Recovering from the first dose of allergy medicine for the year, and the Feed

I’m now on my third dose of allergy meds for the year, but that first one always knocks me on my butt for some reason. Usually I’m smart enough to just sleep it off and continue with my life after I have adjusted to the stuff, but yesterday I persisted in trying to write a blog post while semi-stoned on medication. It seemed like a good idea at the time, but then many people say that about a lot of things that turn out to be really bad ideas. I feel much better today.

Up first is a confusing hit-from-behind wreck in the Rio Grande Valley. Truck hits, kills bicyclist north of Edinburg If I’m reading the narrative right, the cyclist wasn’t actually on the road but possibly on the shoulder or riding in the dirt beside the road, and the truck in question went off the road first then hit the cyclist and then a tree. In case you were wondering the Interstate has parallel access roads where the cyclist could ride legally that are pretty much the only through route north and south in the area which have to be used to access a legal crossing for anyone trying to go east or west from one side of the Interstate to the other. If the truck was on the Interstate and hit the cyclist on the frontage road the driver was seriously out of control of either the truck or himself.

A little closer and a lot less deadly is this wreck in Houston. Houston bicyclist seeks driver who fled after striking him Since the cyclist’s lighting or lack of was not mentioned in the article we have to assume the cyclist had at least a rear reflector, and most likely a good light, so that part of the protocols has been met. Not known if the driver was going slow enough to execute the “dive to the ditch” portion of the protocols, but getting the infrastructure right would definitely prevent a wreck like this.

Next up is a supposedly stop-sign running cyclist in Shreveport. Shreveport cyclist seriously injured when hit by car Looking at the Street View of the site this is a two-way stop with extremely limited sight lines but only a 25 MPH speed limit. Even so this is an area that would require extreme vigilance on the part of the cyclist to stay safe. Intersection protocols to the max here, and get the infrastructure right to prevent wrecks like this.

Update on that weird wreck in OR. Critically injured Portland cyclist expected to survive I don’t know how this one happened yet. The only picture I have access to does not show the damages visible in the only picture I have access to are completely at odds with the written description of the wreck.

A UK cyclist dodges a very big bullet. Cyclist speaks of moment he was hit by rolls of paper as lorry overturned on Chester Road Not anywhere close to a typical wreck, avoiding this one was a matter of pure luck.

The Big Story is a cyclist hit by a truck in Oz. Cyclist dies in truck collision also Man charged over double fatal Vic crash and even Cyclist killed in crash with truck Hit from behind but “Why?” is still not known with the driver of the weapon vehicle hanging around to talk with LEO. Infrastructure to prevent, that much is sure.

Anther wreck in Enn Zed. Cyclist knocked from bike Not much information forthcoming from LEO on this one. It looks like it might be a hit-from-behind or buzz job. The cyclist was reported to have been part of a group ride which makes anything resembling a SMIDSY (the UK, Oz and Enn Zed version of the blind driver) extremely unlikely.

Our first Infrastructure! link comes from Houston. Bicycle safety Houston has said that they want zero cyclists killed per year. That is an ambitious goal for a town that kills an average of 4 cyclists a year, with 3 of those being completely compliant with the law at the time of their deaths. That leaves 2 ways of reaching that goal, draconian driver enforcement, or Dutch-style infrastructure that completely removes cyclists from conflict points.

Even a scarlet state like OK can see the benefits of normalizing cycling as a mode of transportation. Cycling on the rise in downtown OKC; provides economic, traffic benefits And they still miss mentioning the health benefits.

Two links about dangerous infrastructure in the UK leading to a semi passing a cyclist at less than arm’s length. VIDEO: Cyclist posts HGV close-pass helmet cam footage to show driver ‘he could have been killed’ and Cyclist’s fury at HGV driver

This is as much crap drivers as it is bad infrastructure. VIDEO: Terrifying near misses for cyclist at Deptford ‘nightmare’ junction A near-constant stream of turning drivers repeatedly cut off the cyclists in the videos. The real “infrastructure” needed here is LEO capable of issuing tickets for failure to yield, or assault with a deadly weapon.

Still in the UK dealing with potentially deadly infrastructure we get this article full of possible triggers of anxiety. Injured cyclist calls for pothole repairs after serious accident That’s one seriously messed-up dude.

Ted was busy today with two links to show for it. Bypassing busy traffic on 7th Street, notes from the LAPD bike task force, and Beverly Hills bike lanes redux and A little light Morning Linkage for your Cesar Chavez Day

And those were all the links that gave me fits and giggles.

