It’s another Monday, duck! And the Feed

I realized last night that I totally forgot to mention which Me (pronounced like May but without the diphthong) I got at the Sumer celebration Saturday night. I have to protect and practice Moon Magick for the next 6 months, which means I have to find a female who has not yet reached menopause to do this in my magickal tradition. That should be interesting for the next few months. And you thought that title for the blog was just historical and an homage to the movie The Wizard of OZ ? Nope, the author is a practising witch who rides a bicycle. And don’t ask me for love spells, because I’m quite certain you wouldn’t like the outcome. If you want me to cast a spell to make someone love you prepare for a total spiritual makeover because I don’t change the target of the desire, I make you change to what the target wants. If you’re not 100% behind that then you’re out of luck with my love spells…

And I’m going to have to put the neighbor’s fence back in their yard because all this rain has made the grass grow again, which means I get to walk behind the (scatological swear word, deleted) lawn mower again. What I really need to do first is to get a heavy roller and smooth out the yard a bit while the soil is soft enough to move so I can actually walk behind the mower without fear of turning an ankle. But that is an expense that is not in the budget.

More on the hit-from-behind wreck about 3 hours’ ride west of WoaB World HQ in the Beautiful Suburbs of Hell. Bicycle rider killed in Fort Worth crash Brightly lit wreck scene, lack of bike lights not mentioned in police report and driver had choice of 3 lanes counting the one the cyclist was hit in… Add in the driver swore at the cyclist then made a u-turn to hit him and you have a carbon copy of the wreck that killed me (temporarily, of course).

Another hit-and-run just down the road a day’s ride from WoaB. Two women on bicycles hit by vehicle in South Austin Two cyclists hit-from-behind in the same wreck = drunk driver, driver that deliberately hit cyclists, or all of the above. Hit-from-behind protocols to avoid or to mitigate the damages, and get the infrastructure right to prevent. And the comments that showed up at the link had nothing to do with the article I was reading or likely any article on that site…

A cyclist in PA is almost involved with a fatal wreck caused by a speeding driver and a passenger not wearing a seat belt so the blame is placed on the cyclist? 1 Killed, 1 Injured After Driver Swerves To Avoid Cyclist, Crashes In Mercer Co.

A wreck in NY leaves a cyclist with serious head injury. Man riding bike suffers head injury after crash The cyclist was “swerving” into the oncoming lane and sideswiped a utility trailer? Assuming this is an accurate narrative the way to avoid is to hold your line in your lane, and infrastructure to prevent.

A wreck in NC that could happen to anyone trying to make a left turn on a bicycle. Moped Rider Dies Following Accident In Onslow County The rider was making a left turn when he was hit-from-behind by someone trying to pass on the left as he was making the turn. Intersection protocols don’t really apply to this one as this is outside the normal circumstances for the majority of intersection bike wrecks. The problem that needs to be solved is the perceived “right” of drivers to pass a cyclist as soon as they get to one regardless of what else is going on including oncoming traffic, cyclist making a turn, or lane blocked by debris. More Moped rider dies after collision with van Friday

Update on the progress in prosecuting a CO wreck. Woman charged in crash that killed cyclist This was the drunk driver that hit and killed a cyclist because she was late for her court date on a previous DUI charge.

A CA cyclist finds a truck in the middle of the road with no room to get around. Cyclist injured in crash into winery truck near Glen Ellen The stopped truck is clearly in view in the center of the road with a bluff face on one side and heavy woods on the other. I don’t know what a cyclist is supposed to do in a case like this, but riding at a speed that you can stop in the distance you can see would help.

A cyclist is killed as collateral damage in a multi-vehicle wreck in Canuckistan. Cyclist killed on Wapiti Road Cyclist was hit-from-behind by a vehicle leaving the road to plow through another vehicle on the road and then several more in a parking lot. As I post this the possibility of a medical emergency causing the wreck had not been ruled out. More Cyclist killed in Friday crash on Wapiti Road.

Infrastructure! news from CA as surprise! they discover that chip seal does not need aggregate the size of baby heads to protect extend the life of existing pavement for a few years. Highway 1 – Chip Seal Update Turns out that fine gravel or even coarse sand will do the job just as well, without vibrating cyclists’ eyeballs out of their sockets…

A “Ghost Bike” for a deceased MD cyclist. ‘Ghost bike’ and rally pay tribute to bicyclist, coach, mom This was the cyclist killed because the driver couldn’t wait until it was safe to pass and pulled out on a blind hill, then cut back to the right when a car topped the hill in the oncoming lane.

A really off-road bicycle accessory. Man Pedals Across San Francisco Bay on Water Bicycle Make it adjustable so that I could bolt my LWB Stratus and get a decent seat to sit on instead of the ass-hatchet, and we might have a deal.

And that is all the bicycle news that gave me fits today.

Billed @€0.02, Opus

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Getting parochially political on a Wreck-Free Sunday

I try not to descend into politics outside transportation issues here at WoaB, but things have come to a head here in the Big PX over how we should deliver medical care to our citizens. On one side you have people who believe everyone deserves access to health care as a matter of right regardless of ability to pay, and the other side who believe that if you ain’t rich you don’t deserve anything. The rich side has medical insurance that costs more per year than half of American households make in income before taxes, so let’s just say their perspective is somewhat skewed by their circumstance.

