I’m going to start this post with a program note, I won’t be doing a post tomorrow because I have been told that I will probably get “kidnapped” again for my birthday like I was a couple of weeks ago to play D&D. So I’m just going to plan on it so nobody gets worried if there isn’t any post. I may still do a post anyway if the “kidnapping” thing is just a ploy to distract me from what’s really going on.
Anywho, tomorrow I will be turning 57. And now I have two ages, the one since I died in the wreck, and the one since my mother went through hours of pain to pop me out. Thanks Mom! My list of desired things is not very long this year as I have accumulated enough junk in my life that I don’t really need much, and it’s the same list as I had for my Deathday: A working string trimmer (you can swipe the busted ones out of the garage and fix them as far as I care), and some more d6 for RPG. And maybe a car. 😀
Up first because links, and national international attention, is the White House staffer killed on a charity ride. Obama ‘heartbroken’ as White House employee killed and White House staffer and husband of Fox News personality dies in tragic cycling accident also Cyclist, a White House staffer, dies in collision with SUV in Howard County this too Cyclist, a White House staffer, is hit and killed in charity ride not done yet White House staffer killed in charity bike ride recalled for ‘brilliant mind,’ giving heart still more White House tech advisor killed by car during charity bike ride in Maryland; Obama calls him ‘one of the best’ another one Obama Mourns White House Staffer Jake Brewer and Officially From The White House “Jake devoted his life to empowering people and making government work better for them.”
After that, we need some Daily Ted. Morning Links: LA Mobility Plan under fire in Sherman Oaks tonight, and bike theft warnings in Brentwood
This is an interesting pair of links. Column: Safety in Numbers for Cyclists More cyclists means fewer injury wrecks per cyclist. Better infrastructure means more cyclists. More cyclists means more demand for better infrastructure and fewer injuries per cyclist.
The counterpoint to this link. When cyclists die: A closer look at Dane County crashes between bicycles and motor vehicles Most wrecks are at least partially if not wholly the fault of the driver of the weapon vehicle. Whodathunkit? (Except most of the regular readers of this blog, I mean.) Only one of the wrecks presented in the article could be blamed on the rider, who had a documented history of mental health problems and was a firm advocate of the “You can’t hit what you can’t see” bike ninja philosophy.
And this SC wreck looks familiar, but I couldn’t find anything about it in the post where I would have posted anything about it. Aiken County man fatally struck while riding his bicycle and Gloverville Man Killed in Bicycle Crash The thing about this that bothered me was the blaming the cyclist, and claiming his grocery bags were blocking the taillight. I haven’t seen the bike, but seriously how would they know where the grocery bags were on the bike prior to the wreck if the guy died was unconscious at the scene? Getting hit from behind has a tendency to disarrange the back end of a bike…
More on the left cross of 8 cyclists in OH. Bicyclist killed in Brecksville crash identified as Canton man and Mother of slain bicyclist makes plea to drivers Interesting comments in that first link as people rode/drove out to the scene and looked at the physical evidence and reported back that the driver seemed to have hit most if not all the cyclists long before he got to the intersection, which explains how he could near-miss and hit so many of the victims.
Memorial for the rider killed by a deranged driver during the Horsey Hundred bike ride. Memorial ride planned for Lexington man killed while riding his bike
This PA cyclist was hit-from-behind as well as hit-and-run. 24-year-old killed after being struck while riding bicycle on Steubenville Pike and Cyclist Killed By Hit-And-Run Driver In North Fayette Twp.
Another example of why NYPD is hated. 24th Precinct CO: We’re Making Streets Safer by Cracking Down on Cyclists I have posted this before, and I post it again here: for ever pedestrian struck or killed by a cyclist, there were 250 struck or killed by drivers. Ticketing cyclists takes manpower away from the real killers in the city, by 8 binary orders of magnitude or 2½ decimal orders.
MA cyclist spaces out and hits a car, nobody dies. Bicyclist injured after hitting motor vehicle in Bridgewater The only way this report makes sense is what one of the comments said, the cyclist was trying to make the turn too fast and slid out.
NOLA has a bike death problem. Hundreds of NOLA cyclists fill street for ‘ghost ride’ It has been recognized, but one of the biggest problems in dealing with the problem is entitled drivers who think the streets and roads are theirs and theirs alone. I reiterate my suggestion that hitting a cyclist or pedestrian results in the instant loss of the weapon vehicle to crushing and recycling.
A wreck victim on the road to rehabilitation. Hollingsworth returns to the road with a new vision
Meanwhile in Oz… Police hunt for person who hit professor and left him injured on ground
Slow building infrastructure in Jolly Olde. Rye bike path opens 11 years after cyclist’s death Yeah stopping construction for 6 years tends to slow things down a bit…
This sounds like tons of money for bike infrastructure until you stop and think this is 1 mile of urban Interstate Highway… Colorado Will Spend $100 Million to Become “Best State for Biking” And less than 2% of the CO highway budget…
And a little e-assist news to wind up the post. LAS VEGAS PLANT CRANKS OUT LITHIUM BATTERIES Ping is one of the best-known and most highly respected of the commodity e-assist battery pack vendors.
And I’m out of links and patience.
Billed @€0.02, Opus the Poet
Witch on a Bicycle 