Wow, things are not looking good in the relations between cyclists and drivers in the North TX area this week. Yesterday i gave you a bunch of links to the story of the driver that hit a cyclist head on on the opposite shoulder of the road and drove home with the body sticking out of the back of the car. today one of my readers tells me he was hit by a drive-by shooter. On top of the other things, I also get a note inviting me to be an honorary Canadian citizen for my coverage of bike wrecks from all over Canada, but I have to quit calling the western provinces “Canuckistan”. So, all you Manitobans, Albertans, British Columbians, and I know there are 2 more but right at the moment I can’t remember what to call people that live in the Northwest Territories or the Yukon 😉 what do you want? Do you want me to continue to differentiate between eastern (Canadia) and western (Canuckistan) Canada, or would you prefer me to call you all “Canada”? Leave a comment and Saturday I will announce the winner.
Up first because it is local and also happened to a loyal reader of my blog, Chip Seal relates his experience with a drive-by shooter. A Funny Thing Happened on the Way Home Fortunately the injury did not penetrate the skin, all he mainly has to be concerned about is a thrombosis forming and blocking and artery, but still…DAAAANG! Getting shot for being out on a country road, “That ain’t right.”
Our wreck with the most links happened in Seattle, where I hear you can find a decent cup of coffee at a decent price, made by a person making a living wage… Police looking for witnesses in Delridge bicycle crash had it first Bicyclist critically injured in accident has the most comments at the time of this posting Cyclist Seriously Injured In West Seattle Most likely to be the truth. I seriously can’t understand why SPD can’t figure out this was a hit-and-run. A car can hit and kill a cyclist without ever touching the bicycle or leaving any other evidence behind, re: the wreck that killed Larry Shwartz a bus mirror hit him in the back of the head and shattered his skull inside his helmet, but did not break the mirror. LEO only found out about it when the bus operator told them about it. As for how to avoid, standard hit from behind measures, watch your mirror and be ready to take your escape route at any time, or even to jump off the bike and let the bike take the hit. As an added note a steel bike frame that isn’t protected by the rider’s body can do significant amounts of damage to a car or SUV to the point of rendering the vehicle undriveable. So let the bike take the hit for you it can do a lot more damage than you can.
They only injured a rider in the deadliest state in the US. Bicyclist injured in Cape hit-and-run Another hit-from-behind wreck, these used to be rare things, but not any more. I don’t know if angry drivers are targeting cyclists, or if the collective IQ has gone through the floor and drivers are just too stupid to control their vehicles around cyclists. I do know one thing, it needs to be much harder to get a license, and much easier to lose one, and penalties for driving without one need to be raised by orders of magnitude. Driving without a license needs to have the same penalty as unlawful possession of a firearm, because possessing a firearm is a right guaranteed by the 2nd Amendment to the Constitution, but there is no right to drive. Walking is a right as specified in the 4th Amendment, and by extension riding a human powered vehicle, but motor vehicles are a different kettle of fish entirely.
A scumbucket DUI driver gets hit while riding a bicycle, but just because he had a DUI does not excuse the other scumbucket driver from fleeing the scene after hitting him, especially since the vehicle was previously involved in a crime (street fight) Bicyclist killed in hit and run I don’t see what the problem is, you have a rental vehicle, you have someone that rented that vehicle, that person is responsible for that vehicle unless reported stolen prior to the wreck. If the vehicle was reported stolen prior to the wreck then you have to do some CSI work to find out the last driver and then they have to prove they were not at the wheel during the wreck. Same same as with a gun, the person last in control of the murder weapon is considered to be the perp unless they can establish an alibi for the time of the assault.
They seem to have a love/hate relationship with bicycles in IA. UPDATE: Rider identified in fatal Highway 71 crash Another hit-from-behind [sigh]. The LEO in this case have already determined the cyclist was not at fault in this wreck, but are waiting on the tox screen before doing anything. Hey! LEO! this was a hit from behind wreck, the driver behind is required to ensure that he can pass safely without interfering with the vehicle in front of him. The driver of the vehicle that hit from behind is at fault. Use the same logic for bike/car wrecks as you would for car/car wrecks.
Only bicycles run red lights, except for state legislators. Lawmaker Involved in Car-Bicyclist Accident Someone in the comments section asked why it wasn’t an accident, well the running the red light on the part of the driver of the car kind of makes this no longer an accident but a crime…
More reports on the cyclist killed during the Covered Bridge Metric Century in PA. Manheim Bicyclist Thrown Off Bike, Dies Of Injuries and this report Bicyclist killed during ride through rural Pa. The cyclist was wearing a helmet and still died from traumatic head injury in a single vehicle wreck… You should still wear a helmet, just don’t expect miracles…
More dead around Chi-town. Joliet cyclist killed by hit-and-run driver Some days I just have to wonder. I have lost count, how many hit from behind wrecks does this make for today?
Until I get some results from my request this still happened in Canuckistan 😉 Cyclist injured at Portage intersection You have to be especially alert at intersections because threats are coming from multiple directions. Why there was a parked car at an intersection, and what caused a cyclist to “brush against” it that caused the cyclist to lose control are subject to speculation. You can speculate, there isn’t enough information for me to.
A protest ride is planned for a SoCal town. Riding for Rights I see the current situation like the civil rights movement at about 1967 or -8. We have rights de jure, by law, we are just trying to make those rights de facto or recognized by those with the legal authority to enforce them.
To wit on the previous paragraph comes this report from NC. Bicyclists and Motorists Reminded to Share Road The DOT reminds everyone that bicycles have a right to the road, and then takes that right away by saying cyclists have to be on the far right of the lane and telling cyclists to not ride at night…
A writer (?) from the NYT remarks that used bikes in Portland and other cities with high bike usage tend to cost more than in cities like Houston or Dallas. Bicycle Inflation in Paradise? I guess the concept of supply and demand is hard to grasp sometimes. It works like this: There are a lot of people riding bikes in some places, and they tend to keep their bikes for a long time, making used bikes relatively rare. On the converse of this is the bike consuming public in those areas won’t settle for BSO from Wally World, because they tend to wear out in less than a year. The BSO I got from Wally World was almost completely replaced except for the frame, in less than a year from purchase. I have a stack of worn out suspension forks from that period of my life to show for it. So, with a limited supply of used bikes and a high demand, local used bike prices tens to be higher. Also there is the local to Portland trend to pay people enough to live on locally with health insurance, including people like bicycle mechanics…
And while this is not bicycle related directly, I do some EV work, mostly in making assisted bicycles and I thought this was neat. Local man converts car to electric Take a worn-out econobox, strip the gas engine and paraphernalia, add a bunch of deep discharge batteries an electric motor and a controller, and voila! an environmentally sensitive commute vehicle.
And that’s all I have for you today. I’m going to go to Arlington for the Bike/Ped Advisory Committee meeting at NCTCOG this afternoon, if I don’t make it back I was fighting for your rights as a cyclist… 😛
Billed @$.02, Opus
Witch on a Bicycle 