This is not a bicycle

Páid

Being discussed on Broadsheet right now - http://www.broadsheet.ie/2012/05/17/this-is-not-a-bicycle/

Darkglasses

I'm pretty sure its the same people who will tell you to stay in the bike lane that completely disrespect them - in this case its a car park. They're also delivery zones, bus stops, pedestrian crossing waiting areas, glass bottle dumps, taxi stop offs, and the lane for those men with the giant wheelbarrows for street rubbish. And bikes have to yield to all of the above? No thanks.

Joxer_S

Is that parked or actually driving?

goldencleric

Joxer_S wrote: »

Is that parked or actually driving?

arggh tis a ghost driver

Darkglasses

Looks parked to me. Will keep an eye out for that reg.

ThisRegard

Looks like someone already got fed up and shoved the wing mirror in, I doubt it was the driver being considerate to cyclists.

Tenzor07

One would wonder at the mentality of some people! I don't see a clamp on it though, how come?

The person who parked their vehicle their would probably also be the sort of person who parks in ambulance spaces outside hospitals and in disabled only parking spaces... :rolleyes: :mad:

Joxer_S

goldencleric wrote: »

arggh tis a ghost driver

a midget perhaps

monument

http://cyclingindublin.com/2012/05/17/this-is-not-a-bicycle/

faceman

Maybe the car broke down and was pushed off the road (which appears to be a one way street) as there was no parking. It could explained why it wasn't clamped. Of course, it shouldnt take more than an hour for a breakdown truck to arrive however.

Darkglasses

faceman wrote: »

Maybe the car broke down and was pushed off the road (which appears to be a one way street) as there was no parking. It could explained why it wasn't clamped. Of course, it shouldnt take more than an hour for a breakdown truck to arrive however.

Possible, so a dedicated cycleway becomes the place for a broken down car? I guess thats Dublin for ya!

Stark

Tenzor07 wrote: »

One would wonder at the mentality of some people! I don't see a clamp on it though, how come?

Probably because the easy money is from people who go 2 mins over on their parking ticket or park a couple of inches outside the white line.

Doctor Bob

I sent the Broadsheet link around to my cycling colleagues (our office is quite nearby, and some use the route daily) and one replied to let me know that he saw a van parked in exactly the same spot yesterday, except in that case there were 3 or 4 empty parking spaces right beside where the van was parked. When he pointed this out to the driver, who was having his lunch in the driver's seat, he got a reply you can probably guess.

Two in two days? You'd hope that tickets - or at least knucke raps - are forthcoming, otherwise I suspect it'll quickly become known as a place where you can chance your arm with minimal risk.

Tenzor07

From the DCC website:

Cycle Tracks

Mandatory cycle tracks

For mandatory cycle tracks, no parking or stopping at any time. A mandatory cycle track is indicated by a solid white line.

Non-mandatory cycle tracks
For non-mandatory cycle tracks, you can park for a maximum of 30 minutes while actively loading or unloading a vehicle.. A non mandatory cycle track is indicated by a broken white line

Cycle tracks operate on a 24 hour basis unless otherwise indicated on a time plate.

Has anyone mailed this link to: parkingenforcement@dublincity.ie ?

RobbieTheRobber

Tenzor07 wrote: »

From the DCC website:

Cycle Tracks

Mandatory cycle tracks

For mandatory cycle tracks, no parking or stopping at any time. A mandatory cycle track is indicated by a solid white line.

Non-mandatory cycle tracks
For non-mandatory cycle tracks, you can park for a maximum of 30 minutes while actively loading or unloading a vehicle.. A non mandatory cycle track is indicated by a broken white line

Cycle tracks operate on a 24 hour basis unless otherwise indicated on a time plate.

Has anyone mailed this link to: parkingenforcement@dublincity.ie ?

I might email with one word "Rathmines"

ThisRegard

monument wrote: »

http://cyclingindublin.com/2012/05/17/this-is-not-a-bicycle/

That UPS truck one was unbelievable.

Stollaire

RobbieTheRobber wrote: »

I might email with one word "Rathmines"

& Ranelagh

Stollaire

ThisRegard wrote: »

That UPS truck one was unbelievable.

