Another Grocery Day! and the Feed

Yep, time to buy mass quantities again. This time we have a bit more money in the budget, and more than 10 minutes to shop. Also I need to get some really salty snacks…

While I was there I checked my BP and weight with the health tester in the store. I lost another 2 pounds, and managed to get my BP all the way up to 109/75. Woo!

Up first, Houston has a problem. Transportation officials to revive safety council They had several bicycle death or serious injury wrecks, and now they decide they have to “do something”. And one of the major impediments to “doing something” that might actually work is TX speed limit laws. The CROW manual suggests a 20 km/hr speed limit for streets where bicycles and cars share the lane, that’s 12.5 MPH, while the TX laws are that you need to have a dispensation from the legislature for any street or road to have a speed limit less than 30 MPH, which they will let you reduce to 25 MPH or basically twice as fast as the CROW manual would allow. And the laws only allow a limited number of streets to get the 25 MPH speed limit. And unless you tame cars, people on bikes and foot will continue to get killed.

Out Daily Ted. Morning Links: Effing around on the Orange Line, JSK at the Hammer, and LA cyclist guilty of pimping PEDs At least the guy driving the ³/₄ ton PU was backing away from the cyclist instead of blocking the bike path because “I’m bigger than you”.

Still in CA. Cyclist killed in Carlsbad crash and Cyclist Killed in Carlsbad Crash, Roads Closed When I read this story yesterday I didn’t have any pictures so I pronounced this a SWSS, but now I don’t think that’s true, partially because the wreck was in the lane next to the median between the bike lane and a left turn lane. Now I say that the cyclist misjudged either the speed or the distance away from the intersection for the weapon vehicle. Or maybe both, and either thought the car would pass before she got to the turn lane or that she would get to the turn lane before the car got there.

Also still in CA. Fresno burn center chief William Dominic, seriously hurt on bicycle, seeks help to find hit-run driver I think I might have mentioned once or twice about how much I hate hit-and-run drivers. If the victim lives then I can allow the driver to live and watch their vehicle go through the car shredder from the driver’s seat. This would actually be a very humane method of execution because by the time the pain sensations from the driver’s feet reached his brain, there wouldn’t be a brain there to interpret them as pain. It would be nearly instantaneous, unlike the lingering deaths many hit-and-run victims suffer through waiting for someone to find them.

Continuing with the theme of my least-favorite kind of wreck in MD. Driver spared jail time in hit-and-run with cyclist in Annapolis The cyclist was extremely lucky in this wreck. and so was the driver not to get charged with attempted murder for deliberately hitting a cyclist at a red light. This was not a typical hit-and-run this was a road rage assault. And the driver was very lucky the victim was so forgiving.

Another OH cyclist death. 79-year-old Lancaster man on bicycle killed in crash The cyclist was hit from behind with the sun just barely to his right, not in driver’s eyes at all. This was totally the driver’s fault, there is nothing in the conditions to even remotely excuse the driver for hitting the cyclist from behind.

This MO wreck just has no excuse either after the initial impact. Cyclist injured by semi during hit-and-run in South County WTF!?! You hit a guy with a semi and then leave him laying on the side of the road after you get out and look at him?

Wreck in FL. 71-year-old cyclist dies in Collier crash Things really are changing in FL. Not too long ago they would have blamed the dead cyclist no matter who was really at fault, because cyclists “didn’t belong” on the streets. Now if the driver is at fault they will be blamed just like any other kind of wreck.

Up in NYC there is “no criminality suspected” in a pedestrian getting hit in the crosswalk in spite of a law making hitting a pedestrian in the crosswalk a crime. No ROW Charge for Garbage Hauler Who Killed Woman in UES Crosswalk The driver’s excuse holds up about as well as wet facial tissue for anyone except NYPD, who have a bad cultural case of windshield bias. There’s no excuse really, the driver had to have had a clear view of the crosswalk if he could see out of the vehicle at all.

NYC infrastructure. Citing FDNY Concerns, DOT Removes Two-Block Protected Bike Connection It takes years of public hearings to get one of those put in, but only a few hours to get them removed? TANJ!

MA infrastructure. After Cyclist Death, Brother Pushes For Truck Side Guards Not only do the side guards prevent pedestrian and cyclist injuries and deaths, they also save fuel, so win, win, win, win!

Va. Beach infrastructure to enhance the experience of an arts district. Virginia Beach’s arts district could get $4 million infrastructure makeover Bike lanes and sidewalks to go with improved storm drains.

Infrastructure from West Canuckistan. Bike infrastructure pays off: SFU researcher Induced demand works for bicycles just like it does for cars, only there is also the factor of “latent demand” where people want to ride but won’t or can’t because the infrastructure isn’t safe.

From Jolly Olde, this driver was none too jolly. Woman accused of hitting a Chinese cyclist and a leaving him to die in a ditch overnight ‘hated Asians,’ her family tells inquest I would call this a case of murder, because the cyclist died from exposure caused by being left, and would have recovered had he been treated for his other injuries he got in the wreck. IOW the “run” part of “hit-and-run” is what killed him, not so much the “hit”. And she may have done it on purpose, both the hit and the run.

A little UK infrastructure that I’m not sure I like. Major plans to make Tamworth a ‘no-go zone’ for boy racers to be considered First of all there is the freedom of association aspect, second is the use of the commons aspect. I don’t like the hooning about, but this reeks of the “anti-cruising” ordinances from the late ’70s and early ’80s that were found to be unconstitutional here in the US. I do like the part about getting them to not drive like maniacs.

Still in Jolly Olde, still not very jolly. Four year sentence for driver who killed cyclist while driving at double the speed limit The perp was smiling at the light sentence he got for cold-blooded murder of a random person on the street.

This is just mean, but funny. Exploding saddle prank catches thieves unawares, and more of the best cycling videos I mean how stupid are these guys (and every last one of them was a guy) not to see the explosives duct-taped to the bicycle seat? They were lucky that stupidity only hurt a little and didn’t cause any serious injury, even if a couple of the bike thieves got racked up by the exploding air bag.

