Not much new today, but metric buttloads of updates and additional information about wrecks both recent and ancient. If I hadn’t been doing this for 500 blog posts here at Witch on a Bicycle I would be homicidal by now. I keep mentioning that my mind is “pre-exploded” as a joke, but I have a hard time keeping my equilibrium when reading comments sections to mine for additional information about wrecks.

Up first is another article on the cyclist hit while riding in the bike lane. Cyclist dies after being hit by SUV This is the guy that was hit and then the driver left dust getting away from the scene leaving a debris trail almost a quarter of a mile long from the bicycle trapped under her vehicle. I don’t know what should be done about this waste of skin, maybe crush her car with her strapped in it?

Another cyclist hit in the most dangerous state in the US to ride a bicycle. Bicyclist injured in Fort Myers crash (photo) The cyclist was riding on a sidewalk and was hit when he didn’t stop for a Don’t Walk signal. To avoid a similar wreck, either don’t ride on the sidewalk or follow traffic controls like a pedestrian when you are riding on the sidewalk.

A trial date has been set for the waste of skin that ran head on into a cyclist riding on the opposite side of the road. Judge orders trial for fatal DUI suspect I think the sub-head says just about everything important in this report. “Prosecutors say Marco Valencia had methamphetamine, marijuana, cocaine, alcohol in his system.” Maybe they should crush his car with him strapped in it, too? My wife says just lock him up and throw away the key because he has abused the privilege of living in society.

More about the victim of a bicycle/bus wreck in the UK. Tribute to cyclist who died after Birmingham city centre bus crash The picture of the victim shows a decent happy guy, the kind of person you wouldn’t mind having a pint with after a ride.

The guy that hit-and-run a cyclist in the UK continues to run, either to Turkey or Australia. Three wanted men sought overseas You know he’s guilty, innocent men don’t run.

Chilling testimony about a drunk driver’s consumption just before he ran over a cyclist. Cyclist’s death: Driver consumed 12 vodkas before driving Yeah, the defense is trying to cast doubt on the science here, but there’s no escaping the truth, the driver was schnockered, blitzed, wasted, (insert euphemism of your choice here) well beyond the legal limit of fun. I’ll let Maltese justice take its course here.

From Singapore, more about safe cycling there. Safe cycling in focus Funny that the same things are being said about cyclists there, and drivers also…”Motorists are frustrated with cyclists who road hog and switch lanes abruptly, often without regard for traffic behind them. The cyclists say motorists are impatient and often drive too close and too fast, especially when overtaking.“

Another Veteran’s ride for wounded veterans. Veterans will bike 350 miles If you have a chance to support this effort Witch on a Bicycle says do it.

A DVD we are supposed to be getting a copy of to review here shortly is being shown as a regular movie. See Breedlove’s story at Stilwell I won’t say anything about it until I actually see it, but I am heartily in favor of seeing this movie and supporting the charity.

And that’s all today. Reminder that unless there is a major breaking story, like a certain “doctor” getting killed in prison, there will not be a report for tomorrow.

Billed @$.02, Opus

I have been very frustrated in trying to find out the results of the court visit by former AG Michael Bryant this past Monday, Googling the name came up with nothing new at all. Can some of my Canadian readers shed some light (and maybe some links) on this situation. I have even been to the WordPress Blog on the case, and they don’t have anything new there either. I thought court proceedings were public records, but apparently public records in Ontario are not on the Internet.

Up first today is a report on the filing of a suit in the case of a cyclist killed. Wrongful death suit filed on behalf of cyclist killed in Beaumont If LEO would do their jobs then lawsuits would not be necessary in cases like these, the perps would be in jail instead of walking free and unencumbered by the law.

Charges are filed against a woman that killed a cyclist while DUI and awaiting trial on a previous DUI. Manslaughter charge in Palm Beach DUI bicyclist fatality “She told the police she had ingested prescription medications including Xanax, Hydrocodone and Oxycodone.” Why is she still breathing? She tested positive for the narcotics and an illegal level of alcohol in her system, she should have been dying of respiratory shutdown unless she was an addict. If she was an addict then she should have never been released to probation after the previous DUI, and should have never been allowed access to a motor vehicle until her addictions were proven under control by a period of years without intoxicating substances in her body. In other words, she should have been medically disqualified from driving before she was driving down the shoulder of the road drunk and on drugs. Stuff like this just infuriates me almost (but not quite) beyond words.

Another report on the man arrested over the death of a UK LEO riding a bicycle to work. Man charged over The facts of the case are just so depressing, even with the limited information given by UK media.

