Serious news, Systemics. Here in DC there’s a bunch of extra people in town due to a nuclear security summit. That means extra police, blocked off roads, and extra traffic. One of these extra vehicles, a National Guard truck to be specific, struck and killed a cyclist yesterday around 6pm. No details have been released about the cyclist. No details as well about the exact circumstances from the accident as well. UPDATE: The identity has been released. Given the fact that the cyclist was a 68-year-old woman, I somehow doubt she was breaking traffic rules.

I know I often do comics about cars vs. bikes and bikes vs. cars (including Friday’s comic), and a wonderful discussion has been raging about the nature of this dynamic. At the core of these comics is really this: when a vehicle and a bike go up against each other in a collision, regardless of who is at fault, the cyclist is going to lose catastrophically.

Take a few things from this incident, since that is all we can do:

• Cyclists, be careful out there. Obey laws as best you can and don’t take any risks you can avoid.
• Motorists, calm the hell down. You’ll get to your destination 2 minutes later but much much safer for all of us (cyclists, motorists and pedestrians alike.)
• Sure I’d like more advocacy for cyclists and loads of other things (like a pony, possibly on a bike), but let’s save that for another day.

Stay safe, Systemics.

If you’re in the United States right now (which I think the majority of you are) and you are not a convicted felon (which I think the majority of you aren’t) then you need to drop what you are doing right now and make sure you go vote.  Be late to work.  Don’t get an errand done.  Whatever it takes, get out there and make sure that you have a right to complain about the outcome of this election, because whether you care about it or not, it will affect you.

When you’re done with that, check out these funny videos on the subject of elections:

• If the Other Party Wins
• One More Night to Go

After you’ve voted, here is where you can reap the fruits of your labor, with free food and drink today.

If you already voted absentee and are feeling left out by all the sticker fun, check out this PDF I made for all you absentee voters out there.  Feel free to link this to everyone you know, but don’t abuse it.  Use these things correctly, don’t cheat!