Drumming night, and the Feed

Tonight is the regularly-scheduled night of the month to drum and dance around the fire at my church, something I look forward to with great anticipation. I have been involved with percussion in one form or another since childhood, getting my first set of bongo drums at 11, playing the bass drum in marching band and snare in orchestra. I have also been a (poor) dancer almost as long, having my first dance class as a senior in HS, and belly dance for men in my 30s and 50s. I am a creature of rhythm even if I can’t spell it on the first try, ever. (I keep trying to put the voiced short “i” in the written word.) I can’t explain it so I just revel in it…

Up first on a happy note, semi-famous bike blogger Bikeyface has a new bike that she gushes about here LEFT BANK BIKE I’m sure Gigi is as happy for her about this as I am, wherever Gigi is now.

Big story, what is being described by some as a right hook and by others as the cyclist failing to use brakes, with lots of links. Cyclist dies in SF garbage-truck crash and Bicyclist dies after striking garbage truck in the Mission also Cyclist killed in San Francisco garbage truck crash More Clayton Cyclist Hit and Killed By Garbage Truck in San Francisco and Bicyclist killed in collision with San Francisco garbage truck was 21-year-old from Clayton not done yet Cyclist in fatal S.F. crash identified nearly there Bicyclist killed in Mission District identified as Clayton resident Last link Dylan Mitchell Identified as Cyclist Killed by Recology Truck Earlier reports that have since been deleted had the cyclist impacting the truck just in front of the rear wheels on the right side and being trapped in the rear wheels and dragged for almost a block. Now they are just saying “back” of the truck and not explaining how hitting the back of a garbage truck results in massive blunt trauma and crushing injuries, or how a cyclist can be dragged almost a block after hitting the back of the truck. Anyway, right hook, intersection protocols to avoid and infrastructure corrected to prevent. The truck was signalling a right turn but there is some question if the cyclist was in a position to see that signal.

Another story with more than one link is a hit-and-run in AZ. Suspect arrested in Tucson hit-and-run death and UPDATED II: CYCLIST KILLED IN HIT-AND-RUN CRASH; SUSPECT IN CUSTODY last link Sun Tran driver killed while cycling to work Intersection wreck, but at this point it does not appear that intersection protocols would have helped avoid the wreck in any way as the drunk driver appears to have ignored a traffic control when he hit the cyclist. This also strongly implies that any at-grade infrastructure that relied on traffic controls to maintain separation would have been equally unlikely to prevent this wreck and the only thing that could have would be grade separated with a barrier infrastructure which would have been unlikely in this location. I mean there aren’t even any sidewalks for the nearby residences, bike infrastructure would be secondary after pedestrian infrastructure.

An AR cyclist is hit. 7-year-old girl struck and killed while riding her bike Nothing about the mode of the wreck except listing the location as “near” an intersection, so going with intersection protocols to avoid, and getting the infrastructure right to prevent. As the wreck was in a residential area “getting the infrastructure right” would consist of making sure cars were moving at a safe speed and that intersections had good sight lines so that children on bikes could be seen.

A cyclist’s death leads to charges in the Great White North. Vernon cyclist death results in charges The cyclist was struck from behind by a person driving a vehicle in the bike lane at 70 km/hr (44MPH). Given the lack of space to maneuver and the curb to the right hit-from-behind protocols would have been not-very-useful, and the wreck was in bicycle infrastructure the driver was ignoring, so no chance of preventing either except for inventing some way of keeping drunk drivers from being able to start the vehicle…

And those are all the links that gave me fits today… and one that didn’t.

Billed @€0.02, Opus

Trying to figure it out, and the Feed

The Feed is still wonky in that what few actual bicycle reports I get are mostly from the UK, and the rest are not actually about bicycles but almost everything else, including a link to an article about women’s monthly cycles. I was getting too little a few months ago, now I’m getting too much, but I’m still not getting bicycles. Well, that’s why I put a human being in the loop to filter out the non-pertinent items.

Up first is a CA wreck that authorities are calling a single vehicle wreck. Cyclist Injured in Ralston Ave. Crash Given the evidence if there is a second vehicle involved it would be a Jerry Brown wreck, a car passing so close that it causes a cyclist to lose control without actually touching the cyclist. If the second vehicle managed to get that close without the cyclist knowing it was there (electric car or cyclist not exercising good situational awareness) then the startle reaction can cause a wreck all on its own. The other reasonable explanation is something on the road knocked the front tire out from under the cyclist, another good reason to exercise good situational awareness.

