Re: Disc brake maintenance tips

On 6/26/2024 9:27 PM, John B. wrote:

 What's missing from this discussion is "what killed the kid on the
sidewalk?" An elephant stepped on him? He fell asleep and rode over a
lane, marker? ?

The boy in question was riding on a downtown sidewalk, on the south side of the street, heading west. That meant he was riding opposite the direction of the motorists in the adjacent traffic lane.
Speed limit is 25 mph. Traffic was heavy, as it usually is at that location. A woman was attempting to drive out of a parking lot (having left an ice cream store, I believe) to head east. She was looking to her left for a gap in traffic. When she saw a gap, the hit the accelerator, pulling out to her right. But at that moment, the boy (about 10 years old) was in the process of riding by her car. She ran him over and killed him.
He was coming from a direction that was unexpected, something few motorists ever check. If the boy had been walking, he'd have been slower, so she'd have had more time to notice him; and he may have been able to jump out of the way if she didn't notice him.
This same hazard applies to "innovative" bi-directional bike lanes.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4k6-AI_X1qE
That facility recorded over ten times the rate of car-bike crashes that existed before it was installed.
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- Frank Krygowski