No surprise to this blogger, 20 MPH speed limits reduce the number of people killed or injured by cars. 20mph speed zones cut road injuries by 40%, study says Well besides the increased amount of time that slower speeds give to react, when hit at 20 MPH the NHTSA has shown that only 5% of pedestrians and cyclists die, where at 30 MPH only 5% of cyclists and pedestrians walk away from the wreck (of the rest 50% die and 45% are hospitalized).

More from the debaters in that Spectator debate. Cyclists must stick to the rules of the road Yes that car drivers expect cyclists to obey the same rules of the road when the vehicles are so different is not reasonable, but them’s the breaks. Or to put it in more formal language, that is the situation with which we deal.

In Enn Zed, something is being done about cars hitting cyclists, I’m just not sure they’re doing the right things. New rules for Tamaki Dr after cyclists hurt Some of the things (like posting a sign for broken glass instead of just cleaning the mess) are just wastes of time and money to look like something is being done without actually taking care of a problem. Other things might actually do something about problems.

The residents of a SC island recognizes they have infrastructure issues. Lady’s Island cyclists need safer riding options Because some people can’t share they have to spend more money to make room for them? Why not just reduce the speed limit to a safe level?

A NY lawyer-to-be creates a blog that tells people what the real laws are in NY as opposed to the ones people make up in their minds. Bike Blawg: Post 1 The only problem is actually getting the people that need to, to read it.

Finally a report on bicycle commuting from Nova Scotia. Commute changes work, life perspectives on getting to and fro I know bicycle commuting changed my life, hoo boy did it change my life. Commuting by bicycle almost ended my life, but just because there was one stupid person on the roads that wanted to kill me because I wasn’t driving a car doesn’t mean that I wouldn’t do it again, in fact the few times after the wreck I had work I did commute by bicycle.

Aannnd, that’s a wrap. I have things to do this afternoon and tonight, and bread to make tomorrow, but there will be a post tomorrow.

Billed@$.02, Opus

I hate finding out that another cyclist was hit in the bike lane, and I hate having to post about it in my blog, but if people don’t know about it how can change be made? If you don’t know that drivers are killing cyclists where cars and trucks should not be, how can you do anything about it? And what can I do about it except tell you about the carnage?

Getting to that story first, a woman drives into the bike lane and kills a cyclist. Names released in cyclist-vs-car crash and Woman accused of felony hit and run “Authorities said Murphy was following bicycle safety laws and was wearing a helmet as he rode northbound on Jamboree Road along the easterly curb. Izquieta hit him and didn’t stop to help him, police said.” and “Izquieta had made an “unsafe turning maneuver” before hitting Murphy” Now it appears that “unsafe turning maneuver” was driving in the bike lane. The cyclist’s bicycle was dragged over 300 feet according to one report, so there’s no way the driver could not have known they hit something. Mr. Murphy was riding with a group of cyclists when he was hit, so it was probably just chance that he was the one hit instead of someone else. For you to avoid this kind of wreck, use the hit-from-behind protocol I mentioned a couple of months ago in this post .

No bicycles involved in this one, it’s just a demonstration of why I think that large vehicles need to have special permits to be on the roads with much higher standards of licensing. SUV slams into building in Mechanicsburg The SUV in this case had barely 100 feet to reach a speed that almost took out a concrete block building, and would have killed someone had they been inside the blast radius of the debris that sprayed from the wall at impact, or been crushed by the shelving unit that was knocked from the wall.

The rest of the wrecks were outside North America.

From the charges filed it appears that someone drove a bus over a cyclist, literally in this case as the bus had to be lifted off the cyclist. Birmingham city centre bus crash: Cyclist named This makes this report unusual for a UK wreck report, in that the mode of the wreck can be inferred from the report. Using my incredible powers of deduction I can hazard the statement that the cyclist was waiting at the stop light and the bus turned left over him, causing him to be trapped under the bus. Check back in 6-18 months when the court case is concluded and the real story is released, if that ever makes the news.

From Enn Zed comes a story of an injured cyclist whose ID went elsewhere in the wreck. Police Seek To Identify Injured Cyclist If the description of the cyclist, his kit and his bike ring a bell ring up the LEO contact mentioned in the article and let them know who you think it might be. The Witch on a Bicycle says it’s your civic duty.

More lawyer talk about the change in injury severity and type as more commuters go by bike. Can Cars and Bikes Co-Exist?

Infrastructure for pedestrians gets slammed because it’s ugly?! Safety vs. eyesore? Signs at Oceanfront draw complaints

Get a bike fit as a first step in fixing painful cycling. Enjoy the Ride Or you could just get a recumbent.

Aaaannnd, that’s a wrap.

