I’m a little excited about tomorrow, it being the 11th anniversary of the day I died, and they are including celebration of that in the Full Moon service. Not the dying part, the part that “I got better“[/Monty Python]. I will call Coyote to come join the celebration of Life (Coyote never seems to be far from my life anyway, might as well invite Him to the party), and then we will drum and dance around the fire. I don’t have any Zombie Chow to serve at this one, cash is a scarce resource around here, but I’m told that Coyote and I will get to share a cold one at the circle. One of the things I’m going to request of Coyote is that since I have become “an idiot magnet” to quote a Richardson PD officer from 12 years ago, that I also attract people that can do something about the idiots I attract on the roads. IOW when someone drives on the sidewalk to pass me, or other such dangerous and illegal acts, that there be a concerned LEO there with the ability to capture and punish the idiots. I want the idiots to get what they deserve for putting my life and the lives of others in danger, and otherwise risking my and other’s safety. Since I can’t get away from them it seems only fair that they should have to watch out for me and my “angels”. Catch the one batch to make room to catch the next batch, until there are no more idiots to catch or I die of old age. Either one is fine by me as long as I don’t get hit by any of the idiots, or the idiots don’t actually hit anyone else.
Up first is a link that popped up yesterday right after (less than 30 minutes) I posted yesterday. Bicyclist hit by pumpkin thrown from car in Carlisle I think the pumpkin chunker was disappointed last year when his pumpkin patch was judged insincere . This does not fall into the category of things a cyclist can avoid, as with any thrown object.
Another bicycle wreck in PA from the same paper. Bicyclist injured in crash with car in Carlisle This is why you don’t ride salmon, why you don’t ride without brakes, why you don’t ride without your brain… Seriously, this has to be the stupidest surviving cyclist I have ever read about. note the emphasis on surviving, I have read about cyclists that really did more stupid things than this cyclist, but none of them lived…
A story I never thought I would get to see, the driver that ran over 2 cyclists on a tandem bike southwest of Austin is going to trial for their deaths. Man Who Killed Couple on Bicycle on Trial This is the guy that ran off the road twice before hitting the couple riding on the shoulder of the highway from behind at 65 MPH in a 60 zone.I don’t know what his problem was but he had no business being on the road in that condition. I hope they get him and throw the whole frelling library at him. This guy ran down 2 people because he couldn’t be bothered to keep his vehicle on the road or travel at a legal speed. The fact that he left tracks from running off the road all the way past the shoulder twice shows just how dangerous he was that day. If he wasn’t under the influence of intoxicating drugs then he needs to go to jail for a few years and never be allowed to drive a motor vehicle ever again for the rest of his miserable life. And if his life is not miserable enough I can change that for him. I am really mad that it took more than 3 years to bring this guy to trial, I hope he spends at least that long in prison for killing these people and leaving their daughter an orphan.
A kid in CT is killed riding his bike. Juvenile killed after being hit by car in North Haven while riding bike And the headline is almost as long as the article. Nothing about the mode of the wreck or the location in the link I was reading (I hope that changes). Just a vague reference to a several square mile neighborhood near New Haven. And the word that the kid was riding a bicycle when he was hit.
From MI a cyclist is attacked twice with a deadly weapon. Bicyclist shot, killed after traffic dispute, prosecutors consider charges From the description of the vehicle direction of travel and other movements this was a right hook that they tried to blame on the cyclist running the pedestrian signal, when the pedestrian signal means as much to the cyclist as it did to the driver, nothing. Intersection protocols to avoid the initial wreck, infrastructure to prevent it. I don’t know what to do about drivers that pack heat in addition to the weapon of mass destruction they drive. More Motorist who shot Taylor bicyclist in road rage incident released
Another CA cyclist is hit-from-behind and left to die. Norco bicyclist killed in Rancho Cucamonga “The Norco man was wearing a helmet.” Then he shouldn’t have died, right? I mean that little thin shell of EPS and thin skin of ABS plastics over the cyclist’s fragile skull and brain should have protected him from all harm, right. I mean bicycle safety begins and ends with wearing a helmet, from most of the “safety” articles I read on the web. So why did this man die in spite of wearing a helmet?
