Multiple police chases near my neighborhood

So far I have heard at least 5 chases, or one chase that got too far away to hear and came back 20 minutes or so later 4 times, and I don’t know which is more likely.

Long story short all afternoon I have been hearing what sounds like police sirens fading in and out, like they were going closer to and further away from Casa De El Poeta, but none have pulled up to the house yet. And so far local news outlets are remaining silent about the situation, so that’s as much as I know. I live very close to where Bush Turnpike turns from East-West to North-South on the east side so a chase on Bush could get in and out of hearing range several times as it went from Richardson to Mesquite, or vice-versa. But nothing about a police chase in the local broadcast news as I compose this post. I don’t look at the local cable news except for how the local cable company has it as the default channel when we turn the TV on. Their weather is the best so we watch their 1700 news show, sometimes.

Since today is St. Paddy’s day we are wearing green and eating corned beef and cabbage, even though only one of us has an Irish ancestry. We do it just because it’s a good excuse to eat cabbage and why not combine that with corned beef while it’s cheap? I would have also bought Guinness, but the recent HVAC maintenance depleted the budget so that we couldn’t get beer last week. So, anyway, there will be potatoes and carrots in the corned beef with the cabbage, because that’s how we learned to make it, authenticity be damned.

Current writing jam is “Dazed and Confused” which seems oddly appropriate. The current situation is confusing to say the least. Not to mention the current political scene. And not to mention that thing in the Ukraine. There is much to be dazed and confused about/by.

I think I might have mentioned a few (hundred) times that the current (lack of) progress on the Sprint-T was frustrating. Well nothing has changed on that front, there’s still no budget or any hope of a budget, and my declining mobility is drastically reducing the hopes of getting in and out of it to drive. As was previously stated, I’m in a race I have little hope of winning. And now this reads like I’m just whining about it. So something good happened that I can’t post in this blog, so it will have to be a secret, but I can say I lost another source of frustration. Or most of it, I got something I needed but not in the way I needed to get it. I’m still working on getting it the way I need to get it. But right now it’s time for corned beef.

And after the corned beef I’m mourning my lost molars, dinner took over an hour to eat because bicuspids are not efficient chewing surfaces. Every bite of meat required several minutes to chew until I could swallow it. And now I’m mad because we spent my teeth money getting the HVAC up to snuff. I can live without Guinness, not so much without teeth.

And to wrap this up, which version of I Ran is best, Flock of Seagulls, or Bowling For Soup? Leave a comment.

Advertisement

Some things are set in stone

Because they are sunk costs and can’t be recouped. And obviously we are discussing the Sprint-T again today.

The choice of engine is going to be LS architecture, because I bought parts to install one into the car. I have literally spent hundreds of dollars buying front suspension parts (and I’m using the 4-bar axle brackets to hold the keyboard cleaning goop in the interim). I have a radiator that is built to keep the biggest of racing engines cool so I don’t overheat on the highway or at the race track. There are some bits that were ordered custom and are non-returnable, like the straight front axle, there are some parts that flat out did not fit, like the Garage Sale spindles that were not fully machined and somehow made it through QC.

Anywho, some things can’t be changed unless they are replaced with free stuff, which is why every time Power Nation which used to be Power Block, which used to be part of The Nashville Network around the turn of the century, has an engine giveaway I can use, I enter as much as I can, at least once if that is all that’s allowed, otherwise as many as I can get to the site for. I don’t have an engine, but because of previous purchases I’m limited to pushrod small-block engines so when I read about someone giving away an SBC, SBF, or LS engine I’m right there in line holding my figurative hat. If I thought it would get me the engine I would be standing there holding my actual-factual hat. The parts already purchased that are engine-specific are the radiator hose adapter, and the exhaust header kit, both made to install an LS architecture engine in the car with the other parts I bought. Other parts are engine agnostic, they will have to be used with fabricated brackets, or they literally will bolt to any engine to go into this car.

Back to the initial subject, I’m changing the design bigtime so that I can get in and out of it, but I’m not wiping the slate (boy is that an anachronism). The front end will still be mostly the same as the earlier design, and the parts behind the rear hoop will not change, unless I get several crates full of parts free. Now if you have a parts company that wants however much publicity this vintage blogger can generate for you by using your parts to build a different suspension on the Sprint-T leave a comment or drop me an e-mail and we will chat. But realistically the only thing that’s changing is the design of the rollover structure so I can get out of the car without needing a cherry-picker lift.

Boy are my legs bad, and the Feed

I went for a ride last night after putting the blog to bed, and my legs are terrible. I mean seriously I can NOT believe these are the same appendages that carried me 200 km round trip to have lunch with my GF as recently as 2007. I know I have been spending more time in the garage building and at the computer posting blogs than riding a bike, especially since Blue was stolen August of last year, but STILL! Cycling used to be an escape where my body carried me away from mundane cares and concerns, not provided me with additional cares and concerns… I really need to ride more. I will start that with riding to the RPG get-together this Saturday. I know that’s a trace over 12 miles round trip, but I need the miles and the challenge. I seriously think the challenge is more important than the miles at this point.

Up first is what appears to be a police murder of a cyclist in Quebec. Cyclist run over by police car fighting for life and Guy Blouin ID’d as cyclist run over by Quebec City police car also this Quebec City Police Under Investigation After Cruiser Runs Over Cyclist This one started out bad and just got worse and worse as the day went on and more links came in. Here’s what we know at this moment: The cyclist was riding salmon on a one way street when he passed the LEO, LEO throws the car into reverse and begins pursuit backwards going the wrong way on a one way street and according to one witness appeared to deliberately knock the cyclist from the bike. The cyclist ended up under the rear tires of the car, but instead of waiting for trained responders to extract the cyclist from under the car without doing any further damage the cop that hit him drives the car back over the cyclist, further injuring him (remember one witness testifies the initial impact appeared to be deliberate, we know the second was). Then the cyclist was handcuffed and forced to sit down on the sidewalk before being walked over and put in the back of an ambulance (apparently the EMT did not know the victim had been run over twice before they got to the scene). The victim died shortly after arriving at the hospital. While the victim was being transported the initial LEO at the scene was “tidying up” and put the victim’s bicycle in his trunk and moved his car (away from the scene? not confirmed) before accident investigators could arrive and measure the scene of the now crime. This would be the Big Story even if it didn’t have lots of links. Either this is the stupidest cop in Canada, or one of the most evil cops in Canada. There doesn’t appear to be a whole lot of room for any other interpretations.

Back in the US a hit-and-run weapon has been found while LEO continue to search for the driver of the weapon vehicle. Troopers have ‘person of interest’ in Metro East hit-and-run that killed cyclist Hit-from-behind wreck that is being blamed on the cyclist for not wearing a glow-in-the-dark clown suit and not having lights that can survive a fatal hit-from-behind wreck so that LEO can glance at the bike and tell they are operable (most bicycle taillights do not survive the impact of getting hit from behind because their brackets do not remain attached to the bike). Anyway getting back to the answers to the question, protocols to avoid or reduce damages, and obviously getting the infrastructure “up to Dutch” to prevent. And make vehicle owners responsible for hit-and-runs unless they can prove they were in a different location or had already reported the vehicle stolen before the hit-and-run. I think publically crushing vehicles used to commit hit-and-run would do a lot to prevent another one as well.

