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The Blanks Family Fund

Tom Blanks was cycling early in the morning on July 16th and was struck by a hit and run driver. He was thrown 35 ft., sustaining massive injuries, and was airlifted to a near by hospital.
Tom is a loving husband of 13 years to Blair and father to their three children. Cycling is an integral part of Tom’s family life as he shares his passion with his children. Tom and his son have been building a racing bike together, with plans to race together in the fall, plans which have been cancelled.
Tom’s injuries are extensive, he sustained a broken pelvis and fractures to his sternum, ribs, and both lumbar & thoracic vertebraes in his spine. He will remain in a back brace and unable to walk without crutches for many months and hopes of riding a bike again will certainly require hours of painful therapy. Despite his injuries, Tom has amazed his family, friends and hospital staff with his positive attitude and strength of character.
Making the roads safer for cyclist is a huge part of who Tom is. He is an active member of Rodgers Forge’s Safe Routes to School committee, which promotes safety for the neighborhood’s students who walk to school and he has served on the board for the advocacy group, Bike Maryland.
Tom’s passion for cycling is matched only by his drive to provide for his family. It is not hard to imagine the strain the careless acts of a reckless driver has placed on the Blanks family. The family was on vacation when the accident occurred. Toms’ wife Blair remains by his side commuting from a nearby hotel, they are unable to transport him back home to Maryland for care at this time.
It may not seem like a lot but $5 here, $10 there, EVERY donation counts – even if Tom is a stranger to you – he is someone’s husband, father, son and friend. The kindness of strangers is a powerful thing! Every donation is so appreciated.
https://www.youcaring.com/medical-fundraiser/the-blanks-family-fund/73726

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Notre Dame dean rides for disease awareness

By Mike Leiby, The Independent
SHOW LOW — The dean of science at the University of Notre Dame not only wants a way to treat Niemann-Pick Disease (NP-C) to be found posthaste, he is riding across country to help make it happen.
Niemann-Pick Type C is a genetic, cholesterol storage disorder that primarily strikes children with death occurring before or during adolescence. There is also an adult onset form of the disease.
Gregory Crawford rode through Show Low July 3 on his way to Baltimore as part of the Road to Discovery ride.
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https://www.wmicentral.com/news/show_low/notre-dame-dean-rides-for-disease-awareness/article_8a0f1538-e829-11e2-b0b7-0019bb2963f4.html

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Guerrilla Crosswalk Painter Arrested by Vallejo Police, Cheered By Neighbors

Ref: https://dc.streetsblog.org/2013/06/04/guerrilla-crosswalk-painter-arrested-by-vallejo-police-cheered-by-neighbors/
[B’ Spokes: We so need people to do something like this here. I have never seen so many skimpy minimalistic faded out crosswalks as I have here in Maryland and that’s where they do exist, so many more places were they should exist but don’t. You would think a state that has been consistently in the top ten highest pedestrian fatality rate would do more to make pedestrians safer, like maybe more crosswalks and HAWK beacons (High-Intensity Activated crossWalK beacon) (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HAWK_beacon )
Oh and speaking of guerrilla efforts to make a positive change, this effort to call out owners of Baltimore’s vacant properties is cool. https://www.abc2news.com//dpp/news/local_news/investigations/illegal-street-art-calls-out-owners-of-baltimores-vacant-properties ]

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Do we want to save lives on our roads?

By David Alpert, Washington Post
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These are indeed the main criticisms. Let’s tackle them.
While most of us break traffic laws some, or even much, of the time, it’s not a good thing. I do it, too, sometimes. I shouldn’t. In some places, nearly everyone is exceeding the speed limit, which creates peer pressure. Most of us also think we’re above-average drivers. Unlike the children in Lake Wobegon, everyone can’t be above-average. Research shows that most drivers believe they are more skilled than they are.
We need to break this cycle. We need to find a way to change a culture in which otherwise law-abiding people consider posted maximum speeds to be suggestions or, at best, assume that the “real” limit is 10 mph above what’s posted. In a residential neighborhood where the limit is 25 mph, 36 is quite fast. Every 10 mph faster a car is moving equates to a 40 percent greater chance that a pedestrian who is hit will die.
Those who watch “Mad Men” know that at one time our society considered drinking and driving perfectly reasonable. It took many years and concerted public information campaigns to persuade people otherwise.
Unfortunately, our discourse about this issue has veered far, far away from safety.
That’s in part because our leaders have gotten used to using cameras to plug holes in government budgets. As taxes go, this is like a “sin tax,” similar to high taxes on cigarettes. But it’s not ideal public policy. Anne McCartt of the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety recently pointed out to The Post’s Ashley Halsey III that if people stop speeding, the revenue will vanish, as it should, since the goal is to stop speeding.
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https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/complacency-in-the-face-of-a-rising-dc-death-toll/2013/05/31/5ff9ff14-c953-11e2-9f1a-1a7cdee20287_story.html