Doing the Sunday post early because, reasons

OK, these are dangerous times. I mean really dangerous times, I have been THINKING!!!

I have been contemplating 2 seemingly unrelated problems that could be solved by combining them.

The first problem one that this blog mentions way too often, is drivers killing without repercussion, literally getting away with murder after running over a cyclist or pedestrian, sometimes leaving the scene and sometimes staying and claiming blindness as an excuse for killing.

The second problem is LEO shooting people in the streets for imaginary assaults.

What I’m proposing is that we use the second problem to solve the first problem. We have people in light armored vehicles literally using them as weapons against cyclists and pedestrians with no way of fighting back. Well we have a bunch of trigger-happy cops out there too, that could really use something they could usefully shoot at. My proposal is to give the cops semi-auto carbines chambered in .50 cal AP, sit them in sniper nests at intersections, and tell them they can shoot cars or trucks that endanger pedestrians or cut off cyclists. All they need to do is use a video recorder to prove the perp had it coming before they start shooting. I mean there doesn’t seem to be any way to keep these guys from shooting up the towns, why not have it put to good use? Have them shoot something that is an actual danger to real people out in the streets.

Of course you will still get the occasional nutcase shooting people for no good reason, but knowing that they will get stuck up away from people with nothing except a big gun and a camera that has to be turned on and recording all the time they have any ammo in their station will put a damper on the more bloody-minded of the bunch. And they will have the satisfaction of knowing they will be doing actual good protecting unarmed civilians against light armored vehicles. That’s why I specified the .50 AP ammunition for the carbines, that’s simultaneously the largest man-portable round that could be fired and the lightest single-shot kill against a motor vehicle.

While I’m making this proposal in somewhat of a jesting mode. I’m thinking that it might do some good if really enacted. Instant karma against dangerous drivers, and an outlet for shoot first and question the corpse LEO. The problem is there is never a cop around when you need one even when they are stationed over intersections, because you know that would be the one intersection in the city where drivers drive like they had sense.

On other fronts, Mrs. the Poet is trying to get Clint and Clyde to behave by being logical with them. Might I remind you that C&C are 11 weeks old at this point, and have no logic to appeal to? And besides, they are tiny kittens. Anywho it’s amusing to listen to her berate the kittens for getting into things and calling them “bad children” for not listening to her. And also for fighting, she’s yelling about them fighting each other especially the “chewing on heads” part of kitten-fighting. She’s either having fun, or losing it. I don’t have enough evidence for either conclusion.

Well, I have to get my stuff together for the Patron Pageant tomorrow evening so this breathless prose has to end.

Early PSA, Opus

Advertisement

Had my toes done again, and the Feed

One thing that enduring the swollen foot debacle uncovered was my toes were getting squished a bit because the nails needed trimming. I can tell this because I got bruising around the nail beds caused by the pressure on the beds from getting pushed against the inside of the shoe. One thing I can’t depend on any more is waiting until it hurts to let me know the nails are getting too long, because my toes were all black and blue but I didn’t feel anything aside from a bit of pressure at the ends. I guess my pain tolerance is getting greater, or I’m just not getting the pain signals through the nerve damage any more. Anywho, I got my toes done and now my shoes are much looser. I tell you, getting old ain’t for wusses.

Up first is a tragic tale of kittens gone bad. Slow down plea after hit and run cyclist kills kitten on London commuter route towpath and Cyclists urged to slow down on canal towpath after beloved kitten killed by bike in east London The cat ran across the path with only the kitten and the cyclist knowing how much reaction time was available, then the cat ran onto the boat. I would have thought the cat was OK myself, and I have been cat-owned most of my life. Still, common decency says at least stop and check to make sure the cat was OK.

Our Daily Ted. 20-year old OC driver faces 10 years for 2014 DUI death of Dana Point cyclist

And another link about the same thing. Man to Be Arraigned in Alleged Drunken Crash that Killed Cyclist on PCH I agree with Ted on this one, as a minor the driver was not allowed to have more then 0.01% BAC (it is possible to reach 0.01% BAC just by consuming a high carb meal for people with some strains of intestinal flora).

