Journalism and Cycling 2: the difficult second album

cletus

AndrewJRenko wrote: »

Maybe they should be announcing that they'll be keeping an eye out on speeding drivers so?

In fairness, the Gardai do announce at different times that they'll be focusing on speeding, drink driving etc. Nobody comes on when these initiatives are in place and asks why are they not targeting cyclists at the same time

Stark

cletus wrote: »

In fairness, the Gardai do announce at different times that they'll be focusing on speeding, drink driving etc. Nobody comes on when these initiatives are in place and asks why are they not targeting cyclists at the same time

You must be a Journal.ie comments section virgin.

AndrewJRenko

Wildly Boaring wrote: »

It's not an either or scenario

It actually is an either/or scenario. Any individual Garda can only do one thing at a time. So the choice is to allocate Garda to focus on the issues that is one of the top three causes of road deaths (speeding) or to allocate that Garda to be chasing cyclists on the pavement.

What's your priority?

cletus wrote: »

In fairness, the Gardai do announce at different times that they'll be focusing on speeding, drink driving etc. Nobody comes on when these initiatives are in place and asks why are they not targeting cyclists at the same time

Maybe that's because cyclists don't kill a few people each week on the roads.

Wildly Boaring

AndrewJRenko wrote: »

It actually is an either/or scenario. Any individual Garda can only do one thing at a time. So the choice is to allocate Garda to focus on the issues that is one of the top three causes of road deaths (speeding) or to allocate that Garda to be chasing cyclists on the pavement.

What's your priority?

Speeding
So they shouldn't chase drivers who do close passes, break red lights, overtake on bends, use their phones or drink drive?

Guards should enforce the law.
Not the laws you like.

It's like the boy getting done for no tax and no NCT coming into work and declaring "Why won't they catch the real criminals?" And all the dunderheads nodding. " Sure what harm were they doing"

cletus

Stark wrote: »

You must be a Journal.ie comments section virgin.

I absolutely avoid journal.ie like the plague. I would hope for more nuanced viewpoints and discussion on this forum

cletus

AndrewJRenko wrote: »

It actually is an either/or scenario. Any individual Garda can only do one thing at a time. So the choice is to allocate Garda to focus on the issues that is one of the top three causes of road deaths (speeding) or to allocate that Garda to be chasing cyclists on the pavement.

What's your priority?

Maybe that's because cyclists don't kill a few people each week on the roads.

I didn't see that the Gardai were being told to focus exclusively on this issue to the exclusion of everything else, but that they will pay more attention than they normally would.

If a Garda can, as you state, only do one thing at a time, then should they let drunk drivers who are driving slowly go because they are not speeding?

Or if someone is pootling along at 90 on the motorway because they're reading texts, should they not do anything about that?

There are myriad laws in the country that the Gardai are required to enforce. Taking umbrage because there is a suggestion that the law as it applies to cyclists might be focused on is, imo, a bit silly.

AndrewJRenko

Wildly Boaring wrote: »

Speeding
So they shouldn't chase drivers who do close passes, break red lights, overtake on bends, use their phones or drink drive?

Guards should enforce the law.
Not the laws you like.

It's like the boy getting done for no tax and no NCT coming into work and declaring "Why won't they catch the real criminals?" And all the dunderheads nodding. " Sure what harm were they doing"

Risk based enforcement is used by regulatory authorities all over the world in all kinds of domains. They recognise that they can't be everywhere all the time, so they focus their activities where they will have most beneficial impact.

Chasing cyclists on the footpath while motorists are blatantly ignoring traffic laws and killing people with alarming regularity as a result is a missed opportunity.

breezy1985

AndrewJRenko wrote: »

Risk based enforcement is used by regulatory authorities all over the world in all kinds of domains. They recognise that they can't be everywhere all the time, so they focus their activities where they will have most beneficial impact.

Chasing cyclists on the footpath while motorists are blatantly ignoring traffic laws and killing people with alarming regularity as a result is a missed opportunity.

Let's wait and see if they are actually targeting this or just sending a tweet

Thelonious Monk

We all know driving on footpaths is a far bigger issue anyway, pretty much every single footpath in my area has cars illegally parked on them, they weren't dropped there from the sky. When they sort out the bigger problems they can focus on bicycles, which aren't actually causing any harm at all.
God I'm getting sick of my own bloody posts on these never ending circles of debate.

