I have had a decent night’s sleep, the right amount and kinds of food, some human companionship and there is an almost full pot of coffee sitting in the kitchen. I think I’m ready to get focused on the blog and do some writing.
Up first, a single FL city is killing more pedestrians and cyclists than any of the bottom 5 states in the NHTSA 2011 traffic statistics. 28 pedestrians, 9 bicyclists killed in Jacksonville in 2012 There has to be something in the water as only 20% of the pedestrians killed are at fault, while previous studies showed that drivers were at fault in 60% of the cyclists killed. This is a combination of poor infrastructure and bad drivers creating a perfect storm of deadly conditions for people not in cars, and it’s even worse for pedestrians than it is for those of us riding bicycles. I see 2 possible solutions to this situation: fix the infrastructure, or drastically raise the minimum standards for drivers with no grandfathering allowed. Neither is going to be popular, and in the short run it’s a tossup as to which will cost more. Long term fixing and maintaining the infrastructure will be more expensive, but if you just keep bad drivers from driving then you have to provide alternate means for those people to get around which gets back to infrastructure again.
The city that WoaB is in a suburb of has placed an ordinance making it a crime to threaten or intimidate cyclists with a motor vehicle up for final vote. New protections for bicyclists on Dallas roads should win council’s OK today OK if Dallas (aka “Hell”) can do this, any city can do this. Can, should, and MUST do this. The good part is they made it a violation that kicks in regardless of intention, drivers don’t have to intend to make life dangerous for cyclists for it to be a violation of this law, just like there is no need to show intent to speed for it to be a violation.
A right hook in Boston. It looks like there will be more links tacked on the end of this paragraph as I get farther into the feed. BU Student On Bike Killed In Crash With Tractor Trailer The truck made a right turn from the left lane crossing the bike lane while the cyclist was riding in it. This was another wreck that would take supernatural reflexes to avoid and one that I place 100% of the cause on the driver of the semi. Intersection protocols might have saved the cyclist’s life, getting the infrastructure right would have prevented the wreck. More Fatally Injured Cyclist was 23-Year-Old BU Student and Cyclist killed in collision with truck in Boston Also BU student killed in crash on Commonwealth Ave. in Allston; fifth biker killed in Boston this year more Boston University student killed in bicycle accident
Another hit-and-run in UT. Bicyclist killed in hit-and-run accident in Salt Lake City No mode given, but it is a fair guess that this was an intersection wreck of some kind given the location. Making hit-and-run a major felony with penalties equal to DUI manslaughter or DUI homicide (depending on the state) would go a long way to preventing the driver leaving the scene, getting the infrastructure right to keep cyclists separated from motor vehicles in both time and space (Dutch model) would prevent the wreck in the first place.
A CA hit-and-run. Cyclist Injured in Hit and Run Hit-from-behind in the most literal sense, this should be treated as an attempted murder for the investigation phase. Protocols to avoid, infrastructure to prevent, including strict laws that make hit-and-run a serious felony on a par with DUI manslaughter or homicide (see previous paragraph).
Still in CA, a single-vehicle bike wreck. Update: Newark Man Killed in Bicycle Crash Near Fremont The cause of the wreck remains unknown at this posting. More Niles Canyon Road cyclist killed when bike hits rock
A cyclist is hit from behind in NYC, “no criminality suspected”. Bicyclist Killed at Aqueduct Racetrack: Police Not much to go on here except the failure to list an intersection makes this an almost-sure hit-from-behind wreck. First and foremost to prevent a similar wreck is to make the NYPD actually investigate wrecks as required by NY state laws so that exactly what caused the wreck can be fixed.
Another wreck in the most deadliest state in the US to walk or ride a bike now for 9 years running. Bicyclist hit by SUV, seriously hurt Again with the “witnesses” saying the cyclist ran a red, and I wonder how many of them were not in the SUV that hit the cyclist… Intersection wreck, use the protocols to avoid and get the infrastructure right to prevent.