At last! Someone in LEO understands keeping evidence intact. Car impounded after hit-and-run kills bicyclist in Spokane Valley Another cyclist said the wreck was a hit-from-behind and the victim had no chance to avoid the wreck. Again it seems that Dutch infrastructure (not just “Dutch-style” but built to the latest CROW standards) is the only way to do anything about this wreck.

Another update on that MO wreck that the victim was also a MS victim who was training for the MS 150. Updated: Kansas Highway Patrol releases crash details Well excuse MEEE! wasn’t a MO wreck or even a MO victim, just someone who wanted to ride in the MO MS 150 [facepalm]…

A NC cyclist is left crossed. Veteran bicyclist dies after being hit during ride Left cross means intersection protocols to avoid or reduce damages, and get the infrastructure “up to Dutch” to prevent.

A KY hit-and-run. Teen cyclist seriously injured in Laurel County crash Hit from behind, so protocols and infrastructure to avoid or prevent respectively.

A terrible wreck in far West Canuckistan. Mystery cyclist killed in collision with van on Pat Bay near McTavish and Cyclist struck and killed on Pat Bay Highway also Cyclist killed on Pat Bay Highway identified as English retiree SWSS wreck, that means hit-from-behind protocols to avoid or reduce damages, and get that infrastructure “up to Dutch” to prevent.

A very bad day in the Great White North. Windsor police investigate three collisions involving cyclists in one day Where to begin? Same as they did in the link. Left cross, intersection protocols. Second wreck appears to be the other kind of left cross, so again intersection protocols to avoid or reduce damages. Third wreck is a little bit harder to figure out as the cyclist hit someone in a turning lane of an intersecting road and was cited for failure to yield. I’m going to be honest and say I can’t figure out the geometry of this wreck as the narrative makes no sense to me. There are only two ways this could happen, one is that the cyclist was riding at the very farthest right possible and hit a car waiting to turn, which would sort of explain the citation, the second is that the cyclist was still riding too far to the right and someone was trying to sneak in a right on red and got hit by the cyclist, but that would not jibe with the citation as the cyclist would be the one with the right of way and the citation was not for running the red but for failure to yield. !?! Anyway the solution to all of those wrecks is following the Dutch CROW manual like it was the New Standard Version of the Bible and you’re attending Liberty College of Engineering.

Not a bicycle wreck, but still… Elderly woman killed by driver checking Facebook on her phone at 85 mph

Let’s get some Infrastructure! going on, from CA. New law: Motorists must give cyclists 3 feet of space and Cyclists Eager For ‘3 Feet For Safety’ Law To Kick In and Cyclists urge DA to reconsider charges for sheriff’s deputy who struck, killed rider also Bike Ride A Call For Action After Deputy Not Charged In Cyclist’s Death In case you might be wondering this is the legal infrastructure that protects cyclists by making hitting one either financially too expensive or personally too expensive to sustain.

More on the infrastructure failure that killed a cyclist and who might be responsible for it in Seattle. Second Avenue cyclist and the tangled city streets

A “D’awwww!” moment from Enn Zed. Award for woman who rushed to help cyclist The main contribution this person made was controlling bleeding until trained responders could handle the situation. I still say “Good on ya!” for this and a well-deserved award.

Our Daily Ted. Morning Links: Cyclists ride for justice; LACBC ED Jen Klausner resigns, Los Angeles is nation’s 28th Best Bike City

Lifestyle for reals. London Tweed Run: the most beautiful bike ride on the planet (photos)

One possible downside of an e-assist bike with LiPo batteries. Exploding battery on electric bicycle causes Bend house fire That’s why you need BMS with any LiPo battery pack.

And good news for e-assist cyclists as Tesla uses the 18650 form factor that makes very nice e-bike packs. Tesla CEO: ‘Nevada is it;’ $1.3B package offered I know some of you are saying “How can someone making a factory to build Tesla batteries be good news for e-assist cyclists?” Very simple. Tesla uses the 18650 form factor like I mentioned, and there will inevitably be cells that are still pretty good but don’t meet Tesla’s standards. I know they have a very complex BMS that shunts bad cells out of the pack or doesn’t run them as hard as better cells, but they want to start with the cells as good as they can and not with a bunch of cells not up to the need from the get-go. Well those cells will probably get dumped on the e-bike market as plainly marked “seconds” that will still be pretty good with a BMS made for use with that kind of cell.

A statement of indubitable truth. Cyclists ‘should learn first aid to save lives’ says City worker who went to rescue of crash victim I got combat first aid twice because the Army thought my training from my first Up was not recent enough, and I could probably be of assistance in a severe wreck so long as I could get to the victim. Last two wrecks I saw I could not get to the victims to help, one car resting on its side and the other was otherwise inaccessible for my crippled leg. I think it was down a hill or wedged or something. I can barely remember that one. The one after that I can remember quite well as that was the first amputation I have seen and also the first wreck that I saw taking place. Every other wreck I saw was already come to a rest when I showed up, even if only by seconds, but that one developed right before my eyes. Not fun. I described what I saw the day it happened in this blog, but I’m not doing the archive dive to find the link.

And those are all the links that gave me fits or giggles.

Billed @€0.02, Opus the unkillable badass Poet

Running late because of making sure my house won’t get stolen by Wells Fargo, and the Feed

It’s just after 2100 as I begin this post because I had things to take care of during the day, then dinner, and filtering during dinner. It was very warm today, not what I would call “hot”, just 96°F for the high locally. One of the things I had to take care of was setting up things so that the money I’m getting from my Dad’s estate will ensure a roof over my head by taking Wells Fargo completely out of the situation. When we got our mortgage way those many years ago we got a good rate for the time, but we thought that because we were dealing with a financial institution that had been in existence since the late 1800s we were “safe”, compared to the situation when we first bought our house where our mortgage was sold multiple times as one bank after another failed following the Savings and Loan Debacle of the early ’90s and several times we had to fight to keep the house when the loan servicer went under and records were “lost”. Then there were the multiple foreclosures where Wells Fargo foreclosed on paid off mortgages because of a lack of current payments on the paid-off mortgage. Well, we are going to prevent that from happening… And I wore white after Labor Day!

Up first is more on the victim of that Seattle infrastructure-created wreck. Bicyclist killed fought ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ and Cyclist killed in Seattle was ACLU lawyer I have said all I can say about this wreck, except I expect somebody to arrest the member of the Seattle City Council who delayed installing the barriers and separate signals that would have prevented this wreck and indirectly killing this cyclist. Since this was entirely predictable that someone would turn left across a cyclist going straight because of the scarcity of left-hand bike lanes and the fact that most people don’t look left when they are making a left turn from the furthest left lane for motor vehicles, that delay directly led to the death of this cyclist and in my mind becomes a criminal violation.

An OH cyclist is hospitalized by a hit-and-run driver. Bicyclist hurt in hit-skip crash in Montpelier Hit-from-behind protocols to avoid or reduce damages, and get the infrastructure “up to Dutch” to prevent.

This was either deliberate on the part of the driver, or someone really dropped the ball at the AL DMV eye test. Bicycle rider killed in crash As the link reads now there were 3 cyclists hit in this wreck, one killed, one hospitalized, and one that needs clean shorts. Hit-from-behind protocols for any good they could do, and obviously if the driver can’t get to the cyclists then he can’t hit them, which is entirely dependant on the infrastructure with the Dutch model having the best results so far for both protecting cyclists and getting more cyclists on the roads. Yeah, that is a very roundabout way of saying “up to Dutch”.

