Another TGIF, and the Feed

I’m trying to get as much done as I can early today because we have a family friend visiting from England taking us out to dinner tonight. Since Mexican restaurants in England range in quality from so-so to vile we are probably going for Mexican tonight.

And while I start doing this in the early afternoon I know it won’t get posted until after midnight, so I’m just going to ask if you hugged your transgender friends yesterday for Transgender Day of Remembrance.

Up first because something has to be, NYC actually punished a driver for killing. SUV Driver Who Fatally Struck Woman On UWS Convicted Of Homicide And now we know what it takes to get a prosecution for killing a pedestrian or cyclist: Drive on the wrong side of the road, hit the victim with the right of way, and have the victim be the 4th person you have injured with your vehicle in 6 months.

Locally, go do this next week. Bike Friendly Richardson Presents: Black Friday Ride #7 If you’re not local, there are Black Friday rides all across the country, do one of them instead.

Bike Snob NYC tweets about parking costs that devolve onto business owners instead of car owners.

Why should drivers pay their share when local businesses can pay it instead? https://t.co/cHslFRzxe0 pic.twitter.com/av8MvY0MxK

— Bike Snob NYC (@bikesnobnyc) November 20, 2015

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Yet another link to the killer who got away with only 100 days for murder because he killed a cyclist with a motor vehicle. Stroger Exec Will Serve 100 Days For Killing Cyclist While Driving Drunk TANJ!

Down the road a few days ride from WoaB World HQ in the Beautiful Suburbs of Hell a cyclist is hit-and-run. Cyclist killed in hit-and-run crash Those of my readers local to the scene keep an ocular exposed for motor vehicles wuth heavy front end damage.

The first of Our Daily Ted. Morning Links: Sentence in Fiesta Island crash, red light-running SaMo driver, and a long list of bike events See the difference between being rich and connected and poor? More than 18 years in prison even when the victim survives, compared to 100 days for killing.

And Daily Ted part 2. Bike rider killed in midnight collision on Vincent Thomas bridge and another link Long Beach Cyclist Killed on Vincent Thomas Bridge

And Daily Ted part 3. Breaking News: Nine-year old boy killed in Irvine collision

The other big story is the coroner’s inquest on a cyclist run over by a heavy truck in Jolly Olde. Cyclist crushed to death after HGV turned left from ‘wrong’ lane at deadly junction and INQUEST REVEALS HOW WALWORTH CYCLIST DIED IN LORRY COLLISION and this, too Driver who killed cyclist was turning left from wrong lane The “money shot” for this story is this:“IMO this junction was deficient in that it did not prevent a careless collision but not so deficient that it causes the careful to collide,” he tweeted. Later adding: “Inquests into the death of cyclists never seem to me to be wholly satisfactory.”

Death by cop in OR is blamed on the victim. Cyclist on Highway 99 in Eugene struck, killed by on-duty Lane County sheriff’s deputy, Oregon State Police say and Opinion: Welcome to blame the victim season Cyclist was legally equipped and riding legally in the lane when the driver overdrove his headlights and ran the cyclist over, and they blamed the cyclist for not wearing the glow-in-the-dark clown suit.

While we are in OR here’s an infrastructure story from Portland. City finalizes plans for SE Clinton, promises two diverters by January They heard.

Trying to equalize the storage of actual human beings with the storage of motor vehicles in Portland. Commissioner Fritz questions city plan to legalize tiny homes near property lines, a perk currently given to auto storage Currently the only structures allowed to be zero lot line are garages, not even bike sheds which are garages for bicycles. “This is Amanda Fritz in a nutshell. If she didn’t have this job, she’d be on an HOA approving paint colors, issuing fines for ragged hedges, and questioning our commitment to Sparkle Motion.”

In NYC a woman learns to ride a bike in the city. Losing Your Fear Of Biking NYC: Braving Rush Hour This is supposedly the last article in the series, now that she has braved the perils of a Manhattan rush hour.

A deadly MI car/bike wreck. Warren police: Child on bike struck, killed Not much in the report aside from the dead cyclist, nothing on the mode.

I hate hit-and-run drivers. This one killed a cyclist in NC. Police seeking driver of truck that killed cyclist, left scene If you’re local, BOLO for a white pickup truck with front end damage.

I hate this hit-and-run just as much as the previous paragraph. Bicyclist killed in Everett hit and run accident “He was taken to Providence Medical Center in Everett and was expected to be booked into the Snohomish County Jail for vehicular homicide.”

Update on a CO wreck. Driver in Olde Stage hit-and-run that injured cyclist will be charged “Daniel Updike, 33, of Lafayette will be charged with leaving the scene of a crash involving serious bodily injury, failure to report a crash, careless driving resulting in injury, aggravated habitual traffic offenderand driving without insurance.” I would say the driver was very lucky the cyclist survived, with a rap sheet like that he would have been charged with murder if the cyclist died.

