We failed

Breaking news: Tasha Borland has had her sentence reduced to a mere 10 years in jail for killing 2 cyclists. The emails we sent were ignored. If I read the report correctly, then she will be eligible for parole in 7 more years, when she could have gotten life without parole.

I just don’t understand this, she was on her third strike for DUI, in TX that would have made her eligible for execution if the victims had been in a car because of her prior DUI convictions. In OK she could have gotten life without parole for the vehicular homicide with the aggravating circumstance of previous DUI, but because her family has money and political connections her sentence was reduced. I suspect that the fact that her victims were cyclists may have had something to do with it as well, but I can’t prove that. I do know that her previous convictions for DUI were “punished” by making her go through a treatment center instead of jail because of her political connections, but I had hoped that her actually killing 2 people would have broken those connections.

More links, hang on this will be a bumpy ride as the links come in Prison Term Shortened For Sand Springs Woman Convicted In Cyclists’ Deaths and Prison term lessened for Oklahoma woman convicted in bicyclists’ deaths another one Sentences reduced for two Tulsa killers still more Oklahoma judge trims 4 years off woman’s sentence for manslaughter in 2009 death of 2 cyclists aaaand another one Prison term lessened for woman convicted in bicyclists’ deaths they just keep coming in Sentence Modified For Woman Who Ran Over Cyclists ain’t done yet Judge modifies sentence for woman convicted of killing two cyclists there are more links every time I hit refresh Borland jail time reduced, probation extended another one Reduced jail time for woman convicted of hitting and killing cyclists

I think that’s it for now…

PSA, Opus

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Tasha Borland update: Keep Tasha in prison!

I have just been notified that convicted cyclist-killer Taasha Borland is appealing her sentence in hopes of getting out earlier. You can help by sending an e-mail to the judge hearing her appeal @ jmansfield@tulsacounty.org You need to get your e-mail in by 10/18.

Please keep e-mails respectful, and tone down the drunk driver hate.

I had been wondering why I had been getting so many hits on Tasha’s name lately and now I think I know why. Keep Tasha in prison.

PSA, Opus

2010 year in review

What have been the “Big Stories” for 2010 here at WoaB?

Well tops of the list is the saga of Martin Erzinger and his butt-buddy Mark Hurlburt. I you remember Erzinger is the hit-and-run driver that Hurlbert claimed was too rich to charge with a felony. I think you know my opinion of people too rich to prosecute, especially hit-and-run drivers…

A close second this year was the guilty plea and sentencing of Tasha Boreland, who was sentenced to 24 years in prison for hitting 3 cyclists who were not even riding in the road, killing 2 of them. With the other crimes she was found guilty of we won’t have to worry about her on the roads again until 2040, if then. Even if released early she may never be allowed to drive again.

After that was the rash of hit-and-run. We have had a massive number of stories from all over the world about drivers that leave the scene of a wreck. And it’s not just cyclists this is happening to, I get a number of stories about pedestrians, and other cars, that were hit by drivers that left the scene. so this is not a cycling story, but it is a road safety story which makes it a cycling safety story.

I think what comes to mind after that is the number of bike ninjas that were hit this year, which becomes the first story that is more about cyclists than drivers. I understand the philosophy behind riding ninja, but I don’t recommend doing it. However if you must ride ninja then you must ride like you are invisible, because you are, mostly.

Of course this is only the top stories that WoaB has covered. There were much more important stories about cycling infrastructure that were covered by other bike blogs, like Cyclelicious and BikinginLA, and let’s not forget BikePortland. I strongly suggest you read those with mine, I read them nearly every day. I also read Drunk Cyclist, but I don’t recommend that one for the under 21 crowd as the language gets pretty rough over there. Think of them as WoaB with less earthy spirituality and more earthy language. 😉

