Cycling on Irish motorways: not news?

Iwannahurl

Just spotted this in the Infrastructure>Roads forum.

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=73572370&postcount=569

Normal for the M11 Gorey Bypass? What about other motorways?

There are multiple references to cyclists in the Bizarre/illegal things on motorways thread, which suggests the practice is not uncommon.

mloc123

Iwannahurl wrote: »

Just spotted this in the Infrastructure>Roads forum.

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=73572370&postcount=569

Normal for the M11 Gorey Bypass? What about other motorways?

There are multiple references to cyclists in the Bizarre/illegal things on motorways thread, which suggests the practice is not uncommon.

Met a guy on the M3 today. I lol'd... silly cyclist, motorways are for cars

Beasty

Iwannahurl wrote: »

There are multiple references to cyclists in the Bizarre/illegal things on motorways thread, which suggests the practice is not uncommon.

Not uncommon?

I've never seen it, although I've only been driving on Irish motorways for 4-5 years

Clearly when it does happen (and we've had a few reports in the forum) it does tend to "make the news", because it is illegal, and not common;)

thebouldwhacker

This map HERE suggests its a national route rather than motorway? I have no idea but one is certainly allowed cycle on N roads

easygoing39

Ive seen roadies on the M50.

Ardennes1944

mloc123 wrote: »

Met a guy on the M3 today. I lol'd... silly cyclist, motorways are for cars

What was he doing on your m3?

easygoing39

Deutschlandfürimmer7 wrote: »

What was he doing on your m3?

About 28kph,there was a headwind!!;)

el tel

I used to see a guy ride a MTB on the hardshoulder M1 south of Dundalk quite regularly. On the M1 I've also seen tractors and combine harvesters so would be surprised at nothing really.

RobertFoster

thebouldwhacker wrote: »

This map HERE suggests its a national route rather than motorway? I have no idea but one is certainly allowed cycle on N roads

Bing says it's a motorway. I've found Google don't seem to update their maps as often. It's the same with the Ashbourne bypass, which became a motorway a while back (Google vs. Bing).

Captain Havoc

I saw a couple of young lads on the M9 a couple of weeks ago (serious), I gave them a one week ban :pac:

chiralspiral

Beasty wrote: »

Not uncommon?

I've never seen it, although I've only been driving on Irish motorways for 4-5 years

Clearly when it does happen (and we've had a few reports in the forum) it does tend to "make the news", because it is illegal, and not common;)

My first day out on the Waterford-dublin motorway (in my car!) and I saw on the opposite carriageway a lady on a tourer bicycle sheltering under a flyover trying to read her map. All this at 85mph!

At this rate of spotting it won't take long for an accident. Loonies!

chiralspiral

RobertFoster wrote: »

Bing says it's a motorway. I've found Google don't seem to update their maps as often. It's the same with the Ashbourne bypass, which became a motorway a while back (Google vs. Bing).

Either way, not a pleasant cycling route.

The Scientician

Plenty of times on the M1 I've seen packs of cyclists riding together.

Jawgap

Rules for motorways in Ireland - what's dat den?

I've seen a cyclists a couple of times on the M50 and on the M3 and M1.

Apart from the usual combines, tractors hauling bales, tractors hauling diggers, pedestrians and JCBs, my favourite was the horse drawn cart on the M9, and in second place was the two lads with their horses trotting on the M1 outside Dundalk.

bazzer86

A couple of weeks ago on the motorway between patrickswell and dooradoyle in Limerick, I saw a woman walking on the outside of the fast lane, i.e to the right of the fast lane but not in the grass! Crazy stuff. She seemed like she was just going for a leisurely Saturday morning stroll! I called the guards

glic71rods46t0

Its very common on the M1 to find cyclists on the motorway hard shoulder often in groups.
I encountered a group about 6 months ago and they decided to cycle onto the exit lane at an exit (they werent exiting.) I was trying to use the exit lane and laid on the horn and some of them became abusive with 2 of the cyclists further ahead coming back into the exit lane and cycle at about 5mph to slow me down. Luckily for all concerned the gardai witnessed the incident and pulled in all the cyclists. Dont know what happened to them as I just went on my way.
I usually ring the gardai when I spot cyclists on the motorway and I would encorage everyone to do the same. Its borderline suicidal!

Cabaal

I've seen it once on the M9, the tool was cycling towards Waterford.

However this is the same M9 that regularly has slow moving tractors on it, idiots on mopeds carrying large boxes (microwave in one instance) and people walking at the side of it from time to time.

