Looking at my phone the temp just went to 103°F with the heat index “only” 102 because there is almost no humidity. Seriously the air in Phoenix is more humid than the Beautiful Suburbs of Hell, 22% in TX to 26% in AZ. And I actually go out and ride a bike in weather like this, wearing a full-face helmet. Well nobody has accused me of being “normal” lately. Speaking of that there are only 20 more shopping days to get me a Death Day present. I’m looking for RPG dice this year, especially d6 and d8. And I’m a vain geek, I want pretty dice that kinda match. And seriously about this, I’m playing a game now where I sometimes need as many as 10 d6 for damage rolls because my Warlock is heavily buffed with stacking magic items that both increase his “to hit” as well as his damage. I mean my to hit is now +13 against the touch AC of my opponent meaning against most non-monsters I hit every time, and I have better than even odds against pretty much all of the monsters. Currently it takes me longer to roll damage than most people take to play a turn because of my lack of d6. 😦
Right now it appears the Big Story is the woman hit by a semi in Boston on Friday morning. Cyclist Killed by Tractor Trailer Identified and Cyclist’s death spotlights Mass. Ave. peril also Recent fatal bike encounters with trucks, buses this too Police search for flatbed truck after bicyclist hit and killed at Boston more like this Bicycle rider killed in Back Bay crash in the previous link you can see the cyclist just before she was hit under the passenger side mirror of the picture of the weapon vehicle. Police Identify Bicyclist Killed In Back Bay Accident I’m going to make a 100% absolutely serious recommendation here: Ban large trucks like this from urban areas unless accompanied by bicyclist outriders front and rear to make sure that no pedestrians or cyclists get run over because drivers can’t see out of the right side or directly in front of the vehicle. The outriders’ responsibility would be to ensure that there was nothing and nobody in the way of the truck before allowing it to make a turning movement and hold the truck until the way had been cleared with the front outrider keeping people from turning across the truck and the back outrider making sure nobody comes from behind, and both making sure that the people who got there first have time to get out of the way, then the truck can make a turn. Obviously this is much more important when making a right turn because such large vehicles have to fade far to the left to clear such things as light poles and sidewalks, but there is still some issues with the left turns from a one-way street that require fading right for clearance. Using bicyclists as outriders means the forward speed is more or less limited to a safe speed. Late addition Surgeon Remembered After Being Struck and Killed on Bike
From a few hours ride east of WoaB World HQ in the Beautiful Suburbs of Hell. Calls for road safety after Longview cyclist crashes “It’s not if I’m going to get hit, it’s when,” which sounds pretty pessimistic, but this is TX, the state where the 2 biggest-selling vehicles are pickup trucks in spite of most of the population living in one of 6 urban areas.
A memorial ride south of WoaB about a day and a half ride. Memorial to honor teen killed in auto vs. bike crash “(H)e swerved and hit the side of a vehicle” tells me that he got buzzed and hit. Remember this victim of motor violence.
Ted had a good day. We interrupt this website for a view from Sunday’s successful CicLAvia
Well it was good for a little while, anyway. Bicyclist killed riding on I-15 in North San Diego County hit-and-run; victim may have been struck multiple times
Same area, slightly earlier. Mission Beach Cyclist Severely Injured in Hit-and-Run Area readers are encouraged to BOLO for the weapon vehicle, have SDPD non-emergency number on speed dial. And PD need to have the ability to get texts and attachments from cell phones so that vital information can be sent from people on the scene instead of trying to describe the situation verbally. Pictures are worth a thousand words.
From the most deadliest state in the US to walk or ride a bike catches a killer. FHP: Hit-and-run driver distracted by e-cig before killing teen cyclist and Arrest made in hit-and-run crash that killed 17-year-old He dropped his vaper on the floor and instead of pulling over and stopping while he searched for it, he just ducked down and drove blind.
NYC, you suck. 18-Year-Old Queens Cyclist Who Was Struck By Driver In Bike Lane Has Died The drunk driver has not yet been charged with anything, including not charged with drunk driving.
Upstate NY is only slightly better. Bike accident during Great Race sends two cyclists to Upstate University Hospital No motor vehicles involved, but it was a race/ride. Some people were just out to have a nice ride somewhat protected from motor vehicles.
More upstate NY hassles. No easy answers for rider-driver friction in Piermont Part of the problem is NY culture leads to confrontations (remember Pacino’s “Hey! I’m WALKING here!”?), and part of the problem is we cyclists get a trifle excited when some putz comes within inches of terminating our lives which does little to reduce tensions.
