Another Canada-heavy Feed

Wow, they are having a bad week in Canada. Lots of wrecks for such a small population.

Up first though is a dead Bike Ninja in FL. Cyclist killed in Leesburg traffic accident I’m going to post this again and I hope this is the last time I post it: I do not recommend riding Ninja, but if you choose that mode, ride like you’re invisible because for all practical purposes you are invisible. Riding Ninja sharply reduces the risk from idiots that are hunting cyclists, but greatly increases your risk from people that don’t want to kill cyclists and who would avoid them if they could see them. I don’t agree with riding Ninja, but I do know why it’s done, after all I was sent to the hospital by a driver that hit me deliberately and screaming at me when he did it.

A reward has been offered in the hit-and-run death of a NC cyclist. Reward Offered in Death of Hit-and-Run Cyclist LEO are taking this one seriously as a possible homicide because of the lack of skid marks and the contact away from the actual road.

The town where my son went to college does it right for a hit-and-run victim. Top “Volunteer City” Comes To Aid of Injured Cyclist I hope they are as quick in finding the driver and bringing it to justice.

A driver threatens a cyclist by honking, and gets surprised when the cyclist fights back. Cyclist threatens driver after being honked at in Cambridge Yeah scary cyclists threaten people in control of WMDs. Wooo, scary lycra over toned muscles. woooooo! (boo!)

And while I was composing the US portion of the post, the links from Canada went bust. The only one still working when I did this was this one about a right hook. Guelph cyclist seriously injured in collision with transport truck I think this might be an update or a report from a different source than the original one I saw, because that “dragged for several meters” quote looks familiar as well as that picture of the truck sitting on the cyclist. I should let you know that some of the broken links led to this same URL in spite of being from different sources.

I don’t know how long this link will stay up this time, but the man that hit 5 cyclists from behind in the bike lane has been found competent to stand trial. Driver accused in ‘Kanata 5′ crash will stand trial It took prosecutors over a year to prove the driver wasn’t insane, or at least sane enough to contribute to his defence. In previous public statements the driver has shown no remorse for the wrecks, and is facing 10 felony charges, 2 for each victim.

Meanwhile in Oz, a cyclist is killed trying to navigate a roundabout. Two riders die in crashes I don’t know what to tell you about this one as I don’t know exactly how to avoid a wreck like this one that isn’t exactly a down the road but isn’t an intersection either…

A road hazard we don’t get on this side of the equator. Magpie ends tour hopes for promising Kiwi cyclist Birds that attack with enough ferocity to knock a person off a moving bike are thankfully confined to Oz and Enn Zed. And as the article reports they are danged hard to kill and very territorial.

And to wind up, a really nice place to ride a bike. Grizzly Century bike ride celebrates 18th year

Billed @$0.02, Opus

A whisp of a Feed, then I’m outta here

I have a metric buttload (2.2 SAE buttloads) of “stuff” that needs to be done around here and elsewhere, and only 2 links in the Feed. So a quick Filter and I’m off to do Muggle things.

Close to WoaB World HQ in the suburbs of Hell is this “salmon” cyclist. Cyclist crashes into car, dies at scene in Bryan This is why they have schools for this kind of thing. I’m talking journalism, not riding a bike. The cyclist was riding perpendicular (mostly) to traffic, crossing the road, not riding against traffic. Any slight vector into or away from the direction of traffic would have been inconsequential.

It’s unclear at this point what the mode of wreck was in a collision between a cyclist and a motor vehicle in this PA wreck. Cyclist Hit By Car On Blvd. Of The Allies The pictures show a bike impacted on both ends which indicates the bike hit something pretty hard after it was impacted by the motor vehicle. All this tells me is that it was hit pretty hard to begin with, and I can’t see if the front or the back had the harder hit, because my computer won’t play the video. I also can’t tell from the pictures if the bike was hit mostly from the side or directly front or back. Witness accounts say the cyclist went over the hood and into the car windshield pretty hard.

And that’s all I have today.

