I think we haven’t had any mass shootings today, and the Feed

Yeah, it’s been that kind of day today. My Feed has been about ²/₃ filled with reactions to the latest shootings and ¹/₃ with bike stuff. It was depressing, even more than usual. So to lighten the mood here’s a picture of Mrs. the Poet in her new career as a cat bed.

I got 2 bits of good news not bike related. First off was notification that my cars shipped from CA this afternoon and are expected to arrive in 5 days. Second was a vendor for the engine I want to put in the Mini Sprint-T. When you click on this link click on the LS Engine kits button and you’ll see the LS7 kit (with a manual transmission) but they also sell a slush box that mounts in place of the manual tranny. If you click on the engine kits button you can see that kit listed.

Up first is Our Daily Ted. Update: Bike rider killed in San Diego’s Mission Valley Thursday night; ; 12th cyclist killed in SD County this year

More on that wreck in Ted’s link. Bicyclist hit, killed by BMW in Mission Valley and Cyclist hit, killed in Mission Valley From all the information I got from all three links including the video linked in Ted’s post I kinda know what happened but not why. The cyclist was going as fast as he could across the road because there was limited sight distance and he estimated that he had just enough time to get to the other side. The damage done to the weapon vehicle shows a strong directionality from the right front corner to the center of the windshield, and a totally smashed windshield that testifies to a high rate of speed between 60 and 70 MPH. The bicycle showed the impact was to the side on the front of the bike.

Infrastructure news from GA. Seems backlash has killed plans for Peachtree bike lanes Enjoy your traffic jams and fatalities, you earned them. Instead of getting bike lanes that relive congestion and reduce speeds during periods of light traffic, you get more of the same.

If you want to reduce traffic fatalities which group do you do enforcement actions against, motor vehicles or bicycles? To Make NYC Streets Safer, Focus on the Cause of 98 Percent of Harm NYPD acts like all wrecks will go away if they ticket enough bicyclists, but given the relative lethality motor vehicles are where they should be concentrating their efforts.

Remembering a cyclist killed in the Great White North. Memorial Walk up Claremont to Commemorate Cyclist and ‘Ghost bike’ march calls for safer streets after cyclist killed The most telling quote from both links, “Noting the excessive lane capacity on the Claremont Access, memorial participant John Neary wrote, “Claremont was totally closed for [approximately] ten minutes. Nine minutes after one lane reopened, it’s empty again.”” One. Lane. Ten Minutes. And that handled all the traffic of a lunch hour rush. It’s no wonder traffic moves at freeway speeds in spite of the 70 km/hr (43.5 MPH) speed limit.

Over in Jolly Olde a young cyclist is killed when the way was blocked by parked cars. 11-year-old cyclist killed in crash with roadsweeper Hit from behind when cars blocked the road parked on a double yellow line when according to the law “Double yellow lines indicate a prohibition of waiting at any time even if there are no upright signs.”

Another law-breaker gets “severely” punished. Derek Cheney, 63, who killed cyclist on the B3147 near Dorchester gets banned from driving Yep, he killed a man while driving and gets “banned” from driving. I use the quotes because unless he gets caught the ban is worthless. Meaning he has to break a traffic law in the presence of LEO to the effect that he attracts their attention enough to stop him and ask for his license to make the ban mean anything.

A stupid cyclist has a wreck on video. Video: Cardiff cyclist hit by car as he rides through red light and from the Daily “we hate bicycles for no reason” Mail. Dashcam catches the horrifying moment cyclist was thrown into the air after pulling in front of a car without looking I lost count of how many times I looked at the Daily Mail version and TBH I couldn’t say for certain if the cyclist was running the red at that intersection or hit from behind crossing with the light. But people with access to the video with higher resolution say the cyclist ran the red.

More on the proposal to make traffic claims under £5K go up against insurance companies and their lawyers without representation. Injured cyclists could be big losers from Osborne’s autumn budget

Aaannnd another hit-and-run. Hit-and-run driver left cyclist with severe injuries after Epsom collision Including this because the mode of wreck was given as hit-from-behind, and y’all know where to find how to avoid a wreck like this in the protocols section at the top of the page.

Another hit-and-run in Oz this time. Champion hit-run cyclist suffers spinal damage as police reveal new lead Again, I loathe hit-and-run drivers with a purple passion.

And in Enn Zed a pinball wreck with a cyclist as the pinball. SUV knocks cyclist into traffic, flees scene AFAIK the cyclist was walking her bike through a dangerous intersection when hit by the first vehicle, that then left the scene.

