Close call

Had a very close call last night thought I'd vent. Last night at around 2am I was cycling back to my apartment in Cork city centre after a late night studying in UCC.

Dyke parade is a one way street with a bus lane and a car lane. I was in the bus lane cycling along at circa 30kph (just a guess, don't have a computer on my commuter). Further back the road behind me I saw what can only be described as a herd of taxis that had all left a pedestrian crossing light that had turned green for them.

When the herd was around 10m behind me I saw a girl on the footpath on the left stick out her arm to hail a taxi. My spidy senses were tingling.

Knowing what was possibly about to happen I eased off my pedalling and prepared to brake. A taxi begins to overtake me and sure enough, before his back wheel is past my handlebars he begins to dive towards the kerb, braking sharply, in an effort to get to the potential fare before the rest of the herd.

Thanks to my recently adjusted V brakes I was able to outbrake him and get out of the squeeze he was attempting to put me in.

This was possibly the stupidest piece of driving I have ever seen, and I've seen a lot of stupid driving. I seriously wonder how this guy is able to tie his shoelaces in the morning without tying his feet together.

Has anyone else ever had that weird sixth sense feeling that someone is about to do something mind bendingly stupid before they actually do it?

P.S. Yes I had lights, that day I had replaced the batteries in my rear cateye LED and it was retina scorchingly bright.

blorg

Taxi drivers are allowed, required to break traffic regulations when picking up a fare. Sometimes they put on their hazards as a courtesy to other road traffic to indicate they are immune from traffic regulations at this moment, but this is not a legal requirement.

Doctor Bob

Deleted User wrote: »

Has anyone else ever had that weird sixth sense feeling that someone is about to do something mind bendingly stupid before they actually do it?

Absolutely. Sadly, it comes in handy all too regularly. Cars changing lanes, turning without indicating, door opening... This morning, a Bus Eireann coach decided to let a passenger off on Butt Bridge (Dublin) while stopped in traffic, without pulling in to the kerb. Fortunately, the spidey senses were tingling!

niceonetom

Was cycling in Dublin city centre last night and the stupid was rife.

Some nights you can just tell that people are going to be especially oblivious, and a cold thursday during xmas-party season while the shops are open late is a test for even the wiliest cyclist. I think it takes a while to develop a good stupidity detector - I see many cyclists clearly operating without one at all.

Glad you got away intact OP. Stay frosty.

Am I the only one who giggled at there being a street named "dyke parade"?

Rob_l

I suggest we should all buy and wear these for occassions when our spidey sense may be required

http://cgi.ebay.com/Pure-Hero-SPIDER-MAN-Bike-Cycling-Jersey-Shirt-S-to-XL_W0QQitemZ390083211095QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUS_Men_s_Athletic_Apparel?var=&hash=item99ab1318d4


I really do want one

niceonetom

niceonetom wrote: »

Am I the only one who giggled at there being a street named "dyke parade"?

Sadly the street does not live up to its name!

alfalad

niceonetom wrote: »

Am I the only one who giggled at there being a street named "dyke parade"?

There is a black box on dyke road in Galway!

The address is in this link.

fixie

had a close call just a few minutes ago!
hard to explain but i got squezed in between a car and a van and the car tyre rubbed against my leg and broke my pedal strap:eek: was probably the closest call ive had by far

concussion

Deleted User wrote: »

Has anyone else ever had that weird sixth sense feeling that someone is about to do something mind bendingly stupid before they actually do it?

Yeah, I get it a lot. It only started recently though, after I got bitten by a spider in the chemistry lab

niceonetom wrote: »

Am I the only one who giggled at there being a street named "dyke parade"?

Nope

NeilMcEoigheann

had a taxi come up behind me tonight on the out of town side of the canal between the bridge and harolds cross, theres not enough room for bike taxi and the outside lane of stopped traffic. so he just sounds the horn and i flip him off. anyway as he starts pushing round me and the pushes me towards the curb. this is the reason i'm annoyed that i wasn't wearing my Ulock in my belt.
and yes i did open his back door as i passed him such a scum bag i mean when does it become assult or attempted murder....

Chris Peak

NeilMcEoigheann wrote: »

had a taxi come up behind me tonight on the out of town side of the canal between the bridge and harolds cross, theres not enough room for bike taxi and the outside lane of stopped traffic. so he just sounds the horn and i flip him off. anyway as he starts pushing round me and the pushes me towards the curb. this is the reason i'm annoyed that i wasn't wearing my Ulock in my belt.
and yes i did open his back door as i passed him such a scum bag i mean when does it become assult or attempted murder....

I can't make out exactly where you were when this happened. But, I know the area well. Were you in the bus lane by the Am-PM shop?
There just isn't enough room for busses/taxis & cyclists there if it was, so, the best thing to do is stay in the middle of the lane and don't let them try to overtake. The only time I've nearly come a cropper there was when I pulled in to make room for them.
Same goes if you are taking the right at the fork at Mt Argus. Stay in the middle of the inside lane until you are close to the junction. Then move into the right. A lot of car drivers seem to panic in that whole area for some reason and act like [EMAIL="arseh@les"]arseh@les[/EMAIL].

P.S. If you want to smash a taxi's window, it's up to you. But, bear in mind that a lot of drivers keep their wheel-brace 'at hand'.

Alkers

Drivers side wing-mirror with your hand as you pass...