Billed @$0.02, Opus

I bring my fat butt back from the Lab Rat Keeper, and you get the Feed

Yes, I made another trip to the Lab Rat Keeper, I weigh more than I did last week but the same as the week before, and the placebo makes my BP go up (as expected, they are getting rid of all the old meds from my system and getting me back to baseline, what I can do with meditation, diet, and exercise). If I take care of myself, meditate daily, eat right, and use active transportation (walk, ride a bike) I’m a level II hypertensive. The puts me at elevated risk for stroke and cardiac problems as well as renal problems, if I continue to not take meds. Since the entire purpose of working with the LRK is to test meds for safety and efficacy I don’t have to worry about not getting meds. So you can count on my making links and snarky comments about them for a long time.

Up first is an article from BikePortland about an assault with a deadly weapon after an exchange of gestures. Police: Horn, middle finger lead to injury hit and run in Southeast Yes, gesturing with the extended middle finger (commonly called “flipping the bird”) is not smart. Assault with a deadly weapon (the motor vehicle) is a felony. Find this guy and put him in jail and his minivan in a recycler’s crusher.

In an update on a story linked here earlier, they have now determined the make and possibly the model of the vehicle that was used to kill a cyclist in NC. Police Search for Truck Involved in Cyclist’s Death See the previous paragraph fopr instructions on how to deal with this waste of human skin. More Cyclists think safety after fatal hit and run As much as I agree with the majority of the advice in this article about lights and reflectors, the cyclist was lighted and reflectorized and still got hit ON THE SIDE OF THE ROAD. In other words, the vehicle that he was hit with had to be guided (or allowed) off the road to hit him, which makes the driver either incompetent (which makes him guilty of manslaughter) or guilty of homicide.

Updates from Topeka, the DA can’t decide if killing a cyclist by running him over from behind is a crime until the toxicology reports come back on the driver. Decision On Charges In Fatal Bike Accident Weeks Away Come on and grow a pair, file the lesser included charges that come from hitting another vehicle from behind and killing the operator, then enhance them later when the tox screens come back. Get him in jail for the safety of the public.

In the meanwhile, drivers in the Great White North (thank you SCTV) can’t seem to comprehend that cyclists don’t pack up their bikes and get into cars just because we are past the Equinox and are wending our way to the Winter Solstice. There are several wrecks and updates on wrecks in the Feed today that originate in Canada.

Up first from the GWN is a cyclist that was hit twice, because once was not enough. Cyclist killed after being struck by two vehicles and Three car crashes in Toronto leave two dead, several injured In the first report the police did not know if the cyclist had run a red light but believed he did, in the second report they had decided that he did in fact run the light. Given that he was riding a BSO, and LEO originally published his age as “in his 40s” and later corrected that to 28 when they ID’d the body, I would have to say that this was a person who lived astride the restrictions of the law, mostly obeying it and sometimes not. This time it was to his detriment that he did not. I think you know how to avoid ending up like this, if the light won’t change wait until traffic has cleared before attempting to cross the road, otherwise don’t run red lights.

Update on one of the 71 YO men that was hit over the weekend. Injured cyclist remains in serious condition Since LEO are very quick to assign blame when a cyclist is or might be in the wrong the fact that we made it all the way to Tuesday without blaming the cyclist tells me the driver just flat out ran into him as he was crossing the road legally.

Another report on the Jr. ciclist killed in Belize Cyclist Kristopher “Spermy” Chuc, 17, dies in road accident You think they could have come up with a better nickname, or just left the nickname off?

In Oz, a semi pulls out on top of a cyclist already in the road, with predictable results. Female cyclist killed by truck The comments are pretty much stacked against the driver of the truck as I post this. More Cyclist killed after being hit by truck at Docklands

Still in Oz, a widow seeks legal action in the form of pulling the accused’s license to practice law. Legal board issues McGee statement In case you couldn’t figure it out the statement was they had no statement, but they would have a statement soon. Did I mention I have a large antipathy towards lawyers? It has taken 7 years to get this far against the killer hit-and-run driver.

Trucks in Oz have been having a hard time staying on the roads when they’re supposed to. Breakdown deaths arrests Yep, gotta “do something” about all those people getting killed by trucks.

As the cycling season begins to ramp up in South Africa, the carnage commences. Cyclist killed on Durban road

And Infrastructure! in the Great White North. Rossi promises separated bike lanes A mayoral candidate was against bike lanes until he was for them.

