Making America into Amsterdam

On Sunday, July 29, 2018 at 6:33:30 AM UTC-7, Sir Ridesalot wrote:
On Sunday, July 29, 2018 at 6:33:43 AM UTC-4, Duane wrote:
sms wrote:
On 7/28/2018 12:08 PM, Duane wrote:
sms wrote:
On 7/27/2018 6:05 AM, Duane wrote:

snip

Maybe they aren't LED but these Zenon HID lights:
https://www.powerbulbs.com/ca/blog/2...car-headlights

Xenon are not HID, they are incandescent.

A long time ago, in the U.S., high beams were called "brights" or
"bright lights." There used to be a little round metal foot switch on
the floor by the driver's left foot, i.e.
https://www.waalfm.com/img/waalfm/car-highbeamswitch-800-x-600.jpg.

This is what Frank was talking about when he stated "sometimes when I'm
riding at night an oncoming motorist will actually turn on his brights."
He wasn't referring to HID or LED headlights. Not many people still call
high-beams "brights."

Many high end vehicles have HID headlights, and the DOT hasn't (or
hadn't) caught up with the problem of rating headlights by wattage. A
35W HID is much brighter than a 35W incandescent. A 35W HID will produce
about 3200 lumens. The brightest 35W low beam incandescent is about 900
lumens. Some LED low beams claim 6000 or more lumens, and you can see
the elaborate thermal solutions they use, including some with cooling
fans, and some with huge heat sinks, heat pipes, or copper braid, but
the actual LED output is about 3000 lumens.

In any case, for a cyclist to intentionally use sub-standard lighting,
and then complain a vehicle driver uses their high-beams, or "brights"
as they used to be called, is ludicrous. You will not change ingrainde
driver behavior by insisting that if you use minimally legal lighting
that they should be able to see you easily at night. If a driver thinks
that they glimpse an animal, pedestrian, cyclist, etc., at night, they
will turn on their high beams, and it's not to be obnoxious. The way to
stop this, as a cyclist anyway, is to use good lighting so the vehicle
driver easily sees you with their low beams. It's not a costly endeavor.
Being stubborn is unwise.


Not according to the link I cited:
Xenon HID (High Intensity Discharge) bulbs are filled with Xenon gas and
contain two electrodes - one on each end of the tube-like bulb. When the
bulb is switched on, an electric current passes between the two electrodes
and the Xenon gas lights up. The Xenon gas is actually only used during the
start-up of the bulb. Once the desir


No, the presence of Xenon does not imply HID. See
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B005KDO9KE


These HID lights use Xenon. No one said Xenon = HID.

Whatever. The blue tinted super bright light that we were talking about
seems to be what these lights supply.
It isn’t a case of cyclists causing people to use their high beams or
“brights� because they aren’t using bright enough lights on their bikes.

--
duane

Correct. What I was talking about are those super bright low-beam blueish tinted (I don't care what type of bulb it has when it blinds me) car lights that are so bright at night even on a WELL LIGHTED CITY STREET that a bicyclist approaching that car and the bicyclist riding in the traffic lane is blinded to the point that they have to stop in case there's a stopped car in front of them. I've had that happen many times here in town. Seems that lumen wars are raging in motor cars as well as on bicycles.

Cheers

I observed that as well. I think that they passed a law against them because they seem to have disappeared. But the headlights surrounded by super bright LED "eye brows" haven't.

On Sunday, July 29, 2018 at 12:11:34 PM UTC-7, John B. Slocomb wrote:
On Sun, 29 Jul 2018 14:07:06 -0400, Frank Krygowski
wrote:

On 7/28/2018 9:29 PM, John B. Slocomb wrote:
On Sat, 28 Jul 2018 17:18:17 -0400, Frank Krygowski
wrote:

On 7/28/2018 3:41 PM, Joerg wrote:
On 2018-07-27 16:24, Frank Krygowski wrote:
On 7/27/2018 3:42 PM, Joerg wrote:

[...]


Yesterday I rode through a long narrow bike path tunnel underneath Hwy
50. All others generally blow through there at their full 15-25mph, in
almost total darkness. Yet this is a place where rattlesnakes often
curl up to cool off.

I always go through there at 5mph with my headlight at full power.
Because of rattlers and because there is the occasional homeless
person sleeping off yesterday's hangover.

