Singlespeed & Fixed Gear - An unfortunate trend

After reading all of these obituary posts, I felt compelled to start another one. On Tuesday (8/7), John Myslin, a high school teacher, was killed in Santa Cruz at the busy intersection at Bay and Mission on the west side. A semi-truck side swiped him on his way to work and he died on the scene. A memorial has been set up at the intersection with a ghost bike and room to leave flowers, thoughts, or photos. Please, if you're in the Santa Cruz area, make a stop at the memorial; it's surprisingly moving.

this **** is all pretty gnarly. a 20year old guy was killed up in my parents' neighborhood in columbus a few weeks ago by a dude who pulled a hit and run. fortunately, the dumbass left a trail of coolant from the scene back to his house. ****bag.

this **** is all pretty gnarly. a 20year old guy was killed up in my parents' neighborhood in columbus a few weeks ago by a dude who pulled a hit and run. fortunately, the dumbass left a trail of coolant from the scene back to his house. ****bag.

What part of Columbus? That is really too bad...all these deaths. I think I might finally get me a helmet this weekend.

Yeah, I saw this story yesterday on Indymedia. Really tragic. I ride through that intersection daily. I'm outta town right now but I'll definitely stop by there once I get back.

What part of Columbus? That is really too bad...all these deaths. I think I might finally get me a helmet this weekend.


Several folks near my neck of the woods have been killed this year. To the best of my knowledge, none were wearing helmets.

What the **** is going on? Is carmageddon happening or something? All these deaths recently have me really upset. It's tense out there, to say the least.

Anyway, I left a sunflower at the memorial today. It depressed the hell out of me, and scared me too. I feel really bad for his students. Bay and mission is a ****ty intersection, I ride through there all the time- usually going up bay or turning left onto mission- and it always sketches me out. Close calls aplenty. Another cyclist got hit by a gravel truck at that same intersection not too long ago, if I recall correctly. Mission is probably the worst street to ride on in Santa Cruz, something needs to be done about it. It's not hwy 1 between western and river street, for ****s sake, stop driving like it is!

RIP John, condolences to his family, friends and students.

I got hit last night. It was nothing serious, but I'll be off the bike for a few days till my knee feels better. WTF is going on?

I am sorry to hear that another has lost their life... it is really getting me down.

It is really getting crazy out there.. someone buzzed me yesterday so close the mirror hit my elbow...

All I could think about was ..... well lets not think about it. sigh.


The wrong people are dying... (that is if people have to die)

What part of Columbus? That is really too bad...all these deaths. I think I might finally get me a helmet this weekend.

Snouffer Road, big arterial road up near dublin. Not bike friendly at all.

Here's a link to the story

http://www.dispatch.com/dispatch/content/local_news/stories/2007/07/25/bike.html

stop your making me afraid to got to work damn it and that aint good if I don't make enough runs I don't make any money

I would hardly ever ride on mission street itself, what's the point? there are two streets above and below it that are ****loads safer for traveling to the same places... if i do ride on mission, it's in the middle of the ****ing lane waving my u-lock in a circle of deadly justice! i think that trying to give cars room to pass you is one of the biggest mistakes you can make as a biker... people won't straight up kill you if you are right in front of them...

i think that trying to give cars room to pass you is one of the biggest mistakes you can make as a biker.

I feel the same way. Also, thats a nice way to get doored. Huggin close to the cars on the side i mean.

it's really upsetting to think how close we all come every day...

I've been riding alot more lately than ever and i guess it's just the same chances just getting bigger but i get more close calls every day... it's freaky...

an impatient guy buzzed me today by basically making his own lane almost on the sidewalk, just to get one place ahead of me and sit behind the car going 10 mph... i passed him and got in front of him and rode with traffic for awhile then when it was safer pulled out and let him pass but gosh man! if he'd turned one second earlier he'd have clipped my front wheel and i'd have been run over!

comeon!

i think that trying to give cars room to pass you is one of the biggest mistakes you can make as a biker... people won't straight up kill you if you are right in front of them...

