Cold pizza for breakfast, and the Feed

I got to have one of my favorite breakfasts this morning, cold pizza. I had leftover frozen pizza last night, so Breakfast! Yum. Usually when Mrs. the Poet is home we wipe one of the cheap pizzas completely out between the two of us and I don’t get my favorite breakfast, but today I did. I’m looking for every upside on this I can find.

Up first because nothing really struck me as super important today is Our Daily Ted. Morning Links: Map of closed Orange Line bike path, dangerous Rowena, and Stephany too high to be responsible There’s no such thing as being “too high” to be responsible, being high is what made you legally responsible for the wreck in the first place.

Still in L.A. Lowrider bikes as activist tools: General Dogon’s rolling art works are part of Skid Row history Not the first time bicycles have been used as adjuncts to political action, see the Suffragette Movement.

Still in CA. Bicyclist hit by vehicle in Huntington Beach “Suddenly veered into the bike lane” should be investigated as attempted murder first, then as a traffic wreck. But as the narrative is posted now it sounds like someone decided to murder a random cyclist.

Note done with CA yet. Murder by DUI Trial to Begin in Death of Bicyclist Unfortunately, that’s what it takes to get murder charges brought in the death of a cyclist, second DUI with the death.

Still not finished with CA yet. Bicyclist killed in collision with vehicle identified I hate when the only narrative was the wreck was at an intersection and the driver remained at the scene.

Closer to WoaB World HQ in the Beautiful Suburbs of Hell. Bicycles should top Austin transit priority list, group says Yes for less than the cost of 2 miles of urban freeway you can get a completely built-out urban bike network.

Near one of the places I used to live in UT a cyclist apparently runs a red light. Cyclist in critical condition after early morning crash There was a comment that the cyclist was hit in the crosswalk, which meant he was probably riding in the sidewalk before the intersection, and as I frequently say, sidewalks are not bicycle infrastructure.

Cyclist down in MA. Hudson man killed in hit-and-run Black Ford F-150 does a hit-and-run, why does that not surprise me? I think the only thing that would make me less surprised would be that it had dark tinted windows.

Another dead cyclist in DE. Bicyclist killed on Hazlettville Road This is about the wildest example of a SWSS I have ever had the displeasure of reading, a cyclist suddenly leaving a bike lane directly in front of a motor vehicle. The fact that the driver was facing the setting sun I’m sure had nothing to do with hitting the cyclist from behind./sarcasm I left the angle brackets off because WordPress still has not implemented the sarcasm HTML tags.

Moving on up to NYC we get another wreck with “no criminality suspected” by the NYPD. [UPDATE] Cyclist Killed By Truck Driver At Queens Intersection Check that, the updated report is the driver was arrested at the scene for violating the victim’s right of way. Color me flabbergasted, I never thought NYPD would actually apply that law when there was a cyclist as the victim. Look at the picture with the victim’s bike under the front bumper of the truck. The cyclist more than likely never knew the truck was turning until it hit her, because it was behind her until impact.

Cops who tasered a man riding a bicycle go to trial on federal charges. Federal trial lined up for police who Tasered Hillsboro man after bike infraction IMHO there’s no excuse for tasing a man on a bike.

A little physical infrastructure news from Portland. Why the new traffic signal at N Cook and Vancouver is such a big deal I think the really big deal from this is the signal was equipped from the outset with a sensor that can detect a bicycle without a bunch of crazy maneuvers to find the 1″ wide “sweet spot” that a bike will trigger the light.

More infrastructure news from the ATL. Streets Have Changed Before, and They Can Change Again People have such short memories. Things have not always been this way, and they will not stay this way in the future.

Unlike NYC right hooking a cyclist is not a crime in Canada, and may not even be an infraction. No charges to be laid after fatal cyclist/truck collision TANJ!

A wreck up in West Canuckistan injures a cyclist. Cyclist injured in crash Driver hit a cyclist and then hit a power pole, then ran away from the vehicle? No that’s not suspicious at all.

