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

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

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

When you don’t have an actual job you never get a day off, and the Feed

You would think that not having what my elder daughter called a “jobby job” I wouldn’t be busy, but truth be told I don’t think I have ever been busier since I started doing this blog instead of actual working. I will be voting this morning, then going to meet with the people of Occupy Dallas about establishing a bike co-op this afternoon, doing Mother’s Day a day early with the kids still living on this side of the pond during early evening, then if I’m lucky I’ll be able to catch the end of RPG day as my warlock(6) goes undercover as a courier to thwart gangs that have been stealing the information from their message bags without breaking their (non-magical) seals. For a guy that hasn’t had a daily job since 2006 that’s a lot of running around.

A NE cyclist gets hit just after making a turn. Woman injured in car-bike crash Looking at the scene there were two lanes of travel in each direction, and the wreck was a distance away from the intersection. It looked like the cyclist expected the driver to make a lane change instead of panicking and locking the brakes and running her over. That is why you need to assume that every driver has the traffic savvy of a roadkill squirrel to avoid wrecks like this, basically a slight modification of the hit-from-behind protocol. Obviously getting the infrastructure right to prevent 40 MPH cars from mixing with bike traffic would prevent a similar wreck in the future.

An Upstate NY cyclist is killed by a drunk driver. Wayland teen killed riding his bike near his home Thursday found Friday; Man charged with DWI Have I mentioned lately how much I hate drunk drivers, and hit-and-run? And how much I especially hate drunk drivers that hit-and-run and leave dead cyclists in their wake? Recycle the car with the driver still in it and let then skim the scum off the top of the kiln.

Updates on the AL 6YO killed riding a bike in a residential area. Boy killed while riding bike and Cullman PD: 6-year-old hit and killed while riding his bike I “love” how the one report said it was a “perfect storm” because the kid couldn’t see the truck and the truck “couldn’t stop” (because he was driving too fast in a residential area). But because the driver was within the speed limit fatal mistakes are not “his fault” but the kid’s that died.

From the UK a semi driver admits he’s a git driving defective equipment when he hit a cyclist. A18 lorry driver admits causing cyclist’s death The crime he plead guilty to has a minimum sentence of 36 weeks in jail, but somehow I don’t see that ever happening. I predict a suspended sentence and some community service. What I would like to see is something like 1440 hours of community service if the sentence is suspended. I know, I’m a dreamer “but I’m not the only ooo-one” (John Lennon)

Less than a week out we have our second Ride of Silence link. Cyclists’ Ride of Silence on Wed From Nyack to Piermont

Infrastructure! news from the UK as a barrier is installed on an alleyway to let cyclists know that there is an actual road at the end instead of another alley. Trafford Centre installs safety barrier after young cyclist is killed

Legal infrastructure from the UK. Father of lorry crash victim Ellie Carey wants law on cab cameras The problem is the big trucks have blind spots you could hide the entire TdF peloton in making these vehicles killing machines on wheels. I have seen (staged?) video of a Mini getting run over in the blind spot of a semi, so finding a single cyclist back there would be impossible. Personally I say that no vehicle that has blind spots that large should be allowed on the roads, much less congested urban areas, and this father agrees.

And those are all the links that gave me fits today, actually last night when I did the pre-filter.

Billed @€0.02, Opus

Stuff I can’t put in a headline, and the Feed

We have been under a pollen alert here at the Beautiful Suburbs of Hell since Monday, and yesterday and this morning were especially bad for yr fthfl scrb. As in I sneezed my way through most of the ritual planning session yesterday and woke to whiteout blindness after I managed to pry my eyelids apart (a two-handed pry job at that). We are in what one former church president called “tree bukkake” season as tree pollen is approaching toxic level for some people and several ambulance rides are requested for steroid shots and a couple cases of anaphylactic shock every day. Fun! I just personally call it “plants having sex in my sinuses”. Even more fun is that the only medication I can avail myself of puts me to sleep for almost as long as it relieves my symptoms, but at least I wake up able to open my eyes and see clearly. I try to remember to take an 8 hour dose right before I go to bed, but one of the other symptoms of an allergy attack for me is very fuzzy thinking. That combined with the memory loss I suffered via the brain injury makes taking meds that aren’t on my “habit” list to take every day hard to remember. The best I can do is to drink lots of fluids so that discharges are easily removed and not sight-obscuring. For me personally that means coffee, unsweetened ice tea, and sports drinks.

