Buffalo & Doozerie - The mild musings of two grumpy old men!

shaka

Rogue-Trooper wrote: »

Staggering number of cyclists people on bikes early this morning with no lights. It's bad enough in the dark but with that fog thrown in they would just appear out of nowhere.

Obviously some sort of 'natural selection' at work - Darwin must be twitching in his grave.

Spent last week in Dublin visiting the mother in the Mater and my wife(also a cyclist) andI were shocked at the set up of a lot of commuters on bikes.

Forget the helmet and hi-viz debate for now but we were just bloody shocked at the state of a lot of the lights front and back on the bikes, sorry but a tiny little blinking light is lost amongst the light pollution of a city . You need a decent light front and back not some funky coloured one that looks cool on the bike.

Seen one cyclist, sorry one commuter take out another on William st and at least 7 go up wrong way on a one way system one narrowly avoiding a head on with a Taxi- in my head I could imagine George Hook or Joeee Duffy bleeding on about bloody cyclists .

Rant over

Pinch Flat

shaka wrote: »

Seen one cyclist, sorry one commuter take out another on William st and at least 7 go up wrong way on a one way system one narrowly avoiding a head on with a Taxi- in my head I could imagine George Hook or Joeee Duffy bleeding on about bloody cyclists .

Rant over

Not condoning cycling up one way streets, but a lot more contra flow bike lanes needed around that section of the city. I work near merrion square and use a Dublin bike to get to meetings over that side of the city - it's pretty convoluted on a bike. The one way streets are to control motor traffic - time to open them up to biking and make getting from one side of the city to the other more convenient

Beasty

Rogue-Trooper wrote: »

Staggering number of cyclists people on bikes early this morning with no lights. It's bad enough in the dark but with that fog thrown in they would just appear out of nowhere.

Obviously some sort of 'natural selection' at work - Darwin must be twitching in his grave.

Saw someone last night with no lights, then this morning another with only rear lights and some hi-viz. Both were on completely unlit country roads.

One of the worrying things is when on a bike you can see a lot more around you than when in a car, when the surroundings appear darker probably as a result of the eyes adjusting to the light generated by the headlights. I suspect some of these guys riding without lights really have little understanding of how vulnerable it makes them

Mercian Pro

Beasty wrote: »

I suspect some of these guys riding without lights really have little understanding of how vulnerable it makes them

Made a point a few winters ago of politely telling some fellow cyclists that their lights weren't working or that they could do with a light. General reaction was ok with some blaming the batteries or saying that the light had been stolen at work. Not sure if it actually encouraged/embarrassed anyone into doing something about it. Was always carefull to do a quick risk assessment before saying anything!

Wishbone Ash

Beasty wrote: »

.. I suspect some of these guys riding without lights really have little understanding of how vulnerable it makes them

What bugs me are those who seem to think because they can see a tiny flashing light while checking their rear light at it a distance of 1 metre that it will be visible to motorists at 100 metres in poor weather!

(I wouldn't mind but AAA batteries are very cheap especially multi-packs available in those 'Pound' shops or whatever they are called now).

CramCycle

Said the same to a guy this evening in the Fog, he turned and shouted that he had hi vis. I laughed to myself, he had a large black backpack on and his jacket was yellow, no sign if a reflective strip on it anywhere. I decided by his initial reaction that not one sh1t he gave about the finer details nor my opinions on the subject, so I left it there.

cdaly_

Mercian Pro wrote: »

Made a point a few winters ago of politely telling some fellow cyclists that their lights weren't working or that they could do with a light. General reaction was ok with some blaming the batteries or saying that the light had been stolen at work. Not sure if it actually encouraged/embarrassed anyone into doing something about it. Was always carefull to do a quick risk assessment before saying anything!

I tried that the other evening on Griffith Ave. "Hey lad, do you know your (non-existent) lights aren't working" as I overtook. At the next traffic light I got a response: "What business of yours is it if I don't have lights? I can go get myself killed if I want to!"

lennymc

apparently a fatal RTA costs the state about 1 million euro (i read it somewhere years ago) so you could explain that you fund his death with taxes and that's what business of yours it is.

