It’s (almost) cold in Texas in August, and the Feed

I had to get up early for some church business and a chunk of arctic air has made it all the way down to the Beautiful Suburbs of Hell, leaving the morning low at what feels like 0°F but what was really 65°. I mean it was just a couple of days ago that we were experiencing 100°F temperatures, going from heat indexes of 109 to 65 is similar to stepping into the walk in freezer from a 72° room. Unfortunately since all the screens are torn out of the windows we can’t open any windows to enjoy cool air that hasn’t been artificially refrigerated, so the AC units are still running every so often to rid the house of the excess heat produced by two adult bodies, the computer and fridge. Add to that the heavy overcast means we have to turn on the lights to see where we are walking inside the house and we are still using more electricity than we should. Once again this is life in Texas. Update, today’s high was only 78°F.

Up first is the sad evidence of what a toll affluenza takes on a community. Teen who killed cyclist in DUI hit-and-run sentenced to 1 year, 10 days Kill a human while you drive drunk and stoned and rich and you get a lesser sentence than a poor person who kicked and injured a dog. Congratulations judge, you have now made human life worth less than an injured dog.

After that I need a palate cleanser to keep me from putting a fist through my laptop. Photos: Until Dogs Can Bike, Here’s The Best Use Of Dogs And Citi Bike The dogs (except the lazy little white one in the lower right corner) are dragging the cyclist down the street.

Still in NYC, NYPD says FU to a pedestrian killed by with a bus. Woman Fatally Struck By MTA Bus Driver In Midtown This Morning The picture is of a different wreck than reported in the article. It’s a stock picture for this outlet.

Our Daily Ted. Morning Links: The Mobility Plan bikelash has begun, and I go off on an unintended rant

A NE cyclist is killed at an intersection. Lincoln man dies in bike-van crash No word on how many “witnesses” who saw the cyclist running the red light were not driving the van that killed the cyclist.

More on the MI cyclist killed while on a charity ride. Memorial ride planned while investigation into Muskegon-area death of Lake Orion cyclist continues Still no word on a suspect, nothing on a weapon vehicle being processed.

A NM cyclist survives impact with a motor vehicle. Roswell boy riding bike injured in collision with car Hit from behind, cyclist blamed for not having “enough” lights or reflectors. “Police said the bike did not have adequate reflectors and lighting.” So in other words the cyclist is blamed for the driver not looking for bicycles.

A ME cyclist is left-crossed and then blamed for the wreck. Woman injured in bicycle-car accident in Belfast Note the narrative, the cyclist “ran into” the car, not the car cut off the cyclist.

Two years after a cyclist is killed by bad infrastructure in SC there are still no plans in place to fix the infrastructure. Mother pleas for changes to Carolina Forest Blvd. after cyclist is hit “The plans to add those bike lanes and walking paths and make Carolina Forest Boulevard a four lane road still have to be approved and added to a referendum that voters will see next year.”

Important infrastructure news from Portland OR. Portland Police now making Vision Zero part of standard procedure

First of two cyclists killed in OH. 14-year-old struck and killed while riding bike It appears to have been a hit-from-behind wreck, possibly a SWSS.

Second death wasn’t a crash. Teen Riding His Bike Shot and Killed in Linden Neighborhood Nothing you can do about getting shot riding in your own ‘hood.

The absolute worse thing that can happen short of death or dismemberment. Help injured North Providence cyclist who lost his bike to thieves Vultures, that’s the most complementary thing I can say about the thieves. There is a special sub-circle of Hell for bike thieves, where they are always late for getting out of Hell because someone stole their bike…

Why are they giving this scum any air time? Gainesville cast member Brian Bunting recently jailed, has multiple arrest history “In late March of 2011, Bunting was involved in an accident that took the life of an Arizona cyclist participating in a Bike Florida event.” He “dropped” his cell hone and drove his F250 into a crowd of cyclists. “(A)nd in February of 2012 was fined $1,000.” And this is why FL kills more cyclists and pedestrians per capita than every state almost every year.

