After I attended the Dallas Pride Parade, the Feed

I was out until 1700 (or thereabouts) supporting friends and church members in the Dallas Pride Parade and getting to and from said parade. I was the guy in the pink dragon bike jersey yelling “woo!” in a deep manly voice, and occasionally saying “I’m a cow with a speech defect, Woo!” Hey I was there to have fun while I supported friends and church members. The denomination (UUA) has been at the forefront of LGBT issues since the late 1970s, including same-sex marriages. And for the life of me I can’t figure out how any two people getting married has any effect on my marriage or anyone else’s for that matter… And there were lots of bicycles at the parade.

Up first is a report on the victim of the bus v bicycle wreck in Ottawa. A cautious, responsible rider It is more and more apparent that this was a mainly infrastructure wreck, that the rider could not watch for oncoming traffic because she was watching to make sure she didn’t crash coming over the curb.

Another fatality in the deadliest state in the US for cyclists. Cyclist Killed In Boca Raton Hit-And-Run Once again a huge SUV kills a cyclist and the driver “told officers that she did not know that she had hit anything.” Something needs to be done about these tanks on the roads that 90% of the people that drive them don’t need. This seems to be another hit-from-behind wreck which means standard hit-from-behind protocol to avoid if possible. But a stupid driver in an cotton wool insulated WMD might not be an avoidable wreck. RIP Loren Clobes.

A reported bike ninja gets hit. Bicyclist killed in collision “Authorities also note there were multiple callers who had contacted Chippewa County Central Dispatch regarding a man in dark clothing swerving a bicycle on the roadway before Tadgerson was struck.” No lights and dark clothing are a bad combination.

A cyclist and a motorcyclist hit head on and both die. Cyclist, Motorcylist Die in Collision on Greene The cyclist was apparently crossing over to the other side of the street when he was hit by (ran into?) the motorcycle. This could have been avoided by not violating the motorcyclist’s right of way aka paying attention.

Another cyclist is hit in Vancouver WA (the one on the US side of the border). Brush Prairie bicyclist critically injured when hit by car “ Police said he was struck from behind” so standard hit-from-behind protocol (mirror(s), planning an escape route and be willing to use the escape route or to bail from the bike and let it take the hit) might have helped. And I have to say again that just on feeling, not going back and actually counting there seems to be a marked increase in the number of hit-from-behind wrecks lately, and of course they also seem more fatal lately than they have been.

Going across the pond to Jolly Olde gets us this informative report. Cyclist injured in collision Yes I love UK media laws and their restrictions on what can be said about a wreck in the media.

People in Enn Zed are getting upset that drunk drivers are not criminally charged when they kill someone, like this guy. Cyclist killed by elderly female drunk driver “Mr van Kampen was cycling home from work on Friday afternoon when he was hit from behind.” See, another one, third one this post. And the second fatal one. But I don’t know that this one was avoidable because a witness reported “She was driving like an idiot, she was diabolical”.

And a report from a totally unbiased person, a driver: Reader’s view: Bicyclists often disregard traffic rules, safety Yep, we’re just a lawless bunch ignoring stop signs and speed limits and running people over and leaving them on the road to die… No wait, that is how drivers behave, not cyclists. We sometimes run stop signs, but since most stop signs are being used as traffic calming devices that places them in the category of “laws that by their nature do not apply to bicycles” since we don’t need traffic calming as we already ride at a safe speed for residential areas.

And that’s all I have today.

Billed @$.02, Opus

Out spending my birthday money so I’m late with the Feed

Sorry this is so late today but I had to do some shopping and bus service isn’t all that great out on this side of Dallas County TX on a weekend. As I was shopping with my wife, and she doesn’t ride a bike, we had to use public transit, which even when we caught it right as the bus/train was pulling into the stop/station still took longer to do than it would have had I been riding Gigi to do this. And because of the schedule I couldn’t do the blog post before I left as there just wasn’t the time. So, that’s why I’m late today, that annoying thing called “having a life” so interferes with doing the work 😉

Up first for no particular reason is a report on a serious wreck between a cyclist and a minivan that ended up with the cyclist’s head stuck in the side of the minivan. Bicyclist seriously injured in accident in SW Portland OK not an avoidable wreck on the cyclist’s part from the initial report, and the driver seems to be taking total blame for this one (so far, wait until the morning for an updated report).