Ole Rodrigo

Last week I was coming down past the Custom House on the quays heading towards the NCI. It was lashing rain and with only one brake and slick tyres ( a temporary wheel change badly timed with the weather ) approached the junction with Talbot memorial bridge gingerly. The lights went orange just as I approached and then red just after crossing. Unfortunately, the path through the junction was slow and the light sequence unforgiving. I'm just past the middle of the junction when the lights go green for traffic coming from Busaras on to the bridge. Usually I'd take the trip from this direction.

Just as I was crossing, some hi-viz lo-smarts mamil on a hybrid sticks his front wheel into the bike lane to block my path forcing me to swerve into the traffic lane and glares at me while I passed - presumably to teach me a lesson about running a red, which I didn't actually do ( and rarely do ). I debated about going back and decided not to. I was pretty angry so it was for the best.

If you're reading this - sell that bike and get the bus you complete nonce. Seems the weather hasn't got rid of all the city's half witted bicyclists.

doozerie

I haven’t posted in here for a while, I was intending my next post to be something light-hearted and frivolous (‘cos that’s my life, like, all hugs and air kisses to everyone every day…) but no, this is a grump-induced post instead. I’ve suppressed the urge to moan about a few bizarre incidents in recent weeks but some plank pushed me right to the moany edge earlier, and Christmas ads on Spotify have just now pushed me right over that edge. Let the moaning commence…

This morning’s commute was pretty good by usual standards, for the first bit anyway. There weren’t as many cyclists on the road on the first section of my route, for some reason or other. Amongst the few that were there there were certainly plenty that liked to act like Moses to a red sea of traffic at junctions, but they didn’t inflict their suicidal selves on me so I largely ignored them. Even as I approached a bus stopped at a bus stop ahead and slowed down to await a gap in traffic to my right to pull into to overtake, I wasn’t bothered by the clown on a bike who skimmed past me to dive in front of the moving car alongside me, after all he probably won’t live much longer anyway if his antics this morning were anything to go by.

Even the increase of cyclists closer to the city centre, and their apparent determination to create an impenetrable wall of arses (in every sense) across the full width of the road at the head of traffic at each junction, didn’t bother me as much as sometimes. Experience has proven time and again that people that so casually position themselves in the path of traffic behind are invariably the slowest moving yokes on the road so it wasn’t exactly difficult to get round them when the lights changed green and they sat there like startled rabbits trying to figure out what to do now.

So my patience wasn’t entirely spent by the time I got to the quays. That wouldn’t last though. I’m not sure at what point I became aware of the guy on the Dublin Bike, with his folded golf umbrella jutting out either side of the front basket. It may have been when he swerved/wobbled in front of me as he considered undertaking a bus with its left indicator on, it may have been when he swerved in front of moving traffic to the right when he decided to overtake the bus instead. He’d certainly left enough of an impression that I wasn’t at all surprised to see him after the Ha’Penny Bridge, standing beside his bike in the middle lane, facing oncoming traffic - to get there he’d had to cycle/wobble between lines of traffic and through at least one red light. I’ve no idea why he was stopped, I’m guessing he’d dropped his umbrella, but really, trying to figure out the idiotic actions of an idiot is a bit pointless really. I was just happy that he was well away from me.

At the lights at the end of Eden Quay I stopped behind another cyclist to wait for a green light. I could hear a motorbike close behind me, I wondered whether he was going to shove past me as I was track-standing in the cycle lane, a common past-time of some of the motorbike (and bicycle) couriers, but no he held back. The lights changed green and the cyclist in front of me slowly pushed off at the same time as the car immediately to my right moved off. Trying to overtake the cyclist at that moment, by squeezing between him and a moving car, would have been the actions of a complete fool with no consideration for the safety of anyone. Cue the plank with the umbrella, he literally shoved past me, squeezing between me and the car, his umbrella grazing my hand, his front wheel wobbling towards mine, his gaze fixed forward, oblivious. I leaned onto the railing to my left to avoid a collision.