Part of the reason why bicycle commuting is getting bigger in the Crescent City. New Orleans’ transit system still hasn’t recovered, 10 years after Katrina

Good infrastructure from the Great White North. Spotted: A utility vehicle blocking the bike lanes created a temporary bike lane

Also from the Great White North. Quebec City officer charged with dangerous driving causing death of cyclist Hey, it’s not like anyone actually told him that doing the PIT manuever on a cyclist could result in running over the cyclist, and you were supposed to actually catch the cyclist with your hands instead of chasing him down alone in a car.

More crap infrastructure in the UK is blamed for a cyclist’s death by semi. Tollbar Island inquest: Family of dead cyclist do not blame lorry driver Good thing about the infrastructure being blamed is you are allowed to sue the responsible government body for damages in the UK.

Now he’s sorry, at the scene he was blaming the cyclists for getting in the way and being slow, in the bike lane. Sydney driver Thomas Kerr apologises in court to seven injured cyclists I’m sorry, but when you hit 7 cyclists riding single file in the bike lane you are not allowed to say “Oops, I’m sorry!” and get away with it.

Last link is from Enn Zed. Tech savvy triathlete plotting safe cycle routes My fear is knowledge of these routes is going to be used against an injured cyclist in court.

And that’s all. I’m tired, my everything hurts, and I think I just cussed out my wife by accident. The semi-lethal cursing, the one that causes smoking hair and burning synthetic clothes. Remember, stop, drop, and roll. Then call for help because a woman in her 60s isn’t supposed to be dropping or rolling.

Billed @€0.02, Opus the Unkillable Badass Poet

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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 is gonna hurt, and the Feed

I am taking a break from filtering because 1) my butt is getting tired, and B. my brain is getting slightly crispy around the edges as I deal with some monumentally stupid/trollish comments left on some articles, and π) I need to go hit something. I figure a punch-a-pillow break is better than any of my alternatives.

Up first because “why not?” is Our Daily Ted. Morning Links: Hollywood bike parking becomes a homeless site; a blogger argues bike lane air is bad for LA kids While bike lane air is “bad” the consequences of sitting in traffic in a light armored vehicle are orders of magnitude worse.

And Pt. 2 of Our Daily Ted. 22-year old alleged sidewalk rider killed in South LA hit-and-run How do they know the cyclist “swerved” off the sidewalk in a hit-and-run? And every time I see the word “Slauson” I think this. I used to watch that stuff when it was new. Yes, I already know I’m old…

Another link to the driver banned from owning a cell phone for 2 years. Cellphone ban for driver who killed cyclist is ‘a reminder every day,’ judge says The driver is allowed to use WiFi devices, but anything that directly connects to any cell phone system.

One of the most deeply held tenets of WoaB is “Don’t hit the pedestrians.” Pedestrian Suing Cyclist After Collision On Dearborn Street From the comments section the entire suit is a pack of lies intended to prey upon the prejudices of the (potential) jury, the pedestrian in question walked into the cyclist’s path while walking in the bike lane instead of crossing it, the equivalent of walking down the middle of a street, and the bike was equipped with two independent braking systems, fixie with a front brake. Still, DON’T HIT THE PEDESTRIANS!

OK this one is bizarre beyond words. Bicyclist injured in downtown Woodland accident Adrenaline can be a scary thing. It can make you really stupid, so that you get up and run away from getting hit with a car hard enough to smash the windshield hard enough to spray broken glass on the front seat occupants… Something got this cyclist wound up on adrenaline before he got hit, because there wasn’t enough time for any adrenaline from the wreck to kick in so that he could get up and run away from the wreck like that.