Billed @€0.02, Opus

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Spring has sprung and my face is all stopped up on a Wreck-Free Sunday

I had to make a special trip to the store to pick up fresh allergy pills as what was left of my supply was expired and had to be thrown out. The trees and grasses are in full bloom this weekend and it has been taking a toll on me, what with the sneezing and coughing because of the post-nasal drip. Other than that I don’t feel bad really, just the usual aches and pains that go along with reaching five and a half decades on this planet. The good thing about my allergy medication is it doesn’t mess with my BP meds, the bad part is they also prescribe it as a sleep aid.

And I have been staring at this page for more than four hours now without typing anything. I’m going to go to bed.

PSA, Opus

Whee! back to the grind, and the Feed

Activities at my church are ramping back up, and I will have fewer evenings free than I did over the winter. I see that as a good thing because I will have more interactions with human beings. They drive me crazy some times but not being around them is even worse. So, humans, can’t live with them, can’t live long without them.

Up first, remember back when I said a motor vehicle was the perfect murder weapon in Texas as long as you didn’t know the person you hit? This guy doesn’t read my blog. Cyclist Hit by Truck, Police Believe Incident Was Intentional Nothing on the mode but given the slight amount of injury the cyclist sustained I would say the assault was defused to a buzz job.

A person apparently driving a decommissioned cop car hit-and-run a cyclist. Tulsa Police: Vehicle That Hit Bicycle Rider Wasn’t Theirs The story was originally reported as an unmarked cop car doing the H&R, but the local PD did a check on their cars and announced it wasn’t one of theirs. The rest of the narrative has an intersection wreck that probably the cyclist had the right of way. Since they seem to be going out of their way to not blame the cyclist this is probably the truth of the matter. So this would be on the “unavoidable by human cyclists” list and as the cyclist had the right of way one that physical infrastructure would have little influence over as you sometimes have to cross streets in urban areas like this.

Two links from SC on a cyclist hit by a right-turning vehicle. Coroner identifies cyclist killed in collision with vehicle and Bicyclist killed Wednesday in collision with truck at Bluff Road and Rosewood Drive. I’m conflicted about this one, mainly because I’m getting conflicting reports about what happened. The official story is the cyclist was hit while riding salmon. But there is another report that the cyclist was coming out of the parking lot adjacent to the intersection and waiting for the light to cross the street to be on the right side of the road for her return trip. What this boils down to is single-mode infrastructure killing people not using that mode to access the infrastructure.

Hit-and-run in CA. Bicyclist killed in hit-and-run crash outside Winters It appears to be another hit-from-behind wreck, so protocols to avoid or reduce damages, and get the infrastructure right to prevent. This wreck was on the Putah Creek TT course, so it’s conceivable the victim was practicing for the event planned for this weekend.

Also in CA is this additional link to the guilty no-contest plea of a cyclist-killing driver. Woman Pleads No Contest in Boyle Heights Cyclist Death My disgust at this “almost-human” prevents me from making any further comment.

Up the coast a bit from CA we get this wreck in America’s Copenhagen. Biker hurt after hitting car in NE Portland Since the wreck was described as an intersection wreck and they are not blaming the cyclist for running a red it would appear the driver ran the red on this one. Again intersection wreck, use the protocols to avoid. And we get more information from another source local to the wreck Collision at Killingsworth and Cully injures man on bike – UPDATED Something bothering me with this new information is the possibility of the cyclist being involved in a pinball wreck, as the ball, getting bounced from one vehicle to another. Cyclist making a left turn gets in the turn lane, driver takes umbrage at the cyclist not being in the bike lane and moves into the cyclist and the now out-of-control ballistic mess that is the cyclist hits the vehicle in the cross street. Of course the wreck did not happen in TX but I have been “herded” by drivers who didn’t think I belonged in the turn lane. his could have just been a slightly more violent version of that.

A report on a NJ cyclist killer shows he is a murderous b*****d. Man facing trial for killing cyclist in hit-and-run is now charged with beating a Rutgers university student to death And no you’re not seeing things, this is a UK media outlet making the report. And I had almost forgotten about this wreck that seemed like it was deliberate back when it happened, now I am even more convinced that this wretched excuse for a human being crossed the lane on purpose. He is a serial killer whose first taste of murder didn’t satisfy.

From Oz, Don’t Hit The Pedestrians! even when they walk right in front of you in the bike lane. Cyclist knocks pedestrian unconscious Cyclist riding past a transit stop, pedestrian steps off the curb into the bike lane right in front of him, then things get fuzzy because the pedestrian doesn’t remember anything between that and waking up surrounded by people trying to help him. At this point we still don’t have the cyclist’s side of the story. But seriously if you hit a pedestrian stay with them until medical help arrives or they walk off on their own.