And that’s all the news that gives me fits for Tuesday.

Billed @$0.02, Opus

It was an “interesting” weekend, now the Feed

Let’s just say my travel plans were akin to the one-armed wallpaper hanger’s job this weekend and get to the Feed.

Up first because something had to be is a hit-and-run in NC. Cyclist Killed In Liberty Hit And Run The crime scene was so messed up that LEO can’t even tell how close the cyclist was to the bike when he was hit, as in riding, walking the bike or standing near the bike taking a break. The comments were equally at sea, with many wondering about the legality of the cyclist on the highway rather than the actual illegality of the driver that killed and left the scene… Edit: I reloaded the article and now the report is that the cyclist was hit from behind, but they still can’t tell if he was pushing the bike or riding it.

A cyclist crossing a busy street failed to clear her right of way and is hit. Accident leaves cyclist injured Since I can’t pull up a Google Street View of the wreck site I can’t tell if there are traffic controls on both directions or just for the cyclist. The cop that was 2 cars back from the wreck said the cyclist was at fault, but there might be some windshield bias in that report. At any rate, to prevent use the intersection protocols from the link at the top of my blog.

The CM in Waterloo IA honored 2 cyclists killed this month. Critical mass in Waterloo spends moment commemorating deaths of fellow cyclists Yeah, the cyclist hit-from-behind in the bike lane was pretty heinous.

A vigil for the Green Party candidate killed while riding her bicycle. Vigil Held for Green Party Candidate, Natasha Pettigrew Still the question of why the driver didn’t stop…

Two reports on 71 YO men injured in Canada… Cyclist injured after Saturday morning crash and Cyclist, 71, fights for life after collision In the first report the driver turned right on red without yielding to the cyclist that was crossing the intersection with the light. In the second the cyclist was moving left to make a left turn and the driver didn’t slow down or go around, or didn’t have enough time to react to the cyclist (it is sometimes the cyclist’s fault). When I was filtering this I thought both wrecks were the same person, after all what are the odds that 2, 71 YO cyclists would be hit in the same province on the same day? I doubt there are many 71 YO cyclists even on the roads (but regular aerobic exercise like cycling does tend to keep older people active long after their sedentary cousins).

More on the Jr. cyclist killed in Belize. 17 Year Old Cyclist Mourned We found out in this report that the cyclist hit was on the back of a paceline with other cyclists, meaning there were enough riders that “I didn’t see him” isn’t going to fly on this one. Also JUNIOR CYCLIST’S PROMISING CAREER CUT SHORT BY TRAGIC ACCIDENT

For those not into ultra-endurance riding, Jure Robic was the best currently riding when he was killed last week. CORRECTION: “Four-Time RAAM Winner Robic Dies in Accident” The “correction” was the Jure won the RAAM 5 times, not 4. Like I said, the best…

Lots of infrastructure articles…

From Wenatchee WA. Crowded byways make safety a two-way street for bicyclists, motorists Comments, some funny haha, some “funny”. Read at your own risk.

In Petaluma CA. Petaluma: Cars vs. people Ten people have been injured in 6 incidents in less than 4 weeks, all in intersections, all in crosswalks, all crossing with the signals. Cyclists should not ride in crosswalks but are supposed to dismount and walk across streets when using pedestrian facilities, the cyclists in these wrecks were riding not walking, but were still crossing with the signals. And the drivers used the universal GOOJF card of impaired visibility, even when they were in clear violation of the right of way, running a light. TANJ!

Ottawa ON Canada weighs in on the subject. Spate of cycling accidents spurs advocates to call for education No comments allowed on this article, smart.

Victoria in Oz is having an unusual increase in bike wrecks. Cyclists face increased injury risk Everywhere else when cycling goes up the rate of cyclist wrecks goes down, but in this one place the rate went up as the number of cyclists went up. The only thing I can see is that as the number of cyclists went up the anger of the drivers went up about all the “freeloading scofflaw” cyclists on “their” roads. That’s just conjecture on my part, of course, but the cyclists aren’t killing themselves.

And that’s all the news that gives me fits this Monday.

