Square & Compas

Another hit and run by a coward driver who did not want to own up killed a cyclist. If that isn't bad enough the people who are trying to or support a ban on cyclists are defending the driver, some even imply the cyclist got what he deserved for riding on the roadway. These people are truly sad and pathetic.

https://www.desmoinesregister.com/app.../NEWS/90830009

gcottay

The huge majority of people in Iowa would not, of course, fit the description. The state may even suffer from a overhall shortage of sad and pathetic citizens but does allow their nuts to access the net and make their comments.

DX-MAN

It is beyond sad, beyond frustrating -- it's maddening how myopic people can be.

So you're inconvenienced by someone riding a bicycle on the road, you have to slow your 3500-lb petroleum-burning metal box from its 'accustomed' speed of 35+ miles per hour (frequently a LOT more!). SOOOOOO WWHHHAAAAAATTTT**********? This isn't your private street/town/state/nation/planet/universe. You MUST share it all with ME, HIM, HER!!

I don't expect you to completely change lanes when you pass a bicycle on the road; just give a stranger the consideration you would give to your mother/wife/daughter/son/husband/father.

Believe me when I say, it will be appreciated!!

Now, to the cyclists:

You don't help when you feel righteous in running redlights/stop signs because 'losing momentum is bad'; get over it. You don't help when you ride 3-across or more because you want to talk with each other. You know what you can and can't, should and shouldn't, do; grow up and do it.

And, yes, I ride; I dislike having to stop, too. I dislike being hit by cars worse. And on a general level, I vehemently dislike not doing something I once could do because some group of idiots removed the opportunity through their selfishness.

Dchiefransom

It's time we manipulated the price of corn so it dropped considerably, AFTER it's been planted.

ianmgull

This guy will get caught. This story made digg, and they have a reputation for vigilante justice and detective work. A piece of debree was found. Police are trying to identify this logo:

https://jalopnik.com/5350298/id-this-...nd-run-suspect

TeeMac

A number of comments in the news article talk about banning bikes. That got me thinking about how many people are killed by cars while cycling versus how many people are killed in cars generally. I found this site:

https://www-fars.nhtsa.dot.gov/Main/index.aspx

A lot of stuff is interesting in this report, not the least of which is the first comment that, in 2007, "About 1.7 percent of all traffic crash fatalities in 2007 were pedalcyclists. Delaware, North Dakota, South Dakota, Vermont, and Wyoming reported no pedalcyclists killed."

Given there were something like (if I'm reading this right) 35,000 fatalities, this means just under 600 cyclists were killed. A big number. But the other 34,000 people killed by cars is stunning. Which vehicle should be banned?

I'm totally NOT an advocate of ANY bans since I'm selfish and lazy; I ride when I can and drive when I have to. But geez... the numbers don't support a ban on bicycles. Fix the BIG bar on the pareto chart.

Marinman

Looks like they found out who did it, from an unlikely source. RIP, I have been following this story on the internet.

https://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/showthread.php?t=817260

Dchiefransom

Hmmmm, it sounds like it took a call to the news media to get law enforcement to take those leads seriously.

TVS_SS

goes to show that the general public wants everyone to be just like them.... yet they wave the flag and speak of freedom.

ironic.

Square & Compas

Not a call, 60 calls to law enforcement. The Warren County Sherriff's Deputy said after putting out the picture of the truck they had at least 60 tips that lead them to a house. https://www.kcci.com/news/20732193/detail.html

crhilton

Good luck with that. Corn isn't people food anymore. It's pig and cow food. So, go vegetarian and you might have the impact you're looking for.

crhilton

The talk of safety is a facade. You'd have to understand a bit of central Iowa's politics to know why. Basically, there's this guy, Dan Jones, who's running around yacking about banning bicycles from Iowa highways (he calls them "farm to market roads" which translates to: highway).

The talk of him, and his political group, is that it's about saving Iowa lives. It's a load of crap though. It's about getting rid of cyclists. I've talked with enough of them on the registers comments sections to get a solid feel for their intent and it's not safety. They don't care about saving 4 lives, they care about saving 40 seconds of their lives.

They have to pose it as safety though because central Iowans are cuckoo for safety puffs. This is a place people move to because they think other areas will eat their children.

Ngchen

I don't support any bans either; however, looking at the absolute number of fatalities is misleading, since there are a lot more cars on the road. The rates on a per unit distance travelled, per unit time exposure, and so on give very different results. Relative bike safety is notoriously hard to study, simply because there is not good data on how many miles bikes actually travel on a large scale.

I-Like-To-Bike

It's motor vehicle food too, at least as long as the ethanol industry is propped up by government support.

TeeMac

"looking at the absolute number of fatalities is misleading,..."

Yeah, I agree... this occurred to me later. There are a lot of complexities burried in the data.

"...there's this guy, Dan Jones, who's running around yacking about banning bicycles from Iowa highways..."

We've got a guy out here in San Francisco that has a similar life's mission.

One of the thing that scares me is when people here about legislation like this, all of a sudden the negativity against bikes sounds more legitimate and people with an ax to grind feel like their closer to mainstream in hating bikes. I wonder if there's a connection to the hit-and-runner and the Iowa no-farm-roads thing.

I-Like-To-Bike

Could be the puppet masters in the black helicopters pulling the strings, ya think?

TeeMac

Not what I meant at all.

I-Like-To-Bike

What then did you mean?