OK I’m taking a step back because really stupid people pushed me into it

I’m posting this in response to something on Twitter yesterday that I read after posting yesterday’s post. The post was to the effect that because cyclists choose to ride in the roads we are responsible for what happens to us.

First is the false “choice” of riding in the street. If you want to get someplace you have no bicycle infrastructure for 99+% of all trips so it’s not a “choice” to ride in the street. It is a necessity.

Second we are not the ones using WMD as transportation that kills ~40K people/annum directly by impact and another million or so by pollution, and that’s just in the US. So it’s drivers killing cyclists, not cyclists forcing drivers to kill us. Drivers are not paying proper attention to traffic (and bicycles are traffic) and cyclists are suffering for their inattention. Or for their choice to drive on short trips. And for their demands for free storage for their property when not in use has literally destroyed city centers.

And for you not reading my recent posts I have a soft spot in my heart for cars, when used in an appropriate manner like motorsports in a controlled environment, or making long trips between places not served by any form of public transit like rural areas. Cars are a good fit for rural areas, but then we try to force them into urban areas where they are a crappy fit or worse. Unfortunately I’m not smart enough to figure out how to bridge between areas where cars are a good fit and cars are bad-to-deadly-on-a-daily-basis fit. I mean I’m no dummy, people in rural areas need cars and light to heavy trucks for their daily lives or they will be forced into poverty. On the other side of the coin those same cars and trucks are killing people in cities. And they are not so good for rural people either.

The real problem is we have baked automobilism into our economies so much that trying to prevent the harm it causes will cause as much harm as the harm we prevent, just of a different kind. To put this in a different perspective it’s like you have a cancer that will kill you painfully in a few weeks, and the operation to cure the cancer will kill you in a year, but it won’t hurt much. Either way you still die ahead of schedule. And there are times when it would be so much easier to be an absolutist instead of looking on both sides of the argument.

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This looks like an easy day for posting the Feed

I know this won’t go out until after midnight so that I can catch that last update from the search service I use, but it also looks like I will get a break to watch TV or modify the vacuum cleaner so that even though the beater bar won’t work it will still get the loose stuff off the top of the rug. Modifying the cleaner is a temp step to clean things up a little until Mrs. the Poet can decide on what kind of new vacuum cleaner she wants.

OK I worked for a couple of hours on the vacuum cleaner and besides the beater bar belt constantly getting thrown and chewed up it turns out the real reason the cleaner stopped picking stuff off the rug was a clogged intermediate filter at the bottom of the debris canister that prevented any air from getting through. This prevented the vacuum cleaner from cleaning.

Up first we get an update on the supposedly salmon cyclist hit by a cop in Southeast TX. Cyclist injured in officer-involved accident dies Again, I will believe the salmon label when I see the wreckage and the coroner’s report on the cyclist’s injuries. I’m not saying that cyclists don’t ride salmon some times, just that without outside verification I refuse to accept the driver’s version of the story even if the driver was a LEO.

I have been following this one since day one and I always suspected the driver of trying to pull multiple fast ones to avoid going to jail. Judge Considers Tougher Sentence For Former San Ramon Attorney Who Killed Cyclist In Dublin and Judge considers tougher sentence for ex-local attorney who killed Dublin cyclist Seriously, the hit-and-run didn’t tip everyone off that this guy was scum from the get-go? And hiding the weapon vehicle inside his garage instead of parking it where he could show it off to the neighbors like he normally did? Or not telling anyone about the wreck until they found his wrecked car in the garage? Seriously fornicate this guy with a barbed-wire condom in a splinter-infested knothole, with a salt and alcohol based lube. Or just put him back in prison for a couple of years.

Since we are in CA anyway, let’s check our Daily Ted. Morning Links: Rio Hondo bike path closed, Glendale matches LA’s hit-and-run rewards, and way better wayfinding

And late-breaking Daily Ted Part 2. Breaking news: Bicyclist killed in Montclair hit-and-run

More news on the wreck of 4 cyclists hit from behind in NC. WOMAN WHO HIT 4 CYCLISTS NEAR ANGIER CHARGED The charges seem to be about as severe as they can get for a wreck not involving a dead cyclist. “In addition to the reckless driving charge, Williams is charged with improper passing in a curve and four counts of improper passing causing serious bodily injury.” I’m hearing that the oncoming car stopped before reaching the wreck scene when the cyclists were hit, which means the driver panicked about missing the car. I’m wondering what the tox screen will pick up.

Low-information wreck in the most deadliest state in the US to walk or ride a bike. Bicyclist struck and killed by vehicle in Fort Myers The video had even less information than the text, all it had was a bunch of pictures, most uncaptioned, of cyclists who were killed in the last 12 months.

CO letter about a cyclist hit. Adelaide Perr: Tears for injured cyclist

Still in CO they cited the cyclist injured in a wreck. Cyclist cited after being seriously injured in crash Looking at the street view and the narrative the cyclist was making a left turn and failed to yield. She must have misjudged the speed of oncoming traffic, or thought they would yield to her.

More on the NV cyclist killed by a drunk driving without a license in an unregistered vehicle. Brother of bicyclist hit and killed by ATV says, “he liked to make people laugh” I know there is the “halo effect” for people who are recently killed, but it almost always seems like the majority of cyclists killed by motor vehicles were good people with a record of trying to do good things.

More on the OH driver acquitted by a jury of drivers. Brecksville man found not guilty in crash that killed two cyclists

I almost fell out of my chair when I read this the first time. Commissioner Fritz floats another idea: Car-free streets This is the same person who said that cyclists didn’t “deserve” more infrastructure until every one of them obeyed all the traffic laws. Now the shoe seems to fit the other foot much better.

