Today is Primary day here in TX and I am facing a conundrum. My state senator is facing a strong challenge from a Tea Party loon and he’s running unopposed in the general election. BUUUT there is a stealth Tea Party challenger for the Democratic race for my US senator. And many of the local races will be decided during the primaries of both parties. So do I vote to keep a relatively sane state senator still in office, or do I hope that most of the voters in the primary are sane and keep the crazy out of the race to be my national representative? Either way I’m likely to be represented by someone whose views range from mostly opposed to totally opposed to my beliefs.
Up first is a Whiskey, Tango, Foxtrot, Interrogative moment from the next county over from the Beautiful Suburbs of Hell. Bicycle rider killed on Interstate 20 in Arlington Yeah, that area is terrible for anyone not driving a car and a barrier to even people in cars. The Street View of the scene shows an underpass about a quarter of a mile away, and there is another crossing about a half mile in the other direction but nothing that could be considered to be “bike friendly” in either direction. Still those are better than trying to cross on a bike and are within riding distance, and there is nothing for the rider to have been crossing from or to in the area, leading to the WTF? moment of trying to decipher this wreck There is even a bridge available on the frontage road to cross the body of water immediately to the west of the wreck location, so it’s not like he was riding on the shoulder to get over the stream. And in order to figure out how to avoid this wreck I first have to figure out why it happened. At this point the best thing I can say is not to ride on Interstate highways that don’t have bike provision, and get the infrastructure right (there is currently ZERO bike infrastructure in car-sick Arlington) to prevent.
A completely innocent cyclist is hit from behind by a drunk driver driving a stolen car in CA. Update: Chula Vista bike rider killed by drunk driver in stolen car No way for a cyclist to avoid this one, and infrastructure might but not positively would prevent a similar wreck. As all of the driver’s actions in this wreck are already felonies I don’t see changing the legal infrastructure as any help either.
A UK wreck story with a twist. Cyclist (94) died after being hit by car – 100 yards from where brother was fatally injured 59 years ago Blind driver kills and gets a gentle caress on the wrist, “120 hours’ unpaid work, was banned from driving for a year and was ordered to pay £250 costs and a Government-imposed £60 surcharge,” what else is new in the UK?
It was a really bad weekend in Oz. Five killed, pedestrians injured in horror three days on SA roads The was the one guy hitting a group of five pedestrians walking on the sidewalk in a residential area, people driving cars and motorcycles into stationary objects on the sides of roads, and one guy hit by a truck while riding a bicycle. The damages to the truck are clear indicators of a sideswipe wreck as there was blood on the side of the truck and a broken mirror on the passenger side. The description of the site leads me to believe that Oz’s rules of the road may have contributed to the wreck by forcing the cyclist to the side of the road but the driver holds most of the blame in this wreck. Infrastructure to prevent a similar wreck. More Four fatalities on SA roads due to speed
Really bad Infrastructure! news from Jolly Olde. Figures reveal Hackney fares worst in London for serious cyclist casualties as Boris promises Old Street roundabout re-design Yep, making streets that are suited only for motor vehicles actually makes them suited for nothing if there are any other roads users present. People get killed in large part due to the bad infrastructure combined with the bad driving. Fix the infrastructure and re-test all the drivers to weed out the ones that eventually kill or injure other road users. Make any tickets result in re-testing for bad driving skills and attitudes, and shred the licenses of those not qualified by skill or attitude. Make it permanent for bad attitudes and require additional training and testing for those with poor skills. Combine that with infrastructure suited for the purpose and the KSI rate will plummet.
An e-assist that’s built into a cargo bike. English Cycles: Designing & Building a Custom Electric Cargo Bike w/ Bosch, Gates, NuVinci
Last link is to another e-assist drive. Drive Motor 5.0 This motor is also intended to be built into the bike from the start rather than being an add-on for the consumer.
And those are all the links I have today about bicycles. I shared the other links on Facebook.
