Crazy, Dangerous Car manoeuvres.

funnights74

:eek: Is it me or are car drivers getting crazier and crazier. Over the last few weeks, on numerous occasions i have had to break hard, swerve and take avoiding action in order to miss cars turning across me while they were turning left into a turn that i was going straight ahead.
On one occasion, last thurs night i was turning right at a junction, a car inside me, on my right was also turning right, which was fine we both knew what we were doing, but a car on my left hand side, in a lane with an arrow on the road pointing as straight ahead, decided to overtake me on the outside and also turn right.
So 3 vehicles car,bike,car, all turning right into a single lane and me in the middle !!!!
Well it narrowly avoided hitting the car on my right, after cutting across me, my brakes were full on at this stage, as was my temper, and proceeded to drive off, not batting an eyelid as if nothing had happened.

CptMackey

Most drivers see cyclists as a pain. Then others just plain don't see you when your on the bike. I was out for a spin a few days ago and I was passing a petrol station when a campervan decided that he wanted to go thru me and into the petrol station. To say he got a peice of my mind was an understatement

patrick151

Yeah, I remember I heard an ad at the start of the month in work to be carful during July, thought nothing of it until I was on my way home and had three close calls

Passing a junction where a car was turning right, I was going straight in the cycle lane then some jack ass in front beside me decided to use the cycle lane to get past of the left- with me still in it!

-Chris-

There are always going to be idiots on the road, and there's no one who can defend the actions of those idiots.

I'd respectfully suggest that if you're seeing an increase in close calls that you should possibly look at your own anticipation and observation as well.

Beasty

CptMackey wrote: »

Most drivers see cyclists as a pain.

Bit of a generalisation there

I find the vast majority of motorists courtious and respectful of cyslists. Yes the odd one may either be awkward of ignorant of appropriate safe driving techniques

We get these threads every so often, but I personally do not believe there has been any significant deterioration in driver behaviour, and indeed I think there are actually less vehicles on the rode making cycling generally safer (not that it's particularly risky in the first place)

chakattack

patrick151 wrote: »

Passing a junction where a car was turning right, I was going straight in the cycle lane then some jack ass in front beside me decided to use the cycle lane to get past of the left- with me still in it!

If you see a car turning right with space on the left for a car behind to get through you should always anticipate that bad manoeuvre. If it doesn't happen great, but if it does you'll be ready.

biomed32

this sort of thread is getting old, there will always be dangerous drivers and dangerous cyclists, and yes as a cyclist I do say this, plus, it is not friday!!

DirkVoodoo

It seems to me there is a large amount of risk taking on roundabouts. I put this down to people not being able to judge speeds accurately, lack of awareness and poor judgement.

Far too often I will be going around a roundabout only for someone to completely mistime it and try to pull out in front of me, or pull out as I am making my exit.

In fact, most of it just seems to be underestimating speed. I get quite a bit of turning right across me at junctions that I have to brake for, mostly when lights go green and the dude turning right thinks their 1.0L Micra is going to out-accelerate a 75Kg bike and rider.

bikelover

a fella passed a group of us out on a roundabout ?!?! like ffs!!

ThisRegard

I've had that done to me, taking the 3 o'clock exit and on exiting a silly cow tried to go up what was then the inside of me, there was no space so she had to wait and then had the cheek to pull along side me in an attempt to give out.

GSF

bikelover wrote: »

a fella passed a group of us out on a roundabout ?!?! like ffs!!

A learner in an ISM car passed me on a roundabout recently.

funnights74

True Chris, it's my anticipation and Experience got me out of many a close call.
And i can see your point Beasty, most drivers are corteous and careful but every now and then you get the don't give a s**t dufus as well.

xz

DirkVoodoo wrote: »

It seems to me there is a large amount of risk taking on roundabouts. I put this down to people not being able to judge speeds accurately, lack of awareness and poor judgement.

Far too often I will be going around a roundabout only for someone to completely mistime it and try to pull out in front of me, or pull out as I am making my exit.

In fact, most of it just seems to be underestimating speed. I get quite a bit of turning right across me at junctions that I have to brake for, mostly when lights go green and the dude turning right thinks their 1.0L Micra is going to out-accelerate a 75Kg bike and rider.

I would tend to agree with this, a lot of drivers "can" underestimate the speed at which a cyclist is travelling at, sometimes you can see the moment of "will I, won't I" on their faces as you approach, "will I" wins out a lot of the time, I usually give the "don't do it finger wag" as I'm approaching, if at speed. People pulling out of driveways,sideroads and garages are the main ones to watch

Diego Murphy

One thing i've noticed with any close encounters that i've had in the last 6 months, is that in 90% of the cases, the driver was on the mobile. Definitely impacts on awareness of what's happening around them.

I find motorists have improved in general though. Courtesy works both ways though-If a car is stuck behind me, I do my best to wave them through once i see a safe gap.

