two_broken_wheels


	two_broken_wheels
past	each time a cyclist dies, the static grows louder.	130724
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unhinged	i ache from the base of my skull down to where my calf muscles attach to my knees top_to_bottom but i hike up the hill anyways	130725
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past	on tuesday two retirees in their later sixties were killed by a truck in northern ontario while biking with a larger group from vancouver to st john.	130725
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krieg	Spokes used as pipe cleaning tools	130726
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past	yesterday evening, a woman in her mid-fifties was killed by a cement truck at an intersection that investigators acknowledge is inherently dangerous, after a downtown mainstreet begins to transition towards a suburban artery.	130731
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huh!	oh god, sounds like an earthquake to me	130731
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past	yesterday, an SUV turned right without checking it's blind spot. the cyclist was in a segregated bike lane, where there's a gap for the intersection and with complete right of way. he noticed the car coming and jumped off it and on to the sidewalk. he was lucky, only a few bruises and scrapes. his bike was crushed and broken as his body would have been if he was a little older, a little faster, or as unaware of his surroundings as the driver was.	130821
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epitome of incomprehensibility	I was looking for this page. My aunt, my younger cousin's mother, was hit by a eighteen-wheel truck a few days ago when she was biking back from work. I found out when I called my cousin to invite her over for Christmas. Luckily she survived, but she ended up with a broken pelvis and won't be able to walk for a while. And she's the only person earning money there. L, my cousin, is in eleventh grade. Some people say it's dangerous to ride a bike in the winter - but it's also dangerous to drive in the winter and that doesn't stop people. The accident was the driver's fault; like the incident above, he or she turned without looking. It's true large trucks are unwieldy and have a wide turning path, but L says her mom didn't even know it was about to turn, it wasn't supposed to, and that she's trying to sue the truck company. And just last week I was listening to an interview with guy who talked enthusiastically about how he bikes all through the winter (which requires winter tires, extra oiling when it's snowy, etc., but he says it's worth it.) I guess I'll stick to walking and buses for now...	131219
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epitome of incomprehensibility	We visited her yesterday. She's starting to walk now, but is still in the convalescence hospital, and in the meantime L has to take care of the cat and dog and make food. I gave her a book called something like International Political Theory and Zombies.	131222
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e_o_i	What happened was that she was biking in front of a truck. The driver didn't even look/see and he clipped her in the handlebars. She thought it wouldn't be a big deal, but it unbalanced her and she fell down and she, with her bike, got caught under the front wheel. The way she described what happened made her laugh, although I'll bet at the time it was extremely scary: the driver got out of the truck, saw that stopping was actually making things worse - she was stuck with this huge weight on her, for Infinity's sake - so he rushed back in his truck to back up. Meanwhile, someone asked rather uncertainly if she'd like them to call an ambulance. "Just because I'm conscious and saying... well, things I won't repeat... doesn't mean I wasn't just hit by a truck!"	131222
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e_o_i	She is walking outside but with a walker.	140108
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e_o_i	My aunt's back at work, but I don't know if she'll be able to bike for the rest of the summer. And recently there was a woman biking to work who got killed by a truck while driving through the tunnel. Not something really blameable - but the tunnel could've been safer.	140515
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e_o_i	(I mean a tunnel, not the tunnel. Silly definite article.)	140515
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e_o_i	But I could be more definite. Her name was Mathilde Blais, age 33, and she was hit by a tractor-trailer while going through an underpass in St. Denis street in Montreal. Nothing is safe, really, but more bike paths could make places like that safer.	140515
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past	designated bike routes and designated truck routes should never be the same street. today a man was pulled from under a truck, with a critical leg injury, due to this idiotic, negligent, fucking dangerous mixture of two types of traffic that do not get along. i want city transportation engineers to be multimodal as a condition of their contract. they need to live the dangers they put the rest of us. or else, they'll only measure what they care (car traffic) and their will be more broken wheels littering the streets of this city. because they don't care.	140723
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flowerock	my crash did not involve any motor vehicles, fortunately. I never wear a helmet but my work require us to when biking on the clock. The helmet fell over my face and shocked me into loosing control. Face first into the pavement tangled with the bike. seemed to last for minutes and I can still see that image of pavement through the helmet slits and I was thinking "no way this is happening!" broken nose, fractured wrist bone, 9 stitches... biking in cities is scary, too many drivers are "multi tasking" or just not paying attention or even considering cyclists or pedestrians. a helmet caused my crash(or perhaps my improper adjusting of helmet) My first crash before this one was a combination of an oblivious driver and my application of just front brakes too fast... How do you feel about helmets? I honestly can't decide. I mostly dislike and don't believe that wearing them is really safer, but then again, if I crash because of a careless driver might the helmet save my brain? at what speed and angle is the helmet more harmful than helpful?	140723