Billed @$.02, Opus

I’m back from the Lab Rat Keeper, still percolating right along. My BP is better than it has been in decades (since before they lowered the definition of high blood pressure down to 120/80 in fact) my rest pulse is akin to a Zen elephant’s (very slow) and my weight is down, after Thanksgiving no less! They are double-checking the Red Cross on my Hgb levels, the RC had it as 11.8 when I tried to donate a couple weeks ago, but back in the summer when I was testing a new med and getting that stuff tested every couple of weeks my Hgb and Hcrit were both good. But I wasn’t taking Azor during the test, I was on a different med. So, maybe I have found a new side effect for Azor when taken over an extended period of time. On the blood donation front I still haven’t been able to donate since my last donation in 7/2007. I might as well go ahead and get that tattoo now while I work on getting my Hcrit and Hgb levels back up, this looks like it might take a while…

Up first because something has to be, a report on a head-on crash between a cyclist and a cab on the wrong side of the street in DC. Crash Last Night at 31st and M, NW What can I say? The cab was driving on the wrong side of the street. Given that DC streets have danged high curbs to prevent sidewalk flooding (or so I was told back in the dark ages before Clinton, or even Carter) a cyclist doesn’t have any escape route should a motor vehicle do something as stupid as driving on the wrong side of the street unless the cyclist is extremely skilled in the “bunny hop” to clear the curbs and not wreck. The wrong-way vehicle would prevent any escape to the left (where the motor vehicle would be if it was on the correct side of the street), and you can’t hop the curb, the only other option would be to abandon the bike and accept road rash over broken bones and massive internal trauma, and hope the bike does some major damage as it goes under the motor vehicle.

Kill a cyclist, go to jail… Hit-and-Run Driver Sent to Jail “Lipe pleaded no conest to felony hit and run, and a judge ordered him to spend the next year in jail and four years on probation.” But not for very long in jail. From the limited details of the wreck in the article it appears the cyclist could not have avoided this wreck that took him into the canal. I don’t know if the cyclist drowned or was dead prior to being in the canal.

In the City of Brotherly Love there ain’t much love between the various modes of transport: drivers hate pedestrians and especially cyclists, cyclists hate pedestrians and especially drivers, and pedestrians just hate anything that can hit them hard enough to hurt including cars, cyclists, and joggers (other pedestrians). Readers Write: We don’t need your stinking traffic rules And apparently everybody hates the traffic laws…

From my examiner.com colleague in Toronto, jurisprudence reports from the Great White North. Toronto Goes To Court – Bryant and Kenk Trials Both Begin Bryant is scum, but Kenk is in a class by himself. Of course from what I know Kenk never killed anyone to obtain any of the bicycles he had, they were all stolen after the owner had left them to go do something else, much like someone stealing a parked car. Bryant killed a cyclist, that much has been determined, all that’s left is did the cyclist do anything that would warrant a response of deadly force? It is known that Darcy Sheppard had been drinking, but my back-channel report was that toxicology on Sheppard found that he was not drunk, considerably under the legal limit, and that Bryant was never tested for drugs or alcohol.

A huge WMD almost takes out a building and a cyclist nearby as a driver apparently has a seizure at the controls of a large truck. Two hurt as lorry ploughs into pub Fortunately the only injury was to the cyclist, as normally the front of the pub and the sidewalk in front are packed with people during operating hours. This is why there should be a physical exam requirement on a driver’s license, like there is for a pilot’s license. Bi-annual exams would have caught the physical issues that led to the driver having a seizure, and a psych evaluation would prevent people like TTTWLAMWAMD and Bryant from having access to the WMD that motor vehicles have become. Anyway, there was no way for the cyclist to have avoided this wreck except clairvoyance, so just look sharp out there.

And another incident involving a truck in the UK. Cyclist seriously injured after being hit by lorry And in this case they know even less than the typical UK wreck report.

Finally something (slightly) less lethal than a big truck, I hope. Cyclist from Godalming killed in collision with car $&(% no, still lethal, still nothing I can point to and say “Do this, don’t do that” and you can avoid a similar wreck.

I love the UK’s media sometimes, where they can advocate a point of view without fear of court for creating a false impression. Sign of the times: The cycle path with a painted symbol every few feet (and still someone is going the wrong way) so the photographer stands in front of the cyclist, facing away from him and when the cyclist passes in the oncoming lane, the photographer takes his picture to “prove” that cyclists can’t even follow the laws in their own protected places, with markings on the pavement every few feet (probably at every intersection with a driveway).

Another working cyclist in South Africa is hit by a truck. PIC: Cyclist pinned under truck nothing yet known about what caused the wreck, “It is thought that the bicycle delivery man had entered Mitchell Road and the driver of the truck was unable to avoid him.” Typical car-head thinking on display.

