Early exposure to murder-suicide in the media

When I was a kid a common trope was super-villain destroying the world, with super-hero(es) rushing to stop him (always him, I never remember any female villains trying to destroy the world). As I got older I used to wonder about what the villain was thinking with blowing up the world. I mean most didn’t have a rocket off the planet, if the world ended it would take the villain with it. I think this was my first exposure to the concept of murder-suicide, the murderer taking the victim with him. I do remember one episode where the sidekicks questioned the villain about that, but that was a not-very-smart mad scientist who hadn’t thought that far ahead.

Now murder-suicide is almost-daily as a mass shooting scenario…

And I ran out of words on this subject.

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Someone used a motor vehicle as a murder weapon in VA

I have seen the video and I’m in shock. Something fell from between the weapon vehicle and the one it crashed into, something that looked like cloth over flesh but I couldn’t get a good look at it to make sure. I’m getting most of my coverage from Twitter as I missed the TV news shows. I’m going to have to quit now because typing is causing my back to spasm like I’m dying. I’m going to publish this and lie down

Want to be a serial killer with no negative repercussions?

Well, you have to use the right weapon.

This was inspired by a report of a driver on his third conviction for misdemeanor manslaughter for hitting cyclists and pedestrians.

PSA, Opus

I hope the cats are happy, and the Feed

After picking up the parts to build the new railing for the church steps, we discovered that the drill bit we used to make the holes in the concrete for the anchors had gone AWOL. After spending almost an hour going through the church tools looking for the bit, we decided that we didn’t have the time to get another bit and install the rail that I had just assembled, so we come back Sunday after morning service and drill holes and pound in anchors then run the nuts and bolt down the rails.

After coming back from the failed attempt to install the rails, I had to walk to the store to buy cat food. “The store” in this case is a mile away, resulting in a 2 mile round trip. On the to the store leg I found some bad infrastructure, beg buttons that failed to trigger the pedestrian crossings, so I called Garland Streets to complain aboutnotify them of the situation. On my return trip all the beg buttons functioned perfectly. So that was a win.

Speaking of win, I bought two quick-picks for the PowerBall tonight, one annual payments and the other cash option. Should I be so lucky as to win tonight there will be a major shift in tone and subject matter for this blog as I will be spending my money on getting bike infrastructure done to CROW Manual specs installed in the Beautiful Suburbs of Hell. That would be Monday-Thursday. Friday-Sunday would be building my Sprint-T and Mini Sprint-T, a step-by-step recounting. So my two favorite subjects, keeping people safe from cars, and building cars, in alternating segments. Crossed fingers. XD

Up first is a SWSS down the road a piece from WoaB World HQ in the Beautiful Suburbs of Hell. Cyclist killed in Killeen fatal accident At least this was a more sophisticated way of saying “swerved”: “began riding his bike diagonally“.

Our Daily Ted, Part 1. Morning Links: Expo bike path meeting tonight, and bikes may or may not be banned from Camp Pendleton

Ted part 2. 47-year old bicyclist killed in collision with semi in Downey Wednesday am Surviving a collision with a semi is really dicey.

Still in CA. Family of cyclist killed on Page Mill seeks witnesses I place at least half of the blame for this wreck on infrastructure that had cyclists crossing highway traffic to get from one bike lane to the next in the same direction.

Infrastructure from America’s Copenhagen. Martin Greenough died one month ago: Here’s the latest from ODOT, the BTA and his girlfriend

Also from Portland, the battle for trail access continues. With River View access in the balance, NW Trail Alliance urges attendance at council meeting The vest reason why this is improtant is this quote: “Commissioners Fritz and Fish trashed an inclusive public process to remove cycling from the list of approved activities in the Park. There’s no scientific evidence against allowing bikes, and the community listening process clearly showed that there is very high public interest in allowing them.”

From NYC we finally find out what it takes to get a killer driver thrown in jail for more than a few days. Serial Reckless Driver Who Killed UWS Woman Sentenced To Up To 3 Years The dude drove from 1982-99 without a license, and gathered in the following convictions: 1 hit-and-run, 3 speeding (including 2 aggravated speeding in excess of 30 MPH over the limit), 5 disobeying a traffic control, 1 failure to yield to an emergency vehicle, 2 no license, 2 running red lights, 2 no insurance, 1 unsafe lane change, 1 improper signalling, and a separate conviction for aggravated unlicensed driving. “In the six months prior to the killing, Mercado had hit three other pedestrians, including a 13-year-old boy in Queens.”

