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

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You could be costing me money, and the Feed

I have a situation that the blog service provider shares advertising revenue with me when I get enough people reading my blog on a daily basis. The problem is you have to read my blog AT my blog, not in your e-mail, or via your FB app, or RSS feed reader. I have enough subscribers to make some money if you read and click on my blog, but I don’t get a penny if you read someplace else. Love you all, but I can’t emphasise enough that I only get paid for your eyeballs when those eyeballs are at the same URL as this blog is originally published. And now back to our regularly scheduled nonsense and infrastructure news (if there is difference I’ll let you know 😉 )

Up first, I seem to always be near really great things in my life, and I did it again. This is about something that is a short ride on DART away from me. How One Weekend in Dallas Sparked a Movement for Urban Change This was another “I was there” situation for me. I was surprised at how fast some of these installations went from “demonstration” to “permanent”. And now the rest of the world is learning about it.

An exceptional edition of Our Daily Ted. Hundreds turn out in Hollywood for Sunday’s Finish the Ride Lotsa pictures there, Ted.

While we are talking about CA, here’s an article that treats death by motor vehicle as a public health issue. Public Health Menace Grows There were more cyclists killed in just one city last year than people died of Ebola in the US. And which one gets more attention?

And it looks like we have dodged a bullet this time. California mandatory helmet law set back following intensive lobbying from pro-cycling campaigners We are going to have to be careful on this one, it already has a comeback scheduled.

And FL does it again, a driver seriously injures a cyclist on the sidewalk without ever actually hitting the cyclist. Driver, cyclist hospitalized after car strikes pole in NW Miami-Dade So basically the cyclist was collateral damage to the other wreck as damaged infrastructure falls onto the sidewalk. And much like a pinball wreck I have no idea how you avoid getting hit by a chunk of infrastructure dislodged by a speeding driver running into it.

Two links that seem to encourage Stockholm Syndrome for vulnerable road users, first from NOLA. How New Orleans drivers and cyclists can move beyond ‘us v. them’ Look at the difference in the two sets of stories related, cyclists are assaulted, threatened, and nearly killed; drivers are annoyed by cyclist behavior that does not actually cause any harm. Even where cyclists break traffic laws, they are the only ones harmed. But cyclists have to “understand” drivers feelings?

And in this link about NYC. Finding Vision Zero Not taking an “Us vs Them” mentality when Us are dying at the hands of Them strikes me as an “Odd Thing” to do.

And while we are in NYC anyway, here are a few more links about the city. Driving a bus in a crowded city must be super easy. Video: NYC Bus Operator Keeps Busy By Reading While Driving Hey, it’s just a multi-ton killing machine surrounded by squishy pedestrians, no need to pay all that much attention to what you’re doing.

I wonder if this was the same driver caught in the video before they pulled him off the bus. Bus Driver Runs Man Over In The Bronx, No Criminality Suspected Driver hits person standing at bus stop as he was pulling out, was that a passenger who got left behind and was trying to get the bus to stop and let him on?

A memorial for all the pedestrians and cyclists killed in NYC last year. 10th Annual Ghost Bike Ride To Honor Pedestrians And Cyclists Killed Last Year and Photos: NYers Gather At “Ghost Bikes” To Demand Safer Streets And people still don’t understand the biggest cause of death in the city is the motor vehicle. More Ghost ride honors killed cyclists, pedestrians

And part of the memorial weekend was posting silhouettes for every person killed by motor vehicle violence in the city last year. While they were being put up the people doing the installation were almost part of next year’s installation. Tractor Trailer Crashes Into Memorial For Traffic Fatalities This is just so, not ironic, there’s a better word, because this is not irony. Irony would be getting killed by a person riding a bicycle, this is more of another instance of the city not being the place for a huge truck.

More on why it is so hard to keep drivers from killing. Man gets probation for Harlem hit-and-run death of cyclist PROBATION! For killing a person and leaving him to die in the streets. TANJ!

The cyclist injured by another cyclist riding a wheelie through a red light will get some money from the wheelie cyclist. Injured tandem cyclist to be compensated by Gullane teenager This is part of the criminal proceedings, so the kid will pay, or else…

Before and after a UK safety protest. Vigil planned for dead cyclist and after PICTURES: Stop Killing Cyclists vigil for rider killed at Lambeth Bridge The pictures pretty much explain everything…

And why they did it… Building industry ‘must help stop slaughter of cyclists under HGVs’ One contractor is responsible for 3 recent deaths, leading to protests in the streets. All but one fatality in London this year have been the result of collision with an HGV, protests in the streets. If only protests in the streets did any good.

Another wounded vet ride, this one somewhat close to WoaB World HQ in the Beautiful Suburbs of Hell. Injured vets prepare for ‘Ride 2 Recovery’

Remembering the first person to ride a bicycle around the world. Happy Thomas Stevens Day!

And I’m out of links, go ride a bike!

