This is such an ugly Monday, and the Feed

The weather today is just ugly, with flat grey skies and chill, humid air. It’s not even the good kind of cold, the dry cold that invites outdoor activity and isn’t really all that bad if you keep covered up. This is the kind of cold that still feels cold no matter how much you put on and even when you are red-faced and sweating from being over-dressed you still feel chilled to the bones. Seriously it’s warm enough to go get the mail in shorts and slippers without danger, but you still feel cold wearing a parka. Ugly cold is what it is.

Up first, an injured kid instigates installation of really, REALLY, crappy infrastructure on the street where he was hit (did I mention this infrastructure was super crappy?) Days after injury to child, a new lane for cyclists on Mesa Not a bike lane, on street parking for cars that bikes will have to weave in and out of or ride in the door zone while getting buzzed and harassed by angry drivers wondering why the cyclists are not in the “bike lane”.

Our big story is 4 cyclists hit from behind in NC. CYCLISTS IN HOSPITAL AFTER BEING HIT BY CAR IN ANGIER and Four bicyclists in hospital after being struck by car in Angier also Cyclist injured in Angier crash questions how accident happened I’m seeing another blind driver nearly killing 4 cyclists because “it all happened so fast”. Fortunately “Highway Patrol officers said charges are pending against Williams and are expected to come down later in the week.” This is also a good example of why AFRAP laws kill cyclists so they do not inconvenience drivers.

Our Daily Ted. Morning Links: Victim’s family calls for compassion as hit-and-run driver gets time served; bike thief faces 27 years The SUV in the distracted driver video had some pretty major front end damage, this was obviously not the first time this driver was driving around with his or her nose buried in a cell phone.

Still in CA we get a Ghost Bike installation. Friends mourn Buena High football player at roadside memorial

PA wreck takes out a pedestrian walking in the bike lane/shoulder (the preview said bike lane, the actual article says shoulder). Police investigate fatal crash involving a pedestrian The car left tracks showing a path off the road onto the shoulder and impacting the pedestrian, meaning that if she was a cyclist using hit from behind protocols she would have had a fraction of a second to make that dive for the cover of the ditch if there was any place to dive to.

Still in PA, a driver is sentenced in the death of a cyclist. Drunk driver gets up to 13 years in cyclist death Up to 13 years, probably closer (much closer) to the minimum 4½. And seriously 0.29% BAC is almost at the point of alcoholic anesthesia, how could she even stay on the road? She had to be an alcoholic to even be conscious at that BAC level.

Another hit-and-run in CO. Bicyclist seriously injured in hit-and-run on U.S. 36 north of Boulder If you see a black sports type car with a missing pasenger side mirror and front end damage call the LEO number in the article, and stay out of range of the driver.

Wreck in east TN. Cyclist struck, killed by car near Seymour From articles I have linked here at this very site, I know that hitting a cyclist from behind is a crime in TN, but I don’t see any mention of an arrest in this case, what gives? Oh yeah “Criminal charges are pending, according to the report.” I just hope they don’t pend too long and the drive gets away because of the statute of limitations.

Something that has bothered me for years. Trailer Side Guards Make Difference Between Life and Death for Cyclists and Pedestrians These things not only prevent vulnerable user deaths and serious injury, they also save more than their costs in fuel savings, why do people resist installing them?

Up in the Great White North a driver is arrested for killing a cyclist, months after the cyclist’s memorial service at the site of the crime. Police charge driver in Claremont Access cyclist’s death and Hamilton motorist charged after local cyclist, teacher killed in December Took them long enough, you know there is such a thing as being too polite.

First UK article, would you jump out of an airplane carrying one of these folding bikes? The British Paratroopers Who Parachuted Into Enemy Territory with Folding Bicycles

Also from the UK they actually arrested a driver that killed a cyclist. Man arrested after cyclist killed in crash with 4×4 near Harbury Yep, killing someone with a motor vehicle is pretty much the definition of “dangerous driving”.

I’m still trying to figure out what the Sky Ride on closed roads has to do with a cyclist getting hit from behind by an idiot at the controls of a car, but that’s the first video on this link. Veteran road race cyclist seriously injured after being hit by car while training Just read the text and ignore the videos and pictures which have zilch to do with the report.

I think I know what it takes to get a serious sentence for killing with a motor vehicle in the UK. Drug dealer jailed for causing Swanley man’s death by dangerous driving First be a convicted criminal, second don’t kill a cyclist, kill someone sympathetic like a pedestrian. The drug dealer got 12 years prison for hitting the pedestrian…

“Wreck not accident”. Air ambulance takes cyclist to hospital after “accidental injury” in Sevenoaks Weald There was no context given for the wreck except “accident”.

