Volvo and POC have teamed up for a series of crash tests between cars and cycling helmets for research on how to make cycling safer.
The Volvo-POC research project consists of a number of specially designed crash tests at the famous Volvo Cars safety research facilities in Gothenburg, Sweden and is part of a wider research project to understand the types of long-term injuries sustained by cyclists. . . During these tests, POC bike helmets are worn by crash dummy heads mounted on a testing rig, from where they are launched towards different areas of the hood of a static Volvo car, at different speeds and angles for various measurements.
Obviously, the easiest way to protect cyclists from cars is to remove cars from the road, but apparently, that’s not worth testing. For the official word from Volvo and POC, please follow the jump.
On the eve of the day that news of American cyclocross racer Amy Dombroski’s deathspread through the cycling world Tim Blumenthal, the president of People For Bikes wrote this compelling piece for the organization’s website.
In the pre-digital age, I would have been described as a broken record. That’s because every day, at least a half dozen times, I repeat the phrase, “When people ride bikes, great things happen.” I say it in media interviews, sponsor pitches, and in pep talks during staff meetings here at PeopleForBikes headquarters. . . This simple sentence neatly summarizes all the health, air quality, road congestion, business, and money-saving benefits of riding bikes. It helps explain why our organization exists. It’s a pure reflection of the smile in our red, white and blue logo. . . But the truth is, not all outcomes of bicycling are positive. Far too many bike riders get injured (or worse) worldwide.
Do yourself a favor and read the rest (if you haven’t already). It presents the situation we’re all in and beautifully explains the challenges ahead and what we all can do to surmount them.
The New York Daily News has the story behind the motorcycle vs. cyclist video everyone was talking about yesterday. It happened on April 27, 2013 on Mulholland Drive’s “Dead Man’s Curve.”
Cameraman Ken Snyder has been shooting video of wipeouts on the hazardous turn for four years but Saturday’s collision was the only time he ever saw a motorcycle take out two bikes. . . “There are many more just like it,” Snyder said. “It is a very common type of crash on this turn. Just usually no one is there and the rider falls alone.”
If Snyder is always there shooting video of crashes (and the CHP is always parked there), it might be a good place to avoid for all kinds of reasons. Oh, and if you’re wondering who the girl is, apparently, she’s in all Snyder’s videos.
After getting hit by a car for the second time (this accident not as bad as the one that caused the above photo) Cyclist David Colon wrote a joyful essay for drivers called, How To Stop Hitting Me With Your Car. The list starts out with the tip: “Pay attention. Just fucking pay attention” and rolls on from there, according to his story on Brokelyn.com.
It must be tough to be a driver in Brooklyn. Because apparently when you get behind the wheel of a car, you turn into a complete sociopath, and a blind one at that. How else to explain the fact that a new study shows 44 percent of pedestrians struck by cars are hit in crosswalks?
We had to laugh in agreement with his final plea: “Stop. Hitting me. With your car. You evil motherfuckers.”
When allegedly Stravanating cyclist Chris Bucchere, 36, slammed into and killed 71-year-old Sutchi Hui while he was crossing the street with his wife Bucchere had reportedly already run two red lights and a stop sign, according to a story in the LA Times. Now, a Superior Court judge has decided that Bucchere should face the felony charge of gross vehicular manslaughter.
Superior Court Judge Andrew Y.S. Cheng ruled Thursday that Chris Bucchere, 36, should face the felony charge, believed to be a rarity for a bicycle collision that resulted in a death. . . . Ted Cassman, Bucchere’s attorney, argued during the preliminary hearing that the charge should be reduced to a misdemeanor.
We feel for the Hui family and our thoughts are with them, however, had the tables been turned and Bucchere been on a bicycle hit and killed by a car being driven by Hui, do we really think the charge would have been the same? A dump-truck driver in Denver hit and killed a cyclist (his second violent act against cyclists) and his charge of “careless driving resulting in death” comes with only a maximum one-year jail term and a $1,000 fine. And that is just plain wrong.