Cyclist down in far West Canuckistan. Injured cyclist in James Bay aided by passersby, emergency crews One minute you’re riding your bike, and a fraction of a second later you’re on the deck with your bell rung, missing one or more teeth and your helmet busted.

Cyclist in West Canuckistan gets doored on camera. Video of cyclist getting doored sparks debate Fortunately the cyclist was not seriously injured in this wreck, nothing beyond getting shaken by the suddenness of the situation. One second there is a clear way to the right of the vehicle to get to the beg button, the next it’s full of passenger side door.

More on a wreck in Enn Zed. Police name cyclist killed in crash Well now we know who was killed, but not if he was hit.

It’s a wreck, not an accident. Stop Calling My Daughter’s Death a Car Accident I remember this wreck, the little girl was holding her grandmother’s hand when the grandmother was brushed back and the little girl run over while crossing in the crosswalk with the light.

Getting there any way possible sometimes means taking a bike. Avoiding Risky Seas, Migrants Reach Europe With an Arctic Bike Ride Any way you can.

And I’m outta links today. Program note, I have a D&D game tomorrow so there may not be a post.

Billed @€0.02, Opus the Poet

Ugh, Monday again? and the Feed

I used to like Garfield, back in the ’80s and early ’90s, but one thing I still like is the Monday hate from a cat that doesn’t do anything all week or during the weekend, but somehow still hates Monday. The irony could be used to build a bridge… My reasons for disliking Mondays are more concrete. If I don’t write about bikes on Saturday or Sunday then the links accumulate for 3 days and I have a monster to deal with come Monday. But as the alternative was never getting time away from injured or dead people who got that way on a bike, having a heavy workload on Monday beats a padded cell 7 days a week.

Up first because the computer is locking up and giving me fits and I need to clean out some links, Part 1 of Our Daily Ted. San Diego cyclist killed by distracted driver; fourth SoCal bicycling fatality in just the last four days This has been a rough stretch again for Ted.

And Daily Ted Part 2. Morning Links: Bike lane riding in the Biking Black Hole; Caltrans looks at active trans; hero cop saves a cyclist OK I thought I had a lot of links on Mondays…

As mentioned in today’s Daily Ted, there were some terrorist attacks on cyclists in the UK this weekend. Cyclist knocked down by ‘cut-throat’ wire stung up on bike path by twisted thugs Several thin wires set a various heights along a bike path by a golf course with injured cyclists finding most of them before LEO cleaned out the rest. And Cyclist crashes as tacks sprinkled on Velothon Wales route – but others praise local support Looking at the comments there were several cyclists injured after getting tires punctured by tacks, but only one “officially” injured. And for the UK commentariat here in TX something like this would be attempted murder if there was a possibility that someone could die because of it.

NYPD has a law that protects pedestrians and to a lesser extent cyclists, but they aren’t enforcing it. Tragic city bike accidents test new Right of Way law — as traffic incidents result in mixed legal recourse A big part of the problem is only 31 officers in all of NYC are allowed to issue those tickets for “failure to yield” that come with the big fines, and they are only called to the scene when someone dies or is likely to die, or is “seriously Injured”. Apparently getting one’s leg turned into hamburger doesn’t count as “seriously”.

And what if the US had nationalized health care that went all the way down to the guy in the ambulance? We would get stuff like this. The moment a cyclist bleeding to death was saved – by a balloon fed through her leg: Woman, 24, undergoes emergency procedure after paramedics decide she would not survive journey to hospital They can do this because there was a surgeon on the team that went in the ambulance. Here in the US that doesn’t happen. And so people die who don’t need to, because profits.

Considering all the technology used to catch speeders, and the fact that so many tech geeks ride regularly, this was practically predestined to happen. Police use ultrasonic device to make sure drivers stay 3 feet from cyclists Personally I would like to see gigawatt laser cannons used to keep drivers away from cyclists (get too close and lose the front of the car), but until that happens, tickets backed by video recording the illegal pass as measured with ultrasound will have to do.

This one hurts a little. Funeral set for Montevallo woman hit and killed while riding bicycle Cyclist killed in a hit-and-run after either getting robbed or escaping getting robbed and trying to get to a safe(r) place.