Billed @$0.02, Opus

Baking bread for Mabon, and the Feed

For those not familiar with the pagan holidays, Mabon is the second harvest festival, where most of the vegetables and grains are brought in as well as small game and other light (as opposed to large animals) meats. I’m the designated person for baked goods for celebrations so I’m making bread today for the first of 2 celebrations tonight, the bread for tomorrow’s feast has already been made and frozen ahead of time and will be thawed for the feast and warmed in the microwave. It’s so good to have a part in everything and to know what is expected of you. While the bread is rising I’ll make this post for the rest of you…

Up first because something had to be, a CO man pleads guilty after hitting a cyclist and leaving the scene of the crime. Driver in hit-and-run with cyclist enters pleas The reporter in this article seriously needs to learn about how word-wrap works when creating a document on a computer. The number of words hyphenated in the middle of a line was just annoying. Anyway, the driver managed to plea down the charges to ones that most likely won’t put him in jail but which will result in the confiscation of his vehicle. Since this is a final outcome there is no report on the mode of the wreck but I covered this wreck in the blog back when it happened so do a search or just read the protocols in the link at the top of the blog to find out what to do to avoid ending up in the same kind of wreck.

The crazed madman that attacked a group of cyclists with a baseball bat has refused a plea bargain and may go to trial on felony assault and menacing and misdemeanor criminal mischief. Female pedestrian injured in crash on Mulberry, 25, dies This is a “blotter” type of report the cyclist assault was in the last paragraph of the article. I don’t know what the guy thinks to gain by going to trial, there were several witnesses and there is the evidence of the destroyed bicycle. I think maybe he is going for the “They annoyed me so they deserved it because they were riding bicycles in the street” defence. The scary thing is that might fly in CO. If it does then someone needs to meet him at the courthouse door with a baseball bat to the face, and plead pre-emptive self-defence.

More on the SWCC wreck in CA, it might actually be a cyclist that was crossing the road. Bicyclist killed in traffic crash ID’d Again on this one, the only thing I have heard/seen on this one is the report on the truck’s skid marks and the driver’s report. I haven’t seen the victim’s bicycle or read any other reports from witnesses other than the driver. The only thing I can do is hope the LEO investigating the wreck look at the bicycle with a point of view “Does the damage on this bike match the driver’s story?” The second thing I would ask was “Was there a traffic control that would have made the cyclist think he was safe to cross at that time?” I don’t know about the victim, but when the light changes, I go. depending on the other drivers to not run the red light so as to not get run over by the driver behind me, since at most lights I have to wait for a car to trigger the light to change and traffic is usually too dense (in many senses) to run the light after determining it won’t change.

Cyclists in the City of Brotherly Love want some of that love when they ride. Bicyclists’ demonstration near Marple accident site to be share-the-road plea So many wrecks where the universal get-out-of-jail-free card was used “I didn’t see him”. So few people losing their licenses who shouldn’t be driving…

Going way south (South America) a junior cyclist is killed while training. 17 Year Old Cyclist Killed In Cayo I know nothing of the mode of this wreck, but reports of wrecks from Belize are so rare that I thought I should mention it in the blog…

Don’t hit the pedestrians. Elderly man killed by cyclist At least in this case the cyclist hung around after the wreck, not that he had much choice in the matter being unconscious and all after the wreck.

And that’s all the news that gives me fits today. Now go out and have a nice ride or something.

Billed @$0.02, Opus

After doing the infrastructure thing in Dallas, The Feed

I didn’t do the blog Thursday morning because of needing to mow the lawn, and didn’t get anything in the afternoon because of a meeting in Dallas for the regional bike plan (Dallas is the 400 pound gorilla in the transportation planning for the region) and I wanted to make sure that there was connectivity between the Dallas plan and whatever they come up with for Garland. To do that I had to be there to make sure there was someone there to tell the Dallas people that there was a Garland plan in the process.

The mother of the killed Green Party MD Senate candidate calls for stricter law against hit-and-run. Pettigrew’s mother wants Md. hit-and-run law changed I happen to agree with the mother in this case, how does a person run over and kill another person then drive around with a bicycle trapped under your car for 3 miles, and not know about it? More about the victim Green Party Mourns Young Hopeful Killed by SUV

A man going to work is killed when he crossed the road on his bicycle. Cyclist killed on his way to work And in the article we find he was on his way home, not to work, when he “turned into” the path of the truck that killed him, AKA SWSS.

