Out and back early today, and the Feed

I had a trip to my massage therapist today to work out some of the kinks and soreness of the last two days, and she commented that I felt dehydrated to her hands, so that was probably a big part of the soreness and lethargy I have been feeling. She gave me 2 20 oz. bottles of water and refilled the bottle on Blue so a total of 64 oz. of water for the trip back to the house. I managed to almost finish the big bottle on Blue on the way home by having a drink at every stop sign and red light, but I’m still a bit off my game…

Way down the road about 3 day’s ride from WoaB World HQ in the Beautiful Suburbs of Hell a cyclist can’t even go shopping without being in mortal peril. Bicyclist critically injured after being hit by SUV in Walmart parking lot I will say that it’s possible the cyclist did cut the driver off, but having been in Walmart parking lots I also know that people in TX treat parking lots a lot like they treat streets “I’m going to get there as fast as I can”.

Update on a SC bike wreck involving a DUI. Man Charged With DWI After Deadly Bike Stationed At Cherry Point That’s right, the killer was allowed to check himself out of the drunk tank and go home with nothing more than a promise to return for his court date, after killing a cyclist. The guy that killed a dog on the other hand is still in jail…

A really strange NC wreck. Cyclist begins road to recovery after being struck by tree Note that, the cyclist didn’t hit the tree, the tree hit the cyclist. Literally the tree hit the cyclist, as in fell in such a way that the cyclist was impacted… If you can figure out how a cyclist is supposed to dodge falling trees than you’re better at this than I am.

From CA a cyclist is hit by a delivery truck turning on to the street she was riding on. FedEx Truck Hits, Kills Female Bicyclist in Fullerton From the position of the bicycle after the wreck and accounting for some movement caused by the impact it appears the cyclist was hit inside her own lane of travel as the truck cut the corner, incidentally running the stop sign while the cyclist was riding a through street. More Bicyclist Killed After Collision With FedEx Truck In Fullerton also Fullerton bicyclist struck, killed by FedEx truck

Still in CA we have a cyclist suddenly deciding to cross a busy street mid-block in front of several witnesses and getting hit. Boy, 12, struck and killed on bike Since this account is based on several witness accounts including the cyclist’s riding companions I’ll accept it as true. IOW this is very much not a SWSS. Unfortunately the root cause of this wreck appears to be that the cyclist was a 12YO boy with poor impulse control…

A wreck in NM as a cyclist stops short and falls into oncoming traffic. Police investigate 3 overnight crashes From the Street View of the scene it looks like the intersection is light controlled with the initial report having the cyclist stopped behind the stop bar but then falling into the cross traffic for some reason. This report does not pass the smell test right now, there is information missing as to how the cyclist got all the way past the crosswalk and into the crossing traffic. There is also the issue of how and why she fell. Anyway, intersection wreck, intersection protocols to avoid or mitigate and get the infrastructure right to prevent.

A wreck in MA. Bicyclist seriously injured in Hopkinton accident Not much in the original link but a comment from someone claiming to be a witness said the driver was exceeding the speed limit by a substantial margin based on the length of the skid marks left at the scene and that several other drivers had managed to pass the cyclist safely immediately prior to the wreck. I’m going to go out on a limb here and say that this was a hit-from-behind wreck and using the protocols would mitigate the effects of the wreck, and that getting the infrastructure right would prevent it. And try not to read too many of the early comments from stupid people. It reminds me of a “Sixth Sense” parody I saw many years ago: “I see stupid people, and most of them don’t even know they’re stupid.”

A cyclist outside NYC is seriously injured. Boy, 16, on Bike in Serious Condition After Colliding With Car on Long Island: Police Something is missing from this report as they say the cyclist hit the car, then they say the car is impounded for a safety check. The wreck was reported as being near an intersection and the narrative is consistent with a right hook as reported by someone that hates bikes. If that’s true (the right hook, not the “hates bikes”) then intersection protocols to avoid and get the infrastructure right to prevent. Something else that is glaringly absent is the nearly ubiquitous “no criminality suspected” quote.

A serious wreck in the most deadliest state in the US to walk or ride a bike, nine years running. Bicyclist Injured After Collision With Car in Coral Springs There is nothing I can glean from this report that even gives me a glimmer as to what happened and how to not let it happen again.

A right-hook wreck in MS. Bicyclist runs into truck in Biloxi The usual idiot comments about riding on the sidewalk at the top of the queue. Use the intersection protocols to avoid and get the infrastructure right (in MS?) to prevent.

Hit-and-run in IL. Boy Riding Bike Seriously Injured In Aurora Hit-And-Run If I am reading this report correctly the driver targeted the victim including increasing speed when the victim was in front of her. Since this was an intersection wreck intersection protocols might be used to mitigate the results, but I don’t think even great bike infrastructure would have prevented this wreck if at-grade crossings were in use. That driver be crazy.

An OK cyclist is hit head-on. P.M. UPDATE: Boy injured while riding bike on highway in Tahlequah This is a strange report that admits the two vehicles were going in opposite directions but does not immediately blame he cyclist for riding salmon. Usually that’s the first thing in the report in wrecks like this. From the report either one is a likely candidate for wrong side of the road-ism, one a kid and the driver being 70. I don’t know how the cyclist could have avoided this wreck until I know which one was on the wrong side of the road, but I can say that infrastructure that gets the cyclist on a separated bike path (rural location) would have prevented the wreck no matter which one as at fault.

Here’s a listing and review of panniers that work with the battery racks on most e-assist bikes. Guide to Rear Rack Bags (Panniers) for Electric Bikes Some of the bags are not so good, but most will serve well for a long time.