This one brought a tear to my eye, too. Hundreds of bicyclists ride to promote safety and honor teen killed, another injured This was in MS, not known as a particularly bike friendly state.

It shouldn’t take a dead cop to get moving on keeping cyclists safe, in fact nobody should have to die to get movement on keeping cyclists safe. Officials discuss bicycle ordinances and safety tips in light of Joplin police officer recently injured in bicycle crash Sorry, injured cop, not dead cop. And I noticed that all of the laws discussed were restrictive on cyclists, with none saying anything about not hitting cyclists or that there are more cases where the cyclist has the right to the entire lane than not.

More on the MA cyclist shot and killed. Surveillance video captured slaying of boy on bike, DA says Sorry about the auto-playing video.

They caught a hit-and-run driver in the Great White North after he turned himself in. Keswick man charged in fatal Yorkville hit and run Apparently he cleaned himself and the car up before turning himself in so that he couldn’t be charged with anything except the hit-and-run. Except now they can add “obstructing justice” or whatever they call it in Ontario.

I’m not seeing anything con in this pro and con article on bike trails except that maybe they don’t have enough of them. Let’s Talk About It, Trail Systems

First of many infrastructure articles from roundabout Jolly Olde. Cyclists Demand National Lorry Safety Crackdown When a single mode of travel killed roughly 40% of cyclists last year and 100% of cyclists this year it is a pretty safe assumption that there is something fundamentally wrong with that mode of transport as it pertains to bicycles.

Still on that subject but from another sort of Anglophone country. Campaign to warn cyclists of lorry blind spots There’s your problem, drivers can’t see out of the cabs of trucks well enough to not hit cyclists sharing the streets in the city. Or the pedestrians in the crosswalk either…

A possible solution to the urban chaos. Dublin City Council Poised to Ban Cars in City Center

While we are still doing UK news. WATCH: Chester Triathlon pays tribute to cyclist killed in road accident Yep, I got a little misty on that one, too.

You know the guy was liked by everybody except the killer when they name a bike club after you when you die in a wreck. New bike club set up in memory of cyclist

And from Oz by way of Road.CC in the UK, an idiot. NSW roads minister wants to CLOSE segregated bike lane in Sydney Really, close a bike lane that carries more people than the whole road next to it? You are an idiot.

And on that note I’m out of links, which means I’m also out of idiots. Hurray!

Billed @€0.02, Opus the Poet

This post should be done by dinner time, and the Feed

Not much in the Feed folder today, and the grocery run was completed by 1300. So I have most of the afternoon unencumbered for filtering and writing the blog post.

I got some more parts for the Sprint T yesterday via Speedway Motors. These are the rear lower control arms that locate the rear axle fore and aft and also work with the upper arm to control rotation. The actual upper arm will depend on what rear axle I end up with but the lower ones are the same no matter what rear axle I use. There are two places to mount the rear springs on this arm to adjust clearance between the spring and the rear axle housing and also the effective spring rate at the wheel.

This is one of the front spindles. It connects the front wheel to the front axle.
By choosing this I will have a choice of three different brake calipers, 4 different brake hubs and 3 diameters of rotors, and 5 different bolt circles to mount the wheels. Three of the hubs mount directly to the spindle, but one requires machining an adaptor to fit over the existing spindle. Since I recently got access to a CNC lathe machining the adaptor became almost as simple as plugging in the dimensions of the adaptor and flipping a switch.

Up first is Our Daily Ted. Morning Links: Public Works says don’t ask us on Glendale-Hyperion; Ventura Grand Jury says cars are dangerous On that second part of the headline, can I get a “Doi!”?

There is no lower limit on IQ for getting a driver’s license in NY. Driver Crashes Mercedes Into UWS Restaurant While Fleeing Police And we can see what it takes to get arrested for a wreck in NYC, drugs and property damage.