The person I was referring to in the previous paragraph was my US Senator, Ted (I’m not a Canadian) Cruz. He’s covered by his wife’s insurance from Goldman Sachs (which is a whole ‘nother rant) which costs in the neighborhood of $40k-45k per year, which is a neighborhood that is about 3 times the annual income here at WoaB. So while he was reading Dr. Seuss and getting it wrong, he was covered by two Cadillac health plans, his Congressional plan and the gold-plated coverage from his wife’s plan.

And now that they have found they can’t stop the Affordable Care Act, so they want to shut the government down unless they can delay it for a year. Oh yeah and they want to strip abortion and contraceptives out of the act as well. So that’s a big extended middle finger to everyone who lacks a Y chromosome. Last time I checked testicle-owning Americans did not need either of those two services.

What really gets me about this is the Affordable Care Act is a Republican plan from the end of the 20^th Century that was passed in MA as Romneycare (you remember, that goofus that lost the last presidential election?). So what was good 15 years ago is terrible now? I guess because poor people are more evil now than they were 15 years ago, or most probably because the people leading the GOP now have little contact with and no empathy for the vast majority of Americans who don’t pump hundreds of millions of dollars into their campaign war chests. They have made the conscious choice to place all their resources at the behest of the rich and to the detriment of the vast majority. I’m purposely trying to avoid that 1%-99% rhetoric here.

OK, enough of that, things have gotten strange again here at Casa de El Poeta. Yesterday afternoon our neighbor’s fence became part of our yard after the soil was saturated by an extended thunderstorm. Unlike when that section of the fence was ours there was no high winds or mini-tornado this time to bring the fence down just lots of rain. So now we have about 12-14 feet of fence sitting on the ground in the back yard.

Then last night while I was on the road to the Sumer celebration one of the cabinets holding our dishes fell off the wall. I was looking at the remains this morning and it was amazing it held together this long as it was constructed from particle board and glorified cardboard. That has been hanging on the wall since 1985. The sides and bottom separated from the back which remained attached to the wall and had to be removed by taking out the 3 screws that held it to the wall. This is on top of replacing the water heater and AC and having to remove the fence. So we will have to replace the cabinets as well. Whoopie! So far my 56^th year is not getting off to a good start.

PSA, Opus

Getting ready for another celebration, and the Feed

Tonight we are hosting a local collection of Sumerian traditionists at my church. As my part of the harvest celebration I am bringing another loaf of Soda Bread, using the 4 cup recipe this time. So yay! more simple baking that makes tasty food. But I think I will leave the salt crust off this batch, as it would not be appropriate for the celebration. This celebration a priestess portraying Inanna will be handing out the gifts of civilization (Me, pronounced like May but less drawn out) to protect over the winter while she (Inanna) descends into the Underworld. These are things like bread making, beer making, how to have a disagreement without fighting, how to marry, how to divorce, how to distribute water fairly… you know, civilization. I think I may get tasked with protecting bread making, but I don’t know.

A wreck a few miles west of WoaB World HQ in the Beautiful Suburbs of Hell. Bicyclist killed in Fort Worth Blind driver hits cyclist from behind, no criminality suspected. Hit-from-behind protocols to avoid, and get the infrastructure right to prevent. The Street View of the scene shows 3 lanes for the driver to choose from with lots of overhead street lights to provide auxiliary illumination to the cyclist, who by the way probably had legal levels of lights and reflectors since it wasn’t mentioned that he didn’t.

More on the NH wreck as more people are charged in connection to the wreck. Husband of cyclist killed in Hampton crash speaks out Now her drug and car pushers have been arrested and charged as accessories. This is like watching a train wreck in slow motion.

A CT bicyclist dies when hit-from-behind by a motorcyclist who lived a few blocks from and on the same street as the wreck. Enfield Child Dies in Bicycle-Motorcycle Collision I think this is another report on this wreck, because the circumstances seem familiar to me. Anyway, hit-from-behind so use the protocols to avoid and get the infrastructure right to prevent.

Salmon cyclist meets blind driver in KS. Bicyclist suffers serious injuries in accident near Highland Park Driver turns left and hits cyclist riding the wrong way, and somehow it is conveniently (for the driver) forgotten that the driver ran over someone who was visible in the lane directly in front of the vehicle and nobody questions it. Anyway don’t ride salmon and hit-from-behind protocols to avoid, get the blind drivers off the streets to prevent.

An IA cyclist learns not to ride a BMX Vert bike on the street. Teen critically injured after bike hits truck I know why BMX Vert bikes don’t have brakes, it’s a safety issue in the half-pipe. But it becomes a different safety issue to ride one in the street. Just Doooon’t Do It!

The don’t know which way the bus was going, but they know the cyclist “swerved” in front of it? They say such crazy things in CA sometimes. Cyclist hit by bus injured in Modesto Since there was no intersection listed nor was the cyclist said to be coming from a driveway I’m going to call this a SWCC and say use hit-from-behind protocols to avoid and get the infrastructure right to prevent.