Also from CA a BMW makes a U-turn and cuts off a cyclist. Bicyclist injured after crashing into car Of course the person writing the article doesn’t subscribe to that hypothesis. Any way, about the only way to avoid a wreck like this is to use heightened situational awareness so that you are aware of the idiot turning in front of you and have time to react. Infrastructure that prevents idiots making U-turns from interfering with cyclists would be the only way to prevent this.

From NJ a sidewalk cyclist narrowly escapes serious injury or death. Bicycle rider escapes injury in Red Bank after brush with truck Truck driver is backing out blind over the sidewalk, sidewalk rider can’t see the truck. Truck driver leaves scene without leaving contact information. Every driveway is an intersection, use intersection protocols to avoid. Since this appears to be in a residential area the only infrastructure change to make would be making hitting a cyclist or pedestrian a crime, but hit-and-run is already a crime so I don’t know what making hitting a cyclist a crime would have done to prevent this wreck.

From West Canuckistan comes their annual warning that people will soon be changing from cars and buses to bicycles. Warming weather means more cyclists and a renewed focus on safety The sad part is people don’t notice that there are fewer cars on the roads, just more bicycles and they hate bicycles.

More about the idiot in the UK who hit a cyclist and then bragged about it on Twitter. Emma Way Arrested For Hit-And-Run After She Brags About It On Twitter Yep, stupidity can be painful, usually when stupid people are in cars around cyclists it’s painful for the cyclist, but this time the pain was shared. And with any luck the sharing can be more painful for the driver.

Also from the UK is a story about a wreck caused by the infrastructure. Injured cyclist’s warning over road pothole danger As I posted in the first paragraph road defects can cause wrecks which heightens the need to be totally aware of your surroundings.

A South African hit-and-run is solved. Hit-and-run driver held for cyclist’s death The cyclists were hit in an area of the road that cars were not supposed to be on, then the car left the scene. Not something a cyclist can prepare for except or that old standby situational awareness and hit-from-behind protocols.

A late RoS link. Local Cyclists Silently Commemorate A LIfe Lost on Rockland Roads

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

Billed @€0.02, Opus

A very late severe weather season, and what happened to my Feed?

I can not recall a severe weather season that got as late a stat as this one. Here it is almost June and we are just now getting those severe thunderstorms and tornadoes that would be almost finished by now if not long gone. Weather patterns for this state have been bolluxed for several years and people are just now starting to notice by going over the recent records that we have been breaking year after year. We had hottest year, earliest recorded 100°F day, most 100°F days in a year and in a row, latest frost, latest low below 40°F, all in the last 3 years. I’m not going to fall into the fallacy of weather vs climate, but something is wrong. You don’t get so many records broken in so short a time without something being wrong. And that’s all I have to say about the subject.

On the subject of my Feed, well it’s full of motorcycles and motorcycle wrecks. Either there aren’t that many bicycle wrecks or the keywords I used to craft the search are being used differently by the people writing the news now, and terms that were once exclusively used for bicycle wrecks are getting used for any kind of wreck not involving a car or pedestrian. I mean seriously what do ATV wrecks have to do with bicycles? But I get at least one a week, sometimes more than one a day, right in my Feed.

First up is another link about the stupid driver that committed hit-and-run and then bragged about it on Twitter. Girl Brags About A Hit And Run On Twitter, Justice Is Swiftly Delivered Can I say that this is the link that REALLY earns the “Stupid drivers” tag for my blog? Because, stupid driver. Seriously stupid driver, as in “How do you remember to breathe?” stupid driver. And did I mention this driver was stupid? because she is. More “I knocked a cyclist off his bike. I have right of way, he doesn’t even pay road tax”

A single bike wreck in CT. Bicyclist Injured In New Canaan Accident I don’t actually “like” single bike wrecks, but as they are almost always non-fatal I like them a heckuva lot more than wrecks involving motor vehicles.

An ID cyclist looks to get some justice in a hit-and-run. Caldwell man charged in suspected hit-and-run The location of the wreck indicates that intersection protocols may have helped avoid the wreck, infrastructure may have prevented it, but some way to keep unlicensed driver from the controls of a rolling WMD would have definitely prevented the wreck.

