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

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Finally paid all my property taxes, and the Feed

I made my final trip this year to pay my property taxes, at the GISD tax office. Now I understand why there was a line out the door when they stopped accepting payments Friday, there isn’t enough room inside for more than 2 people to be in line before they hit the door. There were 4 windows to pay at, but I don’t know how many people they had to take the money Friday. Today they only had 2 people working the 4 windows, but there was no line and I was in and out in seconds.

We are going to start out with a double dose of Our Daily Ted. Weekend Links: Burbank Sunday Funday ride; Spokane police bend over backward to blame bike riding victim and A rider fallen, family and friends shattered, and a young woman on the verge of hard time

And to go with that second Ted link… Bike ride to honor Irvine cyclist killed on Santiago Canyon Road

Another link to cycling lifestyle in FL, the most deadliest state in the US to walk or ride a bike. Critical Mass Comes a Week After Cyclist’s Death and another protest Cyclists Gather Over Concerns For Safety Amid Deaths

This was how things were when I was a kid. This Is How Normal Walking to School Used to Be For some reason they just left off things like sidewalks as subdivisions grew up in what used to be rural areas. And then there was the “Stranger Danger” panic, so now most kids only get to school by bus or by car, and some places will arrest parents trying to walk with their children.

More victim-blaming from NC. Being reminded of the ‘see and be seen’ mantra Heaven forfend that we should place any onus on drivers to not run their killing machines into cyclists and pedestrians using the roads with them.

A bit of infrastructure from Jolly Olde. Dramatic rise in road deaths as numbers of traffic police fall Surprise, surprise, when you don’t enforce the laws people ignore them.

Speaking of bad UK infrastructure, this updates at the beginning of every month. Cycle Facility of the Month Yes, that is a bollard-protected bike path that is just over a meter long.

I keep getting invited to these things, but I don’t know why exactly. Vigil and Die-In If someone could get with me (maybe by a FB message?) and tell me why I’m getting invited to a UK protest from TX.

More about the unconscious driver that ran over a cyclist during a diabetic episode. “…An accident waiting to happen ” – Diabetic who fell unconscious while driving jailed for seriously injuring cyclist and Diabetic crash driver jailed

When drivers break traffic laws they’re bad drivers/people. When cyclists break traffic laws all cyclists are “provocative”. Provocative cyclists

Sometimes advertisers have a “tin ear” when it comes to cyclists. Taxi advert shows cabbie running over a cyclist I’m absolutely convinced that many of not most cyclists get hit by taxis in search of a big payout, not because cabbies drive like maniacs. [/sarcasm].

Another veteran gets back into life thanks to the UK version of the Wounded Warrior Project. Injured veteran’s vow to join Help for Heroes cyclists set to be fulfilled

Some Ozzie cyclists remind a news media outlet that the plural of “anecdote” is not “data”. Cycling risks insurance This bit is about 2 Page Downs from the top of the page.

In bits and pieces, even sub-standard infrastructure can look great. The best cycling infrastructure in cities around the world – your pictures

And I’m fresh outta links.

Billed @€0.02, Opus the Poet

Practically an all-infrastructure Feed today after taking a long trip to pay 2/3 of my taxes

Yep, I spent most of the day on the road and on my feet today standing around in lines to pay 2 out of 3 tax bills. I managed to cover the City and County taxes in about 2 hours plus travel time including walking between the two offices. I still have to hit GISD to pay those taxes, which will be a slightly quicker trip as I have to drop by the bank first to transfer money from the savings account we use to accumulate the money for taxes and insurance to the checking account so the check won’t bounce first, then walking 4 blocks to the tax office, and probably standing around in line for at least an hour if the lines today were any indication.

Up first, this is one of the main reasons why nobody likes the NYPD. Bike Cop Tickets Bicyclist For Biking On Bike Path The cyclist was ticketed for ignoring a sign and riding on the path while 10 feet away from a sign (caught in the picture the cyclist took of the officer writing the ticket) telling people that they were on a bike path. And yet even with photographic proof that the cyclist was riding on the bike path and not a pedestrian path this case will go to trial. The only thing I can think of is the judge has a deal to split the overtime with the cop.

A drunk driver is on trial for killing a cyclist in the most deadliest state in the US to walk or ride a bike. Trial continues for man charged in fatal crash with cyclist There are many reasons why FL kills more cyclist per capita than any other state in the US, the high rate of DUI is just one of them.