I won't even get started on the motorists

Khannie

Never seen it myself and I've spent a fair bit of time on the M1 / M50 over the years.

petethedrummer

97e3vzjuqo204g wrote: »

Its very common on the M1 to find cyclists on the motorway hard shoulder often in groups.
I encountered a group about 6 months ago and they decided to cycle onto the exit lane at an exit (they werent exiting.) I was trying to use the exit lane and laid on the horn and some of them became abusive with 2 of the cyclists further ahead coming back into the exit lane and cycle at about 5mph to slow me down. Luckily for all concerned the gardai witnessed the incident and pulled in all the cyclists. Dont know what happened to them as I just went on my way.
I usually ring the gardai when I spot cyclists on the motorway and I would encorage everyone to do the same. Its borderline suicidal!

Were you out videoing cyclists behinds again?

Chips Lovell

I don't believe this happened.

cython

I've seen cyclists on both the M11 and M3 in the past, bloody idiots would be a polite description of them. Would genuinely love to see some of them pulled by Gardai, seeing as every access to a motorway has a sign warning no cyclists allowed!

MungoMan

cython wrote: »

I've seen cyclists on both the M11 and M3 in the past, bloody idiots would be a polite description of them. Would genuinely love to see some of them pulled by Gardai, seeing as every access to a motorway has a sign warning no cyclists allowed!

I never saw someone cycling on a motorway, and I would never cycle on one because it's against the motorway rules.

But I often thought that cycling on a motorway hard shoulder is not an inherently unsafe thing to do, you have cars whizzing by in the slowest lane, and there is a good gap between the cyclist and the motorist.

A hard shoulder is not that different to a cycle lane in terms of being an area free of cars.

On saying that, cycling on a motorway is definitely a sign of a cyclist with some psychological issues.

Captain Havoc

and what about the exits? Do you think it's safe to cycle past motorway exits?

Lumen

MungoMan wrote: »

But I often thought that cycling on a motorway hard shoulder is not an inherently unsafe thing to do, you have cars whizzing by in the slowest lane, and there is a good gap between the cyclist and the motorist.

A hard shoulder is not that different to a cycle lane in terms of being an area free of cars

...except when it isn't.

The hard shoulder is the most dangerous place on a motorway. This is why if you break down you're advised to get out of your vehicle and sit/stand off the hard shouder.

Also, crossing exits at 30kph when cars are coming off doing 130kph must be deeply unpleasant.

Rovi

thebouldwhacker wrote: »

This map HERE suggests its a national route rather than motorway? I have no idea but one is certainly allowed cycle on N roads

RobertFoster wrote: »

Bing says it's a motorway. I've found Google don't seem to update their maps as often. It's the same with the Ashbourne bypass, which became a motorway a while back (Google vs. Bing).

Arklow - Gorey is most definitely a Motorway, it was re-designated as such in 2009:
S.I. No. 255/2009 — Roads Act 2007 (Declaration of Motorways) Order 2009

Idleater

Lumen wrote: »

The hard shoulder is the most dangerous place on a motorway. This is why if you break down you're advised to get out of your vehicle and sit/stand off the hard shouder.

Traveling on the m4 yesterday I passed a person changing a rear drivers side puncture.
Obviously this was so entertaining that the 3 passengers had taken out the fold up chairs and arranged them on the hard shoulder to chat/watch.

Having said that I've seen cyclists on the m4, m11 and m1 on occasion. Maybe once every couple of years or so. Not as often as I see dangerous driving by motorists.

tunney

mloc123 wrote: »

Met a guy on the M3 today. I lol'd... silly cyclist, motorways are for cars

I ride on the M3 regularly. The stretch from after Blanch to just before the toll bridge. It was the N3, changed in no way, and its the way I always cycled to Cavan.

Also ended up cycling on the Autobahn near Frankfurt recently, 8 lanes of cars and trucks at over 200kph, now that was a motorway.Not a few poxy reclassified national routes.

tunney

cython wrote: »

I've seen cyclists on both the M11 and M3 in the past, bloody idiots would be a polite description of them. Would genuinely love to see some of them pulled by Gardai, seeing as every access to a motorway has a sign warning no cyclists allowed!

Untrue, none of any of the M3. Been passed by the guards on the M3 too, never said anything.

The M3 is not meant for cyclists - fine. But it has a huge hard shoudler
The new N3 is fine for cyclists, two a breast as well. But is hasn't got a hard shoulder. Stupid.

Magic Beans

chiralspiral wrote: »

My first day out on the Waterford-dublin motorway (in my car!) and I saw on the opposite carriageway a lady on a tourer bicycle sheltering under a flyover trying to read her map. All this at 85mph!

At this rate of spotting it won't take long for an accident. Loonies!

