Garda safety campaign for Dublin

hardCopy

Keep_Her_Lit wrote: »

hardCopy wrote: »

Gardaí and RSA out with the speed gun on Snugborough Road this lunchtime

So, did you get pulled? What was your score?

No no, I keep my nose clean these days, couldn't do my job without a car unfortunately.

Ant

Lumen wrote: »

I did one get clipped by a driver doing a u-turn outside a hospital, but I think he was a bit distracted/distressed at the time. Hospitals are hazardous :pac:

The last time I got hit by a car, it was the entrance to St. James' Hospital. It was a wet day and I used the cycle lane to minimise the chance of my tyres being caught in the Luas tracks. Unfortunately, there was a jogger in the cycle lane and while I took care to avoid her, an oncoming car turned right across my path into the hospital entrance.

I braked and swerved - and she braked as well but I the front of her car still hit my front wheel and threw me off the bike. I landed reasonably nimbly - just a few scratches and minor bruises. I was annoyed at the time but the poor driver seemed traumatised by the experience. She got out of the car and asked - a number of times - if was I alright. I assured her that I was. She was very distressed as she was on her way to visit someone close to her and I ended up comforting her and giving her a hug while other traffic waited behind her car. The other cars were getting impatient so I told her everything's fine and to go see her friend / relative.

Only after I tried wheeling my bike did I notice the front wheel that I'd purchased for €100 back in the days of being gainfully employed was badly bent. It later turned out, that it was much too badly bent for it to be trued back into shape. Ah well.

Surveyor11

Ant wrote: »

The last time I got hit by a car, it was the entrance to St. James' Hospital. It was a wet day and I used the cycle lane to minimise the chance of my tyres being caught in the Luas tracks. Unfortunately, there was a jogger in the cycle lane and while I took care to avoid her, an oncoming car turned right across my path into the hospital entrance.

My job brings me to St. James's hospital regularly, and I usually get a taxi back to the office from the Luas stop at the entrance to the hospital. The amount of cars, buses and taxis that cut across bikes at this entrance is staggering, so not surprised with your unfortunate incident.

tomasrojo

Surveyor11 wrote: »

My job brings me to St. James's hospital regularly, and I usually get a taxi back to the office from the Luas stop at the entrance to the hospital. The amount of cars, buses and taxis that cut across bikes at this entrance is staggering, so not surprised with your unfortunate incident.

Unfortunately, bikes don't have right of way at the entrance -- at least if they're on the cycle track. There's a Yield triangle painted on the track, and a Yield sign on a pole, in case there's any ambiguity. You have to stop, look and give way to traffic entering the hospital.

I'm not defending the decision to make it like that, and they should probably put up a more explicit warning about turning traffic/cyclists going straight on, but cyclists definitely shouldn't be proceeding at the junction as if they have right of way.

Lumen

Ant wrote: »

I landed reasonably nimbly - just a few scratches and minor bruises. I was annoyed at the time but the poor driver seemed traumatised by the experience. She got out of the car and asked - a number of times - if was I alright. I assured her that I was. She was very distressed as she was on her way to visit someone close to her and I ended up comforting her and giving her a hug while other traffic waited behind her car.

Smoooooth.

RobertFoster

tomasrojo wrote: »

The paramedic show wasn't Helicopter Heroes, was it?

It could have been, but I'm not sure.

I had Helicopter Heroes on this morning. A cyclist in Yorkshire took a descent too quickly and ended up lodged in a pickup trucks windscreen He'd a head injury (kept repeating the same questions over and over), and the CT scan said his helmet saved his life (oh look, it's Friday...). He made some dent in the windscreen. He had no memory of the accident, but they said he was OK 3 days later.

At the start of the piece, the VO did drop the line I was waiting for: "Every year, 2,500 cyclists are killed or seriously injured in the UK" :pac:

tomasrojo

Yes, let's not have a helmet thread!

EDIT: It is depressing this implicit campaign both in the UK and Ireland to stress that cycling is extremely dangerous. It really isn't. Apart from the lumping together of fatalities and injuries, raw totals really tell you very little without reference to total numbers cycling, and also the injury and fatality rates for other road users. Which brings us back to the Garda "safety" campaign.

manwithaplan

raw totals really tell you very little without reference to total numbers cycling, and also the injury and fatality rates for other road users.

Let's run an ad to balance things up:

"One cyclist dies per 20.5 million bicycle kilometres or 1 million bicycle hours travelled*. This compares favourably with other modes of travel, even without taking account of the life-lengthening health benefits accruing. 410 likes these odds."

Catchy isn't it.

*is not true

tomasrojo

I think it's 3 deaths per 100 million km cycled. More or less. Maybe that's 3 deaths per 10 million hours spent cycling (assuming some very slow cyclists in the overall mix).

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RainyDay

Oaklyn Glamorous Footwear wrote: »

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You were obviously well aware of the ped if you hollered at him.