Terror attack on NYC cyclists

Just got this off Twitter At least 8 dead, dozens injured after incident in NYC As of this moment it is declared a terrorist attack. Because the driver was a Muslim… Someone kill me now.

We interrupt the post I was working on for another terrorist using a motor vehicle as a WMD

As I was composing the next post I got an alert about another terror attack in London using a motor vehicle as the primary weapon. The initial report had London Bridge “covered in mangled bodies” with another 20 transported with serious injuries. Multiple People Dead After 2 Potential Terror Attacks In London

While the headline classifies this as 2 separate attacks later reports have it as moving the attack from the bridge to nearby establishments and renewing the violence.

And stuff like this is why I keep asking how long we are going to allow WMD to roam freely on the streets. Words fail me in communicating my anger and sorrow. I mean seriously, from long past posts and recent posts you know I love cars, but I hate the things people do with cars. This is just another example of the things people do with cars that I hate so much.

Opus the Unkillable (but not the Unfeeling)

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Open Carry and Free Beer, let’s really fix the RNC in Cleveland, and do we need a “No Drive” list?

LEO in Cleveland have been asking (pleading, begging, weeping) for a temporary reprieve from OH’s open carry law because it’s impossible to tell the “good guy with a gun” from the deranged maniac out to shoot up the convention. Not wanting to be accused of being anti-gun I have a suggestion: Keep open carry, and set up free beer stations on every corner. The ones not wanting to shoot up the convention will grab a pint or 12, and get happy. The ones wanting massive mayhem and body counts will eschew the alcohol while continuing to carry.

Obviously I don’t want to see someone shoot up the convention. After all those people have families that love them just like the rest of us. I’m just taking things to their logical conclusion. If more guns make us safer then making sure everyone has one means that everyone is perfectly safe, right? And if local (and Federal) LEO want to prevent open carry on the grounds of safety, how can those two statements be reconciled? I mean it’s almost as if more guns don’t make us safer.

I just want to know in the wake of the Nice terror truck attack when the US will adopt a “No Drive” list. Last report I read stated more than 50 of the 84 victims died from getting hit by the truck, and that most of those shot are expected to survive.This attack puts the Orlando Some Asshole to shame, much higher body count over a much larger area (more than a mile!). I mean seriously, how long will people be able to just walk up and put down a credit card and walk away with a WMD with significant room for explosives when you run out of steam from just running people over? I mean it’s like a 2-for-one murder weapon sale. Run over as many as you can, then detonate the massive shrapnel disperser in the back and go out in a literal blaze of glory destroying as many infidels as remain in the blast radius. Of course you will not be around to personally assess the damage…

PSA, Opus

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

Sanity level approaching 1, and the Feed

OK some explanation for the headline. One of the games I play in has a Sanity stat for both the character and the encounter. Levels of Sanity are 0-2 with 1 being “Normal” and levels less than .5 or greater than 1.5 being “Insane”. Interestingly enough when characters of 0.5 or below have an encounter of 1.5 or above, to the outside observer everything looks quite calm and collected. Yes it’s one of Those games, where half the combat takes place in the characters’ minds. And it’s a great deal of fun to play, although I imagine actually living in that reality would be a close approximation of Dante’s Inferno. As this applies to my home though since certain people went back to work the levels of hostility have plummeted because the main combatant is simply not there to antagonize people. Interestingly enough this is also one way to cause Sanity to return to 1 in the game play, by simply removing one of the combatants from play. Let’s see how this works out long term, because this experiment will end 2015/4/30 as we shut down the shared housing for Mrs. the Poet’s sanity (non-capitalized).

Up first a story we have been following for several months here at WoaB. Injured cyclist walks months after being hit by a truck I’m wishing this cyclist the very best and a speedy recovery.

A BOLO for my OR readers. Witness photographs hit-and-run driver fleeing The driver was a male caucasian 20-30 YO with a slim build (caution, excessive levels of snark may be present) driving a dark penis-extender with 4 wheels. There seemed to be some kind of decal adorning the back window that is common among penis-extender drivers. This driver is assumed armed with a WMD, approach with caution if required to verify identity.

For some drivers, being in control of a WMD isn’t enough to threaten cyclists. SUV nearly hits five cyclists, driver pulls out gun Cheesus, you are already using a WMD to threaten and harass cyclists, you have superior speed to escape with, and you still feel the need to pull a pistol out? [insert slightly homophobic/misogynist comparison here]

Our Daily Ted. Morning Links: A bike riding Bono goes boom in Central Park; your kid’s next bike could be made from carpet

Better late than never department has a report: Focus for FDOT is reducing bicyclist, pedestrian deaths Maybe they could start by blaming bad infrastructure that leaves no safe place to ride or walk and puts miles between crosswalks (marked or otherwise).

NC has a similar problem as FL (and as the other 38 states and DC) but people are still getting killed unnecessarily. Wilmington, NC Car Accident Attorney Richard Flexner Weighs in on Bicyclist Fatality Report Highlighting Dangers in North Carolina

For evidence-based investigations of bicycle wrecks there is nothing that beats video. Rideye: Like a plane ‘black box’ for your bike, providing evidence against dangerous drivers The technology to do this was not widely available when I was hit, but the record would have been worth the camera’s weight in gold, platinum, iridium, and silver. And a few other precious metals as well. I figure my losses are around $1 million since the wreck if you count just the direct medical costs and my lost income for the last 13 years.

Another band-aid on the sucking chest wound. Cambridge cyclist and engineers experiments with helmet lighting to support cycle visibility campaign The UK version of that would be “a sticking plaster on a sucking chest wound”. Still the same level of effectiveness.

A chance to own a piece of cycling history. Grivko to auction off Tour de France bike in aid of injured Ukrainian soldiers

The next two links are presented without comment, my version of a moment of silence.

Bicyclist memorialized with 4-mile ride in Beaver County

‘Ghost Bike’ shrine to cyclist Daniel Squire killed in A258 accident at Ringwould

For those not wishing to reinvent the wheel, a reminder of what is available. Design manual for bicycle traffic Yes, this is the official English translation of the CROW Manual.

And those were all the links I could find today that did not contribute to my angst level.

Billed @€0.02, Opus the unkillable badass Poet