Ah, rattlesnakes in tunnels! Another deadly hazard in Joergland!

So, how many tunnel rattlesnake bike fatalities in your very special
area?


Rattlesnake bites are rarely fatal. They are, however, nasty, will
thoroughly ruin you day and then some, plus the antivenom is very
expensive and will set podeple back fiancially via a four-digit copay.

Running into a soused guy in a sleeping bag isn't so cool either.

Such extra caution costs next to nothing in equipment and "lost" time.
$30-40 for a good lighting system and throttling to 5mph for less than a
minute isn't excessive in my book.

I have met a guy how had a nasty crash in such a tunnel. He hit a beer
bottle that he didn't see. I would have seen it. It's as simple as that.

I have a friend who tripped over at tree root while walking. Cracked rib
and black and blue face. It's a dangerous world, all right!


You can even die from falling out of bed.... and 3 times the numbers
of people die from falling out of bed as die from bicycle crashes in
California.

Are "Bed Helmets" next on the agenda?

https://www.brainjet.com/random/2352...uldnt-believe/
https://www.quora.com/Why-does-falli...icans-annually

https://www.quora.com/Why-does-falli...icans-annually

Would safety belts for snoozers make them safer?

Well, if only ONE life can be saved... !

I just read that "More than 95% of the world\u2019s population breathe
unsafe air" and "Total air pollution was responsible for 6.1 million
deaths in 2016".

It sounds as though just being born is tantamount to a death's
sentence.

And yet the average age over the entire world continues to rise.

On 7/31/2018 12:48 PM, wrote:
On Friday, July 27, 2018 at 11:34:00 PM UTC-7, John B. Slocomb wrote:

A guy in the welding shop breathed too many zinc fumes and was all
curled up and groaning so we took him to the Emergency Clinic (USAF)
where we were trying to explain to the doctor on duty that "It isn't
an appendix, the guy's got galvanized poisoning".

Had the doctor's mate not come in and looked up zinc in the poison
handbook they would have started cutting.

They do not operate without X-rays.


They sure do for an inflamed appendix.

--
Andrew Muzi
www.yellowjersey.org/
Open every day since 1 April, 1971

On Tuesday, July 31, 2018 at 11:37:16 AM UTC-7, AMuzi wrote:
On 7/31/2018 12:48 PM, wrote:
On Friday, July 27, 2018 at 11:34:00 PM UTC-7, John B. Slocomb wrote:

A guy in the welding shop breathed too many zinc fumes and was all
curled up and groaning so we took him to the Emergency Clinic (USAF)
where we were trying to explain to the doctor on duty that "It isn't
an appendix, the guy's got galvanized poisoning".

Had the doctor's mate not come in and looked up zinc in the poison
handbook they would have started cutting.

They do not operate without X-rays.


They sure do for an inflamed appendix.

--
Andrew Muzi
www.yellowjersey.org/
Open every day since 1 April, 1971

Do you live out in the bush or something Andrew? Since it takes only a minute to get an X-ray and operating on someone that doesn't need it is REALLY expensive law-suite-wise I cannot see any modern hospital operating without taking X-rays.

Not that the doctor is bright enough to understand what he is looking at, mind you, but having them is part and parcel.

On 31/07/2018 2:37 PM, AMuzi wrote:
On 7/31/2018 12:48 PM, wrote:
On Friday, July 27, 2018 at 11:34:00 PM UTC-7, John B. Slocomb wrote:

A guy in the welding shop breathed too many zinc fumes and was all
curled up and groaning so we took him to the Emergency Clinic (USAF)
where we were trying to explain to the doctor on duty that "It isn't
an appendix, the guy's got galvanized poisoning".

Had the doctor's mate not come in and looked up zinc in the poison
handbook they would have started cutting.

They do not operate without X-rays.


They sure do for an inflamed appendix.


I can testify to that.

On Tue, 31 Jul 2018 13:37:19 -0500, AMuzi wrote:

On 7/31/2018 12:48 PM, wrote:
On Friday, July 27, 2018 at 11:34:00 PM UTC-7, John B. Slocomb wrote:

A guy in the welding shop breathed too many zinc fumes and was all
curled up and groaning so we took him to the Emergency Clinic (USAF)
where we were trying to explain to the doctor on duty that "It isn't
an appendix, the guy's got galvanized poisoning".