Moving north in the UK, are cobbles worth the effort when your streets are mostly used by cars? Edinburgh Aims to Fix Cobblestone Street Repair First of all let me say that when I was a kid I rode my bike on a street that still had the original paving from when the Romans built it around 100 CE, because they never let anything heavier than a light cart drawn by an ox drive over it, making it over 1800 years old and still in good shape. But roads built the same way are destroyed in a decade when motor vehicle traffic pounds them to rubble.

A truck driver in Oz pulled over and administered first aid to a fallen cyclist until paramedics arrived to take over. HANSON TRUCK DRIVER AWARDED FOR HELPING INJURED CYCLIST This was the exact opposite of a hit and run, a help and run. As they say,”Good on ya!”

The guy that helped a driver commit the run part of a hit-and-run in Oz gets charged. Second man in court over cyclist Gordon Ibbs killed in Anakie crash

Last but most definitely not least, a recall on hubs. High-end bicycle wheel hubs recalled for crash risk This was in the Daily Ted, but I thought this was too important to risk you not clicking from Ted’s article.

And I have to get up early again tomorrow.

Billed @€0.02, Opus

Advertisement

I cooked dinner tonight, and the Feed

Well most of it anyway. We splurged and bought ³/₄ of a pound of chicken livers because I haven’t had chicken livers in years. Part of the reasons for that is Mrs. the Poet refuses to go through the mess and bother of cooking them, primarily because she can barely eat them. I wrapped about half a pound of bacon around the livers and fried them up, a preparation method that leaves the livers so that I love them, and Mrs. the Poet will at least have a couple of ounces total uncooked weight so she gets some protein in her meal. Anyway that takes a while to cut the bacon strips in half, wrap them around the livers, and fry them up. So I ended up losing about an hour from the filtering process preparing the blog post, but as this was Friday and I have to wait until after midnight to finish filtering I could afford to take the time out for cooking. And they were goooooood…

Up first is Our Daily Ted. Morning Links: Bike beats car in race to beach, Calbike wants your take on bike politics, and BMX legend dies

Still in CA. Bicyclist Suffers Major Injuries in Head-On Crash Near Jalama A person claiming to be the driver in the comment section said she was to the right of the centerline and the cyclist was on the wrong side of the road.

And speaking of that BMX legend, here’s a link off of my Twitter feed. Dave Mirra, BMX Legend, Dead At 41

Down in Houston a 3YO cyclist is run over by a driver that did not know he was there when the SUV started moving. Former UGA star Danny Ware fighting for body of son killed in Texas Again this is more of an issue with the blind spots of the SUV around kids.

In WI a kid-authored bill would make cycling the official state exercise. Kids Advocate for Biking to be State Exercise With two bike manufacturers in-state (Trek and Volae), this is really a no-brainer choice to make.

A bill presented to the FL legislature would strengthen the state 3-foot passing law and extend it to other road users. SPEAK UP FOR SAFETY OF PEOPLE ON BICYCLES, PEOPLE ON FOOT One of the major changes proposed is to put teeth in the law when a driver hits a cyclist from behind (or a pedestrian or any of the other classes of “vulnerable users”) substantial fines are levied against the driver.

More infrastructure news from FL. Recent accidents raises concerns for local cyclists It’s worth noting that of the recent wrecks listed none were the cyclist’s fault and would have resulted in the enhanced penalties in the proposed bill mentioned in the previous paragraph.

Update on an injured CO cyclist. Fort Collins cyclist hit by car remains hospitalized I do wish they would stop saying drivers don’t get hurt when they hit cyclists with their cars.

Death-defying report from NY. Police log: Dogs chase man on bike

Another link to the saga of the unlicensed driver in an HGV running over a cyclist wearing HiViz and blinky lights waiting at a red light. Lorry driver who killed cyclist jail appeal rejected Did he seriously expect to get a reduction in his sentence after having multiple driving convictions and driving without a license or insurance when he killed the cyclist? He’s lucky they didn’t find a way to increase the sentence.

Infrastructure-related wreck in Oz. Cyclist falls on deteriorating Bellarine Rail Trail amid calls for repairs It seems they can’t decide if the cyclist wrecked because the surface was bad, or because the surface collapsed underneath her.

New gadgets for the tool geeks out there. The 6 coolest accessories we’ve spotted this week That suction-cup bike carrier looks interesting.

And I think I don’t have any more links (checks) Nope, no more links.

Billed @€0.02, Opus

I took care of some bills, now the Feed

I spent the afternoon taking care of bills that went overdue because my paycheck from one of the gigs I was working was delayed a couple of weeks then took several days to clear because it was drawn on a brokerage account. Don’t ask, I get some strange gigs to say the least, and they pay strangely to boot. That’s just part of the territory when you’re undead.

More on that fatal wreck in LA where they charged the driver with homicide before the victim’s body was even cold. Dutchtown High student killed in Ascension Parish bicycle accident; 26-year-old arrested I noticed two things from the article: The evidence is such that they don’t think the driver could have avoided the wreck even if the cyclist was lighted and wearing that GITDCS because of his speed, and the driver was Black. I’m not sure how much the latter fact weighed in determining the previous fact, I would hope it weighed nothing and the evidence spoke for itself.

Another article showing that cars are getting safer, drivers not so much. More American Pedestrians and Cyclists Are Getting Killed on the Roads I really don’t have any better explanation for the phenomena. Cars are safe, drivers are killers.

This totally looks like a good place to put Our Daily Ted . Morning Links: A Vietnamese bike flute, up on the rooftop with St. MacAskill & a self-pumping bike tube

Meanwhile elsewhere in CA. Poor street design makes California city liable for damages in cyclist’s death Yep, in CA you can sue for bad street designs. Here in TX we can’t because of “sovereign immunity”.

Still in CA, a fatal wreck in Buck Owens’ home town. Bakersfield cyclist hit by truck, killed The cyclist was apparently crossing legally when hit by the drunk driver. If you get the time to react intersection protocols might help in a wreck like this.

