Seth Vidal, creator of yum, killed in hit and run accident(durham.io)
durham.io
Seth Vidal, creator of yum, killed in hit and run accident
http://durham.io/2013/07/09/seth-vidal-creator-of-yum-open-source-software-killed-in-bike-accident-off-hillandale-rd/
397 comments
The sad truth is that while bicycles should be respected as vehicles, they are given lip service at best in driver education and there is little attempt made at going after motorists who drive aggressively around them. As a result, you put yourself at great risk of life and limb when you ride on a road like this one: http://www.mapquest.com/?version=1.0&hk=6-LvU0mhA3 (Hillandale Rd, Durham, NC)
I accomplish all of my short-range transport by bicycle or foot, and I only very rarely will even ride on the main thoroughfare through downtown Alexandria, Washington St., because its practical speed limit is 40mph although the posted one is 25mph. Too many times drivers cut it close, honk at me to point out the audacity of crowding the auto-space, or slam their brakes without noticing my bike behind them.
Riding a bicycle on any street that has a speed limit greater than 25mph, lacks frequent stops (lights or signs), or has more than one lane is simply treacherous even for the skilled cyclist because you never know when a self-important jerk like the mystery murderer here will feel the need to shave twenty seconds off of their commute.
I accomplish all of my short-range transport by bicycle or foot, and I only very rarely will even ride on the main thoroughfare through downtown Alexandria, Washington St., because its practical speed limit is 40mph although the posted one is 25mph. Too many times drivers cut it close, honk at me to point out the audacity of crowding the auto-space, or slam their brakes without noticing my bike behind them.
Riding a bicycle on any street that has a speed limit greater than 25mph, lacks frequent stops (lights or signs), or has more than one lane is simply treacherous even for the skilled cyclist because you never know when a self-important jerk like the mystery murderer here will feel the need to shave twenty seconds off of their commute.
I'm a Debian guy. I randomly encountered Seth at a hotel in Berlin, and we spent several very jetlagged hours in the lobby waiting for rooms to open up and talking about everything from yum performance to peak oil to blacksmithing. That trip turned out to be my worst European trip ever -- most of my other memories of it involve shivering under an expensive feather duvet and trying not to infect anyone when I dragged myself to meetings. Seth let me have a positive memory of that trip. We swam in different circles online and I only knew him briefly, but he was clearly a great guy.
(Also, this is the second friend of mime to be killed in a hit and run car vs bike. The other was lilo. Sucks.)
(Also, this is the second friend of mime to be killed in a hit and run car vs bike. The other was lilo. Sucks.)
It's a shame that this has to turn from a really sad event to another bikes versus car debate, especially with so little information available other than it was a hit and run.
I had the opportunity to work with Seth on the Func project and knew him to be a seriously stand-up dude who cared deeply about the quality of his work and the people who used it. You just had to say 'skvidal' on #fedora-devel and, as if by magic, he'd appear and get you unblocked on whatever it was you were hacking on. It was just unbelievable, I've never known a developer that cared so much about making people's lives easier.
Everyone who had the privilege to be in Seth's orbit knew he was a hell of a developer, a hell of a sysadmin, and a man who worked his ass off to make the world of Linux a better place, and by god did he make it so.
RIP Seth, I will miss you greatly and I know that there must be a massive crowd of folks up there vouching for you, having saved this mortal world from dependency hell.
Everyone who had the privilege to be in Seth's orbit knew he was a hell of a developer, a hell of a sysadmin, and a man who worked his ass off to make the world of Linux a better place, and by god did he make it so.
RIP Seth, I will miss you greatly and I know that there must be a massive crowd of folks up there vouching for you, having saved this mortal world from dependency hell.
"Hit and run bike accident". No, a hit and run automobile homicide.
Damn, this is sad. I'll echo the other comments here that he was a nice guy. I was an undergrad at Duke circa 1999-2000 and knew him through the Duke LUG. I was a noob, and he always showed a fair amount of patience with my questions on the mailing list. Later on the LUG started meeting for beers on Friday afternoons and he was just as friendly in real life. He was one of those guys that seemed like a computing god for me so early in my career.
At some point in the future we will look back on the era of the automobile as the era of carnage; the amount of life lost is staggering. I bike to work every day in a pretty bike-friendly city (compared to most) and it is still unnerving most days.
This is terrible, but I wonder if there's a technical way we can provide a black box for bicyclists so that these sorts of injustices don't go unpunished.
RIP :(.
RIP :(.
So very sad.
I personally think the world would be a much better place if cars were relegated to intercity travel and walking/biking/public transit were the only means of intracity movement. The world would be cleaner and in all likelihood much healthier, and needless accidents like this would be avoided.
RIP.
I personally think the world would be a much better place if cars were relegated to intercity travel and walking/biking/public transit were the only means of intracity movement. The world would be cleaner and in all likelihood much healthier, and needless accidents like this would be avoided.
RIP.
So sad to hear this. Condolences to his family and to all my former colleagues at Red Hat. This is a huge loss for the open source community.
So sad to hear this! I met Seth at FUDCon a few years ago, he was a nice guy and very interesting to talk to. My condolences to his family and loved ones.
When will we stop tolerating the flagrant waste of life that occurs every day as a result of our addiction and worship of the automobile?
I met Seth at a Linux conference once, he was a really friendly guy and well liked, such a shame.
UK residents - please consider signing the .gov.uk epetition [1] for the government to implement the "Get Britain Cycling Report" [2]. Report Summary [3].
The petition is close to 70,000 signatures and should be debated in parliament when it gets to 100,000.