A cyclist wreck in the Great White North has been solved. SIU clears Windsor police in case of injured cyclist Whodathunkit that hitting car mirrors with your hand until they break could cause hand and shoulder injury. Or that you could get hurt falling from your bike in a drunken heap…

A wreck in South Africa results in a criminal investigation. Police open case after cyclist killed by bus Hit-from-behind wreck, protocols to avoid and get the infrastructure right to prevent. In this case the infrastructure includes criminal charges against the driver for failing to pass safely.

Last link is to an article about why has the word “bicycle” become a dirty word for conservatives? 7 Reasons Conservatives Should Embrace Bikes I’m still trying to figure out why “bicycle” became a political word.

And those are all the links that gave me fits today, from only one posting to my Feed.

Billed @€0.02, Opus

Narrowly avoiding being drenched, and the Feed

I’m running late today because I’m back to the gig visiting the widow woman and letting her cry on my shoulder and fix me breakfast. I was out of that gig for a while because they were adjusting her anti-anxiety meds to control side effects and they went too low and she got all “I hate the world and everybody in it!” for a month and stopped seeing me. Now her meds have been adjusted back up and she’s back to liking the world again and needing to talk to someone about how she feels and all, so I’m back to getting a weird breakfast once a week. Anyway, the avoiding being drenched part of the headline alludes to the bands of thunderstorms we had pass through the area just as I got home. When I got the mail it was just spitting rain, but by the time I got in the house it was pouring buckets. No tornadoes, just some hurricane level gusts and elsewhere they had some hail but no chunky style precipitation here. The temperature dropped about 10 degrees when the storm blew through because of the cold upper altitude air pulled down by the rain and the sudden rise in the humidity chilling things down also. And I just got a news item that says Senators from the east coast are getting ready to vote against disaster aid to OK because both of OK Senators voting against disaster aid for the people ruined by Sandy. I think OK just got run over by a Karma Ghia.

A NM cyclist’s death appears to have been in vain. Woman who killed cyclist in court again She drove off the road and killed a cyclist on an adjacent bike path and got the maximum sentence of… 90 days. Now she’s caught driving drunk again. Lifetime ban from driving (and I don’t understand why this didn’t happen for the fatal wreck) added to her sentence for repeat DUI. More Woman who killed cyclist now in court for DWI

More on the cyclist killed in MA over the weekend. Cyclist Killed Sunday Was MIT Scientist Nothing about the wreck. Lots about the victim. RIP. Another link Visiting MIT scientist killed while riding bike

Still in MA a child riding a bicycle is run over by a dump truck. Police: Child riding bicycle with mother dies in Westfield accident This link had nothing on the mode. 7-year-old boy killed in Mass. road accident also Memorial grows for boy killed on bike and Westfield child killed in accident with dump truck identified as Michael Ryan, 7 even Westfield boy killed in traffic accident identified OK a day later and LEO are still not reporting how this kid got hit beyond “hit by the front of the truck” and ending up under the rear wheels.

A WI cyclist is killed with LEO also sitting on the report. Girl struck, killed on bicycle in New Berlin is identified Nothing about the mode or anything beyond identifying the victim and the age of the driver. You would think this was a UK media outlet…

A young CA cyclist is killed riding to school. Teenage bike rider killed in San Jose traffic accident I hate it when media uses the term “accident” instead of “wreck”. More San Jose: Silver Creek High sophomore killed in bicycle crash remembered as classroom leader At this point LEO are not saying anything, but the driver says he “thinks” he had the green when he hit the cyclist in a crosswalk.

A fatal wreck in DC. Cyclist Killed in U Street Collision With Car Last Thursday The report said the cyclist was making a turn and that the light was green for the driver at the time of the wreck, what the phase was when the cyclist entered the intersection is unknown. Intersection wreck implies that intersection protocols might have helped avoid the wreck. Infrastructure would have prevented the wreck had the bicycle been separated from the motor vehicle traffic in both time and space.