Update on a cyclist who was hit head on by a car that crossed the centerline and several lanes of traffic to hit the cyclist riding on the shoulder of the road in WA. Driver who killed cyclist may have been texting Texting is as bad as driving drunk, and much easier to prevent, IMHO. Just stop texting when you drive. If people can’t do that on their own then a technological fix needs to be implemented that prevents texts from being sent or read when the phone is moving faster than a quick jog. With GPS now being required an all new phones this should be a quick software update propagated by the same system used to make phones unreliable after 2 years…
A cyclist in far West Canuckistan gets left crossed. Cyclist injured in Colwood intersection crash this morning I don’t see what investigating is required, the cyclist was riding through on a green light, the car turned left violating his right of way, very simple and un-complicated. Intersection protocols to avoid, infrastructure to prevent.
An Enn Zed wreck story reaches closure, but not the end. Cyclist still mending months after accident The driver was 10 weeks pregnant at the time of the wreck, and had a 6 week old baby at the trial.
More death in Enn Zed. Elderly cyclist killed in Taupo From what was published, this appears to be a SWSS wreck. Hit-from-behind protocol to avoid, get the infrastructure right to prevent.
A rare link from the UK as a killer driver gets banned from driving for a year… Driver killed A1 cyclist “Both prosecution and defence debated whether Mr Warrington should have been on the A1 in the dark at 4am, but concluded that the law allowed him to be.” And we still have a very long way to go… >sigh<
Also from the UK, a driver is charged with manslaughter after giving a cyclist the "door prize". Driver ‘killed cyclist, Sam Harding, by recklessly opening door’
Infrastructure! news from OK. Bicycle riders want a share in the next Fix Our Streets campaign The nerve of cyclists wanting a safe place to ride! 😛
Infrastructure news from the UK. Renewed calls for action after Cyclist killed on one of Britain’s most dangerous roads This road has been on the radar as a dangerous place to drive or ride a bike for years with a 2010 report making this officially a “black spot”, and they are just now getting around to doing something about it after it killed a cyclist? I think this qualifies as “corporate manslaughter” if anything in the UK does.
And those are all the links that gave me fits today.
Billed @$0.02, Opus
32.928601
-96.607394
Witch on a Bicycle 
Finally able to focus, and the Feed
I have had a decent night’s sleep, the right amount and kinds of food, some human companionship and there is an almost full pot of coffee sitting in the kitchen. I think I’m ready to get focused on the blog and do some writing.
Up first, a single FL city is killing more pedestrians and cyclists than any of the bottom 5 states in the NHTSA 2011 traffic statistics. 28 pedestrians, 9 bicyclists killed in Jacksonville in 2012 There has to be something in the water as only 20% of the pedestrians killed are at fault, while previous studies showed that drivers were at fault in 60% of the cyclists killed. This is a combination of poor infrastructure and bad drivers creating a perfect storm of deadly conditions for people not in cars, and it’s even worse for pedestrians than it is for those of us riding bicycles. I see 2 possible solutions to this situation: fix the infrastructure, or drastically raise the minimum standards for drivers with no grandfathering allowed. Neither is going to be popular, and in the short run it’s a tossup as to which will cost more. Long term fixing and maintaining the infrastructure will be more expensive, but if you just keep bad drivers from driving then you have to provide alternate means for those people to get around which gets back to infrastructure again.
The city that WoaB is in a suburb of has placed an ordinance making it a crime to threaten or intimidate cyclists with a motor vehicle up for final vote. New protections for bicyclists on Dallas roads should win council’s OK today OK if Dallas (aka “Hell”) can do this, any city can do this. Can, should, and MUST do this. The good part is they made it a violation that kicks in regardless of intention, drivers don’t have to intend to make life dangerous for cyclists for it to be a violation of this law, just like there is no need to show intent to speed for it to be a violation.
A right hook in Boston. It looks like there will be more links tacked on the end of this paragraph as I get farther into the feed. BU Student On Bike Killed In Crash With Tractor Trailer The truck made a right turn from the left lane crossing the bike lane while the cyclist was riding in it. This was another wreck that would take supernatural reflexes to avoid and one that I place 100% of the cause on the driver of the semi. Intersection protocols might have saved the cyclist’s life, getting the infrastructure right would have prevented the wreck. More Fatally Injured Cyclist was 23-Year-Old BU Student and Cyclist killed in collision with truck in Boston Also BU student killed in crash on Commonwealth Ave. in Allston; fifth biker killed in Boston this year more Boston University student killed in bicycle accident
Another hit-and-run in UT. Bicyclist killed in hit-and-run accident in Salt Lake City No mode given, but it is a fair guess that this was an intersection wreck of some kind given the location. Making hit-and-run a major felony with penalties equal to DUI manslaughter or DUI homicide (depending on the state) would go a long way to preventing the driver leaving the scene, getting the infrastructure right to keep cyclists separated from motor vehicles in both time and space (Dutch model) would prevent the wreck in the first place.