More OR infrastructure news. Oregon will phase out ‘Share the Road’ signs Again I favor the “BMUFL” regulatory sign than the “share the road” advisory sign.

Infrastructure news from NYC. Five Years Later & The Prospect Park West Bike Lane War Rages On I noticed that some of the people pushing this lawsuit are doing so from nursing homes or beyond the grave now.

More infrastructure this time from VT. COLCHESTER/RIVERSIDE AVE. INTERSECTION STUDY PUBLIC MEETING #1 Current state of affairs in an autocentric mess that nobody can navigate safely without a light armored vehicle. Suggested changes are improved pedestrian crossings and bike lanes.

Infrastructure from WI. State Infrastructure Spending Plummets This is not just bike infrastructure, but everything. Roads, bridges, water mains, the whole shooting match. Bike infrastructure has taken a bigger hit by percentage than roads and bridges, but everything has suffered. That’s the thing about “tax and spend”, you have to spend sometimes to keep things running, and you have to tax to get the money to spend.

News from far West Canuckistan. Friends gathered to bid a final farewell to a man killed in a freak cycling accident Hit by a thrown object that was tossed from a garbage can by a guy with his head still in the can. He probably never knew he hit anyone.

From the Great White North. Trending: Toronto boy, 5, makes heartbreaking posters in search of stolen bike His bike was stolen from the playground where he had ridden it to go play. D:

Also from West Canuckistan. Woman facing charges for hit and run in Vernon last fall They caught her because she only “ran” as far as the power pole she took out. This person should never drive again in her life.

Shades of “Stop de Kindermoord” protests in the Netherlands at the ends of the 1970s. Mum organises march to highlight traffic ‘dangers to children’ near Cambridge Railway Station

Sure crack down on the victims of road violence, not the perpetrators. Cyclists targeted in police blitz just days before major fines take effect And don’t forget the draconian fines for not wearing a silly foam hat.

Last link, this setup was actually an option that came with the kit for my SBC engine for the Mini Sprint-T. Potvin Supercharger Meets High Tech T-Bucket Seriously, there were 3 options for the kit induction one of which was the blower in that article.

And I’m outta links and getting sleepy again.

Billed @€0.02, Opus (Does anyone notice I switch back and forth between $ and € on this sig line?)

Yesterday was a busy day, and the Feed

Yesterday was another day spent mostly away from Casa de El Poeta, being a volunteer for the HRC and mostly riding DART. I had to miss morning services because it took all morning to get from home to the bowling alley where HRC was holding their fund-raiser (Carnibowl), specifically that part of the morning when morning services were held. I got done early enough to make it to evening services at church, and then home to catch up on my e-mails. I finally got caught up on those about 0145, so I decided to just bag it and head to bed.

This morning was interesting mostly because we got checks for a class settlement for getting ripped off by Wells Fargo when we had our mortgage through them, to the tune of nearly $800 total for the six years involved in the settlement.

Up first is part 1 of Our Daily Ted. Morning Links: Improving bike safety on Bouquet Canyon, less liability on bike paths, and doping gets mechanical

Part 2 of Our Daily Ted. Bike rider killed in South LA collision last week

And Part 3. And the winner is… I deliberately did not submit an entry for this because I have bikes I could ride with a little work and I thought that someone else should hav a crack at it that doesn’t have a bike. Ted agreed with me as you can read in his post.

Still in CA. Cyclist killed in latest hit-and-run Another article that is more concerned about the clothes the cyclist was wearing than the fact the driver left the scene with an injured person on the road.

Guess what happened in the most deadliest state in the US to walk or ride a bicycle? Bicyclist killed in Sarasota hit-and-run identified Hit from behind and hit-and-run, all it takes to make it a trifecta of Stoopid would be an impaired driver without a license.

Still in FL. Cyclist, 16, dies in hospital one week after wreck in Royal Palm Another wreck that blames a cyclist for not being in a crosswalk.

Cyclist down in CO. 53-year-old Ft. Collins cyclist injured in crash

Update on a cyclist down in NM. Bike ride organized to support injured teen

Over one state in AZ, another hit-and-run. Boy on bicycle injured by hit-and-run driver Another article erroneously suggesting that cyclists belong in a crosswalk.

More on that OH cyclist killed by an impaired driver. Cyclist dies after hit-and-run; driver to be charged with aggravated vehicular homicide, police say “The driver, Melinda Woodall, 34, of Amelia, tried to hide three bottles of pills in her bra after hitting 42-year-old Michael Prater of Cincinnati on Kellogg Avenue.” There was also drug paraphenalia inside the car.

This NY wreck looks like another serious case of windshield bias. Investigation nears end, driver to be ticketed in Hammond cyclist’s death Hit-from-behind and the driver will get… TWO tickets (not just one). TANJ!

VT infrastructure news. COUNCIL APPROVES CONTROVERSIAL BALLOT QUESTION ON BURLINGTON TRAFFIC CHANGE I want to know who put giving all the streets and roads over to cars up for a vote?

Another wounded veterans ride. Ride 2 Recovery helping local veterans cope with injuries and PTSD

A confessed candidate for life in prison over in Jolly Olde. Drink-driver admits causing the death of a cyclist in Walton crash I think I have made my opinions of drunk drivers known over the last 7 or so years I have been doing the blog here on WordPress. The thought of this waste of skin actually getting back out on the roads again just makes my skin crawl.

Also in Jolly Olde. Floral tributes at Great North Road in Newcastle after cyclist dies in hospital Sounds like a great guy taken too soon.