The UPS truck was a once off I'd say. What about the traders who set up along the canal to sell food?

I've see these eejits driving up the dam thing. Never mind just parking.

el tel

Ahh well, at least they parked on the correct side of the cycle lane

awec

Stollaire wrote: »

& Ranelagh

Cycled through Ranelagh the other night, it's ridiculous. No chance for cars to get past me when cycling through it and no chance for me to pull in to let them by because there's just cars parked the entire length of the street.

tomasrojo

Stollaire wrote: »

& Ranelagh

And Inchicore Road, outside the Hilton. Buses and taxis vying to park illegally outside the Hilton. Taxi driver shaking his head in exasperation as I cycle legally down it the other day, as he was illegally driving up it!

The_Jabberwock

Similar problems in New York.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bzE-IMaegzQ

Cookie_Monster

Stollaire wrote: »

The UPS truck was a once off I'd say.

I wouldn't think so. Between them and Securicor in Dun Loaghaire when I worked there used to see one if not both everyday parked in bus stops or on footpaths. The securicor guys used to park half on the path half on double yellows down by the baths during the summer having lunch...

Dawn Rider

Cookie_Monster wrote: »

I wouldn't think so. Between them and Securicor in Dun Loaghaire when I worked there used to see one if not both everyday parked in bus stops or on footpaths. The securicor guys used to park half on the path half on double yellows down by the baths during the summer having lunch...

DHL used to use Wilton Terrace as an nu-official distribution hub. If the big truck / bus couldn't fit there it would just go up the canal a bit and find another double yellow to park on :rolleyes:

tomasrojo wrote: »

And Inchicore Road, outside the Hilton. Buses and taxis vying to park illegally outside the Hilton. Taxi driver shaking his head in exasperation as I cycle legally down it the other day, as he was illegally driving up it!

I've had this a few times too. One time beside the church steeple a taxi driver got upset and shouted at me because he thought I was going the wrong way down the cycle path he was driving on!
I stood my ground, pointed out it was a cycle path and we can call the Gaurds to sort it out if he wants. He didn't

Páid

I used to use the Inchicore Road on my commute and I don't think there was one time where someone wasn't illegally parked in those cycle lanes. I've seen people using them to drive the wrong way down that road as well.

This picture from Google Maps says it all.

tomasrojo

I think the current design pre-dates the construction of the hotel. It needs a re-design -- possibly should put the cycle track up on the footpath for that bit, if there's no other way to meet the obvious demand for parking in front of the hotel.

Captain Havoc

Darkglasses wrote: »

Possible, so a dedicated cycleway becomes the place for a broken down car? I guess thats Dublin for ya!

To be fair if that was the case, I wouldn't see a problem as there's no parking spaces and bicycles can get around much easier than a car. I do how as ever feel that this wasn't the case and the car and driver should be dealt with accordingly but I doubt they were.

monument

tomasrojo wrote: »

I think the current design pre-dates the construction of the hotel. It needs a re-design -- possibly should put the cycle track up on the footpath for that bit, if there's no other way to meet the obvious demand for parking in front of the hotel.

It should have been designed better when they were putting in the hotel, but bollards seem like a better retrofit than anything on the footpath.

Maybe a kerb along the rest of it, but bollards seem to needed at the very start. Where there are the parking bays, it's harder because a quick switch of putting the bays outside the cycle path is stopped by the tree line between the parking.

Captain Havoc wrote: »

...and driver should be dealt with accordingly but I doubt they were.

The clampers when not too busy else where etc come when they are called. It's up to somebody to report it.

Dublin Street Parking Services: (01) 602 2500

Mycroft H

:pac::pac::pac::pac:

Darkglasses

Clampers out in force in Rathmines in the last hour, fine sight to see all those taxis and lazy people locked down! Boards.ie in action?

tomasrojo

monument wrote: »

It should have been designed better when they were putting in the hotel, but bollards seem like a better retrofit than anything on the footpath.