A teen cyclist is left-hooked in Enn Zed. Teen cyclist injured in Tauranga You would think that all the vehicles that were passing would belie the “high speed” statement from the previous part of the sentence… and that if he was going all that fast drivers would have noticed him to the left before making the left turn. Anyway intersection protocols to avoid or to mitigate damages, and get the infrastructure right to prevent.

Your daily Ted 😉 Morning Links: More on MyFig, way too much bad news from upstate, and don’t deal dope from a lightless bike

Infrastructure! news from NYC. NYPD: 914 Pedestrians and Cyclists Injured, Nine Killed in Traffic in February Vision Zero my skinny backside!

And in Oz their latest bit of bike infrastructure was apparently done by a pre-schooler in crayon. Cyclists claim a redesigned intersection in South Brisbane is an accident waiting to happen A bike lane that dead ends in a pedestrian-only space is the least of the problems with this fuster-cluck.

And those were all the links that gave me fits and giggles today. Except the one about the motorcyclist that died because he wasn’t wearing a seatbelt, I figured your heads would asplode if you tried to read that one before they fixed it and it wouldn’t make any sense to link it after they fixed it.

Billed @€0.02, Opus

Another grocery day, another Feed

Yep, time to hit the neighborhood supermarket again to replenish the produce and bread. The milk we bought last week went bad before we could open it so we absolutely have to buy more today, those artificial creamers are just nasty IMHO. Also looking to get more salty snacks. I don’t know why but my cookie cravings went “Meh!” and my tortilla chip and pork skins cravings went through the roof over the winter. My BP is staying low so I’m not overloading on salt, and as frequently as I can I swap regular salt out in favor of a 50% Potassium Chloride blend to get my potassium levels up. It’s a mystery why my cravings change from sweet to salt and back again…

Our first wreck report is from Enn Zed. Cyclist seriously injured in crash The cause in this case appears to be the tourist not being used to driving on the wrong side of the road and looking in the wrong places. I don’t know what to tell you about avoiding that one except the damage looks like it was a broadside impact to the cyclist so probably intersection protocols to avoid and get the infrastructure right to prevent.

Still in Enn Zed we get a victim blamer. Teen injured in collision The very first paragraph of the article blames the cyclist for not wearing hi-viz instead of the driver for not watching where he was going. “Police are pleading with cyclists to wear high visibility clothing after a teenage cyclist and a car collided on Courtney Road this morning.” The article goes on to say the cyclist was hit by a vehicle making a turning movement that hit the cyclist going straight. Intersection protocols to avoid or to minimize damages, and get the infrastructure right so what clothes a cyclist wears will have nothing to do with safety.

The civil suit goes on without the criminal conviction as that case has yet to be tried. Family of dead cyclist sues alleged drunken motorist Both parties to this wreck were in Marketing, the victim at Groupon, and the driver at AllYouCanDrink.com. Somehow I think that company name is going to be a big factor in this case.

A PA cyclist is laid to rest after he was killed on his bike. David Ray Wilson This was the wreck in question Bicyclist struck, killed in Monroe Township I find it interesting that the family picture at the top of the announcement had two ferrets featured prominently.

Our first Infrastructure! link is this humorous video on how not to use a bike lane (Spoiler Alert, most of the people in the video in the bike lane are not riding bicycles). Floating Parking – People Behaving Badly

The BESTEST infrastructure news all MONTH!!!1!!!one!! State Senate approves Aaron Cohen Life Protection Act This bill recognizes that leaving people to die on the roads might actually cause them to die, or to have a worse outcome with long-term disability than if the driver remains at the scene and calls 911. If this bill becomes law it eliminates most of the incentive for DUI drivers to flee the scene as the minimum sentences for both crimes would be the same and prosecutors would not have to prove DUI to put you away for a very long time. The possibility of the driver being drunk would never have to be brought up at the trial.

More on the Houston plan to eliminate all bicycle deaths inside the city. Houston Launching ‘Goal Zero’ Bike Safety Program Unless they are working from the Dutch CROW manual I don’t see any hope for reaching that zero fatalities per year goal.

Another link to the proposal to send text alerts for cars involved in hit-and-run. Catching Hit-and-Run Drivers With Amber Alerts This law has been in effect for just over a year now in CO and has resulted in the timely capture of several hit-and-run drivers in time to allow testing for DUI.

What is your riding style? Ray Keener: Take the Lane? Share the Road? I’m of the opinion that I share the road, not the lane unless there is at least 14 feet of clear pavement between the lane marker and the edge of the road. In that case it’s a matter of trash on the road and crumbling road patches that determines if I share the lane. If there are a lot of either then I take the lane to make avoiding the bad places easier.