I think this is another report on a CA hit-and-run I did yesterday, but it might be yet another one. Cyclist struck, killed in apparent hit-and-run It looks like it was a hit-from-behind wreck on top of the hit-and-run. Other than that I can’t tell much about it.

Still in CA a different hit-and-run victim, with the driver caught. San Rafael driver charged in collision with cyclist The cyclist was riding on the sidewalk and was crossing the road in a crosswalk when hit, which is somewhat of a grey area in CA Vehicle law as the cyclist was not a pedestrian but was legally in pedestrian infrastructure when hit. Who had the right of way is almost always disputed in cases like this. IANAL but my take is if the cyclist is allowed to use the sidewalks, then blame in a wreck is assigned just as if the cyclist was a pedestrian when hit. If the cyclist would have had right of way as a pedestrian, then aside from special laws that give peds right of way in all cases, then a cyclist would have had the right of way as well. But them again my training was not in law but in engineering and writing… you know, occupations that require the use of logic and following premise.

Still in CA (lots of links from CA this week) cops are cracking down on cyclists, but not on the right cyclists. Berkeley cops crackdown on cyclists Yeah, rolling a stop sign is technically against the law, but how many of the 4 (4!) cyclists killed were running stop signs? As I recall from doing this blog (and admittedly, my memory is no longer the best) most of those killed were “salmon” cyclists, not running stop signs. Running stop signs at bicycle speeds is normally a very safe thing to do unlike riding “salmon”. Also there is a provision in every state’s cycling laws that excepts laws that can have no application to cyclists. I postulate that stop signs used as traffic calming fall under that exception. Stop signs used for traffic calming are used to keep drivers under the speed limit, a speed that for a cyclist would require anything from a world-class rider on a racing bike to superhuman effort or a streamliner on a long flat perfectly paved road. If the cyclist can’t perform the underlying cause of the signage restrictions, then the signs don’t apply. Once again IANAL, so find a rather large grain of salt for this.

Another report on that bike/semi truck-trailer wreck in Canada that involved 3 cyclists. Death of cyclist derails Otesha tour Good people on a good mission, derailed by a driver that couldn’t keep his multi-ton killing machine away from fragile human flesh and bone in spite of an operator’s license that required him to do just that.

This is more of an infrastructure thing, but there is another lawyer out there with a dedicated practice for defending cyclists injured in wrecks. Bicycle Defender, Cyclist Personal Injury Firm Launches Today

And finally a case of insult to injury, a cyclist’s bike is stolen from the crash scene while he was being treated for his injuries. $1,200 bike stolen after Mo. cyclist is hit by car The thief actually took time to check the bike out to see if it was ridable before stealing it. Terrible crime scene security on the part of the LEO involved.

Finally done for today.

Billed @$0.02, Opus

Doing the report early so I can do things Thursday, a California heavy Feed

Yep, I’m doing the post early because I have “things” to do for you on the bicycle infrastructure front. More on that for the Friday post.

Up first by luck of the draw is a hit-and-run in CA. San Jose: Bicyclist hit, killed in apparent hit-and-run Standard hit-from-behind protocol to avoid, and this time do read the comments. When I read this article they were all about finding and killing the driver in the slowest, most painful way possible.

Another hit-and-run in CA. Runaway driver sought in Modesto pedestrian’s death I know it’s not a bicyclist, but same results, vulnerable road user and lethal weapon vehicle. What makes this wreck of interest to this blog is this is the 13th cyclist or pedestrian killed since the start of the year by a hit-and-run driver in a small metro area. An epidemic of hit-and-run…

Still in CA, the victim of a fatal wreck was named by LEO. REGION: Poway woman killed in Carlsbad cycling accident named This was a cyclist that fell after hitting something on the side of the road while making a left turn, according to the driver that killed her. Interestingly enough the boyfriend that was riding with her is not quoted in any of the reports.

The death of a Green Party candidate for Senate by a motor vehicle raises questions of political murder in someone besides me. Want to Get Away With Murder? Just Run Over A Bicyclist Are you still paranoid if they really are out to get you?

And that’s all the news that gives me fits, early this Thursday morning.

Billed @$0.02, Opus