Lead Developer of Yum Killed In Hit-and-run 413
An anonymous reader writes "Seth Vidal, a lead developer of Yum, was killed in a hit-and-run accident while riding his bicycle in Durham, NC last night."
The Fedora Project posted a statement. Quoting: "Seth was a lead developer of yum and the update repository system, and a contributor to the CentOS project as well as the original Fedora Extras system. He worked tirelessly on the infrastructure for the Fedora Project to make all systems work well and consistently for our contributors around the world. He was a gifted speaker, a brilliant thinker, a clever wit, a humble and genuinely funny person, and a good friend. The Fedora community owes an enormous debt of gratitude to Seth's dedication to Fedora and other free software projects, his commitment to community values, and his passion for excellence in his work. To say he will be missed is an understatement."
Update: 07/10 00:24 GMT by U L : Local news reports that the driver turned himself in.
Thank you (Score:5, Insightful)
Thank you for all your hard work. You will be missed.
Re:When you ride at night, (Score:2, Insightful)
I think it was a word of warning to other cyclists to always do what you can to be seen, not blaming the victim.
Modern feminists have you tricked into thinking you are either fully in control of a situation or you are fully a victim of a situation.
Fortunately, life isn't black and white
Re:Probably a prank gone wrong. (Score:5, Insightful)
I have seen drivers of vehicles in the USA perform an act which looks like a deliberate "nudge" to a random cyclist before driving away at high speed.
If I had an always-on dash-mounted video camera, I would be tempted to post videos of people doing such nonsense.
So sad.
You should - vehicular assault is a serious offence, and if your video can be used to prove malice, those sociopathic pricks will be confined to a cell where they belong.
I've been wanting a dash cam for the opposite reason - a lot of the cyclists around here are either stupid or have a deathwish, judging by how flagrantly they violate right-of-way laws.
Re:When you ride at night, (Score:5, Insightful)
No amount of high-vis can protect you from stupid drivers. Given that the driver did not stop, I think we can assume that they place no value on the lives of others.
There have been so many... (Score:3, Insightful)
I really do wonder if we are predisposed to see death as a problem that needs to be solved, because all I can think of are the tragic losses of minds and icons that could be prevented somehow and how valuable that would be to humanity as a whole.
Seth will be missed and hopefully his work will live on.
Re:When you ride at night, (Score:5, Insightful)
White doesn't cut it at night.
Wear reflective.
Re:When you ride at night, (Score:5, Insightful)
White does not always help. If you ride at night, use bright headlights and taillaights. I commute by bicycle and have lights on regardless of time of day. Too many drivers just do not pay sufficient attention.
In many places hit and run carries a lighter penalty than DUI, so often drivers have an incentive to flee. Hit and run should be a felony.
Re:This is why... (Score:5, Insightful)
If someone on a bike runs a red light or stop sign and they get hit, that's their bad and that's on them; they'll get no sympathy from me.
If you treat someone on a bike like shit because you saw a random biker run a red light or a stop sign once (or twice, or 1000 times, it doesn't matter), that makes you a dick, and that's on you.
--Jeremy
Hit and runs are NEVER "accidents". (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Hit and Run driver turned himself in. (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:When you ride at night, (Score:3, Insightful)
And no amount of driving skill can protect you from invisible stupid bicyclers.
"I think we can assume that they place no value on the lives of others."
Or they did not want to go to jail for 20 years for a no-fault accident.
Re:When you ride at night, (Score:5, Insightful)
The driver fleeing the scene is a pretty clear indication of whose fault the driver presumed the accident to be. Hint: not the cyclist's.
Re:Hit and runs are NEVER "accidents". (Score:4, Insightful)
That is false, it is entirely possible to accidentally perform a hit and run.
Re:Hit and Run driver turned himself in. (Score:5, Insightful)
Dude was driving with a revoked license. He needs to go to jail since obviously just taking his license away doesn't seem to be all that effective in curbing his poor judgement.
Re:When you ride at night, (Score:5, Insightful)
Had a bicyclist blow through a red-light today (Score:1, Insightful)
All the cars stopped. The people walking in the crosswalk were nearly drilled by some jerk on his bike. Just kept riding, then rode through the next red light.