Billed @$2.00, Opus

Some good news, some bad news, the Feed

OK let me just say that last week was extraordinary for this blog. Extraordinary not in the number of hits, I have had much better weeks for hits, but in the subject matter. Tasha Borland’s sentence was the first that I have ever seen that killing a cyclist with a car carried anything like the sentence for a non-traffic killing. Seriously for too long the judicial system has treated traffic deaths like part of the scenery or something, like the victims were collateral damage rather than victims of a crime. And that treatment wasn’t confined to cyclists, pretty much all victims of death by motor vehicle were treated like that, even most that were driving cars. But the case with Tasha Borland was different in that besides being drunk she was on prescription meds and also hit her victims some 8 feet from the road proper on the shoulder. Her previous communications about cyclists not belonging on the roads being discovered pretty much sealed her doom, as now the prosecution could say it wasn’t really an “accident” but something she had been planning to do for a long time, not against these cyclists personally but against some cyclists at some time. The sentence handed down will keep road users safe from Tasha for at least 20 years and as long as 30 years if she isn’t allowed to work out her driving ban in prison. If the driving ban ends with the expiration of her probation on the suspended sentences for the guy she didn’t kill, then we have more than 30 years safe from her as Tasha will be close to 70 years old when she again becomes eligible to take a test for a license and given her bodily damage from the drugs and alcohol her being medically fit to drive is not a given.

The bad part? There were almost no links in the Feed today, and every one was from outside the US except for the one about the guy trying to ride a stationary bike for more than 200 hours straight (well kinda straight because he gets 5 minutes off the bike for every hour he rides) and stationary bikes don’t fall under the purview of this blog. This is Witch on a Bicycle, not Witch on an Exercycle.

Up first because it’s our only link from North America is a hit-and-run in Toronto. Cyclist injured in hit and run The police are looking for a Ford F-150 in this case. I’m not surprized that the vehicle is an F-150. I don’t know if the situation is the same in Canada but in TX the Sh*t-Fifty attracts the most arrogant, self-centered drivers of any vehicle. They are the only ones who should be on the road and everyone else should either get out of their way or just get off the roads completely. Now this may be a case of confirmation bias on my part, so don’t take this as gospel.

Well, this is embarrassing, my second link from South Africa is busted now when I tried to pull it back up to do the paragraph. Synopsis the rider was on a mountain bike on a gravel road and crashed off the road and had to be airlifted out because he ended up so far away from the road and was so far out in the bush that transport back would have taken too long by ground. No word on why he crashed in the first place.

So, ride safe out there and remember the protocols to keep you safe, and use them.

Billed @$0.02, Opus

Getting Spooooky, and the Feed

Yes it’s getting spooky out there as the souls of unavenged cyclists killed by drivers that got away with it in this world moan in despair as their killers walk free… Can’t you hear them? I can every day.

Up first is another report on our favorite blonde b*tch, Tasha Borland. Oklahoma woman sentenced to 24 years in prison for striking two cyclists There is a little mis-communication there as Tasha hit 3 cyclists and killed 2 of them.

Still in the jurisprudence portion of the program, we have a trail date set on a MT hit-and-run. Trial date set in Seeley Lake fatal hit-and-run; plea agreement in works Perhaps we can get as favorable a plea agreement with this fiend as we did with the Blonde B*tch? This is even worse as the driver either took the cyclist’s shoes, or one of the shoes got caught in the truck and fell off near the house. This was a hit-from-behind wreck in the dark, use lights and hit-from-behind protocol to keep yourself out of a similar wreck.

An apparent hit-and-run in our nation’s capital. Cyclist struck at 6th and H NW Other than the news of the cyclist getting hit there isn’t much in this one. It was posted too early, before DCPD had time to find out what happened.

Surprize surprize, cops say a fellow cop did nothing wrong when he hit a cyclist. No charges against police officer following teenage cyclist’s death It doesn’t matter what country it happens in when a cop kills with a car the victim was at fault unless it gets caught on camera proving otherwise (and even then they’ll try to weasle out of it somehow).

A Enn Zed driver is sorry he killed a cyclist, but not sorry enough to not appeal his ridiculously light sentence. Driver remorseful after cyclist’s death Only 250 hours of community service and a 6 month ban on driving, and he’s appealing the sentence. I hope he gets prison time after the appeal.

And infrastructure news from Lala land. “Breakin’ the Law and Proud of It!” If those encharged with enforcing the laws don’t know the laws, what do you do?