It took a while but they finally charged a driver in a fatal MA wreck. Turners woman charged in cyclist’s death The driver was observed wandering in and out of her lane before hitting the cyclist from behind on the shoulder of the road.

Another wreck in FloriDUH! from a driver not paying attention to where the vehicle is going. UPDATE: Laurel Hill driver strikes bicyclist near Shoal River east of Crestview LEO in this case are placing ALL the blame on the driver for failing to move over to pass or slow down until a safe pass could be made.

Over in OH someone killed a cyclist Bicyclist struck, killed in Dayton and Bicyclist hit, killed in Dayton ID’d The cyclist is being blamed for not wearing the GITDCS required by Imaginary Laws when he was hit violently from behind. Some LEO need a refresher on the Basic Speed Law. AKA as the Don’t Hit Things law.

Another cyclist fatally hit in OH. Bicyclist Struck & Killed In Newark Another SWSS wreck where the cyclist “darted” through traffic in the right-hand lane of travel.

I wonder how they decided the driver was the one running the red on this one. Utah man charged with running red light, killing cyclist Ah, I see. There were two cyclists and one wasn’t badly hurt and testified the driver ran the red after they waited for the light to change…

Update on a wreck in ND. Driver who killed Fargo cyclist, victim’s widow, daughter featured in ESPN special on distracted driving If something good can come from this…

A MN cyclist tried to beat the train and failed. Bicyclist dies after being hit by Blue Line train at 46th St. Station [facepalm] The gates were down and the lights were flashing and there was a bell ringing, multiple visual and audio cues that there was a train coming. When presented with this just stay off the tracks. That’s how hard it is to not get hit by a train.[/facepalm]

Canadian cyclists have an infrastructure goal. A Billion for Bikes – That’s What We’re Asking For While a billion dollars will buy a lot of bicycle infrastructure, it’s peanuts for motor vehicle infrastructure, like 1¹/₃ freeway interchanges between two freeways, or ¼ a CRC project. (You might want to Wiki that one)

Over in Jolly Olde, don’t hit the pedestrians! Dog walker injured after being hit by cyclist I don’t know where the wreck happened so I can’t say if it was a shared path (which usually are very poorly marked) or a pedestrian-only area. Still DON’T HIT THE PEDESTRIANS! even if they are on a shared path and blocking the way.

Another link to the driver getting away with murder in the death of a cyclist in Jolly Olde. Lorry driver who killed cyclist spared jail over crash at City black spot No signal, just cut over and go for it and if someone doesn’t get out of your blind spot well it’s on them for being there.

This report from Oz just floored me. Coroner pushes for improved safety for cyclists after inquest into Danish cyclist Rebekka Meyer’s death Did you see it? “In handing down her findings, Ms Clements recommended heavy vehicles be banned from roads unless they were fitted with appropriate technologies that would warn the driver of road users within the truck’s blind spot.” Or, do something to eliminate the blind spot in future vehicles especially when there is an area 7 meters long (23 feet) in front of the vehicle and almost as wide as the vehicle where the driver can’t see what is there to get hit. And I don’t know if that’s at cyclist head height or down to the pavement, but I sincerely hope it’s the latter… because the former is terrifying to contemplate.

More on the lady cyclist hit walking her bike through a confusing intersection in Enn Zed. Cyclist in serious condition after hit-and-run and Cyclist still serious after hit-and-run Nobody has come forward to identify the SUV or driver thereof…

And I’m outta links again.

Billed @$0.02, Opus

Another Grocery Day combined with a UPS run, and the Feed

I just took over $40 a month off my internet and cable TV bill by sending a bunch of unneeded equipment back to Verizon, and dropping a bunch of channels we never watch. The only channel I didn’t get but really wanted was MAV TV. Well the only channel I didn’t get that was available through FiOS, I still wanted to get Funimation Channel for my anime fix but that was not an option. Anywho while I was going to the UPS store I had the phone out capturing check-ins and prize boxes to get that next gift card, and hit my bag limit before we got back to the grocery store. That puts me even closer to that next gift card.

The blister situation on my foot has gotten both better and worse. The “swollen” part from yesterday turned out to be a second blister underneath the first blister. That first blister started to peel off the bottom of my foot so I cut the dead skin off so that it wouldn’t tear off and pull out some live skin. After doing that the other blister immediately started feeling better. So that’s good-ish.

Up first, we cyclists sometimes have soft spots for critters, especially the ones that get hurt on the roads. Cyclist comes to aid of injured deer All together now: “D’aaawwww!”

Since we are in CA anyway, how about our Daily Ted, part 1. Morning Links: 77-year old victim of bike hit-and-run dies, arrest made in Expo Park road rage murder case

Daily Ted, part 2. Mountain biker dies from trail fall in Riverside County

Still in CA, another link to the SFPD report blaming a cyclist’s fatal wreck on not being in the bike lane that wasn’t there. SFPD Once Again Blames Cyclist For Own Death, City Refuses To Release Video Of Accident

More from CA as people local to the wreck blame the infrastructure for the wreck as much or more as they did the driver and cyclist. Bicyclist killed Tuesday was a Silicon Valley executive Basically the cyclist was hit because the bike lane went from the shoulder to the median across a 50 MPH speed limit pair of lanes on a highway with a lack of signage warning drivers that bicycles were going to be crossing the highway. I think I found the winner for today’s “really crap infrastructure” tag. Seriously, what the Hell were they thinking? More Palo Alto: Bicyclist killed on Page Mill Road and Bike Accident Scene Palo Alto Nov1st

Not In CA, they caught the bus driver that killed a pedestrian in NYC. MTA Bus Driver Arrested In Fatal Hit & Run Has History Of Arrests So besides being partially blind, the dude had very poor judgement.

WI cyclist run over by a semi. Woman killed in bicycle vs. semi crash, police say Hit-from-behind wreck that seems to be at least partially the fault of the cyclist for riding too far to the right, which encouraged the truck driver to not move over to pass. So yeah this was all the truck driver’s fault.