Even the best place in the world can be made better. Even Copenhagen Makes Mistakes

Over in Oz, another driver gets a serious case of the Stoopids when he sees a pack of cyclists on the road. Cyclist’s on-bike camera shows road rage incident in Glen Forrest If I wasn’t positive the guy that tried to kill me was dead and buried…

Still in Oz… Cars are ‘lethal weapons’: killed cyclist’s partner voices her anger and grief Anybody remember that Mythbusters episode where they compared driving while talking on a cell phone to drunk driving, with drunk driving coming out slightly better?

A wreck in Enn Zed. Cyclist avoids serious injury in riverside crash Hit from behind wreck that turned out not-too-bad considering. His ‘bent is now really bent, but a wrecked bike is better than a wrecked life.

And I’m outta links, time to proof and tag and get this thing published.

Billed @$0.02, Opus the Poet

Happy MLK Day, and the Feed

Today is the day we pause and remember a major leader of the civil rights movement of the 1960s. Biographical note I was living less than 100 miles east of where Dr. King was shot at the time he was shot. So I wasn’t “there” there, but I was in the conflict zone at the time of the conflict. And yes I know that makes me “old”, deal with it. In many ways what Dr. King was trying to do is mirrored in the bike advocacy movement. Not that I am implying that what cyclists go through is in any way as bad as what people of color went through or continue to go through today, we can stop getting killed in the streets just by getting on the bus for example. But there are parallels. Anyway, remember what Dr. King meant to the rights movement, cherish it, and emulate that in trying to get safe bicycle infrastructure installed in your area.

Up first is Our Daily Ted. Morning Links: Bicyclists help make a better world, and York Blvd is thriving

Still in CA, more links to a driver actually getting a proportional sentence for using a motor vehicle to kill a cyclist. Drugged driver who killed cyclist sentenced 15 years to life and Drugged driver who killed cyclist sentenced 15 years to life

Still in CA a left-crossed cyclist gets his medical bills covered but he had to sue the employer of the driver that hit him. City settles with injured cyclist

Speaking of proportional sentences. Seattle man gets 6 ½ years for killing bicyclist in DUI crash Not quite as proportional, but still leaps and bounds ahead of typical sentences for killing cyclists.

Cyclist killed in OH. Cyclist dies after being struck by car Not much information on the actual wreck, just the outcome.

The most deadliest state in the US to walk or ride a bike takes another victim. Pasco County bicyclist killed after riding into path of vehicle on SR 52 Another SWCC wreck with no word on where the cyclist was crossing from or to.

A little schadenfreude in NYC. Hit & Run Driver Crashes Into Gowanus Canal and Video: Alleged Drunk Driver Arrested After Flipping Car On Upper West Side The video is no longer available through the original source, maybe they will find another place where it was uploaded.

A bit of CO infrastructure news. Boulder to shift gears on protected bike lanes I think that when drivers complain about losing a lane so that cyclists can have a safe place to ride they should plow up everything except the bike lane and leave the street filled with the rubble. But then I have been called an extremist 😉

Good news about cycling from WI. Local Collective Gets Milwaukee Biking After so many bad things about cycling from WI it is really nice to put up a link to something good.

It takes a Canadian getting killed to get MS LEO investigated for biased investigation of bicycle wrecks. A haphazard investigation of Iain Gerrard’s death in America’s Deep South The initial report was a SWSS with a salmon cyclist, but the physical evidence was entirely contradictory to that report. The report from accident reconstructionists was that the driver had 14 seconds to see and avoid the cyclist in the road.

Cyclist down in the Great White North. Cyclist in critical condition after L’Épiphanie crash If the cyclist was “in the middle of the road” wouldn’t a driver who was paying attention be able to see and avoid the cyclist? I mean if the cyclist was right there in front of him, why didn’t the driver use his brakes to not hit the cyclist? And this is probably the only place where those are rhetorical questions.

Infrastructure news from the Great White North. Claremont bike lanes will be well planned Given that the soonest they plan on installing those lanes is 2017 they had better be “well planned”. I mean how much planning does it take to haul in some K-rails and plop them down 2 meters from the edge of the pavement?

No place to (legally) lock up, but sell them bike locks anyway? Almost 200 fork out for discounted lock to crack down cycle thefts in Grimsby “We also need cycle stands, like the ones outside the Cycle Hub, throughout the town.”

Another wreck in Oz. Surf Coast cyclist flown to hospital after being hit by a car A 72 YO cyclist struck by a 74 YO driver? Are they pulling my leg? The driver was judged at fault in this wreck almost instantly by LEO. Intersection wreck so either a hook or cross is my guess as to mode.

This death in Oz is very similar to a wreck in Enn Zed from last year. Wantirna cyclist found dead in Dandenong Creek Cyclist hits a solid bollard in the bike path and falls down in water next to the bike path and drowns, the exact same thing that happened in Enn Zed.

Speaking of Enn Zed, a motorcycle crosses the centerline going up a mountain and runs into cyclists coming down that mountain. Queenstown-bound cyclists struck by motorbike and Motorbike injures cyclists The report from the one link that the motorcyclist had a rear tire slide out just before the wreck suggests he might have been going just a touch too fast.

And those were all the links I had.

Billed @$0.02, Opus

My hands are freezing, and the Feed

I actually had to get out the long-sleeved T-shirts because the house temperature has gotten a bit on the chilly side for running around in shorts. Mrs. the Poet greeted me in two sweaters and a sweatshirt this morning before she went out to do some banking and buy the kittens food that doesn’t upset their delicate tummies. She accidentally bought adult cat food at the dollar store and it has been causing gastric distress at both ends, if you catch my drift. The kittens have not been happy to say the least.