A police blotter from a Chinese newspaper reports, you have to scroll down a good bit to find the bicycle wreck. Cyclist killed in hit-and-run

A lawyer tries to explain that cyclists belong on the roads and that people in cars should respect that. Finding equilibrium

The DCist finds lots of interesting infrastructure news. Go Home Already: Making Friends Lots of interesting things in the report.

Among those interesting things was a parking enforcement vehicle parked in a bike lane. Oh Look: A Parking Enforcement Car Blocking a Bike Lane They are allowed to use the bike lane as they write tickets for vehicles parked in the bike lane, but it is still annoying to find a car in the bike lane.

And that’s all I have tonight.

Billed @$.02, Opus

I’m making bread, creating a post, and trying to chase down a ride to rehearsal tonight for the SolstiCelebration. I only got a notice about the rehearsal late last night with almost no time to arrange a ride that could haul Gigi down to the Cathedral of Hope. And I’m doing this all at the same time, of course.

Once again almost all of the links are from outside the US, with most from the UK and Enn Zed, and only a total of 7 links even from the North American continent. Very few of the US and Canadian links are about specific wrecks, except for the ones about jurisprudence of course.

Up first because it’s a gripping story, the only person in North America that can make TTTWLAMWAMD look relatively good as a driver, Michael Bryant goes to court yesterday. Bryant case back in court Monday I’m hoping Mr. Bryant doesn’t get long to work at his new job, linked here yesterday, before he has to spend a lengthy stretch of time behind bars as a guest of the Crown. For those who have been living in a cave without newspapers or Internet access Bryant is accused of being the driver recorded on several security cameras hitting a cyclist from behind and knocking him from his bike, only to have the cyclist get back up to “discuss” the matter. Bryant then proceeded to run into the cyclist and drive on the wrong side of the street and up on to the sidewalk, hitting trees and lamp poles and eventually putting the cyclist against a mailbox that was bolted to the sidewalk where the cyclist, Darcy Sheppard, died from massive blunt trauma.

Also above the 49^th parallel is this story of a serial motor vehicle offender that killed a cyclist a few years back with a stolen vehicle stealing another vehicle and leading police on a high speed chase. Accused in high-speed chase was driver in fatal crash The excuse given for the first theft, the one that killed the cyclist, was lame to the extreme, “he stole the truck because he didn’t feel like walking“. Well he won’t be doing much walking in prison, but I think making him hike there wearing shackles and under armed guard, in public with maybe TV coverage, will remind him that driving a motor vehicle is a privilege that he will never ever get to enjoy for the rest of his life.

Another report on charges being brought against the killer of a UK LEO while he was riding a bicycle. Man charged over death of cyclist Jim Fleming on A413 Not as much information in this article as there was in yesterday’s.

And a cyclist is injured in, I think, the north of England. Cyclist hurt in Sticklepath road accident Again the UK media laws prevented any actual information about the wreck from being given, but the fact that at one point it was necessary to perform CPR on the cyclist indicates that this was a pretty bad crash.

A similar wreck in the south of England. Teenager injured in Southsea Again nothing useful, but the cyclist was removed from the scene on a backboard, indicating a possible spinal injury.

A road “defect” that has injured cyclists before the public transit that requires it can even be put into service in Scotland. Edinburgh tram lines throw cyclists off track Bless the Beeb for bringing this case of infrastructure for one group imperiling another.

More on UK infrastructure. The Mayor needs short term transport targets to keep him on track Boris has great long-term goals, but nothing in the short term that will take London there.

And in a story to rival Dutch police giving helmets and hugs, UK police give out HiViz vests to cyclists wearing dark clothing. Cyclists in dark clothing stopped by Hampshire police – and given free hi-viz gear While this is nice, why are they stopping legal cyclists over this issue?

From Enn Zed, more about the woman that turned in to a group of cyclists after running a stop sign. Sentence delay as police assess cyclist’s injuries Yes, it will be a while until they can communicate with the worst of the victims to determine how this female waste of human skin can be properly punished.

Back to North America for the first of the infrastructure articles, a woman in Canadia finds a way to keep cyclists and pedestrians from winding up under a snow plow. N.L. woman making snow removal safer Jeanette Holman-Price began lobbying for side guards, which run from the front wheel to the rear wheel, to be placed on trucks after her daughter was killed in 2006 by a snow-removal truck in Montreal. This is one of those things that is dangerous but has to be done or even more people are in danger, so they are always looking for things to make it less dangerous.

And back in the US a cyclist speaks about riding in the streets of Philly. Injured cyclist stresses bike safety After being hit by a car while biking, student Robert Stillwagon says he’ll keep riding as safely as possible. Yeah, how about doing something about the reasons why cyclists sometimes ride on the sidewalks, instead of punishing everyone for the transgressions of a tiny minority?

