Strange things are going on up there in Toronto, and pretty much the usual in the States. I strongly suggest that if you value your sanity that you not read the comments sections of any of the articles I have linked today.
Up first the strange saga of the former AG that assaulted a cyclist with a Saab convertible continues. Former Ontario AG Bryant charged after bike courier dragged by car and killed and this report of another wreck that injured another cyclist while investigators both public and private were trying to determine what happened More cyclist blood shed on Bloor St. and a protest Cyclists mourn ‘good man’ As for the chants of “Murder, murder!” I don’t know yet, but assault with a deadly certainly seems to be likely. Had this been staged for a movie I wouldn’t believe it, but it is happening in Real Lifetm so what am I supposed to do? Wait for the director to call “Cut! Print it!”? And as background to the story comes this report. Bad infrastructure, adrenalin adding to car-bike tensions I can’t believe they are blaming cyclists for having adrenaline when someone almost kills them. 😛
Our second story that belongs in a magazine not the news was changing as I was gathering the links for today’s post, new links to updated reports kept coming in as the events unfolded and local to the event media reported it. This is the hit-and-run that killed a 74 YO woman riding her bike on a quiet street near a major highway in Tulsa OK. Illegal immigrant held in death of Tulsa cyclist and Troopers make arrest in fatal hit & run accident This is a wreck that if you value your sanity you should not read the comments section. If stupid is contagious you would get a fatal dose from these articles’ comments. I’m not going to comment on the immigration status of the driver, but I’m totally pissed off about the lack of license, insurance or registration for the vehicle. The driver had no business even being on the road, regardless of his immigration status.
More on the IA cyclist killed by a speeding driver in a hit-and-run wreck. Des Moines cyclist killed on road near Cumming The number of people that are using this to try to get bicycles banned from county roads is just disgusting. This is another article that reading the comments section is not a good idea.
A MA driver admits fault to a LEO and doesn’t even get a ticket for hitting a cyclist. Car crash in Newton Highlands sends bicyclist to hospital The driver, Anderson Donascimento, 27, was sitting on the curb saying repeatedly, ‘I didn’t see her.” That is an admission of guilt, not an excuse. As near as I can tell from this report, this was another hit-from-behind wreck, standard precautions apply: mirror(s), escape route, and willingness to bail to the escape route or let the bike take the hit and do as much damage to the vehicle as possible while you bounce down the side of the road away from the bike/wreck.
First of a series of CO wreck reports. Bicyclist Badly Injured in Mark Dabling Crash They’re trying to make this a SWSS.
Someone has a severe case of the stupids when he assaults a cyclist with a deadly weapon because he was riding the same model bike as was stolen from his son. Colorado Springs man strikes bicyclist in case of mistaken ID This should be a case of assault with a deadly weapon, not second degree assault. As for how to avoid, the crazy mofo was using his vehicle as a weapon, how do you avoid that?
Good news for the victim of a Vail bike wreck that had been in a coma. Benefit planned for injured Vail cyclist He has come out of the coma and now they are trying to raise some cash for his medical expenses. It would have been better to not have been in the wreck, but given the circumstances, good for him.
The victim of a SWSS dies in CA. Bicyclist involved in last week’s Watsonville hit and run crash dies Blame the victim when the only surviving witness is the driver that killed him and the physical evidence indicated he was riding on the far right edge of the street…
And in a country that has gone from bicycle heaven to drunk driven Hell in my lifetime things are getting a little tense. Drunken-driving cases spike in China Nothing about any specific wrecks here, just shudder and point at the people trying to invent a car culture just as cars become extinct…
And that’s the whole snarky thing. I’m going to mow some lawn to make some noise and do violent things to helpless plants and get rid of some of this anger about the IA and Toronto stories, then have some dinner.
Billed @$.02, Opus
Witch on a Bicycle 