One thing to remember as a cyclist, is to hold the lane that you are in and don't be hugging the ditch.

alexanderomahon

Was in munich for last week and went out cycling. the attitude of drivers was amazing. When turning at junctions they gave total consideration to cyclists. Also would not cross and wait on cycle lanes when trying to get from their drives onto the road. It was a complete pleasure to cycle across the city and completely different to the madness of Dublin.

But i did come across two bike cops who were tucked away in a path to a garden and were waiting for cyclists cycling the wrong direction on the cycle path.

Andrew33

funnights74 wrote: »

:eek: Is it me or are car drivers cyclists getting crazier and crazier. Over the last few weeks, on numerous occasions i have had to break hard, swerve and take avoiding action in order to miss cars cyclists turning across me while they were turning left into a turn that i was going straight ahead.
On one occasion, last thurs night i was turning right at a junction, a carcyclist inside me, on my right was also turning right, which was fine we both knew what we were doing, but a carcyclist on my left hand side, in a lane with an arrow on the road pointing as straight ahead, decided to overtake me on the outside and also turn right.
So 3 vehicles car,bike,car, all turning right into a single lane and me in the middle !!!!
Well it narrowly avoided hitting the carbike on my right, after cutting across me, my brakes were full on at this stage, as was my temper, and proceeded to drive off, not batting an eyelid as if nothing had happened.

Fixed that for ya.

Beasty

@Andrew33 - if you cannot be constructive, stay out of this thread

Beasty

Hmmzis

Dear motorists, please use your mirrors and indicators!!!

Thy're on your cars for a very good reason. If you don't know that reason, please hand in your drivers license and use public transport or go back to driving school.

That would be the most common thing I've noticed while cycling in Dublin. Drivers seem to have absolutely no clue what those two essential devices are for on a car. Sometimes you almost have to be a psychic to try and guess what some drivers might be up to (left, right, straight, trying to park or just lost and confused...?!).

smacl

-Chris- wrote: »

There are always going to be idiots on the road, and there's no one who can defend the actions of those idiots.

I'd add that the level of idiocy is pretty evenly spread between all those users, drivers, cyclists and pedestrians alike. Also nearly got taken out of it at a roundabout by a lady in a SUV the other day, and then later by some fool tearing down the hill on a bike by St Enda's on the wrong side of the road, while I was going up it. Anyone else notice that the off road cycle tracks spurned by so many cyclists have now become dog walking and jogging tracks? Whatever about them being less than ideal for cycling in the past, they seem to becoming a more dangerous option by the day.

I'd respectfully suggest that if you're seeing an increase in close calls that you should possibly look at your own anticipation and observation as well.

I tend to assume that road users in my immediate proximity will always take the worst course of action, and then will usually be pleasantly surprised when they don't. Helps keep a smile on my face. Most of the time.

neil_hosey

only yesterday i was crossing merrion road in dublin. the light was green for me to walk. 2 cyclists on racers flew through the red light nearly hitting me, I had to dodge. I shouted at them that it was a red light, one looked around and just smiled. Absolute ignorant pricks :mad: Made me so angry and reminded me why so many drivers hate cyclists..

galwaycyclist

alexanderomahon wrote: »

Was in munich for last week and went out cycling. the attitude of drivers was amazing. When turning at junctions they gave total consideration to cyclists. Also would not cross and wait on cycle lanes when trying to get from their drives onto the road. It was a complete pleasure to cycle across the city and completely different to the madness of Dublin.

I have been told that the most common reason for German drivers to fail the test is for not checking on the inside for passing cyclists while turning. Note in Ireland this is not even legal for cyclists not to mind something that is expected of, or taught to, learner drivers. German learner drivers must do compulsory training which includes a module on vulnerable road users.

alexanderomahon wrote: »

But i did come across two bike cops who were tucked away in a path to a garden and were waiting for cyclists cycling the wrong direction on the cycle path.

This is not mere Germanic rule obsession - it has been shown that if you cycle the wrong way on a cycle path you are up to 12 times more likely to get hit by a car at every junction you cross.

tomasrojo

Though someone who was in Munich recently told me that the police there also hand out a lot of fines for not having a bell.

Holyboy

tomasrojo wrote: »

Though someone who was in Munich recently told me that the police there also hand out a lot of fines for not having a bell.

I was in Berlin in January for the first time,great city and bikes everywhere,the girlfriend wandered into a couple of cycle lanes when there and the riders are very polite they just ring their bells to alert you they are there, sometimes maybe give a little yell,they also all have lights on their bikes as its illeagle to sell a new bike without lights there.what was very hard to get used to was cars turning right when pedestrians have the green light to cross,they always stop but you get a shock when you see a car coming straight at you when you step out but the pedestrians nearly always wait for the green light to cross, AMAZING!

check_six

Hmmzis wrote: »

Dear motorists, please use your mirrors and indicators!!!

Thy're on your cars for a very good reason.

When I first started learning to drive I had to laugh when I realised how straightforward it was to check behind and to the sides of the car. No Schleck style craning of the neck this way and that looking like you're about to topple over.