I have been enjoying the heck outta my new chair, with the cushion that actually cushions, and real back support for my aged back. I know it’s only temporary, but this was one of my better purchases of 2015. Of course this meant the previous owner of the job “Keep Opus’ butt off the ground” had to be fired.

I didn’t choose the color or even the chair, it was a Christmas present from 3 years ago. The big problem it had was a 150 pound working limit that my 210+/- eventually squished into oblivion, and the backrest was not much good at supporting my back. The chair was built for a Jr. High/HS kid to use to study at a home desk, not for a large adult male to use 8-16 hours a day as a workstation. The new chair was built for a large adult male to use as a workstation.

Lets start with Our Daily Ted. Morning Links: Bicycle traffic diversion schools, record-setting rides and a bike friendly LA Planning chief That was just Part 1.

Daily Ted part 2. Describe Your Ride: A car-free, pre-Christmas Highland Park shopping trip

And Part 3 with additional link. Bicyclist killed in Loma Linda collision; first SoCal bike death of 2016 and LOMA LINDA: Traffic accident kills cyclist At this point there isn’t much information to go on aside from the body of the cyclist and a motor vehicle with unspecified damages. OK the wreck was at high noon, so there was no “sun in my eyes” excuse; the weather was halfway decent, so can’t use that excuse; and it was daylight so the lack of lights, reflectors, or a glow-in-the-dark clown suit also don’t figure in. So how are they going to blame this on the cyclist? The Suicidal Swerve?

From that most deadliest of states to ride a bike (or walk) another motor vehicle murder. Teen held in death of cyclist had no license, stolen Mazda Never had a license, driving a stolen car, that’s why I called it a murder. The wreck was completely unavoidable by human riders, the perp’s speeding car jumped the median and hit the cyclist head on.

This also happened in FL. Video: Cyclist mistakes alligator for log It’s an easy mistake as long as the alligator is just sitting still.

A little north of FL we get a drunk driver who can’t stay between the lines and away from people. Aiken man charged with DUI in death of teen pedestrian

A confusing report from TN. Bicyclist seriously injured in Alcoa Hwy. accident This reads exactly like a SWSS narrative, except for the turning into oncoming traffic. That one breaks the pattern. The bike looks like it was still hit in the back from looking at the picture.

More on the cyclist setting the most miles in a year record. Kurt Searvogel betters Tommy Godwin’s ‘unbreakable’ Year record

An OR cyclist runs a red light and glances off the side of a motor vehicle. Cyclist taken to hospital after colliding with vehicle in Northeast Portland

While we are in Portland, here’s an infrastructure article. City uses paint and plastic to enhance bike lane on SW 13th at Clay

A driver in IL nearly gets away with murder. Aurora man gets 2 1/2 years for crash that killed bicyclist in Naperville The comments section were slightly encouraging with many people saying that this was not an appropriate sentence for killing another human being.

A real wreck involving a driverless cab on the sidewalk of NYC. 22-Year-Old Woman Killed By Runaway Taxi On Midtown Sidewalk The driver left the car running while he assisted a passenger and either the car was knocked into gear and the parking brake wasn’t set, or was left running in gear and the parking brake failed, or the worst possible scenario the car was knocked into gear and the parking brake was set but failed.

Infrastructure news from WI. State traffic deaths increased by nearly 13 percent in 2015 Fail.

Lets hear it for the Abstinence-only Sex-ed of bicycle infrastructure. Let’s Bury the Sharrow for Good in 2016 Money has been spent doing “something” while people pat themselves on the back expecting things that are never going to happen.

More on the glorified rail-trail in Germany. So Long, Autobahn: Germany Is Building a Superhighway for Bikes and Germany opens first stretch of bicycle ‘autobahn’

Last link, why you should keep riding your bike in Winter. 11 Things That Happen When You Ride All Winter

I’m antsy to get started on the Mini Sprint-T and I’m out of links.

Billed @$0.02, Opus the Poet

Post Turkey Day CARnage and apocalypse in the Feed

I hope everyone read my Sunday post. If I have ever written anything from the heart this came straight from my heart. Just so you know I’m not “just” a bicycle advocate. I am a “people” advocate.

Up first is this link predicting the turkey armageddon

Our Daily Ted. Morning Links: Daily News spins bike news badly, not getting it San Pedro, and a local bike rider needs your help

Still in CA. Woman injured in Escondido hit and run, police seek suspect and Cyclist badly injured by Escondido hit-run driver The narrative suggests a right hook as a car turning east from going north would be making a right turn. I hope they catch the driver of that Toyota and run the car through a shredder.

On the other side of the country the most deadly state in the US to walk or ride a bike kills another one. Canadian bicyclist killed in crash with van; driver charged Another right hook as bike infrastructure is placed next to car infrastructure and depending on drivers to pay attention without putting a high price on drivers for not paying attention. Because we know cyclists pay a high price when drivers don’t pay attention to what’s to their right.

Drivers are puzzled by bicycle infrastructure in Indianapolis. What’s the deal with those funky new bike lanes on Pennsylvania Street Downtown?

A peloton is taken out in MD. Four cyclists hurt in chain-reaction pileup in Potomac, Md.

Jurisprudence in the Great White North. Milton man pleads guilty in connection to cyclist’s death in July and Milton man pleads guilty careless driving in cyclist’s death This had to be the result of a plea bargain because there was a hit-and-run with an unregistered vehicle.

Victim report from the Great White North. Chatham cyclist killed by vehicle was working to build better life for family An 18 YO dad with a 3 YO daughter speaks to some bad choices early in life that he was working to overcome.