Coincidentally, that's exactly the suggestion I emailed to Dublin City Council. They dismissed the notion that there was any problem with the lane; they sent out an engineer and he perceived no issues at all.

doozerie

There are currently roadworks on a stretch of road on my commute which has cycle lanes either side. It's already a narrow road, too narrow to properly accommodate 2 lanes for cars plus 2 bike lanes, as if a reminder was needed that cycle lane design is often a joke in this country. There are currently traffic cones narrowing both of the main lanes, obliging cars to drive further into the cycles lanes than usual. In addition to the "roadworks ahead" signs in advance of the narrowed sections there are also "Cyclists dismount" signs. Apparently the road is unsafe for cyclists when the ridiculous cycle lane is formally out of use - SDCC seem to have a different definition of "road" than most others, in their case a "road" is for motorised vehicles only, no other vehicles are allowed.

This really belongs in a "This is not a road" thread, I guess, but it's yet another example of the sometimes ridiculous attitude towards cyclists and their permitted space, or not, on the roads.

monument

Any chance of some pics if you think of it and have time to stop for a min?

Stark

Should get off and walk in the middle of the road with the bike when you see those signs.

doozerie

monument wrote: »

Any chance of some pics if you think of it and have time to stop for a min?

I'll try to get some pics tomorrow and I'll post them here if so.

Considering that it's actually the main lane that is being cut into (on one side anyway), not the cycle lane, the temptation is to put up an alternative sign that says "Motorists, turn back. Cyclists, proceed, 'cos you are awesome!".

Dawn Rider

tomasrojo wrote: »

Coincidentally, that's exactly the suggestion I emailed to Dublin City Council. They dismissed the notion that there was any problem with the lane; they sent out an engineer and he perceived no issues at all.

Did they say if the engineer wrote a report on the matter?

Would be interesting if DCC were called in to court if there was an incident between a car and bicycle at that spot.

If they were called in over every incident between cars and bikes on poorly designed cycle-lanes, they might put a bit more thought into some of them.

FizzleSticks

This post has been deleted.

Stark

monument wrote: »

Any chance of some pics if you think of it and have time to stop for a min?

Didn't get to take pics as I was in the car but I believe I saw the sign that was referred to. Here on Willbrook road: http://www.openstreetmap.org/?mlat=53.29345&mlon=-6.28746&zoom=16&layers=M . Pretty ludricous sign saying "Cyclists please dismount" in the middle of the cycle lane, the one obstruction in the cycle lane being that sign. Even more ludicrous than the "Ever drink? Never drive" sign I saw on the way home.

doozerie

Yes, it's Willbrook Road. I took a couple of pictures this evening approaching it as I headed southwards.

You encounter a generic roadworks sign in the cycle lane a few metres before you get to the "Cyclists dismount" sign here:



This is how it looks after the dismount sign, closer to the junction:



You can see the actual area of work on the footpath on the right hand side. I didn't really pay much attention to how they were redirecting traffic over the last few days of this but if I remember correctly they originally had the traffic cones eating into the main lane on the left as you look at the photo, forcing cars to drive into the cycle lane (well, further than they usually do that is). I presume they positioned the cones further into this lane this to give more space to cars coming the other way although there is nothing obviously eating into the lane on the other side in that photo. The traffic cones are not blocking the main lane at all now though, since they've migrated to the middle of the road, making the dismount sign even more annoying. It's probably a mistake to try to fathom their reasoning though as it probably defies all logic.

I checked the junction from the other side and there is currently no "Cyclists dismount" sign on that side. I thought I'd glimpsed one on that side too a few days back but I can't be sure.

Darkglasses

Those signs annoy me too, sometimes they seem to be placed completely at random. Is there any penalty for taking them off the road?

tomasrojo

Dawn Rider wrote: »

Did they say if the engineer wrote a report on the matter?

Would be interesting if DCC were called in to court if there was an incident between a car and bicycle at that spot.

If they were called in over every incident between cars and bikes on poorly designed cycle-lanes, they might put a bit more thought into some of them.

No mention of a written report.

However, having consulted my old emails, I see that my suggestion for bollards actually concerned a different point on this cycle track -- the bit where it passes Heuston Square, where the road narrows and motorised vehicles, especially buses, encroach on the cycle track at what is often very considerable speed.

doozerie

I passed along Willbrook Road again this morning and had another look at the works going on. They are actually rebuilding a wall (the white barriers around that stretch of wall are just visible on the right in my first photo above). They are taking up space on the footpath to do so, so presumably they put some traffic cones out into the cycle lane on that side to give a path for pedestrians to use to get around the works. They then pushed traffic cones into the main traffic lane on the other side to allow more space for cars passing on the works side, which meant less space for traffic on the other side, which meant, in their world view, no space for cyclists on that other side at all.

