Today has been very busy and I didn’t even get home until after 2 PM local (1800 GMT), and then I had to wade through a massive Feed that had articles that had headlines indicating a cyclist was involved but turned out to be about everything but bicycles, and a bunch of articles about dead and injured cyclists including a massive number of articles from the UK about a cyclist killed by a police car on an emergency run without using a siren.
Getting to that big story first, a cop on a 999 call (911 for us Yanks) with the lights on but no siren hits a cyclist in a crosswalk. Cyclist Death: Police Car’s Siren Was Off and Police car killed cyclist, 16, as it answered emergency without siren on also Teenage cyclist killed in accident with police car on 999 call and from the Beebe Police crash car ‘had siren off’ This was a very unusual story for the UK, we know what happened in a wreck before any court rulings. I’m still using my “UK media…” tag though.
And another story with multiple reports is the kid in MN killed on his bike. Teen bicyclist killed near Mankato and 15-year-old bicyclist killed near Mankato At least there is some movement towards asking if the cyclist was really crossing the road when he was hit, instead of taking the driver’s word about the wreck.
Another SWSS story out of NC. Bicyclist killed in collision with tractor trailer Again, the only witness is the driver that killed the victim, but what does the physical evidence say? The witness said the rider “darted” off the sidewalk, and sidewalk riding is not a good thing to do because drivers can’t see you until you’re in the road in front of them, and by that time you have already been hit.
The first of several bike v car wrecks in the Golden State. UPDATE: Cyclist killed in hit-and-run accident This one was hit-and-run by a red light runner who was DUI and speeding. Still looking for a good deal on those rabid wolverines to throw in the pit with the hit-and-run drivers…
Also from CA… Man struck and killed by bus in Venice Not known if there was a bicycle involved, but there was a heck of a lot of blood.
Also from LaLa Land. Bicyclist struck and killed by L.A. DWP truck in Reseda Given the recent record lately of the LAPD on other bike wrecks it seems unlikely that they will find the driver of the city truck at fault, even in a case where the physical evidence is irrefutable that the driver was at fault.
Another sidewalk cyclist gets hit by a car in a driveway. BICYCLIST INJURED WHEN HIT BY VEHICLE Almost the exact same wreck happened in another state less than a week ago, and I said the same thing then, ride in the street where you can be seen by drivers, don’t cower on the sidewalk like you have no right to the road.
I’m not real sure on the mechanism of this wreck, a driver was talking to a cyclist on the side of the road when the cyclist was hit by another vehicle. Bicyclist killed when struck by car near Sturgis I wish I could tell you what to do to avoid this kind of wreck but there just isn’t enough information here.
A cyclist is hit while walking his bike. Pedestrian Killed in Motorcycle Crash This is another kind of wreck that is very hard to avoid, the cyclist was walking his bike to a parking spot when he was hit.
The kid killed by a drunk off-duty cop is interred. Bicyclist struck, killed by off-duty cop is laid to rest For those not up to speed, this was the kid that snuck out of the house to go on a late night/early morning bike ride and was killed in a head on wreck by a cop going the wrong way on a one way street, who then left the scene. Four hours after the wreck he blew a .079 on the breathalyzer (.08% is legally drunk) but this still makes him legally drunk at the time of the wreck in many states that allow regressive analysis. What this means is a person oxidizes alcohol at a fixed rate based on the weight of the liver, and this allows a precise estimate of the BAC% based on a single test that might be under the legal limit, and the size of the suspect’s liver. But you don’t need to know any of that to know that if the test after 4 hours the cop blew a .079% he was sloshed at the time of the wreck. Rest in peace little dude.
An Arkansas town holds a bike safety rodeo. Life lines It’s way down near the bottom of the column, but it’s worth digging for. If you will be in the area Opus says to check it out.
A bike riding father is remembered. Bikers ride with memories of their dad
Another helmet-centric safety message. Great Falls cyclists urged to always protect with helmets FYI I survived a wreck because I was wearing a helmet, but I still had life changing brain damage in spite of the helmet. Helmets can’t protect you against impacts beyond their design limits of about 12.5 MPH. And I wear one every time I ride, because while they aren’t even close to perfect, helmets are still the only PPE we have as cyclists.
An infrastructure article from New Jersey. Legislation would improve bicycle safety Complete Streets should be a priority, making infrastructure that is safe and works for all modes of transportation in the first place is much cheaper than retrofitting car-centric infrastructure to meet other needs.
In East Canuckistan (Manitoba Canada for those who didn’t get a Maple Leafs uniform for their 3rd birthday) a hit-and-run driver is charged in the deaths of a trans-continental riding couple. Cyclist death charges laid The comments section had a guy blaming the deceased for their own demise. Typical car-head thinking.
We had a lot of wrecks in the UK in the Feed today. Girl injured following accident in Hereford and Man arrested after cyclist seriously injured in crash and Cyclist killed in lorry crash and finally from Wales Cyclist killed in collision named Now these links are well deserving of the “UK media …” tag.
And that’s it (finally). Time to log off and take a break.
Billed @$.02, Opus
Witch on a Bicycle 