This IL story is a bit better than the one in an earlier paragraph. The ‘Wheel’ Deal: Flossmoor Cop Gifts Bike Crash Victim with a New Ride

I’m including this for a single sentence from LEO, the most sane thing I have ever read credited to a LEO. Cyclist killed by tractor trailer was on way home from work Did you see it, or has it been deleted? “Police say Goodrow was not wearing a helmet but suspect it would have made little difference.” Really, a styrofoam hat against 50K pounds or more of truck and trailer? And regarding the lights and reflectors the VA Vehicle code reads “… shall be equipped with a headlight on the front emitting a white light visible in clear weather from a distance of at least 500 feet to the front and a red reflector visible from a distance of at least 600 feet to the rear when directly in front of lawful lower beams of headlights on a motor vehicle.” So the rear reflector (without a light) was within the law, and the cyclist was hit from behind so the headlight was moot. The truck driver should have seen the cyclist but failed to pass safely.

From NYC another pedestrian is mowed down. 5-Year-Old Boy Struck By Driver On Prospect Park West

More on the Trek QR recall. 3 Reasons Why You May Have a Trek Bicycle Injury Lawsuit And I have one very good reason why you don’t have a valid lawsuit: in order for the “defective” QR to cause the problem it did you have to leave the QR in the open position. The equivalent would be to fail to tighten the lug nuts on your Chevy and then sue GM when the wheel falls off…

While we are in the figurative WI courtroom. Homicide charges loom for driver who hit, killed 2 bicyclists in Muskego I thought there must be foul play in order to hit 2 cyclists and kill them both…

More on the cyclist killed riding USBR 36 in IL. From the view of a cyclist The comments section was toxic. Literally toxic.

From the Great White North. Battlefield bike ride across Europe to aid injured soldiers If any of my Canadian reader$ feel $o inclined…

And court news from Jolly Olde. Bus driver in court over Washington cyclist’s death Still don’t know anything about what happened because of UK media laws, except that LEO think the bus driver “did it” whatever “it” was.

More on those detection systems planned for testing in London. Thermal cameras will watch for waiting cyclists and turn traffic lights green Typical comments about cyclists not paying a tax that hasn’t existed since 1937 in the comment section…

And one wonders what will happen to the program in the last paragraph in light of this report. Tories withdraw £23m of promised spending for cycling in latest cuts

Remembering a cyclist killed by an overloaded semi in Oz. Family honours Brisbane cyclist as memorial mural unveiled at accident site on Annerley Road The truck hit the underside of the bridge and fell on the cyclist riding to the side as the truck passed.

And trying to make the death mean something. Cyclist’s widow calls for inner city truck ban I see a workable compromise: Trucks move in the ban area by trip permit only with bicycle outriders fore and aft to keep the truck from running anyone over. Truck moves no faster than bicycle speed so no cyclists would be endangered by them. Make the permits non-profit (just administrative costs only) and the costs for the cyclists either on a per-mile rate or a per-job rate with a mileage or time limit per job and a new permit required for each trip in and out of the ban zone, each permit good for one round trip in and out of the ban zone. Cyclists get full employment, other road users are protected, and goods are still delivered to destinations inside the “no truck” zone.

And I’m outta links and patience. I wanna watch some tube and veg out.

Billed @€0.02, Opus the Poet

Why do we have a for-profit health care system, and the Feed

Contact has been made with my PCP concerning the GOP presidential candidate sitting on the back of my neck (“ugly lump of useless fat” for the people not among my Facebook friends). There was a 3 working day delay caused by my HMO having to approve of the surgery and the surgeon I was getting sent to. Remind me again why we don’t have a single-payer system like the UK, where stuff like this only takes a day? I mean obviously, this thing has been on the back of my neck for almost a decade now so it probably isn’t going to kill me (again), but still the MRI came back as “atypical” so this also isn’t something that can be ignored until it goes away. I will hear back from the surgeon on scheduling later today or early tomorrow.

The Bug Story today is from Oz as a Fox Sports announcer is found guilty of hitting a cyclist. Bosnich pleads guilty to reckless driving which injured cyclist and Mark Bosnich pleads guilty to charge of reckless driving after road rage incident also Bosnich knocked cyclist down: court And of course they got a plea bargain that never mentioned assault with a deadly weapon when the driver turned his vehicle at the cyclist and hit him with it, knocking him to the ground with numerous injuries.