They have such a simplistic take on things, bless 'em - a lane for everything (despite the road not actually being wide enough for 2 car lanes and 2 cycle lanes in the first place), and everything in its lane, and if your lane is not available then you shall not pass 'cos merging with other lanes is the devil's work and will bring about the collapse of the world as we know it, and stuff.

Dawn Rider

tomasrojo wrote: »

No mention of a written report.

However, having consulted my old emails, I see that my suggestion for bollards actually concerned a different point on this cycle track -- the bit where it passes Heuston Square, where the road narrows and motorised vehicles, especially buses, encroach on the cycle track at what is often very considerable speed.

That section does seem to be more dangerous as in the evening with cars jostling for position, checking their rear view mirrors and not expecting to see a bike so far out and going the 'wrong' way.

tomasrojo

tomasrojo wrote: »

However, having consulted my old emails, I see that my suggestion for bollards actually concerned a different point on this cycle track -- the bit where it passes Heuston Square, where the road narrows and motorised vehicles, especially buses, encroach on the cycle track at what is often very considerable speed.

Dawn Rider wrote: »

That section does seem to be more dangerous as in the evening with cars jostling for position, checking their rear view mirrors and not expecting to see a bike so far out and going the 'wrong' way.

It's interesting to observe what effect putting "No Parking" cones along the border between the cycle facility and the road has. It results in slower, more careful driving, and no encroachment on the cycle track at the point where encroachment is typical under normal circumstances.

This temporary segregation is courtesy of the Gardaí, trying to prevent the parking scofflaw free-for-all that accompanied the Winter Wonderland festival being repeated during the Forbidden Fruit festival.

tomasrojo

Some new signs gone up on Inchicore Road very recently, perhaps today?

Hilton end:





Stretch beside Heuston Square:



I assume they're to remind oncoming motorists that cyclists will be coming the other way?

monument

tomasrojo wrote: »

I assume they're to remind oncoming motorists that cyclists will be coming the other way?

Warn and then remind I supose -- a lot of drivers don't seem to understand the layout and that cyclists can go both ways.

They've also put these up on other older contra-flow lanes.

tomasrojo

monument wrote: »

Warn and then remind I supose -- a lot of drivers don't seem to understand the layout and that cyclists can go both ways.

They've also put these up on other older contra-flow lanes.

Not clear enough, it seems. A taxi driver took me very aggressively to task for flouting "a one-way street" there today. I was blocking his exit from the contraflow cycle track.

monument

Did you get to explain you were in the right?

buffalo

tomasrojo wrote: »

Not clear enough, it seems. A taxi driver took me very aggressively to task for flouting "a one-way street" there today. I was blocking his exit from the contraflow cycle track.

Was that outside the Kilmainham Hilton by any chance? I was down that way today, two taxis and a large van parked on the cycle-lanes. Further down the road was a guy with his hazards on. Two people were cycling in the contra-flow lane, so they had to move out and against oncoming traffic to continue, and then I had to move even further out to pass by them (in the other direction).

Saddest thing of all is that it's a perfectly normal occurrence that didn't bother anyone one bit.

tomasrojo

Just outside the Lime Tree Café. Yes, it's always a bit of an obstacle course going around all the parked cars, but I never say anything, as I just want a quiet life.

In this case, I didn't say anything to the taxi driver at first, as is my wont. I was cycling towards him, parked on the cycle track, and he started driving towards me. I stopped. I couldn't go around him because a bus was approaching from the other way. Then he started showing exasperation at me. I said I was just waiting for the bus to pass so I could pass him. Then he started shouting at me about one-way streets. I did mention that he wasn't allowed on this type of cycle track and it was a two-way cycle track, but he diagnosed my disorder as being "a dope" and eventually took the opportunity afforded by the bus driver acting like a human being and stopping so one of us could escape this Mexican stand-off.