Journalism and cycling

blackwhite

Pinch Flat wrote: »

This is the key here. I've always said it an repeat it many times in discussions - Ireland is a socially immature country. Personal responsibility and consideration for others is sometimes totally lacking. People act individually, selfishly and in a child-like manner in many social situations.

Case in point - I was heading out on Dublin bike Friday evening, came to a narrow road. The Toyota Land Cruiser coming against me had parked cars and other obstacles on his left. The rules state (as would common decency) he should of stopped and let me pass - we're taking about 5 seconds here maximum. Instead, he barges up a narrow road, almost clipping me with his wing mirror as he passes me. Total lack of consideration of the outcome if he had of hit me in a vehicle travelling at speed that most weight close to a couple of tonnes.

But it's not limited to cycling - on Saturday morning, I had a similar situation -came upon a delivery van ahead of me, came to a stop to let the car coming against me pass. Except[t, they kept going, stopping to my right. They're now blocking all the traffic going the other way, including me. So perhaps I should have just barged on to prevent myself being held up.

Stopped into some on street parking to get cash from an ATM - when I got back in the car, indicated to get out. The road was pretty clear. But, no, someone insisted on pulling up right against me at what was a red light. preventing me from existing the car parking space. Again, on a Saturday morning, there was no way I was getting in front of him, and he doggedly sat while I waiting patiently top get back out.

Driving the M50 all these traits become obvious - so people will speed up to prevent you merging or overtaking, tail gate you when all they gave to do is overtake.

It's this pig headed attitude that's all too common here.

You should just save this post and paste it into any thread that's ranting about drivers, cyclists, pedestrians or anything else! Sums up the d*ckery that we see daily on the roads from all classes of users (and plenty of other areas of life too).

blackwhite

CramCycle wrote: »

Funny a friend of mine said he found Galway far safer than Dublin. I have not much experience over there but I thought it was alright.

Galway is the only place I've been knocked off a bike (twice actually - once by a car reversing from a driveway, and once by a dog on a leash )

murf

Pinch Flat wrote: »

Next up Mannix Flynn. Should be interesting. Still back to people buying fridges and TVs in the city centre and not being able to get them home without a car :rolleyes:

Who does this? Nevermind that I can't get a fridge from BT to the carpark on my back for starters, it won't fit in the car in all likelyhood, and DID electrical (or whoever) deliver thanks very much.

Bringing it home by cargobike would actually be slightly more practical than by car!

Pinch Flat

Deedsie wrote: »

How arrogant ignorant do you have to be to oppose sensible speed limits through residential areas. Morons

Fyp

HivemindXX

Deedsie wrote: »

How arrogant do you have to be to oppose sensible speed limits through residential areas. Morons

I'm surprised it's 50/50 to be honest with all the talk about how it is impossible to go at 30kph in a car. How it is more dangerous for pedestrians because drivers will fall asleep at that speed or will resort to playing with their phones to stave off the boredom. How the entire city centre will shut down if people can't drive at 50kph at least. Not to mention that the newspapers almost always characterise this is as affecting the entire city, even when something only affects a few streets in the case of the original 30kph expansion on the quays or only a few hundred metres in the case of the Luas based traffic restrictions.

I love Sean nos

HivemindXX wrote: »

I'm surprised it's 50/50 to be honest with all the talk about how it is impossible to go at 30kph in a car. How it is more dangerous for pedestrians because drivers will fall asleep at that speed or will resort to playing with their phones to stave off the boredom. How the entire city centre will shut down if people can't drive at 50kph at least. Not to mention that the newspapers almost always characterise this is as affecting the entire city, even when something only affects a few streets in the case of the original 30kph expansion on the quays or only a few hundred metres in the case of the Luas based traffic restrictions.

You left out the argument sometimes made on Boards that a car driven at 30km/h will require additional maintenance and maybe even several replacement clutches.

CramCycle

HivemindXX wrote: »

I'm surprised it's 50/50 to be honest with all the talk about how it is impossible to go at 30kph in a car.

I really am firmly of the belief that if you cannot operate a vehicle at 30kmph or below, you do not have the competency to operate it above 30kmph.

Its dangerous because it may cause drivers to resort to more law breaking, give me a break. As you said, it is not even that large an area which most of the time, is below 30 anyway with traffic volume.

Pinch Flat

De Nile is not just a river in Africa.....