I had assumed up to this point that mirrors were almost purely cosmetic and just used for hanging furry dice from, or for cheap gags in dinosuar movies. This assumption was based on the level of situational awareness that many motorists displayed on the roads.

Them mirrors are fierce handy... but I still wouldn't stick 'em on my bikes!

thirtythirty

neil_hosey wrote: »

only yesterday i was crossing merrion road in dublin. the light was green for me to walk. 2 cyclists on racers flew through the red light nearly hitting me, I had to dodge. I shouted at them that it was a red light, one looked around and just smiled. Absolute ignorant pricks :mad: Made me so angry and reminded me why so many drivers hate cyclists..

They're unbelievable on the Rock / Merrion road for that. As both a cyclist and motorcyclist I'm more than aware of them when driving and never cut them up or overtake closely, but having had my nose literally skim on the sports bag of a cyclist going through lights, I now powerwalk across Ped crossings and if a cyclist gets knocked down, so be it.

check_six

spottyelephant wrote: »

They're unbelievable on the Rock / Merrion road for that. As both a cyclist and motorcyclist I'm more than aware of them when driving and never cut them up or overtake closely, but having had my nose literally skim on the sports bag of a cyclist going through lights, I now powerwalk across Ped crossings and if a cyclist gets knocked down, so be it.

I don't want to act as devil's advocate for any cyclists that nearly knocked you over, but... here goes anyway...

There are a couple of junctions on the Merrion Road that are very wide. I'm thinking in particular of the junction with Nutley Lane where the traffic lights for road users heading south are about 50m from the pedestrian crossing. It is possible to have crossed through the traffic lights on a green (about to turn amber, then red) and have the pedestrian lights change to green by the time you get to the far side of the junction. If a pedestrian solely waits for the green man to appear and not for the junction to clear before stepping into the road it is possible for there to be close calls.

Merrion Square North onto Mount St near Holles St. is another big wide junction where you can have this kind of problem.

Who do I blame for this? I suppose the traditional position is to stick it to whatever I'm not doing at the time, darn pedestrians, cyclists, motorists, etc. !

thirtythirty

I should clarify - I'm talking about the opposite side of the road, not the side you're stepping out onto. Like cars, I would assume there's cyclists who are caught out/think they can make it/just plan on going through orange anyway so I'd always check before stepping out.

But i'm talking about reaching the other side, so red lights have clearly been on for a while, and some cyclists assume that because they aren't cars and aren't a danger, they can just power through the light.

check_six

spottyelephant wrote: »

But i'm talking about reaching the other side, so red lights have clearly been on for a while, and some cyclists assume that because they aren't cars and aren't a danger, they can just power through the light.

Yeah, that's pretty annoying alright. Perhaps you could incorporate some kind of pole vault leap into your road traversing technique to avoid this sort of thing, as I don't see Hoverpants going into mass production anytime soon, unfortunately!

thirtythirty

check_six wrote: »

Yeah, that's pretty annoying alright. Perhaps you could incorporate some kind of pole vault leap into your road traversing technique to avoid this sort of thing, as I don't see Hoverpants going into mass production anytime soon, unfortunately!

Hoverpants are susceptible to wedgies, but my personal teleporter is nearly finished - i just need to sellotape an alarm clock to the top of it, so hopefully they won't be a problem for me soon.

CramCycle

spottyelephant wrote: »

They're unbelievable on the Rock / Merrion road for that. As both a cyclist and motorcyclist I'm more than aware of them when driving and never cut them up or overtake closely, but having had my nose literally skim on the sports bag of a cyclist going through lights, I now powerwalk across Ped crossings and if a cyclist gets knocked down, so be it.

I see it happen all the time at ballsbridge, were they run the junction that comes onto the main road from angelsea road, I always let a shout to give em a bit of a shake and cop on to how stupid they are being, I am quite surprised more cyclist have not been hit here as it almost seems inevitable. You some times get the Garda at the american embassy pulling them over and giving them a bollicking. He knicked one, one day, when the guy told him he was wrong. LMFAO.

daragh_

spottyelephant wrote: »

They're unbelievable on the Rock / Merrion road for that. As both a cyclist and motorcyclist I'm more than aware of them when driving and never cut them up or overtake closely, but having had my nose literally skim on the sports bag of a cyclist going through lights, I now powerwalk across Ped crossings and if a cyclist gets knocked down, so be it.

That's on my commute and I have to agree with you about the standards of behaviour amongst cyclist. Most days I'm the only cyclist stopped at the lights. Lots of mounting the pavement around the major junctions in order to get around traffic as well. I just let them pass and catch them later.

Saying that I got knocked off on the Rock Road by a Jay Walking pedestrian last year. Ribs were bruised pretty badly. He was unscathed and very lucky I wasn't a bus or a motorbike.

I've lost count of the amount of drivers I've seen in traffic reading books/newspapers, texting, pulling into the bus lane without indicating, dropping kids off in the middle of the road and generally not paying attention. Not an excuse for cyclists behaviour, just an observation.