Mrs. the Poet has been having a continuing fit about the cost of the last jar of peanut butter we bought, which ended up costing us $11. Now that is almost a 3 month supply of the precious protein product, which works out to a touch over $3 a month. I think this is still a bargain especially considering how much of the stuff I eat, but the Mrs. still remembers what peanut butter cost just a few short months ago while we were still consuming last year’s crop of peanuts. This year with the drought across the southern US the two major areas of peanut production were hit hard. The Texas peanut crop was almost wiped out, and the Georgia crop was below average because of the lack of rainfall. Farmers were hurt, consumers are going to hurt, and the only ones making out are the brokers who pay a fixed price determined before planting and who get a price based on demand when selling. I wouldn’t be as bothered if the whole thing wasn’t rigged to make a few people rich when things like this happen. During good times the brokers make good money, but during bad times they make out like bandits while everybody else suffers.
Up first is what appears to be a left cross wreck in the NE part of the country. Florence cyclist injured crash The weapon vehicle was turning in front of the cyclist and the cyclist rolled over the hood, so most probably a left cross. Intersection protocols to avoid, assuming there was enough time to react.
Still in MA, a cyclist is hit from behind by a driver that failed to clear snow from her windshield. Police: Driver didn’t clear windshield before hitting bicyclist in Middleboro OK I don’t know what you can do about drivers who willingly drive partially blinded, but if you already ride like drivers can’t see you you should be golden. Something I found slightly amazing with this article is that of the 10 comments the first 9 blamed the driver for driving blind, and then one blamed the cyclist for being in the road.
A kid riding a bike in WI is hit by a car. Child hurt in car vs. bike crash Add the fact that the wreck happened in an intersection and you have all the information that we can use from the article. Kids sometimes do crazy things that make perfect sense to a kid and none at all to an adult. Drivers have to be extra aware of kids near and in residential areas. For you as an adult cyclist to avoid a similar wreck, assuming the kid wasn’t doing anything crazy in the street, use the intersection protocols linked at the top of my blog.
Moving to reactions about wrecks now, trouble brews in NYC as drivers get away with bloody murder. Outrage Grows Over Scarcity of Charges Against Drivers Who Kill Cyclists Kill a cyclist, get a consoling pat on the back, TANJ! more NYPD Explains Not Charging Driver Who Killed Cyclist: Accidents Happen
Another Ghost Bike, this time in the UK. A ‘ghost bike’ at the King’s Cross deadly junction for cyclists Too many cyclists have been killed on this particular stretch of road, I linked an article last week about possible corporate manslaughter charges being brought against the government agency responsible for it. Another link ‘My amazing friend would be happy with her ghost bike’
Speaking about bad infrastructure in the UK. First rider killed on Cycle Superhighway worked at Olympic site The “Cycle Superhighway” is a strip of blue paint that is anything from 1 to 1.5 meters wide on the side of the road with no separation from the cars and trucks using the road, which led directly to the death of the cyclist mentioned in this article as a truck apparently sideswiped him going through an intersection.
Infrastructure! in the Great White North. Increase in fatalities prompts Ottawa to revamp road safety programs The single most important thing they could do would be to treat motor vehicle wrecks with vulnerable users the same as assault with a deadly weapon, and unlicensed drivers as possessing an illegal weapon. More Make our roads safer for cyclists
And that’s all the news that gives me fits today, now I get to go mow the lawn…
Billed @$0.02, Opus
Witch on a Bicycle 