And the victim of the wreck that led to “Cooper’s Law” is remembered by his classmates. “I Will Miss Cooper Every Day Of My Life”: Classmates Of Boy Killed By Cabbie Rally For Safer Streets This was the wreck that made hitting a pedestrian crossing in the crosswalk a crime all by itself in order to get reluctant DAs to file stiffer charges against killer drivers. It didn’t work of course, because the NY Supreme Court required a mens rea almost identical to first degree murder to convict of vehicular manslaughter…

What is the law about riding a bicycle on the sidewalk in CA? Dolan: Application of vehicle law to cyclists Depends on what town you are in and where in the town the bike is on the sidewalk…

More on the Marine handcycling from San Diego to Arlington VA. Town cheers injured Marine’s Ride Across America Did you see the shoulders on that guy? Wow!

Another link to the despicable woman who lied about being on her phone when she hit and killed a cyclist. Motorist was using mobile when she killed cyclist There is a circle of Hell just for people like this, a cacophony of strident ringtones, people talking at full volume, and the frequent but irregular shot to the head with a large clublike object being swung around by a blindfolded person on a noise-canceling headset so they can’t hear when they hit you while they talk to some distant person. I hope this woman goes there soon.

The UK has crap bicycle infrastructure. Protect cyclists from obstacle course So, this is news?

Just Yikes! Eskom liable for cyclist’s burns Electrocuted through the forehead? And still able to function? Yikes!

Lights would be good, but you saw the cyclist, right? No helmet, no lights, decked out in black: Cyclist tempts fate on major Sydney road during 3am ride And once again the “invisible ninja cyclist” myth is busted by the very people trying to perpetuate it. They saw the cyclist well enough to take a series of pictures of her and even get gender and an age range estimate, so what’s the problem?

Last link is just for fun as a sometimes-troublesome immigrant is granted Japanese citizenship after more than 50 years of residency. Resident evil: Godzilla made official Japanese citizen

And I seem to be out of links today, but there will be more tomorrow. There is always more tomorrow. I need a “more depressed” font for that one.

Billed @€0.02, Opus the Poet

Stuff was happening nearby, and the Feed

For those of you wondering and sending me e-mails, yes the shootout over pictures of the prophet Mohammed was about 2 miles away by bike from my house, and 2) I didn’t know about it until I read the news the next morning. I live in that Garland, or to put it another way the Beautiful Suburbs of Hell. Let me hasten to add that I share very little with the person who deliberately baited this trap to cause extremists to attack the gathering other than a strong support for freedom of speech. I do not consider a “contest” for the “most offensive cartoon” to be freedom of speech, any more than I would consider a contest for the most offensive cartoon of a black man getting lynched. If you’re setting up “offensive” as a goal to be achieved you are automatically exceeding the protections of “free speech”.

And while we are on the subject of offensive things, the lump on the side and back of my neck is getting larger and more restrictive of my range of motion, and BCBS sent me a letter stating they agree with the diagnosis that it should be removed posthaste. Of course for an insurance company “posthaste” is not quite the same as it is for those of us who can get killed, they gave me a year to get rid of it. For an insurance company dealing with something that is not bleeding to death, that counts as “posthaste”.

Up first from the links, another bad day for Ted. 62-year old crosswalk rider killed in Santa Ana left cross collision Left crosses are pretty much the worst, because you can see it coming but don’t have the time to react to do anything about it. I’m just glad I never had to cover wrecks that might involve people I knew.

Our Daily Ted Pt. 2. Morning Links: More on efforts to undo Chase Street, bike riding family shot in WI, and apparently only dopes dope

Daily Ted Part 3. 23-year old bike rider killed last week in Granada Hills truck collision

FL cyclist violates one of WoaB cardinal rules, “Don’t Hit the Pedestrians”. Cyclist Dazed, Injured After Crash with Jogger You gotta pipe up when relaying warnings on a group ride. Sound off like you have a pair.

FL drunk driver gets a stiff sentence. Woman ‘2 Drunk 2 Care’ Gets 24 Years in Fatal Crash Yep, sending a tweet that you are too drunk to drive but you’re driving anyway makes this depraved murder or something like that. At least that would be my initial charge, Murder.

