I had to wait until the last report came in to know if I was going to have any live links today. Make that link, singular, because that’s all there was. I’m hoping that the lack of links is due to the lack of people getting hit on bikes, even though I know that isn’t completely true. This is traditionally a slow time for bike wrecks as people hustle and bustle to get their holiday shopping done and most don’t brave the weather to get a ride in except the most ardent of transportational cyclists (like me, f’rinstance). We should be getting more links from the Antipodes this time of year but for whatever reason Down Under is not providing the links it has in the past.
Our link for today is from Canuckistan where a drunk hit-and-run driver gets caught, but not before killing a cyclist. Police say cyclist killed by impaired driver There are just too many things I could say about this link that have nothing to do with the wreck, but I’m not going to put them here because it would serve no purpose except to be snarky. Drunk driver hit-from-behind use the protocols to avoid and get the infrastructure right to prevent. The proposed regulation that would require breathalyser interlocks on all new cars and any used cars that had been previously equipped (meaning that drivers with previous DUI convictions could not remove the interlock devices after the period imposed by the courts) would go far in preventing wrecks like this.
Now the thoughts (Oh no! he’s thinking again!). Traditionally this is the season that we ask for Peace on Earth, Good Will Toward Men. I wonder if that includes good will towards people riding around in armored vehicles that can kill with the flick of a wrist? Because I have serious problems with that. And I have video proof of how deadly modern motor vehicles are, compared to when I first started riding around in them. Crash Test 1959 Chevrolet Bel Air VS. 2009 Chevrolet Malibu Notice that the late model car just drove right through the early model car, crushing the driver against the back seat with the front bumper. And if it does that to a person inside another car, just imagine what it does to people not in cars.
And that’s all I got today. Be nice even when other people aren’t nice, because that gives you one up on them. If that is what it takes to be nice, go with it…
Billed @$0.02, Opus
Witch on a Bicycle 