Fair play to the motorbiker, he gave the plank an earful as he went past him. I assumed at the time that he was giving out because of having seen the plank act the complete bollix in front of him, but it’s just as likely that the plank had forcibly shoved past the biker too just before that. I overtook the plank a few metres later, in an effort to outdo his previous stupidity he even pulled out to overtake the cyclist in front, despite swerving in front of me to do so and not having anything like enough speed (or room, due to his umbrella) to complete the overtake. I gave him another earful. He looked at me with what seemed like a combination of confusion and animosity. Or maybe there was absolutely nothing going on in that head of his at all, maybe the wheel was spinning but the hamster had decided “fcuk this” some time ago and moved elsewhere.

In the very unlikely event that the plank himself is reading this, I thought you should know that you are a complete menace through your utter disregard of others and your completely obnoxious attitude. And stop carrying your poxy golf umbrella across the front of a bike like that, it doesn’t belong there, if you’d like some advice on where exactly you should stick it I can offer one pertinent suggestion.

doozerie

As I’m on a grump-induced roll I may as well include the motorist I encountered last week at the junction of Adelaide Rd and Harcourt Rd. I was to the left of the road, left of the cars in the same lane. There was a taxi at the front, a car behind that, and I stayed behind that second car as I generally don’t trust people to not just swing left towards Ranelagh there without indicating and/or looking. The second car pulled to the right a bit and slowed right down, I assumed he was pulling into the lane on the right so I went past on his left and slotted in to the left of the 2-car long gap between him and the taxi.

A couple of metres later and I noticed that the car behind had accelerated and driven right up beside my rear wheel. That was a very odd thing to do but I was turning left at a little side road ahead towards Rathmines so I focused my attention on that instead. I held back while traffic ahead slowed to turn too, so I was still behind a row of cars after I made the turn onto the narrow road. Yer man behind me made the turn too and accelerated again, presumably to get past me (to fill the 2 metre gap between me and the taxi ahead, or something, I don’t know). It’s very narrow there, too narrow to risk ending up stuck between a clearly impatient/bad driver to the right and parked cars to the left, so I held my line a bit under a metre out from the parked cars. He blew the horn behind.

It’s a very short stretch of road too, and it kicks out further to accommodate a wide footpath on the left, just before it broadens out. I think yer man tried to accelerate past me again just where the jutting out footpath is, again despite there being no room to occupy ahead of me. Where the road broadened immediately afterwards he tore past, horn blowing again, and leaning forward to practically jam his face against his windscreen as he hollered at me. I couldn’t swear to it now, but I suspected hostile intent on his part, it all seemed somehow less than a friendly interaction, like.

He hit the brakes a few metres further on as he pulled up behind the queue of stopped cars ahead. The bus lane ahead of me was clear so I had a couple of seconds to consider if, and how, to respond before I was past him. In that space of time I tried to quickly figure out whether I had done something blatantly stupid and antagonistic to draw yer man on me. I presumed that he was somehow offended that I had passed/undertaken him earlier, undertaking is a bit of a grey area I must admit but while I consider myself an assertive cyclist I don’t believe myself to be aggressive and I didn’t believe I’d ridden dangerously or stupidly in doing that manoeuvre, but he might argue otherwise. On the other hand, he’d driven aggressively for the last 100m or so, and I was certain I’d done nothing to warrant that kind of treatment. That clinched it really, of the various options available to me like ignoring him, stopping to apologise for any unintended offence caused, offering him a manly hug, or indicating that he should engage in unnatural acts with himself, I opted for that last one. So I cycled past him with a finger in the air. Another one to add to my long list of admissions should I ever venture near a confessional box again.

I thought that was the end of it, but Rathmines was surprisingly free of traffic so as I approached the cop shop further on I wasn’t too surprised to hear a car horn blaring, and yer man drive past, leaning across the woman in the passenger seat, his own finger in the air, his face not exactly a mask of friendliness, her face a broad victorious grin. I waved a friendly wave, it wasn’t returned. Traffic towards Rathgar is often bad at that time of the day, so it wasn’t long before I was approaching their car again as it sat in stationary traffic.