In CA they are starting to recognize that education has a place in cyclist safety. It’s time to stop killing cyclists I love the thought, I would like to see something behind it. The LAC defensive cycling course is a great start. This is another article that it would be a good idea not to read the comments.

Another lawmaker that “gets” it. Paulin drafting a safe-passing bill for cyclers Three feet is nice, but making hitting a vulnerable user a crime with some bite is required to really protect cyclists and pedestrians. That and LEO that do their jobs and actually enforce the laws as written, not as they think they should be.

A specialty license plate helps fund bicycle safety education in KY. Specialty license plate helps fund bike safety classes This is another article that I strongly caution against reading the comments. My mind is pre-exploded and safe from the words of idiots, I can’t assume the same about yours.

And finally someone here on WordPress read a book about bicyles and really liked it. My Favorite Books of the Year The one about bicycles was first on his list.

And that’s all I have today, I have to go finish baking the bread and other things.

Billed @$.02, Opus

Yes, so soon after doing a 2 part post yesterday/early this morning, I’m back at it again. I must be crazy. At least there weren’t as many wrecks this time.

Up first is the first of 2 wrecks in TX, this one in Waco. Minivan Strikes Bicycle On Busy Waco Street; Rider Seriously Hurt They went to press with this so soon after the wreck that the article reads like a UK wreck story with the lack of information.

Down the I-35 a bit further is this report from Austin. Cyclist injured in campus collision Again nothing on the actual wreck because of deadlines, but plenty of snark in the comments.

What appears to be another bike ninja gets hit from behind. Marshfield man seriously injured in bike-truck accident Seriously people, lights and reflectors aren’t that heavy or expensive and the greatly increase your visibility at night and low light conditions. Just remember that reflectors only work when cars are shining headlights on them.

They are having some difficulty with gas-assisted bikes in CA, as their regs are much more restrictive than other states. Officers upping enforcement on illegal gas-powered bicycles The interesting thing about the wreck reported in the article was entirely independent of the legal operation of the struck vehicle and entirely caused by the driver not watching what was on the road in front of him. As a driver went by one bicyclist, he became distracted, wondering what he had just seen. He then made a left turn and hit the other bicyclist. How is that the fault of the second cyclist? But still, follow the laws about registration and safety equipment.

Another wreck in the UK. Cyclist injured in crash

They are having real problems with construction vehicles in China with bicycles being their favorite victims. Death toll in truck accidents rises to 13 Too many wrecks to tell you about in that article, but in every wreck the truck was at fault and the cyclist died.

Infrastructure analysis from Green And Save News. The Not-So Open Road

And laws don’t mean a thing without LEO that will enforce them. A Troubling Story of SFPD Bias Against Bicycle Riders If you can’t trust the LEO that is investigating your wreck, what good are laws?

And that’s all I have today, remember no post tomorrow because of church and other obligations.

Billed @$.02, Opus

OK I’m back from my church duties and ready to finish this mess and go to bed. I have been at this off and on since 11:45 AM and it is now 2 minutes after midnight. Between baking bread and sustaining the body, and my church duties, and this blog I have been going constantly for over 13 hours now. {yawn}

I think this is supposed to be a hit-and run in Jolly Olde, but it sounds more like a nightmare. Cyclist injured in non-stop crash Yes that does remind me of one of my nightmares, the crash that never ends, bouncing off the cars and the road until I wake up, the sheets a tangle and covered in sweat. But since this is a typical UK media wreck report, aside from that bit of horror poetry there isn’t anything aside from names and places. Well there was the note that the suspect vehicle was a white van and would be missing the passenger side rear view mirror, so be on the lookout for a vehicle fitting that description.

A incident more than a wreck, someone assaulted a cyclist on a bike path. Cyclist is pushed off bike by man PC Ryan Townsend from Bromsgrove Police appealed for any witnesses or anyone with any information to contact him and said: “Fortunately the woman’s injuries were not too serious but we need to identify the male who pushed her from her bike.” So if the person described in the article is familiar, and you’re somewhere near the scene of the crime, call the PC. Just don’t call PC Macintosh, he has some serious identity issues.

Another UK bike wreck that is a bit worse than most. Cyclist critically injured in smash Yowch, a head on crash between a White Van and a cyclist. LEO are looking for witnesses, the van driver was hysterical at the scene and incoherent and of course the cyclist was not doing too well either. Again if you know anything, contact number is in the article. Do your civic duty and get the cyclist off the hook.

