January 2010
39 posts
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Watchghost bike Eilidh Cairns Pembridge Road and Notting Hill Gate London, England
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Watchvideo posted by Kery Caffrey via commuterorlando.com, on January 20, 2010
article reposted below:
Dude! Who do you think you’re honking at?
Today was a stellar day! The weather was perfect and my work for today consisted of shooting on-bike video for the Law Enforcement Toolkit. The objective was to shoot the best practices of bicycle driving with a uniformed officer. My subject was Bill Edgar...
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Inquest continues in London cycling death from... →
Lorry kills woman cyclist on road too narrow for it to pass via London Evening Standard, posted January 22, 2010
A cyclist was crushed to death by a tipper lorry at an accident blackspot where the road was too narrow for the vehicle, an inquest heard today.
TV producer Eilidh Cairns, 30, died from multiple injuries after the rush-hour collision at a pedestrian crossing near Pembridge Road,...
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RT @alexdecordoba RIP Gustavo Ramirez killed 1/5... →
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RT @Yoshiyahu262 http://twitpic.com/yae71 -... →
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January 17, 2010: Cyclist struck, killed near Key... →
A bicyclist was struck and killed by a car in a hit-and-run Sunday morning on the Rickenbacker Causeway near the entrance to Key Biscayne — after which the motorist dragged the crushed bike four miles down Crandon Boulevard with at least one other car, cyclists and police in pursuit.
As the fatally injured cyclist fell to the pavement on Bear Cut Bridge, bleeding profusely, the car, a...
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further details emerge on Delancey Street cyclist... →
Cyclist returning from church when fatally hit by school bus
by Lincoln Anderson, via The Villager on January 22, 2010
Although the elderly female cyclist who was struck and killed by a school bus on Delancey St. on Jan. 5 lived in an East Village residence for the deaf and disabled, she was neither.
Fuen Bai, 74, died earlier this month when she was riding her bike at Delancey and Ludlow Sts....
Cyclist Identified In Fatal Delancey Street... →
The bike rider who was run over by a school bus and killed on Delancey Street has been identified as 35-year-old Fuen Bai. The East Village resident reportedly crashed after hitting a pothole near the corner of Orchard Street and was backed over by the bus. In the days since the fatal collision — for which the driver wasn’t charged — Manhattan District Attorney Cy Vance said his office would...
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Watchfrom The Chicago Bicycle Program
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responses to LA Times article on case of 'Dr. Road...
Otis9454 (01/07/2010, 9.35 PM): No love for the doctor, but no love for cyclists who unlawfully clog streets. Mandeville Canyon is no place to club-ride, and it's certainly no place to give a motorist "the finger." Bottom line, though - punishment (broken bodies) did not fit the crime.
Jeffrey526 (01/07/2010, 9.56 PM): I have ridden Mandeville - similar results. Had a person put their fender into me and push me into the curb. Police wouldn't take a report and no resolution was had - just two idiots screaming at a cyclist to "get out of their canyon". This Doctor needs to arry that banner no matter what the outcome - but he needs to be punished. Everyone else need to be more respectfull to each other and maybe even learn something.
NG90291 (01/07/2010, 10.02 PM): It is not about who breaks the law more, a driver on the phone or a cyclist going through a stop sign. This case is about a deliberate act to harm someone with direct intent. The doctor acted deliberately to injure the cyclists. A deliberate act to harm deserves a deliberate act to punish.
bwnoel (01/08/2010, 5.57 AM): I'm continually amazed by people who want to excuse perpetrators of violent crimes. This man deliberately took an action to physically harm the cyclists involved in this accident. Who cares what he did for a living, this guy is a criminal, worse, as an emergency room physician with years of experience, knew full well what the results of his actions could well be. Put this s.o.b. behind bars where he belongs. This man's other related punishments, loss of license, etc., come with the territory of being a convicted felon. As a road cyclist of 30 years experience, I've come close many times to being hit by some jerk who feels that only cars and trucks are allowed on the roads. There are consequences to wrong actions, period.
KL626 (01/08/2010, 6.29 AM): Agreed, this doctor let his ego get in the way and crossed the line. HOWEVER, some cyclists defy the rules of the road and do as they please. For us to minimize these sort of actions cyclists too need to follow the standard laws. If cyclists want the respect of drivers for the sake of safety, cyclists need to respect the laws as well.
bikecrave (01/08/2010, 7.47 AM): The judge must apply the law and respect the findings of the jury. This isn't about renegade cyclists. This is about a man in a car who decided that his own rage was more important than anything else. Thankfully no one died.