At this stage I was more confused than annoyed, I really didn’t understand where all of this animosity was coming from. So I stopped to ask. Or more specifically, I asked if he had something to say to me. I asked in a neutral “let’s communicate here” tone, his response was very much a “let’s rearrange your facial features” tone. Or at least, his body language strongly implied that that’s what his voice was conveying. But I couldn’t hear his voice at all. I was wearing a cap which covered my ears but that slightly muffles sounds at best it doesn’t block them. And the passenger window was up, but he looked like he was shouting so that shouldn’t have stopped the noises either. So I asked him again. Cue another finger in the air from him, and more shouting. I think his volume switch was broken. Traffic started to move, the woman in the passenger seat gave another sort of victorious grin, he clearly shouted something that looked a lot like “go FUNK yourself”, which was odd. And off they drove.

My curiosity still hadn’t been satisfied, what can I say, I’m a curious person (yes, in so many ways). So a few hundred metres up the road I stopped beside them again. The woman’s grin was now replaced by a facial expression of increasing discomfort as each second passed. I was quite calm, the driver wasn’t. I still couldn’t hear him, which I mentioned again, but the intent of his words were clear. He very clearly threatened to convey his views with his fists, he even reached for his door handle.

That’s an awkward situation really, it’s one thing getting yourself fired up so much that you are willing to physically threaten someone in public, it’s another thing entirely to maintain that level of intent while you grab the door handle, realise you’re still wearing your seatbelt, pause to undo that, find the door handle again after a few failed efforts, get out of the car (watching carefully for oncoming traffic as you do so), go around the front of your car to get to the poxy cyclist on the other side only to find that you’ve pulled up so close to the car ahead that you can’t squeeze through there and have to go around the back of your car instead. And all this in the very interested gaze of the people in the van stopped right behind your car. By the time you get to the poxy cyclist you are quite likely to be worn out from the stress of it all. So I just looked slightly incredulously at him and stayed where I was. His determination didn’t last much beyond undoing his seatbelt, after the first failed attempt to find his door handle he simply gave up on the idea of bashing my head in and stayed in the car.

But traffic still wasn’t moving, so he was now stuck in a difficult scenario. He had cranked up the hostility levels as high as he could. His options were to either carry out his threat, or calm down. Or at least, I thought those were his options, he managed to find another one. He opted to implode. He alternated between screaming at me from behind the closed window, and miming a large nose - it’s true, I’m well endowed in that department, as I was reminded of frequently during my school years in particular, I still get reminded of that by children in adult bodies now and again. I can’t say it doesn’t bother me these days when people try to use it to belittle me, but it doesn’t have anything like the effect that people would like to think it does these days, and if the most cruel and hurtful thing that a person can think to say about my appearance is that I have a big nose, well I shall interpret that to mean that the rest of me is aesthetically perfect thank you very much. Besides, yer man had impossibly tiny ears, mouse-like even, he was on shaky ground with any derogatory remarks about someone else’s facial features.

So anyway, here we were, stopped in traffic, me calm, him having a full-blown tantrum. I’d like to say that I have no idea of what he was going through but as embarrassing as it is to admit it as an adult, I’m no stranger to tantrums myself - like him I’m sure, I’m much more comfortable describing them as outburst of angers, and sometimes they are no more than that, but sometimes they are entirely selfish tantrums. So I think I can appreciate the mix of embarrassment, self-pity, anger, and helplessness that he was experiencing. He was falling apart before my eyes. It was made far worse for him by the fact that I wasn’t screaming and shouting back at him, that would have fuelled him further, instead his tide of anger was running out of steam and he was finding himself back in the real (adult) world, without his protective shroud of mock indignation to distract from the fact that he was acting like a child in a difficult situation of his own making which called on him to be an adult to deal with it.