Several reports on the critical PR infrastructure building being done by the UK cycling community. Us Cyclists aren’t a menace, we’re freedom fighters and ‘Blinkered motorists make roads unsafe for cyclists’ also UK cyclists in more danger than foreign counterparts Keep up the pressure, people. Illegitimi non carborundum!

Sometimes they can’t even decide who is the intended target of an informational PSA. Highway Code TV ad to target cyclists says Minister… oh no it isn’t says Driver Standards Agency Get back to me when you figure that one out, lads, will you?

In Oz they can’t figure out where to put cyclists… Hidden injury toll sparks call to segregate cyclists And the most infuriating thing about it is the idiots in the comments section that blech and moan about how much of a hazard cyclists are to motor vehicles, and how they should be taxed to construct the bike lanes, and never even realize that if drivers weren’t hitting the cyclists they wouldn’t need segregated infrastructure.

On the same subject but from a different perspective, still in Oz. `Not enough bike paths’ The complaints are typical, drivers expect cyclists to ride in the paths, but the paths don’t go anywhere useful.

Infrastructure in the US is similar to the UK and Oz. Southwest Florida’s Deadly Streets Again drivers complain that cyclists don’t use the paths that don’t go anywhere useful, and cyclists are caught between the rock and the hard place.

So what do the experts (?) recommend? Helmet Use Proven Life-Saver That’s right, don’t do anything about the infrastructure or bad drivers, make people wear helmets instead.

Finally, so I don’t blow a fuse, an article about something to let you get where you need to go without getting all sweaty or driving a car. Currie’s electric beach-cruiser bicycle is priced right, goes the distance I keep telling you guys about my working on e-assist bikes for the “slow”, well here’s one that you can buy without having to tinker on it or weld brackets in or program the uController after you build your own motor and controller (I do that, but then I’m brain damaged, so I think it’s fun). I do this for fun, you can do it for transportation. And you can even get some of that nasty “e” word if you want.

And that’s it, finally.

Billed @$.02, Opus

The Feed this morning was humongous, with updates from previous reports, and new reports, and a metric buttload of UK reports. Tuesday and Wednesday have been very busy for bicycle wrecks in the UK. We also have reports on studies that have just been released in the UK, and a whole host of other things from North America.

Up first because it just floored me, a pedestrian waylays a cyclist in PA. Bicyclist threatened with bat in Carlisle Apparently the pedestrian was upset the cyclist wasn’t there to buy drugs but was just passing through his “turf”. I have no idea how to avoid a situation like this.

Another in the epidemic of hit-and-run in LA CA. Cyclist critically injured in NoHo hit-and-run The actions of the driver are just inexcusable. The cyclist was crossing legally, other traffic had stopped to allow the cyclist to complete his crossing, and this bozo comes along at between 30 and 40 MPH and never even slows down, running right into the cyclist who was plainly visible crossing from the left. It wasn’t like the driver couldn’t see the cyclist if he looked, if he looked he just didn’t care. He knew he wasn’t going to get hurt.

Another LA hit-and-run, in the state of LA. Cyclist Killed in Hit and Run This is another one that the cyclist didn’t have much chance to avoid, according to police the vehicle left the road to hit the cyclist then proceeded on. The cyclist was knocked into a pole near the road causing massive internal injury leading to death. Police have no clues as to the make and model of the weapon vehicle.

Another UK road incident involving a cyclist. Cyclist injured in collision Other than the cyclist was 22 YO and the driver was 73, that pretty much recaps the entire report except for the geography.

A cyclist is slightly injured, I think. Cyclist injured in Botley Road I hope she recovers. From the description she most likely will.

Another report on the cyclist being injured by a silver Mercedes that was noted here yesterday. Cyclist is injured in hit-and-run A 3 door Mercedes? Must be one that never made it to the US. It figures, they did tend to keep all the really good cars in Europe back then. Anyway it will be scrap soon as the driver will have to either destroy it or face charges.

Another report on the wreck on A16 reported here yesterday. Cyclist killed in A16 crash and a report on the victim Tulips stalwart killed in Spalding A16 crash Apparently the nickname for the local soccer team is the Tulips, but from the report we know the cyclist had no lights or reflectors on the bike, which may have had an effect on the wreck.

More on that debate over the danger posed by cyclists to the community at large. Cyclists aren’t a menace: Spectator debate and Cyclists”not a menace” according to Spectator debate

And a profound reason why cyclists are not the menace. English cyclists 20 times more at risk than motorists I question the methodology of the study a little, but not the results. Given the exposure of a cyclist compared to the amount of protection afforded by a car it’s quite logical that what would be pranged sheet metal would be bruises, scrapes, and broken bones for a cyclist, even if cyclists had an accident rate many times less than motor vehicles they would still get injured more often.

Infrastructure woes in Montreal. Who owns the road in Montreal? This article feels familiar, I may have made a link to it at another web site. But even if it is new the problems reported are familiar, when cyclists are given segregated infrastructure in North America pedestrians begin to take it over, and then complain about how rude the cyclists are to them.

When NPR notices you have a problem, it’s not a small problem. ‘Road Rage’ Case Highlights Cyclist Vs. Driver Tension Some good advice, but some seriously car-head thinking going on at NPR. Also don’t ride like a jerk in a video game, GTA is make believe, you don’t get any extra lives for riding your bike, and riding like you are in GTA just annoys people that then take it out on the next cyclist they see.

Lawrence KS decides to put up a Ghost Bike. City of Lawrence supports ghost bike memorial to encourage cycling safety I’m afraid they still don’t get the idea of a Ghost Bike though. The idea is you make people aware that bicycles use that strip of road by marking the place where a cyclist was hit, you don’t just put one up any old place to remember fallen cyclists.

And another ride for wounded vets. Injured Vets Riding into Jacksonville I know the healing effect a bike, or other human powered vehicle, can have on the physical and mental health of an injured person, from first-hand experience. Go Us!

And that’s the whole of the mess today.

Billed @$.02, Opus

Yes, the UK has been overrun with bicycle zombies wearing iPods, the horrors! In the US there were so many wrecks in one city in one day that the guy getting hit riding a bicycle didn’t even get a full sentence, much less his own article. and even scarier things than that, if you can imagine.

Getting to the really scary stuff first comes 2 reports on the sentencing of a man that was caught driving drunk 5 times, killing a person on a bicycle the last time. Mother of 19-year-old killed by drunk driver offers driver Bible and place in heaven and Man convicted of fifth drunken driving offense, killing bicylist unable to answer judge’s question: How to stop repeat drunken-driving offenders? I can answer the judge’s question for the brain-dead drunk: Take away their cars and crush them (cars or drunks either one). If you remove access to cars you prevent drunk driving, if getting caught driving drunk means you lose your car, well that ain’t gonna happen twice. Also require a valid driver’s license to purchase a car to prevent wealthy drunks from going out and buying a cheap car to replace their crushed one. This bozo earned the “waste of human skin” tag for this post.

The city of Chicago had so many wrecks that hitting a cyclist didn’t even merit a full sentence in an article in the paper. 6 dead, more injured in holiday weekend crashes I feel sorry for the guy that got hit, near death experience and didn’t even get his name in the paper. From the level of detail in the article about this one I can tell you that one vehicle was definitely a bicycle, if the guy had just been walking they would not have called him a cyclist. But to be fair to the paper when there are 6 people killed in separate wrecks in one day and one wreck requires 5 ambulances to transport the victims, one guy getting hit riding a bike is just a blip on the radar.

A cyclist in NoCal is hit by a passing pickup truck yesterday. Injured Hwy 49 Bike Rider Identified What struck me was the ages of the participants, the 70 YO driver failed to safely pass the 50 YO cyclist with the full length of his vehicle and hit him with the trailer. Another interesting thing was the driver was from AZ, a place known for drivers that don’t think bicycles belong on the roads. As for avoiding a similar wreck, unless you’re Superman or the Flash with superhuman levels of reaction time it ain’t gonna happen. The initial pass was at a safe distance, but the driver started pulling over before the full length of the vehicle and the trailer had cleared the cyclist. Even knowing the vehicle was there you would have to be watching it and ready to bail to an escape route or off the bike when the vehicle started getting too close. This is one of those cases where to be safe everybody has to be playing the game to ensure cyclists’ safety. This is another example of scarier things than bicycle zombies.

Another example of why I don’t ride off-road trails. Cyclist airlifted out of Crystal Cove The cyclist was less than a mile from an elementary school when he had his wreck, but they had to use a helicopter to get him out because the only other ways in were bike or foot. When I’m less than a mile from a school I want to be where an ambulance can get to me without VTOL capability. Heck I want that no matter how far I am from a school.

I have been mentioning bicycle zombies all during this post, and now I shall deliver. Sunday Times and Daily Mail blame ‘iPod zombie cyclists’ for rise in deaths OMGWTF ZOMBIES!! Yeah, as this article points out the other guys are conflating 2 things without correlation, an increase in quarterly bike wrecks with injury statistics and people wearing headphones and earbuds. There were no statistics on how many cyclists were using music players in wrecks, so there was no way to correlate their use to increased numbers of wrecks. This is a common logical fallacy and even when statistics are taken for two things, unless there is also a statistic for those 2 things happening at the same time you can’t draw conclusions especially about causality. For instance the Australian study that showed when bike helmets were made mandatory head injury went down, failed to make correlations with did people with head injury have a helmet or not. Using other data from the same study you could also say that wearing a helmet reduced broken legs because that number also went down, because the helmet law didn’t reduce head injury it reduced the number of people riding bicycles drastically, which indirectly reduced the number of people with head injuries. Beware of people quoting statistics at you without stating their sources or any other data that might refute their conclusions.