NE rider severely injured by hit-and-run driver gets blamed for the wreck. Suspect Vehicle Located In Hit & Run Which Injured 6 Year-Old Riding Bike “Omaha City Council Member Garry Gernandt said speed bumps weren’t the answer, but rather, parents need to “control their kids.”” While the kid was hit riding in front of his house with parental supervision by a driver who has abandoned his vehicle miles away from the wreck. The local pol is now living on a steady diet of crow.

Meanwhile in OH. Alliance boy on bike injured by hit-and-run driver The comments section was blocked for this link.

More on the WA cyclist hit by a bus. Cyclist injured when hit by transit bus on Bainbridge Island Again, the cyclist was hit from behind by the bus, that pretty much absolves the victim from blame. Drivers must see and avoid whatever is on the road in front of them.

FL cyclists say drivers need to look out the windshield and not drive in the bike lanes. Bicyclist death highlights need for awareness I can see the bike tire mark on the car bumper, why can’t the LEO investigating the wreck? I wish I could see the bike too. The thing that bothers me is the lack of damage to the front end of the car, besides what looks like a tire mark there is almost nothing until the crushed roof and windshield. There’s the tire mark on the driver’s side bumper, a slight scuff mark on the hood directly behind the mark on the bumper, and then the crushed windshield and roof. Very strange.

Another report on the cyclist shot by an insane man in CO. Iraq veteran and father-of-two named as cyclist who was shot dead at random by Colorado gunman despite pleading for his life Another thing we know is the gunman was reported to 911 several times before he started shooting, but LEO could not respond because CO is an “open carry” state. Seriously, there are no words that can convey my emotions about this.

In Canuckistan the driver who hit a cyclist in a hit-and-run wreck comes back to have a shot at the cops investigating the wreck, who them shoot back. Calgary police shoot man after ‘shocking, wanton’ post-hit-and-run attack, narrow miss for officer “While emergency service personnel attended to the seriously injured cyclist, the subject vehicle reappeared on Dermot Baldwin Way and drove directly at the officers,” said police Chief Roger Chaffin late Tuesday night. The driver was reported to have deliberately targeted the cyclist with the stolen vehicle. I blame Rupert Murdoch for the attempted murder wreck and subsequent attack. 😉

More on the pinball wreck of a cyclist in the Great White North. Cyclist dies after being struck by two vehicles on Highway 27 in Etobicoke The impact damage on the weapon vehicles, especially the first one, just looks wrong for the narrative.

More on the cyclist hit by a truck in the GWN Police looking for five drivers after cyclist killed in Brampton I still say he fell off his bike after getting buzzed by the truck that ran him over.

A Whiskey, Tango, Foxtrot, wreck in Jolly Olde. Two people are injured after a BMW chased by an unmarked police car ploughs into a bus stop, lamppost, car and cyclist No kitchen sink?

A coronial inquest has found that Irish truck drivers are blind and need all the help they can get to see a cyclist. Truck driver unaware he had run over cyclist, inquest told Coronial inquests are not intended to find guilt, but rather to find out how to prevent future deaths from the same cause. So apparently this one decided that two headlights and two tail lights mounted at two different heights on the back of the bike were not enough and the cyclist needed to do more instead of the truck driver watching where he was going.

Last link is an echo of the way I felt when I took the wrecks out for a while last year. Rick Vosper: Haunted by the Ghosts of Dead Cyclists

And that’s all I got today.

Billed @€0.02, Opus

I got caught in the rain coming home from my haircut, and the Feed

Trip to the bank, trip to the hardware store, and trip to the nearest haircut place when they said they knew how to do a flattop haircut. Unfortunately they had only a vague idea of what a “flattop” was and what I got was more of a high and tight than a flattop. What I was looking for was something close to this.

But what I got was this.

And I look a lot more unhappy in that picture than I intended to, wow. I guess that’s what getting caught in the rain and having to change all your clothes and put your shoes in the shoe dryer looks like. It wasn’t raining when I left the bus stop 0.4 miles away on the main road, but the water was running ankle-deep in the street by the time I got to the corner of my street less than 10 minutes later.

The Big Story today is a UK politician having a bike wreck because someone tampered with his brakes. Police open investigation after Labour councillor is injured after bicycle brakes cut and Cyclist seriously hurt after saboteurs cut brakes After years of anti-cyclist propaganda from the Murdoch media empire is anyone surprised about this? Seriously check your brakes after every stop where you leave your bike unsupervised, you never know what kind of sick sociopaths will take delight in your possible death or dismemberment.

Next biggest story was a tie between this Oz story and the next paragraph. Qld road safety push after cyclist death and Bike group calls for urgent review of inner city truck use The “shocking” news that there is a 25 foot (7 meter) blind spot in front of a conventional cab truck isn’t really news, but the fact that there has been nothing done about this blind spot to the passenger side of the truck in all the years since it was discovered is disturbing.

Back in the US we have another cyclist killed in gun violence. Witnesses: Man riding bike shot, killed on near north side and Man riding bike shot and killed on north side It appears the cyclist was killed by pedestrians on the sidewalk, rather than a drive-by shooting. So you’re dead if you do (ride in the street) and dead if you don’t.

Our Daily Ted. Morning Links: Tragedy in Santa Clarita, LA announces Vision Zero, and too much racing news for one day

Wildfires in the PNW impact a treasured Portland bike event. County urges bikers to use TriMet as wildfire smoke fills Portland streets (updated) It came ][ this close to getting canceled, but the wind changed direction to push the smoke away from the city a bit.

Closer to home, another hit-and-run in Austin. Popular Austin cyclist falls victim to hit and run The good news is he’s alive and looks like he will recover without further disruption to his life after he heals.

I’m sure this MD cyclist wishes the driver had left the scene instead of what he did. SUV Driver Cited for Hitting Cyclist, Road Rage: Police He beat up on a man with a broken arm and rib and threw a wheel into the woods so the cyclist couldn’t follow him, and his bail was set at only $25K? TANJ!