It was with huge relief, I imagine, that he saw traffic starting to move ahead and he dived for the gearstick. Not without another parting verbal shot though. Maybe it was a good one, I’ve no idea, I couldn’t hear it at all. So I’m still no closer to really understanding what was at the heart of his animosity towards me. Given the way things went I’m guessing that he was already worked up about something else and I was a convenient outlet to vent his frustrations. I don’t appreciate that, which is why I have little sympathy for what he went through as he fell to pieces in his car. I might have had some sympathy for his passenger but she seemed quite happy to see him vent at me earlier on so she lost all sympathy points there.

All in all a stupid scenario that achieved nothing for the aggressor other than, ultimately, embarrassment and probably hoarseness. And now it has also resulted in the death of lots of Internet trees to facilitate this ridiculously long (even by my silly standards) post.

Leroy42

Doozerie, a great read, made me laugh.

I am coming round to the conclusion, after many years fighting the good fight and having numerous clashes with drivers of all types that it just isn't worth it.

Trying to make them see the impact of their behaviour is pointless at best and possibly dangerous at worst. They, apart from some notable exceptions, are not somehow going to see your point of view, take consideration of your vulnerability as a fellow road user and that rather than you being on a one man mission to personally ruin their day are simply trying to get from A to B with as little hassle as possible, probably the same as they are.

So, why bother making the gesture to him at all. You know that it is only going to antagonise the situation. What are we expecting to happen? That he will see your gesture, realise the stupidly of his situation and get out of his vehicle to thank you for highlighting his shortcomings and attest that he has indeed had an epiphany and will now be more considerate of not only cyclists but all his fellow humans in the future?

Or where you (and I have acted exactly the same way as well) simply annoyed, probably a little shaken, and took out your frustration on him.

I'm not saying you’re wrong, rather that it is pointless and could lead to a situation that is dangerous to you.

I had a very close call last night, guy pulls in front of me then breaks hard and dives to the left. I had little time to grab the brakes and just make it round his car. I walloped his back door with my hand, really out of a sense of panic more than anything. It scared the jebus out of me. But once I did it, what did it achieve? Nothing. I doubt he thought to himself that the actions he did, and the danger he put me in where his fault.

BoardsMember

Interesting reading. I have cycled around Dublin, since I was a nipper really. I had the mother of all commuting initiations...I went from Ballsbridge to Booterstown junior national school on the bike every day. I remember just locking out my elbows as articulated lorries whistled past me. Those days it was single lane each way, and it was always busy, often with heavy goods vehicles.

Anyhow, by some luck or other I survived it, and probably grew up a more confident or maybe slightly careless or risk taking cyclist. But I definitely had the familiar chip on the shoulder, the tendency to shout at drivers, or slam car doors. Or van side panels, those are my favourite, judging by van driver reactions, it creates a very loud and frightening sound inside when you're not expecting it.

Anyhow, I have had my fair share of scrapes & coming togethers with car/van/bus/taxi drivers. And have not always been proud of my behaviour, and have spent hours afterwards scripting the perfect rebuke I sjould have used. More recently I have decided to just get on with it, but more importantly to not let things bother me.

Heading up the hill past the Dropping Well the other night I was nearly cleaved off the bike. The road veers slightly to the left near the summit before it sweeps to the right into Darty. I was right on that little curve when a 4x4 went past and nearly took me out. True to my new approach, I stayed calm, and kept pedaling (whereas before I might have bust a gut to catch the fella). As it turned out, when I got to the next lights he was stuck in traffic, so I thought to myself that maybe I should just let him know. I checked my internal voice and confirmed I could remain calm and polite. So I politely knocked on his window. I said "Hi there, I dont know if you realise, but you were really very close to be back there as you went past". He shouted something unintelligible to me as he wound up the window. I don't know what he said.

So my conclusion is a lit like Leroy's above, don't let it bother you, and don't try to understand or educate. Just be glad, with so many bad drivers around, that you got from A to B in one piece.

rollingscone

Oh well a future of obesity related illness waits to take the carborgs into its clammy saggy arms.