Last link is a video from a Dutch guy on what’s wrong and right about US cycling for transportation. A Dutch Guy Is Disgusted By America, But He Has A Hell Of A Point

And those are all the links about bicycles that gave me fits today, “All the news that gives me fits”.

Billed @€0.02, Opus

Back from running morning errands, and the Feed

I had things to do this morning, and I managed to do them riding DART because the transfer points for the next bus and the location of my stop for the previous errand were colocated. IOW I caught the bus for my next errand in front of the place I did the previous errand, making transfers less of a time waste. I was still out for 5 hours, but that’s because one stop took more than an hour to complete. The rest of the stops I got done between getting dropped off by one bus and catching the next. One of the reasons I had errands to do is I am baking bread again, just for church and personal use this time. I’m making Irish Soda Bread because it’s a quick bread that’s really quick. I’m experimenting with different size batches to see how they scale. The base recipe is 3 cups of flour (whole wheat or unbleached), 1½ cups of buttermilk, and 1½ tsp baking soda baked for 40-45 minutes in a 375°F oven. From previous experiments I know that the ratio of baking soda to the rest of the mix goes up slightly with increasing size and that the baking time decreases less than the batch size, the 4 cup of flour batch would be only slightly longer than the 3 cup, and a single cup of flour batch would be much less but more than 1/3 of the baking time of the 3 cup batch. I will be baking a 1 cup of flour batch tonight and a 4 cup for a ritual tomorrow. I had to get more buttermilk for the batch for tomorrow.

A young CT cyclist is hit from behind by a cyclist with a motor. Juvenile dies in bicycle vs motorcycle crash Hit-from-behind protocols to avoid or to mitigate damages and get the infrastructure right to prevent. Given the small size (comparatively) of the weapon vehicle, what the heck was the motorcyclist paying attention to?

Another report on the cyclist right-hooked in MA. Cyclist struck and pinned by SUV while riding in Worcester Still intersection, still appears the cyclist may have been using the protocols to mitigate the damages, still sucks to have an SUV on your chest.

Karma got one before the justice system did in FL. Loxahatchee man, who police say killed woman while she was riding bike, dies This was the drunk that ran over a woman in the bike lane while her son watched from the sidewalk. Now he’s beyond human justice. But the case will continue until a body or legal representation that the body exists is brought before the court. You have to admire a DA like that. “He might be just deeply unconscious.” I say give him a couple of good swift kicks to the pants yabbies as BSNY would say.

In GA even LEO are second-class citizens on bicycles. Bicycle deputy hit by van in Evans Even a LEO responding to an emergency in front of him (another wreck) is completely unprotected by the law if he’s riding a bicycle…

Diplomatic immunity only goes so far. French diplomat on bicycle struck by vehicle in Northwest; police say injuries minor this would be a left hook as the driver turned in on the cyclist. Intersection wreck protocols to avoid or to mitigate damages, and get the infrastructure right to prevent.

Another IL cyclist is killed in an intersection wreck. Naperville bicyclist struck, killed by pickup truck There is some confusion as to who had the right of way in this wreck as the amber phase was short and the intersection wide. With the location given for the impact it is very likely the cyclist was caught by a stale green. Intersection wreck, use the protocols to avoid and get the infrastructure right to prevent.

IA LEO are asking for the public to assist them in finding a killer. State Patrol asks public to help find hit and run driver who injured cyclist OK maybe not a killer, yet. Still a hit-from-behind wreck and a hit-and-run, protocols to avoid or to mitigate damages, and get the infrastructure right to prevent.

A MT drunk driver was killed by another drunk driver as he rode his bicycle in compliance with court orders. Local musician on bicycle hit, killed by suspected drunken driver Hit-from-behind wreck, use the protocols to avoid or to mitigate damages, and get the infrastructure right to prevent. Regardless of previous offenses this man was one of “us” at the time of the wreck, and was fully compliant with all laws covering equipment and operation of the bike. I also have to say the comments section was pretty good on this one.

Update on a CO wreck. Woman charged in crash that killed cyclist The driver was “impaired” when she “fell asleep” at the wheel and ran the cyclist over from behind while driving to court for a hearing on a previous DUI…

Charges are brought against a hit-and-run driver in CA. Woman Arrested for Killing Bicyclist While Under Influence of Prescription Drugs All of the drugs she was taking had warnings to not drive while taking them, and she drove anyway.

An ID cyclist is killed in a hit-and-run assault. Man killed in hit-and-run on State Street identified Hit-from-behind, protocols to avoid, and get the infrastructure right so people don’t keep dying like this. The cyclist’s tail light and reflectors were visible in several of the 20 pictures that accompanied the article.

Charges are pending against the victims of two wrecks in the Great White North. Charges pending after two crashes injuring teen cyclists First wreck was intersection where the cyclist is accused of running a stop sign, second wreck was hit-from-behind where the cyclist was accused of riding without a helmet. I don’t see where the helmet or lack of makes the driver that hit him any less liable for driving too fast for conditions. Anyway protocols to avoid and infrastructure to prevent.

Infrastructure! news from MA. Letter: Impose speed limit on sidewalks I see two problems with this. First since bicycles are not required to be equipped with speedometers most sidewalk cyclists will not know how fast they are going, and second the tools used to measure the speeds of cars either do not work on bicycles because of poor radar reflectivity or because they just are not very accurate at the speeds being measured.