Another link to the protest against CARnage in Jolly Olde. ‘Coffin’ protest outside TfL over cyclists’ safety in London

Windshield bias in Malta as LEO claim things that are impossible to blame the victim. Malta is always on drivers’ side, insists injured cyclist

Cyclist killed in Enn Zed. Cyclist died after colliding with van in Nelson The weapon vehicle in this wreck was not just an ordinary car, it was actually “weaponized” with reinforced bars protecting the front end.

This is one of the few news outlets that covers without bias. Carless cities are Europe’s future

And now I’m out of links again.

Billed @€0.02, Opus

It’s Friday again, and the Feed

Well it’s Friday a little after noon as I start composing this post, but I won’t get done until well after midnight, with a break at some point for watching TV or reading a book or something. I found something I want for Solstice that isn’t RPG dice or a string trimmer, and costs about the same as the RPG dice.

A couple of sets of those would look nice with this.

The reason yesterday’s post went up so late was because of how hard it was to filter out bike links from the noise on Twitter. I got a lot of good links, but it took several hours to read all those tweets about yet another mass shooting to find the ones about people getting killed mostly in ones and twos. I still think that Twitter will be a regular source for links in the future.

Up first because I don’t have a lot of links to choose from but this one is still the best, our Daily Ted. Morning Links: Coronado bike lane madness hits big time, Rowena redux, and OC deputy gets bike law wrong

Over in OH the driver who hit 5 cyclists in a paceline of 8 and killed 2 pleaded not guilty. Brecksville man charged in crash that killed cyclists pleads not guilty and Brecksville man pleads not guilty in deadly cyclist-truck crash What more can I say except that this is simply a procedural step before trial or plea bargain. I still wanna see the driver’s social media profile, though.

Took them long enough. CHP releases name of bicyclist killed Sept. 18 on Highway 154 They are still sticking with the hit from behind “for unknown reasons” story.

More on the drunk driver that hit a cyclist with three kids in the car and left the scene. Pardo admits being ‘6 to 8 inches’ in cyclist’s lane The tune keeps changing, but the singer is still off-key. Earlier he was entirely within his own lane, now he was “6 to 8 inches” into the cyclist’s lane.

Hit and run outside NYC. Police: Man killed in hit-and-run, woman charged The DA is frustrated that the potential punishments are not in line with the seriousness of the outcome.

Looking at this rendition of a surface street in IN provoked a serious WTF? moment or three. Is This a Downtown Street or a Surface Highway?

More Wounded Warrior stuff. Kirk Middle students cheer as injured vets ride through Newark This was the U.S. Military Academy to the U.S. Naval Academy ride, West Point to Annapolis.

A blind driver gets some punishment for destroying the life and livelihood of a cyclist. Lorry driver banned from roads after seriously injuring cyclist in Moray Yeah, the cyclist is not coming back to “normal” from that wreck. The punishment is trivial, but at least something.

At least this driver got some jail time to go with the minimal driving ban. Texting driver gets 21 months’ jail after seriously injuring cyclist

Minimal information about a hit-and-run in Oz. Cyclist injured in Melbourne hit-and-run

And over in Enn Zed. Cyclist killed in Napier named

And that’s all I got today. See you Sunday with the “just life and thoughts” blog post.

Billed @€0.02, Opus the Poet

Hoping I don’t lose this post, and the Feed

I really hope the auto-save function of this composing page doesn’t crap out on me, because my computer has been crashing all day trying to filter the Feed. I have had several links crash fortunately they could be reloaded. If this page crashes, on the other hand, I have to retype anything that doesn’t get saved. Given there are at least 24 links waiting to be collated commented and posted to the blog, losing this page could be a major pain in the grommet, to use an expression popular with my father. So here’s hoping the computer doesn’t trash the composing page.

Up first was a hard decision today as there were lots of stories with multiple links. I think this NYC hit-and-run “wins” the right to go first. 27-Year-Old Woman on Bike Killed in Hit-Run Crash and Officials ID woman killed in hit-and-run also YOUNG WOMAN KILLED BY CAR WHILE RIDING BIKE HOME FROM WORK; POLICE SEARCHING FOR DRIVER this too Cyclist on City Island killed by hit-and-run driver Part of the problem is either there were three different 27 YO victims killed by white cars on the City Island bridge who all worked in the same restaurant, or whoever gave out the reports to media changed the make of the weapon vehicle… But yeah, nothing the cyclist could have done to avoid this wreck besides live and work in the same building so she didn’t need to cross that bridge.

Also with lots of links is this wreck from the Great White North. Cyclist seriously injured in Oshawa and Cyclist seriously injured in Oshawa Well there were a lot of links that somehow disappeared from the links window, at least one as I was trying to copy the URL to post here. Funny thing is what wasn’t mentioned, the driver wasn’t charged with hit-and-run in spite of having left the scene, which is heavily implied by the driver “returning”. Can’t return if you never left.

This FL cyclist was killed off of the road waiting, in the median, to get a second break in traffic to complete crossing the street. FHP: 1 dead, 1 charged with DUI manslaughter and Driver charged with DUI manslaughter after cyclist struck, killed in Winter Park LEO are still trying to figure out what caused the driver to veer off the road to hit the cyclist. Well, DUH! he was drunk and probably angry at seeing a cyclist in “his” road.

Still in FL, the most deadliest state in the US to walk or ride a bike. Bicyclist dies after being hit by minivan in Pompano Beach “Authorities said the bicyclist did not have any proper working lights.” Of course not, they were smashed to bits in the wreck, that’s why the didn’t work after the wreck.