Then again they have “stuff” like this. Driver Who Killed Fort Greene Pedestrian Doesn’t Even Get His License Suspended Yeah, it was suspended when he drove into the sidewalk to avoid hitting a bus, but they took the car so it won’t hurt anything to give him his license back. /s (where is that sarcasm html tag? It has been promised for years)

From the most deadliest state in the US to walk or ride a bike comes news they are going to “Do something about it”. St. Pete Police trying to prevent pedestrian, cyclist deaths So they are apparently criminalizing splitting the crossing to make sure you can get from one side to the other by waiting for traffic to clear on the other side after crossing in the gap from the near side. You know instead of criminalizing hitting pedestrians and cyclists.

More on a MD cyclist killing. Neighborhood activist grapples with son’s alleged role in murder

You may be forced to connect your car to a device that sends your driving data on things like braking and acceleration to your insurance company. The big data of bad driving, and how insurers plan to track your every turn Forced as in sure they will “sell” you insurance, but only people who can afford to pay someone else to drive will be able to afford it.

Serious infrastructure news. New Mode Choice Model Helps Officials Make Stronger Case for Transit Improvements Better transit means fewer drivers means better cycling even without infrastructure improvements, but it also mean infrastructure improvements to handle the “last mile” problem.

Your assist bike might really be able to die some day. IU scientists develop biomaterial for fuel cells That’s right, living fuel cells that are more efficient than what we have now. Just add hydrogen and get electricity.

And it might be made by this company. Yes, Ford is Serious About Electric Bikes (Still)

From the Great White North is another report on that ridiculous sentence for killing a cyclist. Cyclist’s parents rip sentence for driver in hit-run and Driver who hit and killed cyclist Tom Samson sentenced to six months in jail I keep seeing “3 months served on weekends” and I also keep seeing things like 15-22 weekends and they just don’t mesh. By my math 3 months is 46 weekends. Just saying.

I really don’t know how to classify this tidbit from Bermuda. Retro-style bicycles prove a St George’s hit The only comment was a complaint about the bikes blocking the sidewalk outside the store.

More on the ridiculous sentence of a driver assaulting a cyclist with his car. Angry war vet who mowed down and killed cyclist jailed for nearly 5 years Five years for a deliberate murder? TANJ!

Another SMIDSY wreck only this one actually got prosecuted. Man avoids jail after hitting cyclist who came ‘close to being killed’ with his lorry Nothing near enough for the seriousness of the wreck, but better than nothing which is what it would have gotten a few years ago.

More on the situation in Malta. Cyclists and motorists The driver blames all road sins on cyclists, or the fact that cycists exist.

And it’s not your imagination, drivers really do think that all cyclists break the law on a regular basis. What Do Drivers Really Think About Cyclists?

And I’m outta links again.

Billed @$0.02, Opus the Poet

Another day another $0.70 after Medicare and SS, and the Feed

For the self-employed even when we don’t make enough money to actually pay taxes, we still have to pay taxes on income specifically the Social Security and Medicare taxes, which come to roughly 30%. Interestingly enough if I made enough money I wouldn’t have to pay any SS or Medicare taxes… But my income is so low that I’m almost off the bottom of the scale for paying it. My income from wages is so low that I’m not actually paying all that much in SS or Medicare, I think maybe $2 or $3 a year, and the rest doesn’t count as “wages”. Kinda like those hedge fund guys that pay a fraction of the income tax and none of the SS and Medicare tax on their incomes because they don’t count it as “wages”. I mean really, the amount quoted in the headline is about how much I make in “wages”.

Up first, a TX man gets so drunk he forgets that he has the perfect weapon and uses a gun instead. Texas man went on deadly shooting spree while drunk driving in Oklahoma, killing two motorists I would say he’s a dumbass, but he would have to gain about a dozen IQ points to get that smart.

Meanwhile in Sin City. Car Mows Down Pedestrians On Las Vegas Strip, Killing 1 And Injuring Dozens and Driver who mowed down crowds on Vegas Strip asked valet to call 911, police say More than 50 injured or killed, and people scoff at me when I call motor vehicles WMD.

The driver that ran down a cyclist in S.F. CA is in court on murder charges. Man accused of murder in Tenderloin car theft collision back in court

Since we are in CA anyway, here’s Our Daily Ted. Morning Links: Hard-hitting real-life safety PSA, and Big Blue Bus leaves bike-riding boy stranded in the rain

Still in CA. On the Mobility Plan and rush hour bus bunching: equity for bus riders? Good transit helps make streets safer for cyclists, too.

Over in KY. Family of Lexington cyclist killed in accident donates bikes to kids

US infrastructure on the Federal level. U.S. Gov’t. May Get More Serious About Cyclist/Pedestrian Deaths in 2016 They still don’t know if the problem is huge, really huge, or enormous, and when they find out they might actually do something about it. Or they could just buy the CROW manual and follow that and everything would be wonderful.