And I’m finally out of links, and patience.

Billed @€0.02, Opus

Advertisement

Getting ready for game night, and the Feed

I had enough food for myself, except for stuff that goes bad when you let it set, so all I got today on the grocery run was some salty snacks and soft drinks for the gamers, and a gallon of milk because I consume nearly that much in a week between all the coffee and cereal I consume when Mrs. the Poet is not cooking breakfast for me. And whew! run-on sentence. I also had to go pay the utility bill because they will be closed tomorrow so I can’t pay it then. And sometime I need to get this unruly mop on my head trimmed down and shaped up so I look like a respectable human being, not some troll living under a bridge.

OK up first because this is just too freaky, the county judge and prosecutor both had bike wrecks on the same day in OH Franklin County judge, prosecutor crash bikes on same day and Ohio prosecutor, judge injured in bike crashes in separate incidents on same day The prosecutor was riding the judge’s old bike that his staff bought for him in 2013…

Still dealing with LEO and “coincidence” two bike cops had brakes fail at the exact same time after doing crowd control at a crime scene. Police Officer on Bicycle Injured in Sherman Oaks CollisionThe brakes on BOTH bikes failed? As a bike mechanic that seems… highly unlikely. Also was it both brakes on both bikes or just the front brakes or different brakes? This strikes me as a case of sabotage.

Still on strange “coincidences” involving LEO, this time in NYC. NYPD Officer Has Raging Hard-On For Upper West Side Cyclists This is reminiscent of the Dallas report where one downtown officer issued 53% of the helmet citations… Or the time NYPD issued tickets for leaving the bike lane while they parked their cruiser in the bike lane.

But don’t worry, the judicial branch will prevent you from getting ripped off by the cops. Judge: Cyclists Charged An Extra $88 By The DMV Are SOL Umm, maybe not…

More on the driver charged with homicide in the death of a cyclist in Seattle. Seattle man charged with vehicular homicide in cyclist’s death Something is wrong here. The security tape at the restaurant he was at showed a pretty non-drunk individual who left half his beer behind (and ate a ton of food), but the police report from a half hour later said the driver told them he had 4 beers and his ADD meds and appeared very drunk. I’m adding 2 and 2 and getting pi. Not that I have any sympathy for a bicyclist’s killer, it’s just half a beer with a big dinner and he left looking sober to staggering drunk less than a half-hour later? What happened in less than 30 minutes to get from what left the restaurant to what killed the cyclist?

More on a cyclist getting shot in L.A. Update: Man On Bike Shot, Killed In Commerce At this point motive is unknown, no suspects…

And more on the cyclist shot in Detroit. Bicyclist, 55, shot dead in Detroit Black SUV with one suspect dressed all black, the other dressed in a white T-shirt and a black hat… And they got out to make sure they shot the dude. And don’t read the comments section, your skin will fall off…

Another link to the attempted murder of a group of cyclists in CA, by the driver of a stolen car. Bicyclists seriously injured in hit-and-run collision in Yolo County I mean seriously, WTF?!? Was someone testing the theory that you can get away with murder if you hit someone on a bicycle with a car?

More on the drunken assault and killing of a cyclist on a street that would have made the wreck either impossible, or much less damaging to the victim had the planned changes been made. Man charged in hit-and-run that killed Highland Park cyclist There would have been no way for the driver to reach 80 MPH had the speed pads and road diet that had been planned and budgeted for 3 years ago been installed…

And was this an assault, or just a very stupid driver? 1 dead, 1 injured after car hits bicyclists; riders were owners of Havasu bike store

And seriously, how much more can you find against this driver, because that impact site on the weapon vehicle was directly in front of the driver. Cyclist’s death still under investigation If he was drunk it’s DUI manslaughter, if he was sober it’s murder. That’s the only thing I can take away from this wreck. There was no way the driver “didn’t see” the cyclist, and no way for the cyclist to “swerve” into that side of the truck from the shoulder that looks to be maybe a foot wide or not wide enough to use as a bike lane.

Someone else thinks the tacks and pins in the roads are terrorist attacks on cyclists. Sabotage and hatred: what have people got against cyclists? A very thoughtful article.