A CA cyclist is killed because somebody had too much to drink. Update: Huntington Beach bike rider killed by suspected drunk driver Hit from behind wreck really needs better LEO support as the driver has so far only been charged with misdemeanor DUI in spite of killing the cyclist and leaving the scene of the crime. Hit-from-behind protocols might have been useful in this wreck, getting the infrastructure “up to Dutch” would probably have prevented the wreck by keeping the drunk driver safely away from the victim.

Still in L.A. for a bit of lifestyle. Memorial ride to honor cyclist killed by sheriff’s deputy RIP Milt Olin.

Lifestyle from the Great White North. Family, friends of Darcy Allan Sheppard mark 5 years since cyclist’s death I would dearly love to see those videos where the driver of the weapon vehicle (quite literally in this case) was NOT using the car to beat the cyclist against mailboxes and other street furniture after the cyclist got up off the street to complain about getting run over from behind while waiting at a stop light, because all the videos I saw that is exactly what Michael Bryant was doing, using his vehicle as a blunt instrument to bludgeon the cyclist to death. But the Special Prosecutor assigned the case must have seen completely different videos than what we in the public saw.

More lifestyle from the entire country of Canada. Cyclist honours late-wife with cross-Canada ride The cyclist being remembered on this ride was killed scant miles from one end of this trail.

Lifestyle from the UK. Cyclist killed in Richmond Park crash was brilliant scientist who smuggled orchids

More lifestyle from the UK. Cyclists get on bikes for ride for dad killed in road smash I freaking HATE drunk drivers… not that this is unknown to my regular readers, what with the blood-thirsty demands that convicted DUI killers be chained to the steering wheels of their weapon vehicles right before they are fed through a car shredder together…

Infrastructure! news from the Great White North. Runner says speeding cyclists a city-wide problem The amazing cyclist, capable of going too fast and too slow at the same time and place!

Our Daily Ted. Morning Links: How to file a claim for pothole damage; La Habra rider injured crashing into street sign Not to be confused with Our Daily Tedd. El Goonish Shive

And something assisting electrically. New technology electrifies Tucson’s bicycle scene

And those were all the links that gave me fits or giggles today, mostly fits.

Billed @€0.02, Opus the unkillable badass Poet

This is going to be a long night, and the Feed

I normally stay up late Friday night to get the 2400 post to the Feed folder filtered and on the blog so it isn’t so old come Monday, and so I have one fewer report to filter then. Well I just finished going through the 1800 post, and if that is any indication, tonight is going to be a very long night indeed. But first, I’m having difficulty getting the brain shaped jello mold for my Death Day party. For new readers, I celebrate the day I almost died, because I did die, but [Monty Python] I got better[/Monty Python]. I know I mention it way too much for my regular readers, but 08/31/2001 at 0119 I died. I was dead until approximately 0121 when I spontaneously “rebooted” and came back complaining that the upper end of my femur was broken. I was completely oblivious to the fact that from the knee down my left leg was a bloody gaping wound and I was bleeding to death. You see that’s the upside to being dead for about 2 minutes at the beginning of this mess, I had an extra 2 minutes where I wasn’t spurting blood everywhere instead of keeping it inside my body. I have mentioned my experiences with being dead elsewhere (archive crawl!) so I’ll spare those who don’t wish to know (spoiler, it was boring). Since I don’t have the mold tonight, I can’t do the blue jello and yogurt “brains” for the Saturday party, but I might have the time to get a batch set up in time for the Sunday party. That’s right, I get 2 parties to celebrate not being dead, one with the people in the RPG group, and another on the actual date of the wreck with the people at my church. I don’t know if there will be alcohol at either party, but I would very much like there to be a good dark beer…

Up first today is a bunch of links to a wreck that was mainly caused by incomplete infrastructure in Seattle, WA. Cyclist Killed on 2nd Avenue and Cyclist killed on Seattle’s notorious 2nd Avenue bike lane also Cyclist killed in downtown Seattle and even August 29, 2014 at 9:26 AM The breaking-news account of the 2nd Avenue bike fatality This wreck was caused by a non-standard bike lane to the left of traffic and the delay for political reasons of installing the remainder of the equipment and signage needed to make that installation safe. Certain members of the City Council took it upon themselves to delay installation of signals that would give cyclists a different signal phase from traffic turning left across the bike lane, and as a result the driver of the large weapon vehicle (and because the type of vehicle is not the issue here, this is an infrastructure wreck, I’m not mentioning what kind of vehicle here) was making a left turn as the cyclist was riding straight and the cyclist hit the vehicle a glancing blow just behind the front wheels and then fell under the rear wheels. But as I said the real issue is that the signals that would have prevented this wreck were delayed a year by a single person on the Seattle City Council. From my point of view, that council member murdered this cyclist. And yes, I’m Pissed Off about it.

From just east of WoaB World HQ in the Beautiful Suburbs of Hell, a cyclist hit by an SUV. Friend of cyclist hit by SUV: ‘She’s not going to quit’ This seems to be entirely the fault of the driver for just driving over the cyclist in the road in front of him as he was using his cell phone while driving. This makes using the hit-from-behind protocols iffy at best because of reaction time, leaving only getting the infrastructure “up to Dutch” to prevent. But as this is East Texas the best we will ever get is a stripe of paint and dirty pavement covered in debris, unless an outside agency forces otherwise. And watching the video was just so … UGH!

Moving out west to L.A. CA and something else I am none too happy about. LASD to internally investigate fatal cyclist crash involving distracted deputy As sad as it may sound this is the last chance for any punishment at all for driving distracted and killing someone who wasn’t even technically in the road. The next judicial step is the civil trial where the legal fees and any payout assessed against the deputy will be picked up by the taxpayers of L.A. County with no chance of subrogating the money back out of the deputy. If the Olins are smart they will state up front they want the damages to be assessed against the deputy, not borne by the taxpayers, because that is the only way to protect the taxpayers. More No charges for LASD deputy who fatally struck cyclist while typing on computer

A WI cyclist is hit-and-run. Cyclist injured in hit and run crash in rural Dodge County AFAIK this was a buzz job gone bad as the cyclist’s injuries were not severe and there was no intersecting road listed in the narrative, and the description of the debris and damages inflicted on the weapon vehicle are consistent with a buzz job. So that would be hit-from-behind protocols to avoid or to reduce damages, and get the infrastructure “up to Dutch” to prevent. Also all you Madison-area Cheeseheads keep that proverbial eyeball peeled for that weapon vehicle. As of this posting they hadn’t found it yet.

Another WI wreck that is a little better. Bike crash leaves cyclist with minor injuries No mention of mode of wreck, but as there was no intersection mentioned (or a description of the other vehicle) I’m going to go with hit from behind so protocols to avoid (and maybe the victim was one of my readers, there seemed to be light injuries), and get the infrastructure “up to Dutch” to prevent.

This CO wreck brought back unpleasant memories. Hit-and-run driver seriously injures cyclist Mid-block wreck in a bike lane? Sounds like attempted murder to me Mr. DA. Hit-from-behind protocols to avoid or reduce damages. Get the infrastructure right to prevent. And shred the cars used to commit hit-and-run. They melt down guns used to commit crimes, same thing should happen to motor vehicles.