I think that is the best advice I have heard on BF..

and if they honk at you.. at least you know they see you (as has been said many times before..)

agreed okto. people can and will be impatient and rude on the road. (especially metro areas like L.A.) which is all legal, so you can be too. what isn't legal is hitting a pedestrian and leaving the scene, which unfortunately a lot of people will also do too. I have been hit 3 times, once I am pretty sure on purpose and once as if they never even saw me. I have incredible luck that I have only fractured small hand bones and got real scrapped up as a result. But in all three cases the driver took no responsibility for their actions. In all but one they didn't even stop, and like I said I think one was actually intentional. The one who did stop waited until it was clear I wasn't dead at least before she started blaming me for "coming out of nowhere" which I wouldn't mind being accused of if I actually had the magical power to materialize out of thin air. Then she started to leave until I picked up my bent worthless bike like I was gonna chuck it at her car. Point being do what it take, because this isn't paradise and you can't always count on others to do the right, safe, legal or smart thing to do.

A rider was badly hit in DC on Saturday, and the rider that was hit a month before on the same road (different intersection) died the same day.

A rider was hit hard just a few blocks from my work by a dick running a blatant red. It was right on the same route I ride every day so it freaked me out a little. Luckily the rider lived, but he was banged up pretty badly.

When I was living in the US, I was astounded how many people run reds-- first there are the stale lights- when I would be waiting at the front of the queue- and just as the light turns green someone blows through at high speed. Happens all the time- and makes me support those Big Brother cameras.

But also, there are the cars who just don't even see the lights. I was nearly hit by a driver who was oblivious that she even had a red in an otherwise empty intersection. Sometimes it is safer riding in a ton of traffic. With permissive drinking and driving laws, cell phone use, text messaging, etc... the situation will only worsen.


A rider was hit hard just a few blocks from my work by a dick running a blatant red. It was right on the same route I ride every day so it freaked me out a little. Luckily the rider lived, but he was banged up pretty badly.

what a horrible way to live.

That's just sad.

well I am not sure if the point of this topic was just to post incidents, but hopefully it will increase awareness of this problem. Outside of a full scale retaliation on any irresponsible drivers ( ie smashed windows with bike locks, bunny hops onto hoods, pepper spray ) what does anyone else thin could be a solution. I think MAYBE getting plate numbers and reporting to the police could work, but you would have to rely on a police force that probably overworked, understaffed, don't care, or just don't have the resources to follow up on reports less significant than traffic accident or hit and run. ive said it before and Ill say it again. police very rarely prevent crime by actually being at a crime scene before a crime. It's their assumed presence that detours some would be criminals. Most of the time they are there to clean up the mess and sort things out. Maybe if some of us personally and collectively started taking down, posting and tracking the vehicle plates and/or descriptions of drivers who are dangerous or have caused an accident. organized geographically maybe.? what do you think.

When I was living in the US, I was astounded how many people run reds-- first there are the stale lights- when I would be waiting at the front of the queue- and just as the light turns green someone blows through at high speed. Happens all the time- and makes me support those Big Brother cameras.

But also, there are the cars who just don't even see the lights. I was nearly hit by a driver who was oblivious that she even had a red in an otherwise empty intersection. Sometimes it is safer riding in a ton of traffic. With permissive drinking and driving laws, cell phone use, text messaging, etc... the situation will only worsen.

When I'm riding, I try to assume that every car door will open, and every intersection will have someone run through it. We just had a weird situation in Philly where the "Big Brother camera" was going to be alternately used at an intersection to catch a murder, and the camera didn't work at the time it happened.

I'm curious what you mean by permissive drinking and driving laws...?

I'm curious what you mean by permissive drinking and driving laws...?

I think he means how weak the punishment for DUI is in the states as opposed to other places.

Well if that's the case, I'm curious what the punishment is in Stavenger, Norway.

maybe permissive was the wrong word for you. youre taking it too literally. i mean that the drinking laws are subject to an officers discretion. and as officers are human as far as i know (the ones I know are anyway ) they are subject to err. so just for you let me elaborate. the drinking laws a clearly written, its enforcement that is not to black and white. it actually such a stupid point to question i am going to get drunk right now in your honor. i mean maybe im wrong. and if i am then it is my farce to live with. me alone saying drinking laws are permissive wont have any impact on the laws or the way anyone responds to them. i am really curious why you would even question that? and clearly you read my post, and through all of it all you can do is citicise my choice of words? i am way more interested in what you or anyone else thinks about the ideas i seriously put out there to prevent people from getting hurt and penalize irresponsible drivers who hurt them. it is much more important. holla!

because you're under my skin man and i just have to let you know. there is no "Stavenger" in Norway. you are off by one vowel. you figure it out. just don't even say anything else about Norway OK? . and since it seems to difficult to research the law in question I did it for you, now tell me permissive isn't the right word Mr. Kotter.


