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