Mouse kills Cyclist ?

jk said:

Here story from Massachusetts that is so exceptionally unusual that
I'm posting it despite the possibility that it will restart the damn
helmet debate.
---------------------------------
WWLP-TV
Nov. 13
BUCKLAND, MASSACHUSETTS (WWLP) A Florence man is dead after suffering
severe injuries when he crashed his bicycle on a rural road, but it's
what caused the crashed that is puzzling police. 43-year-old Ronald
Koester was found lying on the side of the road Thursday afternoon by
an off duty police officer. And next to the man, was a dead mouse.
This all happened at the intersection of Avery and Charlemont Roads in
Buckland. The man was found 40 feet from the intersection by an off
duty Shelburne Falls officer around noon. First Assistant District
Attorney Elizabeth Dunphy Farris told 22News, the mouse was found
freshly deceased in close proximity to the bicycle. The man's death
has been ruled accidental by the medical examiner. Koester apparently
went over his handlebars, hitting his head on the ground and smashing
his helmet. There has been speculation that Koester was attempting to
avoid hitting the mouse, causing him to lose control, although that
has not been the confirmed cause. There were no skid marks found at
the scene, and there is no sign of foul play.

Written by 22News Reporter
Anthony DiLorenzo
------------------------------------

That is just too weird in so many ways.
Bill Baka

jk said:

Here story from Massachusetts that is so exceptionally unusual that
I'm posting it despite the possibility that it will restart the damn
helmet debate.
---------------------------------
WWLP-TV
Nov. 13
BUCKLAND, MASSACHUSETTS (WWLP) A Florence man is dead after suffering
severe injuries when he crashed his bicycle on a rural road, but it's
what caused the crashed that is puzzling police. 43-year-old Ronald
Koester was found lying on the side of the road Thursday afternoon by
an off duty police officer. And next to the man, was a dead mouse.
This all happened at the intersection of Avery and Charlemont Roads in
Buckland. The man was found 40 feet from the intersection by an off
duty Shelburne Falls officer around noon. First Assistant District
Attorney Elizabeth Dunphy Farris told 22News, the mouse was found
freshly deceased in close proximity to the bicycle. The man's death
has been ruled accidental by the medical examiner. Koester apparently
went over his handlebars, hitting his head on the ground and smashing
his helmet. There has been speculation that Koester was attempting to
avoid hitting the mouse, causing him to lose control, although that
has not been the confirmed cause. There were no skid marks found at
the scene, and there is no sign of foul play.

Written by 22News Reporter
Anthony DiLorenzo
------------------------------------

Well, no description of the cause of death of the mouse. Perhaps the
mouse saw the bike coming and died of a heart attack. I suppose Mr.
Koester might have hit the mouse and skidded, but then they probably
would have mentioned the state of the mouse, which couldn't have been
good.

Mice are sort of related to squirrels, both being of rodent
persuasion. Perhaps they've learned about the killer squirrels and are
emulating their larger cousins?

Perhaps it was a pet mouse, traveling in Mr. Koester's pocket, who
fell out during the accident and, not having a helmet, had no chance
to survive the fall (oh, what I just did).

"dgk" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

jk said:

Here story from Massachusetts that is so exceptionally unusual that
I'm posting it despite the possibility that it will restart the damn
helmet debate.
---------------------------------
WWLP-TV
Nov. 13
BUCKLAND, MASSACHUSETTS (WWLP) A Florence man is dead after suffering
severe injuries when he crashed his bicycle on a rural road, but it's
what caused the crashed that is puzzling police. 43-year-old Ronald
Koester was found lying on the side of the road Thursday afternoon by
an off duty police officer. And next to the man, was a dead mouse.
This all happened at the intersection of Avery and Charlemont Roads in
Buckland. The man was found 40 feet from the intersection by an off
duty Shelburne Falls officer around noon. First Assistant District
Attorney Elizabeth Dunphy Farris told 22News, the mouse was found
freshly deceased in close proximity to the bicycle. The man's death
has been ruled accidental by the medical examiner. Koester apparently
went over his handlebars, hitting his head on the ground and smashing
his helmet. There has been speculation that Koester was attempting to
avoid hitting the mouse, causing him to lose control, although that
has not been the confirmed cause. There were no skid marks found at
the scene, and there is no sign of foul play.