Some nice swipes ate cyclists in the comment section. You've got to wonder how these people drive a kilometer without their head exploding.

http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/news/the-county-with-the-worst-drivers-in-ireland-has-been-revealed-35588424.html

check_six

CramCycle wrote: »

I really am firmly of the belief that if you cannot operate a vehicle at 30kmph or below, you do not have the competency to operate it above 30kmph.

Its dangerous because it may cause drivers to resort to more law breaking, give me a break. As you said, it is not even that large an area which most of the time, is below 30 anyway with traffic volume.

Hold on, we all know that motorists cannot travel at less than 30kph. That slow moving traffic you are reporting *does not exist*. Also, motorists do not get delayed by other cars or traffic lights while in the city centre.

Some relevant observations from a previous post:
I learnt the following from outraged motorists when the 30kph limit was introduced in Dublin City Centre:

- Looking at your speedo to make sure you are under 30kph makes you crash. No if, ands, or buts about it. You glance at your speedometer, then BOOOM! You're upside down in the burning wreckage of about a dozen cars on Nassau St.

- Motor vehicles are not capable of going under 30kph. They operate on some kind of quantum level where they are either stopped, or going at 50kph, with nothing in between but an infinite acceleration slope.

My own motor vehicle, however, appears to be faulty as it will happily roll along at 30kph when in town. Also, the speedo is located just below my eyeline so I don't have to get into the back seat to check it or anything. A clear design flaw. I must upgrade soon...

Pinch Flat

check_six wrote: »

Motor vehicles are not capable of going under 30kph. They operate on some kind of quantum level where they are either stopped, or going at 50kph, with nothing in between but an infinite acceleration slope.

This only applies to Irish motor vehicles, they have different gear boxes than those in Germany, France, Netherlands etc and just about every other country that has rolled out 30 km / hr zones without a natural disaster / sky falling in / mass unemployment occurring.

http://en.30kmh.eu/



I think it's something to do with road tax, or VRT or insurance, one of those any way.

I love Sean nos

Pinch Flat wrote: »

I think it's something to do with road tax, or VRT or insurance, one of those any way.

Because people on bikes in Ireland don't have those, cars simply won't slow down to legal velocities.

Tenzor07

Good report here on Stickybottle:

gardai-inaction-on-dangerous-drivers-cited-in-cyclist-road-deaths

Chuchote

http://www.irishtimes.com/opinion/letters/cyclists-motorists-and-speed-bumps-1.3036598

Irish Times letter from Paul Lewis in Galway:

Cycling daily, I notice motorists, keen to preserve their beloved vehicles, slowing to a crawl as they approach speed bumps. Would it were that they would be so fastidious in preserving my nerves and life upon accelerating to overtake me on corners, narrow roads and in the face of oncoming traffic.

Fian

http://www.independent.ie/life/motoring/car-news/why-dublin-cyclists-and-pedestrians-are-more-at-risk-now-than-in-winter-35572438.html

RSA explaining why wearing hi-vis is vital.

I wonder if they were charged with reducing rape/sexual assault would they be urging women not to wear short skirts?

Pity their focus is on those likely to be injured by motorists, rather than seeking to educate motorists into not injuring them.

buffalo

One publication who cover cycling issues with more empathy, balance and downright actual journalistic content (as opposed to ranty columns) is the Dublin Inquirer. Here's a piece from this month's edition: http://www.dublininquirer.com/2017/04/04/can-improve-roundabouts-cyclists/

Well worth supporting for E3-5 a month. I was reminded of it by another poster mentioning their bicycle collision tracker.

what_traffic

Fian wrote: »

http://www.independent.ie/life/motoring/car-news/why-dublin-cyclists-and-pedestrians-are-more-at-risk-now-than-in-winter-35572438.html

RSA explaining why wearing hi-vis is vital.

Only for Dublin based pedestrians and cyclists? What ???
RSA are a bag of contradictions. Interesting these articles NEVER have "an author."

check_six

what_traffic wrote: »

Only for Dublin based pedestrians and cyclists? What ???
RSA are a bag of contradictions. Interesting these articles NEVER have "an author."

No named author just means that the editor of that section threw it together themselves to fill a gap in the page.

I love Sean nos

Fian wrote: »

http://www.independent.ie/life/motoring/car-news/why-dublin-cyclists-and-pedestrians-are-more-at-risk-now-than-in-winter-35572438.html

That was some pile of old arse. Now that there's more natural light, physics has inverted itself and everyone is less visible.

This bit really stood out:

If your child gets the bus to school, it's also important they can be seen at the bus stop by the driver and other road users.