From the UK a stupid driver gets caught after bragging about her wreck. Woman Brags About Hitting Cyclist, Discovers Police Also Use Twitter The mode of wreck is highly unusual in that the driver was on the wrong side of the road. Not much that a human cyclist can do about drivers being on the wrong side of the road, but getting the infrastructure right would keep the driver away from the cyclists. More Driver ‘admits’ knocking down cyclist on Twitter and Twitter hit-and-run boast shows dangers of ‘road tax’ entitlement

Last link is a “Whiskey, Tango, Foxtrot?” moment. Cyclist Killed Duckling

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

Billed @€0.02, Opus

I <3 cars when they aren't on the roads, Wreck-Free Sunday

I was up past midnight watching the Sprint All-Star Race last night. I was slightly disappointed in who won as I am most emphatically NOT a Jimmy Johnson fan, but I really liked the way the race ran. There were very few wrecks, which is a testimony to the skills of the drivers involved when running for a first prize of over $1M. There was the comment made during the race that under the special rules for the race NASCAR would run as many green-white-checkers as it took to get a winner under green, or until they ran out of cars, but it didn’t get anywhere near that heated between drivers this year. The new car is very racy, but also very easy to race without running into the other driver and taking both out. Count me as happy with the new Cup car.

I was mentioning the discussion Mrs. the Poet and I were having about getting a car vs making a car. I’m on the side of the fence that you I get a better car for your my purposes if I build my own, Mrs. the Poet prefers to go to a dealer and plunk down some $$ and drive away, but she has already said that she isn’t driving no matter what kind of car we get. Also she has this fixed belief that cars “have” to have a roof and windshield. I’m not so fixated on creature comforts, but I do agree that you need to be able to bring everyone home from the grocery store with all the groceries, which the Speedway ’27 T Roadster can’t quite do. So I have been pondering a redesign of the back end of the body to provide more trunk space and also reduce the amount of lift and drag. Basically the redesign would raise the trunk lid and make the run from the opening of the cockpit to the back of the car making the back end a box with slightly rounded corners and then adding what is called a shovel spoiler to kill the lift. This also has the slight benefit of a tiny bit lower drag compared to the 1927 T turtledeck, so it’s all good, except for the additional work on the back of the body.

I currently have the Australian V8 Supercars on the tube from Austin, another highly enjoyable form of motor sport.

And my allergy pill just kicked in and I’m having tons of trouble keeping my eyes open. I’m going to stop here and take a nap…

PSA, Opus

Preparing to veg the afternoon/night away, and the Feed

And if you think that’s bad, wait until you see my TV schedule for Sunday next week. Today I just have the Sprint All Star race with all the pre-race festivities and qualifying races and hoopla starting at 1530 and running past 2200. Sunday next week we get the Grand Prix of Monaco at 0630 (ugh!!), with an hour break between the end of that race and the pre-race program for the Indianapolis 500 at 1000, then maybe an hour before the hoopla surrounding the longest race on the Sprint Cup schedule, the Coca Cola World 600 that starts (pre-race programming) at 1600. It’s an orgy of internal combustion and burnt rubber that lasts long into the night. This is where I like cars, driving in circles behind walls and sturdy fences away from pedestrians and cyclists. In fact it would be safe to say I LOVE cars under these conditions. Beyond the competition there is the engineering challenge to perform the best, using a rather rigidly enforced parameter of what constitutes “best”, under what is a tightly-controlled limit of parameters (rules). I just had a long “discussion” with Mrs. the Poet about what car I would drive on the street, and I showed her a Smart Fourtwo Passion Coupe, and the Speedway Motors ’27 T roadster kit. She has this “thing” about cars having to have a windshield and a roof, me, not so much. But this is not a car blog.

More on the anti-bike activist who killed a cyclist by driving against the flow of traffic in a bike lane, drunk. Colorado driver accused of killing cyclist had railed against them: ‘These people don’t belong’ Note to self, now that I have said that drunk drivers need to die chained to the wheel of their cars as the cars are recycled into bicycle parts I need to stop hanging out in junkyards… And Man charged with hitting, killing cyclist while driving drunk

Update on the RI cyclist killed riding in a residential area. North Providence ninth-grader killed while riding bicycle Details are still sketchy as of this posting. At this point they aren’t even saying if the cyclist was hit on the road as he was traveling along or that he just entered, so intersection protocols because it was in or near the intersection to avoid, and fix the infrastructure so you don’t have vehicles moving at deadly speeds in a residential area. That is the thing I can’t state firmly enough, this was a residential area, had been a residential area for many years (some of those houses dated back to the post-WWII era), there was no need to travel at fatal speeds except that drivers are callous and don’t care if they kill so long as they are not inconvenienced until they do kill.