Written by 22News Reporter
Anthony DiLorenzo
------------------------------------

Well, no description of the cause of death of the mouse. Perhaps the
mouse saw the bike coming and died of a heart attack. I suppose Mr.
Koester might have hit the mouse and skidded, but then they probably
would have mentioned the state of the mouse, which couldn't have been
good.

Mice are sort of related to squirrels, both being of rodent
persuasion. Perhaps they've learned about the killer squirrels and are
emulating their larger cousins?

Perhaps it was a pet mouse, traveling in Mr. Koester's pocket, who
fell out during the accident and, not having a helmet, had no chance
to survive the fall (oh, what I just did).

I don't know about the helmet, but a mouse guard might have helped.

Quoted message said:

On Tue, 14 Nov 2006 15:30:49 +1300, "Fred" <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

"dgk" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

jk said:

Here story from Massachusetts that is so exceptionally unusual that
I'm posting it despite the possibility that it will restart the damn
helmet debate.
---------------------------------
WWLP-TV
Nov. 13
BUCKLAND, MASSACHUSETTS (WWLP) A Florence man is dead after suffering
severe injuries when he crashed his bicycle on a rural road, but it's
what caused the crashed that is puzzling police. 43-year-old Ronald
Koester was found lying on the side of the road Thursday afternoon by
an off duty police officer. And next to the man, was a dead mouse.
This all happened at the intersection of Avery and Charlemont Roads in
Buckland. The man was found 40 feet from the intersection by an off
duty Shelburne Falls officer around noon. First Assistant District
Attorney Elizabeth Dunphy Farris told 22News, the mouse was found
freshly deceased in close proximity to the bicycle. The man's death
has been ruled accidental by the medical examiner. Koester apparently
went over his handlebars, hitting his head on the ground and smashing
his helmet. There has been speculation that Koester was attempting to
avoid hitting the mouse, causing him to lose control, although that
has not been the confirmed cause. There were no skid marks found at
the scene, and there is no sign of foul play.

Written by 22News Reporter
Anthony DiLorenzo
------------------------------------

Well, no description of the cause of death of the mouse. Perhaps the
mouse saw the bike coming and died of a heart attack. I suppose Mr.
Koester might have hit the mouse and skidded, but then they probably
would have mentioned the state of the mouse, which couldn't have been
good.

Mice are sort of related to squirrels, both being of rodent
persuasion. Perhaps they've learned about the killer squirrels and are
emulating their larger cousins?

Perhaps it was a pet mouse, traveling in Mr. Koester's pocket, who
fell out during the accident and, not having a helmet, had no chance
to survive the fall (oh, what I just did).

I don't know about the helmet, but a mouse guard might have helped.

I knew bad puns were coming. It's too good a target. Just move the
mouse over the bicycle and click.

"jk" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

... and there is no sign of foul play.

[insert chicken joke here]

jk said:

BUCKLAND, MASSACHUSETTS (WWLP) A Florence man is dead after suffering
severe injuries when he crashed his bicycle on a rural road, but it's
what caused the crashed that is puzzling police. 43-year-old Ronald
Koester was found lying on the side of the road Thursday afternoon by
an off duty police officer. And next to the man, was a dead mouse.

The mouse is probably a message from the murderer. We just don't know
what it means yet.

--
Home page: http://members.westnet.com.au/mvw

Mike Kruger said:

"jk" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

... and there is no sign of foul play.

[insert chicken joke here]

I would, but only if the subject was less grave.
--
Typoes are a feature, not a bug.
Some gardening required to reply via email.
Words processed in a facility that contains nuts.

http://www.wwlp.com/news2004/story.html?artID=413854 is the link, video
available on the page.

jk said:

Here story from Massachusetts that is so exceptionally unusual that
I'm posting it despite the possibility that it will restart the damn
helmet debate.
---------------------------------
WWLP-TV
Nov. 13
BUCKLAND, MASSACHUSETTS (WWLP) A Florence man is dead after suffering
severe injuries when he crashed his bicycle on a rural road, but it's
what caused the crashed that is puzzling police. 43-year-old Ronald
Koester was found lying on the side of the road Thursday afternoon by
an off duty police officer. And next to the man, was a dead mouse.
This all happened at the intersection of Avery and Charlemont Roads in
Buckland. The man was found 40 feet from the intersection by an off
duty Shelburne Falls officer around noon. First Assistant District
Attorney Elizabeth Dunphy Farris told 22News, the mouse was found
freshly deceased in close proximity to the bicycle. The man's death
has been ruled accidental by the medical examiner. Koester apparently
went over his handlebars, hitting his head on the ground and smashing
his helmet. There has been speculation that Koester was attempting to
avoid hitting the mouse, causing him to lose control, although that
has not been the confirmed cause. There were no skid marks found at
the scene, and there is no sign of foul play.