Infrastructure news from NYC. NYPD: 1,378 Pedestrians and Cyclists Injured, 13 Killed in Traffic in August And of all those killed pedestrians none were hit with a bicycle. All of the pedestrians killed walking in the sidewalk were killed by people driving on the sidewalk with motor vehicles… (!)

Infrastructure from the UK, where they discover that drivers are still pretty crap as the number of cyclists Killed or Seriously Injured continues to increase even as miles driven and overall fatalities goes down. Rise in cyclist deaths on roads and DfT statistics show cyclist casualties continue to increase but sharp increase in fatalities may be a fluke It’s no surprise that drivers in their light armored vehicles are no getting hurt at an increased pace but everyone else on the roads is dying.

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

Billed @€0.02, Opus

More Mule duty musings and the Feed

The cat is pestering the heck out of me because we ran out of cat food this morning. More will be procured this afternoon when the regular grocery run is made, but all he gets until then is water. As you might understand this makes him desiring of physical attention (“You didn’t feed me, do you still love me?”) than his normal cat behavior (“I will let you pet me now”). And he keeps extending his claws when he’s happy, unfortunately he’s happy while propped up against my injured leg, the one that sends back strange information when stimulated.

A SWSS fatality in LA. Bunkie man killed in bike-car crash in Avoyelles Parish Once again the narrative is provided by the driver of the weapon vehicle. Hit-from-behind protocols to avoid, and get the infrastructure right to prevent.

A MA story that gets different every time I open this link. Bicyclist hurt in accident in Worcester The initial report did not know if the cyclist was turning or going straight, but either way this is a right hook. Protocols to avoid or to mitigate damages, and get the infrastructure right to prevent. It appears the cyclist may have used the recommended right-hook escape route but not quickly enough to avoid the impact.

More on a MA wreck. Former Holden teen killed in bicycle accident This was the teen hit from behind on a highway through a residential area.

A NJ cyclist is injured when a driver “stops” but doesn’t stop at a stop sign. Two hurt in Rumson crash, police say The driver made one of those “perfunctory stops” that technically obeyed the law without actually obeying the law. Nothing the cyclist could do as he was already in the intersection when the driver ran the stop sign, and as there was a traffic control device that was ignored by the driver physical changes to the infrastructure would not have been much help either. I think the only preventative for this would be something on the order of assault charges filed against the driver.

A child is struck in OH. Child On Bike Injured When Hit By School Bus Intersection wreck, use the protocols to avoid or to mitigate damages and get the infrastructure right to prevent. Since this appears to be a wreck inside a residential area the Dutch model would be a 20 km/hr speed limit and strict driver liability for hitting children.

Update on a KY cyclist getting killed. Name of bicyclist killed in early morning accident released Still the same story, just with a few more names attached to it.

Another cyclist gets hit by a train, this time in IL. Bicyclist killed in collision with Metra train in Mount Prospect The age of the victim makes it likely that the cyclist did not hear the train, or that something impaired his ability to get off the track when he discovered the train was coming. The fact that he was on the tracks when the crossing arms were down does not say he didn’t get caught with the arms coming down after he had started crossing. And I’m the guy that usually blames the cyclist when one gets hit by a train.

Another wreck in IL gets blamed on the driver driving blind (!). Man injured in serious Aurora bike accident identified The driver pulled over to make a right turn and hit the cyclist from behind. Protocols to avoid, and infrastructure to prevent but I’m just so glad a blind driver got a ticket for almost killing a cyclist I could just plotz.

Update on the SC cyclist killed at an intersection. Coroner identifies cyclist killed after colliding with SUV And I find it interesting that when the cyclist was still alive the report was the driver was driving like the video game “Grand Theft Auto”, but after the cyclist died it was all the cyclist’s fault. More CCSO: Cyclist hit on Folly Beach has died

News from a country where killing a cyclist is taken somewhat seriously. Bail hearing put off in cyclist fatality case The driver has been held without bail since the death.

UK story about getting a serial cyclist killer behind bars. Motorist who killed cyclist to find out if sentence will be increased And Judges reject appeal to increase sentence of motorist who killed cyclist So, killing cyclists is still just fine and dandy in the UK, so long as you use a motor vehicle to do it.

Lifestyle in TX. Local Group Helps Injured Cyclists

Last link is Bikeyface getting it right, again. NOT ATHLETIC I get a similar reaction to people finding out I ride for transportation. And I tell them that many of their excuses to why they “can’t ride” will go away after a few days of riding.

And those are all the links about bicycles that gave me fits (sometimes of happiness) today.

Billed @€0.02, Opus

I think I get to stay home tomorrow, and the Feed

I’m fortunate to have a small Feed today because I had to use DART to go run an errand which managed to kill about an hour and a half. I had to go pay my last cell bill before I switch carriers next month.

More on the left-crossed cyclist from UT. Bicyclist killed in Sandy crash was competitive racer All the pictures I have from the crime scene show a bike too badly mangled to be sure if there was a light installed or not. More Murray man killed in auto-bicycle accident

A salmon cyclist in CA proves why you should ride with rather than against traffic. Cyclist killed in collision with garbage truck SWSS wreck but getting hit head on did not improve the chances for survival. Use the hit-from-behind protocols to avoid while riding with traffic, and get the infrastructure right to prevent.