Not a wreck, but not very good either. Police identify bicyclist struck in head by lightning in Maryland Heights If you’re not already out in it just stay home, for those storms that blow in unexpectedly find shelter away from stands of trees, and if you’re on the road when the lightning starts lay the bike down at the edge of the road and lay alongside. It’s better to be dirty than dead.

An OR cyclist is hit while trying to buy groceries. 91-year-old Eugene cyclist hit by car plans to keep riding OK, to avoid use the hit-from-behind protocols, to prevent goes back to Dutch quality infrastructure with bidirectional bike lanes on both sides of the streets to prevent mid-block crossing.

Update on a wreck in the Great White North. Police: Teen cyclist killed by street racers High speeds on the part of the weapon vehicle makes all of the protocols moot for reaction time, and as the drivers of the weapon vehicles were idiots I’m not sure infrastructure would have done anything either.

Also from the GWN, with a slightly better outcome. Cyclist gets away with minor injuries after being hit by truck The time would have been right about sunset local time, the driver may have been blinded by the setting sun, or maybe not as they haven’t released any information about the mode of the wreck.

Another GWN wreck, it’s a bad day for Bob and Doug. Cyclist injured on Culloden Road, OPP investigating ‘fail to remain’ collision Hit from behind, protocols and infrastructure, can you tell this is the last link I filtered?

Another Montreal right hook. Cyclist injured after colliding with truck in Plateau-Mont-Royal Obviously intersection protocols to avoid or reduce damages, and infrastructure “up to Dutch” to prevent.

More on a UK driver who killed a cyclist while distracted by pictures on his cell phone. Minibus driver jailed for five years for cyclist’s death

An “ugh!” wreck from Oz. Cyclist injured by car at South Brighton, pedestrian hit by trailer at Glynde Strictly a hit-from-behind of the Lanterne Rouge for a group ride, which means he was quite visible at the back of the group. Protocols would not have helped much so that only leaves infrastructure to prevent.

Moving back to the states, someone stole bicycles from a place that has no bicycles to sell. Police: Man wanted in bicycle theft from Silver Spring Township store Sure they sell things that look like bicycles, but they are not really bicycles.

Our Daily Ted. Morning Links: More on misguided Olin decision; protected bikeways and hit-and-run bills pass legislature

I’m not sure how to classify this except as Karma, maybe? Why General Motors wants to put 19,000 tech employees on bicycles

A SoCal letter writer has the right numbers, but still gets the wrong answers. Letters, Aug. 28, 2014: The real statistics behind cycling-related injuries

And still in SoCal, a police chief only gets it half right. From the Chief- Kids, bikes and school People in cars are driving potential murder weapons around with the destructive power of anything from a 20mm to a 155mm cannon shell. A 20mm is barely bigger than a machine gun (there are 20mm rifles, but they are heavy as hell to carry, more than a mortar tube and aiming platform but they fire an effective AP round so they used to be used against armor at medium ranges… TMI) but a 155 or the naval equivalent are capable of taking out large buildings with a single shot.

I guess this is Infrastructure! SF Weekly Tests New State Law Requiring Cars to Give Cyclists More Room on the Roads Using a reflector to show how far 3 feet away from a cyclist really is has the deleterious side effect of making said bicycle almost as wide as a car.

And I finally ran out of links.

Billed @€0.02, Opus “Unkillable Badass” (I love getting called that)

Things are approaching “normal” for values of “normal” that are right angles to reality, and the Feed

I’m actually feeling pretty chipper today. It’s grocery day, which means I get out of the house for a bit. Also I got the most awesomest reply to a comment I put on a web comic about dealing with depression (I know some of you think I never get depressed dealing with this “stuff” but really I came into this gig dealing with depression, this is how I deal) and related how I got depressed in the first place. The artist left me a reply that I shall quote in its entirety here:

“David M Willis
August 28, 2014 at 2:08 am | Reply
confidentially i’m not in this webcomics thing to tell stories, i’m actually just assembling an army of unkillable badasses one by one, who i will eventually march across the face of the earth and install a new world order”

I think I will add that to my resume. “Unkillable badass” has a nice ring to it wouldn’t you say? I hope I get placed high enough in the new DoT to fix some of the mistakes made with all these damned highways running through residential neighborhoods.

Up first is something that came through after I put yesterday’s post to bed. Deputy Who Hit Biking Napster Exec While Driving Distracted Won’t Face Charges and Update: DA refuses to file charges in Milt Olin case I’m totally unsurprised at this turn of events, merely disappointed. There will be a civil trial in the case, but even if the Olins “win” the taxpayers will be the real losers as they are picking up the tab for defending the deputy and also covering the eventual payout. I have long advocated that when LEO are sued the payout comes from the pension fund of the accused, and when there’s no money left there it comes from the payroll of the organization. So long as LEO misconduct is left unpunished it will continue to flourish.

An unknown person shot and killed a drunk driver in TX. Texas dad acquitted of fatally shooting suspected drunken driver who struck, killed sons The prosecution was unable to place the murder weapon in the hands of the father of the victims of the drunk driver. Personally I prefer just to chain the driver to the steering wheel of the car while it gets crushed and shredded, or if I’m in a really bad mood just leave the car in impound with the driver chained to the steering wheel until the trial, how ever many months that takes. Feeding would be optional, bathroom breaks not so much, and no AC. And if that sounds like I do not like drunk drivers very much, you’re right.

A driver hits a cyclist in OR then leaves the scene when first responders arrive. Police: Man hit cyclist, drove away when he heard sirens Right hook as the cyclist rode across the front of the gas station that the driver of the weapon vehicle was trying to enter, so intersection protocols to avoid or reduce damages, and get the infrastructure “up to Dutch” to prevent. And the article seems to have updated while I was creating the link, because the driver is no longer being described as “drunk”, his sobriety or lack of has no mention in the updated link. His attempt to hide the evidence and deceive LEO has not been changed…

A GA cyclist is killed because a driver should not have been driving proved he should not have been driving. Cyclist Killed In Athens Crash OK I can’t tell if this is a SWSS or what, the narrative just says the driver “couldn’t avoid” hitting the cyclist… However they did arrest the driver for not having a valid license, so there is at least that. Assuming the wreck was not at an intersection that wasn’t named, use hit-from-behind protocols to avoid or reduce damages, and get the infrastructure “up to Dutch” to prevent. Include in that some means of preventing driving without a valid license…

Horrors, a cyclist not wearing proper cycling gear… Waterville cyclist seriously injured after being struck by van This wreck was in ME BTW. The driver claimed the cyclist was riding salmon when the weapon vehicle turned left and hit the cyclist. Assuming the cyclist was riding salmon that only allows for 2 possible locations and directions of travel for the cyclist. One is parallel to the original direction of travel and crossing the intersection to the left of the turning vehicle, the other is riding in the lane the weapon vehicle was turning towards. The third alternative is the cyclist was left-crossed in the traditional sense and the driver failed to see him until contact with the front of the weapon vehicle. The description of the cyclist’s garb indicates he was riding for transportation somewhere, not on a recreational or training ride. So, either don’t ride salmon, or intersection protocols to avoid or reduce damages, and get that infrastructure “up to Dutch” to prevent.