Our Daily Ted, round 1. Morning Links: LAPD ordered to turn over video of bike rider beating, and Redlands riders do the right thing Surprise, surprise, LAPD beat a cyclist half to death and he was not white.

Our Daily Ted, part the second. Guest post: BAC Vice Chair Glenn Bailey reports on efforts to undo the Chase Street road diet and bike lanes This was the meeting that may have had an illegal agenda item added at the last minute. In TX the item would have been illegal to discuss since the agenda had already been published.

In today’s NYC news, the DA actually grew a pair and indicted a killer driver. Driver Charged With Manslaughter For Killing LES Pedestrian The driver was doing 55 in a 25 zone and attempted to flee but hit a fire hydrant on a crowded sidewalk and could not continue driving. The hydrant probably saved having several more victims.

Usually “Take your kid to work day” does not include teaching bicycle theft. Stroller-Pushing Bike Thief Has Allegedly Stolen $16K In Bikes

And a bit Upstate from The City, drunk asshole in a Camaro takes out his and two other vehicles when he’s prevented from excessively speeding. Video: Sociopathic Camaro Driver Causes Terrifying Highway Crash The Camaro driver was tested at more than twice the legal limit for BAC%.

Apparently driving while blind is not a crime in NE. Prosecutor will not charge woman in crash that killed cyclist The cyclist was riding a recumbent tricycle with an 8 foot tall flag on the back. If you can’t see a normal-sized adult human with an 8 foot tall flag in the road, please stop driving immediately and seek medical attention.

Not your average wreck in South Africa. Cyclist trampled to death by giraffe in South Africa Usually the traffic I have to wrangle is more 4-wheel than 4-foot.

More on the Scottish clamor for presumptive liability in civil cases where a cyclist is hit by a motor vehicle. Cyclists call for ‘presumption of liability’ against motorists in civil cases Yeah, we cyclists are just throwing ourselves against light armored vehicles in the hopes of getting a huge lawsuit payout… And I have a bridge in AZ I want to get off my hands. Used to be owned by a nice English lady named Elizabeth…

After the second cyclist is killed by a truck turning across the bike lane at a badly-designed intersection in NOLA legislation to restrict truck traffic is considered. Cyclist’s death spurs bill to ban hazardous material trucks on St. Claude, North Claiborne Note that there was nothing done to change the bad intersection, just to restrict hazardous cargo from using it.

More infrastructure news from Portland. East Portlanders want one mode of transportation prioritized above all others, survey finds They just want to be able to cross the street without having to play “Frogger”.

There has been a paradigm shift in city planning while nobody was looking. End of the car age: how cities are outgrowing the automobile

It’s about that time again. National Bike Month: Hupy and Abraham celebrates safety and awareness and Community encouraged to participate in Bicycle Month Notional Bike Month, or as I see it National This Blog Is Important Month. I’m hoping I can get Blue up and running and be healed up from neck surgery by the Ride of Silence. Last year was terrible for me as I couldn’t see where I was going because my helmet was hitting the lump on the back of my neck.

Speaking of that lump, the surgeon did not call today, but I at least know his last name: Ritter. And thanks to the powers of the Internet I know something about him.

Billed @€0.02, Opus the Poet

Happy St. Patrick’s Day, and a humongous Feed

I just opened the Feed folder in my inbox, saw how many links I have to open and filter to decide if I want to include them that I knew I was going to get at least one computer crash from excessive flash animated ads and wanted to get at least one paragraph saved to WP before I Filtered. After weeks of wearing long pants and sweatshirts (yes I know it was only a few days, stick with me on this one) I’m now sweating in shorts and a (ANSI Safety Lime green) wicking polo shirt in my office. Seriously, it went from 59°F to 77°F in my office in 3 days and I normally turn the AC on when it hits 78. I haven’t had time to acclimate to being warm yet, it wasn’t even this warm yesterday when I was doing that trouble-shooting ride on the new trike. We went from deep winter to summer in a long weekend, with the sounds of lawnmowers filling the air where only last week people were shovelling snow and sleet off their sidewalks. I hope you are enjoying this, because I think it would be freaking hilarious if it was happening to someone else.