Another CA wreck that LEO are sitting on until facts are known. Car Collides With Bicycle, Seriously Injuring Cyclist That usually means the cops got there before the cyclist was removed by the ambulance and the cyclist was able to speak. More as I know it.

Update on that wreck on “Nerd Avenue” in CA. Woman succumbs to injuries from Sunday hit-and-run And this just went from assault to murder…

Another SWSS salmon cyclist dies, this time in NC. Colfax bicyclist killed in crash wore no helmet, swerved in front of truck Assuming the report is accurate ride with traffic and use hit-from-behind protocols to avoid or to mitigate damages, and get the infrastructure right to prevent. More Update: Colfax bicyclist did not wear helmet, swerved in front of truck

When I first filtered this link the cyclist was still alive in a Schroedinger’s Cat kind of way. Coroner identifies cyclist killed after colliding with SUV Another thing that changed was the party that ran the stop sign, when I first read the link they compared the driver’s actions to the video game “Grand Theft Auto”, now they are blaming the dead cyclist. If the story as it’s linked now is correct, intersection wreck, use the protocols to avoid or to mitigate damages, and whatever version was correct get the infrastructure right to prevent. More Bicyclist badly hurt on Folly Beach

Another SC wreck. 9-Year-Old Fatally Struck While Riding Bike Kid wasn’t even riding in the street, but was too close to the road when a semi passed and sucked him into the wheels. I don’t know how you would avoid this wreck other than not being a 9YO boy riding a new bike in the driveway. More 9-year-old on bicycle struck and killed by 18-wheeler on SC 72 in Whitmire

Hit-and-run in IA. Polk City cyclist seriously injured hit and run collision Hit-from-behind protocols to avoid or to mitigate damages, and get the infrastructure right to prevent.

An IL wreck that is just “WTF?” Updated: Bike rider, 72, dies of heart attack after being hit by car in Niles If the cyclist really had a BAC% of 0.13 then he was either an alcoholic or he wouldn’t have been able to ride the bicycle to get hit, but to be checked out and then die 20 minutes after the wreck makes me say they missed something. No mode given so I can’t say how to avoid, but get the infrastructure right to prevent. More Cyclist dead after fatal hit and run in Niles

A KY cyclist dies after getting hit from behind. Bicyclist struck, killed on Preston Highway identified The wreckage indicates an impact from the left, which indicates the cyclist may have been preparing to make a left turn when he was hit in the inside lane. Protocols to avoid and infrastructure to prevent.

A MI wreck that brought an angry sigh to my lips when I read about it. 8-year-old on bike killed in hit-and-run in Detroit Dragged like that the driver had to know he hit someone, there ain’t no deer in that part of Detroit. The Street View of the scene shows an arterial adjacent to a playground where the boy was initially hit with lots of signs reminding drivers to drive carefully around children in the street. Initial reaction is “not the kid’s fault” and that driver inattention was at least partially if not totally to blame. The bike frame was mangled nearly beyond recognition in the wreck, I can imagine what the victim looked like after the wreck…

A somewhat happy report from KS. Car-bike accident results in no serious injuries Other than the wreck itself nothing was actually said about the wreck, so, INFRASTRUCTURE!

Update on the driver that hit 4 cyclists head on in NH. New Hampshire woman charged with negligent homicide in crash that killed 2 cyclists 2 homicide charges, 2 assault charges (should be assault with a deadly since of the 4 assaulted 2 died) and not one word about driving without a license being illegal possession of a deadly weapon.

More on the CA 3 foot passing law. Bicyclists to get three-foot buffer under new California law and New law requires 3-foot clearance to pass cyclists on roadway

Infrastructure from MA. Letter: Brookline ‘hostile’ to bicycles

And those were all the bicycle links that gave me fits.

Billed @€0.02, Opus

I need (get) to buy more tools, and the Feed

Yep, that old guy thing, Always Want More Tools, has reared its head at Casa de El Poeta. I was trying to use that music wire but was stymied by the fact I did not have the tools I needed to break into the packaging! Imagine that, all those tools and none of them will allow me to get to my purchase. What I need to cut the wires containing my music wire is a pair of diagonal cutters, colloquially known as “dykes”. So I will take a short walk to the local home repair and hardware store to purchase a pair or maybe two in different sizes. What I have been using to cut wire with has been the cutter on the Vice Grip pliers as it gives me a lot of additional leverage for those days when the arthritis in my fingers acts up. But it cuts with the back of the jaws, and to snip the wires holding the music wire together I need something that will cut with the tip of the jaws. So, road trip!

The pedestrian who was collateral damages in a road rage incident between a cabbie and a cyclist in NYC last month was released from hospital this week. Video: Tourist Maimed By Cab Last Month Finally Leaves Hospital Yep that pedestrian, and that road rage incident. The driver has yet to be charged in the assault.