An “informed” opinion about bicycle infrastructure. Bike lanes a really dumb idea I like the reply under the article…

Your daily dose of Ted. Morning Links: City Council may not be PLUM crazy when it comes to MyFigueroa after all

The cyclist killed when a driver passed another car making a left turn and went all the way into the bike lane on the wrong side of the road to hit the cyclist head on has been given a Ghost Bike. Ghost bike memorial reminds drivers of roadside safety

Some of these guys look as bad or worse than I do. Neil Grayshon’s new book Cycling Shouldn’t Hurt reveals gruesome images of injured London cyclists

Some gorgeous e-assist bicycles that are bicycles first and e-assist second, but designed to be e-assisted from the get-go. Custom Electric Bikes with Bosch Mid Drive, Gates Belt, & NuVinci Hub

Most people don’t get this kind of return on investment from their e-assist bikes. How an Electric Bike Paid for Itself in 3 Rides

And those were all the links that gave me fits and giggles. I much prefer fits of giggles to the other kind of fits.

Billed @€0.02, Opus

A relatively quiet day, and the Feed

OMG!one! I don’t have to be anywhere or do anything except write the blog and watch a little TV later. Be still my beating heart to not have to spend hours riding a bus to do one thing for a few minutes then spend more hours riding the bus home. This is my biggest gripe with our local transit system, the lack of headway means transfers are going to take as much time as transit and the route speeds are never even close to the speed of normal traffic. I have even beaten a few short routes on my bike because of the bus speed being determined by having to stop for passengers getting on and off the bus, versus my steady but slow cruise speed.

This CA wreck is my only new report today. Bicyclist, Truck Crash On Sidewalk In Front Of San Francisco Ferry Building And after reading the comments I discover that it wasn’t a sidewalk but a MUP the truck was driving down when the cyclist ran into him. IOW the truck was driving down non-motorized infrastructure when the collision occurred. There is also a bike lane in the road to give cyclists access to the MUP.

More on the gross insult to cyclists issued from OH. Ohio doctor gets 15 days for hitting bicyclist The guy was injured so bad that he refuses to be seen in public and the perp (who was drunk at the time) gets 2 weeks? TANJ!

Now to the Infrastructure! portion of the program starting with another stupid bicyclist license proposal. Lawmaker drops bill to regulate bicyclists, moped operators after cyclists protest and Outcry from cyclists puts brakes on bike bill The proposal would have trapped underage (15 and lower) cyclists inside their neighborhoods and in many cases not even allow them to ride to school because it would require crossing streets or roads with speed limits considered “too fast”. Good riddance.

How awesome would it be to get a text alert to look for fresh body and fender damage after a hit-and-run? Local victim advocate wants hit-and-run alerts texted to every cab and UPS driver I’m sure the general public could sign up also. The biggest problem with hit-and-run is LEO can’t be everywhere to find the perps before the evidence is destroyed at an unsuspecting body shop.

In physical infrastructure news a TX town decides that maybe bikes will continue to be popular and useful and maybe a little permanent marking of the bike lanes would be a good idea? Bike lanes in far east El Paso getting makeover

Some new recreational infrastructure in CA after an old highway is decomissioned. Devil’s Slide, once hellish, opens Thursday as heavenly trail

MO shows where they really care as the money is tracked. Graphed: While Gas Tax Erodes, Transit Fares Climb Transit is more and more funded by transit users, while roads are more and more funded by the general fund… and bike infrastructure is only paid for with OPM from the feds?

Infrastructure news from Jolly Olde shows where their hearts are at after a signal is altered for pedestrian safety. Revealed: Traffic light fault causing Sevenoaks’ motorists’ misery “Officers recommended that we did not approve it because it would impair traffic flow,” yep allowing pedestrians sufficient time to cross the street gets in the way of motor vehicles.

Ted Rogers supplied the day’s BikingInLA Goodness. BOLO alert for stolen Bianchi, appeal denied for convicted victim blaming OC drunk driver, and Morning Links

And some good news as a bicycle that was destroyed in a wreck that almost destroyed the rider gets replaced. Injured Tour de Farms cyclist receives new bicycle

And those were all the links that gave me fits or giggles.

Billed @€0.02, Opus

Another long day, and the Feed

I just got back from a trip to the chiropractor with the usual drama and adventure that entails these days (but I’m getting better, so from my perspective this is worth it). Once again transportation was the issue, with the “check engine” light coming on for no apparent reason. All fluids were checked and found within limits and the temp gauge was also within limits, so lacking a code scanner we had nothing to base a diagnosis on and continued despite the light.

