The city finally filled the hole they dug in my front yard, and the Feed

Yep I woke to the sounds of heavy equipment in the front yard again today, this time as the city finally got around to filling in the hole they dug last year to fix a broken water main that washed out a big chunk of the grass between the sidewalk and the road last Spring, and again when the same pipe broke during the late Summer, partially because they never filled in the hole from the first break and the soil dried out deeper than usual which shifted around the pipe and broke it again. Incidentally this pipe is buried more than 6 feet (2m +/-), so we have to be in a prolonged drought for the soil to shift that much that deep, even when they don’t completely fill the hole or replace the sod. There’s a reason why I call this place the suburbs of Hell, well more than one, but long, hot, dry summers are right up there…

I like to start things off with either something outrageous, or something good. Today I have a link that fills both of those shoes. Driver pleads guilty to hit-and-run that killed bicyclist You might remember this story from way back when, the driver called in to report seeing the wreck and was arrested after officers saw the damage to his car. Well now the idiot is guilty of felony hit-and-run and vehicular manslaughter. Unfortunately the judge was prevented from throwing the book at the miscreant, but has loaded the trebuchet with multiple tomes to be released upon the idiot if he puts a toe out of line. Plus the idiot has to pay $14,000 to the family of the deceased in addition to any damages he is assigned in the civil case pending against him.

Rolling halfway around the world to Oz, we find out more about the murdered cyclist who was hit by a van. Man charged with killing AA mentor So now we know that using a motor vehicle to kill a cyclist isn’t a get out of jail free call if there was a history between the driver and the victim, at least in Australia. More Driver charged with murder

Down the road a bit from the suburbs of Hell, a cyclist “fails to yield” and gets hit from behind in Houston. Cyclist killed below interstate overpass identified If this wreck scene is as described there was no place for the cyclist to go when the taxi hit him from behind, and there is no legal requirement for a cyclist to yield when being passed by a motor vehicle (even when there is someplace he can yield to) so this whole thing just doesn’t make any sense. This would be like saying a shooting victim is to blame for not dodging the bullet that hit him in the back.

In Portland a cyclist is hit while changing lanes and rather than wait for extrication tools to arrive firefighters just put as many men as will fit around the car and lift it until the cyclist victim can be removed from under the car. Early morning bike/car collision results in heroic rescue, life threatening injuries – UPDATED and Firefighters lift car off injured cyclist after MLK crash At this time why the cyclist went 2 lanes to the left is undetermined, there is some speculation in the first link that he may have crashed on the streetcar tracks in the outside lane and been propelled into the inside lanes. but a bunch of guys picking up a car and pulling him out from under it is cool no matter who you are. The cyclist sustained life-threatening injury in the crash, but looks to survive the ordeal.

Down the coast a bit from that wreck a cyclist loses control on a long downhill and hits a stop sign, then goes over an embankment. Sausalito cyclist severely injured in solo mishap The number one cause of motorcycle wrecks is excessive speed on corners, so we as bicyclists should be extra careful when riding in areas where we can get some extra speed. We are subject to the same laws of physics as motorcycles, after all. Only we ride much skinnier tires that don’t have near the grip when leaned over as motorcycle tires.

In the most deadliest state in the US to walk or ride a bike (5 6 years running) a cyclist hit from behind is cited for making an improper turn. Injured bicyclist ticketed after turning in front of van Hit-from-behind protocols, regardless of what the LEO said about the unconscious rider… I call this one a SWSS.

A kid in NJ is hit from behind Pataskala boy hit by car while riding bike The driver was DUI at 3PM… what can you do about that? the road conditions precluded the cyclist from being able to avoid the wreck. The vehicle that hit the cyclist was going so fast the cyclist ended up inside the passenger side of the vehicle.

A(nother) kid in MO gets hit trying to cross a major highway. Cyclist injured in collision with car I can’t get the location to pull up in Google Maps, and the article keeps disappearing while it tries to load some ads, but from what I can tell the cyclist either got tired of waiting for the light to change and/or didn’t look before crossing. Remember, red lights that won’t change can be considered defective and treated as stop signs, but you have to wait until cross traffic clears on the other road before trying to get across.

After a bungled investigation by federal agents, the best that can be done to get justice for a slain cyclist is a pair of misdemeanor charges. Charges Filed In Bicyclist’s Death From other reports for which I can’t create links it appears that because of treaties the driver in this case has to be charged by either the federal government or tribal police, and tribal police can only charge misdemeanors with a maximum of one year in jail. The cyclist was hit while riding on the shoulder of Old US66 through tribal lands in NM.

NYPD is about to cost the city again as yet another lawsuit is filed against them. Family of dead Williamsburg cyclist sues NYPD for video footage and Family Of Killed Cyclist Mathieu Lefevre Sues NYPD For Withholding Information Yeah, NYPD is scum when it comes to dealing with cyclists.

A sidewalk cyclist confesses from the Great White North. Urban Scrawl: Confessions of a sidewalk cyclist As I say on numerous occasions, sidewalk cycling is a symptom of bad infrastructure. If you have people that prefer riding on the sidewalk rather than riding in the street, you are doing infrastructure wrong.

Jurisdiction news from the UK as a bus driver that used his vehicle as a weapon. Road rage bus driver faces jail for swerving in to cyclist It appears the driver lost his license from this, I know he lost his job…

And that’s about it for live links.

Billed @$0.02, Opus

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