Moving one state over from FL we get this fatal wreck in AL. Alabama cyclist killed in collision is sixth such death this year For those of us who have to depend on the media to get accurate reports of wrecks reports like this are a nightmare. “The crash is being investigation.” Really? was this written by the same people as ‘All your base are belong to us’? At this point it looks very possible that this was a right hook by a driver who never saw the cyclist.

Still in AL we get a kid hit head on in a residential area. McCalla 9-year-old hit by car, injured while riding bicycle outside grandfather’s house The remains show a hard, but survivable impact, and also really bad welds in the fork. I’m being serious here, look at that wheel and you tell me if something really hit hard enough to break the steer tube on that fork. This is the bicycle builder coming out in me, which explains why it takes me so long when I build a bike. The steer tube broke between the crown race and the fork crown, which could only happen 2 ways, not enough heat to actually join the steer tube to the fork, or way too much heat welding in the crown race destroying the base metal in the steer tube without actually joining it to the fork… I know, TMI.

Our Daily Ted provides a breath of fresh air today. Morning Links: How the economy and bike lanes affect bike wrecks, and fight the bikelash over Rowena road diet

Still in CA. Long Beach woman killed in bicycle collision on PCH in Huntington Beach identified The wreck is still somehow a hit from behind wreck in an intersection they were both crossing.

Two reports on the same wreck in CA. Emmy winning sound editor one of two killed in Moorpark crash involving car, bicycle and motorcycle and Distracted driving may have been factor in fatal Moorpark crash That might be the only explanation of why a driver went from one shoulder to the other to kill two people on two-wheeled conveyances, absent some evidence the driver hated cyclists.

Maybe crap infrastructure contributes to bike wrecks? A Young Cyclist’s Death Spurs Changes, Lawsuit in Cupertino

NC cyclist killed in pinball wreck. Cyclist killed Sunday morning in east Charlotte collision He cleared the intersection, but not the killing zone when a left-turning vehicle sent another vehicle spinning through the shoulder area.

It just occurred to me today that the same group that was getting injured/killed the most at the beginning of the study period are the ones getting injured/killed at the end of the study. Cycling deaths, injuries rise as pastime grows in popularity The people getting killed the most at the start would be in the same age group as the ones getting killed the most at the end of the study, they just aged into the biggest group of cyclists as they got older.

I’m still trying to figure out how the truck got on the race course to hit the cyclist. Surely they closed the streets to traffic while the state championship race was running? Cyclist injured after hitting truck at Fort Smith race Comments say the course was closed and the driver of the weapon vehicle had been told twice to scram but went on the course anyway.

I strongly suspect this was a kid being a kid. Boy rides bike off embankment, suffers serious head injuries, police say I can’t say for sure, but this sounds like something I would have done at his age.

PA cyclists remember those taken too soon. Cyclists Pay Tribute To Slain Bike Riders, Hope To Raise Awareness

Making cyclists less “other”. Letters: Humanizing ‘cyclists,’ pope and refugees

Making drivers more aware that cyclists have a right to the roads and are going to be there. Signs of Our Times: Sharing the Streets I would prefer a sign that told drivers hitting a cyclist or pedestrian would cost them the car they hit said cyclist or pedestrian with, but hey, can’t have everything.

The cyclist who tried to get LEO to enforce the bike/bus lane restrictions gets hit by a car in the lane he was trying to get enforced. Cyclist who complained about Clifton Boulevard lane violators injured in bike-car clash We all know how loud a car horn can be when you are outside the car, especially a few feet in front of the car when the horn goes off. It can make you jump out of your skin if you are not expecting it. And there were a couple hundred comments when I filtered the links, but none as I posted the link here.

Signs of another kind. You Won’t Soon Forget These Photos of Ghost Bikes. That’s Exactly the Point.

A wreck in Canuckistan. Cyclist critically injured in collision south of Edmonton Ouch, cyclist hit head-on by a salmon driver. Nothing you can do about that. I hope the victim recovers.

Road.cc has the same opinion of a left hook wreck as I did. Accidental death verdict in case of Guernsey cyclist crushed by lorry Seriously, how hard is it to blame a driver for hitting someone on a parallel road when crossing that road?

A cycling hazard that is mostly confined to Oz, thank the lady Ghisallo for small favors. Where magpies swoop in Canberra: Cyclists fall prey to swooping birds I mean it sucks for the Aussies, but there are only a couple million cyclists there, compared to the billion or so in the rest of the world.

Programming note my friends have decided I need to get out of the house more and are taking me to do something not involving computers or cell phones. I think I’m going shopping or something.

Billed @€0.02, Opus the Poet

I was shanghaied Monday and the Feed is Huge

I was only supposed to be gone a couple of hours yesterday to create new characters for one of the D&D groups I play with that is starting a new campaign, over and done with by 1700 and home in time for dinner, but instead we got into debates about getting the best possible party and balancing the characters out against each other. This continued with point buy calculators going nonstop until everybody’s phones died and we had to quit about 2230. Anyway my Warlock died again last session as we had another TPK by cultists with mind control spells, except the one character who has so many ranks in hide and the hide-in-plain-sight feat that he is essentially invisible at will and who only joined the party for that session so not actually part of the party, just there when the rest of the party showed up. This time I created a Warblade character with huge hit points and incredible Dex, leading to a touch AC of 16 or regular AC of 20 and impossible to catch flat-footed unless unconscious so flat-footed AC is equal to regular AC. Part of my equipment includes +2 gloves of Dex that added to my already high Dex results in the Dex mod of 6. I also have a feat that adds another 2 to Dex for days when I’m going to not wear armor, like on diplomatic missions or other activities when armor is a faux pas, making my AC on those missions 17 touch 18 regular. My current status is part of the Town Guard near the site of the TPK, but on a provisional basis as a reservist when I’m not adventuring. I’m about to go off my reserve status as a monster has invaded the town…

Up first is a breaking story off my Twitter Feed. Ex-Bishop Who Killed Cyclist Pleads Guilty to Manslaughter Ten years for killing a person… And that is one of the harshest sentences I have seen for killing a cyclist in the US. I don’t know if I should be happy she’s getting one of the harshest sentences, or dismayed that 10 years for killing a cyclist is “harsh” when there are people serving life without parole for pot possession.

