I went to the chiropractor today. I left the house at 1200 and returned home by 2030. I could have left later except Mrs. the Poet and I see the same Dr. at the same time so I have to go to where Mrs. the Poet works to pick her up and then go to the Dr. And since it was after 1800 when the first bus of many we needed to take to get home got to the bus stop we decided to stop for dinner on the way home. Otherwise we could have gotten home earlier but then had to make dinner, which would have been a pain and taken longer than stopping for dinner. As it was we got home a little later, but fed as opposed to getting fed much later at home. It’s about a 2 hour trip from the school Mrs. the Poet works to the chiropractor, and mid-day about the same from Casa de El Poeta to Mrs. the Poet’s school. #Public transit is a time sink.
Up first is a story from the most deadliest state in the US to walk or ride a bike for so long that I have lost track of how many years in a row FL has held this “honor”. Investigators searching for a driver who hit a 12-year-old girl while she was riding her bike Intersection wreck but it appears that since the child cyclist is not getting blamed for this wreck the driver of the weapon vehicle disregarded a traffic control so protocols are moot, get the infrastructure right to prevent.
A wreck in GA. Macon attorney killed in Monroe County bike accident The cyclist apparently left-crossed himself. Intersection protocols to avoid and get the infrastructure right to prevent. Situational awareness always.
A fatal wreck in IN. Evansville teen killed while riding bike and Evansville teen killed after hit by vehicle while riding his bicycle Hit-from-behind protocols to avoid and get the infrastructure right to prevent, including making hitting another vehicle moving in the same direction the fault of the rear vehicle for going too fast for conditions. The weapon vehicle had headlights so the driver should have been able to see the cyclist if the driver was paying attention to what was in the road in front of them. “Dark clothing” does not give the driver a pass for driving too fast.
A hit-and-run in IL. West Point woman arrested for leaving scene of crash with cyclist Assuming hit-from-behind because no intersection was mentioned and he cyclist was not mentioned to have been salmon. Protocols to avoid or to mitigate damages, and get the infrastructure right to prevent.
Hit-and-run (maybe) in MO. Cyclist’s body found along I-70 The thought had occurred to me that the person might have been murdered and the body and bike gear dumped on the side of the Interstate for passing traffic to destroy. No mode possible to discern due to the damage to the body and gear. And one thing I find odd is aside from identifying the victim as a cyclist there was no mention of finding a bicycle at the scene. (Gigi found that odd, too)
A wreck in KS. Cyclist Hit And Killed Near Emporia Not a whole lot of useful information in this report. About the only thing that can be safely assumed beyond vehicle types and time is the cyclist probably had decent lights and/or reflectors on the bike, because any lack of them would be mentioned.
A CA cyclist on a charity ride was whacked by a goon in road rage mode. Cyclist severely injured in SR-67 crash and Passing Bicyclist Injured in Road Rage Dispute Hit-from-behind wreck, but from the narrative there was no way for the cyclist to avoid the impact and the built infrastructure would have been adequate had the drivers had the sense [*Deity] gave a grasshopper’s behind. Prosecute both drivers to the fullest extent of the law. Don’t stop at the book, throw the entire library at both of them.
A cyclist is blamed for being the victim of a right hook in OR. Cyclist Dies after Colliding with Car Right hook so intersection protocols might have been able to save this cyclist’s life, get the infrastructure right to prevent.
Major wreck in Oz. Cyclist killed in crash with bus and Cyclist hit and killed by tour bus on NT highway also Cyclist killed in crash with bus Driver exceeding the visibility of his headlights hits a ninja cyclist, and I’m seriously blaming the driver for this one because it could have been anything out there, large wildlife, disabled car, Fake Jesus pulling a cross on a wheel, you just never know what you’re going to run into at night… The cyclist could have used some lights and/or reflectors though.
A wreck report that could have used just one more piece of information to make it (more) usable to this blog. Bibra Lake cyclist killed in collision with car Did you figure out what was missing? It was the direction of the bike when hit. Looking at the Street View and seeing a divided highway that tells me the cyclist was making a right (backwards left) turn and that somebody ran a red light. Since they are not immediately blaming the cyclist I have to assume it is highly likely the driver of the weapon vehicle was running the red light. Anyway intersection protocols would have not helped in this wreck and if the built infrastructure had been used as designed the wreck would not have happened.
Infrastructure! news from Scotland. Scottish Parliament to debate ‘strict liability’ civil law protections for cyclists
Lifestyle in the Great White North. Ghost bike left on Spadina for cyclist killed by truck
And final link, just plain stupid from CA. Only 11 percent of children are wearing helmets during bike accidents, study finds Nothing on how many wear helmets vs have wrecks, making drawing a conclusion impossible, especially with a helmet law in place.
And those were all the links that gave me fits about bicycles today.
Billed @€0.02, Opus
This post shows you real ways you can get hit and real ways to avoid them. This is a far cry from normal bicycle safety guides, which usually tell you little more than to wear your helmet and to follow the law. But consider this for a moment: Wearing a helmet will do absolutely nothing to prevent you from getting hit by a car. Sure, helmets might help you if you get hit, but your #1 goal should be to avoid getting hit in the first place. Plenty of cyclists are killed by cars even though they were wearing helmets. Ironically, if they had ridden without helmets, yet followed the advice on this page, they might still be alive today. Don’t fall for the myth that wearing a helmet is the first and last word in biking safety. In truth, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. It’s better to not get hit. That’s what real bicycle safety is about.
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This post was originally in my spam trap, and shows what spam bots should be writing. The post was cogent, to the point and aligned with the subject matter of the blog. Not to mention he agreed with me.
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