Written by 22News Reporter
Anthony DiLorenzo
------------------------------------

jk said:

Here story from Massachusetts that is so exceptionally unusual that
I'm posting it despite the possibility that it will restart the damn
helmet debate.

They don't actually know whether the "mouse killed the cyclist"
or not. Pure speculation.

They found the "freshly killed" mouse near the cyclist and speculated
that perhaps it threw him or he lost control trying to avoid it.

Possible, but who knows.

He was apparently a very experience cyclist, lived right here in
my fair town of Florence (Northampton) MA. I'm not familiar with
the name but he was quite active in local bicycling groups.

Seems a motorcycle style helmet might have been a safer choice
for head protection in this case.

SMH

let's see.
If you watch CSI you might thing it was a frame up by the No-helmut
zealots. Especially, since he was so well known in that regard. Rather an
humiliating way to go. Your community is at a great loss. Sorry.

nash said:

let's see.
If you watch CSI you might thing it was a frame up by the No-helmut
zealots. Especially, since he was so well known in that regard. Rather an
humiliating way to go. Your community is at a great loss. Sorry.

They didn't say if the mouse was squished from being run over so what
was the cause of death of the mouse? Tire or foul play?
Calling Sherlock.
Bill Baka

"Bill" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

nash said:

let's see.
If you watch CSI you might thing it was a frame up by the No-helmut
zealots. Especially, since he was so well known in that regard. Rather
an humiliating way to go. Your community is at a great loss. Sorry.

They didn't say if the mouse was squished from being run over so what was
the cause of death of the mouse? Tire or foul play?

Neither did they say if the mouse was wearing a helmet. Does this mean the
poor thing will appear as an 'unhelmeted bicycle fatality' on some
statistical list?

Bill said:

They didn't say if the mouse was squished from being run over so what
was the cause of death of the mouse? Tire or foul play?
Calling Sherlock.

Local paper reported it simply as "a freshly killed mouse lying
near by".

Freshly killed by a bicycle or a cat?

No autopsy report yet on the mouse.

SMH

In article <[email hidden]>,

jk said:

Here story from Massachusetts that is so exceptionally unusual that
I'm posting it despite the possibility that it will restart the damn
helmet debate.
---------------------------------
WWLP-TV
Nov. 13
BUCKLAND, MASSACHUSETTS (WWLP) A Florence man is dead after suffering
severe injuries when he crashed his bicycle on a rural road, but it's
what caused the crashed that is puzzling police. 43-year-old Ronald
Koester was found lying on the side of the road Thursday afternoon by
an off duty police officer. And next to the man, was a dead mouse.

[snip]

Quoted message said:

There has been speculation that Koester was attempting to
avoid hitting the mouse, causing him to lose control, although that
has not been the confirmed cause.

I wonder if there's any speculation that he was the victim
of a hit-&-run, or was simply run off the road, resulting
in his fatal crash? Maybe his airborne body coincidentally
landed on the mouse.

WTF does a dead mouse have to do with price of aish in Egypt?
A fellow cyclist's life has been preempted. No doubt he has
family and friends mourning the loss of him.

Tom

--
-- Nothing is safe from me.
Above address is just a spam midden.
I'm really at: tkeats [curlicue] vcn [point] bc [point] ca

On Wed, 15 Nov 2006 10:24:51 -0800, [email hidden] (Tom Keats)
wrote:

Snip

Quoted message said:

I wonder if there's any speculation that he was the victim
of a hit-&-run, or was simply run off the road, resulting
in his fatal crash?

The news story from my original post clearly stated "The man's death
has been ruled accidental by the medical examiner.". I would
seriously doubt that the medical examiner ruled it accidental if there
was any speculation about a hit and run.

Quoted message said:

WTF does a dead mouse have to do with price of aish in Egypt?
A fellow cyclist's life has been preempted. No doubt he has
family and friends mourning the loss of him.

Tom

I posted the story as reported, unedited and without comment in
regards to the story's context. But in answer to your "WTF does a
dead mouse have to do with .." The story said "There has been
speculation that Koester was attempting to avoid hitting the mouse,
causing him to lose controI ". This speculation was attributed to the
police and First Assistant District Attorney Elizabeth Dunphy Farris.