A CA hit-and-run. Cyclist Injured in Hit and Run Hit-from-behind in the most literal sense, this should be treated as an attempted murder for the investigation phase. Protocols to avoid, infrastructure to prevent, including strict laws that make hit-and-run a serious felony on a par with DUI manslaughter or homicide (see previous paragraph).
Still in CA, a single-vehicle bike wreck. Update: Newark Man Killed in Bicycle Crash Near Fremont The cause of the wreck remains unknown at this posting. More Niles Canyon Road cyclist killed when bike hits rock
A cyclist is hit from behind in NYC, “no criminality suspected”. Bicyclist Killed at Aqueduct Racetrack: Police Not much to go on here except the failure to list an intersection makes this an almost-sure hit-from-behind wreck. First and foremost to prevent a similar wreck is to make the NYPD actually investigate wrecks as required by NY state laws so that exactly what caused the wreck can be fixed.
Another wreck in the most deadliest state in the US to walk or ride a bike now for 9 years running. Bicyclist hit by SUV, seriously hurt Again with the “witnesses” saying the cyclist ran a red, and I wonder how many of them were not in the SUV that hit the cyclist… Intersection wreck, use the protocols to avoid and get the infrastructure right to prevent.
Update on a cyclist who was hit head on by a car that crossed the centerline and several lanes of traffic to hit the cyclist riding on the shoulder of the road in WA. Driver who killed cyclist may have been texting Texting is as bad as driving drunk, and much easier to prevent, IMHO. Just stop texting when you drive. If people can’t do that on their own then a technological fix needs to be implemented that prevents texts from being sent or read when the phone is moving faster than a quick jog. With GPS now being required an all new phones this should be a quick software update propagated by the same system used to make phones unreliable after 2 years…
A cyclist in far West Canuckistan gets left crossed. Cyclist injured in Colwood intersection crash this morning I don’t see what investigating is required, the cyclist was riding through on a green light, the car turned left violating his right of way, very simple and un-complicated. Intersection protocols to avoid, infrastructure to prevent.
An Enn Zed wreck story reaches closure, but not the end. Cyclist still mending months after accident The driver was 10 weeks pregnant at the time of the wreck, and had a 6 week old baby at the trial.
More death in Enn Zed. Elderly cyclist killed in Taupo From what was published, this appears to be a SWSS wreck. Hit-from-behind protocol to avoid, get the infrastructure right to prevent.
A rare link from the UK as a killer driver gets banned from driving for a year… Driver killed A1 cyclist “Both prosecution and defence debated whether Mr Warrington should have been on the A1 in the dark at 4am, but concluded that the law allowed him to be.” And we still have a very long way to go… >sigh<
Also from the UK, a driver is charged with manslaughter after giving a cyclist the "door prize". Driver ‘killed cyclist, Sam Harding, by recklessly opening door’
Infrastructure! news from OK. Bicycle riders want a share in the next Fix Our Streets campaign The nerve of cyclists wanting a safe place to ride! 😛
Infrastructure news from the UK. Renewed calls for action after Cyclist killed on one of Britain’s most dangerous roads This road has been on the radar as a dangerous place to drive or ride a bike for years with a 2010 report making this officially a “black spot”, and they are just now getting around to doing something about it after it killed a cyclist? I think this qualifies as “corporate manslaughter” if anything in the UK does.
And those are all the links that gave me fits today.
Billed @$0.02, Opus
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Tagged anti-bike blatherings, blind driver syndrome, blind drivers, can you top this, cycling life, cyclist injured, cyclist killed, Dead cyclists, Don't read the comments, door prizes, Enn Zed, ghost bikes, good news, hit from behind, infrastructure, Jolly Olde, Left cross/right hook, red light runner, signs of the apocolypse, Single Witness Suicidal Swerve/Single Witness Crossing Cyclist, Something smells, stupid cyclist, stupid drivers, stupid LEO, stupid politicians, updates, waste of human skin