Pedestrians...

Ricky91t

Alright, so this is a bit of a rant and a bit of a question.

I'm a student in Cork and constantly have an issue with pedestrians walking out in front of me, and either giving me near misses with them, or kerbs if I try to go on the inside of them. I know that can't hear me on my bike, but if they see me when they're on the road they make no attempt to quickly move.

A few minutes later I'll be cyclng through campus at a quick enough pace( A speed where I know can either brake or avoid people/cars/animals etc) and someone will notice me and litterally run out of my way as if I was trying to run them down. Fair enough sometimes I'm on the pedestrianised area of campus but other times I'll be on the roads through it, where I'm correctly using the road and they're not. It doesn't bother me a whole lot cause I'm gone, but I'm concerned about what could happen If this happens a lot ( with other cyclists too ) and people complain.

I like cycling quick, I find I'm worn out after it which will eventually improve my fitness. But I don't want to get into any trouble. Has anybody else had issues like this, what have you done to resolve it?

Thanks!

Doctor Bob

a) Get a bell.

b) Don't cycle quickly in pedestrian areas.

And this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pEzuC5UoM8g

Lemag

If it's the UCC campus which you are referring to then pretty much the whole campus is effectively pedestrian.

If you're looking to improve your fitness cycling around the campus won't do much for you. Head out of the city on some long and hilly spins.

el Bastardo

I've no tolerance for people walking on the street when they know bloody well that they shouldn't be there, but if it's paths, campuses etc, you'd really want to slow down a bit.

Although I've no idea what the location you're talking about is like, when I cycle around Drogheda I adopt a "common sense rules" attitude.

I completely ignore the rules of the road, I'm constantly hopping on and off paths, wrong way down one way streets, and generally zooming about the place at a decent speed. In my many years of cycling I only ever had one collision, and it wasn't my fault.

I find that if you're sensible and very alert when cycling you won't hit anyone. And I'd assume that the only way you'll ever get in trouble would be if you did hit someone/something and cause damage?

So I'd say you're fine.


(though that said, as I say I'm not familiar with the place, so I dunno if you're talking about security in the area or something that may want to have a chat with you regardless of whether you ever have an accident or not).

petethedrummer

Slow down a bit when you're around pedestrians.

thebouldwhacker

I know what your talking about but Cork is the capital of jay walking and long may it continue, get a bell.

I spent 5 years cycling about UCC and the one thing I learned is that its a fantastic campus, great for hanging about and passing time, speedy bikes are akin to boy racers in such environs, slow it down, its not that big an area and there are plenty of cycling areas close if you need to get a sweat going.

Iwannahurl

According to the RSA you are legally required to have a bell on your bike.

Yet another road rule routinely ignored by all and sundry in this country.

Deleted User wrote: »

Although I've no idea what the location you're talking about is like, when I cycle around Drogheda I adopt a "common sense rules" attitude.

I completely ignore the rules of the road, I'm constantly hopping on and off paths, wrong way down one way streets, and generally zooming about the place at a decent speed. In my many years of cycling I only ever had one collision, and it wasn't my fault.

I find that if you're sensible and very alert when cycling you won't hit anyone. And I'd assume that the only way you'll ever get in trouble would be if you did hit someone/something and cause damage?

So I'd say you're fine.


(though that said, as I say I'm not familiar with the place, so I dunno if you're talking about security in the area or something that may want to have a chat with you regardless of whether you ever have an accident or not).

I'm getting annoyed just reading that. You're not alone, so no wonder there's such a low opinion of cycling and cyclists in this country.

Canis Lupus

It's the pedestrians that cross the road through stopped traffic that make me wet myself specially when they cross in front of a bus/lorry and I don't see them till the last second. Had some close calls with them.

monument

Iwannahurl wrote: »

According to the RSA you are legally required to have a bell on your bike..

Not on racers, but that law was written when fewer had racers for everyday use.

I'd still recommend using a bell to everybody.

Squidgy Black

Hopping up onto paths is extremely dangerous, having to swerve around pedestrians, especially children who tend not to walk in straight lines.

Also, if you were to have an incident on a path, it doesn't matter what happened or who did what, you're liable seeing as you weren't supposed to be on the path in the first place.

I get disgusted and really annoyed when people walk in the cycling lane to overtake people on paths, and they have the right to block your way on the path, you belong on the road.

thebouldwhacker

Deleted User wrote: »

when I cycle around Drogheda I adopt a "common sense rules" attitude.
I completely ignore the rules of the road, I'm constantly hopping on and off paths, wrong way down one way streets, and generally zooming about the place at a decent speed.