KateNonymous (01/08/2010, 9.52 AM): I hate to break it to Michael Oana, but someone who "acted without thinking" can indeed be a criminal, if their actions constitute a crime. Christopher Thompson did just that, as determined by a jury, and he deserves punishment for those actions.
burnedAlaskan (01/08/2010, 9.57 AM): What shocks, angers and disgusts me the most is that guy was an ER physician of all things and left these obviously injured people to rot in the street and not attend to or even give a cursory examination as to their injuries. They could have had head trauma. At the very least he should have known -- correct that -- he DID KNOW -- to stabilize their heads and necks; particularly the fellow with the facial injuries. When 911 asked if the cyclists were hurt he said "yes, but they can tell you about it." He showed clear reckless disregard for human life. I'm glad he's broke, I'm glad he's been run out of town, and anyone who says he's a compassionate and caring doctor must also believe in the Easter Bunny and Area 51. No compassionate and caring doctor deliberately injures people and then lets them lay injured in the road and stands by and does nothing -- particularly when their specialty is emergency medicine. He deserves jail time -- particularly as he has a history of tangling with bicyclists before. He seemed to think the canyon was his own personal property and now he's going to find out the hard way it wasn't.
SFBXB (01/08/2010, 10.08 AM): It appears that Thompson's supporters condone breaking the law if one has contributed to the community. That makes little sense. I'm an avid cyclist and I've seen a number of cyclists break many traffic laws. I too have done it - in the past. We, as cyclists, cannot control the actions or reactions of drivers, we can only remain vigilant and on guard. Until we get bumpers on our butts, we're no match for an auto. Thompson should be sentenced to 8 years regardless of his health and contribution. Those being as they are cannot be considered permission for him to injure others. Is he some sort of "angel of mercy" attempting to erradicate his neighborhood of law-breaking cyclists? Sounds like he's a vigilante of sorts. One time, while riding a taking my space in a left turn lane and waiting for the light to change, a driver pulled up behind me and though he too couldn't turn, he started "condemning" (I use the term loosely) me for taking a space in the lane. I told him that we get yelled at for following the law and yelled at for not following the law. "Where do you want me to go?" He wanted me off the road. Period. We'll never overcome the hatred of some drivers, we can only ride defensively within the law and realize that a car is much larger than we are.
evadtheslayer (01/08/2010, 10.09 AM): Hope he gets a nice LONG sentence in a real prision and not some country side prision farm. Obviously his license to practice as an MD should be permanently revoked. I don't much care how nice he is when not around cyclists, the fact is he cannot control his temper and used a 2 ton vehicle to smash up the cyclists. I sincerely hope the judge in this case is wise enough to have this "doctor" do signifant time. Maybe that will teach LA drivers a little more courtesy around those on 20 pound bicycles.
rjfj (01/08/2010, 10.28 AM): After reading through the article I don't believe the doctor should do time for his act. Cyclists all over the San Gabriel Valley ride on the road blocking cars and making it difficult to continue on the ROAD to THEIR destination. The Cyclists should get the heck out of the way and if they don't and disrespectfully block traffic THEY ARE PUTTING THEIR OWN LIVES AT RISK! Cyclists need to obey the rules of the road just like everyone else! Welcome to the Universe! There are OTHERS to CONSIDER!
tomato23 (01/08/2010, 10.47 AM): @rjfj wake up buddy - cyclists have the right to use the full lane - Section 21202(c) of the Vehicle Code expressly allows cyclists to take the lane when it is "too narrow for a bicycle and a vehicle to travel safely side by side within the lane." and when going down mandeville on a bike, we are going the speed limit. there is no reason for cars to try and pass if it is a narrow stretch we choose to take over, which it is.
dougyfish (01/08/2010, 11.32 AM): I just wanted to comment on one aspect of this story. The issue of the bikers blocking traffic. As I understand it the speed limit on that road is 30mph. The bikes were travelling 30mph. They were'nt blocking traffic. They were traffic.