They want full access to the roads, taking a whole lane? Fine. Then they need to meet all of the same rules we do.
- No rolling red lights.
- No cutting between cars in their lanes.
- Turn signals
- Etc.
Re:This is why... (Score:5, Insightful)
Yea, OK, so if you and your cyclists buddies want to get together and raise the money to pay for dedicated bike paths, I'll support using public land to build them.
However, if you're like many of the d-bags around these parts who want their private bike streets paid for with my road and fuel taxes... You can go piss up a rope.
You know that most cyclists have cars, and drive, too, so they're paying fuel taxes right alongside you, right? But when they're riding their bikes, they're using up a lot less space on the roads, reducing congestion and leaving more room for you to get around. Compared with cars, bikes contribute virtually no wear on roads, and areas paved for bike traffic cost a fraction of what regular rated roads cost, because of the dramatically reduced load requirements. When cyclists get where they're going, they will lock up to a bike rack that fits 20 vehicles in the area of a parking space, leaving more parking for you to put your car in. They're also reducing gasoline demand, which might slightly lower the price you pay at the pump. As a driver, you stand to gain in numerous ways from others' cycling.
And fuel taxes don't cover the cost of the roads, anyway, mainly because they've been essentially stagnant while the cost of fuel increased fivefold. Drivers' use of the roads is heavily subsidized now by general taxation, so you don't get to point at cyclists and say they're the freeloaders.
http://dc.streetsblog.org/2013/01/23/drivers-cover-just-51-percent-of-u-s-road-spending/ [streetsblog.org]
http://www.uspirg.org/reports/usp/do-roads-pay-themselves [uspirg.org]
Re:When you ride at night, (Score:4, Insightful)
"And no amount of driving skill can protect you from invisible stupid bicyclers."
Try riding a bike for about a year, seriously. You will start to think "what will protect me from blind, stupid car drivers".
"Or they did not want to go to jail for 20 years for a no-fault accident"
Mind made up already? From what I have read, it sounds like the car driver was at fault.
He was hit from behind, and the driver slowed, and swerved
And then drove off. Could be either at fault. With the hit from behind part, it is hard to seriously argue is was the cyclist at fault.
Re:When you ride at night, (Score:2, Insightful)
No kidding. When you're riding day or night visibility is your you friend. The most dangerous person is the spaced out driver driving home on the same daily commute he's been doing for the last decade. You need to make yourself stick out or he'll plow in to you like you're not even there.
Right now I'm at work and I'm charging my serfas thunderbolts. Even in broad daylight they're shockingly visible.
https://www.serfas.com/products/view/669/referer:products|index|lights|tail-lights
That and a 700 lumen front light for when it's dark (Sometimes set it to flash on daytime commutes, particularly overcast days) You'd have to be near blind to miss me.
http://www.cygolite.com/products/expilion700.html
Yeah, the routine is weird when I get home. Pop off 4 devices (Bike gps/computer is USB charged too) and USB charge them all.
yeah, the police get right on those cases (Score:5, Insightful)
You should - vehicular assault is a serious offence, and if your video can be used to prove malice, those sociopathic pricks will be confined to a cell where they belong.
BWHAHAAHAHAHAHAHA. I had someone sideswipe me and then intentionally "brake check" me (looked in his mirror right at me, glaring, and slammed on his brakes, with nothing in front of him, no intersection, etc.) I gave the cops a complete plate and description and they said there was nothing they could do, because I hadn't been injured - even though the driver, in side-swiping me, had caused a "collision" and by leaving, a hit-and-run - and by stopping in the middle of the road, driven recklessly.
I've been wanting a dash cam for the opposite reason - a lot of the cyclists around here are either stupid or have a deathwish, judging by how flagrantly they violate right-of-way laws.
No, "a lot" of cyclists don't have deathwishes nor are they stupid. You just think they do, because they're a minority outgroup - so you exaggerate negative attributes. The vast majority of cyclist crashes are caused by drivers operating recklessly or illegally. And what right-of-way laws would those be, by the way? Let me guess: you think that you have a right of way over someone on a bicycle, right? Yeah, you don't, actually.
you're victim-blaming as well. (Score:5, Insightful)
He's not "blaming the victim," he's pointing out a safety tip for those of you who don't understand the basic physics of how our eyes work, you Fuck.
