After another night without A/C in the house (in TX no less) I’m in a BADD mood, see my previous blog post. There were a lot of fatalities in the feed, or at least more than I like (that would be any number larger than zero), and way too much stupidity displayed.
Let’s get the really stupid stuff out of the way first so I don’t have to stew over it for the rest of the post until I get through the wrecks. Do the math: Helmets balance the cycling safety equation I did the math, without the bicycle I have a 1 in 5 chance of developing heart disease or other sedentary related illness, vs a 1 in 20000 chance of getting hit with a car (roughly) on the bike and the more people riding bicycles the less my chances of getting hit. Mandatory helmet laws reduce the number of people riding bicycles, increasing the number of sedentary lifestyle related illnesses and also my chances of getting hit. Yeah, that’s a real no-brainer. Cardiologists are against helmet laws, people that ride every day are against helmet laws, but people in emergency rooms (nurses and doctors, not the patients) and busybodies that seldom if ever ride are in favor of helmet laws.
Still on the same subject. Bicycle Safety Day puts emphasis on wearing helmets Not on cars, not on road rules, not on anything but the styrofoam hat that only works up to 12.5 MPH and has limited effect beyond that. OK I have that mini-rant out of my system now…
Another KS wreck with more than one report this time. ID of fatality bicyclist unknown and Accident On Highway 24 Kills Bicyclist The second report was from slightly later than the first one linked and did have the victim’s name. Lights and reflectors at night people, drivers are stupid and can barely avoid hitting a semi truck in the road so unless you’re lit up like Times Square on New Year’s Eve they won’t see and avoid you, and sometimes even if you are lit up like Times Square you will get hit but you have a much better chance with the lights than without.
Another report on the OK bike riders killed by the (alleged) drunk driver. Family Remembers Cyclist Killed in Accident The reporter really needs to work on putting together paragraphs with more than one sentence. On the rest of the article, the suspect has already bonded out of jail, but it is unknown if the her vehicle has been released from evidence yet.
An obit on a really great guy that happened to be a regular and frequent bicycle rider. John C. Olin, 1957-2009: Bicycle shop owner donated kidney to friend RIP
From Jolly Olde 2 reports on a hit-and-run. Cyclist injured in Calcot hit and run and Cyclist seriously injured after collision This was a horrible wreck, even with as little as the UK media is allowed to report.
Another bad wreck, much like the wreck that killed Larry Schwartz, only mirror image because it was in the UK and not as deadly. Injured cyclist hit by bus
And finally a report that says most people killed by cars are not riding in them. Fewer Cars, More Traffic Fatalities Most people killed by cars are on the roads without them, pedestrians, bicyclists, and motorcyclists. This just supports one of the things I was saying, that cars are WMD that are sometimes used for transportation… 😉
Billed @$.02, Opus
Witch on a Bicycle 