Low information article about a bike wreck in the Great White North. Cyclist struck, injured at Dufferin and Davenport The headline contains most of the actual news in the article, which is kinda sad, really.

Three years, and they still haven’t reached sentencing yet? Man in 2012 hit-and-run that killed cyclist could face year in jail The really annoying thing is the maximum sentence is still less than half the time the cyclist has already been dead. He died more than 3 years ago, the maximum sentence is 18 months, which he won’t even start serving until next year.

More on the insane suggestion that cyclists should be charged congestion fees when there are too many cars for the roads. ‘Cyclists should be considered for a Cambridge congestion charge’, says highways boss Since you can move 8 people on bicycles in the same space as one in a car, if there is a congestion charge for bicycles it should be ¹/₈ as much as for a motor vehicle, or since bicycles are smaller than motorcycles charge what they would charge the motorcycle, which was nothing. And that right there shows the hypocrisy of charging bicycles for congestion. It has been suggested the “expert” who said bicycles should also pay congestion charges was Keith Peat, noted anti-cycle motorist.

Meanwhile in Oz, they are almost s insane but they carried through. Cyclists in NSW can now be hit with massive fines and have to carry photo ID and NSW cycling laws: metre passing laws a win, but others are bewildering I’m trying to figure out why “raising of the fine for riding without a helmet from $71 to $319 – an increase of 350 per cent” is a good idea while the fine for failure to wear a seat belt remains the same… What is it about the Aussies and their weird compulsions about bicycle helmets?

And that’s all I got today.

Billed @$0.02, Opus

Today’s delayed blog post brought to you by Kinky D&D, and the Feed

I was out of the house again this afternoon as the Kinky D&D group met for a dungeon crawl. The game is loosely based on the Oglaf universe warning very NSFW, and like the comic we get long stretches where nothing remotely sexy is going on for one reason or another. That would include today’s game, where nobody was raped or seduced or otherwise engaged in anything resembling sexual activity, including my nympho bard apprentice NPC. Part of that was caused by the party being under mind control by a race of asexual insectoids with sort of a hive mind (Formeans) for most of the session. We got very little loot from the dungeon crawl, a dagger that was slightly better than one lost during the crawl, and a ring of +2 Charisma for my Warlock. Fortunately none of the characters on the crawl needed to perform marathon sex to charge magic because the Formeans really did not understand the concept of recreational sex used as an energy source for magic spells.

Up first because it is funny and hey, bees. [UPDATED] A Serious Swarm Of Bees Is Devouring A Bike In Midtown There are worse ways to temporarily lose access to your bike than having thousands of bees use it as a rally point while waiting for their new queen.

Next up, the Big Story today has been the cyclist hit head-on by a drunk driver driving on the wrong side of the road. Cyclist Killed in Collision on North Center Street [UPDATED 12 noon] and Hickory Police: Cyclist killed by driver high on drugs Again I see this as a drugged out driver targeting a hated road vermin and because he was impaired he ran into the other vehicles and the power pole. I suggest checking his social media for anti-bike rants or even jokes.

The other Big story today is a hit-and-run caught on tape in NYC. Cops Seek Hit-And-Run Driver Who Ran Over Harlem Cyclist and Police Release Video In Harlem Hit-And-Run That Critically Injured Cyclist The cyclist was waiting to make a legal left turn when hit, and drivers wonder why cyclists don’t wait for the red. Well wrecks like this are a big reason.

How much street can you buy with $150K? 1.3 What does it cost to run the transportation system? Turns out to be not much, one traffic light and a few feet of sidewalk with a curb. Converting from the metric system and Canadian dollars it turns out that one lane of road costs $1 million per mile, +/- a few bucks, not counting the cost of the land underneath it. At $150K/mile for a segregated bike path making everybody ride a bike sounds like sound fiscal policy.

So it is official now, it was the cyclist’s fault for getting hit, not the driver blowing 0.123BAC%. Police: Cyclist at fault in crash that killed him I smell bovine digestive byproduct. I smell BS because none of the cyclist’s belongings have been returned to his family especially the bike.

NOLA has a bicycle infrastructure problem. Bicyclist killed by dump truck at Canal and South Broad; five bicyclists have died in New Orleans this year Part of the problem is cyclists obeying the law are invisible to drivers. more on the specific wreck mentioned in the headline. CYCLIST KILLED IN MID CITY WRECK Bog-standard right hook, incomplete pass followed by a turn, and the innocent cyclist has nowhere to get away from the truck.

The shoulder of the road is not bicycle infrastructure. Cyclist dies after being hit by vehicle on Goodwood Blvd. Assuming the driver’s story is correct, and the remains of the bike seem to back that up, there are many reasons why a cyclist would swerve from the shoulder, including there was suddenly no shoulder there to ride on any more.