The first of our FL reports on a rail trail wreck. Around the Region – Sept. 19 Yeah, stop signs. You have to stop at stop signs and look to make sure your way is clear with stop signs on rail trails, because the sight lines at intersections are frequently very bad.

Another article from FL, the deadliest state in the US to ride a bike. EDITORIAL: End the driver-cyclist wars There was some lies of omission rather than commission, they mentioned the impede traffic law without mentioning the fact that when the lane is sub-standard in width the bicycle gets the lane.

Something someone sent me not in the Feed, about a DUI that hit 3 cyclists while drunk, was arrested and then was caught drunk again. Iraq War Veteran Denied Bail in DUI Bicycle Crash in Baldwin County, Alabama Finally a judge that gets it right. Why does it take so long for LEO and judges to get it?

Another cyclist is hit-and-run. Bicyclist Critically Injured In Hit-And-Run Crash And some people wonder why I have such a deep loathing against hit-and-run drivers. Well let me tell you that being a victim of hit-and-run has very little to do with it, because I hated hit-and-run long before I was a victim of one. Drivers that don’t stop to render aid are selfish, and cowardly, and of generally low intelligence. As for this wreck I’m not sure if it was a hit-from-behind or a buzz job that got too close, but the same protocol applies to either one: mirror(s), escape route, and be ready to use the escape or bail from the bike and let the bike take the hit. Or you can be a real hero and fill the seat tube with C4 and nails and use a contact detonator that requires a shock of getting hit from behind to set it off. If you’re going to die anyway you might as well get a couple licks in in retaliation.

When both the victim and the driver are over twice the BAC levels needed to convict for drunk driving, who’s at fault? The guy that fell down, or the guy that ra him over with a truck? Coroner’s jury rules Champaign jail death a suicide you have to get a ways into the article to find the bike wreck. Bottom line is neither one needed to be out that night, but the guy driving the motor vehicle was still drunk when he ran over and killed the drunk that fell off a bicycle. A sober person would have been able to avoid the cyclist laying in the road, it’s as simple as that. To avoid, don’t ride a bicycle after drinking to excess. The ironic thing is the drunk riding a bicycle would have eventually sobered up faster than the drunk driving the motor vehicle as exercise causes the body to oxidize alcohol faster than just sitting.

From the description of the wreck scene we have another hit-from-behind wreck in AZ just outside Phoenix. Police identify bicyclist hit and killed by car in Phoenix From the pictures and other descriptions of the wreck this proves my theory about the bike disabling the vehicle in a wreck, but the rider never got the chance to bail from the bike. Preliminarily I’m going to say this was not a wreck that the cyclist could have avoided, but I’m also going to say that this was a wreck the driver of the car could have avoided with less speed and more attention. I’m not sure if the driver stopped first and the bike disabled the vehicle before he stopped but not enough to make him stop just then, or if the bike disabled the vehicle enough to make him stop. But the driver did stop for whatever reason.

More on the cyclist hit by a bus in Ottawa. Ottawa Police Want to Speak To Witnesses After Cyclist Killed and a study of the wreck site including some pictures of the sightlines Crossroads where cyclist killed known as puzzling, treacherous One design flaw was a lack of a curb cut where the bike path ended and the bike lane began in the street. Dropping off a curb on a road bike is something that requires attention unless you like buying new forks and rims on a regular basis, which distracts from the job of actually driving the bike without hitting anything or getting hit. Also the sight lines were hampered by trees between the bike path and the road the bike path ended on. Another issue was the “exit ramp” design that brought the bike path parallel to the sidewalk and tapering off to nothing leaving the cyclist to cross the sidewalk before entering the road.

First of our UK reports. Cyclist injured and aside from that we know he was hit on a road…

And the other report. Cyclist killed in lorry crash identified Another possible hit-from-behind or buzz job, but we won’t know until the coroner’s court is adjourned, and unless they send a reporter to the court we still won’t know.

I’ll just let the irony sink in from the headline, I don’t need to say anything else about this. Land Rover Las Vegas to give away free bike helmets Oooohhhh!

And a severe case of blaming the victim in this article, where the deceased cyclists were all in full compliance with the laws while the drivers were drunk, or distracted, or just flat out driving in the bike lane and mowing down whatever rider was there… Bicyclists must obey traffic laws for safety of all If there had been any major wrecks that involved running that particular stop sign I could see the crackdown, but the major cause of cyclists’ deaths in Tucson is passing too close by a motor vehicle…

And that’s it for tonight, time for beddy-bye. >YAWN<

Billed @$0.02, Opus