Just south of the ME wreck a NYC driver manages to hit 3 people walking in the crosswalk. Driver Seriously Injures Three Elderly Pedestrians In LES Crosswalk I’m still trying to figure out how you manage to hit 3 adults using the crosswalk… I think the fact that it was a woman driving a Volvo might have had something to do with it. I mention this wreck because for all intents and purposes it was a right hook, the victims just were not riding bicycles at the time of the wreck, but they were using the built infrastructure as intended and as safely as possible.

A MA cyclist causes a left cross by jumping the light. Arlington police log: Spitting workers, injured cyclist and more What more can I say about this one? Even the famous Idaho stop law requires yielding to traffic after the stop at a red light, which requires actually looking for traffic before leaving the safety of the stop bar.

Final say on a UK wreck leaves me feeling nauseous. Suspended sentence for lorry driver who hit and killed Darlington cyclist That’s right, run over a plainly visible cyclist on the side of the road and get a suspended sentence and 160 hours of community service. TANJ!

Update on a wreck in Oz. Teenager hit by truck in Oakford on Tuesday dies in hospital At this time LEO have been unable to determine which vehicle had the right of way at the intersection where the wreck happened. So, intersection wreck implies that the protocols might have been of some use in avoiding damages, and that infrastructure “up to Dutch” could have prevented the wreck.

It looks like there was a wreck in Enn Zed that was extremely similar to the wreck on I 84 in OR last week. Cyclist injured on SH2 at Petone, long delays for northbound traffic The report as I read it while composing the post is the cyclist was hit where the bike lane crossed the exit ramp, making the geometry a left hook (they drive on the wrong side of the road in Enn Zed). There is very little a cyclist can do in this circumstance…

Speaking of the OR wreck on I 84, there is a FB page devoted to fixing the situation. Ellen Memorial Connector – Complete the Historic Columbia Gorge HWY My first Infrastructure! article of the day.

Our Daily Ted article. BOLO Alert: Custom Davidson bike stolen in South Pasadena

LifeStyle in NJ. Greater Morristown mourns cyclist, killed in accident The cyclist crashed when he hit or tried to avoid an uncovered access hole for some kind of infrastructure, either water or gas. The report doesn’t know if he hit the hole, or lost traction off the front wheel trying to avoid it, but it all amounts to the same thing.

Just what we need, a folding e-assist bike that can lock itself to trees and posts and becomes unridable if you break the lock. ncycle e-bike features integrated locking, folding and pocket systems Oh did I forget to mention the integrated carrier hidden in the frame? I think I forgot.

And either I have finished losing my mind, or I have run out of links. Some days it’s hard to tell.

Billed @€0.02, Opus the Poet, Unkillable Badass (I like that…)

Now we wait, and the Feed

The check has been deposited into a special account I had set up just for such things back in the ’90s, some place to park “hot” assets until they had cooled off and could be used. At the time I was building prototypes for toys and sometimes had to handle checks for thousands of $ and needed a place where I could put stuff and not have to worry about losing everything if the deposit turned out to be tainted in some way, so I created a second savings account just for that eventuality. None of our investors or contract jobs turned out to be “shady”, but even after the toy shop closed for lack of business (we lost our shirts making a “working” ST:TOS tricorder with magnetometer and weather station) I left the account active by moving a dollar or two in and out of it every couple of years or so “just in case” and 20 years later, I’m needing it again.

On another front, I may have to get surgery done on the lump on the back of my neck. It was tested a few years ago and determined to be a benign lipoma or fatty tumor. The problem is it has been getting bigger lately for whatever reason and has gone from interfering with my bike helmet when I ride bent over on a normal MTB, to hitting the back of my head when I’m finishing a bottled drink or travel mug. I have to take the lid off my coffee cup to get that last swallow. And this week it got to the point where it just plain interferes when I move my head. It ain’t deadly, but it might aggravate me to death so it has to go. I’m going back to my doctor early next month on an unrelated subject, but I will definitely bring this up with him then. Seriously this thing hurts almost every time I move my head now.

Up first because of proximity to WoaB World HQ in the Beautiful Suburbs of Hell, a cyclist is right hooked in NOLA. Cyclist struck by driver on Magazine Street, police say I have one thing to say about NOPD, they certainly seem to “get it” about the hazards of the right hook. Now if they could “get it” about the “punishment pass”…Anyway, right hook means intersection protocols to avoid or reduce damages, and get the infrastructure “up to Dutch” to prevent.

Not sure of the state on this right cross wreck of a salmon cyclist. Cyclist injured after colliding with vehicle This is the primary reason not to ride salmon, drivers are not looking in your direction when executing turning movements and will hit you and it will be your fault. Not that I have to say anything to my readers, you guys already know this, right?

A NE man is seriously injured by a serial traffic violator. Police: Omaha man arrested after hitting cyclist and Bicyclist, 45, critically injured by car that police said was being driven erratically One report had the driver of the weapon vehicle swerving all the way across the street before hitting the cyclist from behind. This moves this wreck from “normal” to “unavoidable by human cyclists” category, and also the “not likely affected by Dutch bicycle infrastructure” category. The driver failed to keep the vehicle on the street even when using both sides of it, bicycle infrastructure would just be “more street” for him like the sidewalk was.

Update on a NY wreck. Wayland man sentenced to 2-6 years in cyclist’s 2013 death Kill someone while under the influence by any other means and you will get serious prison time, much more than “2-6”. But cars are “different”.

A cyclist in far West Canuckistan gets compensated for a wreck with a loose dog. Cyclist felled by unleashed Chilliwack Doberman awarded $39,000 For those unaware Dobies were originally bred to haul children in small carts as both a draft and as a guard animal, and they are very aggressive around anyone they see as threatening “their kids”. The article shows the device intended to restrain the animal failed to function, probably because of a dead battery.

Even the trees are out to get cyclists in Oz. Cyclist seriously injured in crash – Blue Mountains The tree limb fell into the shoulder and partially in the road and the cyclist suffered serious injury trying to avoid it, but the severity of the injuries makes me think the tree or another vehicle hit the victim. But seriously, this falls into the “not avoidable” category.

More on that UK wreck that is currently in the trial stage. I posted links yesterday as being from two separate wrecks when they were in fact this wreck. Driver looking at photos on phone hits cyclist – then snaps fatally injured victim, court told I sent this link to someone who knows about these things, and he indicated the driver could have “narcissistic personality disorder” whatever that is… More Minibus driver accused of fatally colliding with a cyclist told police ‘I’ve killed a man’, court told

After bad infrastructure gets a cyclist killed all road users are advised to exercise caution until the infrastructure in question can be fixed. Drivers urged to use caution after bicyclist killed AFAIK cyclists in NH are required to use a bike lane if one is provided, even if doing so will get them killed, so it’s up to drivers to “not kill” cyclists.

More infrastructure news from SD. No sidewalks by new Sioux Falls middle school So, they expect everybody to ride the bus to school, even those that live less than a mile away? No sidewalks or bike lanes (and probably no bike racks to park at even if they decided to ride a bike to school).

Lifestyle from CA via Facebook. Remember Matthew: Change Lanes to Pass a Cyclist This is a FB Community Page to remind people that cyclists are human beings and fragile.