Speaking of Murder, someone dropped a marble or twenty and decided to shoot up a bike trail before shooting himself. Shooter disrupts family bike ride; 4 dead, including gunman As of the time of creating this post the shooter was known to be a veteran, but not known if he had seen combat. Mox Nix, he still saw enough to flip out and start shooting people. RIP dead cyclists, and peace to those shot but not killed.

How can this driver still look so smug in this mug shot? Truck driver charged in fatal Milton collision with bicyclist

How a world-class endurance athlete can be reduced to crawling. Lexington woman sentenced in hit and run crash that injured world-class cyclist

Remembering a NYC cyclist killed in a hit-and-run that ended up changing the way NYPD investigates wrecks. Remembering Clara Heyworth, And The Unlicensed Driver Who Killed Her Without Consequence They caught the driver when he crashed a few blocks away, but because the “investigation” was completely botched because it was started 3 days after the wreck and most of the evidence had been washed away they never charged him.

Still in NYC when you run someone over while police are investigating the first person you ran over you might be stupid get charged with assault with a deadly weapon. Cops: Driver Rammed Man In Wheelchair, Then Fractured Another Man’s Skull Yep, when you hit someone hard enough to send them down the stairs to the subway from the street, and you do it in front of a LEO still investigating the wreck where you ran over a guy in a wheelchair, you might get hosed.

Ripples and repercussions of a bike wreck in DC. The Injured Yogi’s 5 Accidental Life Lessons

Drunk driver in West Canuckistan gets a somewhat harsh sentence for assaulting a cyclist. Drunk driver sentenced Only 15 months for attempted murder…

There is a way to keep people from using the phone and texting while driving, but it is a voluntary thing. Smartphone App Blocks Teens From Texting, Phoning While Driving Make this app mandatory for all phones, not optional for teens. It as already been proven that talking on the phone, even with a hands-free device is as bad as drunk driving, and texting is as bad as driving with your eyes closed.

What do you do when there’s no place to pull over and no way to get passed? Harassed by a streetcar driver while riding safely and Streetcar GM responds to harassment complaint

Now if Amtrak wasn’t about twice as expensive as taking the bus or flying. Amtrak to welcome bicycling passengers by end of the year

Your next e-assist bike could recharge itself. Solarbike is the cycle for sun-lovers My experiments with solar-assist involved a roof over the bike with a coroplast panel to hold the cells. The idea was to point the bike on an east-west axis and tilt the roof south to catch as much sun as possible. The bike in the article does a similar thing with the wheel-mounted cells which can be charged by laying the bike on its side or pointing it so that the sun hits the wheels while parked.

And your next bike share bike could have a little extra helping you get where you want to go. Birmingham’s New Bike-Share Will Have Electric-Assist Bicycles

What if they made a street that adapted to the people using it, outside of cars? Customizing the Crosswalk Experience

Do we really need all that lane space on a city street? Why 12-Foot Traffic Lanes Are Disastrous for Safety and Must Be Replaced Now

And I appear to have temporarily run out of links, thank [$DEITY].

Billed @€0.02, Opus

Well, this is fun, and the Feed

I was looking at the hair left on the ground today after Sunday’s “Shearing of the Sheep” ritual and I noticed that while all my wavy locks were gone there were still clumps of beard and moustache hair blowing around the back yard. Apparently the critters like my hair but not my beard so much. Well as long as I’m having a positive impact, I’m good with that.

I’m having to reconstruct the post after accidentally deleting it and I’m having problems getting one of the links back, to an article on cities taking responsibility back for their walking infrastructure which I can’t seem to find again. This has been a sore spot for me as we have that issue here in the Beautiful Suburbs of Hell, property owners are responsible for the sidewalk and any grassy space between the sidewalk and the street in spite of that being city-owned right of way. Hell we can’t even do anything about people who park on the sidewalk blocking it for walking.