And that’s all the news that gives me fits on this night before All Hallows’ Eve. Have a spoooooky weekend, and carb load with candy 😉

Billed @$0.02, Opus

No time to celebrate Tasha Borland, we got more dead and injured cyclists in the Feed

As much as I want to celebrate Tasha Borland’s first day in prison, I can’t. There were still dead and injured cyclists in the Feed this morning, and until I can go weeks between wreck reports and just give reports on bread baking and making beans and rice, and how far I rode the day before, well my job just ain’t close to being done. I will be done when hitting a cyclist with a car is as rare and garners as much outrage as an adult assaulting a child on the street.

Up first because I still like to gloat about it is another report on Tasha. Woman Sentenced In Cyclist Deaths To avoid, well don’t be a stupid b*tch and drink and take prescription meds that depress your judgement then climb behind the wheel of a potential killing machine when you’re only semi-conscious.

In the same state as us, but actually moving farther away from WoaB HQ, a hit-and-run in Corpus Christi TX. Police seek green Camaro, driver in killing of Flour Bluff cyclist Interesting comments that nobody blamed the cyclist for being there to get hit. On the other hand the evidence that the driver stopped to remove the damaged bicycle from under the car before leaving the cyclist to die is just disgusting.

Car-head thinking in an article on a right hook in NC. Woman slightly injured in truck-bike collision Even if you have a “green arrow” signal, you still have the onus to make sure there’s nothing in front of you that might have entered the intersection before the signal changed, like a slow-moving bicycle. In other words just because you have a green light doesn’t give you the right to hit something that’s slower than you but in front of you. For cyclists use intersection protocol to avoid a wreck like this, and don’t let a driver “courtesy” you into a wreck.

A cyclist is hit and injured just 10 blocks from the President’s crib. Bicyclist struck on Pennsylvania Ave. All I know about this wreck and how to avoid is that it seems to have been a mid-block so most likely you need to use the hit-from-behind protocols to avoid a similar situation. According to one of the comments in the comments section it was somebody pulling a U-turn across the bike lane, which in DC are in the middle of the road not on the edges. As this is not a common lane configuration I don’t have a protocol to avoid this situation. The closest one would be the left cross but using that would require dodging into the adjacent traffic lane. As the driver is also turning into that lane it is most likely empty but if the driver didn’t see you what guarantee is there that he would have seen a car coming?

Another report on that CA hit-and-run where witnesses split up and some tailed the driver while others helped the victim. Man killed in hit and run Yay concerned bystanders, boo drunken idiot driver, insert rant about cute kittens and anaphylactic shock. Maybe this driver and Tasha can be bunk buddies in prison?

And from India another injured cyclist was the straw that broke the camel’s back on a private bus service. Cyclist escapes Blueline death The cyclist was hit from behind while stopped at a traffic light and seriously injured. As a result local government has banned the private bus service Blueline from operation beginning this December because of the large number of deaths and injuries as a result of those vehicles, hundreds a year just in one city.

And that’s all the news that gives me fits.

Billed @ $0.02, Opus

Breaking news: Tasha Borland sentenced to 24 years!

There is a goddess and she likes bicyclists!

Borland given 24 years in prison

Not only that but after she gets out she has 6 years of probation to serve, which means if she screws up she goes back to prison. Also because of the crimes falling under the OK 85% law, she will have to serve more then 20 years in prison before they can even think about parole. So OK roads will be a tiny bit safer for the next 26 years as a minimum.

Tasha Borland is being sentenced today, why are you reading my blog? Get thee hence

Yes, they are sentencing Tasha Borland today. If it’s before 1PM and you live near Sand Springs get your butt to that courtroom and lend support to keeping her butt in prison for a very long time (and post a comment about it here no matter what happens).

