Yep, things are kinda slow around Casa de El Poeta today. All that has happened was really bad weather and buying groceries. And since we just dropped more than $2K paying the taxes on the joint, we were a little short when it came time to buy groceries so I don’t have any salty snacks this week. Eh, I will live, and it will give me a chance to see if my theory about excessive amounts of salty foods is contributing to the swelling in my leg that has been causing me to bleed from my scar line. This is NBD as I have been dealing with this pretty much ever since the wreck, just a touch more recently.
Up first is a link that brings me no real joy as the killer of a MD cyclist and bike builder is hit with more than a dozen charges in the DUI death. Episcopal bishop indicted on 13 charges, including homicide, in cyclist’s death There is no schadenfreude in this, there is only one life ruined and another ended prematurely. There is a slight satisfaction that the crime was treated appropriately but nothing else. More Episcopal bishop indicted in Baltimore crash that killed cyclist and Bishop Heather Cook indicted in Thomas Palermo death
More hit-and-run charges this time in CA. 20-year-old man charged in fatal Laguna Beach hit-and-run that killed cyclist and Driver charged with hit-and-run, manslaughter in Laguna cyclist’s death last year The windshield of the weapon vehicle was “smashed in” by the impact and the driver still continued on. Whiskey. Tango. Foxtrot?
In contrast we get this UK story. Driver “blinded by sun” found not guilty in cyclist death I’m still trying to figure out how someone could be blinded by a low sun at 1430. Even on 1/16 in England the sun should not be that low, according to this site the sunset time was 16:22 or nearly 2 hours before the wreck, or halfway between zenith and sunset. And looking up sun angles on Wikipedia I find the sun angle to be about 22° at noon so roughly 18° (22*sin(45)) at 1430, makes this a “possibly true”. I do these things in sorta “real-time” so you can see my thought processes as I find things out.
And while we are on the “drivers are killers” tack, here is what one LEO found in the UK about a driver who was unconscious when she drove into a cyclist. Stricter driver checks ‘would not have prevented’ cyclist death, sheriff rules Apparently she had just had only one such episode before and had not yet determined that any more were forthcoming… I’m sorry but how many times do you have to drive in an unconscious state before pulling a license for being unfit to drive?
And this tidbit from the UK shows drivers are still just as bad as they always were, if not worse. Sharp rise in cycling casualties revealed by latest road safety statistics – Government safety record slammed The UK uses the statistic of KSI (killed or seriously injured) to account for motor vehicle casualties so as to “weed out” the effect of the NHS on reducing fatalities, so when there is a change in KSI as opposed to just “fatalities” they know they are moving in the right or wrong way depending on the direction desired.
Still in the UK you would think the cyclists were the ones riding around inside the light armored vehicles weighing nearly 2 tons and killing or injuring people willy-nilly. Taxi leader says cyclists are the “Isis of London” I wonder how many taxi drivers have died after being run into by a cyclist on a bike, oh yeah that’s right, ZERO!
Lots of links from London today for some reason. Biggest danger to cyclists in London is themselves, says TfL board member as ‘Crossrail for bikes’ is approved Gee and all this time I thought it was all those cars and particularly trucks going around only semi-guided by the loose nut behind the wheel. 😛
Update on the most critically injured of the 20 cyclists hit by a stoned driver in CA. CYCLIST INJURED BY WRONGWAY DRIVER THANKS YMCA FOR HELPING HIS RECOVERY
While we are in CA let’s take a look at the Daily Ted. Morning Links: CD4 Livable Streets forum tonight, and the OC Register gets it very wrong on bike funding
And still in CA, a local police chief gets it wrong on helmets, but mostly right on the rest of it. From the Chief: It’s time to think bike safety
A stark reminder that the most dangerous thing in NYC is the motor vehicle. [UPDATE] California Man Killed By Hit-And-Run Driver In Queens He might have survived the first impact, but no way he could survive two.
Bicycle lifestyle in AZ. Third annual Arizona Unity Tour charity bicycle ride on Feb. 28
UK bicycle lifestyle ride. Memorial bike ride for two cyclists killed in Berkshire crash
I guess when something saves your life or your best buddy’s life you want to make sure it will be there for someone else if when needed. Cyclists raise over £100,000 for Yorkshire Air Ambulance
At least one city not in favor of assisted bikes. Bike lanes no place for motorized bikes Someone needs to look at the federal regulations that say e-assist bikes are bicycles, not motor vehicles.
And I’m out of links again.
Billed @€0.02, Opus the Poet
Witch on a Bicycle 