More on the FL cyclist killed trying to make a legal left turn. Polk County Sheriff’s Office Identifies Lakeland Man Killed While Riding Bike I’m still waiting to see how they are going to blame the cyclist on this one.

Our Daily Ted. Morning Links: OC truck driver goes on trial; Montebello hit-and-run reward; Metro bike workshops start tonight

From NYC, those horror movies about goofing off behind the wheel worked so well when we were in High School. City employed drivers forced to take ‘Vision Zero’ safety class What makes people think they will work any better on adults?

More on “pedestrian safety” in NYC. A Brief History Of “Jaywalking” In NYC

What happens when bike riders play by the imaginary rules. This Is What Happened When Bicyclists Obeyed Traffic Laws Along The Wiggle Yesterday Two blocks were all it took to get massive road rage from drivers, and a massive traffic jam from just a few cyclists.

Another deadly wreck in the Great White North. 15-year-old cyclist killed in crash on Highway 7/8 Cyclist riding with traffic hit from behind…

Put the fucking phone down and leave it alone until the vehicle has ceased all motion. Lorry driver killed Plymouth cyclist ‘after reaching for phone’ In the time it took to find the play app, find the sermon, and start playback the driver had been not looking at the road for several seconds, and was totally unaware of the cyclist NOT in the road bu the bike lane adjacent to the road…

I for one welcome our robotic overlords, as long as they learn how to “play nice” in an environment filled with squishy humans. Driverless Car Testing and Big Data Intersect in Simulated City

Cyclists need to learn how to stretch, unlike drivers… Off Your Bike: Four Helpful Stretches for the Bike Commuter

And I seem to have run out of links again.

Billed @€0.02, Opus the Unkillable Badass Poet

I feel like I got hit with a truck again, and the Feed

My son couldn’t get over here to do grocery day yesterday, so I had to grab the old ALICE ruck and walk up to the store myself. This is one reason why I need to recover as fast as I can and get back on Francis/es, so I can go back to doing the grocery shopping on my own without having to have someone drive me there and back. I only got the items I’m about out of, milk, yogurt, soda, and bread. Well, except for the bread all of those items were pretty massive, and I made the mistake of combining a trip to the hardware store two blocks up the road to pick up new door knobs and locks to replace the ones that just broke this morning. Anyone remember that song from “Hee Haw” about bad luck? Yeah, they could put a few verses in there for me. Anyway I had a gallon of milk, 2 2-liter bottles of generic soda, 4 pounds of yogurt, a bottle of beer, three doorknob sets, a front spindle to a 1937 Ford and 8 stainless steel bolts to fit the steering arm holes on the spindle (which I brought to the hardware because I needed to make sure the bolts fit), and two loaves of bread. And now I wanna lie down and have a nap. Or something. Yeah, something because as I was getting up from my desk to have that little lie-down my back decided “This would be the perfect time to seize up!” so it did. And that was about two hours ago and I haven’t even started to filter links, so here’s to working through pain. Except it doesn’t really “hurt” as much as “not work right”.

And before I forget THANK YOU SCOTUS!!!! for making marriage equality the law of the land. This isn’t like Roe v Wade where women got control over doing something that they would really rather not do if circumstances were different, this is people in love doing what people in love do, getting married. So get out there and get married to the person you love. I charge competitive rates and can do Wiccan and Klingon rituals (but I have to find a new priestess for the Klingon ritual, my last one has gone to Sto-Vo-Kor). Contact me if you are in the DFW area and need to get a religious service done. I guess this means I will have to take down the Gay Marriage Challenge page as not only was nobody able to convince me that same-sex marriage was bad, but neither were they able to convince the SCOTUS.

The big story as far as links are concerned is the UK driver getting arrested for murder in the death of a cyclist who was hit-and-run earlier in the week. Investigation into Harworth cyclist death becomes murder probe and Police name man charged with cyclist Richard Pencott’s murder as family pay tribute also UPDATE: Police arrest man on suspicion of murder after cyclist killed in Harworth not done yet Man arrested following death of cyclist Not a whole lot to say in this one because of UK media laws, but arrested for murder is really something. It has been frequently said in both the UK and this country that if you want to commit a random act of murder just get in a car and drive until you see a cyclist to run over, then claim momentary blindness after the fact. Until I saw this I would have said killing a cyclist was a “perfect crime” as it seldom gets prosecuted, and even when it is prosecuted convictions are few and far between, and when convicted the “sentences” are laughably lenient, mostly community service. But when you structure community service correctly it can be a great deterrence against the perpetrator ever doing it again, because they won’t have much free time to commit another vehicular assault. Not much of a deterrence to others, but that one will never hit another cyclist. Are you kidding me? Man charged with murder after cyclist dies in collision

Our Daily Ted, part one. Morning Links: Metro commits to DTLA bikeshare, US pros swear they’re clean, and $50K reward for fatal hit-and-run Even Ted has a link to the UK murder arrest.