That's is exactly why cyclists should not be on motorways... there's lunatics out there doing 85mph... :D

mloc123

tunney wrote: »

I ride on the M3 regularly. The stretch from after Blanch to just before the toll bridge. It was the N3, changed in no way, and its the way I always cycled to Cavan.

This was the stretch between the two tolls. Which brings me on to another point, two ****ing tolls for 50km of motorway :mad:

nerraw1111

Re the M11/N11. Am I right in that it's ok to cycle north bound on the N11 until the Bray exit?

Glencarraig

You must get off the N11 at the Fassaroe ramp and cross the bridge and take the Dargle Road, or go left at the top of the ramp and climb the hill which leads to a lane which has a poor surface and a gate!! but leads you up to Kilternan. I saw a 2 guys cycling on the M11 recently and as they were coming to an on ramp I tried to protect them from the traffic by driving behind them with hazard lights on. I asked one of them why he was cycling on a motorway and he told me that it was ok because the guy with him was a garda !!.....the mind boggles !!

coolbeans

Apart from being dangerous motorways are boring, I don't know why anyone would want to inflict that on themselves. All the good views in any country are off motorways.

Iwannahurl

Glencarraig wrote: »

You must get off the N11 at the Fassaroe ramp and cross the bridge and take the Dargle Road, or go left at the top of the ramp and climb the hill which leads to a lane which has a poor surface and a gate!! but leads you up to Kilternan. I saw a 2 guys cycling on the M11 recently and as they were coming to an on ramp I tried to protect them from the traffic by driving behind them with hazard lights on. I asked one of them why he was cycling on a motorway and he told me that it was ok because the guy with him was a garda !!.....the mind boggles !!

The mind boggles indeed, but given the road policing standards in this country does not necessarily reel in shock and surprise.

doozerie

I drove on the M50 today. It was the usual mix of of cars breaking the speed limit in the outer lane, cars breaking the speed limit in the inner lane, drivers realising that they are just about to pass their exit while in the outer lane so simply cutting across all lanes to get to it, etc. A novel new experience was someone trying to shove past me on the entry lane, forcing me to hit the brakes to avoid a collision.

I sometimes wonder how I survive that road in a car, cycling on it I'd expect to be a brief and messy experience and likewise for other Irish motorways. Personally I'd rather that my last moments in life not include the sight of some indignant driver giving me a withering "Ah jaysus, I'm going to have to wash you off my bonnet later, ya bollix" look, so I choose not to cycle on motorways.

Cookie_Monster

See a cyclist on the M11 nearly weekly at Loughlinstown,

nerraw1111 wrote: »

Re the M11/N11. Am I right in that it's ok to cycle north bound on the N11 until the Bray exit?

North or Southbound you can cycle from North of Ashford to the Fassaroe exit, which is the middle Bray exit, just after the turn for Enniskerry.

nak

I was on a club ride earlier in the year when on the way home the person leading the spin decided to take a shortcut via the M3. Only 2 of us refused to go on it and had to find our own way home from there. I was raging, so dangerous to take a group on there.

I'm from the UK, and have never seen a cyclist on the motorway there, you would be spotted on CCTV and get a police "escort" pretty quickly if you tried it.

The N11 scares me enough, you don't stand a chance if you get hit at speed.

doozerie

nak wrote:

I was on a club ride earlier in the year when on the way home the person leading the spin decided to take a shortcut via the M3. Only 2 of us refused to go on it and had to find our own way home from there. I was raging, so dangerous to take a group on there.

That's a disgrace. Someone leading a group like that is supposed to take responsibility for not exposing the riders to unnecessary dangers and leading them onto a stretch of motorway is not an action of someone responsible. Fair play for standing your ground and refusing to follow as it's not easy to go against the majority even when they are clearly being idiots.

nerraw1111

Re the N11. Yeah that’s the exit I take and I'm glad to get off it asap.

I ask because that stretch of road feels a bit dangerous for a cyclist. Last time I cycled the small section two weeks ago, a few cars got quite close to me and another two cars seemed massively pissed off that I was on the road in the first place.

Beasty

doozerie wrote: »

That's a disgrace. Someone leading a group like that is supposed to take responsibility for not exposing the riders to unnecessary dangers and leading them onto a stretch of motorway is not an action of someone responsible. Fair play for standing your ground and refusing to follow as it's not easy to go against the majority even when they are clearly being idiots.

TBH this should be reported within whichever club it is. I would expect any club to prohibit such behaviour - I'm sure it would also negate any insurance policy in place and leave anyone considered "responsible" liable for damages if anything did go wroing

blorg

Cycling on motorways is not particularly dangerous; no more dangerous than cycling on a HQDC which is entirely legal. Small, busy roads are much more dangerous. I don't however cycle on motorways (in Ireland) as it is illegal and segregation is one of the reasons motorways are so safe in the first place.

petethedrummer

blorg wrote: »

Cycling on motorways is not particularly dangerous; no more dangerous than cycling on a HQDC which is entirely legal. Small, busy roads are much more dangerous.

