I got the news last night after putting the blog to bed that my ride to the festival was going to be delayed by the driver having a doctor’s visit that was rescheduled and not something that could be rescheduled again. So, here I am. While I was waiting something interesting came in the mail: the bill for my new health insurance policy, showing how much I owed and how much my subsidy will be. I’m going to be walking to places that allow me to pay it in cash, because my premium after subsidy is pocket change, literally. I find more change in the roads and on the sidewalks every month than my insurance premium, which means I can pay for health insurance while I’m walking to pick up groceries and any number of other things.
Up first is a couple of links to what now looks like an assault with a motor vehicle on triathletes training prior to an event in NOLA. Athletes compete in New Orleans Ironman Triathlon the event and the updated wreck report Motorist accused of killing cyclist, injuring another before Ironman race says wreck not his fault Driver claiming a SWSS is thwarted by a witness and by LEO capable of interpreting the physical evidence that showed otherwise. I would state that things like this (driver claiming SWSS refuted by other evidence) would happen much more frequently if more cyclists had cameras recording their rides. The weapon vehicle in this case had two impact sites on the front as well as two impact sites on the windshield that showed the trajectory of both cyclists, and if I’m reading the report right (that I can’t link to my blog, sorry) the trajectory of the second cyclist hit, the one that survived, showed him moving to the right when he was hit, away from the car.
A cyclist is killed riding in the bike lane in America’s Paradise. LETTER: Hawaii Bicycling League Weighs in on Kihei Fatality Hit from behind in the bike lane, is there any better example of “entitled” driver than that?
Our first Infrastructure! link is from MIT via Austin TX. MIT maps Austin bike wrecks and includes worst streets for accidents The map looks pretty much like a street map of Austin, with some streets a little brighter lighted than others. Austin
A similar treatment for L.A. Interactive Map Shows Where Bike Crashes Happen The Most In L.A. There are significant blank areas in the L.A. map. Are they due to a lack of surface streets or a lack of cyclists willing to use them? And I noticed a lot fewer intersections are lit up compared to mid-block wrecks.
Is this a “breakthrough” in bicycle safety for cyclists in America’s Copenhagen? With grant application, PBOT finally acknowledges ‘safety issue’ with streetcar tracks Cyclists have been telling them for 7 years that they placed the tracks in such a manner that cyclists were at risk, and now they are paying attention and trying to determine just how bad it really is. First step in fixing a problem is seeing if you have a problem and what the problem is. Also apply that statement to the maps in the above links.
I can totally see these installed in areas with little electricity or street lighting. Glow-in-the-Dark Roads Are Finally Here What these have over retroreflective paints is not needing an external light source to work, making “seen by” bike lights more effective for cyclists. If the road shows you where to go, then all you really need is something that lights up things above the surface to get obstructions hanging over the road.
More infrastructure news from GA. Cyclists cautiously optimistic about bike path changes You can tell a lot about the problems riding a bike in Hotlanta is “Subjective Safety” to quote Hembrow .
I guess this is Lifestyle? Stolen bike spotted while woman reports it stolen My reaction to this is if someone tells me they have a gun in their bag while I’m trying to detain them with stolen property, beat them senseless to keep them from getting inside the bag. But then I beat up a truck that passed me on the right last year, and I’m 3-0-4 against pickup trucks lifetime (I totalled out 3, none have “totalled” me yet, and 4 others have withdrawn from battle after first strike).
And now a word from our Ted. Morning Links: BOLO for dangerous San Fernando Valley driver and disappearing Bike Plan bikeways I hate when planned-for things are dropped from bike plans, leaving gaping holes in the network.
And those were all the links I was not expecting to be home to share today. Enjoy!
Billed @€0.02, Opus
Witch on a Bicycle 