And I’m out of links and patience. Time for a snack and a lie-down. Arthur Dent is being a pain in the neck 😉

Billed @€0.02

My co-pays are killing me, and the Feed

I thought I was going to get medical care when I got insurance through the ACA. Instead I get bills I can’t afford to pay. I was looking up my co-pays in preparation for my imaging visit tomorrow, and I thought I was going to have to cough up $50 because my total OOP is only $500 and specialist visits are $500. NOPE! I have to find $250 that does not apply to my total OOP annual limit. Thing is I don’t have $250 available at the moment. If we don’t eat this week and don’t pay insurance we might have $200 altogether. I may have to just endure not being able to turn my neck at this rate. Thank you Rick Perry. I hope you lose all your hair, except on the backs of your hands and that hair turns into a thick pelt. Your refusal to expand Medicaid has rendered me insured but unable to afford my co-pays because all the money we used to have is now going to insurance premiums. Last year’s $0.08/mon has been replaced by $112/mon, which we would have used to pay co-pays if we could have used it last year, but we couldn’t because the PCP we were assigned was not taking new patients, until this year. So last year we effectively only had health insurance if we went to an ER and coughed up a $500 co-pay, and this year while we can get an appointment to our PCP, we can’t get there if we are actually really sick because they are not anywhere near a transit stop. I can’t decide if this is Orwellian, or Hellerian (Catch 22)

Up first, I keep telling people that when a cyclist hits a pedestrian the cyclist is as likely to get hurt as the pedestrian, but do they pay attention? Cyclist critical after collision with runner in Greenwich Park and Cyclist seriously injured after crashing into runner while racing event took place in Greenwich Park The runner was uninjured in this wreck. The Dallas wreck that killed the runner the cyclist was injured enough to require hospitalization. The second SF cyclist who killed a pedestrian this century also required hospitalization. Hitting pedestrians with your bike is dangerous to the cyclist, another reason not to do it.

Speaking of Bucherre, SFPD dispenses some weapons-grade BS in the death of a cyclist. SFPD Explains: Driver Won’t Be Charged for Killing Cyclist at 14th & Folsom The driver was not at fault for running the red light because the cyclist was running it, too? Seriously?

And while we are in CA, here’s Our Daily Ted. Morning Links: Serial hit-and-run driver allegedly attacks three in Venice, including two people on bikes

In FL the driver who left a cyclist to die in the streets did not do a very good job of hiding the evidence from LEO. Police find car believed tied to hit-and-run that killed cyclist The damage was not readily apparent from the street, but not hidden very much either.

More on another idiot who used a gun instead of a car to kill a cyclist. GUNMAN WHO SHOT, KILLED BICYCLIST STILL AT LARGE Some people just haven’t learned that the correct way to murder a cyclist is to run him down from behind and claim blindness (“I didn’t see him”). That way instead of charges you get grief counseling for the terrible tragedy of killing another human being. And I really wish I could put the snark tag (/s without HTML brackets), but it is a true statement.

One wonders about huge packs of motor vehicles driving down the street close to but under the speed limit. Police tell Hells Ride cyclists to stop using Beach Rd as a racetrack

Who did the registered owner sell the weapon vehicle to prior to the wreck? “Do the right thing” police tell driver who killed 15 year old West Brom cyclist

This drunk driver did not get what he deserved. Russian Drunk Driver Who Killed U.S. Cyclist Gets 3 Years in Prison Nope, he’s still alive and in possession of all his body parts, nothing close to what he deserves.

Another Whiskey, Tango, Foxtrot moment courtesy of Enn Zed. Careless driver who killed cyclist can drive tractors He violated his ban twice since released from jail for killing a cyclist because he was in too big a hurry and they haven’t tossed his can in the calaboose yet? TANJ!

Boston is putting in bicycle infrastructure that is good by American standards. Comm Ave. to get less harrowing for cyclists, everyone else

I guess when you are as vulnerable as a cyclist is on the roads you have more compassion to other vulnerable people. Cyclists ride to D.C. in memory of Sandy Hook and to press for tighter gun laws and ADVOCATES OF TOUGHER GUN CONTROL MAKE BIKE RIDE FROM NEWTOWN TO WASHINGTON

Tell me again how dangerous cyclists are in NYC. Speed Cameras Net $16.9 Million From Dangerous Drivers They are not using all the cameras they are allowed, they are not allowed to run the cameras 24/7, and they still raked in almost $17 Million in one year four months?

I wonder what they were thinking when they came up with this idea. National Bike Summit 2015: Talking “Bikes Plus”

Also this is a new comic I started following that seems pretty good. Broken Telephone It’s a crime story by the guy who writes Dinosaur Comics. I used to be a call center operator (computer help desk, not cell phone) and I can totally relate to this.