A cyclist is critically injured running a red light while riding 2-up on a single rider bike. Teen Injured In Car-Bike Accident Remains In ICU And with the non-helmet wearing we have the trifecta of blame the cyclist. Intersection wreck, use the protocols to avoid, and get the infrastructure right to prevent. Oh and don’t ride 2-up on a bike only made to carry one person.

Update on the deadly car/4 cyclist wreck in NH over the weekend. Bicyclists in deadly N.H. crash shared bond What wasn’t in this report but was an update to a link I already posted is the driver of the weapon vehicle had already been stopped once and ticketed for driving without a license. Had she been arrested for illegal possession of a deadly weapon this wreck would not have happened. Had she been given the ticket and the car impounded until a licensed driver could pick it up this would not have happened. I smell lawsuits coming, whole herds of them, and they stink. More Video Shows Stretch of Road Where Danvers Cyclist Was Mortally Wounded

Another report on the charity cyclist injured in a buzz job in the most deadliest state in the US to walk or ride a bike. Cyclist Riding for Charity Injured in Hit-and-Run While on His Way to Miami The cyclist was just a couple of days away from completing a more than 10K mile trip around the US to all 30 MLB stadiums.

Another blind driver kills another cyclist. Mass. woman killed in crash while raising money for M.S. charity This has not been a good weekend for MA cyclists riding for charity. Hit-from-behind by a blind driver, protocols to avoid or to mitigate the damages, and get the infrastructure right to prevent. As part of that infrastructure make driving while blind a crime. ZZ Top, we need you to update that song from the ’70s “Arrested For Driving While Blind”.

Update on Dale Stetina. Dale Stetina, ex-pro cyclist injured in Lefthand crash, moved to Craig Hospital for rehab Rehab from brain injuries has come a long way from when I had my wreck, but it’s still a tough row to hoe.

More on that left-crossed cyclist killed near SLC UT. Cyclist killed after colliding with minivan I notice they have already started blaming the cyclist for not wearing a glow-in-the-dark clown costume. Still an intersection wreck, use the protocols to avoid and get the infrastructure right to prevent. More Police identify cyclist, 58, killed in crash with minivan in Sandy

Another link to the kid right-crossed in CA while he was going to school. Boy on bike hit, killed by SUV outside Byron school And more BYRON: 12yo boy killed riding bike to Byron Middle School And we have another victim of a blind driver. Right turn that went directly over the cyclist that had just passed in front of her face. Nothing a cyclist of any age could have done to avoid this nor could infrastructure that still allowed parents to drop their kids at school in light armored vehicles. Also Hundreds attend vigil for 12YO boy killed near school

Update on the CA cyclist injured on “Nerd Avenue”. Bicyclist in critical condition following hit-and-run in Chico They found the driver, now will they prosecute? Hit-from-behind wreck, use the protocols to avoid, but from the description of the wreck I don’t think anything short of barrier protected infrastructure would prevent a wreck like this.

Update on a wreck in the Great White North. Popular cyclist killed on the road Nothing new on the mode, she “fell” into oncoming traffic.

An act of terrorism in Oz. Mountain bike riders lucky to escape rope strung between trees on Clarence downhill run Just glad that nobody got hurt this time (unlike the last 3 times).

Infrastructure! news from just down the road a bit. Say Goodbye to 267 Parking Spaces on Lavaca and Guadalupe Goodbye and good riddance.

Infrastructure news from CA, good news this time. Cyclists will get 3-foot buffer under new law Just another law for CHP to ignore or wrongfully interpret.

And those were all the links about bicycles that gave me fits today.

Billed @€0.02, Opus

“Another day older and deeper in debt”, and the Feed

I forgot who wrote that line in “16 Tons”, but it certainly applies today as I spend money to satisfy a city that thinks their esthetics are superior to mine for my property. I just had the fence removed because the city here in the Beautiful Suburbs of Hell decided they didn’t like the way it looked, which has the side effect of also destroying our grape vine. Granted we never got many grapes before the birds got them all (or as in this summer we never had any grow), but now we won’t get any, ever.

A horrific wreck in NH. Two cyclists killed in annual group bike ride in New Hampshire and Two die during bike ride also Bay State cyclists killed on N.H. ride this, too Essex cyclist among injured in N.H. crash not done yet Two local women killed in bike ride Head on into a group of cyclists and then off the road, driver was either drunk or on the phone if it wasn’t deliberate. No way to avoid and I doubt that anything short of a barrier protected bike path would have prevented this wreck, and given the collateral physical damage I doubt even that would help.

A wreck in MD. Sunday Update: Bicyclist Killed on Quaker Neck Road Hit-from-behind wreck, use the protocols to avoid or to mitigate damages. Looking at the Street View of the closest intersection the sight lines were pretty good for the driver to see a cyclist even at that time of night assuming legal lighting on the part of the cyclist if they were any distance away from that intersection. However if the cyclist was hit close to that intersection then the driver would have had fractions of a second to see and react to the cyclist. I have no idea what the Dutch model for infrastructure would be for that isolated hamlet.

An eyewitness report on that double homicide by motor vehicle in NC. Des Ark, late Thursday The riders both had blinking lights and reflective vests on at the time of the wreck. More Man killed, woman injured while riding bicycles on Thursday night and 2nd Bicyclist Injured In Chapel Hill Hit-And-Run Dies

Another cyclist is injured in the most deadliest state in the US to walk or ride a bicycle. Charity bike rider from Annapolis injured in Florida crash Buzz job with lots of witnesses. I hope they catch and crucify the driver who violated the FL 3 foot passing law.

