A biker and pedestrian killed in Washington, DC in the past week!

Be careful out there, folks!

A biker and a pedestrian have been killed here in Washington, DC in the past week!

The biker was run over by a 5 ton police tank.
http://www.wjla.com/news/stories/0410/725019.html

The pedestrian was killed by a Volkswagen.
http://blog.georgetownvoice.com/2010/03/30/pedestrian-by-vehicle-at-intersection-of-m-street-and-wisconsin-avenue/

As a reminder, here are my guidelines for safe riding:

1. Always ride with great caution. Don't assume that drivers can see you or care about your safety!
2. Don't take any unnecessary chances. Bike riding in car/truck traffic is dangerous enough. If you take unnecessary chances, you increase your risk of being hurt or killed.goes up exponentially!
3. Be seen! I always ride with all of my lights on. I have 5 on my bike.

• A pair of handlebar mounted MagicShine P7 headlights. One flashing and the other steady.
• A helmet mounted front facing Coast mini-spotlight. I can turn my head and point to whatever I'm looking at so that I have a better chance of being seen.
• A helmet mounted rear Planet Bike Super Blinkie. It has a very intense focused sweet spot that hits a fairly large area behind me and moves with my head so that I increase the coverage area.
• I also have a Walmart Bell bike mounted tail light which I'm replacing with a Super Blinkie clone from China.

I also have my "Blinder" tail lights which I haven't fully implemented yet. It's working, but I haven't come up with a workable mount for my bike. When I have it completed, I'll post a note here. The "Blinder" really does what it's name implies!

Be safe, be seen, be happy!

Ambrose