atjatjat (01/08/2010, 12.16 PM): All I can say by looking at these comments is WOW, I had no idea that drivers had such universal lack of understanding of the rules of the road. I suspect that most of the "Friends of dr death" would have a very hard time passing today's drivers tests and should have their licenses revoked. It is a very strong argument for retesting of drivers. We study for a few weesk at age 15, and get a driver's license for life. That test should be repeated every 5 to 10 years, including the theoretical part.
speedracer357 (01/08/2010, 1.08 PM): Rjfj - I have no idea what "universe" you live in, but I will never ride a bike there! So you want to break the law by speeding and be able to cause bodily harm to whomever happens to impede you? Cyclists have the right to use the road in this universe, I'm not sure the state should afford you that same privilege.
mapact (01/08/2010, 1.29 PM): @ riffi - you still don't get it. "Thought process" had nothing to do with the injuries in this case. They were due to cyclists following the vehicle code and being passed (illegally) and then intentionally injured by braking. Why is it so hard to grasp that that behavior warrants punishment? "Taking over" is the same thing a vehicle does when it travels the speed limit and prevents those who (illegally) want to go faster from doing so. Those here who think that riders outfits (goodkitty), the fact that they break the law too (iberian), etc. are relevant facts and justify violence are missing the point that there is a massive power imbalance between those on bikes and those in cars. Might makes right? Is that as deeply as your thinking goes?
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“What shocks, angers and disgusts me the most is that guy was an ER physician of...”
– posted in response to LA Times article on sentencing of ‘Dr. Road Rage’
Today, January 8, Dr. Christopher Thomspon received a sentence of 5 years after assaulting and seriously injuring two cyclists with his car after a road rage incident in LA.
additional info via Associate...
“I pass a ghost bike on the road near my home in Tucson. Now I know that it isn’t...”
– from comments section on holeinthedonut.com article Ghost Bikes Memorialize Cyclists Around the World
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“There’s a ghost bike in Tallahassee on Hartsfied Rd. locked to a pole with...”
– Flickr user tangent, in response to photo of a ghost bike being rolled through the NYC subway on its way to installation at the site of Donna Goodson’s death by truck
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“these always make me sad, and utterly scared.”
– Flickr user Range of Light in respose to photo of Dan Valle’s ghost bikes in Brooklyn, NY
“Descansos, whether they are crosses or bicycles are beautiful testaments of...”
– from comments section on holeinthedonut.com article Ghost Bikes Memorialize Cyclists Around the World
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Dirt vs. Yellow Cab (via prollyisnotprobably.com) →
After getting hit last week (I was wearing a helmet) on my ride into work, riding past a site where a woman was killed on my ride home, seeing the “Nose Pivot Gone Wrong” video and Massan’s latest post, I’m really really really going out and getting a trick helmet this weekend.
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“I’m a cyclist and the first one to admit there are a lot of cyclists out...”
– posted in response to LA Times article on sentencing of ‘Dr. Road Rage’
Today, January 8, Dr. Christopher Thomspon received a sentence of 5 years after assaulting and seriously injuring two cyclists with his car after a road rage incident in LA.
additional info via Associate...
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ATTN: Chicago Cyclists... Jepson Livingston... →
reposted from The Chicago Bicycle Advocate:
A memorial ride and ghost bike placement in memory of Jepson Livingston will take place tomorrow, January 9, 2010. Participants are to meet outside of West Town Bikes/Ciclo Urbano, 2459 W. Division St. in Chicago before 5:00 p.m. The procession will leave at 5, with ghost bike placement taking place at 5:30 at Kosciuszko Park, 2732 North Avers...
Facebook Refuses to Remove Group Promoting... →
A number of Streetsblog readers have noticed a particularly loathsome group that has sprouted up on Facebook and has a legion of fans. As of this writing, more than 32,000 people are fans of “There’s a perfectly good bike path right next to the road you stupid cyclist,” a group page with a bunch of anti-cyclist screeds and some pretty nasty photos of bicycle crashes and...
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LA Dr Gets 5 Year Prison Term For Anti-Bicyclists... →
by Frank James via NPR
Many people can relate to having a moment behind the steering wheel they’d rather forget about when they’ve gotten so angry at someone else on the road that it took every inch of self-control to keep from doing something stupid.
Then there are those who weren’t able to stop themselves before something terrible happened. Dr. Christopher Thompson of Los...