Up first is another wreck in what used to be the most deadly state in the US to walk or ride a bike. Tallahassee Cyclist Hit by Car, Taken to Hospital The narrative had the cyclist running a red light, and the wreckage is certainly consistent with a cyclist getting hit broadside. Intersection protocols to avoid, and infrastructure to prevent. If the cyclist really did run a red and was not just caught by a stale green then one thing I would suggest is placing bicycle signals down where a cyclist could actually see them instead of 20 feet above the intersection where a road cyclist couldn’t get their neck to bend that far to be able to see it.

More about that fatal OH wreck that killed a randoneur. Veteran cyclist killed by minivan knew the dangers all too well At this point I think they should be charging the driver with murder for hitting a conspicuous cyclist on the shoulder of the road with nothing to interfere with his vision. The driver should be proving he didn’t hit the cyclist on purpose when all he had to do to not hit him was to stay on the road on a straight stretch of road with no particular amount of hill.

Also in OH the final word on a bike wreck. Doctor gets 15 days in jail for driving drunk, hitting cyclist I think the word in this case is “F-U”.

Our first Infrastructure! article is from down the road a piece in Houston. Bike safety plan aims to eliminate fatalities I think that in order to eliminate fatalities hey are going to have to eliminate the cause of fatalities, idiots driving cars. Even the LEO with one of the worst windshield biases in the US admit that almost all of the fatal bicycle wrecks involve drivers that are distracted, drunk, asleep, or all of the above, in control of deadly weapons. How to keep the twain apart so that DDA(aota) drivers are physically unable to interact with squishy people riding bicycles will be the defining aspect of the program if they are really committed to the Vision Zero aspect.

Same problem over in Bermuda. We need common sense and courtesy on the roads

Infrastructure news from Jolly Olde. Pothole crash cyclist seeks payout When you can’t dodge one pothole without running in to another one you have too many potholes… Just saying.

Problem infrastructure in Oz as the entire width of a bike lane is covered with a slick bike symbol that gets really slick in the rain. Bike rider badly injured after crashing at problem corner on busy Brisbane road And to the internet toughs calling the cyclist a bad rider for not avoiding the problem, the symbol covers the entire width of the lane and cars encroach on what little lane there is, making dodging the slick spot a case of Russian Roulette. The video shows the actual site of the wreck with the eroded stripe and the bicycle symbol in the apex of the turn near the end of the video.

Today’s main topic from BikingInLA is infrastructure. Popular bikeway to remain open this weekend, scholarship fund for fallen cyclist, and your Morning Links

Infrastructure from People for Bikes. BIKE MYTHS DEBUNKED

A bit of lifestyle from AZ. Vendor sells safety to cyclists and pedestrians Some have given up on making drivers keep their speed to what they can safely stop in the distance they can see clearly, so they try to artificially extend that seeing distance by wearing lights.

And from the UK. Family Thanks Donors After Cyclist’s Death He was hoping for £1,000 when he was alive, but has gathered £66,000 since his death.

And those were all the links that gave me fits and giggles. I really prefer giggles to fits.

Billed@€0.02, Opus

Light on links despite the pause, and the Feed

Today is day 1.5 without hair, and while my ears are a bit cold without the hair that sometimes draped over the tops of them, my cheeks and chin are the body parts suffering the worst. My beard had gotten to the point that it was a very effective insulator, and losing it all at once was a bit of a shock especially when a chilly wind blows. Wearing a hat takes care of most of the problem with the rest of my head, but there just isn’t anything I have to cover my face that doesn’t look like I’m getting ready to rob someplace.

Even with 3 day’s accumulated links in the folder I just didn’t have much to work with today. I expect that to change when summer arrives in the Northern Hemisphere. But then I was expecting a spike in bike wrecks involving children right after Christmas that never materialized, so who am I to make predictions anymore?

Right now the Big Story is the cyclist hit head-on on his own side of the street last week in NE. Authorities say Neb. woman whose vehicle killed a cyclist was trying to avoid another car and Omaha officials give details of fatal cyclist crash How big a hurry could someone be in to pass a stopped vehicle at speed like that? Or not paying attention to the road in front of them? These links are updates to previous reports linked here.

The other Big Story is an OH man killed while taking part in a 200 mile brevet. Bicyclist fataly injured in Saturday morning crash and Dublin Cyclist Killed During Biking Trip In Miami County Another driver not paying attention to the road in front of him/her. Hit from behind protocols to avoid or to mitigate the damages, and get the infrastructure right to prevent. As part of that infrastructure they need to make hitting a vulnerable road user from behind a misdemeanor, and a felony if the person dies as a result of the wreck.

Update on another wreck in OH. Police: Cyclist Hit and Killed By Intoxicated Driver He must have been exceedingly drunk to be charged after a hit-and-run.