But other than that things are just fine.

First up is the rather rare report of someone that killed a cyclist facing criminal charges in TX. Man indicted in Austin cyclist’s death The driver was passing cars on the shoulder (a major traffic violation in TX) when he killed the cyclist, and I’m amazed they even got an indictment. Getting charges filed when a vulnerable road user gets killed in TX first has to overcome the “why wasn’t he in a car?” prejudice. Also finding a bike-friendly route in any urban area in TX requires either riding miles out of your way to avoid congested high-speed routes, or limiting oneself to a very small riding territory.

This was the first link that popped up in the Feed today. Michigan Bike Accident Lawyers at Buckfire & Buckfire Celebrate Bicycle Helmet Safety Week Aaand another lawyer posts the “85%” lie without checking on the source.

More on the Seattle rider killed by a semi on his commute. Riders honor cyclist killed in semi-truck accident What I have been finding through back-channels is that the pavement in the bike lane there is so bad that a cyclist needs three sets of eyes to safely navigate the route. One set to watch the road, one set to watch for traffic, and a third set to watch the signals to keep from running a red light.

A cyclist is cut off in the Caymans. Cyclist hit by car The narrative in this wreck makes it quite clear the cyclist had the right of way and the driver cut him off. Intersection protocols to avoid, and fix the infrastructure to prevent.

Since the driver died prior to the trial, this is mostly to find out what happened to this UK cyclist. Crash death cyclist tried to wave down her killer, inquest hears and Cyclist killed by lorry ‘waved at driver to stop him crashing into her’

Still in the UK an appeal is planned for the paltry sentence levied against a killer driver. Appeal considered in Audrey Fyfe case, daughter says allowing motorist to drive again “beyond comprehension” Cyclists are the “New Negro” in the UK, and the US as well. The penalties for killing a cyclist on the roads is similar to the penalties for lynching a Negro during the ’50s and early ’60s in Mississippi. More Disgust at cyclist killer’s sentence

From Oz a rare bike-on-bike wreck with serious injury. Cyclist badly hurt in crash Head-on wreck leaves one cyclist critically injured while the other walks away. Someone had to have been too far over to the other side of the track, or just both riding in the middle of an unmarked path. The solution of course is for cyclists to ride to one side of a wide and well-marked bike path, but lacking the wide and well-marked parts when meeting another rider you should slow down and move over (right i most of the world, left in those places where they drive on the wrong side of the road) More. Cyclist seriously injured in head-on crash

Infrastructure! news from MA. After Cyclist’s Death, Wellesley Struggles with Bike Safety The problem is attitudes and space, and there ain’t no space so attitudes are going to have to change.

And those are all the links that gave me fits today, less the motorcycle wrecks. Those give me fits too, but they just don’t have a place in this blog.

Billed @€0.02, Opus

Bike month getting off to a ripping start, and the Feed

Yea, that is a sarcastic headline up there, minus the HTML sarcasm tags because for some reason WP hasn’t seen fit to implement that particular tag, probably because it hasn’t been standardized yet. If anyone reading this knows what the final standard is going to be on the sarcasm tag, please leave me a comment with an example of the tag in use and a spaced-remarked example of it in use. Seriously, this tag needed to be implemented like a decade ago, or more (just think about the epic USENET flame wars that could have been prevented had this tag been available in the late ’90s, USENET might still be a usable medium of exchange today).

A WA hit-and-run driver gets his almost 2 years after the wreck that killed a cyclist. In brief: Driver who killed cyclist sentenced Not long enough, and no mention of losing his license after getting out of prison.