A young cyclist in LA is killed when he fell over into a truck’s rear wheels. Young boy killed in bicycle accident in Opelousas Gee I wonder what would cause a bicycle to fall over into the rear wheels of a truck? A buzz job or punishment pass maybe? Or a horn blast just a few feet away from his head?

AZ cyclists are having problems with streetcar tracks. N4T Investigators: Another cyclist files lawsuit over streetcar tracks The problem is not the tracks alone, there is also a lot of traffic in the intersection and a cyclist has to have superhuman levels of multitasking to be able to watch for traffic as well as for road defects and streetcar tracks, and the costs for the cyclist could be extremely high, and I’m not just talking about the $300K lawsuit filed for medical expenses.

A NJ cyclist ran out of luck. Newark man, 23, killed in Granville crash Given that no information about the wreck is coming from LEO, and the driver is in jail, maybe a drunk hit the cyclist from behind semi-on-purpose?

How much does not having bike lanes cost your city? Bike-lane advocates cite new Albany County data on cost of injuries The direct, to-the-cyclist cost of a wreck can be higher than the median family income of the city. The average cost is almost the median income in the city, so it doesn’t take much worse than an average wreck to get way past the “average” cost for a wreck.

Back in AZ for encouragement to ride. Get out and ride, but be safe

Bad wreck in NYC. Chinese food delivery guy, 65, seriously injured after hit by truck in Brooklyn Remember the story from Oz about conventional cabs and their blind spots to the front passenger side? Same thing applies here.

Beautiful article from MO. Ghost bikes honor cyclists killed on road

Is “fell over in front of me” the new “I didn’t see him”? Cyclist killed in Rosemont La Petite-Patrie Québécois are more like Parisian French than your average Canadian, but still a lot better than the average N’Yawker. This just sounds so… suspicious.

And Rob Ford is casting a huge shadow on Toronto cyclists. Most cyclists are not considerate

This is what most of MY bike rides feel like. What Happens When A Tank Crashes A Bike Race

Last link, sometimes we can do great things. A Katrina hero: He hopped into a boat and became a one-man rescue squad He kept rescuing people for days, over a week. And he was One Of Us. Given that level of exertion he pretty much had to be, or some other kind of endurance athlete.

And I’m outta links again.

Billed @€0.02, Opus the Unkillable Badass Poet (only 6 more shopping days until my Deathday, be sure to hit your favorite liquor store so you can celebrate properly, at home)

It’s hot in Texas and water is wet, and the Feed

Looking at my phone the temp just went to 103°F with the heat index “only” 102 because there is almost no humidity. Seriously the air in Phoenix is more humid than the Beautiful Suburbs of Hell, 22% in TX to 26% in AZ. And I actually go out and ride a bike in weather like this, wearing a full-face helmet. Well nobody has accused me of being “normal” lately. Speaking of that there are only 20 more shopping days to get me a Death Day present. I’m looking for RPG dice this year, especially d6 and d8. And I’m a vain geek, I want pretty dice that kinda match. And seriously about this, I’m playing a game now where I sometimes need as many as 10 d6 for damage rolls because my Warlock is heavily buffed with stacking magic items that both increase his “to hit” as well as his damage. I mean my to hit is now +13 against the touch AC of my opponent meaning against most non-monsters I hit every time, and I have better than even odds against pretty much all of the monsters. Currently it takes me longer to roll damage than most people take to play a turn because of my lack of d6. 😦

Right now it appears the Big Story is the woman hit by a semi in Boston on Friday morning. Cyclist Killed by Tractor Trailer Identified and Cyclist’s death spotlights Mass. Ave. peril also Recent fatal bike encounters with trucks, buses this too Police search for flatbed truck after bicyclist hit and killed at Boston more like this Bicycle rider killed in Back Bay crash in the previous link you can see the cyclist just before she was hit under the passenger side mirror of the picture of the weapon vehicle. Police Identify Bicyclist Killed In Back Bay Accident I’m going to make a 100% absolutely serious recommendation here: Ban large trucks like this from urban areas unless accompanied by bicyclist outriders front and rear to make sure that no pedestrians or cyclists get run over because drivers can’t see out of the right side or directly in front of the vehicle. The outriders’ responsibility would be to ensure that there was nothing and nobody in the way of the truck before allowing it to make a turning movement and hold the truck until the way had been cleared with the front outrider keeping people from turning across the truck and the back outrider making sure nobody comes from behind, and both making sure that the people who got there first have time to get out of the way, then the truck can make a turn. Obviously this is much more important when making a right turn because such large vehicles have to fade far to the left to clear such things as light poles and sidewalks, but there is still some issues with the left turns from a one-way street that require fading right for clearance. Using bicyclists as outriders means the forward speed is more or less limited to a safe speed. Late addition Surgeon Remembered After Being Struck and Killed on Bike

From a few hours ride east of WoaB World HQ in the Beautiful Suburbs of Hell. Calls for road safety after Longview cyclist crashes “It’s not if I’m going to get hit, it’s when,” which sounds pretty pessimistic, but this is TX, the state where the 2 biggest-selling vehicles are pickup trucks in spite of most of the population living in one of 6 urban areas.

A memorial ride south of WoaB about a day and a half ride. Memorial to honor teen killed in auto vs. bike crash “(H)e swerved and hit the side of a vehicle” tells me that he got buzzed and hit. Remember this victim of motor violence.

Ted had a good day. We interrupt this website for a view from Sunday’s successful CicLAvia

Well it was good for a little while, anyway. Bicyclist killed riding on I-15 in North San Diego County hit-and-run; victim may have been struck multiple times

Same area, slightly earlier. Mission Beach Cyclist Severely Injured in Hit-and-Run Area readers are encouraged to BOLO for the weapon vehicle, have SDPD non-emergency number on speed dial. And PD need to have the ability to get texts and attachments from cell phones so that vital information can be sent from people on the scene instead of trying to describe the situation verbally. Pictures are worth a thousand words.