Yes, actually, the poster (we don't know it's a "he"...) is perpetuating victim-blaming of cyclists for their injuries and deaths. It's rampant in the US.
1)The cause is unknown (ie, it's not known that visibility was the problem, so how he was dressed is moot) 2)The onus is not on cyclists to dress in a particular way, the onus is on people with the very nice headlights on the front of a very deadly machine to operate that machine properly and be able to avoid a 6 foot tall, 3 foot wide object in the road traveling in the same direction as them 3)In stories like these, people (especially those who don't cycle) take it as an opportunity to condescendingly lecture those of us who do, about how to ride our bicycles. Seth, for example, was apparently an avid cycling advocate, which means he was damn well aware of how to ride "safely", probably knew the laws better than most drivers, and almost certainly had lights, which means he was plenty "visible."
In almost every story about cyclist injuries and deaths, the comments are hateful, vile, and portray the problem as being everything from cyclists merely being present, to how they behave (despite the fact that drivers are at fault in the vast majority of crashes, as numerous studies have proven), to, yes, how they dress. We're apparently at fault if we're not dressed like psycho day-glo clowns.
Let's take a look at some of the comments on TFA, shall we?
Now do you understand why the comment wasn't appropriate? The comparison to rape victims is quite accurate; rape victims used to be blamed for going out at night, or not having a "friend" (male) with them, to not carrying self-defense devices, to being dressed "like that."
I was just struck by a driver recently. The ER doctor finished up his exam by instructing me to "ride defensively" and "bike carefully." I had been operating legally and prudently, and the driver in a split second cut me off and stopped - blocking the road. There was nothing I could do. I was a victim. And the ER doctor was lecturing me, implying it was my fault for not being "careful" enough.
Re:When you ride at night, (Score:4, Insightful)
Also, in many states now, DUIs are considered so heinous the punishments in the "insane" category.
I'd love to know which ones. In Wisconsin, where I live, I see people FREQUENTLY getting 4th through 8th DUIs, and I can't help but wonder why the cops are so fucking terrible at keeping these people off the streets(or, you know, doing their job at all). I quickly realized that they don't WANT these people off the streets, as they use it as a revenue generator.
"We give you a real hard slap on the wrist, and take your plastic card, and suddenly you can't drive. Oh wait, you don't follow the law, you'll drive anyway(or pay the exorbitant fines and fees to get your 'sort-of' license reinstated). When you break the law again, we can charge you even MORE and let you go AGAIN!"
If the government actually wanted to prevent DUIs, they would adopt Germany's DUI penalty: First offense - ENORMOUS fine, lose your license(which costs thousands of euros to obtain in Germany), vehicle seized and sold, proceeds donated to any victims or a fund for the same. Second offense - Huge fines, and prison. Lots, and lots, of prison.
Re:When you ride at night, (Score:4, Insightful)
"Or he was drunk" - His fault and he was breaking the law
"Or high" - His fault and he was breaking the law
"Or had a suspended license" - Indeed he did, and once again, HIS FAULT for being on the road when he shouldn't have been.
"Or a warrant." - So he's breaking the law 24/7 and should have turned himself in to sort it out.
"Or was an 'undocumented worker'" - You mean someone in the country illegally who hasn't got a driver's license? You mean someone breaking the law by driving a motor vehicle without a license? His fault.
"even if he wasn't the at fault party" - These words do not mean what you think they mean. If any of your conditions you listed for fleeing were true (and one was!) then he should NOT have been on the road, and by choosing to drive he deliberately started a chain of events that ended in tragedy. His fault.
Re:When you ride at night, (Score:4, Insightful)
And no amount of driving skill can protect you from invisible stupid bicyclers.
Actually, it's quite easy, you just have to drive slow enough to be able to brake before hitting anything that is in front of you. That would have avoided most of the accidents I've seen.
Or they did not want to go to jail for 20 years for a no-fault accident.
A no-fault accident is when a biker appears from the side of the road and you can't manage to avoid hitting him. In this case, the biker was hit from behind, so the fault his the driver's, full stop. Moreover, when you have an accident, you don't get to decide whose fault it is. You stay there and help the victim. If you run, you're a criminal, no excuses.