Just across the MI-OH border we get another hit-and-run. Monroe bicycle rider seriously injured in hit and run Hit-from-behind at night with nothing about the cyclist’s lighting or lack of indicates this cyclist was at or beyond the legal minimums of lighting. Use the rest of the protocols to avoid, and get the infrastructure right to prevent including that legal change noted above.

A wreck in CT. Two injured in New Milford bicycle crash It is possible to have a serious wreck without a motor vehicle. This is one of the hazards of riding in a peloton, but the only way to learn to ride in a peloton is to ride in a peloton. There is nothing that can simulate it in a safer environment.

Hit-and-run in the former most deadliest state in the US to walk or ride a bike. Bicyclist, 23, critically hurt in hit and run Why am I unsurprised the weapon vehicle is suspected to be a pickup truck? Hit from behind protocols to avoid or mitigate damages, and get the infrastructure right to prevent. A big intermediate step that can be done immediately until the physical infrastructure is fixed would be to require all vehicles used by hit-and-run drivers be confiscated and recycled. We don’t give back the guns used in robberies, they get melted down, we should do the same for crimes committed with motor vehicles.

On the other side of the country a driver turns himself in after a hit-and-run. Police: man turns himself in after killing cyclist My inner cynic says he had to wait until he sobered up before he allowed himself to be arrested.

A case of being in the right place at the right time and taking pictures shows a cyclist flying through the air after impact with a motor vehicle. Cyclist hit on the Snake This was on Mulholland in SoCal. The driver was reported as being on the wrong side of the road and the rider going downhill at the speed limit.

UK cyclists hope for a proper sentence in the death of one of their own. Jail term plea after death of Bristol cyclist in Avonmouth One would hope that killing a cyclist would merit a harsher sentence than littering…

A cyclist in Oz relates that he and his friends are assaulted regularly as they ride. Injured cyclist calls for awareness

Your daily dose of BikingInLA goodness. A year in jail for killer Moorpark driver, cyclist hit by Maserati on Rock Store climb, and your Morning Links

An AZ cyclist discovers that you have to use both halves of the bicycle equation. TUCSON WOMAN IN CRAIGSLIST POST: ‘EITHER THE BIKES GO OR I GO’ For those who don’t know the bicycle equation, it is the solution for N + 1 = S – 1, where N is the number of bikes you currently own and S is the number of bikes that will cause your significant other to leave you and take the dog/cat/kid with him/her. I try to stay well below S – 1.

Apparently nothing can be done about distracted drivers so we should all cower at home and only go out in light armored vehicles. Study: pedestrians and bicyclists should watch out for distracted drivers I firmly believe that treating distracted driving like drunk driving and crushing the vehicles of distracted drivers after a wreck (and widely publicizing it) will cause distracted driving to drop. I suggest putting it on one of those home shopping channels about every 20 minutes or so with a video of the discharge chute of a car shredder and the voice-over saying “Drive distracted and this may be the last time you see your car. Hit someone while driving distracted and this will definitely be the last time you see your car.”

Our first Infrastructure! article comes from north of WoaB World HQ in the Beautiful Suburbs of Hell. Tulsa’s first mile-long stretch of bike lanes ready to ride, but neighbors split on street design I have to apply the requisite Okie joke that every TX resident must use when reading about our neighbor to the north. “You know why Texas doesn’t drift into the Gulf? Because Oklahoma sucks. ”

This is what happens when single-mode infrastructure is forced to become multi-mode on the cheap. Road Runner: City must act for bikes, cars, streetcars to coexist, Kozachik says Throw a streetcar into the mix with bikes and motor vehicles when there isn’t enough room for bikes and cars together and you will get conflict.

More on the cyclist winning a settlement over a pothole. Pothole crash cyclist wins £70k pay-out from council

Last link is design details that some people would like to see restored to modern bicycles. Bicycle Design Archeology – Top Ten Details We Want Back I would like to see chainguards for IGH and singlespeed bikes.

And those were all the links that gave me fits and giggles today.

Billed @€0.02, Opus

My ears are freezing on a Wreck-Free Sunday

I’m writing this post today looking a lot different than I did yesterday. For one thing I changed shirts 😉 For another thing I got my head shaved for Spring. Also yesterday I buffed my old Warlock7 with a few new magical items from the new campaign, one of which was a stole (like a priest would wear) that upped my Eldritch Blast from 4d6 damage to 6d6, and the new group also added 3 to all my stats retroactively, because one of the treasures they got added 3 to all party members’ stats. This raised my dex to an outrageous-for-humans level of 21 (the max for normal humans not magically enhanced is 18) as well as enhanced all of my saves because some of my saves were pretty abysmal before the upgrade (it’s a wonder Sparrow survived long enough to reach level 7). Also group rules required me to reset my HP to maximum based on the +3 upgrade I got from their treasure. This was a major help because my HP went from 37 before to 63 after the upgrade. Again, it is a wonder Sparrow ever survived to reach level 7. I was playing Sparrow way out of my pay grade. Or his, at any rate well above what his stats should have allowed him to survive.