Up first a teen driver fails to recognize trouble coming and hits a little girl on a bike. Bicyclist, 11, Killed By Teen Driver In Mesa The driver came on a car that was stopped at a crosswalk to let pedestrians cross, the little girl was with them and following at the rear, and the teen driver just came on through the crosswalk. This was a violation of basic safety rules (if there’s a vehicle stopped at a crosswalk you stop, too) as well as common sense. In this case there isn’t much a cyclist can do to avoid this kind of wreck except not ride. Seriously this is exactly like crossing with the light and getting hit by a red light runner, and the punishment for the driver that violated the crosswalk should be just the same as a driver that runs a red light and kills. Sadly enough it looks like that is exactly what’s going to happen, drivers that run red lights and hit cyclists are seldom even punished for the red light violation.

Another report on the man killed riding a stolen bicycle. Minneapolis bicyclist killed on bike he stole The wreck was very bad on this one. From the destruction I would say the truck barely slowed for the corner before hitting the cyclist. The stolen bike does not absolve the driver of the truck for what he did in running over the cyclist, this looked like the truck driver was either oblivious to the existence of the cyclist or deliberately tried to “buzz” the cyclist and mis-judged the speed of the cyclist. That said, bike thieves are scum, but they don’t deserve the death sentence.

Apparently even in the Great White North people can’t understand that a driver wasn’t paying attention to the road and ran over 5 cyclists from behind and only stopped because his vehicle was disabled by the impacts. Coroner can help explain Highway 112 deaths Seriously, this dude was spaced out on the roads, and should not have been driving, and several other people paid the price for his impairment. Why there were no charges filed I still can’t understand, had the driver hit 5 cars driving slowly on the same road he would have been in jail so fast that his pupils would have been on the same side of his nose. This quote floors me though:The police appear to have given the case the diligence it deserved but in the absence of clear proof of intent, dangerous driving, or criminal negligence, then charges plainly should not be laid.” There are several dead and injured on the road and 5 vehicles have been hit from behind, how much more evidence of dangerous driving do they need?

Infrastructure news! a NYC mom of a cyclist killed by a driver that was too stupid to live wants drivers taught that hitting cyclists is bad. Mom Wendy Clouse wants cyclist-safety course for motorists after her daughter’s tragic death Ms. Clouse, the driver that killed your daughter was unlicensed, even if there was such a course being taught with questions on the driver’s written test, this idiot wouldn’t have seen it and would have still killed your daughter.

Final infrastructure report is another side to the $8 million settlement reached with a lawyer in Seattle. Paralyzed cyclist Gendler receives settlement, but wants life back And I know the person that wrote the comment that the bridge was built before bikes had 1″ wide tires won’t see this, but does that mean the bridge was built prior to 1973? I had a used bike I bought in 1975 that had 27 x 1″ tires. Those tires were harder than heck to keep pumped up with the bicycle pumps available at the time, and don’t even get me started about the air hoses at gas stations.

And that’s all I got today, the rest of the feed was reports from Jolly Olde with lots of details about the personal lives and hair color of the victims, but nothing on the actual wrecks themselves which means I have nothing I can use in this blog to help save your life.

Billed @$0.02, Opus

Tasha Borland sentencing tomorrow, and the Feed

For those in the Sand Springs area of OK remember that tomorrow is the sentencing hearing for Tasha Borland. Remember the minimum she’s supposed to get is 3 1/2 years in prison with no possibility of parole, but I have the sneaking suspicion she’s going to walk. Show up at the hearing and show that she belongs in prison, and also that she needs to never drive again.

Up first are more reports on the right hook wreck that killed a man on a bike Monday. Man killed in bike-truck crash in downtown Mpls. The pictures in that link don’t show a normal right hook crash, the bike was destroyed front and rear. More Bicyclist Killed in Downtown Minneapolis Was Riding Stolen Bike This is an interesting tidbit, but it doesn’t absolve the driver of the truck that killed him. It does show that the rack the bike was stolen from needs more security.

Back in OK for a moment, the hunt for the killer of a cyclist is given back to Traffic division because Homicide couldn’t find the driver. Search for suspect continues in bicyclist’s death You know the first places I would check are windshield repair shops for people that replaced windshields in the week to 10 days after the wreck, but then I’m just a brain-damaged blogger, what do I know.