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e_o_i	Ouch. Yeah, it's probably worse wearing a helmet that doesn't fit if it's going to fall over like that. If adjusting the straps doesn't help, try adding more foam padding. A bike or sports store will probably have it and they can help you get the thing fitted better. (People are usually nice when you're buying things, and sometimes they're nice anyway.) I mostly wear a helmet, though there isn't a specific law here about it (there is a law about having reflectors on the wheels, though not about having lights on at night). The deal with laws is that it's hard to balance freedom and safety, besides the whole issue of who's responsible for things... because it's not just individuals steering various vehicles, but people planning safer roads, like past wrote. Montreal isn't very good at that yet. (I also like my helmet for the irrelevant reason that it's red and matches my bike. And it offers sun protection. Direct summer sunlight on my head gives me headaches.)	140723
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past	in my opinion safety is more in the prevention of accidents than protection during one. i'm not completely enamoured with the moral hazard argument, but have heard enough anecdotal evidence to give it some weight--on both sides. that is, people wearing helmets are sometimes more reckless, but those passing them in motor vehicles are sometimes more reckless when the biker is helmeted (i.e. passing too close) than when they are not. in this city i tend to wear my helmet, but where i was for the last year i didn't. when helmets are treated as panaceas they're more dangerous because it gives politicians, planners, etc an out to actually being responsible for the infrastructural and other root causes that are under their control. i'm a huge supporter of lights, not riding on sidewalks, obeying lights etc. i've been known to harangue asshats who go around with head phones in, on the sidewalk, blowing reds. they make it worse for everyone else and, like helmets, give those who wish to keep the status quo something to point to instead of making the roads safer for all users, for all modes.	140724
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past	yesterday a cop in quebec_city saw a man salmoning down a one way street. the cop proceeded to run over the man, get out of the cruiser to see him under the car, then run over him again and remove the offending bike and crusading police cruiser from the scene. the cops carried the man into an ambulance without use of a stretcher and he later died at hospital. i'm sickeningly afraid the cops will get off. i don't think other cops will charge them with murder let alone obstruction of justice for altering the scene of this gruesome murder (or the all too likely perjury that police seem to commit almost every time they hurt someone). fucking cops. (i hope to be proven wrong, but am not optimistic.)	140904
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past	along the route of a charity ride, one (potential, unconfirmed) participant was hit by a truck and died.	140906
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past	local journalist blames the victim of this and dozen over recent cyclist deaths. fuck you journalist. no one deserves to die like this.	140907
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angry past cant spell	i'll not even try to correct it.	140907
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past	a man was biking in the rural areas south of the city when he was hit by a car and killed.	140925
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past	the qc cop who killed the man in september has been promoted because the police force didn't want to appear that he is being punished for fucking killing a guy while the investigation is on going. there's a reason people don't trust the police.	141016
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past	a man was biking south on a green light. a garbage truck driver, sitting at the red, turned right. the cyclist is dead. a pedestrian was also hit, but s/he isn't dead. too many deaths. pay the fuck attention when your driving your death machines.	141127
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unhinged	make it a lot harder to get where i'm going but i don't have the time or money to get them fixed	150331
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past	last summer a woman was killed after being struck by a truck driver from behind in broad daylight while taking part in a charity ride. police have not charged the truck driver with anything (ANYTHING!), because if you want to kill someone simply hit them with your car while they're on a bike.	150331
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past	a man was biking in a bike lane around noon on a sunny day. he was hit from behind by the driver of a car who claims he didn't see him. the biker is still alive, but in serious condition in hospital. he crashed into the windshield after he was hit. the back of his bike was destroyed. the driver was given a $200 ticket for this vicious assault (either through negligence, which is likely, or through malice). local media reports that a bike hit a car. because up is down and effect is cause.	150511
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18-20s club	was that what it was like to go to comprehensive school?	150512