They are all stupid wrecks, but some moreso than others. Glen Allen woman killed in Hanover bike crash and Cyclist killed in Hanover called “a force for good” The cyclist was hit from behind on a straight road in the middle of the day. I can’t describe this in any other way than “stupid”.

This story is semi-local to me. Sorry, DWI Barbie car girl, drunken driving isn’t cute I hadn’t heard about this one before today, but there was a girl who lost her driving privileges after a DUI, not because a judge took them but because her daddy took the keys to the car back. Princess Spoiled Brat “protested” by driving a pink Barbie™ Jeep™ around campus because she didn’t want to ride a bicycle. I have nothing good to say about convicted DUI “drivers” who think they are “too good” to ride a bike on trips that a Barbie™ Jeep™ can do with ease. Take away the kid’s toy AND the bicycle and let her walk or die of starvation.

This one is a little closer and just as annoying but for different reasons. Mother speaks out on son killed in car/bicycle crash Same old story, LEO with windshield bias ignore evidence that cyclists are riding within the law because of imaginary laws that they think say cyclists shouldn’t be there to get hit.

Here’s a little Daily Ted because I need to cool off a bit before getting into the “other” parts of the feed. Morning Links: NY Times fumbles LA’s Mobility Plan, anti-Rowena road diet petition, and a CicLAvia sneak peek

A WI cyclist is killed but nobody is talking about the wreck. Cudahy man dies after he was struck by vehicle while riding a bicycle in Franklin and Cudahy man, 51, killed while bicycling in Franklin also Cudahy father killed riding his bike hat last link says it was a hit-from-behind wreck and the cyclist was lighted and reflectored far beyond legal minimums. And they can’t decide if the driver did anything wrong. TANJ! If the cyclist was hit from behind like that, the driver always did something wrong, especially in states with minimum passing clearance. This is lazy police work, pure and simple.

From the most deadliest state in the US to walk or ride a bike, a survivor. Boy,12, riding bike struck by vehicle in Lake Worth Oh, that explains it, he was hit riding in the parking lot of a C-Store. Getting hit at 10 MPH and below is only about 2% fatal.

Also in FL. Bicyclist critically injured after being hit by ambulance If the ambulance hit the cyclist on his right side he was more than halfway through the intersection, why do they think he ran the stop sign?

Another hit-from-behind, this one in VA. Family friend: Carrie Wortham, woman killed riding bike, made huge difference and Community mourns death of cyclist killed in Hanover crash This was a person who gave from the heart and was one of us. I am saddened to see her go,

Another DUI wreck in CA (this is why I’m so pissed at the DUI Princess in that article above). Cyclist killed by man who was arrested for drunk driving

Why? She was on a group ride, it’s not like she was invisible. Des Plaines woman riding bike struck by car, killed in Aurora If I’m reading this right she was crossing the road from a bike path or MUP and the traffic controls were either set improperly, or the sightlines were such that the rider was unable to complete her crossing.

LEO in NC are leaving no stone unturned in trying to blame this cyclist. Bicyclist dies in traffic accident on Highway 194 The picture of the weapon vehicle in impound with driver’s side front damage raises 2 questions: Which way was the cyclist hit, head on or from behind, and 2) since both vehicles were in their correct lanes how was the driver not at fault in this wreck? Blaming the rain is just another way of excusing the driver for not driving to conditions.

More than 500 riders in two different locations turn out for memorial rides. At least 500 cyclists honor Birminghamian who was killed last week while cycling and 500 rally in memory of bicyclist killed on the road When I filtered that first link there were several comments about all the cyclists on the road on the tail end of rush hour bolluxing the traffic. I just think they probably would not get 50 people to show up, much less 500. Anywho all the comments were removed.

A wreck just down the road from my in-laws. Update: Police ID LaGrange cyclist injured on Union Vale road Notice the quickness to blame the cyclist for being there… Then again this is NY State, where the cyclist is always wrong unless there is video.

Another link to a wreck from last month. Friend says Hammond cyclist killed in August was safety-minded

Another SWCC wreck with two injured, one fatally. Man killed, woman hospitalized after pickup hits bicycle

I can NOT relate how angry this link leaves me. Granville veterinarian dies in car-bicycle crash The cyclist was hit head-on by a sleeping driver around 1500. Was the driver a third-shift worker out too late?

IA is regarded as a decent but not exceptional state to ride a bike, but lately those with dogs on the fight have noticed there are more wrecks than there should be. Why does Iowa have so many bike-car crashes? Because you have a state full of Faux Nooz watchers? No? How about you have a bunch of spoiled brats who never learned to share and now are incensed that there is someone else using the roads?

Up in the Great White North another cyclist is splatted. Cyclist suffers life-threatening injuries after being struck by car in St. Catharines and St. Catharines cyclist seriously hurt in collision I call this a SWSS wreck, because there’s only the driver’s word on what the cyclist did and we all know how well drivers process the existence of a cyclist in front of the vehicle.