“Wonderful post about a tradition I never knew about. In the US it seems there...”
– from comments section on holeinthedonut.com article Ghost Bikes Memorialize Cyclists Around the World
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Ghost Bikes Memorialize Cyclists Around the World →
by Barbara Weibel via holeinthedonut.com
With its rusting chain and flat tires, some consider the dilapidated, whitewashed bicycle chained to a sign post on Chicago’s north side a piece of urban junk. Cyclists know better. Pedaling by, they pay silent homage at this memorial to George Chavez, a cyclist killed at this spot in a hit-and-run accident in June of 2006.
The “ghost bike” memorial...
“I work here on Delancey, right where the accident happened. We could look down...”
– from comments section on the streetsblog article Bus Driver Hits and Kills Cyclist on Delancey Street
“What a tragedy.
What are those things in the ground called, that are metal and...”
– from comments section on the streetsblog article Bus Driver Hits and Kills Cyclist on Delancey Street
“Just terrible. That stretch between Bowery and the WillyB is so dangerous I try...”
– from comments section on the streetsblog article Bus Driver Hits and Kills Cyclist on Delancey Street
“The driving and drivers in this city are as bad as I can remember. I have always...”
– comment posted in response to gothamist article on biker killed by bus on Delancey St, NYC
in response to Gothamist article about biker...
kc2slg: Last week I was driving on a poorly lit road in the Bronx at night, and passed a man on a bicycle. He was wearing black clothes, with no helmet and no reflective anything. IMO that's begging to be hit. The number of bicyclists I see going the wrong way, against lights, turning without signalling, etc, makes it very hard to be sympathetic. Agreed, the penalty for stupidity shouldn't be death--but no one can break the laws of physics in braking.
drewo: KC - an old man, a pedestrian, was struck and killed by a turning truck near Grand Central station the other evening. http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/manhattan/horror_outside_grand_central_sYPnCYKUnayMQbG4VXFAjN It's not about what the person is wearing, or a particular dark street in the Bronx - it's about the lawlessness on NYC streets. Unless it's a rare situation of extreme circumstances, law enforcement officials do not to be troubled to pursue possible criminal charges against a driver in almost all kinds of death-by-automobile cases.
eyekantspel: That's not true. Just because you can cite an example where a pedestrian was without fault, doesn't mean that there aren't pedestrians and cyclists who don't contribute to the risk. I walk, drive and cycle and I'm always shocked at how many people wearing dark clothes, at night, cross in the middle of the street or cycle through a red light without concern about the fact they are hard to see.
“Biking home last night on Delancey a pick-up truck tried to speed through a...”
– from comments section on the streetsblog article Bus Driver Hits and Kills Cyclist on Delancey Street
Biker Killed by a School Bus in LES, Two Other... →
by Ben Muessig via gothamist.com on January 5th, 2010
Three women were hit and killed by cars today in isolated incidents in Manhattan and Brooklyn. A female cyclist was struck by a school bus near the corner of Delancey and Ludlow streets in the Lower East Side at around 4 pm, according to the Post. The tabloid reports that the bus was empty, while ABC notes that the vehicle belonged to the...
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Woman on bike fatally struck by school bus on... →
LOWER EAST SIDE (WABC) — A woman riding a bicycle was struck by a school bus and died from her injuries on the Lower East Side Tuesday. Authorities say the woman was hit by the bus, operated by Atlantic Express, just after 4 p.m. at the intersection of Delancey and Ludlow streets.
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"Ghost Bike" Ride Remembers Cyclists Killed in... →
Yesterday, our production team followed along with the NYC Street Memorial folks and other dedicated cyclists on the 5th Annual Memorial Ride and Walk from Harlem through Queens and into Brooklyn. Along the way they stopped at the 2009 ghost bikes and pedestrian plaques to remember and honor those who have lost their lives on NYC streets.
We spent today reviewing our footage and will be posting...
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“I must report with great sadness and anger the passing of Heinz Duerkop,...”
– huecotanks.com
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“I slept in that morning and it was just coincidence that he was hit the only day...”
– Margot Duerkop, whose husband was killed by a hit-and-run driver while riding his bicycle a few blocks from his home in the 11200 block of Thunder Cloud Drive in El Paso (article here)
The death was listed as the Crime Stoppers crime of the week in August. Police are asking anyone who has any...