Ride of Silence 2011

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Greensboro Ride of Silence 2010 Coverage

Greensboro Ride of Silence 2010

This year's ride will start again at the VF Jeanswear parking lot on N Elm St near the intersection with E Lindsay St at 6:00PM on May 19, 2010. Please arrive a little early to complete the legal rigmarole.

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Nothing to do with Cycling

The British really know how to do a PSA.

Wear your seatbelt.

Spike Bike Rides Again

Ever wonder what Spike Bike rode?

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More on Distracted Driving

Focus Driven is an advocacy group that is attempting to raise awareness to the lethality of distracted driving. The US Secretary of Transportation, Ray LaHood, is promoting the group on the Federal Department of Transportation website. It would appear that anti-distracted driving efforts are indeed Federal level policy.

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Texting While Driving IV

Wonder of wonders! The NC Legislature took the hint from the US Department of Transportation and they have instituted a Texting while Driving ban. (The News and Record has bizarre priorities--they mixed in new reptile laws with a story on the new distracted drving law). As has been noted before, this new law won't do much in itself to stop distracted driving as it will be somewhat difficult to enforce. What it will do however, is make the more serious offenses that distracted driving produces easier to prosecute. If an officer/DA suspects the person may have been texting they need only subpoena the transaction records from the device provider to establish the truth of the matter. With distracted driving proved, this opens up the options for prosecuting the consequences of the distracted driving such as vehicular homicide. Hopefully there will be some active enforcement of this law to raise awareness and we can see the crash levels fall as people do what they are supposed to doing when behind the wheel, driving.

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Get the Msg

The US Secretary of Transportation gets the message. The US Senate appears to get the message. When will the US public get the message? While waiting at a light at Bluford and Dudley yesterday I watched what every driver was doing as they attempted to pilot their motor vehicle down the road. Nine out of ten where on the phone. For all I know the tenth one was on the phone but had a hands-free device. What is so important that people must increase their crash risk by 400%?

Hang up and drive!

Susan Has Finished Her Fight

If you follow cycling blogs then you probably follow Fat Cyclist. Last night he released the sad news that Susan has finished her fight with cancer. Let's everyone do a few extra miles for Susan.

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This Should Get Some Attention

The Kiwis know how to get your attention. I particularly like the police officer telling it like it is about "accidents".

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Ian Terrell

More info on the Mebane cyclist death.

The State Highway Patrol said it is consulting with the Orange County
District Attorney's office bout possible charges relating to the wreck.

This should be interesting to see if charges are filed. It appeared there would be none from the first reporting but this report paints a different picture. The biggest problem will be lack of credible witnesses (can't expect the driver to tell the whole truth if it could put her in prison).

Bad Reporting of a Serious Crime

We appear to have a single witness suicide swerve in Mebane this weekend.  A single witness suicide swerve is a catch-all description where the only living witness's account of a crash is taken as gospel.

A 23-year-old man bicycling on Lebanon Road near Mebane died Saturday after he was struck by a vehicle, the State Highway Patrol said.

Ian E. Terrell of 1627 Foxfire Drive, Mebane, was riding about 2 p.m. on the east shoulder of Lebanon Road two miles east of Mebane when he swerved into the roadway and was struck by a vehicle, telecommunications supervisor John Swinney said. Orange County dispatchers said Terrell died at the scene.

Swinney said he did not know the name of the driver of the vehicle. He said the accident is under investigation.

We have some negligent reporting on what appears to be negligent driving.  Lebanon Rd does not have a shoulder therefore Ian Terrell could not be riding on it.  All the reporter had to do to debunk the witness testimony was pull up the road on Google maps and check the street view.

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