More Ride of Silence links. Cyclists at Temecula Ride of Silence and Cyclist’s death sparks memorial ride safety message

A compendium of links to stories about e-assist bikes. E-Bike News: Portable Solar Charger, New Stealth E-Bikes, NYC Ban, & More [VIDEO] On the NYC e-bike ban, nobody has been killed with a bicycle or e-scooter since 2009 in the city, while 152 people died while walking or riding a bike and getting hit by a motor vehicle with a license and (supposedly) a licensed driver. Maybe they should ban the thing that actually killed more than 100 people last year instead of the thing that might, maybe some time in the future kill someone but hasn’t yet…

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

Billed @€0.02, 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

Weather is here wish you were beautiful, and the Feed

First off let me apologize for not posting the pictures from the RoS I went to last night. The ride concluded just as a rain shower came through and the traditional post-ride socializing instead was a mad scramble to get to shelter and I had only a chance to share a few words of greeting and goodbye with the guy that started it all, Chris Phelan. That shower was an outer band shower of a severe weather system that brought at least 10 tornadoes to the area, one of which went south of here without causing much if any damage. We got very lucky this year as this was the first severe storm we have had so far and we are 2 weeks past the end of our usual storm season. With any additional luck that was it for this year. Well the reason why no pictures is we stayed glued to the tube watching the weather radar and later reports from the stricken areas, which kinda precluded downloading pictures to the desktop computer, and manipulating them to fit this blog. There was some loss of life to the south of WoaB World HQ, but nothing worse than some flash flooding in the immediate area.

Up first a report that came from the WP “just posted” folder on the dashboard, a driver shoots at his girlfriend in another car, then runs over a bicyclist as he runs a stop sign escaping the scene of the shooting. Bicyclist killed by driver fleeing shooting in Florence, police say The driver was charged with assault with a deadly weapon in the shooting, nothing so far in the cyclist’s death. The wreck was an intersection wreck but so far outside the normal bounds of intersection protocols as to make any attempt to use them ludicrous, I place this wreck in the category of unavoidable by human cyclists without precognition, and equally unable to prevent by infrastructure. The link to the LA Times story came from BikingInLA in this post: More bad news for Bike to Work Day: Bike rider killed by driver fleeing a shooting

I’m going to bite my (metaphorical) tongue on this report. Man riding bicycle hit by firetruck in Canton Again I’m going to point out that many lights do not register the presence of a cyclist and don’t change, effectively training cyclists to run red lights regularly. Also pointing out the cyclist was wearing “regular” clothes, not “dark” clothing. And that I appear to have metaphorically chewed my metaphoric tongue to metaphoric ribbons. Anyway, when a traffic signal doesn’t register your presence and change for your direction there is a procedure to follow: Wait 2 minutes to make sure it isn’t just a delay in changing built into the logic of the controller, the treat the malfunctioning control as a stop sign and waiting until cross traffic is clear before proceeding. Then call Streets for that area to report a malfunctioning signal.

Update on a Chicago-area cyclist that was killed earlier this week. Cyclist Killed Tuesday Identified As Elk Grove Village Woman Nothing on the wreck itself, but the article seems to indicate that it was an intersection wreck and highly infrastructure related, in that they are already completing plans to build grade separated crossings for pedestrians and cyclists there. You can’t get much more explicit that bad infrastructure was involved than to have a shovel-ready project to upgrade the infrastructure, and a project that will be underway in less than a month pretty much defines “shovel-ready”.

Another IL cyclist is killed in a hit-from-behind wreck near or in Chicago. 83-year-old bicyclist hit by car, killed on Northwest Side Another case of using the wrong preposition in the headline he was hit “with” a car not “by” a car. Comments and article point to excessive speed on the part of the driver, leaving mere human cyclists little chance of avoiding by employing the hit-from-behind protocols. I would say that some kind of traffic calming would improve matters immensely for that street judging from the comments viewable at the time this was posted.