Had the doctor's mate not come in and looked up zinc in the poison
handbook they would have started cutting.

They do not operate without X-rays.


They sure do for an inflamed appendix.

I have no idea what they do today but back in, probably, the late
60's, when you were carried into a medical station with severe stomach
pains on the lower right side they suspected the appendix and the
given the seriousness of a ruptured appendix vis-a-vis cutting a hole
in the stomach wall made the operation the safest of the options.
--

Cheers,

John B.

On Tuesday, July 31, 2018 at 2:18:18 PM UTC-7, John B. Slocomb wrote:
On Tue, 31 Jul 2018 13:37:19 -0500, AMuzi wrote:

On 7/31/2018 12:48 PM, wrote:
On Friday, July 27, 2018 at 11:34:00 PM UTC-7, John B. Slocomb wrote:

A guy in the welding shop breathed too many zinc fumes and was all
curled up and groaning so we took him to the Emergency Clinic (USAF)
where we were trying to explain to the doctor on duty that "It isn't
an appendix, the guy's got galvanized poisoning".

Had the doctor's mate not come in and looked up zinc in the poison
handbook they would have started cutting.

They do not operate without X-rays.


They sure do for an inflamed appendix.

I have no idea what they do today but back in, probably, the late
60's, when you were carried into a medical station with severe stomach
pains on the lower right side they suspected the appendix and the
given the seriousness of a ruptured appendix vis-a-vis cutting a hole
in the stomach wall made the operation the safest of the options.

And you're probably right. But this is the 21st century and the lawyers standing in the lobby just in case they operated and there wasn't appendicitis.. This is one of the problems in hospitals and part of why medical insurance is so damned expensive - any hospital treatment is way over-expensive because of these settlements. It has reached the point where hospitals almost always settle out of court because juries will return staggering settlements.

On Saturday, August 4, 2018 at 4:03:44 PM UTC-7, wrote:
On Tuesday, July 31, 2018 at 2:18:18 PM UTC-7, John B. Slocomb wrote:
On Tue, 31 Jul 2018 13:37:19 -0500, AMuzi wrote:

On 7/31/2018 12:48 PM, wrote:
On Friday, July 27, 2018 at 11:34:00 PM UTC-7, John B. Slocomb wrote:

A guy in the welding shop breathed too many zinc fumes and was all
curled up and groaning so we took him to the Emergency Clinic (USAF)
where we were trying to explain to the doctor on duty that "It isn't
an appendix, the guy's got galvanized poisoning".

Had the doctor's mate not come in and looked up zinc in the poison
handbook they would have started cutting.

They do not operate without X-rays.


They sure do for an inflamed appendix.

I have no idea what they do today but back in, probably, the late
60's, when you were carried into a medical station with severe stomach
pains on the lower right side they suspected the appendix and the
given the seriousness of a ruptured appendix vis-a-vis cutting a hole
in the stomach wall made the operation the safest of the options.

And you're probably right. But this is the 21st century and the lawyers standing in the lobby just in case they operated and there wasn't appendicitis. This is one of the problems in hospitals and part of why medical insurance is so damned expensive - any hospital treatment is way over-expensive because of these settlements. It has reached the point where hospitals almost always settle out of court because juries will return staggering settlements.

Juries return verdicts and not settlements. My firm defends the two largest hospital groups in the state. We try a lot of med-mal cases and win most. Hospitals settle when liability is clear. It's rare and dopey attorney who takes a weak med-mal case because doctors and hospitals will not settle and the case will get tried, at least in Oregon. One reason why doctors are tough defendants is because they have to report settlements to the National Practitioner Data Bank -- it's a ding against their record and it affects insurance premium. In many, but not all, professional liability insurance policies, the doctor has the right to decide whether to settle. Doctors and hospitals don't settle defensible claims.

-- Jay Beattie.