RIP
[1] http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/49196 [2] http://allpartycycling.files.wordpress.com/2013/04/get-brita... [3] https://allpartycycling.files.wordpress.com/2013/04/get-brit...
The petition is close to 70,000 signatures and should be debated in parliament when it gets to 100,000.
RIP
[1] http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/49196 [2] http://allpartycycling.files.wordpress.com/2013/04/get-brita... [3] https://allpartycycling.files.wordpress.com/2013/04/get-brit...
A tragedy. I knew Seth - albeit just barely - through friends in Durham. Great guy; I knew he was a fellow cyclist but I had no idea that he was also a programmer.
One of his most recent tweets is about bike commuting: "Just enjoy the ride."
My heart goes out to his friends and family.
One of his most recent tweets is about bike commuting: "Just enjoy the ride."
My heart goes out to his friends and family.
The general availability of bike friendly travel options in the United States is one that it woefully underserved.
In the past couple of years I have heard of so many bike/vehicle accidents that I no longer ride anywhere that can be reached by a motor vehicle.
I used to ride on the road but the best option for me was a bike lane that offered about a meter of space between myself and vehicles in a 55 mph zone. In many places I had to risk just riding on the edge of the roadway and hoping for the best and I had my share of getting brushed by side-view mirrors. No more. It is simply too unsafe to risk riding anywhere that I am not physically separated from traffic.
In the past couple of years I have heard of so many bike/vehicle accidents that I no longer ride anywhere that can be reached by a motor vehicle.
I used to ride on the road but the best option for me was a bike lane that offered about a meter of space between myself and vehicles in a 55 mph zone. In many places I had to risk just riding on the edge of the roadway and hoping for the best and I had my share of getting brushed by side-view mirrors. No more. It is simply too unsafe to risk riding anywhere that I am not physically separated from traffic.
.
We've lost a lot of great people in the last year it seems.
We've lost a lot of great people in the last year it seems.
The guy turned himself in. http://www.wral.com/man-charged-in-durham-hit-and-run-that-k...
Sad truth is that if you get hit and hurt or killed while riding a bike, chances of guilty part being punished are almost non-existent. In some places people will actively try to run you from the road, almost everywhere you gona get doored time to time. Thats just the reality of biking in a city in North America.
Still chances of death or a really bad accident are relatively low, and biking is way more fun then public transit. I have not been doored or hit in a few years so I continue with it, but I am also very defensive while riding basically assuming that every car will try to run me from the road so I try as much as I can to give myself space to react. Remember police do not give a shit at all, so your life is in your hands and those of random fucks trying to shave 5 seconds from getting to wherever they are going.
Still chances of death or a really bad accident are relatively low, and biking is way more fun then public transit. I have not been doored or hit in a few years so I continue with it, but I am also very defensive while riding basically assuming that every car will try to run me from the road so I try as much as I can to give myself space to react. Remember police do not give a shit at all, so your life is in your hands and those of random fucks trying to shave 5 seconds from getting to wherever they are going.
I used to drive a bike trafficked roads, even at night, but I stopped doing this after almost hitting a biker while driving when I realized how hard it is for a driver to see and avoid bikers in traffic or for bikers to go through heavy trafficked area safely.
Driving a bike through traffic or on a trafficked road at night or driving through a bikers area is basically the same as driving while drunk and stoned at the same time, only you don't realize it until you get hit by a car or you hit a biker with your car and its too late for both of you then (though if you do it, have at least the freakin decency and humanity to call an ambulance before running from the scene!)...
Driving a bike through traffic or on a trafficked road at night or driving through a bikers area is basically the same as driving while drunk and stoned at the same time, only you don't realize it until you get hit by a car or you hit a biker with your car and its too late for both of you then (though if you do it, have at least the freakin decency and humanity to call an ambulance before running from the scene!)...
Really young too. What a shame.
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How is this a "bike accident"? It sounds like a hit-and-run murder, for which the driver ought be prosecuted at the very least for vehicular manslaughter.
Disgusting that so many post about what bicycle riders are to blame for instead of getting together here and work hard on identifying the driver of the car that killed Seth. Community, show your power and do something good in all this evil.
A hit and run driver ranks very low on my acceptance level. As a fellow Red Hatter that knew Seth I want to have the driver identified and brought to justice.
A hit and run driver ranks very low on my acceptance level. As a fellow Red Hatter that knew Seth I want to have the driver identified and brought to justice.
People, avoid biking on roads, especially after dark. There's just too much risk for it to be worth. What a terrible tragedy. RIP Seth.
This is awful. R.I.P.
The family wanted to keep this off social media for now. Unfortunate that you posted this.
I am sorry to hear of his death. He sounds like someone I would have liked to know.
damn... how stupid human beings can be? One's life is priceless, and we sacrifice it because we have no patience for traffic ?
Damn... this is so hard to bear, I hope family will receive all positive energy and love we are sharing here and beyond, and that this energy will surprisingly shape their life in the future in a way that it will somehow ease up their suffering a bit, and then one day make their life normal again, togheter with the reaching of the wisdom that he is still around us/them.
With love..
Damn... this is so hard to bear, I hope family will receive all positive energy and love we are sharing here and beyond, and that this energy will surprisingly shape their life in the future in a way that it will somehow ease up their suffering a bit, and then one day make their life normal again, togheter with the reaching of the wisdom that he is still around us/them.
With love..
He wasn't just a prolific contributor, he was a really good guy. He helped people out in irc channels near constantly. After my first ever conference presentation he came up to me and complimented and thanked me for it. He was both a code and cultural pillar of the greater redhat community, I will miss him.