Also the entire house is permeated with the smell of corned beef and cabbage cooking as Mrs. the Poet prepares our traditional St. Paddy’s Day dinner. I think I may have mentioned that I am descended from a long line of Irish bards and scholars (for a while that was a redundant phrase as bards were the keepers and purveyors of History among the Irish) so of late we have been getting a little more into our roots, at least culinarily. I have a recipe for Irish Soda Bread that is basically a one-pound buttermilk biscuit made from whole wheat flour, we have about a hundred ways to prepare potatoes, and every March 17 we have corned beef and cabbage for dinner.

Up first the story that is reverberating across the Internet about a callous hit and run in the UK. Teenage Cyclist Hit By Car Told ‘Sorry, I Can’t Stop, It Would Upset My Kids’ and Mum releases shocking photo of cyclist son’s bloodied face after motorist ‘failed to stop’ also UK teen cyclist hit by car told: Sorry, can’t stop, your blood would upset my kids, we’re late for school The blood would upset her kids? What about the kid shedding said blood because of her (presumed) husband’s bad driving? Things like this are what places the category “people in cars” on my version of Sydney Scoville’s “List”. My elder daughter has a much shorter “list” : “I hate people.” followed by a short list of exceptions.

And a stark reminder of where the real danger comes from on the roads. Homeowner cheats death after driver lost control of car and ploughed into KITCHEN Hey! was that house properly painted in HiViz so the driver could see it? And this is the part I really liked: “The building was deemed structurally unsafe and the property was evacuated along with a neighbouring house.” The house was so dangerous they had to get people out of the house that was hit and the house next door in case it collapsed. This is why I compare motor vehicles to artillery in degree of danger.

Another story that is gaining momentum but not at the same rate is a “joke” hate-filled rant by a purveyor of artisanal meats on his company blog. BiteClub: Sebastopol butcher’s cyclist rant sparks outrage and ‘I hate cyclists’ blog post ignites Internet firestorm I did have three more links to this story but they have been deleted since I initially filtered the links. Suffice it to say that the links that were deleted were very hot responses to the also deleted blog post.

Or Daily Ted. Morning Links: NoCal meat man meets justified anger from cyclists; getting ready for Sunday’s Valley CicLAvia

One wonders if this person just does not like people spending time (and money) in her town. SAUSALITO LEADERS CONSIDER CAP ON BIKES ENTERING CITY STREETS First of all, there is the logistics of the proposal, how would they even enforce it? Second, why bicycles that take up little space, are quiet, and non-polluting, but not cars that are none of those?

If you want to kill someone in this country look for someone riding a bicycle. Novi man gets 1 year for killing bike rider and Novi man gets 1 year for killing Port Huron cyclist This point has been made many times, if you want to get away with murder, don’t drink, and hit a cyclist from behind and claim blindness (“I didn’t see him”), and stay at the scene of the wreck.

A little good infrastructure news from OR. Bill in legislature would legalize safe crossings against unresponsive red lights I can’t tell you how many times I have waited 5 or more minutes at a traffic light that does not sense my presence but there is too much cross traffic to run the light…

Community news from where my brother lives. Hundreds turn out for ‘Come Clean for Jae’ community bike ride

Legal update on a wreck in the UK. St Margarets-at-Cliffe van driver Philip Sinden knew fatal crash cyclist Daniel Squire, jury hears And he persists in the SWSS “rode off the pavement (sidewalk) right in front of me” narrative. Stupid git.

Aww, the killer is sad. Is he sad because he killed a little old lady, or because there is a slight chance he may get a small prison sentence? Worcestershire trucker fought back tears at Dudley woman’s crash death inquest

More on the idiot cyclist that almost killed a couple riding a tandem when he ran a red light and crashed into their bike. Cyclist who hit tandem after pulling wheelie while going through red light pleads guilty to dangerous cycling Dollars to doughnuts the cyclist will get a stiffer sentence/fine/community service than a driver that killed.