Update on an OH wreck. Leads sought in hit-skip that killed high school coach About all they know about the weapon vehicle is it was a dark grey, and it’s missing chunks from the front end.

A SWSS in OH. Teen Hit by Truck While Riding Bicycle Hit-from-behind wreck, protocols to avoid, get the infrastructure right to prevent.

A MN cyclist is hit. Boy struck while riding bike across street SWCC wreck, intersection protocols to avoid, and get the infrastructure right to prevent. The location is a quiet residential area which should have low (15 MPH) speed limits and there was a kids’ playground in the park on the corner. I place at least 50% of the blame for this wreck on the infrastructure.

A left-crossed cyclist dies in UT not far from where I lived. SANDY POLICE RELEASE NAME OF BICYCLIST KILLED IN CRASH I used to ride on that street back in the early ’70s. It wasn’t bad back then, a quiet 2 lane in an almost-rural setting. Now it’s this nightmare for cyclists . Intersection wreck, use the protocols to avoid or to mitigate damages, and get the infrastructure right to prevent. More Man killed after bicycle collides with van The wreckage showed the remains of the headlight in little pieces near the broken frame of the bike, indicating the cyclist was both lighted and moving out at the time of impact. And I was under the impression that getting hit while making a left turn was always the fault of the turning vehicle for failure to yield to oncoming traffic.

Update on a KS wreck. Charges won’t be filed in fatal bike-truck collision at South Lawrence Trafficway

A fatal wreck in CA takes the life of a young cyclist. Byron: Boy, 12, fatally hit by SUV in front of school The cyclist was right-crossed entering the school by a driver leaving the school looking only at motor vehicle traffic. Intersection wreck, use the protocols to avoid or to mitigate damages and get the infrastructure right to prevent. Part of that infrastructure needs to be a ban on motor vehicles within 1000 feet of the school during the entrance and dismissal times of the day.

I initially read the location as “nerd avenue” for this CA wreck. Bicyclist in critical condition following Nord Avenue hit-and-run Hit-from-behind wreck, use the protocols to avoid, but as this wreck was in the bike lane that doesn’t leave many options for avoiding the wreck. Get the infrastructure right including keeping drunk drivers off the roads to prevent.

If only we could get this kind of prosecution against drivers in the US… Norwegian pavement cyclist faces jail for killing another pavement rider UK link, “pavement” is British English for a sidewalk.

A blind driver kills a little boy riding with his family in Oz. Young boy on bike killed by truck The driver saw the rider at the back of the group but the front of the group was already in his blind spot and he just barged right in to make his turn in front of the cyclist he saw. Intersection wreck that would be the equivalent of a right cross for countries that drive on the right side of the road, but intersection protocols would have been useless here as the cyclist was already in front of the weapon vehicle and unable to avoid the wreck. Infrastructure might have been able to prevent a wreck like this if turns on red are made illegal to go with it. Also Boy killed while riding bike (00:25)

DIY Infrastructure! from the site of a near deadly wreck with massive collateral damages in NYC. Unauthorized Bike Lanes Created in Midtown

Infrastructure from CA. Cal Poly Pomona moves to restrict on-campus traffic

Infrastructure news from the UK, where it is legal to sue local government for harm caused by faulty infrastructure. Undisclosed Damages Awarded To Cyclist Injured By Oldham Potholes Cyclist dodged one pothole only to be taken out by the one behind it.

Lifestyle from CA. Barbecue fundraiser Sunday for injured cyclist I hope the collection was good. The victim will need the money.

Lifestyle from SC. Cyclists remember those killed and promote safety at first “Respect Ride”

And those are all the links about bicycles that gave me fits today.

Billed @€0.02, Opus

I’m “Double Nickles” today on a Wreck-Free Sunday

Yes it’s my birthday today, so I’m typing another blog post. I’m so blase about it that I didn’t even post a suggested gift list this year. I mean I have most of what I need and pretty much all of what I want (except that harem). Well there are a few things I still want and/or need, but those are not the kind of things that can be gift-wrapped and placed on a table with a nice card.

I still want/need safe places to ride my bike so that I can get places on my bike. Right now in the Beautiful Suburbs of Hell we have almost 10 miles of bicycle infrastructure. Contrast that to the more than 1000 miles of automobile infrastructure and you see the problem. Comparing lane miles is even worse because so many roads here have more than one lane in each direction. We have just under 2 miles of bike lanes, the rest is shared lanes with cars. We have no cycle tracks, and a few bike paths that don’t go anyplace in parks. I don’t include them because they are intended for recreational use, not transportation. That would be like using the number of public swimming pools in an inventory of navigable waterways. And I don’t include residential streets because most of the residential streets are not built to get anything through in a smooth and direct fashion, they are impermeable for every mode. To wit at the end of the next block is a park with a cycle path, that is blocked by a chain link fence and a gate for maintenance vehicles. Entry to the park and cycle path is a quarter of a mile away from the end of my street. This is the opposite of “permeable”. And it makes the cycle path completely unusable for transportation.