Billed @€0.02, Opus
Witch on a Bicycle 
We have an election today, and the Feed
Today is Primary day here in TX and I am facing a conundrum. My state senator is facing a strong challenge from a Tea Party loon and he’s running unopposed in the general election. BUUUT there is a stealth Tea Party challenger for the Democratic race for my US senator. And many of the local races will be decided during the primaries of both parties. So do I vote to keep a relatively sane state senator still in office, or do I hope that most of the voters in the primary are sane and keep the crazy out of the race to be my national representative? Either way I’m likely to be represented by someone whose views range from mostly opposed to totally opposed to my beliefs.
Up first is a Whiskey, Tango, Foxtrot, Interrogative moment from the next county over from the Beautiful Suburbs of Hell. Bicycle rider killed on Interstate 20 in Arlington Yeah, that area is terrible for anyone not driving a car and a barrier to even people in cars. The Street View of the scene shows an underpass about a quarter of a mile away, and there is another crossing about a half mile in the other direction but nothing that could be considered to be “bike friendly” in either direction. Still those are better than trying to cross on a bike and are within riding distance, and there is nothing for the rider to have been crossing from or to in the area, leading to the WTF? moment of trying to decipher this wreck There is even a bridge available on the frontage road to cross the body of water immediately to the west of the wreck location, so it’s not like he was riding on the shoulder to get over the stream. And in order to figure out how to avoid this wreck I first have to figure out why it happened. At this point the best thing I can say is not to ride on Interstate highways that don’t have bike provision, and get the infrastructure right (there is currently ZERO bike infrastructure in car-sick Arlington) to prevent.
A completely innocent cyclist is hit from behind by a drunk driver driving a stolen car in CA. Update: Chula Vista bike rider killed by drunk driver in stolen car No way for a cyclist to avoid this one, and infrastructure might but not positively would prevent a similar wreck. As all of the driver’s actions in this wreck are already felonies I don’t see changing the legal infrastructure as any help either.
A UK wreck story with a twist. Cyclist (94) died after being hit by car – 100 yards from where brother was fatally injured 59 years ago Blind driver kills and gets a gentle caress on the wrist, “120 hours’ unpaid work, was banned from driving for a year and was ordered to pay £250 costs and a Government-imposed £60 surcharge,” what else is new in the UK?
It was a really bad weekend in Oz. Five killed, pedestrians injured in horror three days on SA roads The was the one guy hitting a group of five pedestrians walking on the sidewalk in a residential area, people driving cars and motorcycles into stationary objects on the sides of roads, and one guy hit by a truck while riding a bicycle. The damages to the truck are clear indicators of a sideswipe wreck as there was blood on the side of the truck and a broken mirror on the passenger side. The description of the site leads me to believe that Oz’s rules of the road may have contributed to the wreck by forcing the cyclist to the side of the road but the driver holds most of the blame in this wreck. Infrastructure to prevent a similar wreck. More Four fatalities on SA roads due to speed
Really bad Infrastructure! news from Jolly Olde. Figures reveal Hackney fares worst in London for serious cyclist casualties as Boris promises Old Street roundabout re-design Yep, making streets that are suited only for motor vehicles actually makes them suited for nothing if there are any other roads users present. People get killed in large part due to the bad infrastructure combined with the bad driving. Fix the infrastructure and re-test all the drivers to weed out the ones that eventually kill or injure other road users. Make any tickets result in re-testing for bad driving skills and attitudes, and shred the licenses of those not qualified by skill or attitude. Make it permanent for bad attitudes and require additional training and testing for those with poor skills. Combine that with infrastructure suited for the purpose and the KSI rate will plummet.
An e-assist that’s built into a cargo bike. English Cycles: Designing & Building a Custom Electric Cargo Bike w/ Bosch, Gates, NuVinci
Last link is to another e-assist drive. Drive Motor 5.0 This motor is also intended to be built into the bike from the start rather than being an add-on for the consumer.
And those are all the links I have today about bicycles. I shared the other links on Facebook.
Billed @€0.02, Opus
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Tagged anti-bike blatherings, blind driver syndrome, blind drivers, cycling life, cyclist killed, Dead cyclists, Don't read the comments, hit from behind, hit-and-run, infrastructure, Jolly Olde, miscellaneous ramblings, Oz, signs of the apocolypse, Single Witness Suicidal Swerve/Single Witness Crossing Cyclist, Something smells, stupid cyclist, stupid drivers, stupid LEO, stupid politicians, UK media wreck articles suck, WTF?