And Daily Ted, part two. Update: Arrest made in horrifying high-speed Highland Park fatal hit-and-run If the road diet planned for the street where the cyclist was killed had been allowed to go through the driver would not have been able to reach anywhere near the speed he was going when he hit the cyclist. And now I see they caught the guy who was still drunk 4 hours after hitting the cyclist, which means he was super drunk at the time of the crime. They found pieces of the victim still on the car when they arrested the driver. More Man arrested after bicyclist is killed in hit-and-run in Highland Park Gil Cedillo is an accessory to this crime.

So, NYPD, how is that Vision Zero thing going for you? Issuing lots of tickets for people running down people in the crosswalk or bike lanes? NYPD: Drivers Killed 18 Pedestrians and Cyclists in May, and Injured 1,262 So, that would be a “no” on tickets for people hit crossing in the crosswalk or riding in the bike lanes.

What is wrong with drivers in AZ? Truck runs into four cyclists Seriously to hit 4 cyclists at once in front of witnesses (oncoming traffic) and scatter them “like popcorn”, is either attempted murder or someone that needs to never drive again.

More on Google trying to make Silicon Valley more like Amsterdam or Copenhagen. Google’s bike plan aims to turn Silicon Valley into the next Copenhagen $5 million seems like a lot of money, and it is, but for the number of communities they are talking about and the spread they have to cover because of sprawl, it’s a very large drop in a fairly large bucket. To extend the metaphor, they have covered the bottom of the bucket, but have a long way to go to fill it.

When you have a memorial ride for just the cyclists killed in the last two weeks, there is something terribly wrong with the infrastructure. Local Cyclists To Ride For Those Who Died In The Past Two Weeks

Oh the horror! Most area cyclists aren’t wearing helmets while riding, Statistics Canada says Windsor area cyclists are riding at about 21% helmets, while Victoria are riding with 83% helmets. So Victoria riders have how much lower head injury statistics than Windsor? Any? Buehler?

Road.cc looks at the KSI stats and comes to the same conclusion I did: UK drivers everywhere are prats. DfT admits “ever increasing problem with pedal cyclist casualties” as serious injuries rise 8 per cent Cycling increased 3.8% but serious injury went up 8%? Yep, your drivers are crap. Or maybe your roads are crap and having mediocre drivers isn’t helping any. But yeah something somewhere along the line is crap and people are getting permanently injured because of it.

Perhaps the problem is a lack of enforcement? Campaign for ‘properly enforced’ speed limits after cyclist killed in collision

Sisyphus has a stone, cyclists have politicians. Devon MPs spearhead cyclist safety campaign

And in the meantime we get things like this. Alan Cronin: Man in court charged with death by dangerous driving after cyclist killed

Last link tonight is from Oz again. Motorists, cyclists all need re-education Some cyclists don’t know the rules, but all cyclists are just doing their best to “not get hit”. So the education really needs to be on drivers so they can Know when cyclists are riding according to the laws and not hit them.

And I’m ready to go to bed, or at least lie down for a bit and try to relax.

Billed @€0.02, Opus the extremely happy about the SCOTUS marriage decision…

This shouldn’t take too long, and the Feed

Well we did the groceries today, and I won’t have to eat beans every day when Mrs. the Poet visits her relatives. We got a half-dozen Totino’s pizzas that are a big meal for me by myself and probably good for two meals with some kind of leafy greens. So I will be buying lots of salad kits to go with my beans and rice and cheap pizza. [s]Whoo![/s] (That’s the code of “snark” btw.)

Up first, Our Daily Ted. Morning Links: LA City Council does the wrong thing, Metro picks a bike share vendor, and Sir Bradley didn’t cheat

I wonder who this driver annoyed enough to change a traffic ticket for failing to pass safely to a murder charge? Chanute man charged in wreck that killed Kansas cyclist The driver was charged with 2nd degree murder in the wreck. Now I’m no expert in KS law, but I think that is the one that you didn’t know the person before the incident that killed them, but you just killed them “because”. Combine that with the driver that “didn’t see” the cyclist last week getting charged and you would think that suddenly cyclists were human beings in the eyes of LEO.

And apparently they can’t charge the owner of the weapon vehicle with obstructing justice for withholding the name of the driver that hit a cyclist driving 70 MPH in a 25 zone. After a year without answers, family of cyclist killed by speeding driver offers reward and Family of cyclist who was killed pleads for witnesses to come forward Maybe they should have just kept the weapon vehicle as “evidence” in the case until the owner said who was driving that night?