I'm struggling to find any sense in you description of your cycling? the rotr aren't put there by some nazi dictator out to make you time on the road as unbearable as possible, they make sense, hopping on and off paths, wrong way down one way streets, and generally zooming about the place at a decent speed, I'm afraid, doesn't. So I fyp

Deleted User wrote: »

when I cycle around Drogheda I adopt an attitude.
I completely ignore the rules of the road, I'm constantly hopping on and off paths, wrong way down one way streets, and generally zooming about the place at a decent speed.

tomasrojo

Cyclecraft recommends politely saying 'excuse me' rather than using a bell, as far as I recall. I can't check because I've leant my copy to a friend. I generally say 'excuse me' anyway.

tomasrojo

Deleted User wrote: »

I completely ignore the rules of the road, I'm constantly hopping on and off paths, wrong way down one way streets, and generally zooming about the place at a decent speed.

Is that you, Sol Rosenberg?

I was speeding all over my neighborhood, up and down and speeding all over. And I was drinking and I lost control of the bike. And I was skidded off and slammed a curb and a pole and into some people.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QhjBlPucpd0

Iwannahurl

tomasrojo wrote: »

Cyclecraft recommends politely saying 'excuse me' rather than using a bell, as far as I recall. I can't check because I've leant my copy to a friend. I generally say 'excuse me' anyway.

Very English! Should one preface that with a little cough and an 'ahem'?

I often wish I had an AirZound horn on the bike rather than a wee bell. But to counter motoring muppets rather than pedestrian plonkers.

Notch000

or one of these

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rS9a8JRN3mY

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rS9a8JRN3mY

monument

tomasrojo wrote: »

Cyclecraft recommends politely saying 'excuse me' rather than using a bell, as far as I recall. I can't check because I've leant my copy to a friend. I generally say 'excuse me' anyway.

I think bells work really well as a warning device. "Excuse me" may have its place, but bells are more effective a lot of the time:

A gentel ring of a bell works like the Luas bell as an advance warning (this depends on the bell, some are just always loud). This is great comming up to a ped crossing etc where people have yet step out on the red man phase but look like they are thinking about it.

The same kind of ring is good for giving other cyclists warning, and I use the same sometimes when passing buses at bus stops to alert the driver and anybody crossing close to the front of the bus.

And then a more assertive ring where needed -- getting the attention of motorists pulling out in front of you, motorist comming too close, peds jumping out in front of you etc.

A ring says "I'm here, watch out for me", while calling anything out something could be more confusing.

kincsem

It looks like you are going to cause an accident.

carwash106

stetyrrell wrote: »

Hopping up onto paths is extremely dangerous, having to swerve around pedestrians, especially children who tend not to walk in straight lines.

Haha that is so true, why do they do that!!!! :rolleyes:

stetyrrell wrote: »

I get disgusted and really annoyed when people walk in the cycling lane to overtake people on paths, and they have the right to block your way on the path, you belong on the road.

Do they have the right if there is a path and a cycle lane. i think the common sense approach would be to look behind you before you step out on the cycle lane. That's what I do anyway( I'm a pedestrian :P)

Iwannahurl

You need a bell equivalent to that on a tram though. A little tinkly thing gets no attention, or worse, adverse attention. I've been laughed at by pedestrians for sounding a rather weedy bell. They seemed to think it hilarious that a cyclist might want them to pass them on the road.

They were Irish pedestrians though, and we have a strange cultural attitude to cycling in this country, not to mention the RoTR.

My OH has a BFO bell that really does the job. I bought it as a present in the Netherlands a few years ago, and I still regret not buying more. It has a 'hammer' action and is the loudest and easiest to use that I have ever encountered. Not un-tram-like in sound, actually.

Iwannahurl

Iwannahurl wrote: »

I'm getting annoyed just reading that. You're not alone, so no wonder there's such a low opinion of cycling and cyclists in this country.

No one I ever met has a low opinion of me as a cyclist. I've never put any one in danger and take well care of myself.

Not obeying the rules of the road and being an asshole raging around on a bike a two different things.

dave.obrien

Deleted User wrote: »

No one I ever met has a low opinion of me as a cyclist. I've never put any one in danger and take well care of myself.

Not obeying the rules of the road and being an asshole raging around on a bike a two different things.

I have a low opinion of the cycling you describe. If that's an accurate description of your cycling, then I have a low opinion of you as a cyclist.

You're right, they are two different things. But they can be applied to the same thing. Kind of like rude and dangerous. It's possible to be either, but they're not mutually exclusive, so you could be both. From your description of "common sense cycling", it sounds like you could fall in to the 'both' category.

Iwannahurl

Deleted User wrote: »

No one I ever met has a low opinion of me as a cyclist. I've never put any one in danger and take well care of myself.

Not obeying the rules of the road and being an asshole raging around on a bike a two different things.