Less than 4% of traffic, but killed more than 50% of cyclists killed, and most of those were women. Why are lorries responsible for so many cyclist deaths? There is something going on here, and I suspect it is vehicles not suited for the purpose (The HGV).

A little lifestyle in Oz. Close encounter led to long road back

And another Oz passing bill hits their legislature. Drivers to leave cyclists a one-metre buffer when overtaking, under proposed road rule change

And I’m done, and nearly done for.

Billed @€0.02, Opus the Poet

$@*& Texas’ weather, and the Feed

OK there is a measurable accumulation of snow on the ground and slush filling the streets that will freeze into an unrideable mess come sundown, possibly an undrivable mess for going to RPG in the morning. You can see from this picture of the place our lunch guest was eating his squirrel yesterday that we do have what Mrs. the Poet refers to as “snew”.

Our guest from yesterday would have a hard time finding where his squirrel went in this mess.

Up first an example of why the Dutch have the best bicycle infrastructure. Dutch provinces to examine ‘rapid’ cycle paths What is being proposed here are real “cycle superhighways” that are grade separated even from other bicycle infrastructure, for riders and pedal-powered vehicles that cruise significantly faster than the 15-20 km/hr that cyclists average around town. This route runs over by David Hembrook but I don’t see anything there about the route…

A little closer to home the widow of a dead FL cyclist is suing over the 3rd nearly identical fatality in 4 years in nearly the same place (and by “nearly” I mean within a few feet). Widow of Key Biscayne cyclist files lawsuit and Wrongful death suit filed by widow of bicyclist killed on Rickenbacker Causeway The only thing that kept this from having 3 hit-and-runs was one of the weapon vehicles being rendered hors du combat by one of the bicycles in the wreck.

Our Daily Ted. Weekend Links: Own your own bicycle coffee café, slower driving works in Scotland, and WeHo candidate surveys

I really need to stop calling these “lifestyle” links, but my broken brain won’t let that word go. So what would be a better word to describe these? Family say cyclist killed in HGV collision was not ‘a risk taker on the roads’ Really, there has to be a better word for it than “lifestyle” because it isn’t lifestyle.

And over on this side of the pond a woman is killed riding home from work, but people remember more about how she lived than what killed her. Bicyclist killed in Plainfield Avenue crash remembered as ‘happy go lucky’

A UK driver facing actual consequences for killing a cyclist? Man to face trial over death of cyclist Terry Brown in Warrington

Update on the consequences of a wreck from years back (that we covered some here) in Oz. Truck driver jailed over cyclist’s Dutton Park railway bridge crushing death I remember this wreck as one of those I assigned to the “unavoidable by human cyclists” category. And the 8 month prison sentence is just beyond words for me. The cyclist involved didn’t even have time for an “Oh, shit!” before he died under a mountain or broken glass bottles.

We may never know what happened to Bono that day… BONO WORKING HARD TO RECOVER FROM BIKE WRECK, PREP FOR U-2 VANCOUVER CONCERT START When someone claims memory loss from a head injury (and Bono without a doubt had a severe head injury) there just is no point in asking what happened. Most of what I “remember” from my wreck is from people who were there telling me afterwards. My personal memory of the wreck ends with being yelled at just before impact.

WA decides to make a federal guideline law. Olympia Update: SSB 5438 – Faulty Traffic Signals Bill – Moves Forward This bill makes law the “Wait 2 minutes or 2 cycles” federal guideline.

IA decides to make sharing a lane with a bicycle illegal unless the bicycle rider chooses to do it. <a href="[Action Alert] Safe Passing Bill in Iowa House That’s right, a “change lanes to pass” bicycle law.

Not to be outdone SD also has a passing law wending its way through the process. Safety zone to pass bicyclists gains tailwind # feet to pass when the speed limit is under 35, 6 feet everywhere else.