More on the CO cyclist killed by a buzz job from a dump truck. Ghost bike ceremony for cyclist killed by truck is Saturday There were two major components to this wreck, bad infrastructure that limited crossings for a man-made obstacle, and an impatient driver who chose to pass at the wrong place and time possibly because he had a certain number of runs he had to make every day to pay for his fixed costs before he started making any money.

AZ bike wreck victims are remembered. Cyclists killed in crash remembered at Mudshark The cyclist was the male rider of a mixed couple that were killed on a tandem bike.

Another case of windshield bias from LEO. Injured cyclist disputes account of BTV crash The fact remains that the truck still turned in front of the cyclist, not giving him time to react. Also not LEO deliberately misquoting the sign in the picture. It does not have the MUTCD BMUFL language or symbols, all it says is that vehicles turning right must yield to bikes. Which BTW the truck that hit the cyclist failed to do.

I’m having a WTF!?! moment with this link from the Great White North. Dog attack not the cause of Hamilton man’s death, autopsy reveals OK so there is a man laying in the middle of the road being attacked by a dog, and the man dies, but the dog didn’t do it? Did the dog bite him after he got hit and run by a car?

Lots of cyclists getting hit in Far West Canuckistan. Three Vernon cyclists hit by vehicles cause for concern One SWSS, one no details aside from someone getting hit, and a third vlind driver who didn’t know if the cyclist he hit was in the bike lane or on the sidewalk, because he didn’t look as he crossed either one.

Not sure how you could deal with this infrastructure meltdown. Young boy injured after cycling onto road surface which had melted in heatwave Something similar happened in the TdF a few years ago when Lance was riding, the lead rider in a breakaway hit a melting patch of road and went down while Lance showed his cyclocross skills.

Another “don’t ride there” article about some of the busiest intersections in the town. 16 cycling blackspots you really should avoid in Lincolnshire The roads head here said “We recognise through providing a separate space on the road, cycling lanes offer protection for cyclists, and measures for cyclists are incorporated in transport strategies.” but they were not going to pry one red cent from the roads budget to pay for them.

CCTV footage of the woman crushed by a delivery truck in London shows her pulling alongside the truck as it was signalling it was going to cross the bike lane. Woman cyclist killed by delivery lorry was ‘on top of the world’ after landing her dream job Apparently under UK law cyclists are not allowed to pass a vehicle in an adjacent lane signalling for a turn.

I think the comment at the end of this article is the best thing I have read all day. ICEguard: the new helmet attachment that logs accident details for cyclists The device is basically a combination black box and Road ID, and would be quite handy in a wreck. The comment: yuhuhbhb 13 hours ago
Car driver caught breaking the law: ‘vigilante cyclists!’. Car driver films cyclist chewing gum: ‘idiot cyclists, they’re their own worst enemy, they should get their house in order, roadtax, hi-viz, insurance, blah blah blah!!!’”

Presented without further comment from Yr Fthfl Srvnt. ‘If there aren’t as many women cycling as men … you need better infrastructure’

And a demonstration of the need for better infrastructure. Justice for an injured London cyclist

To illustrate that it’s only a small percentage of truck drivers that are anal sphincters. POLICE COMMEND TRUCK DRIVER FOR HELPING INJURED CYCLIST

And another article about missing infrastructure causing death and injury in Oz. Lack of funding, technology, leads to massive cyclist toll So who goes to jail for all the dead cyclists caused by a lack of infrastructure?

Since technology was mentioned in the previous paragraph, here’s some that is helping enforce passing laws in test communities. This Invention Could Boost Bicyclist Protection Laws Yep, a device that measures how far from the end of the handlebars a car passed a police cyclist. Perfect for writing tickets and even better for informing drivers about the law. TN has had a 3 foot passing law for years as a state-wide law, and still people don’t know about it

And I’m outta links, and TIRED.

Billed @€0.02, Opus the Poet