Talk about expecting the completely expected; bus users at a bus stop.

Homer1798

The Hi-Vis arguement...........according to RSA's own stats, in 2016 10 cyclists were killed on our roads, 2 during the hours of darkness AND 8 were killed during daylight hours, so while Hi-Vis might save you at night it certainly isn't effective during the day. Hi-Vis won't save you, but driver education might.

ThisRegard

The vinters will also be calling for it to be mandatory soon. In an astounding display of self interest one of their reps on the News at 1 blamed dark clothing, amongst many other things, for being causes of death on the roads. Alcohol not so much.

I love Sean nos

ThisRegard wrote: »

The vinters will also be calling for it to be mandatory soon. In an astounding display of self interest one of their reps on the News at 1 blamed dark clothing, amongst many other things, for being causes of death on the roads. Alcohol not so much.

Does the dark clothing have to be worn? I mean, could I just leave a small pile of washing at the side of the road and murder passers-by.

mr spuckler

i've not followed the case so am not familiar with the details. however the quotes in this piece suggests that something curious was afoot.

I love Sean nos

mr spuckler wrote: »

i've not followed the case so am not familiar with the details. however the quotes in this piece suggests that something curious was afoot.

That case was shocking. If I remember correctly, the Met didn't investigate and failed to send a file to the CPS.

ThisRegard

More poor phrasing, from The Journal this time. This story is in relation to a guy in court who pleaded guilty to careless driving (no lights) causing serious harm after hitting a cyclist on the Malahide road, and yet the story starts with "The husband of a woman left severely brain damaged after her bike collided with a car....."
http://jrnl.ie/3330100

Chuchote

ThisRegard wrote: »

More poor phrasing, from The Journal this time. This story is in relation to a guy in court who pleaded guilty to carless driving

Surely careless? Carless would be less harmful.

Fighting Tao

Years ago I was on the jury when a guy was convicted of careless driving. His girlfriend was killed when he crossed the road into traffic coming in the opposite direction. If the guards had done their job correctly at the time he would have been convicted of dangerous driving and therefore would have faced a manslaughter charge. The one thing that the case thought me as that there is no such thing as careless driving. Either you are driving dangerously or you are not.

Chuchote

Excellent letter in The Irish Times from Kieran Ryan of Drumcondra on Liffey Cycleway:

http://www.irishtimes.com/opinion/letters/liffey-cycle-route-and-motorists-1.3040834

In opposing the Liffey Cycle Route, Dublin’s Lord Mayor Brendan Carr states that “you can’t just keep shutting the roads off to motorists†(News, April 6th). I would challenge Mr Carr to name a single road in Dublin – just one – that has been closed to private cars in favour of cycling. I would further challenge him, and any other opponents to the Liffey Cycle Route, to cycle the Liffey Quays on a weekday morning and then try to convince anyone that a safe cycle route is not urgently required.

Chuchote

Garda sergeants and inspectors, convinced that they haven't lost enough friends yet, want to force all cyclists and pedestrians to be forced to wear hi-viz, and cyclists to be forced to wear helmets.

If this goes through, I'm stopping wearing my helmet and hi-viz.

http://www.irishtimes.com/news/crime-and-law/new-criminal-offence-of-recording-garda-members-sought-1.3042615

Some members of the Association of Garda Sergeants and Inspectors (Agsi) are also calling for new legislation that would make it “obligatory†for cyclists and pedestrians to wear reflective clothing.
And they also want helmets made compulsory for cyclists.
The proposals are set to be debated at the Agsi annual delegate conference in Killarney, Co Kerry, which gets under way on Monday.

RayCun

Chuchote wrote: »

Garda sergeants and inspectors, convinced that they haven't lost enough friends yet, want to force all cyclists and pedestrians to be forced to wear hi-viz, and cyclists to be forced to wear helmets.

If this goes through, I'm stopping wearing my helmet and hi-viz.

http://www.irishtimes.com/news/crime-and-law/new-criminal-offence-of-recording-garda-members-sought-1.3042615

Well, it makes sense.

They've caught all the dangerous drivers so they have to find something else to do.

magicbastarder

bait and switch. change the agenda from the questions they'd otherwise be asked. they have a spokeswoman for the AGSI on morning ireland at the moment assiduously avoiding answering why she thinks the breath testing scandal might have arisen.

there are also calls to ban recording of gardai on duty (though specifically i think with the issue of placing that footage on social media).