In one of the links I pre-filtered yesterday I left a reply to a comment that made it look like the cyclist deserved to get hit because other cyclists rode 2 and 3 up on the same stretch of road. I stated that in the article being commented on there was no mention of any other cyclists in the area, and that the comment was a display of bias, stereotyping, and transference. It would be as logical to blame this cyclist for other cyclist’s behavior as it would for me to blame all red-heads because I saw a red-head do something annoying and then another red-head had something bad happen to him or her. So, how do you deal with anti-cyclist bias on the Web, other than call the perps out for their prejudice?
A cyclist in OK is the victim of a deliberate assault with a motor vehicle. Bicyclist Injured In Hit-And-Run In SW OKC Speaks Out Since the cyclist in this case was not even riding but walking with friends and pushing his bike there was nothing the cyclist could have done to avoid the wreck. Investigate this as an attempted murder and charge the driver accordingly when caught to prevent.
From the most deadliest state in the US to walk or ride a bike for 9 years in a row comes a report of another cyclist added to the lists. Cyclist killed in Fruit Cove From the Street View of the scene the garbage truck had to have run the stop sign in order to hit the cyclist riding on the through street. Not much a cyclist can do when confronted with 10 tons of garbage truck except to try to turn away from it. Given the time of day and the location I would bet the driver of the garbage truck barely slowed as he glanced at the apparently empty road and completely overlooked the bicycle. Since the truck driver ignored traffic controls to hit the cyclist I don’t think infrastructure changes would have prevented this wreck, but having bicycle infrastructure that was pervasive and driver training that impressed upon operators how vulnerable and hard to see cyclists are the driver would have been more careful in the residential area he was driving in. Also, do they have smaller garbage trucks in the Netherlands? That’s a bit of infrastructure I never see mentioned.
They just don’t quit killing cyclists in FL. Bicyclist killed in Jacksonville hit-and-run Saturday No arrests made, it was just a cyclist killed with 2 pedestrians, if it had been someone important they would have all been in separate cars. Hit-from-behind protocols to avoid, and get the infrastructure right to prevent. More Hit-and-run driver kills 14-year-old cyclist Dquan Armstrong
And a reminder of why FL is the most deadliest state in the US to walk or ride a bike as “the media” trashes the victim of a bicycle wreck involving a drunk driver. Biker Van Orden, Killed In Boca, Had Lengthy Record All that about the victim but only a few words about his killer. The good thing is the comments were universally condemning the paper for putting this garbage about the victim on line and failing to mention he died as a result of getting hit by a drunk driver while riding in the bike lane… Meaning there is hope for FL some day to not kill cyclists and pedestrians at such a horrible rate.
More on the NY cyclist hit from behind by a semi. Police say mistake cost bicyclist his life From the description of the wreck it sounds like the cyclist was sucked under the trailer by the backwash from the truck as it passed too close. It also sounds like LEO did not check the shoulder for debris that might have forced the cyclist to ride closer to the lane than he would have preferred.
A young NY cyclist is either crossed or hooked by a vehicle entering a driveway, so the cyclist gets blamed for the wreck… Boy, 12, injured by car while riding bike Note the driver hit the cyclist while making a turning motion, which makes this an automatic at-fault for the driver, but they still try to blame the kid for “going too fast”. Infrastructure, infrastructure, infrastructure…
A PA cyclist left-crosses a pickup truck with predictable results. Harveys Lake bicyclist dies in crash with pickup There was speculation in the comments section the cyclist was a “mule” for a local drug dealer as he had drugs and paraphernalia on his person according to another comment. The only way I know how to avoid this wreck is to wait until the road is clear before making a left turn. And infrastructure.
The story about the MD track coach that was hit from behind and killed continues. Annapolis High coach out bicycling killed at blind spot in road So basically what they keep saying over and over is that the driver made an illegal pass where there was not enough visibility to complete the pass and ended up hitting the cyclist. The cyclist was killed because the driver failed to use the brakes to moderate her speed until it was safe to pass. There was nothing the cyclist could do as her available reaction time was near zero. Infrastructure that drastically slowed cars or provided a safe place away from cars to get to the same destination to prevent.
A VA cyclist is involved in a SWCC wreck. Cyclist Dies After Vehicle Strikes Him on Cook Road Until I get more information I can’t say how to avoid this wreck, but good infrastructure would have had the cyclist away from busy motor vehicle traffic.
A OH cyclist is killed when a truck makes a wide right turn and hits her nearly head-on. Miamisburg woman killed in bicycle accident I’m seeing too many tires in the picture of the wrecked “bike”… Now I see after watching the video that the driver hit two bikes and killed one of the riders. I’m still trying to figure out how this could have been caused by impairment of the rider that died, but LEO are testing the deceased rider for drugs and alcohol. Nothing the cyclist could have done, the entire onus in this wreck is on the driver of the truck for not waiting until his way was clear before turning the long vehicle/trailer combination. This was a residential area where the truck and cyclist would have been in shared space, using the Dutch model.