More on the proposed CA helmet law. The Best Reasons Not to Support the Helmet Bill #SB192

Also in CA is this little slice of heavenly infrastructure. Why BART Bike Stations Are Actually Very Cool

And in the same city. SFPD Cops Shoot and Kill Suspected Bike Thief and SF OFFICERS SHOOT ARMED SUSPECT TRYING TO ROB CYCLIST IN MISSION DISTRICT As a victim of bike theft myself I say “If that’s the way he tried to do it, then that’s the way he made it go.”

An indictment of what passes for bicycle “infrastructure” in London UK. More than 20,000 cyclist accidents in London over five years That is 4600 people hit and injured severely enough to require a report to the police a year on average, or more than 12 injured cyclists a day, every day.

And a real lifestyle story, one that means something to the disabled vet writing the blog. Wounded Warriors ride together to heal

And I have run out of links again.

Billed @€0.02, Opus

I’m exhausted and sore, and now I have a full day’s work to do on the blog post, and the Feed

Remember that paying gig I mentioned in passing yesterday? It came through. Unfortunately it came through for about 7 hours right in the middle of opening up the Feed folder in my e-mail. About 7 hours of work putting together an adult tricycle for someone I had previously offered to build a recumbent or crank-forward bike, but who decided that a more traditional adult tricycle was more to her tastes and riding style, so she bought one in a big box from a big box store. That meant she would need someone who could take it out of the box, inventory the parts etc. until a working adult tricycle was sitting on the ground with her on it. I estimated that would take about 2 hours, told the customer it would take “probably” 3, and more than 6 hours later the trike was finished. Since I had promised this nice lady a trike as a gift I “accepted” a Powerball ticket and some Reese’s Peanut Butter Eggs for Mrs. the Poet’s Valentine’s Day present. Speaking of that Powerball ticket the first payout of the 30 annual payments comes to $5,415,892.62 after taxes and 10% to the church, while the cash payout for the Texas Lottery drawing the same day is $5,620,000 before taxes and any charitable contributions made as a bribe for deity favor towards winning.

What to put up first was a hard decision tonight, but I think these links to this major story might be the winner. NYC Adding Truck Side Guards to Protect Pedestrians, Cyclists and NYC Adding Safety Guards To 240 City Trucks In 2015 Somebody was looking at the numbers, and just like in London, big trucks are disproportionate in their representation in fatality statistics. So one kind of fatal wreck that is particular to big trucks is cyclists, pedestrians, and small cars getting run over by the back tires when the truck turns or changes lanes and the pedestrian, cyclist, or small car is in one of the many huge blind spots alongside the truck. Since apparently eliminating the blind spot is an intractable engineering problem an interim solution is something that will shove the pedestrian, cyclist, or small car away from the rear wheels. This seems to have a higher success rate than trying to eliminate the blind spots.

These stickers are pretty useless here in the Beautiful Suburbs of Hell, but I might buy some anyway. Passive Aggressive Sticker Campaign Targets Bike Lane Blockers Yep in order to have bike lane blockers you first need a bike lane to block, something that is sadly lacking here.

Ted Rogers was busy this weekend, unfortunately. Palm Desert bike rider killed in early morning collision; DUI suspected and Weekend Links: OC hit-and-run driver charged in death of PCH cyclist; fund set to help injured bike rider also Bike rider dies after January hit-and-run in West Covina; third bike rider killed in SoCal this year even Morning Links: Waking the sleeping giant in LA and Pasadena, and a gut-wrenching Colorado hit-and-run Dude, I feel for you today. This is like one of my worst days back when I was covering wrecks, because you know the wreck locations personally.

Meanwhile in FL, the victim of a drunk driver and the other cyclist that barely survived the wreck were remembered at the event they had been training for. More Than A Thousand Kick-Off The Dolphins Cycling Challenge and Cyclist killed near Key Biscayne remembered at tri-county race

What is more important people’s lives or a few parking places? Hold on a second, there are opposing opinions on this question. Will the SFMTA Board Demand Complete Protected Bike Lanes on Polk Street? I have a simple solution, go to the merchants responsible and ask outright how many cyclist and pedestrian deaths and serious injuries are “their” parking spots worth, then charge them that in taxes every time someone is killed or injured on their block because of a failure in the infrastructure to protect them. I think after maybe the second pedestrian death or seriously injured cyclist (my wreck cost more than a quarter of a million dollars just for the first two hospital stays, and I went back 3 more times).