From the most deadliest state in the US to walk or ride a bike catches a killer. FHP: Hit-and-run driver distracted by e-cig before killing teen cyclist and Arrest made in hit-and-run crash that killed 17-year-old He dropped his vaper on the floor and instead of pulling over and stopping while he searched for it, he just ducked down and drove blind.

NYC, you suck. 18-Year-Old Queens Cyclist Who Was Struck By Driver In Bike Lane Has Died The drunk driver has not yet been charged with anything, including not charged with drunk driving.

Upstate NY is only slightly better. Bike accident during Great Race sends two cyclists to Upstate University Hospital No motor vehicles involved, but it was a race/ride. Some people were just out to have a nice ride somewhat protected from motor vehicles.

More upstate NY hassles. No easy answers for rider-driver friction in Piermont Part of the problem is NY culture leads to confrontations (remember Pacino’s “Hey! I’m WALKING here!”?), and part of the problem is we cyclists get a trifle excited when some putz comes within inches of terminating our lives which does little to reduce tensions.

Meanwhile in Joisey. Charges filed in Mine Hill crash that left cyclist injured The driver has been charged with driving like a putz and failing to yield.

A bill in PA that deserves to get thrown under the bus. Pa. bill to demand cyclists wear reflective vests at night getting thrown under bus Seriously, instead of demanding that cyclists do all the work here, how about just enforcing the Basic Speed Law?

Are you Too Old To Drive? Mother of bicyclist killed in car accident helps educate elderly drivers I remember covering this wreck back then, the cyclist was hit with the front of the right front fender. The driver just did not even consider that there was a lane of traffic to the right of the vehicle before starting the turn.

Someone in MN has a serious hate on for cyclists. Answers Tough To Find After Cyclist Hit By Chunk Of Concrete and People are ruthlessly attacking Minneapolis cyclists, for some reason Seriously, this was a planned attack, as the driver was riding in some cyclist-heavy parts of the city and wearing PPE so as to not get hurt by the objects he was throwing at cyclists. If you see the weapon vehicle deploy spike strips and shoot to kill. The car that is, kill the car. We want the driver to be publicly humiliated for at least a decade or so and corpses don’t get humiliated easily.

Still in MN a left cross wreck injures a young girl. Minnesota Girl Injured On Bicycle After Car Struck Her This story is just so bizarre. The driver was the victim of random mob violence a few years ago that left him brain damaged and was just now starting to get something resembling a normal life back when he turned left into the cyclist. As a member of both groups, brain damaged and cyclist, I don’t know which I should feel more sorry for. But as a member of both groups I also need to say they should test the driver for his degree of perception to his left, as well as can he physically turn his head to see that direction. He may have undiscovered defects on that side of his body, that he may not even know about.

Another hit-from-behind wreck in WI. Bicyclist hurt in Sunday crash named Other than the fact the driver stayed at the scene and rendered aid to the cyclist until medical help arrived it was a common hit-from-behind wreck.

Another cyclist is killed in another hit-and-run, this time in MI. Bicyclist on trek across Michigan dies in hit-and-run crash and Woman cycling across Michigan killed in hit-and-run The driver of the pickup truck hit the last rider in a group and sped away because he was a person of low moral content. When they find the truck it should be crushed as soon as they finish processing it, possibly with the driver still in it.

A little girl is hurt in SD. Five-Year-Old Girl Injured In Car Vs. Bicycle Accident If a 5YO can’t play safely here then there isn’t a safe place to play in SD.

Our first international links come from the Great White North, as age is no defense against criminally bad driving. Charges pending against 83-year-old driver after cyclist hit And neither is “sun glare”. It’s not like you don’t know the sun is going to be there…

The father of a cyclist killed in a hit-and-run wants a mandatory minimum sentence for killing someone in a hit-and-run to deter DUIs from leaving the scene. Dead cyclist’s father wants jail time for hit-and-run drivers and Dead cyclist’s father wants jail time for hit-and-run drivers I suggest the minimum for a fatal hit-and-run be twice the minimum for death by DUI, whatever they call it in the statute. If leaving the guy to die is not worse than killing him outright, well…

Gawddammit! Cyclist seriously injured after being hit by a lorry in central London OK I know the drivers have at least some degree of driving ability to pass the test for the license, and the majority of the cyclists hit have been experienced and careful cyclists, which narrows it down to infrastructure and vehicle blind spots…

Road.cc is sorta like Gothamist except all bike and in England. They have two links in today’s Feed. The first one is the driver who had his pathetically weak sentence reduced further because victims’ impact statements don’t actually count, they’re just for show. Lorry driver who caused death of Denbighshire cyclist has driving ban reduced FFS.

Second link is the bus driver that hit a cyclist in plain view and dragging his body until there was no hope of survival and getting away with it. Bus driver who dragged cyclist to his death and failed to stop avoids jail That distance in American (formerly Imperial English) is almost 80 feet. And WTF?!? “Death by Dangerous Driving” is the most serious driving offense in the book, and he got probation?

I think the coppers are still looking for the murder weapon. 70 year-old man questioned over death of cyclist Yep, I’ almost positive that’s what they’re doing.

Last link. Sips For Cyclists Event To Benefit Injured Riders Go out there and benefit somebody.

And I’m tired and done composing, now comes proofing, editing, and tagging.

Billed @€0.02, Opus the Unkillable Badass Poet

Mrs. the Poet is on her way, and the Feed

Mrs. the Poet is on her way to help take care of grandnephews in NY as things get destabilized for our niece. The farm she has been living on got sold out from underneath her and she needs childcare while she works. Mrs. the Poet will be spending about 36 hours on the Dawgbus to get there, and another 18 hours to recover.

In other news around Casa de El Poeta, we got the Explanation of Benefits on my surgery from BCBS. The total costs were in the neighborhood of $28K, my costs after my cash co-pay I provided the day of surgery, $0. When you reach your max out-of-pocket for the year with this policy, that is it, except for office visits to your PCP to see if something else needs fixing. So it took more than a year of running around and significant transportation issues to get there and back, but the lump on the back of my neck is gone and I don’t owe any more money for the procedure.