And those are all the links that gave me fits (or not) today.

Billed @€0.02, Opus

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I forgot I was moving books today, and the Feed

I forgot I was supposed to be helping someone move books today, so I’m getting another late start on the blog. At least the AC was working, even at the low level it was set to. I admit that 81°F doesn’t sound all that cold, but compared to the outside temperature and the inside of the storage space 81 was chilly. I’m still trying to rehydrate from all the sweating I have been doing.

That kid hit a half-mile from my house has died. Bike Friendly Garland Facebook page I blame this death on previous city council’s zoning and planning that allowed a highway in everything but name to be placed in the middle of a residential area. And there’s another one just like it a half-mile away in another direction and the two intersect less than a quarter-mile from the wreck site.

A wreck just down the road from WoaB World HQ in the Beautiful Suburbs of Hell makes steam come out my ears. Driver admits taking Ambien before striking firefighter The cyclist was hit-from-behind in the bike lane, so use the protocols to avoid and get the infrastructure right to prevent. And dig a deep hole to drop the “driver” into so I don’t find him… More Affidavit: Man who hit firefighter took sleeping pill

A wreck with no details in CA. Cyclist killed in collision with van in Carson Other than the age of the victim LEO seem to be sitting hard on this one. Intersection wreck from the few details released so far, so intersection protocols to avoid, and as (almost) always, get the infrastructure right to prevent.

Another CA wreck with lots more information. Cyclist Claims Police Officer was Distracted During Crash Drivers don’t look for anything on the roads smaller than a Mini, especially coming the wrong way, which this cyclist did. But apparently the LEO was also breaking the law but since the cyclist’s offense overrides the driver’s, no charges will be filed against the driver

A wreck on OR gets paired with a restaurant review? Cyclist injured in hit-and-run; critics choose best North Portland restaurants: North Portland news Somewhere in that long list there is a reward being offered for the scalp of the hit-and-run driver. Here’s a real link. Reward offered for hit-and-run driver who critically injured cyclist

An OH cyclist gets hit running a stop sign. Teen seriously injured in car-bike crash “But Opus, how can you be sure the girl ran the stop sign and not the driver?” Because there was an Ohio Driver’s License examiner in the passenger seat who said so, that’s how. And if the driver taking the test had run a stop sign and hit a little girl then that would be an automatic fail, or the examiner could lose his job. Intersection protocols to avoid, especially the bits about following traffic controls. It doesn’t look like infrastructure changes would have had any effect on preventing this wreck.

A double hit-and-run in VA kills a cyclist. Friends remember father of three killed in double hit and run I’m not 100% certain about the mode of this wreck, but it appears the state of VA has been handing out CDL with taxi endorsements in breakfast cereal, instead of the usual method of Cracker Jacks boxes.

A cyclist in MI gets killed when she gets hit from behind. Hopkins woman on bicycle hit and killed in car crash Hit-from-behind protocols to avoid, getting the infrastructure right including getting the idiots out from behind the controls of WMDs to prevent.

Another MI cyclist gets $45K for injuries sustained when he was riding on what looked like a bike path. Kalamazoo City Commission approves $45,000 settlement with man injured riding bicycle at Spring Valley Park The man was riding on what looked like a winding path through the park when he hit a cable stretched across the pavement and was severely injured. The pavement has been removed.

Well that was thoughty of them. American Lung Association retires number of cyclist killed in Trek Across Maine This was the cyclist that died after being passed by a semi as he took a drink of water.

A cyclist in the Great White North gets hit with a car. Cyclist hurt in collision with car And at the moment we don’t know who made the statement that the cyclist failed to stop, as the investigation is continuing. Anyway intersection protocols to avoid and get the infrastructure right to prevent. More Cyclist seriously injured after colliding with car

A UK driver invokes the universal get-out-of-jail-free card in the death of a cyclist. ‘I didn’t see death mile bike victim’ Truck driver’s inquest claim as mother of cyclist Paula Jurek looks on All charges against the driver of the WMD were dropped after the driver made this statement… More Cyclist Paula Jurek family’s two years of hell as legal case collapsed on eve of trial

More UK “justice”… Careless driving fine branded ‘ridiculous’ after cyclist injured Might I remind people that this fine is less than the fixed penalty given for cyclists riding on the sidewalk without hitting anyone?

Speaking of which, why is a cyclist hitting a driver an automatic assault charge, but the other way is an “accident”? GBH charge after Oxford road rage attack in which motorist hospitalised in row with cyclist The comments are amusing with this one.

Your Whiskey, Tango, Foxtrot, interrogative, moment for the day. Family apologises to driver who killed son Their son was killed by a driver and they apologized to the killer.

Once is not enough so here’s a second Whiskey, Tango, Foxtrot, interrobang moment as the media rediscovers that people get hurt mostly by motor vehicles when riding bikes. Bike accidents cause of 86,000 head injuries in 2009 and Head Injuries from bike riding also Riding a bike causes more head injuries than football, baseball Where this “study” goes wrong is every cycling injury is classified as sports-related. That would be like classifying every motor vehicle wreck as “sports related” because of NASCAR…

Infrastructure! news from Oz. Mary Safe – mother of Olympic cyclist Amy Gillet who was killed in Germany – wants Bill making it an offence for motorists to drive within 1m of cyclists. This is roughly the same as the 3-foot passing laws in the US, except with fangs instead of gums.

And those are all the links that gave me fits tonight.

Billed @€0.02, Opus