Cycling lost another champion this weekend when former Spanish mountain biking champion Inaki Lejarreta was hit by a car while training on Sunday, December 16, 2012, according to a story in The Washington Post.
Lejarreta was Spain’s mountain bike champion in 2007. He competed in cross-country cycling at the 2008 Beijing Olympics and professionally with the Orbea team. . . He was the nephew of cyclist Marino Lejarreta, who won the Spanish Vuelta in 1982.
Our thoughts are with Lejarreta’s family, friends, and the entire cycling community.
From a cyclist standpoint there is no good news in the report that traffic fatalities have dropped to their lowest point since 1949, because, as we all know cyclist deaths are up, according a story in The Dallas Morning News.
Bicyclist deaths jumped 8.7 percent and deaths of occupants of large trucks increased 20 percent, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said in an analysis of 2011 traffic deaths. . . Overall traffic fatalities dropped 1.9 percent, to 32,367. The decline came as the number of miles driven by motorists dropped by 1.2 percent. . . The increase in bicycle deaths probably reflects more people riding bicycles to work and for pleasure, said Jonathan Adkins, deputy executive director of the Governors Highway Safety Association, which represents state highway safety agencies.
We need two things: cyclist need ride safe and drivers who hit cyclists need to get more than a ticket.
We’re have no intention of turning this site into a collection of bike harassment videos, but here’s one more. It has taken over a year for assault charges to be brought against the driver of the truck that takes out cyclist Evan Wilder in this video (action starts at 1:09). The driver, John Diehl, is a former Washington D.C, Police officer, according to a story on Go Bike Md.
The case languished for more than nine months after the collision, with no charges brought against the truck’s owner, John Diehl, because officials had been unable to serve a judicial summons on him. After being informed by a reporter of a bench warrant for his arrest in the case, Mr. Diehl turned himself in and was indicted last month on four criminal charges from the August 2011 incident.
The maximum penalty for the charges brought against Diehl are up to three years in jail and a $3,000 fine. Neither of which the man will likely receive but we sincerely hope his “genius ass” gets a good firm spanking.
[Editors’ Note: It appears that this may not be Mr. Diehl’s first time in the media spotlight or in court. According to the Washington Post in 1994 a Washintong DC police offer named John Diehl fired 11 bullets into the car of an unarmed driver, luckily killing no one.]
Tour de France winner Bradley Wiggins is reportedly in the hospital tonight after colliding with a car while out training tonight (Wednesday, November 7, 2012) near his home in Eccleston, according to a story on Bike Radar.
Local police say that Wiggins has possibly broken his ribs, as well as suffering injuries to his hands and wrists. His Sky team later issued a statement saying: “He is being kept in hospital overnight for observation but the injuries he has sustained are not thought to be serious and he is expected to make a full and speedy recovery.”
Apparently, a white Vauxhall Astra van pulled out from a gas station right in front of him. Guess there are rotten drivers everywhere.
A group of cyclists riding out of Littleton, Colorado were rammed by an angry pickup truck driver on Sunday, November 4, 2012, according to a post on 303 Cycling. Rider Byron Nix, was injured.
Today’s ride was anything but fun. Around 9:00AM our morning group ride was heading up S. Deer Creek Canyon Rd when a motorist pulled up behind us and began to honk his horn incessantly. Then he sped up and rammed into one the cyclists smashing his bicycle and dragging him under the car. The man got out of his car, started swearing to no one in particular and then took the bicycle and threw it off the road. Notice the man’s face as he doesn’t have a care in the world. Not once did he apologize or seem to show any remorse.
The driver, Andrew Hoover, 72, (seen casually leaning on the hood of his truck) was only “cited for “carless driving” according to the Denver Post. Hoover claimed the cyclists were riding too far from the shoulder and apparently thinks it’s perfectly okay to just run them over. Hopefully, Nix will file a civil suit against this clown.