And along those lines come these thoughts. Florida Cities: “Unsafe at Any Speed” for Cyclists, Pedestrians? and South Florida roadways not just dangerous for cars Physical infrastructure, legal infrastructure, education, all are deficient with FL. The legal infrastructure is being addressed on the law side of the equation, but where it really falls down is on the LEO side when wrecks that were recorded by the cyclist and prove the cyclist was not at fault end up with no enforcement against the driver. Some of that failure is a result of the long-term failure in the education side. People just don’t know the laws, and LEO are people at the end of the day.

More of the same in MO. Man arrested for fatally striking bicycle rider in St. Louis County Fortunately there was nothing on the mode of the wreck.

Our Daily Ted. Morning Links: LA considers hit-and-run alert, Pacoima Wash Bikeway meeting, Glendale surrenders to traffic

More on the London glorified bike lanes. London is building Europe’s longest bike superhighway As far as the longest actual “superhighway” for bikes, I think that would be the recent 27 km or so long highway opened in Denmark might have that title. And it is a real superhighway, basically a divided highway in bicycle scale. More Cycling in Central London set to get safer with new superhighways

Why this is needed is illustrated in this infographic. How London’s streets became a death trap for cyclists: Every bicycle accident mapped All that money and they are still decades behind the Dutch.

And I’m fresh out of links.

Billed @€0.02, Opus the Poet

Would you know what day it was absent external cues, and the Feed

Seriously, I am having difficulty remembering what day of the week it is without Mrs. the Poet being at work. A big part of that is her uniform shirt changed based on the day of the week, which reflected the menu for the day. Days when there was red sauce on the menu (that was likely to also be on the people preparing and serving) they had red shirts as part of the uniform, with different colors for other days, and a spirit shirt for Fridays. So I would know what day of the week it was by looking at the clothes Mrs. the Poet put out the night before. Now she doesn’t wear a daily uniform, and nobody knows what day of the week it is without consulting a calendar. Old People’s Problems, amirite?

Up first is this report from Houston. Woman found guilty in hit-and-run death of bicyclist in 2013 That headline could be better worded. Punishment phase underway for woman found guilty in fatal hit-and-run I think the second video is the first time I saw the victim’s bicycle, notice the damage is consistent with a straight from behind impact and that there is a broken reflector mount under the remains of the seat on the seat post showing the bike was visible from behind had the driver been looking in front of the car for a cyclist.

Including this because I build bikes and it is absolutely true. Welcome to Atomic Zombie’s Murphy’s Moments For those not in the know A. Z. is one of the largest vendors of bicycle plans on the Internet.

More infrastructure news from NYC. New MTA Victim-Blaming Campaign Is the Opposite of Vision Zero Again, I want to know how many cyclists have died as a result of running into the back of a stopped bus, versus hit from behind or right hooked.

More NYC infrastructure. New York’s pedestrian and cyclist safety is still a long way from “Vision Zero” More links to the tone-deaf MTA videos.

Remember that MO Mayor who told a cyclist to get off “his” road right before he ran the cyclist over? So does the DA. Sunset Hills Mayor Accused of Striking Cyclist Faces Grand Jury, Impeachment If you were harassed by a red Mercedes convertible with MO plate 3636 please contact the St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney with the deets… We might get this one, just like we got Dr. Christopher Thompson in CA. And as I was posting this a refresh of the page brought this to light: “The grand jury has indicted Furrer on one count of second-degree assault, a class C felony, and one felony count of first-degree property damage. Next stop: trial.”

Legal infrastructure news from the most deadliest state in the US. Roman & Gaynor Sponsors the West Coast Cycling Team Lawyers sponsoring a bike team/club, what could possibly go wrong? XD

Canadians are so polite. Passersby lift pickup off injured Canmore cyclist after crash

A little lifestyle from the UK. Family pays tribute to killed Horsham cyclist

The cyclist in this video has about zero reaction time when the car pulls into his lane. This is just a reminder of why I quit doing wrecks. I like my sanity. Cyclist catches crash horror on camera

Will your next bike have a built-in smartphone dock? Upgrade your bicycle into a smart bike with this connected bike system

The best thing about this is there is already a theme song. Oh the shame of being married to a MAMIL (that’s a Middle Aged Man In Lycra) And the theme song: You And Me Baby Ain’t Nothing But Mammals Video I like the machiname on this particular video. I never could get my video game characters to dance, I could barely get them to run in the right direction most of the time.

And those were all the links I could stand to read today.

Billed @€0.02, Opus the unkillable badass Poet