The big story so far is the cyclist left-crossed in Canada over the weekend didn’t make it. Cyclist injured in Friday collision, dies in hospital and Two men die in hospital days after traffic collisions Left cross, use intersection protocols to avoid, and stop looking for excuses to run over cyclists as part of the way to prevent. “Sun glare” my well-shaped behind.

Also from Canuckistan is this weekend wreck. Cyclist killed in weekend accident Way too much victim-blaming in this article and way too little information. The wreck was a SWSS that the cyclist “swerved” from the sidewalk to get hit.

A little legal infrastructure trying to get installed in the UK. Comment: Driver liability would protect cyclists I don’t think this will get enforced until there is a major cultural swing in the UK, but hey, you gotta start somewhere. And the justice system in the UK is severely broken in regards to cyclists, which was mentioned a few times in the article.

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

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

I went halfway across town for nothing, and the Feed

I was supposed to get together with some people from Occupy Dallas about setting up a bicycle co-op where people could learn how to fix their bikes and borrow tools to do so, but the place we were supposed to meet was very large and I forgot to ask exactly what part of this large place we were supposed to meet at. There was supposed to be a picnic and I waited at some picnic tables for over an hour and did not know there was more than one picnic area in the park until I got on the bus and had left the park when I saw what could have been more parking and picnic tables on the other side of the park diagonal to the place I was waiting. I just checked the web site, and I was at the wrong park the whole time.

A bunch of follow-up links on the Seattle semi v bike wreck. Federal Way man ID’d as bicyclist killed in Sodo and Friends remember cyclist killed on East Marginal Way At this point they are still trying to find out the “what and how” of the 5 Ws and 1 H of news (Who, What, When, Where, Why and How) Right now they have a solid grasp on Who, When, and Where, but What, Why and How are either unknown or a deeply held secret. More Bike riders honor Seattle cyclist killed during commute And Friends hold memorial ride for cyclist killed in Seattle

A cyclist is killed in SC. Bicyclist killed in Raleigh accident and Cyclist killed in Raleigh Thursday was prominent developer The mode of wreck was a left cross as the cyclist descended a hill at what would be a high speed for a bicycle but probably under the speed limit. Intersection wreck means intersection protocols to avoid but that may not have been humanly possible, and get the infrastructure right to prevent. More Cyclist’s death highlights tension between two wheels, four and Cyclist remembered as ‘community servant’

An IL cyclist is killed in a hit-from-behind wreck. Bicyclist killed near Lake Villa Hit from behind is all we know now, so hit-from-behind protocols to avoid, and get the infrastructure right to prevent. More Identity of cyclist killed in crash released

An interesting wreck in ID where the driver was also injured. Cyclist, driver injured in Boise crash It wasn’t clear if the cyclist was riding in the sidewalk when he was hit or just hit after the driver went up on the sidewalk going the wrong way, but either way there was no way for a human cyclist to avoid this wreck when the driver crosses from their side of the road to yours. Maybe infrastructure would help, but as the driver was on the sidewalk when he hit the cyclist I would say probably not.

A MD cyclist gets left-crossed. Cyclist hit in Pikesville Left crosses are always the fault of the driver for failing to yield to oncoming traffic. Intersection protocols to avoid, infrastructure to prevent.

Update on a wreck in CA from a while back. One year after cyclist’s death in North Coast hit-and-run, family searches for answers

A Canuckistani cyclist is injured in a left cross wreck. After serious collision, officials urge drivers and cyclists to take precautions Let’s see, precautions. The cyclist was proceeding through an intersection with the green light when the driver made a left turn without looking, what did the cyclist do wrong? Anyway, intersection protocols to avoid injury if not the wreck, and get the infrastructure right to prevent.

Another cyclist is hit in Canuckistan. Injured teen can’t remember possible collision between bicycle, motor vehicle The report sounds like there might have been a hit-and-run with the driver leaving a head-injured cyclist to fend for himself. Without being able to see the bike I couldn’t hazard even a guess about what happened with any assurance.

