It’s freaking COLD here, and the Feed

Saturday we hit 84°F, this morning the low was 13°F. That is a more than 70 degree drop in a touch more than 36 hours, and no I’m not kidding. The weather is going insane here in the Beautiful Suburbs of Hell and that is insane by the local standards which are crazy to begin with. It was so bad that school was canceled just because of the cold, because people don’t normally have access to clothing capable of protecting them from cold like this and wind chills below zero. Lives were literally at stake here and rather than make the decision 30 minutes or less before kids would have to be standing in the cold they announced last night at 2200 that all of the local schools would be closed. This would allow people to make arrangements for child care. The forecast was initially for 17, then lowered to 15 then set at 12 and we actually hit 13. So we went below everybody’s initial forecasts, and below the revised, and almost hit the “OMG WE BLEW IT!” forecast… And seriously, had they not canceled school people would have died from the cold.

I didn’t have any links to wrecks in North America today or much from anywhere else, but there was a hit-from-behind wreck in Oz that got a couple of links. Cyclist killed on Victorian highway and Yarrawonga cyclist death: man struck on way home from party No mention of the cyclist being unlit or lacking reflective capability so implied levels equalling or exceeding legal requirements or sane limits assumed, and the cyclist was riding in a position that would have allowed him to be easily visible to a driver looking at the road, basically in the driver’s side wheel track. If the driver failed to see him then the driver was blind. The more likely situation is either a deliberate act on the part of the driver, similar to my wreck from 2001, or the driver was drunk or distracted and did not see the cyclist in time to avoid hitting him. Protocols are mooted by the cyclist’s position and the assumed speed (because it was an inter-city highway) leaving providing cyclists a safe place to ride the only thing that would prevent this wreck.

Still in Oz. Cyclist killed after collision with a truck on Lytton Road at Murrarie As of this posting I’m calling this a SWSS and advising hit-from-behind protocols to avoid and getting the infrastructure right so that cyclist don’t have to share space with semi trucks to prevent.

The other wreck was a cyclist and pedestrian getting mixed on the roads to mutual detriment. Cyclist and pedestrian injured after collision on Hills Road in Cambridge Since this is a UK media outlet what really happened and any information about location and direction are going to be a State Secret until a trial, but it is important to note that although imparting blame in this wreck is not yet possible, the injury seems to have been evenly distributed between both parties.

Still in Jolly Olde is this final outcome in a cyclist’s fatality. Family ‘can move on’ after death crash driver is jailed Nine months in prison and a 2 year driving ban, for killing a man with a motor vehicle… I lack the words.

Update from the DIYDoT. Guerillas on Two Wheels I don’t know if the snark in the opening paragraph is directed at cyclists or people who assume all cyclists always break traffic laws.

Bicycle helmets, threat or menace 😉 ? Is failure to promote the wearing of cycle helmets ‘irresponsible’?

A look at what could be if DOTs are not timid about bicycle infrastructure. Portland Reaches 25% Cycling Mode Share!

More infrastructure news from CA. Folsom dedicates Johnny Cash bike/pedestrian trail Looks like a great trail and also planned for commuting use.

Infrastructure from far West Canuckistan. Cyclists urge city to go big on two-wheeled travel

Lifestyle from CA. Chico bike shop famous for catching thieves, recovering stolen bikes

And a somber bit of Lifestyle from the UK. ‘Ghost bike’ installed near spot where Fallowfield cyclist Joshua Jarvis was killed

And those are all the links about bicycles I could find today.

Billed @€0.02, Opus