More on another IN wreck that injured two cyclists. Driver facing OWI charges in Madison Co. crash that injured 2 bicyclists Drunk driver runs into car stopped at a stop sign and pushes the car over one cyclist and hits a second cyclist. This wreck is an example of why I have a tag that says “drunk drivers need to die”. I’m mellowing a bit though, I no longer demand they die by being chained to the steering wheel as their cars are sent through a car shredder, while on fire.

Another cyclist is shot in MA. Teen shot, killed while riding bicycle in Dorchester What little I can find out about this says the shooters either could not afford or just plain could not get a car to kill the cyclist with, but they got a gun…

More NYC infrastructure news as we have another link to the High Bridge reopening. New York’s “Eighth Wonder” Reopens to Fanfare There seems to be a lot of competition for that 8th place in “Wonders of the World”.

More infrastructure, this time from IN. Bangert: Why Harrison Bridge, bikes don’t mix Basically the bridge needs to be rebuilt with a new deck if they want to mix cars and bikes or get bikes across at all, because making the sidewalk a MUP isn’t going to work either. The sidewalk is too narrow to share without risking one mode or the other getting pushed off and into motor vehicle traffic. So the only other alternatives are build a bike ped bridge or fix the existing bridge so that cyclists aren’t risking life and limb as they dodge holes, cracks, and huge bumps to get across the river.

Things are not much better in CO. Drivers vs. cyclists in Colorado Springs This is more on the cyclist who was assaulted with a motor vehicle and the driver left the scene.

This lifestyle event had more than its share of problems. Death and injury trail Heart Across America cyclists They made it, but not with the full crew. The only good thing was the cyclist that died, died in his sleep and not as the result of vehicular mayhem.

More “blame the victim” “safety” advice, this time in the Great White North. Experts urge safety for cyclists with summer surge of riding approaching You don’t think maybe Rob Ford’s years-long campaign against cyclists and bicycling has anything to do with GTA having a higher than average rate of cyclist death and injury?

And last link a cyclist injured by a tree falling on him gives a portion of the compensation he got from the tree trimmers to a registered charity. Injured cyclist donates part of compensation to children’s hospice

And that’s all I got today.

Billed @€0.02, Opus the Poet

These links will thrill and sicken you, watch out for the third paragraph

I’m going to use one of those clickbait “you’ll never believe…” headlines after I get the post composed, but at the moment it just says “snarky title”. You know the kind of thing I’m talking about, “10 famous people that killed someone, number 7 will chill you to the core” and it turns out they were in the same building that someone died in their sleep. Today was grocery day and I didn’t get enough money out by about $10 so we had to put a loaf of bread back and skip the planned outing tomorrow that Mrs. the Poet really didn’t want to go on in the first place. We would have had to walk more than a half mile in the rain if the forecast is to be believed, and her tolerance for walking in the rain with me is pretty low any more. Her tolerance for walking in the rain with or without me pretty much evaporated the day after she retired.

The Big Story today seems to be the doctor killed on his way to work in Oz. Cyclist killed in collision with truck in Rose Bay and Devoted doctor Henri Sueke killed in Rose Bay cycling to kids’ ward also Devoted doctor Henri Sueke killed in Rose Bay cycling to kids’ ward That last link changed as I was trying to create it. The headline literally changed as I was trying to copy/paste. From the pictures it looks like the truck passed too closely to the cyclist and forced him into the parked cars there being scrape marks that look like they were caused by a turning pedal on some of the cars. That’s too damn close, as the cyclist’s mangled bike and body attest.

Back in the states, I can’t remember if I cursed this guy or not. State reports 2 Southern Nevada inmate deaths What is not in the headline any more since the second death is this was the guy that killed a cyclist while driving drunk on the sidewalk after jumping the curb with his light armored vehicle. He was driving under the influence of booze and prescription drugs. I have to admit I had a flash of schadenfreude when I saw the first headline, but after that flash, not so much. Am I glad he will no longer be a threat to cyclists in NV? Yes, but as long as he was in prison he was alive and still not a threat to cyclists, the only time he was a threat was when he was driving under the influence. Keep him out of motor vehicles and he’s still not much of a threat to anybody. Did he deserve a long prison sentence for killing another human being? Yes and he got it. Did he deserve a chance to contribute to society after he completed that sentence? We will never know because he died long before his first parole date. The reason I even mentioned the “curse” is I have a vague memory of being very angry about this wreck back in 2009 because the cyclist was dragged a significant distance under the SUV before he died. I think I was still mad, or got angry all over again, when he was convicted and sentenced. So, I may have pronounced a curse that he would die in prison.

