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

Advertisement

Richard Nicodemus, SMIDSY

I have been debating with myself if I should relay this report, because I’m a member of the rather small community to which this man belonged even though we never actually met. One of my passions is building Human Powered Vehicles for both transportation and competition, and Mr. Nicodemus was also a competitor (that participated to a much more involved degree than I ever had the opportunity). He was hit as he rode his recently repainted Lightning F40 streamliner on a training ride by a vehicle that pulled out of a driveway as he was passing. This is a picture of Mr. Nicodemus’ ride before he painted the nose HiVis yellow

As you can see this was not a small bike, and the fairing made it even larger visually, plus the color at the time of the wreck was that obnoxiously bright and ugly neon yellow that everyone thinks that all cyclists should be dressed head to toe in. The driver that killed him swears he never saw Mr. Nicodemus until impact, something I find … improbable. I don’t know if the bodysock was replaced with the HiViz color or if the fabric part of the fairing remained bright red behind the yellow nose. If any bike should have been easily seen it would have been this one in either color scheme. I don’t know what will make drivers start seeing cyclists if this cyclist was missed.

I’m angry about this, and frustrated beyond measure. This was a member of my community, and his life was just snuffed out like a candle, by a person that might as well been blind at the controls of a motor vehicle, and at this point there doesn’t even look like there will be much more than a traffic ticket if even that. Even after letting my anger cool for 2 days since I first saw this I’m still having a hard time coming up with words I can use to express my outrage and anger over both the initial killing, and the “Oh, hum” response from LEO about it.

PSA, Opus

Link light, but heavyweight content, the Feed

Only 2 links in the Feed today, but they were heavyweights.

Up first, because it’s (almost) good news, a hit-and-run driver turns himself in after being identified. Hit & Run Suspect Turns Himself In How nice that the police didn’t have to break your door down to find you, now that you have sobered up and destroyed the evidence of your drunkenness when you were driving. I hope they “forget” where you are.

An experienced and skilled rider is hit from behind and killed in WI. Cyclist killed in Town of Summit accident I hate that word, “accident”. It implies that there is no fault, nothing that could be done, no agency that could have prevented this killing, when in reality had the unnamed 20 YO driver paid attention to what was in the road in front of the vehicle, slowed down, and passed when safe, then nothing would have happened except perhaps a few seconds’ delay in the driver’s trip. Instead we have one life ended and another ruined. And that’s an “accident”…

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

Billed @$0.02, Opus