Seattle’s Second Ave. is seriously sub-standard by the CROW manual, but when your choices are “sub-standard” and “constantly terrifying and frequently fatal” sub-standard looks pretty good. Seattle’s Second Ave. should inspire Comm. Ave. plans Seriously, this is amazing bicycle infrastructure by US and UK standards, but criminal by the CROW manual. But, baby steps are better than no steps at all.

Speaking if UK “infrastructure”… Things are improving for cyclists, but painfully slowly And by “painfully” she means with many deaths, broken bones, much road rash, and other assorted injuries.

And the legal infrastructure in Jolly Olde ain’t that great either. Report into road death investigations makes scathing findings about training, processes and victim support Yep UK prosecution of drivers that hit cyclists is rife with bias even against cyclists dressed like glow-in-the-dark clowns and lighted like Christmas trees for “not being visible enough”.

Last link is about lifestyle. Lexington man biking across country in memory of woman killed in Scott County There are far too many memorial rides, mainly because there are far too many reasons to have memorial rides.

And that’s all I have tonight, and I desperately want to have a lie down so my back with stop hurting.

Billed @€0.02, Opus the Poet (still an unkillable badass, but nobody ever said that was painless)

Someone I know has died, and the Feed

A person I have had conversations with over the Internet has been killed by a right hook while riding in the bike lane in PDX. Kirke Johnson was one of the more if not the most prolific senders of links to this blog, and the body sock on his LWB ‘bent was ANSI Safety Lime in the latest picture I saw of him and his bike. Links: Collision involving FedEx truck kills man riding on Cornell Road in Cedar Mill also Bicyclist killed in crash with semi truck in Cedar Mill and Longtime PCC employee, bike enthusiast killed when hit by FedEx truck and finally Friends remember Kirke Johnson, identified as man killed in Cedar Mill collision

A graphic that shows why large trucks should not be allowed in urban areas (not what the poster was trying to show). What Cyclists Need To Know About Trucks The original purpose of posting the graphic was to show cyclists how to ride safely around large trucks, but the effect is a demonstration of why large trucks should not be allowed in places where there will be large numbers of pedestrians or cyclists.

More on Bono’s wreck. Bono Undergoes Surgery After N.Y.C. Bike Accident Seriously now, what did he hit to cause that kind of damage? How fast was he going? If he ran into something just off the bike path, what kind of diversion or other mitigation was available to reduce the impact of a cyclist getting forced off the road in this location. Notice that I am framing this as an infrastructure problem, not blaming Bono for the wreck, as all the reports are that he went off the path to avoid another cyclist.

Still in NYC, a cop tackles a cyclist off his bike to give him a ticket for “running” a red light. Photo: Cop Tackles Cyclist In Canal Street GOTCHA! Bike Trap and Precinct Where Drivers Killed Seniors in Crosswalks Ramps Up Bike Tickets and the source Ticket Tackling, or How the NYPD Pulls Over Cyclists on Canal Street As one person in the comments section pointed out this would be like doing the PICT maneuver and wrecking someone’s car for running a red light without ever showing lights or using the siren.

Still in NYC, bike lanes will continue to be built at the same rate as before. De Blasio’s DOT Will Build Bike Lanes At Bloomberg-Era Rate As pointed out in the picture at the top of the article, cops need a place to park when they are making donut runs.

Update on the gun-toting VA driver that buzzed 5 cyclists earlier this month. Driver arrested in Richmond for threatening cyclists with gun

A little lesson on riding in a peloton from Oz. Cyclists code of conduct aimed at educating bunch riders

I can’t help it, I just went “D’aaawww” when I read the headline… Cyclist on world tour pedals 200 miles across Turkey with injured stray dog in a specially-made basket to find it a new home

And those were all the links I could find that didn’t make me crazy(er).

Billed @€0.02, Opus the unkillable badass Poet