I think so too. There would want to be some very poor cycling and/or driving for there to be an incident between a motorist and cyclist on a motorway.

Beasty

petethedrummer wrote: »

I think so too. There would want to be some very poor cycling and/or driving for there to be an incident between a motorist and cyclist on a motorway.

I disagree - the speed at which vehicles come off junctions and onto slip roads make it very dangerous, particularly where there are filter lanes (which are quite common on certain motorways) - drivers will not be expecting anything so small and slow - they'll be looking out for other motor vehicles, not cyclists

petethedrummer

Go up the off ramp and down the other side for some hill practice. I'm not advocating it. I'm just saying you could do it quite safely. You have to do this on parts of the N4 which are legal to cycle on.

blorg

I have cycled a hell of a lot on the N3 before it was redesignated. You have to be careful at the on/off ramps but it is safer than smaller roads without a hard shoulder, IMO. I would not cycle on an Irish motorway.

glic71rods46t0

petethedrummer wrote: »

Go up the off ramp and down the other side for some hill practice. I'm not advocating it. I'm just saying you could do it quite safely. You have to do this on parts of the N4 which are legal to cycle on.

This sounds like the David Norris school of logic. You're not advocating it but advising all here that you could do it quite safely:rolleyes:.
Its illegal and very unsafe. To imply otherwise is grossly irresponsible

Cookie_Monster

petethedrummer wrote: »

I'm just saying you could do it quite safely. You have to do this on parts of the N4 which are legal to cycle on.

I don't see why, sure if you listened to some people on here you should be cycling in the middle of the driving lane anyway, controlling the road

topcat77

I used to see a cyclist on the Galway to Athenry strech of motorway. Haven't seen him for a while so how knows whats happened?

doozerie

Beasty wrote:

I disagree - the speed at which vehicles come off junctions and onto slip roads make it very dangerous, particularly where there are filter lanes (which are quite common on certain motorways) - drivers will not be expecting anything so small and slow - they'll be looking out for other motor vehicles, not cyclists

I completely agree. On the one hand a road is a road, even if the speed limit on one is higher than that on another, but on the other hand a road where drivers fully expect (and are actively encouraged to expect) to not encounter the likes of cyclists/mopeds/etc. is very different from one which is open to everyone.

A quick search just now didn't throw back any reliable sources of stats for accidents that occur in the hard shoulder of motorways but unofficial UK sources cite figures ranging from 1 in 6 motorway accidents occurring in the hard shoulder to 1 in 10. Given the fact that the motorway hard shoulder is supposed to be used in emergency situations only, so should see very little actual traffic, those figures are extremely high. It's quite clear to me that a motorway hard shoulder is not the place to be, not in a car for the mostpart and certainly not on a bike.

Mind you, I've seen cars parked in the hard shoulder at times, sometimes so that their occupant(s) can pee, sometimes so that they can puke, sometimes apparently so that they can get out and stretch their legs. Just at an exit on one Irish motorway I saw two cars parked and an auld fella casually chatting to the driver of the second car. The auld fella was standing on the line dividing the hard shoulder from the lane I was in, hands in pockets leaning forward to bring his ears closer to the driver sitting in the second car. No wonder he was having trouble hearing, what with inconsiderate hoors such as myself belting past his ankles at 125kph. Us Irish are a funny lot, we don't have much time for laws which don't suit us at any particular point in time, and we sometimes go to extreme lengths to brazenly flaunt those laws - 'tis all fun and games until someone goes squish!

petethedrummer

97e3vzjuqo204g wrote: »

This sounds like the David Norris school of logic.

I don't see what David Norris has to do with anything.

97e3vzjuqo204g wrote: »

You're not advocating it but advising all here that you could do it quite safely:rolleyes:

Got it in one. Well done.

97e3vzjuqo204g wrote: »

Its illegal and very unsafe.

It is illegal yes. Is it very unsafe? I don't think so. You do. We'll have to agree to disagree.

97e3vzjuqo204g wrote: »

To imply otherwise is grossly irresponsible

I did not imply that people should start cycling on motorways. You inferred it. I have never done it myself.

ROK ON

I have cycled on the hard shoulder of a motorway a few times now. Both on my own and in a group. Its fine. Road surface is invariably very good.

Havent done it for very long mind (ie the journey was short), but if I had no other choice then I wouldnt hesitate about doing it again.