Update on the OH cyclist struck from behind so hard he went flying nearly 90 feet. School mourns teen struck, killed on bicycle Since the cyclist’s helmet wearing was not mentioned we have to assume the open skull fracture came in spite of his helmet. This points again to the driver’s excessive speed, along with the destroyed bike and the cyclist being thrown so far. The fact that there were no charges in spite of all the evidence of excessive speed on the driver’s part points to severe windshield bias on the part of the LEO investigating the wreck.
A young MI cyclist is blamed in he wreck because, cars. 7-year-old girl hit by truck while riding her bike in Pontiac Had this wreck been in the Netherlands the driver would have been traveling less than 15 MPH and known that hitting a kid in that area would have been her fault for not paying attention. tl;dr version: Infrastructure!
A bizarre wreck where I met Mrs. the Poet. USU student dies after riding bike into slack line I really don’t know what a cyclist could reasonably do to avoid hitting slack lines while riding in a park, which is what Old Main Hill is on the USU campus. More Utah State Student Dies In Bicycling Accident
A CA cyclist is killed when LEO attempt to PIT his bicycle. Cyclist Hit, Killed by FPD Car Other than that I know nothing about this wreck.
More about the cyclist hit in a crosswalk in CA. SR Cyclist Hit By SUV Still the same story, the idiot driver came barging through when the light changed without looking to see if the intersection had cleared.
Update on the victim of an OR hit-and-run. Cyclist injured in hit-and-run recovering at home This was the guy with the mouthful of broken glass from the weapon vehicle a while back. not to mention the two broken legs that will have him hobbling about for a couple of months.
A wreck report from the Great White North that was incomplete at the time of posting. Cyclist seriously injured in early-morning collision And he headline is 99% of the story folks.
Update on a cyclist hit in the Great white North while riding presumed impaired. Cyclist dies from injuries after crash with truck This was the cyclist that bounced off the truck and then fell over and hit his head on street furniture.
A cyclist in the Great White North dies after getting hit head-on by an SUV. Community in shock after Aylmer pastor killed in crash Someone was on he wrong side of the road but LEO are not saying which vehicle at this point. Since it’s so easy to blame the cyclist in these cases and they haven’t I’m going with the SUV crossed the centerline and hit the cyclist, which makes this an unavoidable wreck. Infrastructure to prevent.
The report from Oz I mentioned in the opening paragraph. Cyclist hit by car Presumed hit-from-behind wreck, use the protocols to avoid and get the infrastructure right to avoid. I don’t know what to do about people’s attitude though.
Infrastructure news from Canuckistan. Husband of cyclist killed in PEI calls for Trans Canada Trail plan and Alberta falling behind on Trans-Canada Trail, cyclist says
More infrastructure news from Canuckistan. ‘Wild west’ of cycling needs taming, says advocate
And those are all the links that gave me fits today.
Billed @€0.02, Opus
Serendipity, and the Feed
I almost never put a link in the first paragraph of these posts because I think that my readers should be eased in to the bloodbath I experience while creating these posts with a little humor or a slice of my life devoid of anything worse than “first world problems”. But as I was perusing my regular news items (you know, things that aren’t bicycle or motorcycle wrecks) I found this link to a TED talk. WATCH: The Crash That Couldn’t Break Me He was physically crippled and left a hemiplegic (paralyzed on one side of his body) where I lost my abilities as a public speaker and as a rapid problem solver (I can still solve problems that have to do with things in 3 dimensions, I just lack the ability to communicate what I know). But both our lives were changed in an instant by motor vehicle operators.
Tomorrow is the twelfth anniversary of the day I died, literally and figuratively. Literally because, according to people who claim to have been there, I had no pulse or respiration for about 2 minutes after my body came to rest after being hit with a pickup truck at between 45 and 65 MPH (with 60 MPH being the speed they give the highest probability for). The survival rate for 45 MPH impacts on unprotected human body is something between 10 and 5%, the survival rate for an impact at 65 MPH is zero to six significant digits, 60 MPH is zero to about 4 significant digits. I am a statistical anomaly, by all rights I should be a distant memory from over a decade ago. Figuratively because the damage I endured from the wreck left me a new person, with different abilities and strengths that what I was before. The problem is the new person would have been just fine had the old one never existed, but everyone was expecting the old one because we looked almost identical, the new me has a few more scars than the old me and a limp but otherwise you couldn’t tell the two of us apart, physically. But we are completely different people, the old me was a confident public speaker who actually made a meager living as a spoken word poet with a vocabulary of over 300,000 words. The new me has a bad stammer under stress and has about 3000 words available at any one time The old me was a talented singer with 3 octaves of powerful range and another of much less power that I could use with amplification. The new me can sometimes carry a tune, but has no control over what key that tune will be in. I could have had a fine life had I been born the way I am now because I would have made different choices and trained differently and been able to find work doing what I could do, but to go from the old me to the new me left me unable to find work or otherwise meaningful existence until I started this blog in 2006 on another hosting service. Now my meaning in life is poured out onto these pages (nearly) every day.