Lifestyle from NM. Amazing cyclist, 94, outlives his competition The anchor person wanted to know what he does to live so long but didn’t want to do the one thing she knew he did, ride the bike… >sigh< 😦

And a potential game changer for e-assist bikes and EV. Secretive Company Claims Battery Breakthrough The claim is a completely solid-state battery with no liquid electrolyte, built the same way as my laptop screen and at about the same cost.

And I seem to have run out of links again. Fortunately before I ran out of mind. 😉

Billed @€0.02, Opus

Relief arrived in the mail, and the Feed

The trust fund has come through for Casa de El Poeta in the form of a large $$ check that we will use to pay off the mortgage, getting that particular monkey off our backs for good. I think I mentioned my BP going down because of a reduction in stress? Part of that reduction was the negotiations involved doing this. Now we have to deposit the check, wait for the DHS and DEA to clear it as a legitimate transaction, and then cut the certified check to the mortgage company to pay off the mortgage and get our home free and clear. Then we can start using what had been the mortgage payment to cover deferred maintenance, the house needs paint on the outside, and the bath to the master bedroom needs to be remodeled and the holes in the walls repaired ASAP. I really don’t like listening to frogs and crickets while I’m taking a shower inside my house! And I have never seen such a large check in my life, all those zeroes 😮 !

Update on a disgusting story is even more disgusting. Affluenza’ teen’s father busted for impersonating a police officer Remember this one? Sixteen YO kid was drunk on stolen beer and ran over a group of people helping a stranded motorist, killing I think 2(?), and crippling at least one more, and the judge said he was too rich to understand what he did? This shows just how far from the tree the apple fell. Not very far.

Another cyclist/train “incident”. Cyclist killed by train in Detroit and Cyclist hit by train on Detroit’s west side OK there is something going on here, this makes more bicycle/train wrecks in less than 8 months than I normally see in a year. I don’t know if this is a statistical glitch, or if there are people using trains as suicide weapons, or a combination of the two, or someone has developed a mind control ray and is testing it out on cyclists first. OK that last one was going into tin foil hat territory, but seriously, given how easy it is to not get hit by a train having almost twice the normal annual average in less than 8 months is flaky in the extreme. In the meantime the easiest way to not get hit by a train is to not be on the tracks when one is coming, paying attention to crossing guards and signals and looking and listening for one of the large and noisy things so you’re “not there” with the train.

Moving a bit west from that wreck we get a right hook in CO. Boulder police: Cyclist hit by car on Arapahoe Avenue seriously injured Straight-forward right hook wreck caused by improper intersection design with a separated bike path several feet to the right of the street, this can only be solved with separate signal phases for the bike path and the rest of the intersection. Or in other words get the infrastructure “up to Dutch”, because this situation can’t be solved by cyclists and drivers “being careful”. Because of the geometry of this intersection the protocols are of little help.

Kill a cyclist, get a ticket? Lincoln man charged with misdemeanors in death of bicyclist Oh, sorry, ticket and a small fine. Misdemeanors for killing a human being. If it wasn’t for the sidebar article proclaiming that selling drugs got a man 15 years without actually killing anyone I might be more philosophical about this, but putting one man getting 15 years for making and selling something people want while another gets misdemeanor charges for killing someone because “OOhh, drugs are BAD!” and hitting someone not even on the road is an “accident”.

Update on that NYC left hook by an unlicensed cab driver. Livery Driver Charged in Cyclist’s Death Still way undercharged for the seriousness of the outcome. Should not have been driving because unable to prove competency for driving and kills someone proving how incompetent he is, and they can’t charge him with anything that corresponds to the seriousness of the effect.

I think NYPD is more concerned that a bullet “almost” hit one of theirs than the fact that a cyclist was the one being targeted. NYPD: This Gunman Aimed At Bicyclist And Nearly Shot A Cop gasp! a bullet came within several feet of an officer! This miscreant must be brought to justice!

And while we are in NYC, they are trying to add an illegal $88 surcharge to the bicycle tickets they are handing out. DMV Charging Cyclists An Extra $88 For “Operation Safe Cycle” Tickets Any disparaging remark I could make now would just be redundant.

Someone wins the door prize. Bicyclist dies after crashing into car door As they showed in the video the bike lane was more than halfway into the door zone, and I believe NH is a mandatory sidepath state (I know someone will correct me if I’m wrong, they always do). That means that the cyclist was forced to ride in the door zone by law… making this wreck unavoidable by a human cyclist and only preventable by changing the infrastructure that caused it.

A hit and run from the Great White North. Teen cyclist tossed a ‘considerable distance’ in hit-and-run near Marineland Since the cyclist was with a group and there is no mention of lights or reflectors it has to be assumed the cyclist was visible, or something would have been mentioned. Hit from behind protocols to avoid or reduce damages, and get the infrastructure “up to Dutch” to prevent.

“Good” to know that the Blue Wall extends all the way to Canada. Teen cyclist struck dead by cop’s wife, family’s questions ‘not answered’ The woman had been drinking but was never tested for her BAC%, she was allowed to drive the weapon vehicle away from the wreck… TANJ!

This UK report goes way beyond the pale, even for an Anglophone country. Blackwood driver took photo of fatally injured cyclist after crash, court hears

This trial report from the UK is? Trialish? Bath man pleads guilty to hit-and-run incident which killed cyclist Jake Gilmore and Man pleads guilty to causing the death of Chard teenage cyclist Jake Gilmore The ironic thing is the driver will probably get more time for the pot than for killing and leaving a young man on the side of the road.

Infrastructure causes a bike wreck, and what are the media concerned about? Queues after cyclist injured in street fall Man falls off his bike because the street is crap and gets badly injured, but more importantly, traffic got backed up and Important People in Cars had to wait.

Get in a wreck that destroys your clothes so they give you a hospital gown to stay covered up, and wind up getting chased by police as an escaped patient! Police helicopter pursues injured cyclist mistaken for escaped hospital patient

Our Daily Ted. Morning Links: Details come out in death of randonneur Matthew O’Neill; new Chinese bike doesn’t need you

Lifestyle in San Diego CA. Hundreds to ride in support of severely injured cyclist and a picture from FB.

And not directly related to bikes but uber-cool. Magical algae turns sewage into biofuel and Dasani Not sure if the “Dasani” bit is product placement or a dig at the product, but this is a variation of the sewage lagoons method of treating sewage, with the same sterilized high-quality fertilizer as an end product but with the added bonus of diesel fuel as a byproduct.

And those were all the links I have for today.

Billed @€0.02, Opus

A post about minority relations, and the Feed

I will freely admit I am old. Not as old as some people think, but still “up there” in years. I’m 55 about to be 56 in a few weeks, and I have Seen Things. I saw That Other Armstrong walk on the moon with Buzz Aldrin. I saw Robert Kennedy shot on the TV news by Sirhan Sirhan. I saw JFK laid to rest in Arlington. And I saw protests against racial discrimination and institutional poverty in the Deep South disrupted by goons wearing cop badges. It has frequently been said that for a middle-class white dude to understand what it feels like to be a minority all you need to do is throw him on a bicycle and give him a destination across town, which I understand viscerally (hey, in just a couple of weeks I’m going to celebrate surviving someone trying to kill me for my mode of transport, so I deeply understand). But I have never seen cyclists get the kind of treatment the people in Ferguson are getting on a daily basis from people they pay to “protect” them. Seriously if I was living in Ferguson MO right now I would be suing for return of taxes on the grounds of not getting what I paid for. The “riots” I have seen on the videos coming out of there seem to be mostly the PD or people dressed like the PD except in camo and wearing masks running amok in residential areas, shooting up property and setting fires with burning tear gas grenades. What little PD violence I have seen against group rides like Critical Mass pales in comparison. I mean people are getting shot in Ferguson.

