That was a Douglas Adams quote in the headline for the Geek-impaired among you. Why? Because I’m in an existential funk again, wondering exactly what my little blog is actually contributing to the fight to make cycling safer. I’m starting to get linked to more often so I know there are some people that think what I have to post is of value, but I’m just preaching to the choir on this. Bike people, smart bike people, read my blog, but 99% of you don’t really need to read my stuff. Don’t stop reading though, it’s just that most of you are not the problem. The people I really need to reach are not the people that will ever read my blog. The ones that need to read my stuff are the drivers that scream at cyclists to get off the roads, or worse try to use their motor vehicles as weapons to force cyclists off the roads. Also the cops that have no idea what the law says about riding a bicycle on the road need to read this blog, especially the archives. Finally the cyclists that ride on sidewalks, ride the wrong way in the street, who ride without lights or reflectors at night, THEY need to read my blog! So, how can I reach the people that need to read my blog, without pissing the rest of you off? I’m open to suggestions that don’t cost money to implement, because I be po’, that is too impoverished to use the last 2 letters in the word “poor”. Oh, and that quote? Google “Marvin the Paranoid Android” for the rest of it.
Up first is an overview of the wreck in NC where a driver who was both drunk and high on cocaine killed 2 cyclists. Drunk driver kills two cyclists Now we know that the driver might have hit the cyclists on purpose, because they were in a marked bike lane with plenty of clearance to pass and he just moved into their lane and hit them from behind. The death this driver would get from me is far gentler than the death he gave his victims, because not even I could inflict that much pain on another human being. I have a conscience that prevents me from deliberately hurting another human being even when they deserve far worse. All I would do is roll him naked in broken glass, alcohol and salt water for about 20 minutes each in 2 minute sets before handcuffing him to the steering wheel of his vehicle and sending the two of them through a car shredder with a tank of propane to create a little fireball during the ride. The propane explosion would suck all the O2 out of the air causing him to lose consciousness before the shredder rips him to pieces. Of course the finale would have to be broadcast on live TV with a closeup on the driver’s face as the conveyor belt tips the vehicle over into the shredder. I can write about what is deserved, but I can’t actually administer it.
Update on the CA wreck of another cyclist hit from behind in the bike lane and then left on the side of the road. Long Beach Fire Dept. Confirms an Off-Duty Captain Is Hit-Run Driving Suspect I just don’t understand how a person sworn to protect human life can have so little consideration of it away from his work. If the cyclist survives that places him in a rarefied company as at the speed he was hit survival is measured in survivors per million wrecks so that they work with fairly large numbers and don’t get so depressed about the ones that don’t survive.
Moving a bit north, a cyclist in Anchorage AK is right-hooked, possibly. Cyclist dies after being hit by car and Cyclist killed in collision rode bike everywhere in city The first article LEO does everything possible to excuse the driver, but in the second link we find the cyclist had a real-time GPS tracking system in use, lights on the bike far in excess of legal requirements, and a reflective vest to boot. This cyclist was prepared and even left a trace on his movements that could be used to determine speed and direction. As of the posting of this post, that speed and direction have not been released which is why I say the right hook is possible. It’s also possible the driver just went as soon as the light changed without seeing the over lighted and highly reflective cyclist that had just crossed in front of him before the light changed. Nahh, I don’t believe that either. OK the web site with the cyclist’s track has been unlocked and I can see it now and it looks like the cyclist was hit on the sidewalk as he stopped at the corner to wait to cross. IOW he was hit while acting like a pedestrian and waiting to use the crosswalk. You can see where he was dragged by the car in the track and then where he was moved to the sidewalk again to get him out of the road for first aid, then when he was moved into the ambulance and his iPhone was turned off or quit.
Moving way east from the previous links, we have a deadly hit-and-run on 2 people riding one bicycle in Long Island NY. Bicycle rider killed in deadly hit and run accident At this point the only thing I know about the wreck is the driver of a white box van hit 2 people and left the scene, the kind of bicycle or anything about their speeds or directions prior to the wreck are unknown as I compose this post. They might have been riding a tandem, or one could have been standing on axle pegs while the other pedalled. This is a common way to ride in my neighborhood.
Moving to Jolly Olde, a driver repeatedly assaults a cyclist on the street, and authorities are looking for him. Hunt for driver who spat at cyclist I’m having some serious cognitive dissonance at the concept that trying to hit a cyclist with a motor vehicle is no big deal, but spitting is a serious crime. For those shaky on the concept cognitive dissonance is the expert term for WTF?!
Moving to Oz we have 2 links to a wreck that makes no sense when you step back at it and look with the cold eye of Logic. Victorian cyclist dies after car crash and Cyclist killed as children fight for life in horror crashes As the wreck is being reported now, the driver just ran over the cyclist from behind in the middle of the road, not anywhere near an intersection or with any kind of obstructed sight line, yet no charges have been filed or even a ticket issued. Again, WTF?!
Final link is from the area where the drunk driver was high on cocaine when he hit 2 cyclists, but this is a completely different story. Deer vs. bike — a road lesson Yes, the Banbi Mafia is out to kill as many drivers and cyclists as they can, throwing their bodies away for the cause of Capreolian Liberation. They’re killers I tell you. 😉
And that’s all the news that gives me fits today.
Billed @$0.02, Opus
Witch on a Bicycle 