Humans win in the end. Hurrah

doozerie

Leroy42 wrote: »

So, why bother making the gesture to him at all.

Plainly and simply, it was a moment of self-indulgent immaturity. It was not intended to achieve anything other than give me a fleeting feeling of satisfaction. Sometimes I want to understand why someone has done or said something, sometimes I simply don't care and just want them to get out of my face, this was the latter. It was only after his subsequent actions, and convenient circumstances (he was travelling my route) that I decided to make it the former.

As to the general question of whether I, or anyone else, should take issue with another person about their actions on the road, that's an entirely personal thing but I feel very strongly that it's a positive thing to do. If it is done constructively, of course, which circumstances don't always allow/suit.

My take on it is that by ignoring bad behaviour on the roads I am tacitly accepting it and deeming it somehow normal and therefore, by extension, socially acceptable. Driving and cycling standards in this country are woeful, at least those that I see regularly, and in my opinion that won't change unless there is social pressure to make it change.

The rules of the road are routinely ignored by many people, the threat of being penalised seems to mean nothing to such people. The risk of public embarrassment, on the other hand, seems like a strong incentive for many to avoid doing something that will draw adverse attention to themselves. So I consider pointing out their actions to other road users as a viable approach to improving their behaviour in the future. Not for any altruistic reasons, by the way, I simply want to make the roads a safer environment for me and those that I care about, so my motives are entirely selfish. But that doesn't make them any less worthwhile to pursue. If even one driver or cyclist moderates their dick-ish behaviour as a result of being held to account for doing something stupid and/or dangerous, then that's a good result.

So personally I think that dealing with road users' behaviour is important. Most people would probably say something to a person that jumped ahead of them in the queue in a shop, for example, they might even take action by calling the gardai if they saw someone stealing a bike or breaking into a house, I don't understand why so many people deal with obnoxious and dangerous road user behaviour by simply closing their eyes to it and hoping it'll go away. I can understand why people may be reluctant to directly communicate with a reckless motorist or cyclist, but ignoring the behaviour entirely is just wrong, in my view, nothing will change if we all adopt that approach.

I don't seek out altercations, incidentally, that's a view that I encounter at times, some people seem to think I create situations as if I enjoy the aggro. I don't, I hate aggro, I also have no stomach for violence so I want to stay well away from it, but sometimes facing into that is a risk that I am willing to take if I think doing so can achieve something. And I have come away from some situations convinced that someone that had done something dangerous did so unknowingly or without thinking through the potential consequences and that they will truly be more careful in future, and that feels like having achieved something good. Maybe the direct result of my intervening is that my wife or my daughter won't be subjected to the same actions by the same person tomorrow, or next week - that's worth some calculated risk, as far as I am concerned.

When all reason fails, I sometimes resort to reporting people to TrafficWatch, if more people did nothing more than us the TrafficWatch service then I think the roads would be a safer place for everyone.

RayCun

doozerie wrote: »

I don't understand why so many people deal with obnoxious and dangerous road user behaviour by simply closing their eyes to it and hoping it'll go away.

Blood pressure.
The more attention I pay to the stupid inconsiderate dangerous behaviour of other road users the angrier I get.

galwaycyclist

doozerie wrote: »

Plainly and simply, it was a moment of self-indulgent immaturity. It was not intended to achieve anything other than give me a fleeting feeling of satisfaction. Sometimes I want to understand why someone has done or said something, sometimes I simply don't care and just want them to get out of my face, this was the latter. It was only after his subsequent actions, and convenient circumstances (he was travelling my route) that I decided to make it the former.

As to the general question of whether I, or anyone else, should take issue with another person about their actions on the road, that's an entirely personal thing but I feel very strongly that it's a positive thing to do. If it is done constructively, of course, which circumstances don't always allow/suit.

My take on it is that by ignoring bad behaviour on the roads I am tacitly accepting it and deeming it somehow normal and therefore, by extension, socially acceptable. Driving and cycling standards in this country are woeful, at least those that I see regularly, and in my opinion that won't change unless there is social pressure to make it change.

