December 4, 20133 Comments on Teen fatality last night marks 40th traffic death for San Jose
A 17 year old boy was killed last night while crossing a large intersection in south San Jose with his bicycle. The driver of the silver Toyota RAV-4 stayed on the scene, according to media reports.
this Toyota is at the scene, person inside declined to talk. pic.twitter.com/kfLw6h8nFJ
— Eric Kurhi (@erickurhi) December 4, 2013
December 2, 2013Leave a Comment
This is not a song about Alice’s Restaurant. Among the two dozen or so traffic fatalities reported during this past Thanksgiving holiday weekend: “Fast and Furious” star Paul Walker, who was a passenger in a Porsche Carrera GT. Roger Rodas was driving an estimated 70 to 90 MPH through a curve signed for 15 MPH at a Santa Clarita industrial park when he lost control and wrapped the car around a tree. Investigators speculate speed may have been a factor in the fatality, which killed both the driver and passenger.
More carnage below the photo of the remains of Rodas’s Porsche.
November 22, 20132 Comments on Friday carnage
The Sentinel reports a 30 year old cyclist was seriously injured on Bay Street, Santa Cruz, CA on Thursday afternoon. The driver of a Toyota Tacoma pickup truck claimed the sun was in his eyes when he made a left turn across the path of the cyclist. He couldn’t see where he was going, so it’s obviously okay to make that turn, right?
More crash reports below the Google Streetview of Bay at Laguna in Santa Cruz.
November 3, 201320 Comments on Cyclist killed by Tesla in Santa Cruz County
Update: Cyclist identified as Josh Alper of Santa Cruz. He was a librarian at UC Santa Cruz with a love for music and comedy. My condolences to his friends and loved ones.
A 40 year old Santa Cruz resident was killed after he was hit in a head on collision with a Tesla Model S on Saturday morning. The man was cycling with a small group on Highway 1 west of Santa Cruz, California.
October 31, 2013Leave a Comment
Do you remember that poor 12 year old kid who was right hooked by a Lincoln Navigator at his school driveway in Byron, California? Bike lawyer Bob Mionske writes about him and compares the response of local authorities here vs what they do in the Netherlands.
When the driver says, “I didn’t see the cyclist,” that’s usually enough for everybody to call it a “tragic accident.” It’s not that the driver wasn’t looking where she was going. It was just a “tragic event” and the driver is “devastated.”
It’s the American way. But there’s another way.
Read more in Bicycling Magazine: In the US and the Netherlands, two children on bikes are struck by cars — and the responses couldn’t be more different.
More carnage around the San Francisco Bay Area and beyond below.
October 22, 20133 Comments on Will gas really get cheaper through the holidays?
Numerous news outlets are republishing the AAA prediction that gasoline prices will drop to levels not seen since 2011, when the average price of gas nationwide retailed for under $3.20 per gallon.
The chart above shows the average price of gas in the United States over the past month, as tracked by gas price tracking service Gas Buddy. The AAA points at this chart and the dropping price of crude oil and predicts the price of gasoline will drop another 15 to 20 cents per gallon by Christmas.
I’ve dismissed the opinions of oil marketing expert Trilby Lundberg before, but in this case I agree with her recent assessment that prices won’t drop much more. Thanks to the Federal government shutdown, nearly a million Americans didn’t drive to work during the first two weeks of October, and uncertainty leading to the shutdown put the brakes on economic activity nationwide.
We’re still on shaky economic ground, but it’s marginally more firm than the quicksand of just 10 days ago. More economy = more spending = more driving in America, so I think we won’t see much movement in the price at the pump.
File this under Prognostications. Feel free to come back in January to mock me. Bike and other transportation news below.