Archive for June, 2008

Oxycontin-impaired Hummer driver likely to get house arrest for killing cyclist

Posted by Erik on June 30th, 2008 filed in fatality

A woman who lost control of her Hummer and drove it into a cyclist who was waiting for the light to change in a bike lane has been recommended a sentence of 365 days of house arrest, along with ten years of probation and, thank goodness, a life-long driver’s license suspension.
The cyclist, Sarah Howard, was [...]

Read More..>>

“Underrun” truck guards installed on Portland tanker trucks

Posted by Erik on June 30th, 2008 filed in safety

Bikeportland.org is reporting that “underrun” truck guards like the one above have been installed on certain city vehicles there. Two cyclists were killed last year in “right-hook” accidents, and the Portland city officials have apparently taken notice.
What a long way they are from Tucson! Here the Sun Tran buses regularly graze cyclists (getting [...]

Read More..>>

Peter Visconti III ghostbike at Grant and Columbus

Posted by Erik on June 29th, 2008 filed in Uncategorized, ghostbikes

Peter Visconti III was killed on October 17, 2004 when riding across Grant Avenue at Columbus. A driver going west on Grant ran the red light and struck him directly at high speed. The driver later turned himself in but insisted he wasn’t the person who hit Visconti, despite numerous witnesses who said [...]

Read More..>>

How they roll in Quebec

Posted by Erik on June 27th, 2008 filed in Cool bikes, Uncategorized

Now that’s what I call a bicycle. Quintocycle. Whatever.
–Erik Ryberg

Read More..>>

Bicyclist Fatalities

Posted by Lauren on June 27th, 2008 filed in Uncategorized

Erik and I are trying to obtain a comprehensive list of bicyclist fatalities that have occurred in Tucson within the past ten years. All I can find online is this outdated spreadsheet. This information will aide us in expanding the ghostbike campaign. Readers, if any of you come across this information online please inform [...]

Read More..>>

Shares of Hummer manufacturer GM fall to 1974 levels

Posted by Erik on June 26th, 2008 filed in Uncategorized

This is better than flipping off a Hummer: shares of GM fell today to their 1974 levels. A sign of the coming apocalypse? Reason to rejoice? Schadenfreude pure and simple?
I’m taking what I can get when it comes to those awful things.
–Erik Ryberg

Read More..>>

More on the Hedges ghost bike anchor

Posted by Erik on June 24th, 2008 filed in Uncategorized

Here are two pictures of D. fashioning the ghost bike anchor. The City of Tucson won’t remove roadside memorials but also won’t let you lock them to traffic control devices, so it can be a problem keeping them from being stolen. D. came up with the idea of sinking the back wheel in [...]

Read More..>>

Bruce Hedges’ Free Spirit ghost bike

Posted by Erik on June 24th, 2008 filed in Uncategorized

Bruce Hedges was a doctor who was struck from behind and killed on New Year’s Day, 2001 on First Avenue near Orange Grove. A small memorial (with bike parts) has been at this site for years. Hedges left behind a wife and a ten year-old daughter. The man who struck him was [...]

Read More..>>

Trek Bicycles of Tucson is Hiring

Posted by Erik on June 21st, 2008 filed in Uncategorized

From their release:
TREK BICYCLES OF TUCSON IS HIRING
ACCEPTING RESUMES
SERIOUS INQUIRES ONLY
Trek Bicycles of Tucson is looking for individuals with bicycle retail sales experience or a bicycle mechanic to join our team. We are a new and rapidly growing, LOCALLY owned bike shop.
Trek Bicycles of Tucson is looking for passionate, dedicated bike people to add to [...]

Read More..>>

Another "Bicyclist collides with bus" story

Posted by admin on June 19th, 2008 filed in Uncategorized

I’ve written about “carhead,” the bias we often encounter that favors motorists over cyclists.
The Portland Oregonian has a story today about Austin Miller, who they say “collided” with a bus and was killed.
What appears to have happened is that directly before the crash, Miller took a right turn from a bike path onto another bike [...]

Read More..>>