And if you’re falling-down drunk, you might want to wait a while before riding your bike home. Intoxicated cyclist struck, injured in Newmarket

You know when you pass a cyclist too close they get a little hyper? Driver hit in the face with rider’s helmet in road rage outburst I mean look at the evidence: “I got out and he swore at me and said people like me get cyclists killed. He then took his helmet off and smacked me in the face.” There were three other vehicles that passed before the one with the assaulted driver, and then the driver had to slam on the brakes to keep from hitting the cyclist. That is not how to do a safe pass. But don’t hit the driver with your helmet even when he gets out of the car to have an argument with you after almost killing you.

And dude, no, just no. Bicycles Don’t Belong on Busy City Streets The wrongness just oozes and drips from every word in this article. Seriously, I have been cycling since LBJ got sworn in and I’m wondering about all the taxes that I wasn’t supposed to pay. Where can I apply for the refund? That’s almost 50 years of refunds due…

And I’m outta links and patience and my back is killing me, I’m going to tag but not proof this because I have been staring at this computer for like 14 hours and I want to have a lie-down.

Billed @€0.02, Opus the Poet

Things are Not Good on the church front, and the Feed

I’m working at transferring a mailing list that I moderate for the church over to someone else, only I can’t because I’m not the owner. The last anyone heard from the owner was in 2012, and we are not even sure that he is still on this side of the veil. He would be in his late 60s or early 70s by this point, and his access to social media or email are “iffy” if he’s still alive. But right now I can’t do what needs to be done, and that frustrates me.

Up first, Google cars don’t understand track stands. How fixed-gear bikes can confuse Google’s self-driving cars The combination of moving back and forth and the rider in the same position as moving forward confuses the AI. But they are still working on it.

Our Daily Ted. Morning Links: San Diego police blame bike mob; unconfirmed report of bicycling fatality on PCH in Malibu Is there a stick or magic wand we can use to beat sense into cops?

And Daily Ted part 2. Bike rider killed crossing PCH in Malibu; bicycling deaths down over 40% in LA County compared to 2014

Infrastructure news from Portland. Neighborhood greenways breeze through council with unanimous support

Also from Portland, I think if we find that stick down in CA we need to send it north to see if it works on traffic engineers. State says there’s not enough proof that bike lanes boost safety, so 26th Ave lanes should go Apparently a decade of statistics from NYC aren’t good enough for ODOT.

Update on a MI hit-and-run, they found the driver. Sheriff: 16-year-old identified as driver in crash that injured cyclist And it looks like the “penis enhancer” theory about the weapon vehicle may be factual.

Two links about a WA wreck. Mill Creek cyclist critically injured in hit-and-run and Cyclist critically injured in hit-and-run; police search for suspect See, now why can’t trigger-happy LEO ever pull one of these idjits over and shoot them in the face? Seeing as how they are actually armed and dangerous and proven willing to use the weapon? And from the narrative there was nothing the cyclist did wrong or could have done to avoid the wreck.

More from CA. Cyclist Dies After PCH Collision Again, without seeing the wreckage I can’t verify the “crossing” portion of the narrative. Assuming the narrative is factually correct, what we have here is either a cyclist not paying attention (possible) or a stretch of road that can be clear when a cyclists starts to cross, but there may be cross traffic before getting to the other side. There needs to be testing to see if the second scenario is true, and either a refuge island provided to make a 2 stage crossing, or a reduction in the speed limit so that crossing the road isn’t like playing Russian Roulette. Give people at least half a chance at survival.

A KS cyclist is right-crossed while crossing with the light in the crosswalk. Bicyclist injured in accident I’m trying to wrap my head around the geometry of this wreck, it appears the cyclist may have been riding salmon but would have been coming at the weapon vehicle from the front rather than the side. So basically the driver blew the red (because the only way this could have happened as described would be for a simultaneous ped signal and turn arrow signal, which would have been a solid red to the driver) and didn’t look in front of the vehicle to make sure the crosswalk was clear, oorrr, the driver failed to notice the light had changed while making sure traffic had cleared and when they stopped he went without looking. So either way this went, the driver went without looking in the crosswalk to make sure there was nothing in his path.

Cyclists are injured in multiple wrecks in West Canuckistan on the same day. Cyclists injured in two separate Saanich crashes One was a two-for-one that was almost a three-for, as a driver either crossed or hooked three cyclists but one managed to avoid the vehicle. How do you turn into three cyclists, unless you meant to? The other cyclist was hit running a stop sign. [sigh]

This one was from the Great White North. Cyclist in coma following downtown Montreal crash Another Single Witness Crossing Cyclist wreck where they say the cyclist was running the red.

Still from the Great White North, blame ALL the cyclists. Many cyclists taking chances

In Jolly Olde stockholm syndrome is beginning to set in. Cyclists welcome report into safety of Frideswide Square After decades of neglect or outright hostility, any slight display that might get mistaken for compassion is fawned over.

Last link is from Enn Zed, and is something I can commiserate with. Cyclist badly injured in truck crash accuses Wellington hospital of neglect This sounds exactly like what happened to me, because CAT scans can only detect DAI (Diffuse Axonal Injury) when there is a baseline scan for comparison, like what is required for F1 and IndyCar drivers before the start of every season. Diffuse Axonal Injury is a sneaky kind of TBI, it can affect a large part of the brain, but unless it is a part the victim has to use while being treated it doesn’t get noticed until it’s too late to treat it. For me it was the loss of foreign languages and a large chunk of specialized vocabulary. For other people it is other things.

And I’m done, wiped out, beat, semi-functional. TIRED.

Billed @€0.02, Opus the Unkillable Badass Poet (3 more shopping days until my DeathDay)