More on the battle to reduce the killer of the majority of the deceased cyclists in London. No More Lethal Lorries appeal stepped up A couple of points I agree with are the “Blaming blind spots = guilty” and the idea that off-road trucks are not suited for use in urban areas. Some of the rest is counter-productive in my eyes.

And something like infrastructure news, a lawyer who was made a quadraplegic by a hidden road defect wins $8 million in a settlement. Injured cyclist would trade $8 million settlement to get his life back I’m sure the worst nightmare for a defendant’s attorney is a crippled lawyer as plaintiff. The thing is this guy wasn’t the first to crash nor the last, but he was the guy with the resources to sue the pants off the people that caused all the wrecks. The thing I was glad to see was the defect in the road was repaired at a relatively low cost. Now had they done that immediately after the first bike wreck caused by the defect then they would have been $8 million heavier in the wallet, but people just don’t think about things like that.

I had a couple of links from wrecks in India, but those wrecks didn’t have enough information on how to avoid them to make it worth writing up in here. In India they are quick to assign blame for a wreck, but the media frequently doesn’t have a lot of actual information about the wreck that can be used to protect road users from future wrecks. I mean they give the license plate of the cars in wrecks, but not the directions and the places on the roads of the vehicles involved in the wreck.

Billed @$0.02, Opus

Back from the Lab Rat Keeper, to the grind, the Feed

Yes things got really ugly at the LRK (I had to take my shirt off) but I’m back down under 207 pounds (just barely, and no I didn’t take my shirt off before I got weighed).

Up first is a report on the funeral of the jogger that died on the Katy Trail MUP in Dallas. Service for Lauren Christine Huddleston, jogger killed in Katy Trial, accident is Thursday This was a good person that made a mistake and paid for it with her life. Please do not think badly of her but send her the kind of energy needed to go on to the next life. My previous post I wrote some unkind things about joggers. This was not a personal attack on Ms. Huddleston, rather a mind-set needed to keep you alert so that what happened to Ms. Huddleston doesn’t happen to anyone else. More on that very subject Pedestrians, cyclists hope to find unity in safer Katy Trail after jogger’s fatal collision

In the most deadliest state in the US to ride a bike, we aren’t even safe from the cops. Homestead sergeant hits, kills cyclist I’m going to ask the question before any of the car-heads ask the “other” question: “Why was the cop on the roads at 0400?” A vague vehicle description of the murder vehicle and rough time of day and date and a location somewhere on Homestead (blvd? Rd? Ave?) but not actually in Homestead proper. You would think you were reading a UK newspaper instead of the Miami Herald. Actually a UK paper would be more forthcoming with things like location and vehicle descriptions. Something reeks of cover-up on this one…

More on that Augusta GA wreck involving an Army doctor back from Iraq. Get rolling with some solutions In this case the comments are the real story here, but be careful. My mind is pre-exploded and I can’t get worse, but I can’t vouch for what condition your mind will be in when you read comments that haven’t been posted there as I create this post.

Another SWSS in Canada. Cyclist killed in north west OK if we can take this story at face value the old cyclist was wobbling along riding “salmon” and basically fell over in front of the truck. Since I don’t have access to pictures of the bicycle I can neither deny or confirm this report, but to avoid it as it’s written, first learn to ride safely under control at whatever speed your conditioning will allow you to attain, second, ride with traffic and not against it. An additional idea might be to ride a trike if balance is an issue.

It only took a few months to arrest and try a drunk driver in Scotland. Jail for drink-drive motorist who killed cyclist Contrast that to the Tasha Borland case where it was pretty cut-and-dried and it still took more than a year to get her to trial where she pleaded guilty.

Oz is a strange place, and they have strange wrecks there, Wallaby-Bicycle Crash Leaves Australian Woman in Critical Condition I have no idea how to avoid a wreck with a wallaby, or any other critter that decides to decamp in the road.

A wreck that is more about third world standards for driver training and vehicle maintanence than it is about bicycles. Cyclist killed, 12 kids hurt as school bus overturns Note that the bus driver “escaped” from the wreck leaving both his passengers and the cyclist unattended.

And that’s all the news that gives me fits today.

Billed @$0.02, Opus