More on the wreck in CO where a drunk driver in the bike lane going the wrong way hit a cyclist head on. Boulder cyclist killed in SUV crash remembered as positive, patient and Driver arrested in cyclist’s death had complained bicyclists ‘don’t belong’ in Lyons Those public comments are going to come back to haunt him, possibly getting the homicide charge bumped to a murder charge. Driving the wrong way in a bike lane, well anytime you drive in a bike lane you’re driving “the wrong way” as in a way that is inappropriate for motor vehicles to operate, but in this case the driver was driving against the flow of traffic. That makes it look like he saw the cyclist and took deadly action because his judgment had been impaired as a result of his being drunk. Any guesses as to who gets the “Waste of Human Skin” tag for today’s post?

And another hit-and-run from yet another town I used to live in. Bicyclist struck and killed by vehicle in hit-and-run accident in Augusta Hit-from-behind, from the area they mentioned I don’t think that the protocols would have been any help for mere human cyclists, and the infrastructure from when I was there was terrible. Get the infrastructure right and make hit-and-run a major felony like DUI homicide to prevent.

Don’t drink and ride. Man trying to help drunk cyclist ends up getting him arrested I think this is a re-hash from an earlier story (the swinging of the broken bike seat is familiar), but still, don’t drink and ride.

Good results from the UK as a cyclist uses evidence from the criminal trial against the driver that hit her to prove a total lack of negligence on her part for the civil trial. Cyclist who lost her leg in crash with lorry scores legal win against insurer The only problem I see in this case is that many injury cases never get to criminal charges, much less trials with publicly available records.

RoS coverage from places that didn’t go under a tornado warning. Ride of Silence bicycle event in Flint encourages awareness for cyclist safety also Cyclists ride in silence to remember those injured, killed From just down the road from where I used to live Murfreesboro remembrance bike ride is one of many globally and from the founder of the Mother Ride QUIET FOR 10 YEARS: The Ride Of Silence

Other lifestyle events. Cousin plans bike ride in man’s memory

And to close out this video of a FWD rear-steer delta trike: Monsterbike

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

Billed @€0.02, Opus

Well at least it’s nice out, and the Feed

This time of year is one of the most frustrating for me while I’m here in the Beautiful Suburbs of Hell. The pollen makes me want to stay inside where the air is at least partially filtered free of pollen, but the temperatures make me want to be out JRA because it’s neither gaspingly hot nor heavy coat cold and for a few days you can actually ride considerable distances without becoming drenched in sweat and still be able to wear open finger gloves. For me that is the perfect riding temperature, and I have to miss it because plants are having sex… It makes me want to scream when I think about it so I try not to think about it. Take away the pollen and this is what it’s like to live in San Diego all year long, practically.

The End of Times must be coming, as another Texan is arrested for hitting a cyclist. Man arrested in hit-and-run that injured cyclist The wreck was a hit-from-behind, use the protocols to avoid, get the infrastructure right to prevent. I must say, this is a pleasant change to have LEO at all levels suddenly decide that cyclists are equally worthy of the protections of the law as they are the punishments. Now if they could just convince NYPD of this.

One state over a cyclist is hit by a blind driver. Arkansas State Police: Bicyclist dies after collision with pickup in Yell County Once again the driver of the weapon vehicle used the Universal “Get Out of Jail Free” card to escape liability and punishment. Hit-from-behind protocols to avoid and get the infrastructure right to prevent. One bit of legal infrastructure that would help immediately would be changing the law so that any hit-from-behind wreck is automatically the fault of the driver unless proven otherwise, with “I didn’t see him” as an admission of guilt instead of an excuse.

A completely unavoidable wreck turns fatal. Somers Cyclist Hit By Deer Dies Of Injuries Local wildlife is the joker in the road safety deck. The best that you can hope for is to not be there when they are in the roads. I haven’t been able to find out if this was mutually fatal or if the deer was unhurt.

Update on the child cyclist killed in AL. Funeral held for child killed in bike accident in Cullman They are staying with the story that the kid pulled out in front of the driver and not that the driver was going too fast in a residential area.

More on the cyclist killed by a drunk driver driving on the wrong side of the road in CO. Boulder cyclist killed in crash with car identified Take one intersection with 5 different streets and highways converging in one spot, add bike lanes to one of those streets and a drunk driver that has lived in that town all his life and knows those roads like the back of his hand, and you get someone driving in the wrong lane and hitting a cyclist head on. Intersection protocols don’t apply in this chaos, getting the infrastructure right is the only thing that can prevent wrecks like this one. That and draconian speed limit enforcement. More links Driver facing vehicular homicide charge after cyclist killed in Lyons crash also Bicyclist Hit, Killed By Vehicle In Lyons

From the UK the first step in appealing the incredibly lax sentence for killing a cyclist has been taken. Family of dead cyclist lodge complaint against driver’s sentence Seriously, 300 hours of community service and only a 5 year driving ban for his second criminal fatality is ludicrous.