Billed @€0.02, Opus the Poet

Well, this is fun, and the Feed

I was looking at the hair left on the ground today after Sunday’s “Shearing of the Sheep” ritual and I noticed that while all my wavy locks were gone there were still clumps of beard and moustache hair blowing around the back yard. Apparently the critters like my hair but not my beard so much. Well as long as I’m having a positive impact, I’m good with that.

I’m having to reconstruct the post after accidentally deleting it and I’m having problems getting one of the links back, to an article on cities taking responsibility back for their walking infrastructure which I can’t seem to find again. This has been a sore spot for me as we have that issue here in the Beautiful Suburbs of Hell, property owners are responsible for the sidewalk and any grassy space between the sidewalk and the street in spite of that being city-owned right of way. Hell we can’t even do anything about people who park on the sidewalk blocking it for walking.

Lots of people getting hit in the crosswalk by turning vehicles in NYC this week. 13-Year-Old Boy Struck By Driver While Walking Bike Through UWS Crosswalk “No criminality suspected” because beat cops in NYPD don’t know the law that went into effect in September, hitting pedestrians in the crosswalk is a misdemeanor. Damnit I know the law and I live in TX, why don’t people paid to enforce that law know about it?

Another person is hit in virtually the same way, left-turning vehicle in a crosswalk. MTA Express Bus Seriously Injures Midtown Pedestrian And that cyclist picture is from 2013, Gothamist. Bad form. Crossing in the crosswalk and hit by a vehicle making a left turn makes this a slam dunk “Failure to yield to a pedestrian with right of way” bust. Book ‘im Danno.

An off-duty cop is hit-and-run by an off-duty bus driver, something tells me this is one case that will be “Criminality suspected”. Off-duty MTA bus driver arrested after striking cyclist with car Sure didn’t take them long to find the driver when there was a cop involved, even a reserve cop.

Well after all that here’s a little Daily Ted to peruse. Morning Links: Carfree Griffith Park could be sacrificed for well-healed homeowners; LA beats New York That UK article about near-misses set my hair on end. Of course that is pretty much the standard case with my hair after getting my head shaved.

An arrest was made in SC. Police: Arrest made in hit-and-run involving cyclist This arrest was made because the cyclist had front and rear video recordings. WoaB strongly recommends installing these if you have the funds.

Another arrest in FL. Driver who killed Cape Coral cyclist facing 30 years The fact that the driver was doing 102 MPH just 4 feet before hitting the cyclist says it all for me, this was deliberate random mayhem with the cyclist as collateral damage. If he hadn’t hit the cyclist he would have hit and killed someone else and probably himself as well.

But in CA we can’t even get charges filed. CHP: No charges recommended against truck driver who injured bicyclist The driver was not paying attention to the road and drove in the bike lane hitting the cyclist, and they do nothing? TANJ!

In the other CA (Canada) we get much the same thing. No charges in accident that saw Ottawa cyclist killed in collision with dump truck “No reason was given in the release on how they came to the decision.” As I recall the cyclist was riding straight and the truck was turning and BAM! dead cyclist.

This cyclist is lucky to be alive. Cyclist punched in ‘nasty’ road rage attack in Cambridgeshire and collides with oncoming car OK you got angry at a cyclist, who doesn’t? I mean there they are fit and healthy and riding down the road for the few hundred dollars (or pounds) it costs to buy a bike and nothing more aside from food and clothing which they would be buying anyway, and they make you slow down for a few seconds and totally ruin your day. But really setting up an ambush to beat one up is probably really dumb, especially when you almost kill him. That goes from “traffic boo-boo” to “attempted murder” in 0.001 seconds. And all that time you lost from being behind a cyclist is minor compared to the time it took to set up the ambush, and the time you get to spend in jail awaiting trial, and then the endless years of prison time because you got mad at a cyclist in front of you on the road. Now don’t you feel really dumb?

Well, the killer is off to prison, but the question remains: “Why and How? and could it have been prevented?” Families of charity duo killed on A30 near Newquay request a full inquest into deaths is held Well the driver had been falsifying records about how much time he had been driving, had been working “off the clock” to make more money, and hadn’t slept in almost a day, so it looks like there really isn’t any way to prevent this with the current built infrastructure that has cyclists and heavy trucks share the roads. More laws would just be more laws broken in this case, as the driver broke a series of major trucking laws and labor laws to try and get a little more £££…

Infrastructure in Boston. Boston Plans Protected Bike Lane for Dangerous Avenue Guys? there is this €90 book that tells everything you need to know about building bicycle infrastructure that works for drivers and cyclists and has been proven to work for over 20 years now…

And in Sweden they are doing similar things but excluding cars completely from their cities and not missing them. How Stockholm Became the Ultimate Walkable City

Do we really need a “luxury” e-assist bike? SPA Bicicletto Electric Bike Looks Amazing, but the Price Is Painful – Video, Photo Gallery Yeah it looks nice… even has halfway-decent range if there are no hills.

And I am bereft of any more links, ciao.

Billed @€Opus the Poet