You haven't met me then!

tomasrojo

Iwannahurl wrote: »

You need a bell equivalent to that on a tram though. A little tinkly thing gets no attention, or worse, adverse attention. I've been laughed at by pedestrians for sounding a rather weedy bell. They seemed to think it hilarious that a cyclist might want them to pass them on the road.

This was almost invariably my experience when I had a bell. Maybe a BFO bell, as you describe it, would be better.

Ricky91t

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Models.aspx?ModelID=20105&PartnerID=2812&awc=2698_1303292219_029fed356cb1bd5db083c21c49c183e3 Hmm...

Thanks for all the comments, I have been going a lot easier through campus( before I posted this thread ) but most of the time I have a reason to go via campus, As well as that I only have weekends free so can't really go for a hilly cycle round the city as I've got study/lectures. I get at least one day of the weekend off-roading so I use the weekday cycles( to and from college ) to keep fit on and my feet!

mcmoustache

Deleted User wrote: »

No one I ever met has a low opinion of me as a cyclist. I've never put any one in danger and take well care of myself.

Not obeying the rules of the road and being an asshole raging around on a bike a two different things.

They are close to the same thing. Disregarding the rules of the road is fine if you're a kid but adults should know better.

People like you are the reason that so many drivers have no respect for cyclists. Some drivers never will but that's another matter. Your attitute screams, "I'm so cool, the rules of the road couldn't possibly apply to me".

If you build a road for yourself, by all means have whatever attitude you like. The roads that you cycle on weren't built by you and don't belong exclusively to you and you need to share them with everyone else. That means having a bit of respect for other road users. If every road user just did what they wanted because they felt more important than everyone else, we'd have chaos.

You might think that you know what you're at and that the rules are cramping your style but guess what, they inconvenience everyone yet the rest of us know that they are there for a reason. Thinking that they don't apply to you in arrogant, immature and inconsiderate.

It's a bit like queuing for a taxi. I might be sitting in the middle of the queue and decide, "You know what, I'd rather be at the top of the queue", and jump to the front. Others in the queue would consider me an asshole and they would be right.


Sorry for the tone here but poor cyclists irritate the fúck out of me when I cycle around town. They should be rounded up and sent to re-education camps, run by the strictest nuns. It's come to the point where I would love to see Na Gárdaí set up traps for poor cyclists just to milk them with fines or confiscate their bikes.

Very little satisfies me more than seeing an RLJ or a footpath cyclist getting done. Sad I know, but if you can't meet the conditions required to use the roads, you shouldn't be on them.

langdang

Ricky boy, can't for the life of me figure out why you'd whizzing around that campus too fast to enjoy the scenery, especially on a sunny day!
You have to treat any of the roads on campus as pedestrianised zones, just because. Relax on campus, take in the views;) Work out a loop with Barrack Street or Blarney Street or Strawberry Hill if you want to work up a sweat but don't have time to go for a long cycle.

Iwannahurl

Ricky91t wrote: »

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Models.aspx?ModelID=20105&PartnerID=2812&awc=2698_1303292219_029fed356cb1bd5db083c21c49c183e3 Hmm...

Thanks for all the comments, I have been going a lot easier through campus( before I posted this thread ) but most of the time I have a reason to go via campus, As well as that I only have weekends free so can't really go for a hilly cycle round the city as I've got study/lectures. I get at least one day of the weekend off-roading so I use the weekday cycles( to and from college ) to keep fit on and my feet!

Thanks for the link to the AirZound horn on chainreactioncycles.com. Such devices should be used with caution though. 120dB is close to painfully loud, and I think it would be unfair to use it on pedestrians except at a distance or in exceptional circumstances at close quarters. I suspect I would use it quite often in traffic though, especially on roundabouts where I am routinely faced with careless or dangerous driver behaviour.

QueensGael

Deleted User wrote: »

No one I ever met has a low opinion of me as a cyclist. I've never put any one in danger and take well care of myself.

Not obeying the rules of the road and being an asshole raging around on a bike a two different things.

Delighted that you take care of yourself, as you hop on and off the footpaths. This kind of behaviour is at best annoying to pedestrians and other cyclists who are expected to anticipate when next you'll hop, so they can veer out of your way. At worst, it's just friggin' dangerous, and while you don't think a whole lot is wrong with your actions, you're diminishing the enjoyment and safety of others using public space.

If you're not capable of cycling on the roads and streets, maybe you need to invest in a bus ticket.

blorg

When cycling on the road if you don't cycle right next the the kerb you generally have time to avoid any pedestrians randomly drifting onto the road. A bit out into the road is also safer for you as motorists will see you and not try to skim past you as much.

QueensGael

QueensGael wrote: »

If you're not capable of cycling on the roads and streets, maybe you need to invest in a bus ticket.

I'm more than capable.

It's great how everyone just assumes I'm running people over and hopping out in front of moving cars because I don't follow the rules of the road. :rolleyes: