Well, things are looking up around here. People are starting to notice the place, and my MySpace readers are starting to come here. I’m getting linked to from Google News which is ironic because that’s where I get most of my links from. And I couldn’t do it without you, my readers. 2009 is going to be a bumpy ride, so strap your helmet on tight, and hang loose and roll with the bumps.
An Orlando area mom mourns after a year without charges being filed against the man that killed her son. A year of grief: Mother waits for driver to be charged in death of son, 15 The facts in the case are plain and raw: the driver was more than 20 MPH over the speed limit and drove over a curb and onto the sidewalk where the kid was riding to basketball practice. A year later still no charges filed, and until the criminal case is finished the civil wrongful death suit can’t go on, meanwhile the statute of limitations clock is ticking.
And a man “falls off his bike” and gets hit by a car. Bicyclist killed in St. Pete There sure was a lot of damage to that bike for the rider to have fallen off into the traffic lane and then gotten hit. Maybe there was some debris in the road that caused the cyclist to crash, or maybe the rider had too much to drink, or maybe the driver was lieing through his teeth and just ran into the cyclist because he didn’t feel like passing safely. Whatever happened, the cyclist is dead. Looking at the picture of the broken bicycle I’m thinking the bike took a hell of a hit, as the relationships of the bits and pieces are way off for an adult hybrid or road bike. The fork looks like it was completely removed from the bike, but the damage to the front wheel isn’t that severe (the wheel is totally unusable but it looks like the hub could be salvaged and the rim isn’t too badly tacoed). Now assuming the report was accurate and the rider fell off the bike in the middle of the street, what can you do to avoid finding yourself in the same situation? Well the best solution is to not fall in the middle of the street. And the best way to do that is to watch for debris in the road, and modify your line early so that you are not suddenly swerving in front of motor vehicle traffic. You don’t want to be one of those “swerving cyclists” that keep getting killed.
And that’s the first Feed of the new year.
Billed @$.02, Opus
Witch on a Bicycle 