The rules of the road are routinely ignored by many people, the threat of being penalised seems to mean nothing to such people. The risk of public embarrassment, on the other hand, seems like a strong incentive for many to avoid doing something that will draw adverse attention to themselves. So I consider pointing out their actions to other road users as a viable approach to improving their behaviour in the future. Not for any altruistic reasons, by the way, I simply want to make the roads a safer environment for me and those that I care about, so my motives are entirely selfish. But that doesn't make them any less worthwhile to pursue. If even one driver or cyclist moderates their dick-ish behaviour as a result of being held to account for doing something stupid and/or dangerous, then that's a good result.

So personally I think that dealing with road users' behaviour is important. Most people would probably say something to a person that jumped ahead of them in the queue in a shop, for example, they might even take action by calling the gardai if they saw someone stealing a bike or breaking into a house, I don't understand why so many people deal with obnoxious and dangerous road user behaviour by simply closing their eyes to it and hoping it'll go away. I can understand why people may be reluctant to directly communicate with a reckless motorist or cyclist, but ignoring the behaviour entirely is just wrong, in my view, nothing will change if we all adopt that approach.

I don't seek out altercations, incidentally, that's a view that I encounter at times, some people seem to think I create situations as if I enjoy the aggro. I don't, I hate aggro, I also have no stomach for violence so I want to stay well away from it, but sometimes facing into that is a risk that I am willing to take if I think doing so can achieve something. And I have come away from some situations convinced that someone that had done something dangerous did so unknowingly or without thinking through the potential consequences and that they will truly be more careful in future, and that feels like having achieved something good. Maybe the direct result of my intervening is that my wife or my daughter won't be subjected to the same actions by the same person tomorrow, or next week - that's worth some calculated risk, as far as I am concerned.

When all reason fails, I sometimes resort to reporting people to TrafficWatch, if more people did nothing more than us the TrafficWatch service then I think the roads would be a safer place for everyone.

This.

We need to find a way to make it uncool to act in a threatening and obnoxious manner on a public road.

It needs to become seen like picking your nose in public or scratching your crotch etc.

The challenge is that the car lobby have a large influence over the media and political discourse and are able to set the agenda. They are able to make it ok to do bad things as long as nobody actually gets hurt.

Leroy42

galwaycyclist wrote: »

This.

We need to find a way to make it uncool to act in a threatening and obnoxious manner on a public road.

It needs to become seen like picking your nose in public or scratching your crotch etc.

The challenge is that the car lobby have a large influence over the media and political discourse and are able to set the agenda. They are able to make it ok to do bad things as long as nobody actually gets hurt.

Maybe, or maybe some people are just d!cks. The car just gives them a heightened sense of their own importance and security, certainly the whole motor industry is predicated on macho.

But it is also likely that these same people would be d!cks in any other part of their life. Probably 1st to complain but last to actually do anything, 1st to jump a queue, have some issues with the problems they are having all being someone other than their fault.

I'm not against pulling them up on their behaviour, certainly have (and continue) to do it. But I am always amazed by the reaction I get. Few very times (although their have been times) has the person held their hands up and said sorry. Not even sorry for the manouver, but sorry but causing the danger to me. Once I am safe that is the main thing, yes I get frustrated and annoyed but I let it pass. Any words I say won't make a bit of difference to these people who think that because they drive a car it gives them licence to basically own the road.

Ole Rodrigo

Maybe experiences vary depending on what part of the country you're in, but on the whole I find motorists OK ( the odd man in white van and taxi driver excepted ). Its other cyclists that get on my nerves. In Dublin city center at least.

CramCycle

Leroy42 wrote: »

Maybe, or maybe some people are just d!cks. The car just gives them a heightened sense of their own importance and security, certainly the whole motor industry is predicated on macho.
But it is also likely that these same people would be d!cks in any other part of their life. Probably 1st to complain but last to actually do anything, 1st to jump a queue, have some issues with the problems they are having all being someone other than their fault.