Some potentially good infrastructure news from Jolly Olde. Chisholm Trail will give Cambridge’s cycling couriers ‘competitive advantage’ in city

And last link, bike share can make your city great(ish) How Bike-Sharing Can Gain Popularity

And I’m outta links with 9 minutes to spare before midnight.

Billed @€0.02, Opus

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Yay! food again and the Feed

Yep, time to buy groceries again. Still trying to figure out how to stop doing this “eating” thing so we don’t have to keep dipping into savings to pay bills. Eventually savings will run out. I may have to start taking the laptop to the library and using the free WiFi and drop cable, phone, and Internet at the house. That would be a drag, but workable as I seldom watch anything except racing, and not much of that lately. Mrs. the Poet would probably have a harder time of it than I would, but once she got over her Pat Sajak and Vanna White withdrawal she would live over it.

Up first is massive schadenfreude unrelated to bicycles or infrastructure. Kentucky Clerk Kim Davis Taken Into Custody She can be held up to 30 days after the expiration of her term if she does not allow her staff to issue marriage licences. I’m reminded of a Fleetwood Mac lyric, the second verse to “Oh Well”. I will leave looking up that lyric to the reader as I have already devoted too much space to this waste of skin.

The first bike story isn’t all that big and seems to be the same report from two different outlets of the same media company. Cyclist hurt in Southborough crash Yep, exact same report, just a different URL. So, no second link.

Our Daily Ted. Morning Links: Avoiding bike/car collisions, too much bike theft news, and new bike coffee shop in DTLA

More on the trio of cyclists hit by a distracted driver in AL. Cyclist urges everyone to share the road after recent death of fellow rider in Blount County Back channel says serious criminal charges are pending against the driver in that wreck, if they can get past the grand jury.

More on the VA pair hit at twilight with no lights on their bikes. Fairfax police identify man killed after he was hit while riding a bike Unfortunately LEO never enforce the Basic Speed Law.

Portland doesn’t know how lucky they have things. Lane blockage on SW Stark presents a different kind of bike commute ‘challenge’ Here in the Beautiful Suburbs of Hell we don’t have people parking in bike lanes that aren’t there.

Bike wreck in MN. Montgomery Remembers 8-year-old Killed Following Sunday Bike Accident Single bike wreck that a helmet may have made non-fatal had the victim been wearing one.

Hit-from-behind in MI. Man killed after being struck on bicycle Nothing on anything about this wreck except they haven’t charged the operator of the weapon vehicle yet.

We can’t get the mayor out of his car here, but that’s a different story. Here’s what happened when Mayor Hales biked to work for the first time I seriously think that every elected local official should have to interact with all of the infrastructure they are responsible for using the mode that infrastructure was intended for and then a mode that it wasn’t intended for but that has to use that infrastructure anyway, like crossing a busy street without marked crosswalk, or riding an arterial street with no bike lanes.

Now we segue to NYC traffic idiocy. SUV Driver Runs Over 4-Year-Old Girl In Brooklyn, No Charges Filed “No criminality suspected.”

Another cyclist is killed just a few blocks and few days away from another high-profile fatal bike wreck. Bicyclist struck, killed in west Modesto Salmon cyclist hit by a blind driver, we are talking about wrong² in this wreck. Obviously don’t ride salmon and get out in the lane where you can be seen to avoid a similar wreck.

A little UK infrastructure news. Calls for London’s safer lorries scheme to be applied nationwide It is appalling that death machines are allowed such free rein on the streets of the UK.

Infrastructure news from Oz. The tab heading is better than the headline. Our cities need to future-proof infrastructure to cater for those using alternative forms of transport Cyclists are awesome and this is why we need bike paths

Maybe we don’t really need Google Car. Adjustments in Already Available Auto Technology Could Reduce Frequency of Auto Bike Collisions I have a slight quibble with people who start suggesting “adjustments” that are complete reworks of the code used to run the hardware and require major research and development to get the new code right. When the only similarities between the two systems are one sensor and the CPU.

I have been debating for at least 10 minutes which order these last two links should go. I tossed a coin. Brompton CEO Will Butler-Adams on why the future of the foldable bike is electric A folding bike would probably be a good option on this train when the racks are full. Rolling onto Amtrak’s Capitol Limited Note that this paragraph would be equally intelligible no matter which link was first.

And I’m done, and I want to lay down and let the kinks unwind.

Billed @€0.02, Opus the Poet