Update on the victim of a Boston pinball wreck. Teen killed while riding bicycle; family hopes for Haiti burial If any of y’all can shake a spare buck or two that direction I know I would appreciate it. For the family, because the cyclist is long past knowing one way or the other.

Ugghh! Really? Ghost bike memorial for killed cyclist stolen again The first time it was stolen by a scrapper looking for metal he could sell. Who knows the culprit this time. That anyone would desecrate a memorial to the dead of any kind…

Our Daily Ted. Bike rider killed after swerving across traffic on Oceanside highway

Salmon CA cyclist misses train crossing signals, and just misses the train. Sacramento bicyclist escapes serious injury in brush with light-rail train

Cyclist left-crossed in OR. Driver cited in crash that left bicyclist seriously injured I’m glad to see that the driver was found at fault for hitting the cyclist riding under the speed limit…

Apparently there are some seriously blind drivers in AL also. Vestavia Hills cyclist dies, another one recovering after an accident in Gulf Shores and Bicyclist Hit By Car At Gulf State Park Dies Hit one cyclist, it could have been a blind spot, but hit two means either you are not looking where you are driving, or you did it on purpose. Either answer deserves serious prison time in my book.

Dear NY Post editors: Die in a fire after a big meal of five star (us) pad thai. Killer cyclist gives son a lesson in how to break the law “But Opus, how can you be so mean to the nice NYP editors?” Because they never do this kind of followup on any drivers who run over pedestrians in crosswalks, this is harassment, pure and simple. Because for some reason the NYP has it in their tiny brains that cyclists are some kind of terrorists (they actually had an article online a few years ago stating such). Pedestrians killed by cyclists in NYC since 2001: eight. There were more dead pedestrians a month by motor vehicle just since the start of the year. So why the hate-on for cyclists, NY Post editors?

A little upstate from NYC. Father sues RGRTA over cyclist’s death This is another SWSS wreck, but for some reason nobody saved the forward video view from the bus cameras… That tells me exactly the same thing retaining the video from the SoCal marine base bus wreck told me, the bus driver didn’t see the cyclist until impact and then swerved left.

And over in CT. Woman nearly killed riding bike in 2011 will speak in Milford Saturday Sounds like it should be inspiring.

More on the KY driver charged with murder in the death of the Horsey Hundred cyclist. Man charged in cyclist’s death ‘a really good guy’ who may have drinking problem, wife says Yes he might be a “really good guy” when he is not drunk and stoned behind the wheel, but the charge of murder still stands. And now we know he tested 0.3 in a previous drunk driving incident? That is near the 50% fatal level of BAC%. And I just looked to see how many drinks it would take for a man that looks to weigh about 220 to get up to 0.3, but the chart doesn’t go that high, interpolating put it about 20 drinks of hard liquor or about 10 Fl Oz of pure ethanol…

More on NC infrastructure. Death of cyclist highlights cost of making roads bike-friendly The left the word “not” out of the headline. “Death of cyclist highlights cost of not making roads bike-friendly” Because a dead cyclist is too high a price to pay for drivers to drive unhindered in speed without having to pay attention to what or who they might be sharing the road with.

More on the CO cyclist murdered by a gunshot instead of a motor vehicle. Windsor police ask for help investigating cyclist’s fatal shooting You know why they are investigating this so hard and hit-and-runs against cyclists so poorly? Because anyone could get shot and killed even driving a car, while fatal hit-and-runs tend to happen to cyclists and pedestrians only. I mean I’m sure someone could get killed by one light armored vehicle getting hit by another light armored vehicle, but when that happens neither light armored vehicle can leave the scene in the majority of cases. So getting shot and killed is something that could even happen to the LEO investigating, or the people reporting the news. Hit-and-run happens to “other people” not driving cars…

I fail to see how the cyclist “caused” this wreck, as reported he was still in the same lane when the motorcyclist wrecked behind him. Bicyclist sought in hit-and-run motorcycle crash

Over in Jolly Olde they are discovering that putting trams in the old bike lanes without putting in new bike lanes leads to problems, not the least of which is getting someone to keep a record of the wrecks caused by the tracks. Lawyers warn of cyclists’ tram risk People are getting seriously injured and hauled away by ambulance, but there are no records of the injuries outside of the hospital?

Back in Oz, bicycles and trams don’t mix well, the infrastructure for trams tends to cause bicycles to wreck. Cyclist trapped under tram after Flemington crash There was a report the cyclist might have been forced into the tram, but not confirmed at the time of this posting.

Put this one in the “I’m not surprised” bin. HGVs failing to fit hi-tech cyclist savers

Next stop on the worker’s comp bicycle protest ride in the Great White North. Injured Workers Stop in Oshawa During 600 km Bike Ride to Draw Attention to a Compensation System Being Dismantled by the Liberal Government

Legal infrastructure in West Canuckistan. Ormiston v. ICBC: yet another case for recognizing paved shoulders as lanes of travel for cyclists?