Up first, condolences on this Daily Ted. Suspected DUI driver kills adult trike rider and her dog in Garden Grove And the weapon vehicle will be crushed …?

Another link to that lawsuit where a bike rider was tased while riding his bike. Cops Beat, Tase Man for Riding Bike With No Headlight, Failing to ID Themselves, Lawsuit Claims More information, this article makes the claim the LEO failed to tell the victim he was being stopped for not having a headlight before tasing him while he was riding. As I pointed out yesterday this makes as much sense as tasing the driver of a car while the car is still moving, which nobody in their right mind would ever do because of the danger.

And a cyclist gets right crossed because a driver didn’t look so they give the cyclist a ticket for riding on the sidewalk? Elmira teen seriously injured in bike-car crash Monday TANJ!

There are two huge stories in the UK today. This is the one that makes me slightly more angry. Gran died after reckless cyclist ploughed into her on BMX bike he pulled from skip and Cyclist, 21, who knocked down and killed grandmother, 73, while riding BMX bike he pulled out of a skip is jailed Why does this one make me angry? Because the cyclist is going to be spending a year in jail longer than most drivers get for killing pedestrians or cyclists.

This is the other story that makes me almost as angry. Pictured: Newly-married cyclist killed in London lorry crash and Cyclist, 26, killed in Bank tipper truck crash was newly married Oxford graduate also Cyclist killed at ‘hectic’ seven-way Bank junction in London also this Why are female cyclists more vulnerable to London’s lorries?

In a different but related story. Widow of cyclist killed by Crossrail lorry calls for road safety improvements Another cyclist killed because of HGV having restricted visibility out the front and to the passenger side, which is exactly where the “bike lanes” of the UK put them. This cyclist apparently could not see the light had changed because there were trucks pulled in front of them, and one of those trucks ran him over.

From Canuckistan pay attention to cyclists while driving, the life you save could be your neighbor or the kid down the block. Cyclists deserve attention

A proposed change in the legal infrastructure of Oz. Cyclists face on-the-spot fines for using their phones, VicRoads report recommends Besides the phone thing cyclists would be assumed to have right of way in all intersections.

OH considers changing the law for the worse. Should bike helmets be the law? Considering the rather limited energy window that helmets work in, I would say making them mandatory would be a crime.

Memorial ride for a cyclist killed on a bike trail when a motorcycle went off the parallel road at high speed. Memory of bicyclist killed on Seaford bike path inspires fundraising bike ride

And an update on the Marine riding a hand-cycle from CA to VA. Combat-injured vet bicycling through Chanute Needless to say WoaB would be sending $$ to this if we had the $$ to send.

And I’m out of links again. Good thing because I have to make dinner and then clean up after.

Billed @€0.02, Opus

Happy tropical storm Bill, and the Feed

We are not-quite-flooded out here at Casa de El Poeta, just the usual swamp in the back yard and where the two roofs intersect in the front to send the water from the north-south roof and the east-west roof out of the same corner. I’m considering putting up a deflector to split this back up so it doesn’t all land in the same place every time it rains, but I haven’t gotten around to it yet. So, galvanized steel, powdercoated steel, or powdercoated aluminum in order of least difficult to most? Which material should I use to make the deflector?

Up first is some Infrastructure! news from the Great White North. Advocates call for city-wide bike grid after 3 cyclists killed in 2 weeks and Advocates call for city-wide bike grid after 3 cyclists killed in 2 weeks Yep, a protected bike lane probably would have kept that (assumed) drunk driver from killing the cyclist last week, but a network of them would have allowed the driver to get home without needing a car as long as he was sober enough to not fall off the bike.

Speaking of the Devil. Mitchell Irwin granted bail in deadly hit and run Because of the obstruction of justice caused by the driver waiting more than 18 hours to turn himself in there was no way to prove suspected drunk driving, but some of the charges can be proved without knowing the driver’s BAC% at the time of the wreck and they carry significant prison terms all by themselves.

Our Daily Ted is a little lighter today. Morning Links: Hermosa backs safety improvements; San Diego details deaths in the county, including on bikes

And Daily Ted Part 2 is a very good thing to keep on your phone as an app. Why Attorneys Tell You To Never Admit Guilt

More on a CA bike death. CYCLIST KILLED BY DISTRACTED DRIVER WAS RADY CHILDREN’S CFO This looks almost word for word like an article I linked a couple of days ago from a different outlet…

Still in CA. Billboard reaction: ‘To be called roadkill is really disturbing’ While I agree with the premise that attention must be grabbed, there is “grabbing” and there is “assaulting”, and I place this one firmly in the “assaulting” camp. And given the recent death of a cyclist lighted from all angles like a freaking Christmas tree, how about we make “not seeing” a cyclist or pedestrian a crime, punishable with surrender and recycling of the motor vehicle used in the crime?

This cyclist was killed by bad infrastructure, and they are trying to blame the victim for not looking far enough ahead? Cyclist’s death highlights hazards Not to mention that besides looking ahead it requires knowing or remembering the curb cut is not wide enough for 2-way traffic.

NYC is just a terrible place to try to get around, the latest evidence. Pedestrian Dies After Being Struck By Two Drivers In Inwood I will give both driers credit for stopping, and the second driver had almost zero time to react when the pedestrian was knocked into his lane. Why the pair were crossing the street where they did and when is not known at this posting.

Methinks the TWU is unaware of the word “irony”. City Bus Drivers Protest Vision Zero Law By Driving More Carefully OOhhh! They will drive totally within the laws! [faint, iz ded] Or to quote a substantial fraction of the commentariat: “Thank you for obeying the law and not killing me”.

The most dangerous vehicles in London just claimed another victim. Cyclist seriously injured after being hit by skip lorry on London Bridge in rush hour As of this posting the cyclist was still alive in hospital.

Less dangerous vehicle compensates with more-dangerous driving. Angry cyclist films woman eating bowl of cereal behind the wheel of her Land Rover The funny part is how much of the commentariat is grousing about the “dangerous and illegal” cyclist while giving the driver eating a bowl of cereal and milk in traffic a pass.

