The Dinette Set by Julie Larson for January 31, 2012

Yeah, you knocked him into the middle of next week but you’re worried about your car. Burl will never die from enlargement of the heart.

Good Morning Everyone

Julie, Please show the next installment where they take Burl to jail for not obeying the bicycle crossing sign.

As a bike rider, I worry about people like Burl and Joy…

Good morning Crustwood, and you know who you are!!

Could’a been worse.

Could’a been Ma drivin’.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l97DlSbph_0

I hope the Penny’s have insurance.

Good Morning Crustwoodians —

I must be in the circle cos I keep going round and round….

I remember last year Burl tried to buy after-the-fact insurance from his long-suffering agent.

He’ll probably go back now to ask whether there’s special coverage he can buy for when his car is “hit” by a bicycle….

"Oh…. and let’s just date it…. um…. last Friday. No, no reason.

I just want to pay for a few extra days…. as a little bonus for you."

Leaky’s right — and I hope they suspend his license. But it’s comicsland, where guys like Burl don’t get beat up or fired.

@Dark&r - eeek!

And @Raspberry — What a horrible scene!

But arson is only a guess, and that’s only because there were no controlled burns or lightning in the area.No evidence, no suspects.

@auraful from yesterday…

57 68 61 74 20 49 53 20 22 70 75 63 22 3f

G’morning, all! Glad to see police arriving (although it seems obvious to us) I know they don’t always believe who’s at fault if both parties blame the other.Back in the 70’s when I had my very first NEW car, I was driving down a small street from work to an appointment and a semi came out of an alley and hit the rear passenger side. Chicago cops would not come when I called, said we had to go to nearest station to file report, and the jerk insisted that I hit HIM. My rates went up and the shop never got all the glass shards out of the back seat :-( As no one was hurt they refused to investigate and called it “no fault”.

Lock Burl up forever please.

The absolute nerve of the cyclist for running into Burl’s car.

Maybe the cyclist will tell the police that Burl “ran into my fist”.

Leaky, Tom Terrific was my favorite cartoon when I was 4, and Darkandrobust’s picture…., wow!

I got hit on a bike once, the driver swiped my handle bars and knocked me and my bike down. Good thing there wasn’t a car coming behind me. The driver pulled up the road a little further, waited to see if I got up, and took off.

Throw the book at Burl, Officer.

while Burl is a jerk-I myself don’t like the way bicycle riders think they can dart right out in front of you. They should also have to obey laws which most do not.

I remember, just a couple months ago (if that long), Burl was honking at bike riders as a courtesy. Looks like he forgot his courtesy honk this time. That’s what the guy gets for being on the edge of the road instead of in the middle wherer Burl could see him.

Good Morning Everyone!

another re-do of an older strip. Previous version had the bicyclist offering Burl his medical insurance card (I think) and Burl remarking “Why should I need that? You better show me your (something else) card instead.”

I heard about it yesterday, it sounded horrible.

This is SO wrong!Burl needs a night a jail.

Nice Joy didn’t even get out to help. I hope get into it with the police. trying to explain how he had the right of way regardless of the sign and get cuffed. and hauled off to jail.

burl hit the cyclist in the bike crossing apparently, so he is totally at fault for not stopping. he’s long past due for a comeuppance.

I can just picture us all coming here to comment on what becomes three years of scenes of Burl’s jail cell…Maybe the occasional one of Joy at home trying to figure out how to “bake” a file into a Sara Lee frozen cake.

Poor cyclist. I guess he didn’t get the memo that the Pennys were going to be driving today. When I was in the USN years ago (JP Jones was my first CO) we had warnings like “Notice to Mariners” that told us about things like this. Maybe there is a special cleaner that will get the blood off Burl’s grillwork.

I have mixed feeling about today’s strip. Lucky the bike rider is standing and likely okay. Still he hurt someone I having problem looking at this in a funny light. Burl will have to replace the Bike. No Burl not from walmart but a quality bike for a bike shop. cost you $$$ Burl too bad. Better then jail for manslaughter.

The above toon is an old panel, since then they have made a new bike crossing, it’s at the corner of Zwank and Shemp:

That is probably why though, in retrospect, when I do ride a bike these days, it’s on a bike trail. Much safer, as a rule.

Dry and Marg — scary to think of the close calls I’m sure we’ve all had — and glad we’re here to tell about it.

I used to ride a bike all over town — grocery shopping, work, everywhere. Had lights for night time and a rain suit for bad weather…. and no car.

One thing that stopped me was moving to my current place, off a major street leading from town, with no room for bikes, and rather rural side streets with ditches along the edges.

I’ve been hit by moving cars twice, once “just a tap” from someone angry that I was already occupying a bike lane waiting for the green light, when he drove up wanting to turn right on the red. It scared me silly and bent my wheel … and he kept going.

The other time a car “grazed” my pedals and handlebar… and my elbow…. I rocked side to side for awhile but managed to right myself, peddling forward, elbow bleeding….. and he drove on.

Yet another time, a fellow just parking his car downtown looked back, saw me about to ride past, smiled (I always tried to make eye contact to make sure I was visible) …. and without thinking, swung open his car door just as I reached it…

I smashed into it, and broke my toe… he did apologise profusely, help me chain up my bike, and drive me to the hospital …. and then he drove off without even leaving his name or watching me limp through the door.

The final close call was when a driver was annoyed that I was riding my bike on one of those narrow rural roads.

He drove straight towards me, laying on his horn, and purposely ran me into the ditch, shouting obscenities.

I didn’t get badly hurt — but I threw away my broken bike and hung up my helmet. That was over 20 years ago. I’ve thought about getting another bike, just to get some exercise…but so far it still makes me tremble.

I wonder if Burl has progressive snap shoot

I road a bike for everything during most of my marriage and just took diving lessons near the end (early 70s). As I made my clothes, I had very padded parkas for winter because riding in the ridges left by cars meant many falls. Groceries for family of 6 took me 3-4 trips and my employment when I finally started ouside the home had to be close. I was lucky to never have any bike accidents as an adult. My worst was a gouge in the belly from bare handlebars when I was a kid.Sorry to hear about all the ones you guys have had. I’ve been quite lucky. No injuries as an adult except a car crash in the rain (forced off the road) that required facial surgery. As it happened the same week I finally filed for divorce, my husband made it worse and I still had to take care of his meals etc while he told me I would remain so ugly I’d never find someone else (total jerk) but it healed in spite of a so-so emergency surgeon and the scar (just below my lips) is really not visible, but was for more than a decade.

Right,,,,and where do the pedestrians go?

I prefer walking for exercise and I don’t like the idea of a cyclist coming aat me from behind.

We have to deal with cyclists in League City as well, but at least, when they can they’re cycling on the shoulder, or the slow lane of a 4 lane street. Drivers can easily change lanes & pass. But that’s probably one of the benefits in newly built areas that do a slightly better job of planning. I’m just surprised that in a place that has so many cyclers, why isn’t there bycle paths.