Meanwhile in Joisey. Charges filed in Mine Hill crash that left cyclist injured The driver has been charged with driving like a putz and failing to yield.
A bill in PA that deserves to get thrown under the bus. Pa. bill to demand cyclists wear reflective vests at night getting thrown under bus Seriously, instead of demanding that cyclists do all the work here, how about just enforcing the Basic Speed Law?
Are you Too Old To Drive? Mother of bicyclist killed in car accident helps educate elderly drivers I remember covering this wreck back then, the cyclist was hit with the front of the right front fender. The driver just did not even consider that there was a lane of traffic to the right of the vehicle before starting the turn.
Someone in MN has a serious hate on for cyclists. Answers Tough To Find After Cyclist Hit By Chunk Of Concrete and People are ruthlessly attacking Minneapolis cyclists, for some reason Seriously, this was a planned attack, as the driver was riding in some cyclist-heavy parts of the city and wearing PPE so as to not get hurt by the objects he was throwing at cyclists. If you see the weapon vehicle deploy spike strips and shoot to kill. The car that is, kill the car. We want the driver to be publicly humiliated for at least a decade or so and corpses don’t get humiliated easily.
Still in MN a left cross wreck injures a young girl. Minnesota Girl Injured On Bicycle After Car Struck Her This story is just so bizarre. The driver was the victim of random mob violence a few years ago that left him brain damaged and was just now starting to get something resembling a normal life back when he turned left into the cyclist. As a member of both groups, brain damaged and cyclist, I don’t know which I should feel more sorry for. But as a member of both groups I also need to say they should test the driver for his degree of perception to his left, as well as can he physically turn his head to see that direction. He may have undiscovered defects on that side of his body, that he may not even know about.
Another hit-from-behind wreck in WI. Bicyclist hurt in Sunday crash named Other than the fact the driver stayed at the scene and rendered aid to the cyclist until medical help arrived it was a common hit-from-behind wreck.
Another cyclist is killed in another hit-and-run, this time in MI. Bicyclist on trek across Michigan dies in hit-and-run crash and Woman cycling across Michigan killed in hit-and-run The driver of the pickup truck hit the last rider in a group and sped away because he was a person of low moral content. When they find the truck it should be crushed as soon as they finish processing it, possibly with the driver still in it.
A little girl is hurt in SD. Five-Year-Old Girl Injured In Car Vs. Bicycle Accident If a 5YO can’t play safely here then there isn’t a safe place to play in SD.
Our first international links come from the Great White North, as age is no defense against criminally bad driving. Charges pending against 83-year-old driver after cyclist hit And neither is “sun glare”. It’s not like you don’t know the sun is going to be there…
The father of a cyclist killed in a hit-and-run wants a mandatory minimum sentence for killing someone in a hit-and-run to deter DUIs from leaving the scene. Dead cyclist’s father wants jail time for hit-and-run drivers and Dead cyclist’s father wants jail time for hit-and-run drivers I suggest the minimum for a fatal hit-and-run be twice the minimum for death by DUI, whatever they call it in the statute. If leaving the guy to die is not worse than killing him outright, well…
Gawddammit! Cyclist seriously injured after being hit by a lorry in central London OK I know the drivers have at least some degree of driving ability to pass the test for the license, and the majority of the cyclists hit have been experienced and careful cyclists, which narrows it down to infrastructure and vehicle blind spots…
Road.cc is sorta like Gothamist except all bike and in England. They have two links in today’s Feed. The first one is the driver who had his pathetically weak sentence reduced further because victims’ impact statements don’t actually count, they’re just for show. Lorry driver who caused death of Denbighshire cyclist has driving ban reduced FFS.
Second link is the bus driver that hit a cyclist in plain view and dragging his body until there was no hope of survival and getting away with it. Bus driver who dragged cyclist to his death and failed to stop avoids jail That distance in American (formerly Imperial English) is almost 80 feet. And WTF?!? “Death by Dangerous Driving” is the most serious driving offense in the book, and he got probation?
I think the coppers are still looking for the murder weapon. 70 year-old man questioned over death of cyclist Yep, I’ almost positive that’s what they’re doing.
Last link. Sips For Cyclists Event To Benefit Injured Riders Go out there and benefit somebody.
And I’m tired and done composing, now comes proofing, editing, and tagging.
Billed @€0.02, Opus the Unkillable Badass Poet
Witch on a Bicycle 