I still want/need affordable health care that covers what the gig as a lab rat doesn’t. And that covers Mrs. the Poet. Right now if I have more than $100 in my bank account(s), I don’t qualify for Medicaid in TX. I don’t make enough to even qualify to use the insurance exchange. I’m caught in the middle, and I shouldn’t be because there shouldn’t be a “middle” to get caught in. For that I blame Gov. Goodhair and the Tea Party rejecting any expansion of Medicare/aid eligibility, while simultaneously rejecting establishing state insurance exchanges. I propose a lawsuit that makes Perry and the Tea Party responsible for every death, every person with diminished quality of life, and every child that suffers because of a lack of access to medical care caused by the actions of Perry and the Tea Party-controlled legislature. If they created the situation they can bloody well pay for the damages they caused.

Something else Perry should have to pay for is the 2009 veto of the vulnerable road users law that actually would have punished drivers for killing people with their motor vehicles. As it is now in TX unless you are drunk or have made public statements about killing people not in cars (and the prosecutor bothers trying to look those statements up) you pretty much get a free pass for killing in a motor vehicle. Claim blindness (“I didn’t see him!>sob, sob<"), claim the victim "forced you" ("He was right in the middle of the road, I either hit him or the oncoming traffic"), claim the victim shouldn't have been there, and you walk. Just be sober and don't leave the scene of the wreck and you'll be fine. And if you do leave the scene just claim you didn't know you hit anything, and you'll be fine. People with busted windshields and missing body parts (the vehicle's body, not theirs) have made that claim and it has been accepted as true. You don't even need to be legally driving the vehicle as long as you stay at the scene of the wreck, or stop and return. I want/need laws that correct this gap in prosecution, particularly a law that requires all road deaths be brought to trial so that every death will be investigated and also some kind of sanction against LEO that fail to investigate a fatal wreck. Can somebody get me a law like this in TX?

Another thing I want/need is a local vendor for metals in job-lot quantities and bicycle sizes/alloys. For instance there is a metal vendor 15 minutes away by bus with 2 stops nearby, that doesn't carry the sizes and alloys I need and does not sell in job-lot quantities. Get that fixed and I'll be a happy bicycle builder. I really don't like having to change the design of my bikes to accommodate the metal I can get locally. Having access to sizes and alloys to build that T-Bucket project would be nice, too. And having a roomy workshop without a bunch of other people's junk in it would be a plus, too.

And that's what I Really Want for My Birthday.

PSA, Opus

Another day’s activities ruined by DART, and the Feed

Yep, DART did it again. There is an event I wanted to go to, one that had been set up specifically to allow people to attend by transit, and DART scheduled track maintenance to the location on the day of the event. The event was the Red Bull Flugtag Dallas that was about a quarter-mile from the Irving Las Colinas Convention Center Station and expected to draw a large percentage of attendees from all over by allowing people to park at DART rail stations and drop $5 for a day pass to get to the event. So their attendance will be negatively affected and future editions will likely not be held in Dallas. This would have been my only chance to see one of these in person, and because of DART I won’t get to see it.

Update on the AR wreck where a driver just plowed into a group of 13 cyclists. Ark. man accused of driving into, injuring group of cyclists pleads not guilty to charges

A wreck in IN where the cyclist was hit attempting to get off the road after a previous wreck. Man riding bicycle struck, killed along Route 119 Not sure how you avoid getting hit after you already had a wreck and are trying to get clear of the road. Also not sure if infrastructure would do much except get the cyclist away from killing machines if there was a barrier to prevent bicycle/motor vehicle interaction.

More reports on that NC hit-and-run. Cyclist killed, another hurt in Chapel Hill hit-and-run Nothing new here, but the fact that any potential lack of visibility still has not been mentioned by either LEO or the media tells me these cyclists were lighted in excess of the minimum standards of the law, probably well in excess of the minimums. And 1 cyclist dead, another injured in hit and run And in the sole image I have found for this wreck all you can see is that one bike has a large headlight, but the backs of both bikes are destroyed to the point of not being able to tell if lights or reflectors were installed.

An extremely low-information report from OH. Man injured from accident involving bicycle and SUV in Niles Nothing on the mode, but the location implies that intersection protocols might avoid or mitigate injury. Get the infrastructure right to prevent.

Hit-and-run in CA. Bicycling tourist hit, injured on Highway 1 ride The driver claimed he thought he hit “a rock” with his mirror to create the damage, a story I find about as plausible as a toddler saying “I didn’t do it” when standing next to a broken cookie jar. Buzz job so hit-from-behind protocols to avoid or to mitigate damages, and get the infrastructure right to prevent. And do something about drivers that can’t see or process the information of what they do see.

Another wreck in far West Canuckistan. Cyclist injured after collision with car in downtown Victoria And notice the last line from a report that never said the cyclist was at fault or not visible: “Police reminded cyclists to wear reflective clothing, especially as fall approaches and it is darker longer“. Anyway, intersection wreck, the protocols might apply to avoid or to reduce damages, and get the infrastructure right to prevent.

And those are all the links that gave me fits about bicycles today.

Billed @€0.02, Opus