This is what normally happens when cyclists protest, from a half-day ride to the east of WoaB World HQ in the Beautiful Suburbs of Hell. Riders Up: 200-plus cyclists show support for riders injured on roadways and Hundreds gather for Vigilance ride to remember injured, killed cyclists I wonder how they got the precise number of riders for the first link (213).

A cyclist was killed in SC and the criminal case drags on. 2 years later, family still waiting for trial to begin in cyclist’s death It seems quite cut-and-dried to me, but then I have been hit several times on my bike and have not been at fault yet. I wonder what could be “more important” than putting someone on trial for killing another human being? Bounced checks?

More on the cyclist left-hooked in NYC. Livery Cab Driver Arrested After Bicyclist Killed In East Harlem and Bicycle rider killed in East Harlem by cab whose driver allegedly had suspended license: police sources Driver still unlicensed, still uninsured, still breathing, all of which are no longer applicable in the case of the victim. This report has made it plain that there was nothing the cyclist could have done to avoid this wreck as the driver pulled alongside and turned (left) right over him.

Still in NYC here’s an update with a little more information about a deadly wreck last week. Cyclist struck and killed by ambulette in Flushing Wednesday He either left-crossed himself, or the car passed him right after the turn and did not leave enough room. I’m still not getting good information about the geometry of this wreck.

More about the SF cyclist killed by a driver running from police who weren’t chasing him. Zachary Watson: Cyclist Hit by Driver Fleeing Cops Dies and Cyclist And Exploratorium Employee Zach Watson, Struck By Driver Of Stolen Minivan, Has Died The victim was not riding his bike when hit but was in the process of locking it up. So a completely unavoidable wreck for the cyclist and one that no kind of infrastructure upgrade could reasonably prevent.

Another CA bike wreck that as I compose this is low-information. Cyclist seriously injured in collision in Chula Vista As I read the report at the moment all I really know is the cyclist was seriously injured in an intersection wreck. So intersection protocols apply at the moment, and infrastructure would probably (95% confidence factor) prevent this wreck.

A young (6YO) cyclist is killed in MN. UPDATE: Authorities Continue to Investigate Fatal Van Versus Bike Crash The driver is invoking the Drivers Get Out Of Jail Free card (I didn’t see him) but it is unknown what factor that will play in this wreck. The location is in a residential area of single-family houses so the driver should have been looking for kids coming from driveways as there is no other place to ride a bike except driveways and the street. Notice the complete lack of accommodation for anything other than motor vehicles in what should be a street for kids to run wild, with no through traffic.

Another link to that wreck in Enn Zed, but no more information (yet). A cyclist was seriously injured when her bicycle was hit by a truck near Napier The narrative now reads as a hit-from-behind wreck so I’m assuming applying the protocols could at least minimize the damages. Getting the infrastructure “up to Dutch” would prevent the conflict that resulted in the wreck from ever happening.

Our Daily Ted. Morning Links: What DTLA can learn from NYC, guilty plea in Fallbrook hit-and-run, new distracted driving app

Infrastructure! news from Bicycling Magazine. Roundabouts Versus Stop Signs

How to get bike parking at your local store. The Story of the ShurSave Bike Racks This assumes that management actually has fucks to give about customers who arrive by bike, unlike my local store who still haven’t installed a bike rack in spite of another customer’s bike besides mine getting stolen because there is literally nothing solid that bikes are allowed to lock up to. We have trees and the handicapped parking signs that are physically available, with one off-limits because it is bad form in TX to lock to a tree and invite someone to cut down the tree to steal the bike, and the other off-limits because locking to the handicapped parking sign blocks access to the handicapped spaces.

Lifestyle from the NYT. My Life in Bicycles

More e-assist bike news. E-bikes face uphill climb As one wag pointed out in the comments, climbing is the play to strength for an assist bike.

And those were all the links I could find pertaining to the subject matter of this blog, today.

Billed @€0.02, Opus

I have to take a different route but I have my old compose page back, and the Feed

Well I have to use a new button on the dashboard instead of being able to use the WP banner tool, but I’m back at what looks like my previous compose page. The “preview” and “proofread” buttons are both back in their familiar locations. I hope the rest of the composing tools are also functional. One thing that seems to be permanently gone is the share button, which means Gigi won’t be able to log in from where ever she’s logging in from to leave links back from her page. And snarky comments, she was really good at leaving snarky comments. I never saw anybody that clicked on those links to read the post, but it felt better when she would come over and leave the snarky comment on her page, yannow?

Up first another scourge of modern times, the sleepy driver. Police: Driver hit and killed cyclist after falling asleep at the wheel There is not much a cyclist can do in a situation like this, even if they had been riding where they could be seen and avoided by the driver, the driver’s eyes would have to be open for that to happen. Infrastructure to Dutch standards would prevent wreck like this. For one thing there would be some serious rumble strips capable of stopping the car between the motorway and the cycle highway.

Closer to home in OK a cyclist is hit in a more urban environment. Car hits bicyclist near OCU campus The wreckage of the bike is so torn up I can’t tell which direction the cyclist was hit first. I mean the seat post is laying alongside the handlebars and you can plainly see the rear reflector jauntily next to what appears to be the top tube of the frame with one pedal visible from a crank that starts from somewhere out of frame… Drunk driver so nothing the cyclist could have done, infrastructure to Dutch CROW standards would probably have kept the cyclist away from the drunk driver and might even have convinced the drunk to not drive a car that night.

A needless wreck in KS as a driver passing another car hits a cyclist head on. Cyclist killed in Douglas County crash Umm, nope. Not a wreck that human reflexes and reactions could avoid. Get infrastructure that’s “up to Dutch” to prevent.

A driver assaults several IL cyclists on a group ride, in different groups around town. Police investigating motorist, cyclist incident Anyone seen the mayor of Sunset Hills MO lately? Being serious now, there is very little more than what the cyclists did that could be done to avoid a homicidal maniac like this dude. Segregated infrastructure paid for by crazy drivers like him would be the only way to prevent it. Still serious, you want to be crazy, you can be crazy, but it will cost you dearly.

The geometry of this IN wreck seriously troubles me. Lafayette doctor killed in cycling crash involving truck Seriously, they really think the cyclist right-hooked the truck?

Update on an Aussie killed in IN. Aust cyclist killed during ‘dream’ US trip I believe when I covered this back in July I pegged this as a hit-from-behind wreck, so protocols to avoid, infrastructure to prevent.

From CA more about the (drunk and high on meth) driver that went the wrong way on a one way loop road commonly used by cyclists to train. Wrong-Way Driver Hits Group of Cyclists on Fiesta Island This again shows why sometimes having access to motor vehicles is a Bad Thing for bicycle infrastructure. This was not bicycle infrastructure, just a nice road with no oncoming traffic and a speed limit that serious athletes had no problem maintaining or exceeding (within the 10 MPH+10% “tolerance” given to motor vehicles), but it does show what can happen when you make really good bike infra. Second thing to point out, that car is most likely totaled. Both A-pillars are bent and the windshield frame is buckled in the middle. The only way to repair it would be to cut the roof from an identical model and weld it to the unibody of that car, and I don’t think that car is worth the effort not to mention the costs involved.