And an article about a SD LEO honoring one of their own by making a bike ride. ‘Tour De Force’ Donates To Mechels Family I have my disagreements with LEO about interpretation and enforcement of the laws, but when it all comes down to it at the end of the day they are on the business end of preventing chaos from breaking out.

And that’s all I have today, more later if anything big breaks.

Billed @$.02, Opus

I had an enormous Feed to filter today, but not many articles about bicycles in it. What I did have was massive numbers of articles on people named Rider getting killed or injured by various means. It was really absurd after a while, all these articles about people with either the first or last name “Rider” getting killed or injured, most by some interaction with a motor vehicle but a couple of them were just weird, like the guy that broke his ankle kicking field goals I think at some park, but it might have been a Jr. High athletic field.

Up first because something had to be is an update on the cyclist killed in Yuma AZ while riding in the bike lane. No charges filed yet in cyclist’s death Apparently in AZ you can kill cyclists with impunity as long as you are not drunk or taking drugs, as that is the holdup on filing charges in this case. It doesn’t matter if you are driving in the bike lane when you hit a cyclist from behind as long as you are not chemically impaired when you do it. Neither does it matter if you cross the centerline to hit a cyclist head on, so long as you are not chemically impaired, and you are passing another vehicle without crossing a double yellow line. TANJ! What you can do as a cyclist in the same situation, try to angle your body so that you go through the windshield and take out the driver, because that will be the only retribution you get in AZ.

A spate of cyclists getting killed in the downstate NY area. Teenage Long Island bicyclist killed in collision; third common case in six weeks Looking through the wrecks in question there is a common thread that the light was green for the motor vehicle when the cyclist was hit, but when there was more than one witness the witness states the cyclist waited for a green light in their direction before proceeding. This sounds like a case of when the signal control detects a cyclist the light period is not long enough to get all the way across from a dead stop, so that by the time the cyclist gets to the far traffic lane the light has been green a few seconds already. You can imagine what happens next as motor vehicles see the green light but not the cyclist still in the intersection. I’m not sure what you can do to avoid a similar situation, as quick lights at night are all too common all over the US, there is one just down the street from me. It only picks up that I’m there about 1/3 of the time, and by the time I get to the far lane of the 5 in that intersection the light has already cycled through to green in the other direction.

This is one of those “don’t read the comments” articles as there were calls to kill all cyclists on the roads “made for cars”. Critical Mass cyclists to ride in honor of teen killed in accident The cyclist was hit from behind by a speeding driver and had all the lights and reflectors, and yet some bozo says there should be a bike curfew. I have a better suggestion, how about a car curfew to keep deadly weapons out of the hands of drunks and psychopaths? Bicycles, pedestrians, and emergency vehicles only between 11 PM and 5 AM. Does that make more sense than a bike curfew?

Another report on the CARnage in Toronto this week caused by bad weather and worse drivers. Four men seriously injured in four separate collisions Again they (the paper) blame the guy hit from behind by the van because he wasn’t wearing a helmet, what’s the deal here? Why not blame the guy that was driving too fast for conditions, like the police charged the driver.

A wreck involving a UK citizen that happened in South America. Driver at fault in crash that killed cyclist, say police At least they decided that as the case was out of UK jurisdiction the media laws that bound the paper did not apply in this case as there was no jury to contaminate prior to the trial that won’t be anywhere near the island of Jersey. But still they won’t even say what kind of wreck it was… Have I mentioned recently that I hate UK media laws (as can be seen by the fact I have a tag for it in my tag cloud)?

More on the female cyclist killed in London this week. Talented fashion student is 12th London cyclist killed this year So many female cyclists getting killed, all out of proportion to their numbers, what is the deal here?

Good news for cyclists and pedestrians in Austria. Cyclist and pedestrian death tolls down Whatever they are doing in Austria is what we need to be doing in Garland, as our cyclist death toll is way out of proportion to the number of cyclists… The entire country of Austria has only killed 36 cyclists this year, a 35% drop over the same period the year prior.

And finally, a good story about a cyclist injured in a pileup crash in a pack of cyclists. Jackson cyclist bounces back after injury I say from experience that facial injuries are a bear even when there isn’t massive amounts of pain involved.

And that’s all I have today. remember no post Sunday as I need some time away from the blog to remain sane.

Billed @$.02, Opus