At any rate we had another Searing of the Sheep ritual to banish Winter this morning. I’ll let the pictures tell the story.

It was a grey overcast at the start of the ritual.

Lighting the chalice and the god/dess candles.

Protecting my clothes from tiny bits of cut hair.

The first cut is the deepest.

My “barber” is having fun while my arms are trapped.

A “mow-hawk”

And now the beard is gone.

Making the final buzz

The hair piles up.

Nobody wants to see my lip

And once again we have banished Winter from Texas for another year.

PSA, Opus

A nice easy day, and the Feed

I have another easy day with little to nothing to do except write the blog post and maintain life support (gotta remember to pay the air and gravity bills…) 😈 Tomorrow will be a bit busier as I need to get some bike parts from the store that I bought a while back, and I have been invited to join another RPG group and either bring back the original Sparrow, or roll up another character at 7th level. And then on Sunday I get to have my head shaved so that everyone will know that it is Spring (which usually only lasts 3 or 4 weeks here in TX).

Up first is a cyclist injured in an infrastructure related wreck. Cyclist injured in county bike path fall Slimy mud can be more dangerous than ice to a cyclist, and the problem is you can’t tell what the traction will be like until you are already rolling the hazard. And even if you are wearing a helmet there are other things that can be injured in a fall that are not protected by a helmet. Oh and for the technical wonks out there the traction of a mud-covered pavement will be a complex relation of the surface roughness of the pavement, the grain size of the dirt portion of the mud, and the water content of the mud…

You can get away with murder in CA, as long as you use a car as the weapon. Friends of killed cyclist say hit-and-run driver getting off easy This was the same person that Ted Rogers reported on yesterday…

The daily link to BikingInLA: Santa Monica police blame the victim in a new bike safety video, two better videos and your Morning Links I will have to ask Ted about his search strings to see why he gets things my Feed does not.

Amalgamated data from bicycle and motorcycle wrecks in one GA county where LEO doesn’t particularly like either group shows that cars are the problem. Drivers more likely to be primary factors in causes of bike-car accidents About 1/3 of the wrecks were caused by the cyclists when judged by a LEO that has a significant degree of “windshield bias” which means that in many of the cases the cyclists’ “fault” could have been “riding in the road”. I can’t state that was the case in all the wrecks, but still the fact that 2/3 of the wrecks were the fault of the driver as judged by a group that has a significant bias towards drivers and against cyclists.

A bike thief is caught in NE. UNL Police Bring Down Bicycle Thief Bike thieves should be shot, hanged, drawn, and quartered. Not that anyone has ever stolen any of MY bikes (just 3 in the last 13 years).

More on the UK cyclist who sued the local government when he hit a road surface defect that caused his bike to go down. Cyclist badly injured in pothole crash wins £70,000 payout from council and County council ‘disappointed’ with High Court judgement I wish that we could do this in the US without the “sovereign immunity” dodge. Roads are (part of) the business of local governments and failing to keep them maintained for use is a failure of the government to do its job.

Infrastructure! news from MN that is applicable most places in the US. Who Pays for “Free” Park-and-Ride Parking?

More infrastructure news from Portland OR, America’s Copenhagen. New fire bureau policy could allow speed bumps on more commercial streets

And one of the counties that Portland occupies. New Washington County bike map worth a look This bike map has symbols that show the relative traffic density, road surface conditions in the area of the road where bikes travel, and bike lanes. Until we get a nationwide network of bike paths like the Netherlands this is about the best alternative.

And those are all the links that gave me fits or giggles today. I just do this for fits and giggles anyway 😉

Billed @€0.02, Opus

Time to get the groceries, and the Feed

Today is a light day for groceries as all we really need to get is some TP, a loaf of bread, milk and replenish the yogurt supply (eating 4-6 oz. of yogurt a day makes my tummy work betterer). And of course I need to get my salty snacks refilled. The only thing I wish is that the salty snacks were not also the crunchy snacks, because those are a bear to eat when you don’t have any molars left.

Today’s Feed folder was infrastructure-heavy and (fortunately) wreck-light.

Before the bicycle stuff I often get asked why I describe my location as the suburbs of Hell. At Least Austin Traffic Doesn’t Look Like This Any other questions?