A wreck in LA that makes very little sense to me. Police identify cyclist killed in accident If I read this correctly something made the cyclist fall in the intersection and then the driver ran her over, independently of the other wreck. IOW, the driver is claiming that his hitting of the cyclist was not his fault because the cyclist was already down when he got there. HeLLOOO!? Adult human being laying in the street and you can’t see her. Do you not have headlights capable of lighting the road? Anyway to avoid try not to get wrecks as you cross an intersection, intersection protocols might apply here as there may have been a second vehicle involved hit-and-run. To prevent get the infrastructure right, including things like headlights on cars and teaching drivers to not overdrive their headlights.
Another report on the cyclist hit from behind in OH. North Ridgeville native dies when bike struck in Cincinnati Eyewitnesses have posted in the Facebook group Cyclists are Drivers pictures of the remains of the bike impaled on the weapon vehicle. From the pictures I can get there was no way for the cyclist to avoid this wreck as he was not in the middle of the road as first reported but riding the fog line.
A report from NY that makes very little sense. Police ID man hit by car while riding bicycle in Rochester The cyclist made a U-turn in the middle of an intersection? I’m going to assume the writer was not on crack but reporting the actual facts as they were related to him, but this really sounds like the most elaborate SWSS I have ever read. UGH! Anyway to avoid the wreck as it is described intersection protocols apply, and get the infrastructure right to prevent.
An apparent ninja cyclist is killed in CO. Cyclist struck, killed by SUV on Wadsworth I looked at the possible scenes in Google Maps (Street View doesn’t work for this box of rocks) and it was about 3/8 of a mile between controlled crossings but there were several intersections where he cyclist could have been trying to cross the road. Most were from parking lot driveways which are uncontrolled but the through traffic always has right of way. Intersection protocols including lights and reflectors to avoid, and get the infrastructure right so a cyclist of any age does not have to cross a 6 lane urban highway to get a cup of coffee or a news paper. But you still need lights and reflectors even with the perfect infrastructure.
A wreck with life-threatening injury in Canuckistan. Cyclist injured in crash I don’t know the mode of the wreck but the bike seems to be in fairly good condition so it was probably a buzz job side-swipe. There was a comment that the cyclist died after the wreck. I couldn’t find any followup to this breaking story link.
Another cyclist is hit in the Great White North. Cyclist seriously injured in Gatineau I’m pretty sure Gatineau is somewhere in Quebec, but don’t hold me to that, it could be a Québécois name for a body part for all I know. This was another breaking story with no followup that I could find.
We finally find out what it takes to get a half-way decent jail term for a surviving cyclist’s wreck in the UK: They have to be a potential Olympic or Paralympic Gold medal, and the driver has the be quantifiably drunk, and also leave the scene. Farmer jailed for hit-and-run on Paralympic cyclist I had a very hard time reading this article as a large black box covered most of the page. I was able to scroll up and down and read the article above or below the box. While the sentence was ludicrous it was still several times more strict than most cyclist deaths in the UK which in most cases amount to 200 hours or so of community service, and maybe a few months ban from driving. Even when the prosecution can prove deliberate actions to kill a cyclist the drivers seldom get a custodial (jail or prison) sentence. This wreck is truly out of the ordinary.
And those are all the links that gave me fits today.
Programming note, there will be no blog posts until Monday. I’m taking the weekend off to celebrate not dying 11 years ago and also Labor Day (and beat my spell checker over the head a few times about how to spell “labor” in the United States). Also I have to leave early Saturday to level up my Warlock to 5th in the RPG we are playing at church, I have a new invocation I have been dying to try, “Eldritch Lesser Pantsing”. It causes the bottom half of any biped’s armor to fall off and remain around his feet for as many rounds as I pass my concentration check, plus a round for each level of the caster so as a “fire and forget” spell I bollux up the recipient for 5 rounds, or I can really make it evil for them as long as I pass my concentration check plus 5 more rounds. This does 2 things to the “victim”. First the victim’s movement is cut in half for medium and smaller characters, by 2/3 for large and giant characters. Second the characters AC is reduced because the spell removes half the armor, and reduces the ability to dodge, because the armor is tangled up around the victim’s feet. The victim can pull up the armor to restore rate of movement but they still get the AC loss as the armor is less effective when just held in the hands than worn properly. Also when the victim is holding up the bottom of the armor he can’t use any two handed weapons because one hand is full of his pants. The spell is cast against the character’s charisma stats, and has a DM discretion to work any time “Rule of Funny” can be invoked. There is a penalty that can be used when the spell isn’t all that funny to go with the DM discretion.
Billed @$0.02, Opus
Witch on a Bicycle 
I laughed at the insincere pumpkin patch reference. 🙂
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