

And a cyclist that died in Thailand will have to be identified from DNA records as he was hit so many times not enough pieces of him (?) were left intact to identify him. Horrific death for cyclist (pix) hit-from-behind protocols to avoid, and get the idiots off the roads to prevent. I mean seriously hit guy was hit so hard that tiny shreds are all that is left, even though the bike was almost undamaged. This implies a buzz job at an immense speed for the initial impact, something well in excess of 100 MPH (160Km/hr).

And those are all the live links that gave me fits today, that last link in particular >shudder<.

Billed @$0.02, Opus