You could be right although Disney disagree:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hk-c5jlk48s

I'm not against pulling them up on their behaviour, certainly have (and continue) to do it. But I am always amazed by the reaction I get. Few very times (although their have been times) has the person held their hands up and said sorry. Not even sorry for the manouver, but sorry but causing the danger to me.

Oddly enough, I find that most people apologise immediately. There are a few who I realise after were never even going to listen, they don't care or they are overly defensive against everything.

ror_74 wrote: »

Maybe experiences vary depending on what part of the country you're in, but on the whole I find motorists OK ( the odd man in white van and taxi driver excepted ). Its other cyclists that get on my nerves. In Dublin city center at least.

I think I have said it before but I honestly believe Ireland has some exceptional motorists. Due to the way out licensing system has worked, there are a percentage who have never sat a test but hold a full license (my mother in law included), there are those who held themselves in check for the day of the test and there are those who are reasonably good drivers. In all of these categories there are safe drivers (observational and cautious within reason), note that safe and good are two different things. The safe drivers with a mix of the good drivers tend to compensate for the other drivers who if they existed in a country where everyone followed the letter of the law to a T would be dead by now.

CramCycle

Although not really a rant, more a hanging my head in shame moment.

Coming to a T junction I had a green light but the traffic coming round the turn was stopped, so I had fully expected the cars turning right to do the usual going left in order to force themselves into the lane maneuver. Usually they squeeze about 2, sometimes 3 cars in.

Like clockwork, the last jeep in the dash hung left and then tried to turn right to get in line and get his tail out of traffic. Knowing it was going to happen, I had already given loads of space, I am sure I was not seen, and once stopped I was going around to the left of traffic. Of course while I was doing this the light went yellow but I was on the junction and progressing.

Hands up though, the light turned and I was nearly through when a pedestrian stepped out in front of me. I should have known it was going to happen as that's the way the sequence goes but I just didn't see it coming. Luckily I managed to stop and she managed to jump back but while many will say I did nothing wrong I don't see it that way. As a road user, I still must take into account whats going on around me, clearly this morning I didn't, I am sure I have turned another person against all cyclists. I did say sorry and look sheepish, only time will tell if that was enough.

Alek

What an absolute toolkit. I don't know where to start.

Carrying a kid (~3 year old?) on the top tube, without a child seat, in busy morning traffic, city centre, going over 40kmh (!), changing lanes...

I was thinking about reporting this to the Garda, but then I don't think they would find him...

Lusk_Doyle

^ I'd say that we should start with the fact that he was kicking your ass and you weren't able to even pull along side him until he was slowing for the junction ahead!

Alek

He had some power alright

I wanted to stay a bit behind to record this.

CramCycle

Did he have a battery pack on the downtube?

Alek

Haven't thought about it. A child-shaped one perhaps? :pac:

Leroy42

Report him for what? He was under the speed limit, changed lanes when it was safe to do so and helmets are not required by law.

Certainly he is an idiot and I would be nervous cycling that road myself, never mid putting a kid on the top tube, but unfortunately there is no law (that I am aware of) for being stupid and reckless with your children.

Darkglasses

Leroy42 wrote: »

Report him for what? He was under the speed limit, changed lanes when it was safe to do so and helmets are not required by law.

Certainly he is an idiot and I would be nervous cycling that road myself, never mid putting a kid on the top tube, but unfortunately there is no law (that I am aware of) for being stupid and reckless with your children.

Actually I think it sounds a lot like Careless Driving

(1) A person shall not drive a vehicle in a public place without due care and attention, or without reasonable consideration for other persons using the place.

(2) A person who contravenes subsection (1) of this section shall be guilty of an offence.

Chips Lovell

Don't think it's illegal to carry a kid on the top tube.

Alek

Certainly he is an idiot and I would be nervous cycling that road myself, never mid putting a kid on the top tube, but unfortunately there is no law (that I am aware of) for being stupid and reckless with your children.

So, without a directly aimed law, is there nothing a Garda can do if they see somebody risking a child's life this way?