Lots of people getting hit in the crosswalk by turning vehicles in NYC this week. 13-Year-Old Boy Struck By Driver While Walking Bike Through UWS Crosswalk “No criminality suspected” because beat cops in NYPD don’t know the law that went into effect in September, hitting pedestrians in the crosswalk is a misdemeanor. Damnit I know the law and I live in TX, why don’t people paid to enforce that law know about it?

Another person is hit in virtually the same way, left-turning vehicle in a crosswalk. MTA Express Bus Seriously Injures Midtown Pedestrian And that cyclist picture is from 2013, Gothamist. Bad form. Crossing in the crosswalk and hit by a vehicle making a left turn makes this a slam dunk “Failure to yield to a pedestrian with right of way” bust. Book ‘im Danno.

An off-duty cop is hit-and-run by an off-duty bus driver, something tells me this is one case that will be “Criminality suspected”. Off-duty MTA bus driver arrested after striking cyclist with car Sure didn’t take them long to find the driver when there was a cop involved, even a reserve cop.

Well after all that here’s a little Daily Ted to peruse. Morning Links: Carfree Griffith Park could be sacrificed for well-healed homeowners; LA beats New York That UK article about near-misses set my hair on end. Of course that is pretty much the standard case with my hair after getting my head shaved.

An arrest was made in SC. Police: Arrest made in hit-and-run involving cyclist This arrest was made because the cyclist had front and rear video recordings. WoaB strongly recommends installing these if you have the funds.

Another arrest in FL. Driver who killed Cape Coral cyclist facing 30 years The fact that the driver was doing 102 MPH just 4 feet before hitting the cyclist says it all for me, this was deliberate random mayhem with the cyclist as collateral damage. If he hadn’t hit the cyclist he would have hit and killed someone else and probably himself as well.

But in CA we can’t even get charges filed. CHP: No charges recommended against truck driver who injured bicyclist The driver was not paying attention to the road and drove in the bike lane hitting the cyclist, and they do nothing? TANJ!

In the other CA (Canada) we get much the same thing. No charges in accident that saw Ottawa cyclist killed in collision with dump truck “No reason was given in the release on how they came to the decision.” As I recall the cyclist was riding straight and the truck was turning and BAM! dead cyclist.

This cyclist is lucky to be alive. Cyclist punched in ‘nasty’ road rage attack in Cambridgeshire and collides with oncoming car OK you got angry at a cyclist, who doesn’t? I mean there they are fit and healthy and riding down the road for the few hundred dollars (or pounds) it costs to buy a bike and nothing more aside from food and clothing which they would be buying anyway, and they make you slow down for a few seconds and totally ruin your day. But really setting up an ambush to beat one up is probably really dumb, especially when you almost kill him. That goes from “traffic boo-boo” to “attempted murder” in 0.001 seconds. And all that time you lost from being behind a cyclist is minor compared to the time it took to set up the ambush, and the time you get to spend in jail awaiting trial, and then the endless years of prison time because you got mad at a cyclist in front of you on the road. Now don’t you feel really dumb?

Well, the killer is off to prison, but the question remains: “Why and How? and could it have been prevented?” Families of charity duo killed on A30 near Newquay request a full inquest into deaths is held Well the driver had been falsifying records about how much time he had been driving, had been working “off the clock” to make more money, and hadn’t slept in almost a day, so it looks like there really isn’t any way to prevent this with the current built infrastructure that has cyclists and heavy trucks share the roads. More laws would just be more laws broken in this case, as the driver broke a series of major trucking laws and labor laws to try and get a little more £££…

Infrastructure in Boston. Boston Plans Protected Bike Lane for Dangerous Avenue Guys? there is this €90 book that tells everything you need to know about building bicycle infrastructure that works for drivers and cyclists and has been proven to work for over 20 years now…

And in Sweden they are doing similar things but excluding cars completely from their cities and not missing them. How Stockholm Became the Ultimate Walkable City

Do we really need a “luxury” e-assist bike? SPA Bicicletto Electric Bike Looks Amazing, but the Price Is Painful – Video, Photo Gallery Yeah it looks nice… even has halfway-decent range if there are no hills.

And I am bereft of any more links, ciao.