Up in OK there is only a vague understanding of the law by LEO, which is scary and sad. Bicycle riders hospitalized after separate crashes Both wrecks involved cyclists on through streets with the signal getting hit by a right turning vehicle, which should have been an automatic ticket for the drivers, but except for the one who was driving on an expired and/or suspended license nothing happened to either driver. I’m not even sure the driver with the suspended license was given a ticket for hitting the through cyclist. What needs to be done immediately is getting those LEO up to speed on what constitutes a violation of right-of-way before a cyclist gets killed from failure to yield right-of-way by someone driving a motor vehicle. Then build the physical infrastructure that keeps cyclists physically safe where laws are not enough.
A CA cyclist bunny-hopped a median and went into traffic? Really? Cyclist In Critical Condition After Darting In Front of Truck Well I can personally say stranger things have happened…
Still in CA an update on the SF cyclist killed by a box truck. SFPD Chief Apologizes For Behavior Of Cyclist-Shaming Sergeant The important part of the story is SFPD reviewed the video they initially said did not exist and discovered the truck driver was at fault and possibly criminally so. Whodathunkit? I’m waiting to see the video to either confirm or deny rumors that the truck driver was behind the cyclist and just turned into her at speed from the inside lane.
Speaking of CA wreck video, here’s one of a cyclist getting hit-and-run. Caught On Camera: Teen Injured In Hit and Run Accident Only this wasn’t an “accident” as the cyclist was clearly in front of the driver when the lanes swapped and the bike lane went to the left of the right-turn lane. CA law requires motor vehicle to yield to cyclists in front of them during this transition.
Another update on the cyclist killed by a minivan driver in CA. Cyclist Dies From Injuries in Tuesday Crash Still nothing official on the mode of the wreck as it could have been a right hook (at speed as the cyclist went across an exit-ramp-like turn lane) or a straight hit-from-behind…
And not done yet with the CA wrecks. San Leandro: 66-year-old bicyclist struck and killed on Marina Boulevard Another SWCC wreck, so going out on a limb here and stating the intersection protocols might have helped if this was a cyclist really crossing the road. Otherwise infrastructure to prevent. The interesting thing about this wreck is there was nothing about a driver involved mentioned in the report, or if the “vehicle” involved remained at the scene.
A NV cyclist is right-hooked by a judge. Bicyclist dies in crash involving Douglas judge Right hook means intersection protocols to avoid and infrastructure to prevent. Judge means the cyclist will never see actual “justice” in this case.
Another wreck from the most deadliest state in the US to walk or ride a bike for 9 years running. Cyclist injured in A1A crash Nothing on the mode but at least this wreck they did acknowledge that cars have drivers. Infrastructure to prevent, as there are supposed to be bike lanes on A1A as a result of federal funding of the last makeover of the road but what got put in was woefully inadequate for the situation.
NYC is not the only place in NY where “no criminality suspected” is the rule rather than the exception when cyclists or pedestrians are injured. Police: 2 bicyclists injured in crashes One a right hook and the other the mode was not given. Infrastructure to prevent including LEO getting a (curse word, deleted) clue that cars kill when people violate the laws.
A PA cyclist is hit in what is either a right cross or a right hook. Bicyclist injured in Scranton wreck Not enough information given, just that the driver turned right and hit the cyclist, for me to tell you how to avoid or to mitigate the damages from this wreck, but getting the infrastructure right would prevent it.
Update on that bike wreck where America’s Day Begins. Bicycle rider dies two days after crash with SUV Nothing new on the wreck, just that the victim died without regaining consciousness.
Video of a right hook from Russia. Car and bike accident in Russia! NEW Clearly the cyclist was at fault for being in front of the driver [/sarcasm]
And those are all the links that gave me fits, except the endless stream of Russian YouTube videos of cyclists getting hit, and some killed. One in particular was quite nauseating as a cyclist was killed in a pinball wreck and the security camera footage showed the greasy stain from where the cyclist was smashed against a stone wall of a bridge abutment 40 feet or so from the impact site. You’re better off not seeing that.
Billed @€0.02, Opus
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Tagged anti-bike blatherings, blind driver syndrome, blind drivers, can you top this, cyclist injured, cyclist killed, cyclists killed, Dead cyclists, death day, Don't read the comments, good news, hit from behind, hit-and-run, Left cross/right hook, red light runner, salmon cyclists, Single Witness Suicidal Swerve/Single Witness Crossing Cyclist, smart LEO, Something smells, stupid cyclist, stupid drivers, stupid LEO, updates, waste of human skin