Update on a MN wreck. Health of Student Injured in Bike Accident Improves

A wounded vet ride down by San Antonio. Injured veterans get ‘geared up’ for Soldier Ride trip

And another ride in FL. Injured veterans gather for bike ride: ‘Good to be with the brethren again’

And another ride in CA. Cyclists raise money for injured veterans

Infrastructure from Hotlanta. Building a Bikeable Atlanta With an Eye on Equality

Over in Jolly Olde they are starting to repaircorrect a deadly collection of intersections that all dump together. London Bank junction to be transformed for cyclists, buses and pedestrians The previous form of the intersections was just kind of thrown together from the old Roman roads, not actually “designed”. The new plaza will actually be designed for all modes of transportation, and hopefully they will stop killing people.

Over on the Emerald Isle they’re recognizing the infrastructure is not up to the challenge. 200 people killed on roads across the Ireland so far in 2015, with six fatalities in the last week.

Over in Oz an anonymous cyclist chastises a driver without distressing her more than she deserves. Cyclist leaves note for P-plater: ‘You look too nice for prison’ Roundabouts are the most difficult bit of infrastructure for novices to negotiate in Australia.

And I’m out of links and ready to hit the hay, except we don’t have hay, we have an old worn out futon.

Billed @€0.02, Opus

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Sanity level approaching 1, and the Feed

OK some explanation for the headline. One of the games I play in has a Sanity stat for both the character and the encounter. Levels of Sanity are 0-2 with 1 being “Normal” and levels less than .5 or greater than 1.5 being “Insane”. Interestingly enough when characters of 0.5 or below have an encounter of 1.5 or above, to the outside observer everything looks quite calm and collected. Yes it’s one of Those games, where half the combat takes place in the characters’ minds. And it’s a great deal of fun to play, although I imagine actually living in that reality would be a close approximation of Dante’s Inferno. As this applies to my home though since certain people went back to work the levels of hostility have plummeted because the main combatant is simply not there to antagonize people. Interestingly enough this is also one way to cause Sanity to return to 1 in the game play, by simply removing one of the combatants from play. Let’s see how this works out long term, because this experiment will end 2015/4/30 as we shut down the shared housing for Mrs. the Poet’s sanity (non-capitalized).

Up first a story we have been following for several months here at WoaB. Injured cyclist walks months after being hit by a truck I’m wishing this cyclist the very best and a speedy recovery.

A BOLO for my OR readers. Witness photographs hit-and-run driver fleeing The driver was a male caucasian 20-30 YO with a slim build (caution, excessive levels of snark may be present) driving a dark penis-extender with 4 wheels. There seemed to be some kind of decal adorning the back window that is common among penis-extender drivers. This driver is assumed armed with a WMD, approach with caution if required to verify identity.

For some drivers, being in control of a WMD isn’t enough to threaten cyclists. SUV nearly hits five cyclists, driver pulls out gun Cheesus, you are already using a WMD to threaten and harass cyclists, you have superior speed to escape with, and you still feel the need to pull a pistol out? [insert slightly homophobic/misogynist comparison here]

Our Daily Ted. Morning Links: A bike riding Bono goes boom in Central Park; your kid’s next bike could be made from carpet

Better late than never department has a report: Focus for FDOT is reducing bicyclist, pedestrian deaths Maybe they could start by blaming bad infrastructure that leaves no safe place to ride or walk and puts miles between crosswalks (marked or otherwise).

NC has a similar problem as FL (and as the other 38 states and DC) but people are still getting killed unnecessarily. Wilmington, NC Car Accident Attorney Richard Flexner Weighs in on Bicyclist Fatality Report Highlighting Dangers in North Carolina

For evidence-based investigations of bicycle wrecks there is nothing that beats video. Rideye: Like a plane ‘black box’ for your bike, providing evidence against dangerous drivers The technology to do this was not widely available when I was hit, but the record would have been worth the camera’s weight in gold, platinum, iridium, and silver. And a few other precious metals as well. I figure my losses are around $1 million since the wreck if you count just the direct medical costs and my lost income for the last 13 years.

Another band-aid on the sucking chest wound. Cambridge cyclist and engineers experiments with helmet lighting to support cycle visibility campaign The UK version of that would be “a sticking plaster on a sucking chest wound”. Still the same level of effectiveness.

A chance to own a piece of cycling history. Grivko to auction off Tour de France bike in aid of injured Ukrainian soldiers

The next two links are presented without comment, my version of a moment of silence.

Bicyclist memorialized with 4-mile ride in Beaver County

‘Ghost Bike’ shrine to cyclist Daniel Squire killed in A258 accident at Ringwould

For those not wishing to reinvent the wheel, a reminder of what is available. Design manual for bicycle traffic Yes, this is the official English translation of the CROW Manual.

And those were all the links I could find today that did not contribute to my angst level.

Billed @€0.02, Opus the unkillable badass Poet