From Oz comes a story of a coverup of a cyclist’s death. Man jailed for assisting in hit-run It should have been obstructing justice and conspiracy, and the sentence should have been much longer (years instead of months) and as the victim’s father said he should have lost his driver’s license for life. But still for Oz getting 20 months for killing a cyclist still counts as a good result.

Another Ride of Silence link as we all get ready for the Ride tomorrow (Northern hemisphere) or Saturday (Southern hemisphere and rain date for the rest of us). ‘Ride of Silence’ to remember Endicott cyclist killed in October

And those are all the links that gave me fits today, Be sure to go to rideofsilence.org to find where your local RoS will be held and plot your route so you can get there in time. I will be attending the Mother Ride again this year.

Billed $€0.02, Opus

I hade Sprig, and the Feed

Yes, it’s that time of year again, the peak of allergy season when I get to either suffer a completely stopped up head, watery eyes, constant sneezing, and occasional disgusting digestive issues, or be unconscious from the allergy meds that don’t interfere with my BP meds. Hell of a choice innit?

Up first the driver that killed a cyclist in Austin has been released from jail. Elderly man indicted in cyclist’s death released It’s a pity that this will probably be all the time this killer spends in custody for illegally driving on the shoulder to pass a traffic jam and killing another human being. I’m just totally impressed the DA was able to convince a grand jury to indict the lowlife. BTW this link gets the “Signs of the Apocalypse” tag because the end must be near if a DA can convince a grand jury in Texas to indict a driver for killing a cyclist.

Update on the wreck in CO as the driver has been charged with vehicular homicide after hitting a cyclist head on while driving on the wrong side of the street. Man arrested for vehicular homicide after bike rider killed in Lyons The speed in which these charges were filed stuns me. Usually when a drunk driver kills someone there is a wait for the toxicology screens to come back from the lab, in this case they went with a field sobriety test and a breathalyzer to file serious felony charges in less than 24 hours. Earlier links Driver arrested after bicyclist killed by SUV in Lyons and Boulder County Sheriff’s Office: Cyclist killed in Lyons car versus bike crash

A VA hit-and-run wreck as a semi driver tried to pass when there wasn’t room to pass. Police search for tractor trailer driver that hit two cyclists The semi driver moved to pass a group of cyclists then cut over before completing the pass, hitting two of the cyclists. This is not the kind of wreck a human cyclist can avoid, but getting the infrastructure right would go a long way towards preventing another one. I am trying to think of what could be done with the built environment to prevent this but since the semi driver ran the oncoming vehicle off the road as well as hitting the cyclists the only thing I can think of is removing the incentives for truck drivers to act this way by removing the per-mile pay schedules. Almost all a driver’s expenses are per time except fuel and some preventative maintenance, and driving at a slower speed reduces the per-mile costs for those.

Update on the NE wreck that looks like will cost the rider her foot. Woman injured in car-bike crash improving All the reports on this one place the blame on the cyclist for violating the right of way of the faster car, and none mentions the passing lane to the left of the wreck. I’m going to go with the cyclist not allowing enough time for the driver to move over, or that there may have been other traffic in the inside lane that prevented the driver of the weapon vehicle from moving over.

More on the death of a NY cyclist. Troopers: Teen cyclist killed by drunken driver in Cohocton Mode of wreck is still not given but since an intersection has not been described as being next to or very near the wreck I’m going to have to assume hit-from-behind, so use those protocols to avoid if possible, and get the infrastructure right so that drunk drivers can’t get near cyclists and cyclists can still get where they need to go and from town to town.

A wreck in Oz with almost no information. Cyclist, teenager die in separate crashes No mode given, just that the other vehicle was an Australian pickup truck (ute).

Another RoS link as the date approaches. Ride of Silence to remember those killed in bicycle accidents

Lifestyle in CA as a cyclist is remembered. Hundreds take part in memorial ride to remember local cyclist killed in crash

And those are all the links that gave me fits today, minus a few that expired over the weekend.

Billed @€0.02, Opus