And that’s all I got today, thank [$DEITY]!

Billed @€0.02, Opus the Poet

Thinking heavy thoughts on Transgender Day of Remembrance, and the Feed

Today is a bit strange for me. I’m not Trans*, I’m not even bi, or gay. But I do have 6 Trans* friends including the couple that is living in my house now. And I read several web comics that are either written and/or drawn by a Trans* person/s, or are about Trans* people, or both. One of them subscribes to this blog (Hi!). So it’s not like this is an invisible world for me, it’s one I interact with several times a month on a personal basis. I’m not Trans*, but I’m part of their world, hopefully one of the better parts. And the statistics on violence against Trans* people, particularly M2F trans people, is just overwhelming. I’m not going to bring up the statistics here in a bike blog, but if you think you have it rough because you ride a bicycle, you don’t know how rough it can get. Sure there are people trying to kill us for existing, just like LGBT people, but they are relatively few in comparison. People are much more likely to kill one of us by “accident” where any hatred is unstated and unknown. People who (that?) kill people for being Trans* will come right out and say so while they try, so you know why you are getting killed, and they will frequently kill in the slowest and most painful method available to them. This is the truth of living in the LGBT world.

Well after that the rest of the post will be just a freaking ray of sunshine up your butts, innit? I hope so, as I go to Filter the Feed now.

Up first a slightly alcohol-impaired person on a bicycle is refused service at a fast-food place not because he was drunk, but because he was riding a bicycle. Bicyclist arrested after trying to order Taco Bell in drive-through The cyclist “resisted arrest” when he refused to allow an officer to grab a tool hung from his belt.

More on Bono’s NYC wreck. Bono’s “High Energy” Bike Accident Caused Severe Injuries Turns out it was a bit more than was first released, the most visible of which was a compound fracture of the arm. Whatever he ran into was hit with a high relative velocity to get those kinds of injuries. Either he was going really fast for a guy his age, or what he ran into was going the opposite direction at a moderate speed. The initial report said Bono was trying to avoid another cyclist at the time of the wreck, is it possible he ran into a salmon?

Another stupid driver ignores the weapon that allows someone to kill with impunity in favor of the one that gets cops to try to kill you if they find you… UPDATE: Arrest made in drive-by shooting of cyclist I’m sure Gigi will love this one for her “Stoopid” fix, because this one is really “Stoopid”.

Our Daily Ted. Morning Links: Bono hurt worse than we thought, biking to cancer care, and WeHo kinda talks bike safety

A link that was also in the previous link about the debate over facilities and vehicular cycling envisioned as a rap battle. Epic Rap Battle: Vehicular cycling guru John Forester vs. @Copenhagenize kingpin Colville-Andersen. I drew this.

Speaking of vehicular cycling and street safety, some stats I used to quote have been updated from their 20^th Century status quo to the 21^st Century, in this graphic.

I’m really hoping this was not the result of bias against cyclists in Oz. Injured cyclist’s painful ambo wait The cyclist was hurt bad enough that she was taken with lights and siren to the nearest trauma center after waiting 45 minutes for the ambulance to get there and stabilized as much as possible during the trip. That sounds like broken bones or head trauma to me…

A photo spread of what bad infrastructure means for cyclists. Photo journal: Another cyclist dies

Is “Bad UK bicycle infrastructure” internally redundant? Jane Greaves: Calls for safety improvements after cyclist dies at Trefnant ‘accident blackspot’ I write that because I have yet to see any good UK bicycle infrastructure, all of it has been varying degrees of bad from “ugh!” to “What homicidal maniac designed this piece of crap?” And that includes the badly over-hyped “Cycling Superhighways” painted bike lanes in London, which cover the entire spectrum of the above list.

LAB has not been setting the bar too high on being “Bike Friendly”. National Award for New Britain as ‘Bike-Friendly’

Yet another article on making a bicycle easier to see when drivers “not seeing” bicycles has nothing to do with how visible they are. New products shine light on bicycle safety

Park your car and ride up to 9 miles each way on this scooter. MINI exhibits foldable electric scooter Citysurfer at Los Angeles Auto Show

And an explanation of why the Daily Ted hasn’t been daily as of late. Today’s post, in which I talk pain and what the hell is wrong with me I’m really sorry to find out Ted has joined the Chronic Pain Club, that is a club that should have no members…

And those are all the links for today.

Billed @€0.02, Opus the unkillable badass Poet