On Sat, 4 Aug 2018 19:06:13 -0700 (PDT), jbeattie
wrote:

On Saturday, August 4, 2018 at 4:03:44 PM UTC-7, wrote:
On Tuesday, July 31, 2018 at 2:18:18 PM UTC-7, John B. Slocomb wrote:
On Tue, 31 Jul 2018 13:37:19 -0500, AMuzi wrote:

On 7/31/2018 12:48 PM, wrote:
On Friday, July 27, 2018 at 11:34:00 PM UTC-7, John B. Slocomb wrote:

A guy in the welding shop breathed too many zinc fumes and was all
curled up and groaning so we took him to the Emergency Clinic (USAF)
where we were trying to explain to the doctor on duty that "It isn't
an appendix, the guy's got galvanized poisoning".

Had the doctor's mate not come in and looked up zinc in the poison
handbook they would have started cutting.

They do not operate without X-rays.


They sure do for an inflamed appendix.

I have no idea what they do today but back in, probably, the late
60's, when you were carried into a medical station with severe stomach
pains on the lower right side they suspected the appendix and the
given the seriousness of a ruptured appendix vis-a-vis cutting a hole
in the stomach wall made the operation the safest of the options.

And you're probably right. But this is the 21st century and the lawyers standing in the lobby just in case they operated and there wasn't appendicitis. This is one of the problems in hospitals and part of why medical insurance is so damned expensive - any hospital treatment is way over-expensive because of these settlements. It has reached the point where hospitals almost always settle out of court because juries will return staggering settlements.

I probably wasn't explicit enough but it was a US Air Force hospital
and the U.S.A.F. had, or has, a regulation that states that an
individual cannot refuse any treatment that an authorized doctor
states is necessary to their health.

Juries return verdicts and not settlements. My firm defends the two largest hospital groups in the state. We try a lot of med-mal cases and win most. Hospitals settle when liability is clear. It's rare and dopey attorney who takes a weak med-mal case because doctors and hospitals will not settle and the case will get tried, at least in Oregon. One reason why doctors are tough defendants is because they have to report settlements to the National Practitioner Data Bank -- it's a ding against their record and it affects insurance premium. In many, but not all, professional liability insurance policies, the doctor has the right to decide whether to settle. Doctors and hospitals don't settle defensible claims.

-- Jay Beattie.



--

Cheers,

John B.

On Saturday, August 4, 2018 at 7:06:15 PM UTC-7, jbeattie wrote:
On Saturday, August 4, 2018 at 4:03:44 PM UTC-7, wrote:
On Tuesday, July 31, 2018 at 2:18:18 PM UTC-7, John B. Slocomb wrote:
On Tue, 31 Jul 2018 13:37:19 -0500, AMuzi wrote:

On 7/31/2018 12:48 PM, wrote:
On Friday, July 27, 2018 at 11:34:00 PM UTC-7, John B. Slocomb wrote:

A guy in the welding shop breathed too many zinc fumes and was all
curled up and groaning so we took him to the Emergency Clinic (USAF)
where we were trying to explain to the doctor on duty that "It isn't
an appendix, the guy's got galvanized poisoning".

Had the doctor's mate not come in and looked up zinc in the poison
handbook they would have started cutting.

They do not operate without X-rays.


They sure do for an inflamed appendix.

I have no idea what they do today but back in, probably, the late
60's, when you were carried into a medical station with severe stomach
pains on the lower right side they suspected the appendix and the
given the seriousness of a ruptured appendix vis-a-vis cutting a hole
in the stomach wall made the operation the safest of the options.

And you're probably right. But this is the 21st century and the lawyers standing in the lobby just in case they operated and there wasn't appendicitis. This is one of the problems in hospitals and part of why medical insurance is so damned expensive - any hospital treatment is way over-expensive because of these settlements. It has reached the point where hospitals almost always settle out of court because juries will return staggering settlements.

Juries return verdicts and not settlements. My firm defends the two largest hospital groups in the state. We try a lot of med-mal cases and win most. Hospitals settle when liability is clear. It's rare and dopey attorney who takes a weak med-mal case because doctors and hospitals will not settle and the case will get tried, at least in Oregon. One reason why doctors are tough defendants is because they have to report settlements to the National Practitioner Data Bank -- it's a ding against their record and it affects insurance premium. In many, but not all, professional liability insurance policies, the doctor has the right to decide whether to settle. Doctors and hospitals don't settle defensible claims.

-- Jay Beattie.

Do you want to think of that for a moment Jay? How does a civil suit approach this sort of thing?