What a day! First the cat tries to apologize for clawing huge gashes in my hand and arm by waking me up after only 1 hour of sleep and crawling into the bed to purr loudly at me, then I spent all day getting to and from the Lab Rat Keeper, then I find out my meds are getting cut because my BP is a bit on the low side, like 100/60. For a guy whose pressures topped out at 200/145 10 years ago this could lead to dizziness, confusion, and loss of consciousness. None of that is especially good. The good news is if my pressures come back up with lower dosages I get to participate in another side-effect study before the end of this year.
Our Daily Ted. Morning Links: Reminder to expect the unexpected on bike trails; Feds decide bike/ped safety matters, too
Still in CA. Bicyclist killed in Santa Ana hit-and-run identified
From my neck of the woods. How tracking police data by race can make unfair laws look like the cops’ fault Among other things this article identifies one of the main problems of the Metroplex: People don’t work where they live nor live where they work in the main. When only 5% of drivers stopped in a town are residents of that town, you have a problem with sprawl, and auto-centrism because everyone drives even if they don’t want to. So much of this area is a transit desert where if you don’t have a car you are trapped.
Remember that girl driving drunk and backwards when she ran over a cyclist in AK? Anchorage woman will finish college semester before going to jail for cyclist’s death Really? Let her finish school before a summer (maybe) in jail?!? Oh the ignominy. Have to finish college before prison…
Do you feel like you are not welcome among other bike riders? Project highlights stories of people who feel like outsiders in bike scene
Infrastructure in America’s Copenhagen. Active Transportation Summit dispatch: Vision Zero and the myth of freight Except for a tiny few places that are import centers like Long Beach or Houston or Corpus Christie truck traffic just is not that vital to the economy. And even Houston is trying to make more of its street network bike friendly.
If you don’t know where you’re coming from how can you know where you’re going? Unearthed: 1975 City of Portland “From here to there by bicycle” map
More infrastructure news from NYC. Prospect Park West Bike Lane War Continues: “New York City Is Not Amsterdam” and IT’S ALIVE: Judge Revives 5-Year-Old Prospect Park Bike Lane Lawsuit They LOVE bike lanes, just not the one in front of their building, which has raised the value of the units in said building substantially. Maybe that’s the problem, their taxes went up with the rise in property values…
Another dead pedestrian in NYC. Woman Fatally Struck By Sanitation Truck Driver On Upper East Side And for all those wondering why I have so many links from Gothamist and Bike Portland,it’s because I visit those web sites pretty much daily. Anywho, this was another blind driver just proceeding into space that was already occupied, and killing said occupant. And the Universal Get Out of Jail Free card shall be used, “I didn’t see her” and all will be forgiven.
More on the MA hit-and-run killing of a cyclist. Man charged with DUI in hit-and-run that injured cyclist
PA infrastructure story. Holly residents drill council for answers over roundabouts Seriously, you can’t figure out how to use a roundabout?
Another link to the guy looking to ride from BC to Panama getting taken out 2/3 of the way through WA. Cyclist on B.C. to Panama ride injured in crash Interesting picture they used for the “touring bike”.
More on the CO man getting prison for killing a cyclist. Man gets 10 years for DUI crash that killed bicyclist And I hope he has to do every day of it.
It’s just better reporting on the wrecks, honest! Alan Solot: Tucson bike vs. car crashes aren’t increasing
It’s not really good news, it is a symptom of austerity. Fall in road offences due to reduction in traffic police says Transport Committee
And while we are on the site. Barbed wire booby trap found on Kent cycle trail Either some farmer is missing a section of fence, or all they need to do is ask who bought barbed wire recently at nearby farm supply stores.
And I got this video sent to me by several people from many different sources. Video: How to teach bus drivers to give cyclists space I thought the ones where the “riders” clothes wer actually ruffled by contact with the bus were good, unless the driver was not actually trying to get that close in which case they were fucking terrifying.
Speaking of close passing, this was also terrifying over on the Emerald Isle. Cyclist was thrown over the bonnet of car Cold they have gotten any closer without actually killing the cyclist? I think not.
Another link to the guy who killed a well-liked cyclist going to jail. JAILED: Driver who mowed down Oxford graduate cyclist in head-on-crash
[Facepalm]Cyclists maimed and killed by blind driver, but it’s OK because a cyclist ran a stop sign once.[/Facepalm] Pontevedra cycling tragedy raises concerns over elderly drivers
More on the Ozzie drunk driver killing a cyclist. Cyclist killed by allegedly drunk driver and Qld cyclist killed by intoxicated driver
A really ugly wreck in Oz, more than one link. Port Pirie cyclist killed when truck and riders collide near city and Truck crashes into three cyclists on Germein Rd at Solomontown near Port Pirie You can see the impact site on the passenger side of the truck bumper where the bumper was bent.
And this was just wrong. Holiday blues after woman arrives home from overseas trip to find a parking ticket because her street was rezoned while she was away There were no permits available before leaving, and tickets papering the car when she got back. I mean they hadn’t even decided on the date it was to be implemented when she left…
And have you heard the latest scandal in the pro peloton? Professional cycling’s latest scandal: unshaved legs I used to shave my legs back before I rode a bike with fenders.
And it’s 0430, I have been up 19 hours now on 1 hour of sleep. I’m going to bed, and the cat is staying in the bathroom with his food and litterbox until I get up.
Billed @$0.02, Opus
I survived telling the world how old Mrs. the Poet is, and the Feed
All I got yesterday was a playful slap across the top of my head after Mrs. the Poet read my blog post. So I’m still alive and still married (sorry groupies). And I have a freaking huge Feed today, so let’s get to it.