Billed @€Opus the Poet

I’m back in shorts and a T-shirt, and the Feed

Well the headline pretty much says it all concerning life here at Casa de El Poeta, the outside temperature has risen to what the heating system was designed to cope with (low 40s-high 30s at night) so I’m back to wearing shorts and a T-shirt in the office, and Mrs. the Poet is still wearing her sweatshirt over a T-shirt and long pants. I am comfortable in a very wide range of temperatures wearing the shorts and T-shirt, and do much better than Mrs. the Poet when things get really cold, mostly because I have real cold-weather gear because I hung on to my issue cold-weather gear when I left the Army, and bought more of it when it hit the surplus market. Mrs. the Poet hates mil-surplus clothing because of the way it looks, but I’m the warm one in winter. And I have a selection of gear that I can wear riding a bicycle as well, so I stay warm on my bike. Or I would be warm if I could actually ride my bike.

Up first is some good news from Brownsville, as they discover that they can stuff a lot of bicycles into the space that used to house just one car. Brownsville installs downtown bike corral They replaced one car spot with 14 bike spots, greatly increasing the revenue potential for that parking spot. Sure shoppers that arrive by bike don’t spend as much money per trip, but they make 2-3 times as many trips and now they have the potential to serve 14 times as many customers.

Pedestrians are still getting killed same as they always were with Texas right out there in a battle for the “lead”. Pedestrians killed at about the same rate last year as they were in 2013 This mirrors UK statistics showing cars are getting more forgiving about bad driving, what with air bags and crumple zones and being required to have doors that open after running into a concrete wall at 35 MPH, but drivers are just as crappy as they always were if not worse now that the consequences for them are so much lower.

More on the Houston bike cops going undercover to get drivers who drive poorly around cyclists. Undercover Houston Cops On Bikes Are Nabbing Drivers Dangerous To Cyclists Houston passed a law against buzzing cyclists in 2013 when they discovered how many cyclists were getting knocked down by cars passing too close, then instructed bike cops to run stings against the drivers breaking the law. Nobody is getting ticketed for passing between 2 and 3 feet away (just warned), the (big) tickets are going to the ones passing less than a foot (300 mm) from the cop. So far no word on how many cops have been hit doing these stings, but you know it is just a matter of time before some Bubba decides to “teach a lesson” to one of the undercover cops and misjudges how wide his F-150 really is, like the guy who broke his mirror off on my elbow a few years ago.

Why is this news in NYC? Cops Are Giving Out Speeding Tickets To Drivers Who Are Speeding Really now, cops giving tickets is “Man bites dog” rare in NYC?

If you have a young-looking bike-riding friend in SF please check on his whereabouts and if you can’t find him call SFPD. Young cyclist unconscious, and police don’t know his name The wreck was early Monday morning to give your young man a time frame to be missing, if you saw him after 0800 or so on Monday it is pretty much guaranteed that this is not the same guy.

They have some bad infrastructure over in NOLA, so bad it kills people. Cyclist death shines light on dangerous intersection And cue the H8ers complaining about cyclists taking the lane for visibility when this was a crossing wreck at an intersection and LEO admit they have no way of knowing who ran the light. Check out the comments section.

When the state refuses to act in AZ municipalities take charge. San Luis to enforce ban on cellphone use for drivers It seems there are certain people in the AZ legislature blocking driving while using cell phone bills from getting to the floor, not naming names because I don’t know who is doing it, just that the bills never seem to get a vote.

It seems that providing even barely usable bicycle infrastructure has a positive effect on car ownership (if you are trying to reduce traffic congestion). Multnomah County car registration is down 8% since 2007, and isn’t rebounding They had a steep drop during the recession but people discovered they didn’t need to have a car for everyone so the number of people replacing cars sold during the recession has been very low. Also there is the possibility that they are just not registering their deadly weapons like they are supposed to.

Along the same lines just up the coast a bit. The Remarkable Drop in Car Commuting to Downtown Seattle They expect to see even further reductions when their bike infrastructure gets built all the way into the Downtown area.

