I got wrapped up in a gig yesterday/last night, and the Feed

As I was saying, I was involved in an activity yesterday and last night and did not get home until nearly midnight, and by the time I ate it was nearly 0100. So I decided to finish reading my e-mail, less the Feed folder and it was after 0200 when I got done, which is way too late to be filtering and reading links and composing a blog post. So I didn’t, sorry. And I’m going to be late again Friday because I’m going shoe shopping in the AM and there is a church function I have to attend in the PM. So Friday’s post will post sometime early Saturday morning as per usual, but later than usual.

I’m going to open again with several rounds of Our Daily Ted. Is California’s new three-foot passing law making a difference? and 13-year old boy killed while walking his bike in Boyle Heights and Morning Links: Bike share is booming, Finish the Ride’s Damian Kevitt prepares to run the LA Marathon

A link that I found separately from Ted’s links on the change in policy after a LASD deputy ran over a cyclist in the bike lane while on duty. Sheriff’s officials curb deputy in-car computer use Really, change the rules after you kill a guy!?!one If I had any give-a-damn left I would be outraged, but I think I mentioned back when I stopped linking wrecks here that my give-a-damn was depleted, and it has not yet returned in any quantity.

One of the reasons why I have such a hard time keeping up my give-a-damn is idiots like this, in Oz. Driver who mowed down seven Sydney cyclists in bid for lesser charges after new lawyer said allegations were ‘too harsh’ and Charges too serious in NSW cyclists crash Really, “too serious”? You ran down 7 vehicles from behind that were in the lane you should not have been driving in, and “dangerous driving” is too serious a charge? I would have charged you with 7 attempted murders because you obviously meant to kill the lot of them.

“Should distracted driving be as serious a crime as drunk driving?” Trial hears van driver Philip Sinden was texting before crash that killed cyclist Daniel Squire in Ringwould This is another case of SWSS because the driver did not pay attention to what was on the road in front of him. He was too busy texting his “lover”.

I’m sure most of my readers are no stranger to what a cyclist looks like after a wreck, but if you need something to show a bike-hating person you have to associate with, this is the link. Cyclist left covered in blood after collision in Sheffield This is what a cyclist looks like wearing a helmet in a wreck with a motor vehicle, notice that the top of his head is completely uninjured.

A little infrastructure news from Jolly Olde as they “do something” to reduce the CARnage in the streets. 20mph speed limit to begin on major London routes in radical plan to save lives

And while they try to “do something” to save lives you get imbeciles like this plod. Can your child cycle on the pavement?

Legal infrastructure under debate in Scotland. Mark Beaumont backs new law for cyclists and walkers This is another take on the “vulnerable road users” laws in some states and communities here in the US, based on the “presumed liability” laws in the Netherlands and other countries.

And another “blame the victim” proposal in Oz. Partner of cyclist killed on Kings Park Road in Perth calls for mandatory high-visibility wear And all motor vehicle occupants should be wearing helmets and fireproof coveralls, after all race drivers do both, so it just makes sense, right?

And thank [$DEITY] I’m finally done for the night.

Billed @€0.02, Opus the Poet

Advertisement

More thud, thud, thud, Pt. whothehellcaresanymore

After another night without A/C in the house (in TX no less) I’m in a BADD mood, see my previous blog post. There were a lot of fatalities in the feed, or at least more than I like (that would be any number larger than zero), and way too much stupidity displayed.

Let’s get the really stupid stuff out of the way first so I don’t have to stew over it for the rest of the post until I get through the wrecks. Do the math: Helmets balance the cycling safety equation I did the math, without the bicycle I have a 1 in 5 chance of developing heart disease or other sedentary related illness, vs a 1 in 20000 chance of getting hit with a car (roughly) on the bike and the more people riding bicycles the less my chances of getting hit. Mandatory helmet laws reduce the number of people riding bicycles, increasing the number of sedentary lifestyle related illnesses and also my chances of getting hit. Yeah, that’s a real no-brainer. Cardiologists are against helmet laws, people that ride every day are against helmet laws, but people in emergency rooms (nurses and doctors, not the patients) and busybodies that seldom if ever ride are in favor of helmet laws.

Still on the same subject. Bicycle Safety Day puts emphasis on wearing helmets Not on cars, not on road rules, not on anything but the styrofoam hat that only works up to 12.5 MPH and has limited effect beyond that. OK I have that mini-rant out of my system now…

Another KS wreck with more than one report this time. ID of fatality bicyclist unknown and Accident On Highway 24 Kills Bicyclist The second report was from slightly later than the first one linked and did have the victim’s name. Lights and reflectors at night people, drivers are stupid and can barely avoid hitting a semi truck in the road so unless you’re lit up like Times Square on New Year’s Eve they won’t see and avoid you, and sometimes even if you are lit up like Times Square you will get hit but you have a much better chance with the lights than without.

Another report on the OK bike riders killed by the (alleged) drunk driver. Family Remembers Cyclist Killed in Accident The reporter really needs to work on putting together paragraphs with more than one sentence. On the rest of the article, the suspect has already bonded out of jail, but it is unknown if the her vehicle has been released from evidence yet.

An obit on a really great guy that happened to be a regular and frequent bicycle rider. John C. Olin, 1957-2009: Bicycle shop owner donated kidney to friend RIP

From Jolly Olde 2 reports on a hit-and-run. Cyclist injured in Calcot hit and run and Cyclist seriously injured after collision This was a horrible wreck, even with as little as the UK media is allowed to report.

Another bad wreck, much like the wreck that killed Larry Schwartz, only mirror image because it was in the UK and not as deadly. Injured cyclist hit by bus

And finally a report that says most people killed by cars are not riding in them. Fewer Cars, More Traffic Fatalities Most people killed by cars are on the roads without them, pedestrians, bicyclists, and motorcyclists. This just supports one of the things I was saying, that cars are WMD that are sometimes used for transportation… 😉

Billed @$.02, Opus

We be BADD

Bicyclists Against Drunk Drivers, we be BADD. This was the off the cuff brainchild of Paul Tay mentioned in the comments section of one of the articles about the 3 cyclists hit by an alleged drunk driver (who allegedly stunk of beer and was allegedly falling down trying to walk away from her vehicle after it was blocked by other drivers when she was allegedly trying to drive away from the wreck).

I’m soliciting comments on this one, what do you think? We already have an acronym and a draft slogan, and a constituency of cyclists injured and survivors of cyclists killed by drunk drivers. We have a brain damaged blogger who may have been hit by a drunk driver to push it (that would be me). We have zilch organization as of the moment (but MADD was started by a single woman who lost her family in a drunk driving wreck), but with the internet that can be changed in a few days.

PSA, Opus