OK as I was perusing the articles from the Feed this morning I was struck by a world-wide phenomena regarding cyclists and media reports. There has been a sudden huge uptick in the reporting of “did the cyclist wear reflective clothing?” even mentioning it when it would have made no difference as in a clear bright day or rainy day, when cars usually don’t have lights on, and also mentioning that they don’t know if the cyclist was wearing the magic vest or belt. I never see any mention of “did the driver have his thermal imaging camera turned on?” even when such a device would have definitely prevented the wreck being reported. I mean WTF? Cyclists have to dress like clowns but drivers don’t have to look where they are going? Are deer going to be required to don reflective gear before crossing highways? Many of the reports I saw this in I wouldn’t normally link to in this blog because they are UK and as such are not allowed to include information that would useful in telling my readers how not to be involved in a similar wreck, but because of this new meme I will put them all in a single paragraph near the bottom of the blog. To find more such reports in the future use the tag search “magic sparkly vest”.
Up first is what may be the first death indirectly caused by the NYPD crackdown of imaginary laws. Breaking: Cyclist killed on — yes, on — the BQE The wreck was a classic hit-from-behind with a second car ricochet pinball. To avoid a similar wreck when forced to ride on a high-speed road with little or no shoulder, ride at least as far left as the right tire track, to the left of the oil trail is better and have the back of the bike well-lighted.
From CA a report of another bike/train wreck with predictable results. Bicyclist Hit By Blue Line Train I keep saying this every time it happens, but it still keeps happening: Trains are big and noisy and can only be found on train tracks, they don’t go wandering around the countryside willy-nilly. You can easily see them and hear them, and you know where they will be if not exactly when, so there’s really very little excuse for getting hit by one, you just have to look before crossing train tracks.
Our first magic sparkly vest report of the day comes from the Great White North. 57-year-old man struck and killed while bicycling Notice that even though they don’t know if the cyclist was wearing the magic sparkly vest they still mention it, but nothing else about the wreck, including the direction of travel of either vehicle or the type of vehicle that struck the cyclist.
Another magic sparkly vest report from Oz, as a cyclist is right-crossed (Oz equivalent of the left cross) Nunawading cyclist dies after being hit by car in rain Really, the driver turned in front of the cyclist in the rain and it’s the cyclist’s fault for not wearing the magic sparkly vest? Anyway, intersection protocol to avoid, reversed because they drive on the wrong side of the road in Oz, and a bright(er) light because this would have been just after sunset in Oz.
Moving on to Infrastructure! articles as the rest of the magic sparkly vest articles are now showing 404 codes, NYC’s attempt to insulate itself from responsibility for hazardous road conditions appears to be working, to the detriment of people injured by bad streets and sidewalks. NYC “Pothole Law” Complicates Claims Process for Injured Pedestrians and Cyclists Yep, they have to know about the condition in writing 15 days before the wreck and are allowed to hide the fact that they knew, so you have to get outside verification that someone told the city in writing that there was a dangerous condition more than 2 weeks before your wreck, and then prove that there weren’t any repairs made so that the condition was continuous and not returning. Yeah, I can see that as a reasonable requirement for compensation for injury resulting from bad maintenance or defective design, NOT!
A bike lane in CA is shot down. West Spain Street bike lane dead Yep, the “right” to park your car on public property for free trumps the right to use the rest of the street safely for other users. Really, just did.
And that’s all the news that gives me fits.
Billed @$0.02, Opus
32.928601
-96.607394
Witch on a Bicycle 
The media is latching on to a new “magic bullet” for cyclists, and the Feed
OK as I was perusing the articles from the Feed this morning I was struck by a world-wide phenomena regarding cyclists and media reports. There has been a sudden huge uptick in the reporting of “did the cyclist wear reflective clothing?” even mentioning it when it would have made no difference as in a clear bright day or rainy day, when cars usually don’t have lights on, and also mentioning that they don’t know if the cyclist was wearing the magic vest or belt. I never see any mention of “did the driver have his thermal imaging camera turned on?” even when such a device would have definitely prevented the wreck being reported. I mean WTF? Cyclists have to dress like clowns but drivers don’t have to look where they are going? Are deer going to be required to don reflective gear before crossing highways? Many of the reports I saw this in I wouldn’t normally link to in this blog because they are UK and as such are not allowed to include information that would useful in telling my readers how not to be involved in a similar wreck, but because of this new meme I will put them all in a single paragraph near the bottom of the blog. To find more such reports in the future use the tag search “magic sparkly vest”.
Up first is what may be the first death indirectly caused by the NYPD crackdown of imaginary laws. Breaking: Cyclist killed on — yes, on — the BQE The wreck was a classic hit-from-behind with a second car ricochet pinball. To avoid a similar wreck when forced to ride on a high-speed road with little or no shoulder, ride at least as far left as the right tire track, to the left of the oil trail is better and have the back of the bike well-lighted.
From CA a report of another bike/train wreck with predictable results. Bicyclist Hit By Blue Line Train I keep saying this every time it happens, but it still keeps happening: Trains are big and noisy and can only be found on train tracks, they don’t go wandering around the countryside willy-nilly. You can easily see them and hear them, and you know where they will be if not exactly when, so there’s really very little excuse for getting hit by one, you just have to look before crossing train tracks.
Our first magic sparkly vest report of the day comes from the Great White North. 57-year-old man struck and killed while bicycling Notice that even though they don’t know if the cyclist was wearing the magic sparkly vest they still mention it, but nothing else about the wreck, including the direction of travel of either vehicle or the type of vehicle that struck the cyclist.
Another magic sparkly vest report from Oz, as a cyclist is right-crossed (Oz equivalent of the left cross) Nunawading cyclist dies after being hit by car in rain Really, the driver turned in front of the cyclist in the rain and it’s the cyclist’s fault for not wearing the magic sparkly vest? Anyway, intersection protocol to avoid, reversed because they drive on the wrong side of the road in Oz, and a bright(er) light because this would have been just after sunset in Oz.
Moving on to Infrastructure! articles as the rest of the magic sparkly vest articles are now showing 404 codes, NYC’s attempt to insulate itself from responsibility for hazardous road conditions appears to be working, to the detriment of people injured by bad streets and sidewalks. NYC “Pothole Law” Complicates Claims Process for Injured Pedestrians and Cyclists Yep, they have to know about the condition in writing 15 days before the wreck and are allowed to hide the fact that they knew, so you have to get outside verification that someone told the city in writing that there was a dangerous condition more than 2 weeks before your wreck, and then prove that there weren’t any repairs made so that the condition was continuous and not returning. Yeah, I can see that as a reasonable requirement for compensation for injury resulting from bad maintenance or defective design, NOT!
A bike lane in CA is shot down. West Spain Street bike lane dead Yep, the “right” to park your car on public property for free trumps the right to use the rest of the street safely for other users. Really, just did.
And that’s all the news that gives me fits.
Billed @$0.02, Opus
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Tagged anti-bike blatherings, Bike ninjas, can you top this, cycling life, cyclist injured, cyclist killed, Dead cyclists, Don't read the comments, helpful hints, hit from behind, infrastructure, Jolly Olde, lawyer blatherings, Left cross/right hook, magic sparkly vest, Oz, Something smells, stupid cyclist, stupid drivers, stupid politicians, UK media wreck articles suck