Another link to that SD bill that would require drivers to not hit cyclists they are trying to pass. Bill Aiming To Keep Cyclists Safe On The Road 3 feet at 35 MPH and under, 6 feet on faster roads. And the bill has passed the Senate and goes on to the governor to be signed into law.

Cyclists in the Emerald Isle are discovering that protecting the head just seems to move the injury to some other part of the body. Soaring popularity of pedal power leads to 200% rise in spinal injuries That energy has to go somewhere, and when you protect the skull the next thing in line is the neck, which this report seems to indicate is the part taking the abuse.

And whadda you know, crap infrastructure is crap. Are Southend’s roads safe for cyclists? If you have to ask, then the answer is probably “NO!”.

I think I’m done taking Boris Johnson seriously. Cyclists should wave like Simon Rattle to avoid being hit, says London mayor Really, get out in front of a heavy truck and wave your hands around in the vague hope that the driver will see you and not run you over? And how is that begging for your life at the base of the guillotine working out for you, Boris? 😉

Speaking of stupid things in the UK. Cyclists vs motorists – 3 STUPID acts committed by the frustrated car driver

Dealing with the rather arcane legal infrastructure in Oz. TAC admits cyclist claim rules are confusing after host of anomalies in rules exposed If I had to deal with a mess like this with my wreck I would be pushing a walker or a wheelchair still.

This is stupid, bike 4 months, skate 4 months, and 4 months transition when you can’t safely do either. Canadian ‘freezeway’ could let residents skate to work And what about people who can’t skate, like yr fthfl srvnt blogger? Aside from the fact that I’m 2027 miles from Edmonton by bike that is.

The kind of lifestyle article I like to link to, because nobody had to die first. For injured veterans, bike ride helps heal body

Our Daily Ted was a little late posting, but I got it. Morning Links: Endorsing Ramsay and O’Grady in CD4; and a blind bike rider needs your help to regain his sight

Some infrastructure news out of Dallas as they debate adding a bypass Interstate (I 345) or enhancing the existing grid. Why the Grid Has More Latent Capacity Than a Highway The thing about I 345 that I object to is they are putting it through existing neighborhoods, unlike its northern counterpart I 635 which was built on what was mostly semi-rural farmland (there is still an active Future Farmers of America at Garland HS in the Beautiful Suburbs of Hell, which is located outside the 635 loop).

And a Texan I would be proud to share the designation with. 76-Year-Old Man Bikes 300 Miles To Raise Money For Planned Parenthood

I’m outta here.

Billed @€0.02, Opus the Poet

OK now I Voted, and the Feed

Just checked, and the I Voted Widget is working for this blog now. So officially I Voted.

You may have noticed the “and the Feed” has returned to the headline. This does not mean I will return to posting wreck links, it means I have found links to bicycle “stuff” that is not wrecks.

First up, NYPD gets taught the laws about hitting people with motor vehicles. Cops Are Learning How To Charge Drivers Who Break Laws I thought they went through Police Academy for learning this stuff, silly me. The big problem is the Rule of Two that requires 2 traffic violations when yu run someone over before you can be charged with reckless driving and NYPD has been very lax about finding that second violation, this training is supposed to correct that. In other news an airliner reported a mid-air collision with a pig…

Over in CA Ted Rogers has a stolen bike report… BOLO Alert: Three bikes stolen from Venice garage on Wednesday As a multiple victim of bike theft myself I say if you find this guy please leave enough behind to identify him from his DNA. Don’t go overboard mind you, CSI doesn’t need much more than a decent size smear…

Proof that MHL are more about revenue and harassment than safety, in Oz. Police issue 223 infringements to cyclists including 121 for not wearing helmets during operation to improve rider and pedestrian safety When more than half of the tickets are for helmet law violations, it was just a show to get some sweet, sweet easy $.

Last link, does your car insurance cover you on your bike? How about homeowners? What Do Bicyclists Need to Know About Insurance?

And that’s all I got today, I have to say it feels a heck of a lot better winding up one of these posts than the ones I used to do with all the wrecks.

Billed @€0.02, Opus the unkillable badass Poet