"Drinking and driving: Don't do it. The limit is very low (equivalent to a small glass of wine or half a pint of weak beer). Anything over 0.02 per cent and you could face anything up to imprisonment."

http://www.stavanger-web.com/touristinfo/driving.htm

As a Santa Cruz native that makes me extra sad. Where did he teach?

Pacific Collegiate. Charter Middle/High School, now located at Natural Bridges.

What is your question? IF that is the case? If? What do you mean by if?

Lets see- in the US, how many people have 10, 15, whatever DWIs? It is inexcusable to have more than 2. But in the US, lawmakers appear to be more concerned about the hardships brought to families if they really did something as a deterence.... like losing your license for life after your third conviction, and a $10,000 fine and 30 days in jail for a second conviction. And mandatory 90 days incarceration for driving with a suspended license. That might wake a few people up. But it will never happen in the US--- people love to drink and drive.

How many people are arrested or kill people at 2 or 3 times the already high legal limit? It almost is rare to read about someone one sip over the line... these drivers are wasted.

Why do commercial drivers have a lower limit than regular drivers? Is it really that much more dangerous to drive a semi at .03 than to drive your mom's minivan 100+mph the wrong way down the freeway?

Even if you have had a few DWIs and have a suspended license- and are still driving, you are barely treated as a criminal.... again, all in the US. Because DWIs are considered "nuisance crimes"-- and are generally misdemeanors in the US, most cops hate dealing with them. They lose a huge chunk of their shift in processing.

Finally, why are checkpoints so controversial? Everyone should consent to a test by virtue of using the road.


Well if that's the case, I'm curious what the punishment is in Stavenger, Norway.

Youre totally right. Basically the laws wont get stricker because all the innocent people that are inconvenienced by it will whine like ****ing babies. The general populous is THAT ignorant.
Its what happens in the US and its pathetic.

What is your question? IF that is the case? If? What do you mean by if?

Lets see- in the US, how many people have 10, 15, whatever DWIs? It is inexcusable to have more than 2. But in the US, lawmakers appear to be more concerned about the hardships brought to families if they really did something as a deterence.... like losing your license for life after your third conviction, and a $10,000 fine and 30 days in jail for a second conviction. And mandatory 90 days incarceration for driving with a suspended license. That might wake a few people up. But it will never happen in the US--- people love to drink and drive.

How many people are arrested or kill people at 2 or 3 times the already high legal limit? It almost is rare to read about someone one sip over the line... these drivers are wasted.

Why do commercial drivers have a lower limit than regular drivers? Is it really that much more dangerous to drive a semi at .03 than to drive your mom's minivan 100+mph the wrong way down the freeway?

Even if you have had a few DWIs and have a suspended license- and are still driving, you are barely treated as a criminal.... again, all in the US. Because DWIs are considered "nuisance crimes"-- and are generally misdemeanors in the US, most cops hate dealing with them. They lose a huge chunk of their shift in processing.

Finally, why are checkpoints so controversial? Everyone should consent to a test by virtue of using the road.


I was simply asking "how it is" where you're from, that's it...nothing deeper. Also, you have every right to be angry about our legislation here.

because you're under my skin man and i just have to let you know. there is no "Stavenger" in Norway. you are off by one vowel. you figure it out. just don't even say anything else about Norway OK? . and since it seems to difficult to research the law in question I did it for you, now tell me permissive isn't the right word Mr. Kotter.


"Drinking and driving: Don't do it. The limit is very low (equivalent to a small glass of wine or half a pint of weak beer). Anything over 0.02 per cent and you could face anything up to imprisonment."

http://www.stavanger-web.com/touristinfo/driving.htm

How am I under your skin? I was simply asking him what it's like comparatively in Norway, no further.

Basically, there are thousands of dollars in fines-- including loss of license (which in itself costs thousands). There is jail time much earlier- rather than after multiple offenses. BAC levels are much, much lower.

More importantly, there is a social taboo against drinking and driving. I cannot even share my stories of living in the US and having a few after work, then driving home. People act like I was shooting heroin in a day care center.