Up first they caught the driver that left a cyclist to die outside Houston. League City police arrest, charge woman in hit-and-run that killed cyclist The cyclist managed to stay alive long enough to get to hospital, but died in the ER. I’m still not getting anything on the mode of the wreck directly, but what little I have gotten seems to indicate a hit-from-behind wreck so use those protocols to avoid, and of course get the infrastructure right so that (possibly drunk) drivers are kept away from fragile cyclists.

And this has to be the most often e-mailed story I have ever gotten, there were about 5 different links to the same video, this was just the last one. WHAT ARE THE ODDS OF THIS: CYCLIST HIT BY PICKUP TRUCK, MATTRESS CUSHIONS HIS FALL I wonder if this cyclist was Irish, because he certainly was lucky on St.Patrick’s Day. The mattress appears to have come off the back of the truck just as the truck passed the cyclist, reducing the force of the impact considerably and also providing something soft to protect him while sliding across the road surface. If you want to get a good look go to YouTube, set the replay speed to 0.25, and start the video at 0:20.

A CA cyclist gets clobbered by the road (only) in this wreck. Moraga cyclist critically injured after crash in Oakland hills Something made the rider go over the handlebars and as witnesses said there were no other vehicles involved that leaves rider error, bicycle malfunction, or road surface defect. Unless one of the “witnesses” actually did something to cause the rider to flip over the handlebars…

Some slightly good news via Ted Rogers in BikingInLA. Breaking news: Wendy Villegas accepts plea in September hit-and-run death of cyclist Andy Garcia The plea gets her about 20% of the sentence she deserves which means about half of that actually as a guest at the Greybar Hilton. Still better than nothing.

A cyclist is killed by a truck in PA. Bicyclist struck, killed in Monroe Township The cyclist was riding the through street on a 2-way stop when the truck violated his right of way. Nothing the cyclist could have done to avoid this wreck, and infrastructure that doesn’t mix bicycles and semi trucks towing tanker trailers to prevent. Looking at the street view it seems very obvious that the truck driver is at fault in this wreck for failure to yield.

An act of road terror in Bermuda? Fishing line road hazards warning There was some public speculation this was set specifically to rob cyclists as there are a large proportion of the population that use cycling as their primary mode of transportation.

Oz has been dealing with a lot of road mayhem directed at cyclists. VIDEO: Riding on after an ugly week for cyclists Lots of wrecks in there.

Be careful of this link, there is an auto-playing video in it. Sydney cyclist loses function in hand after collision with car Her problems with her arm are strikingly similar to what I have with my leg, except she’s getting nerve surgery to repair the damage and I just get to suffer with mine 👿

What appears to be an entirely infrastructure caused bike wreck. Byron Bay cyclists injured in crash If that was the road they were riding in that picture it appears to have a surface similar to the “baby-head” chip seal we get around here to discourage bicycling on quiet roads. I don’t know what to do about wrecks caused by roads not fit for the purpose, but I see that as becoming more common in the US as state DOTs divert more and more of their budgets from maintenance to construction, leaving existing streets and roads to turn into rubble.

Good luck getting prosecution when you get hit on your bike in Oz, unless you have a camera recording it. Bike riders told to buy cameras to help enforce new laws and protect themselves on the road Yeah, people who get hit by cars should not be the ones that have to prove their innocence when they are the victims.

First of a bunch of lifestyle and infrastructure links as we go back to BikingInLA. LA-style cyclist anti-harassment laws continue to spread, but there’s a catch; plus your Morning Links Some of the links are the same as I put up near the top of the post because we have similar searches going to find them.

Good news from America’s Copenhagen, Portland OR. The Orange Line might secretly be Portland’s biggest bike project ever Sneak a few million $ of bicycle and pedestrian improvements into the “mitigation” portion of a transit project? BRILLIANT!

Big bike projects are cheaper than big car projects for the same capacity, but “cheaper” =/= “cheap”. $60 mil Federally Funded Bike Bridge to Break Ground in Rahm’s Chicago This project has been in the planning stages since the last Daley was in office, Rahm just gets to preside over the ground-breaking.

This is not new, but people are still amazed it exists. This “ski lift for cyclists” helps you get up hills As I understand it this is the only route to what’s on top of the hill and the slope is such that only the most fit cyclists riding the lightest bikes could surmount it consistently.

Historical infrastructure. How did bicycling take over the Netherlands? Their reaction to cars killing large numbers of children in and out of the cars was to make cities and towns suitable for children. Our solution was to make cars into battering rams and add additional armored pods inside to further protect the kids in the cars, and then blame the parents of the kids killed and injured outside the cars for not putting their kids in cars where they were “safe”.

And as the victim of bike theft myself this story just makes me angry. Thieves steal vintage bikes collected for Houston Bicycle Museum

And those were all the links that gave me fits or giggles.

Billed @€0.02, Opus