Another wreck in CA, this one appears to be a cyclist that ran a stop sign or misjudged the closing speed of the weapon vehicle. Bicycle rider injured near downtown Woodland and Cyclist badly injured in minivan vs. bike crash in Woodland The driver was on a through street and the cyclist had a stop sign which leaves only the two possibilities I laid out. Infrastructure might have helped but I’m going to be honest on this one, I don’t think so if the bike path doesn’t have the priority at the intersection.

A SWCC from CA. 10-year old bike rider killed in Hesperia There is a possibility the cyclist was riding on the sidewalk which only adds to the information that confirms what a bad idea this is. Intersection protocols to avoid or reduce injury, and get the kids off sidewalks and on to “Dutch quality” bike paths to prevent.

A fatal buzz job from CA. Recumbent Cyclist Killed Was UCSB Grad Student Hit-from-behind protocols to avoid or to reduce damages, and get the infrastructure up to Dutch CROW standards to prevent.

This has not been a good day for CA cyclists as one carrying a passenger is cut off by a FedEx truck. Serious Injuries After FedEx Driver Strikes Cyclist And Passenger On Handlebars The way the narrative reads now the truck pulled out of a parking space directly into the side of the bike, and as you know the thing that sticks out the farthest on a bike are the handlebars. And what happens when the handlebars get hit? Yep the bike goes down, hard. Not sure if riding further out in the lane will prevent a similar wreck, but the area is already a mixed transport area quite similar to the Dutch Urban model, so about the only thing that could be changed would be the presumed liability law, motor vehicles are automatically at fault when hitting a pedestrian or cyclist in the street.

Another one of those limited information wrecks from GA. Bicyclist hit by car on Cobb Parkway Now the report reads the cyclist was “crossing” the highway when hit making this a SWCC wreck. There is an extremely low-res picture of the bike but I can’t get the “zoom in” feature to let me see the higher resolution picture so I can’t say anything for sure except that it is a bike in the road, or at least part of a bike. Since so many SWCC bike wrecks turn out to be hit-from-behind I’m going to go with those protocols to avoid or reduce damages, and get the infrastructure “up to Dutch” to prevent.

Get drunk and kill a cyclist and the worst that can happen is a 5 year prison term. Georgia man sentenced in fatal DUI crash that killed deaf cyclist The driver deliberately drove drunk in spite of being told twice he was too drunk to drive, commits hit-and-run leaving another human to die in the streets, and they only give him 5 years in prison and a $9K fine? It sucks to be a cyclist in GA, but it’s great to be a driver.

From the most deadliest state in the US to walk or ride a bike an apparent medical emergency causes a cyclist to ride across 2 lanes of traffic and into the side of a car. Weston Cyclist Killed After Being Hit by a Car The narrative is derived from several of the people riding with the victim, that he suddenly veered to the left and across an empty lane from the bicycle lane and hit a car in an inside lane. IOW this is the exact opposite of a SWSS, this may be the last act of a dying man.

One of the hazards of riding a group ride, from MA. Bicycle crash results in head trauma This is another one of those wrecks where bike infrastructure would not have done much except change the location of the wreck.

Another SWCC wreck (seems to be a theme today) in MI. Cyclist, 16, struck by vehicle, seriously injured Cyclist not able to tell LEO what happened from his point of view, and the only other witness was the driver of the weapon vehicle. Hit from behind protocols to avoid, and get the infrastructure “up to Dutch” to prevent.

Update on a hit-and-run in the Great White North. Man, 25, turns himself in after cyclist struck and killed: police The weapon vehicle was one that was not licensed for use on the streets…

Another Great White North wreck of unknown cause as of this posting. Elderly male cyclist struck and killed in Mississauga The picture shows a bike hit from the left front. At this point the only thing LEO are releasing are the vehicle types (bike and cube van) and the intersection where the wreck took place. So intersection means intersection protocols to avoid or reduce damages, and update infrastructure using the CROW manual to prevent.

And another update on a hit-and-run from West Canuckistan. Pickup driver in hit-and-run that injured Coquitlam cyclist turns himself in

This wreck report from Oz has been sanitized from the original which was quoted in the Feed. Doctors battle to save injured cyclist’s leg “He was so badly injured that a portion of his thigh bone was found at the…” and the less gory second sentence were both missing from the link that existed this morning. The geometry of the wreck is totally the cause from the first driver failing to wait until it was clear to pass, as the weapon vehicle came over the brow of the hill and dodged right to avoid the car in his lane and did not see the cyclists already in that lane (looking for where other cars were not there). No way for a cyclist to avoid something like this without superhuman reaction times. Infrastructure that was “up to Dutch” would not have required the first vehicle (the one that caused the wreck) to have to change lanes to pass the cyclists because they would have been on a separate road, thereby eliminating the cause of the wreck.

Another report from Oz. Teen fined over crash which left cyclist injured The driver right crossed (remember they drive on the wrong side of the road in Oz) the cyclist and left him permanently injured, but because she hadn’t been driving very long and had a “clean record” the violation will be struck from her record if she completes her probation successfully.

Our Daily Ted. A big bike weekend, with the Grand Opening of Timbuk2 and Aika Trading, and Amoeba’s Hot August Bikes

Infrastructure! news from VT. Video raises bike law questions Yep, when the law is so complex that the people paid to enforce it don’t understand it, that law needs to be scrapped.

And crappy Infrastructure in the UK. Cycle path still not finished on 10th anniversary of cyclist’s death that secured council promise This was another example of “check-box” infrastructure, barely meeting minimums in width and going nowhere, basically just paint, and it still took 10 years and a lot of arm-twisting to get it done.

I keep mentioning “up to Dutch” as the standard for bicycle infrastructure and this link shows once again why that is. Pragmatism. When campaigners and planners should use it. How such things as car parking and beer delivery in the Netherlands are made to coexist with excellent cycling infrastructure Sometimes you have to get stuff to places that you can’t use a cargo bike, or you need to get cars put away in their garages, or tractors to and from their fields. It can be done! and without endangering anyone when bicycles are given first priority during the planning and design phases of the project.

And another e-assist bike hits the market. Riide plans to make D.C. a hub for electric bikes, so we gave one a spin Fast, but not much range, and an unknown on hills. The secret for building hub motor e-bikes is to adjust the motor winds and voltage so that it develops peak power just below the speed limit for that jurisdiction, then use a controller that limits the RPM of the motor to the maximum allowable speed. That way you don’t have to slow down as much going up hills and you are in the motor’s sweet spot for most cruising. And I’m giving away the secret for free. You’re welcome. 🙂

And I’m closing tonight with something I don’t normally do. I’m asking you to sign a petition. Mike Brown Law. Requires all state, county, and local police to wear a camera. We cyclists know the value of an unbiased observer on our sides, the unblinking eye of the video camera. I hear tell of one UK cyclist that has no less than 7 video cameras going at once every time he throws a leg over a bicycle. I figure if it’s good enough to protect cyclists against driver (most of the time, I’m not forgetting that VT video linked up above) then it should protect civilians against police violence and LEO against false accusations of police violence.

And those were all the links that gave me fits and giggles about bikes today.

Billed @€0.02, Opus