UK cyclists complete a dead cyclist’s journey that he couldn’t. Friends of Washington cyclist killed by a bus set to take on Coast to Coast cycling challenge

Don’t wear HiViz, get mocked by the courts and killed by drivers, wear HiViz and get beat up by a gang of drunks on the side of the road. Cyclist beaten up after his hi-vis vest gets mocked

And if you don’t want a smelly gas scooter on your multi-million $$ Yacht: Why billionaires want these electric bikes

And that’s all I got today, no more links. Now Ima go play with the plans for the adaptor to put Wide 5 hubs on (reproduction) early Ford spindles.

Billed @€0.02, Opus the Poet

Ugh, Monday again? and the Feed

I used to like Garfield, back in the ’80s and early ’90s, but one thing I still like is the Monday hate from a cat that doesn’t do anything all week or during the weekend, but somehow still hates Monday. The irony could be used to build a bridge… My reasons for disliking Mondays are more concrete. If I don’t write about bikes on Saturday or Sunday then the links accumulate for 3 days and I have a monster to deal with come Monday. But as the alternative was never getting time away from injured or dead people who got that way on a bike, having a heavy workload on Monday beats a padded cell 7 days a week.

Up first because the computer is locking up and giving me fits and I need to clean out some links, Part 1 of Our Daily Ted. San Diego cyclist killed by distracted driver; fourth SoCal bicycling fatality in just the last four days This has been a rough stretch again for Ted.

And Daily Ted Part 2. Morning Links: Bike lane riding in the Biking Black Hole; Caltrans looks at active trans; hero cop saves a cyclist OK I thought I had a lot of links on Mondays…

As mentioned in today’s Daily Ted, there were some terrorist attacks on cyclists in the UK this weekend. Cyclist knocked down by ‘cut-throat’ wire stung up on bike path by twisted thugs Several thin wires set a various heights along a bike path by a golf course with injured cyclists finding most of them before LEO cleaned out the rest. And Cyclist crashes as tacks sprinkled on Velothon Wales route – but others praise local support Looking at the comments there were several cyclists injured after getting tires punctured by tacks, but only one “officially” injured. And for the UK commentariat here in TX something like this would be attempted murder if there was a possibility that someone could die because of it.

NYPD has a law that protects pedestrians and to a lesser extent cyclists, but they aren’t enforcing it. Tragic city bike accidents test new Right of Way law — as traffic incidents result in mixed legal recourse A big part of the problem is only 31 officers in all of NYC are allowed to issue those tickets for “failure to yield” that come with the big fines, and they are only called to the scene when someone dies or is likely to die, or is “seriously Injured”. Apparently getting one’s leg turned into hamburger doesn’t count as “seriously”.

And what if the US had nationalized health care that went all the way down to the guy in the ambulance? We would get stuff like this. The moment a cyclist bleeding to death was saved – by a balloon fed through her leg: Woman, 24, undergoes emergency procedure after paramedics decide she would not survive journey to hospital They can do this because there was a surgeon on the team that went in the ambulance. Here in the US that doesn’t happen. And so people die who don’t need to, because profits.

Considering all the technology used to catch speeders, and the fact that so many tech geeks ride regularly, this was practically predestined to happen. Police use ultrasonic device to make sure drivers stay 3 feet from cyclists Personally I would like to see gigawatt laser cannons used to keep drivers away from cyclists (get too close and lose the front of the car), but until that happens, tickets backed by video recording the illegal pass as measured with ultrasound will have to do.

This one hurts a little. Funeral set for Montevallo woman hit and killed while riding bicycle Cyclist killed in a hit-and-run after either getting robbed or escaping getting robbed and trying to get to a safe(r) place.

This one brought a tear to my eye, too. Hundreds of bicyclists ride to promote safety and honor teen killed, another injured This was in MS, not known as a particularly bike friendly state.

It shouldn’t take a dead cop to get moving on keeping cyclists safe, in fact nobody should have to die to get movement on keeping cyclists safe. Officials discuss bicycle ordinances and safety tips in light of Joplin police officer recently injured in bicycle crash Sorry, injured cop, not dead cop. And I noticed that all of the laws discussed were restrictive on cyclists, with none saying anything about not hitting cyclists or that there are more cases where the cyclist has the right to the entire lane than not.

More on the MA cyclist shot and killed. Surveillance video captured slaying of boy on bike, DA says Sorry about the auto-playing video.

They caught a hit-and-run driver in the Great White North after he turned himself in. Keswick man charged in fatal Yorkville hit and run Apparently he cleaned himself and the car up before turning himself in so that he couldn’t be charged with anything except the hit-and-run. Except now they can add “obstructing justice” or whatever they call it in Ontario.

I’m not seeing anything con in this pro and con article on bike trails except that maybe they don’t have enough of them. Let’s Talk About It, Trail Systems

First of many infrastructure articles from roundabout Jolly Olde. Cyclists Demand National Lorry Safety Crackdown When a single mode of travel killed roughly 40% of cyclists last year and 100% of cyclists this year it is a pretty safe assumption that there is something fundamentally wrong with that mode of transport as it pertains to bicycles.

Still on that subject but from another sort of Anglophone country. Campaign to warn cyclists of lorry blind spots There’s your problem, drivers can’t see out of the cabs of trucks well enough to not hit cyclists sharing the streets in the city. Or the pedestrians in the crosswalk either…

A possible solution to the urban chaos. Dublin City Council Poised to Ban Cars in City Center

While we are still doing UK news. WATCH: Chester Triathlon pays tribute to cyclist killed in road accident Yep, I got a little misty on that one, too.

You know the guy was liked by everybody except the killer when they name a bike club after you when you die in a wreck. New bike club set up in memory of cyclist

And from Oz by way of Road.CC in the UK, an idiot. NSW roads minister wants to CLOSE segregated bike lane in Sydney Really, close a bike lane that carries more people than the whole road next to it? You are an idiot.

And on that note I’m out of links, which means I’m also out of idiots. Hurray!

Billed @€0.02, Opus the Poet