More on that moron with “affluenza”. Ethan Couch, ‘Affluenza’ Teen, Facing 5 Lawsuits Incidentally there are 2 known and effective cures for “affluenza” to date. One is the complete removal of all wealth from the “victim”. This cure does not result in instant return to “normalcy”, the effects take from one to 5 years to wear off. The second is more drastic and effective, but does nothing for future behavior because the “victim” is terminated with extreme prejudice and therefore has no future behavior. And I apologize for previous statements that DUI(minor) was a felony, that bill did not pass and DUI(minor) is still a class C misdemeanor, even with multiple convictions, and can not result in any jail or prison time only a fine and community service up to a maximum of 60 hours CS. I was right that DUI(minor) is triggered by any detectable amount of alcohol in the blood, but I believe that when the minor has a BAC% that would be DUI for an adult the crime should then be a felony. I’m making that suggestion to my state rep this week.
From NYC comes another pedestrian casualty in the “War on Cars”. Pedestrian Seriously Injured In Murray Hill Access-A-Ride Crash The cars are winning the war by sheer attrition.
Bouncing all over the country today, a ND driver gets a two-fer. Bismarck man accused of striking man on bike, pedestrian I would think the coming back and hitting the other person should make both of these assaults with a deadly weapon, but then again as a victim of an assault with a deadly weapon I might be a teensy bit biased about the subject. But because “FU, cars” the driver is only facing misdemeanor charges with under a year in jail as a sentence.
From CA drivers are actually ticketed for driving without a license immediately after their licenses were suspended in court. Sting Catches Drivers With Suspended Licenses Driving Away From Sonoma County Court They actually towed and impounded the cars of people driving without a license, some of whom were suspended for DUI. Given that at least some of the people caught in this sting were on trial for driving without a license or on a suspended license I consider this poetic justice, the highest form of justice 😉
Still in CA a cyclist is hit from behind while trying to get to work. Cyclist struck by car, injured on Stony Point Road Hit from behind protocols to avoid and get the infrastructure right to prevent. The LEO in this case showed remarkable knowledge of the laws of physics when he described the bicyclist as colliding with the car that hit him from behind.
Still in CA a cyclist is hit from behind (or right hooked maybe) by a semi. Police: Big rig hits and kills bicyclist in West Oakland Since the mode of the wreck has not yet been released the only thing I can say with assurance about the wreck is semis running over cyclists means the infrastructure is horrible.
In MA the ID of a cop that hit a cyclist is kept a deep, dark secret. Boston Police Won’t Disclose Officer Involved in Summertime Cyclist Crash The description of the damages strongly suggests a buzz job or simply merging into a space already occupied by the cyclist, the buzz job can be avoided with hit from behind protocols but getting merged over not so much.
From Far West Canuckistan comes a report that deer are either really stupid or have terrible depth perception. Woman cyclist hits deer, suffers minor injuries
From even farther west than the last paragraph is this wreck. Vancouver Island cyclist struck by second driver as he lay injured on highway Looking at the Street View of the intersection it looks like the cyclist may have been caught by a stale or short green phase when crossing the main highway as it is 5 lanes wide there (plus shoulders) and the cyclist was hit while crossing the 4th lane and knocked into the 5th. At best I can suggest intersection protocols to deal with the built environment, and get the infrastructure right to prevent.
From the UK a driver who had already been banned from driving due to DUI convictions was driving drunk when he killed a cyclist. Banned driver was drunk when he killed cyclist, court told I still don’t understand why people who kill while driving without a license are not charged with weapons violations.
A cyclist in Oz is hit by a driver who was seriously out of control. Car crashes into young Qld cyclist Given the extensive list of property damage concurrent with this wreck, either the driver was trying to kill the cyclist or there was some kind of medical emergency just prior to the collision. Since the direction of travel and lane positions were not given in the narrative I can’t say how to avoid and to be honest it doesn’t look like infrastructure would have been much help in preventing this one either.
Still in Oz a cyclist gets nailed at an intersection. Cyclist in coma after collision with truck This wreck was so similar to the one in the previous paragraph that I had to check my map of Australia to make sure Sydney wasn’t in Queensland (it’s in NSW).
Infrastructure! news from CA. Fire Department hindering street safety There are no words…
In Oz a company is treating a public access as its own property after it was built. Federation bike trail barricaded by concrete company Now I may be wrong about this but I’m pretty sure this company has to use public space to get to where the concrete is needed and that getting to that public space requires a driveway permit to connect to the road/street. I’m also pretty sure you get where I’m heading on this one…
First of a pair of fun links is from Bikeyface. PLOWED It must be nice to live in a place where the roads get plowed when it snows…
And in what can only be described as pushing things to the absurd limits, someone rides a Boris Bike up Mount Ventoux and gets it back before the fine for taking the bike more than 24 hours hits. Cyclist takes on Mont Ventoux in Boris bike adventure – video This is taking a bar bet way too far.
And those were all the bike links that gave me fits (or not) today. Some of this was actually fun.
Billed @€0.02, Opus
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Tagged affluenza, anti-bike blatherings, blind driver syndrome, blind drivers, can you top this, cycling life, cyclist injured, cyclist killed, Dead cyclists, Don't read the comments, hit from behind, hit-and-run, How stupid can you get?, infrastructure, Jolly Olde, Left cross/right hook, Oz, really stupid politicians, signs of the apocolypse, smart LEO, Something smells, stupid cyclist, stupid decisions, stupid drivers, stupid LEO, stupid politicians, stupid stoopid stewpid, UK media wreck articles suck, waste of human skin