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past	a man on a bike was hit by a woman in a car while he was biking in a bike lane and she wasn't paying attention to it while changing lanes. she admitted fault to the police officer who responded. the police officer refused to lay charges or even issue a ticket because he couldn't find fault--even when it was admitted. the man is okay, some scratches, and his bike needs only a little bit of repairs. it was lucky.	150520
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past	that is, it was lucky if there's any luck in getting hit by a distracted driver.	150520
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past	a man on a bike was by a person driving a motor vehicle hit sometime before 6 and left bleeding in a ditch. he was dead by the time paramedics arrived. the driver fled the scene. people who hit and then run are amongst the lowest of the low. they are a danger to society.	150628
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past	a man in a car hit a woman and her two children on their bikes. he was charged with "failing to yield," a paltry fine. babysteps, perhaps, but really this should be treated more seriously.	150717
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past	four wheels: for at least the third time in a month someone driving a car has driven into someone in a wheel chair downtown.	150824
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past	another week and another person in a wheel chair hit by a person driving a motor vehicle. what the hell?	150830
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past	the city, in its wisdom, has decided that ghost bikes distract people in cars too much and will be removed after a brief period. of course, the city, in its wisdom, is still building its roads in the same way that ends up killing people. the kicker is less the removal of the ghost bikes, per say, but the way it ignores the underlining problem: traffic planners and engineers only think about people in cars. people getting around in other ways die as a result. (hell people in cars die as a result!) but heaven forbid we leave small monuments to those sacrificed to the cruel traffic gods by their priests at city hall.	151030
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past	if i'm killed on the road, i don't want a ghost bike. i want a fucking bike lane.	151030
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past	a man was hit from behind by a driver who claimed he didn't see the man on the bike. if you don't look for other road users, get off the road.	151101
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past	a man on a scooter (not my usual inclusion) was doored by a driver illegally parked in a no-stopping zone during rush hour, knocked into traffic, ran over and dragged by a truck. the media is saying it's not safe to be anything but a car. the real story is that people who are too selfish to look out their window before opening their door are killing other people out of their gross negligence.	160114
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past	i can't even keep up. fuck fuck fuck	160524
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past	a 13 year old, out riding her bike on tuesday, was by someone driving a car in broad daylight. she just died.	160617
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past	an ex-olympian was hit by someone in a car while on his bicycle. after about a week on life support, he just died.	160625
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daf	A lot of people make it too, you know. It's a commonly held belief that we're more likely NOT to die on our two wheeled vehicles than we are to die. It's the primary reason people keep getting on two wheeled vehicles. Those who would like an even SAFER travel option could take a vehicle with more than two wheels and save hours of typing. : ) Thanks for caring.	160625
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past	after the woman killed three years ago (my post dated 130731 above), a ghost bike was put up in an out of the way part of the sidewalk. it was well taken care of. fresh flowers put down. snow cleared around it. a monument to a lost loved one. it, along with a handful of other ghostbikes, mobilized those concerned about "distractions" on the roads and eventually resulted in a bylaw being passed removing all ghostbikes after a short allowed period. the politicians seemed unaware that commercial signs are much more distracting (and are meant to attract attention!) than a single white bike, out of the way, standing as a monument to their failures. after her ghostbike was removed, people began going at night with chalk and drew the bike on. they'd put it back up after rainfalls. leave messages. yesterday her family gathered and her mother left notes around the drawing and the family taped her picture beside it, left flowers. in the past few weeks someone (or someones) have been going at night and erasing the ghostbike. it happened again last night after the memorial. what drives such a callous disregard for the grief of a family, a community?	160731
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past	a woman driving a car "for unknown reasons," according to the police who responded, drove into two men on bikes in broad day light from behind. one man died. the other remains in hospital. charges have not been laid because why would they be when someone kills another through what's at best negligence?	160807
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past	a young woman was right hooked and crushed to death by the driver of a construction truck. she was biking in a protected bike lane, through an intersection and the truck driver turned and killed her. there is no chain of events where the driver would have legally have had the right of way. none. later today at the same intersection, in the very same spot, after the woman's blood was cleaned away, another young woman was almost hit by another driver performing. this is not okay.	160901