The other Big Story today is the UK driver that was given community service for killing a second cyclist with a motor vehicle. Motorist given community sentence for causing death of second cyclist also Motorist who caused death of cyclists spared jail A cyclist was fined more than $1300 for punching out a commercial driver Cyclist found guilty of assaulting van driver so one would think that actually killing someone would merit a steeper punishment than just what was given for just punching someone in the face after they almost killed you. But that is not the case. More Daughter of cyclist Audrey Fyfe calls for tougher sentences and Fury at sheriff’s helmet claim in cyclist death case

From Oz comes this report on a pair riding in an SUV who were convicted of assaulting 2 women on bikes. Pair fined $3000 after backside slap leaves female cyclist seriously injured One of the cyclists has not been able to ride her bike since the incident because of a crippling shoulder injury. Again, not the kind of thing a human cyclist could avoid.

Also in the news from Oz, the trial of an accused cyclist-killer has gone to the jury over the weekend. Jury in trial of a cement truck driver accused of killing cyclist Richard Pollett has retired to consider its verdict This was the driver that drove a 2.5 meter wide vehicle through a gap of 3.1 meters and tried to share that 3.1 meters with a bike, or for the metric challenged drove an 8 foot wide truck through a 10’2″ gap with a cyclist in the same space, and says it wasn’t his fault the cyclist ended up wrapped around the back tires of the truck. The standard in TX is anything less than 14 feet of pavement with no other obstructions is too narrow for cyclists to safely share with motor vehicles.

And those are all the links that gave me fits today, less the UK links without any information, and the motorcycle wrecks that didn’t have any bicycles in them.

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

The cold weather has arrived, and the Feed

Well as forecast the weather has changed drastically again. The winds are howling outside the door (not mentioned in the forecast BTW), and while not freezing (yet) there is a definite chill in the air that was not there yesterday, in fact it’s approaching noon as I type this and the current temperature is lower than yesterday’s low. So chilly and windy, and we have to go shopping today. Yay! This should be entertaining. Well I guess if it was on TV and I was the buttmonkey character it would be entertaining, but from my standpoint it’s just another Thursday.

Up first today is the Big Story from Seattle with lots of links about a cyclist killed with a semi. Update: Bicyclist killed in crash east of West Seattle low bridge The link with the nicest comments first Bicyclist dies after collision with semi in Seattle and Cyclist killed in collision with truck along East Marginal Way South also Site of fatal Sodo collision a tricky route for cyclists another link Seattle bike rider killed in crash with truck and last link Bicyclist killed in collision with semi truck All those links to say that they don’t know yet how the cyclist ended up under the left side of the truck. at this point they don’t even know which of 5 possible intersections he was hit at, so until them I’m just going to say intersection protocols apply to all intersections between one street or road and any other place where a motor vehicle can come, and use intersection protocols to survive all of them. It was pointed out in some of the links that this area is being considered for segregated bicycle infrastructure because of all the heavy truck traffic, so they already know how to fix the problem and are in the process of fixing it, but you know how fast government works with infrastructure.

An IL man is killed in a hit-from-behind wreck. Bicyclist killed on rural Saline County, Ill., road Charges are pending he completion of the investigation. Hit-from-behind, use the protocols to avoid, and get the infrastructure right to prevent, although I have no idea what could be done in this rural area to get bikes away from motor vehicles. More Cyclist killed by truck in Southern Illinois and Police investigating cyclist death in southern Illinois

Another senseless SUV killing in Oz. Cyclist killed in four-wheel drive accident There is possibility that the cyclist was in the wrong place at the wrong time as the initial report was a rollover wreck, so the cyclist may have been hit by an out-of-control SUV. But the mode of wreck is still being kept under wraps by LEO. More Cyclist killed in Humpty Doo crash

Proof that anti-bike crazies are not limited to the roads. Psychiatrist jailed for booby-trapping Oregon mountain bike trails When I first saw this I thought that Mikey from the old USENET bike groups had taken a jaunt north, but this is a different nut case psychiatrist.

LifeStyle as a cyclist makes a comeback from serious injuries. Santa Clarita cyclist injured in crash now to compete in 620-mile bike race I wish this person lots of luck, but surviving the wreck has shown he already has luck (but a bit more wouldn’t hurt any).

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

Billed @€0.02, Opus