And I think I’m outta links (checks) yep, all gone.

Billed @€0.02, Opus the Poet

Waiting on pins and needles, and the Feed

First, there will be some gaps in coverage this week for the blog. I have a trip to the Lab Rat Keeper coming Wednesday, and the consult with the surgeon Thursday, and the surgery could get scheduled at any time after that. Which leads us directly to today’s headline, about the dread and anticipation for this mess to be over. What I want is for this to just be an exceptionally ugly lump of fat sitting on the back of my neck. What I’m prepared for is for this to be something far worse. Hope for the best but prepare for the worst got me through the ’60s and ’70s alive and mostly unscarred (not the kind that you can show off to your GF and brag about). So, my will is written, insurance is paid up, bills are current, in case this turns out to be something worse than “Chris Christie” on my neck. It’s the waiting and not knowing that kills you. Maybe literally, but I have been doing a lot of meditation to reduce stress, and Hephaestus has been poking me about finding a Corvette donor vehicle from this century for the Sprint T to get the weight down to 1580 pounds with 8 gallons of gas on board (can you imagine what that would be like to drive with 380-635 HP on the street?!). All to try to reduce my stress levels to something I can deal with.

Up first is the response to a wreck in Portland OR, America’s Copenhagen. Sunday morning collision at 26th and Powell severs leg of man on bike (updated) is the wreck, what follows are the reactions Campaign looks to raise $50,000 for man who lost leg in Sunday’s collision and Local dad calls for ‘super-legal slow-down’ of Powell Boulevard during Monday rush hour last Protest planned after bicycle rider’s leg severed in Powell Blvd. crash

Speaking of fundraising for people hit by cars while riding bikes. Online fundraiser set for Cary boy killed on bike

Today’s Daily Ted. Morning Links: It’s Bike Week in LA, meet a real American hero, win a free book and ride a tiny new bike lane If they really wanted to show some tiny bike lanes there is a web site devoted to the subject in the UK. Notice how the bike path leads into a shared use bus stop.

In NYC they can’t even be bothered to enforce the law that says hitting a pedestrian in a crosswalk is against the law. Woman Fatally Struck By Taxi On Upper East Side

Still in NYC. Video: Intoxicated Driver Helpfully Takes Off Shirt For Cops After Houston Street Crash At least taking the shirt off makes it easier to get the blood draw for the DUI conviction.

And what it takes to get a conviction and prison time for killing a little girl in the streets of NYC is for the little girl to get hit riding in another car. Driver Who Killed 9-Year-Old While Fleeing Cops Gets At Least Four Years In Prison

A West Canuckistan bike rack that has a six-step locking procedure. A bicycle lockup stand that might be too complicated to use A saving grace to this stand is there appears to be room to lock a helmet inside the stand so you don’t have to carry it around or leave it unlocked with your bike.

These two links go together. First is this wreck. Bicyclist, 26, killed in North Philadelphia accident identified as Temple grad and filmmaker

And then there is this one. Philly Is Racking Up the Bike-Friendly Points Yes you can still count your city as “Bike Friendly” while it kills cyclists.

A Canadian crackdown on sidewalk cyclists is not accompanied by a crackdown on driver behaviors that necessitate sidewalk cyclists. Police ticket e-bike, bicycle riders on sidewalks

Silly season in the UK. MoD pays out £334,000 compensation to cyclists who injured themselves on military bases including £27,000 to one who slipped on mud

Gee the Oz driver that killed (and apparently murdered) a cyclist in a hit-and-run was bonkers angry at cyclists weeks before he actually killed one. Deadly hit and run driver in Geelong ‘harassed other cyclists’ Fascinating how that works, a driver is identified as having harassed cyclists for weeks and finally cracks and kills one.

You think Thai cyclists might be a bit peeved at the lax enforcement against drunk drivers? Cyclists equate drink-driving, murder Gee, ya think?

More about celebrity cyclist Bono. Bono Rides a Bike for the First Time Since His Accident – with a Little Help from Jimmy Fallon

A little Dutch infrastructure news. The solar road in the Netherlands is working even better than expected Yeah! Solar power from the street! And the street does not get potholes. Win-win situation.

Are you that cyclist? Don’t be THAT CYCLIST This is poor behavior to other cyclists for the most part, road rules was just an afterthought on the end of the article.

And this is something we cyclists have to be careful about. Candy company to kids: Don’t eat too much sugar! Wait a minute you say, how does this apply to cyclists? Have you read the nutrition labels on your energy gels?

And it looks like I’m out of links again.

Billed @€0.02, Opus the Poet