He may have had many friends and family and I am sure he will be
mourned, but what "WTF" does that have to do with me posting a
publicly distributed news story.

jk said:

Quoted message said:

Tom

I posted the story as reported, unedited and without comment in
regards to the story's context. But in answer to your "WTF does a
dead mouse have to do with .." The story said "There has been
speculation that Koester was attempting to avoid hitting the mouse,
causing him to lose controI ". This speculation was attributed to the
police and First Assistant District Attorney Elizabeth Dunphy Farris.

He may have had many friends and family and I am sure he will be
mourned, but what "WTF" does that have to do with me posting a
publicly distributed news story.

I think the question should be, was it just a random dead mouse or one
with a bicycle tire squish down the middle. Hitting a mouse with the
front brake on might like sliding on a banana peel if the mouse was
suitably squished. A statement like a dead mouse was nearby means
totally nothing.
Bill Baka

Bill said:

jk said:

Quoted message said:

Tom

I posted the story as reported, unedited and without comment in
regards to the story's context. But in answer to your "WTF does a
dead mouse have to do with .." The story said "There has been
speculation that Koester was attempting to avoid hitting the mouse,
causing him to lose controI ". This speculation was attributed to the
police and First Assistant District Attorney Elizabeth Dunphy Farris.

He may have had many friends and family and I am sure he will be
mourned, but what "WTF" does that have to do with me posting a
publicly distributed news story.

I think the question should be, was it just a random dead mouse or one
with a bicycle tire squish down the middle. Hitting a mouse with the
front brake on might like sliding on a banana peel if the mouse was
suitably squished. A statement like a dead mouse was nearby means
totally nothing.
Bill Baka

I'm willing to give the police and DA enough credit to believe that
they wouldn't link the mouse to the crash without having a reason
other then finding a dead mouse in the vicinity. The story, however,
doesn't elaborate and anything posted here without the authorities
releasing additional information is meaningless speculation..

"The man's death has been ruled accidental by the medical examiner.
Koester apparently went over his handlebars, hitting his head on the
ground and smashing his helmet."

I think he saw the dead mouse (road kill), braked hard, flipped over
his handlebars, landed on his helmet so hard he destroyed the helmet
and suffered fatal head injuries. If they said the mouse was crushed
then he might have landed on it. If he had road rash or other injuries
from a non-flat object, that could be a hit and run.

In article <[email hidden]>,

jk said:

On Wed, 15 Nov 2006 10:24:51 -0800, [email hidden] (Tom Keats)
wrote:

Snip

Quoted message said:

I wonder if there's any speculation that he was the victim
of a hit-&-run, or was simply run off the road, resulting
in his fatal crash?

The news story from my original post clearly stated "The man's death
has been ruled accidental by the medical examiner.". I would
seriously doubt that the medical examiner ruled it accidental if there
was any speculation about a hit and run.

Quoted message said:

WTF does a dead mouse have to do with price of aish in Egypt?
A fellow cyclist's life has been preempted. No doubt he has
family and friends mourning the loss of him.

Tom

I posted the story as reported, unedited and without comment in
regards to the story's context. But in answer to your "WTF does a
dead mouse have to do with .." The story said "There has been
speculation that Koester was attempting to avoid hitting the mouse,
causing him to lose controI ". This speculation was attributed to the
police and First Assistant District Attorney Elizabeth Dunphy Farris.

I wonder just how much consideration this case received.
There is a sense among many cyclists that accident investigations
involving cyclists tend to get glossed-over. Rider sees mouse,
hits the binders, goes over the handlebar, smashes his head open.
End of story?

If he had been travelling fast enough to go over the handlebar,
I bet he wouldn't even have seen the mouse.

Quoted message said:

He may have had many friends and family and I am sure he will be
mourned, but what "WTF" does that have to do with me posting a
publicly distributed news story.

Nothing.

But it seems this report is morbidly amusing to some folks.
Well, death is part of life, I suppose. And cracking jokes
about it can take the edge off, especially when thinking in
terms of one's own mortality.

But, suppose there wasn't a dead mouse at the scene --
just a mysteriously dead cyclist and a bike lying down on
the roadside or in the ditch. What's funny about that?

cheers,
Tom

--
-- Nothing is safe from me.
Above address is just a spam midden.
I'm really at: tkeats [curlicue] vcn [point] bc [point] ca