Stark

I've been meaning to snap a picture of the passive aggressive "pedestrians, use the footpath" sign before the Angler's rest coming from the Strawberry beds. Because every day without fail, the footpath is completely taken up with parked cars.

magicbastarder

is it an official sign or you reckon a local has put it up?

Wildly Boaring

It's there donkeys....very unofficial

magicbastarder

i'd be tempted to add another sign so.

Seth Brundle

I assume this is the sign referred to...
https://www.google.com/maps/@53.3593275,-6.3596258,3a,75y,120.14h,86.63t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sjrzXKqlHPY2xfL6WqC4kPA!2e0!7i16384!8i8192
I reckon it was put up by the pub as their car park is a short walk downhill and across the road. The pub don't want any liability for people somehow injuring themselves.

Stark

Took this from Street view. Unfortunately the Google street view car managed the one day when the footpath wasn't full of parked cars but I'm sure it'll be easy for me to find a picture of so next time I'm there.

magicbastarder

i'd say people living beside the pub must love it. people revving their engines to pull out of that car park.
we once viewed a house (not too far from there, actually) and one of the reasons we didn't proceed was that it's on a hill beside some traffic lights. the cars pulling away from the lights was fairly loud.

Wildly Boaring

Stark wrote: »

Took this from Street view. Unfortunately the Google street view car managed the one day when the footpath wasn't full of parked cars but I'm sure it'll be easy for me to find a picture of so next time I'm there.

That's her
Think there's more than one sign too.

I used paddle a fair bit at wild water.
Parking for that club is a disaster.
I just used the pub parking, they never minded if off peak.

But yep there can be cars parked anywhere up there

mr spuckler

Low-traffic schemes benefit everyone, not just better-off, finds study

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/nov/16/claim-low-traffic-schemes-only-benefit-better-off-debunked-in-new-study

Thelonious Monk

mr spuckler wrote: »

Low-traffic schemes benefit everyone, not just better-off, finds study

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/nov/16/claim-low-traffic-schemes-only-benefit-better-off-debunked-in-new-study

But it might annoy and slightly inconvenience wealthy residents groups who make a lot of noise, that's all that matters in politics it seems

Seth Brundle

...but sometimes they realise that they're wrong with their objections...
https://twitter.com/LiorSteinberg/status/1328248586824454146

Guardian Article: 'I got it wrong. Since the changes it's become more vibrant': life in an LTN

breezy1985

Thelonious Monk wrote: »

But it might annoy and slightly inconvenience wealthy residents groups who make a lot of noise, that's all that matters in politics it seems

What was the hilarious phrase someone on here used a while back "Sorcha and her urban tractor"

zell12

Pedestrians’ anger at cyclists “bombing it” down Tipperary’s Suir Blueway

A Carrick-on-Suir councillor has appealed to cyclists on racing bikes not to travel at speed on the Suir Blueway after a cyclist ran into a pedestrian on the amenity route.
Cllr Kieran Bourke stressed the Blueway was a leisure route not suited for cyclists travelling at 40mph.
“They were bombing it down the Blueway, areas of which are just one and a half metre wide.”

Cllr David Dunne recounted how one cyclist nearly went into the river only someone shouted to warn them they were going onto a boat slip.
On a separate issue, he asked the council to advise landowners who cut hedges along the Blueway to clean up the foliage that falls on the route as a number of cyclists’ bikes were punctured due to hedge cuttings

AndrewJRenko

Stark wrote: »

I've been meaning to snap a picture of the passive aggressive "pedestrians, use the footpath" sign before the Angler's rest coming from the Strawberry beds. Because every day without fail, the footpath is completely taken up with parked cars.

Nice of them to put it into fancy scrolling text just to make it a good bit harder to read, especially in poor light conditions.

zell12 wrote: »

Pedestrians’ anger at cyclists “bombing it” down Tipperary’s Suir Blueway

Wait till Cllr David and Cllr Kieran hear about cars.

breezy1985

zell12 wrote: »

Pedestrians’ anger at cyclists “bombing it” down Tipperary’s Suir Blueway

I've given up on routes like that in Limerick as I barely make it over 10kph.

magicbastarder

INCOMING

Temporary measures? Pop-up cycle lanes leave less room for cars

Amid uncertainty about how long the Covid-19 pandemic will last, one thing is clear right now: in cities and urban areas, councils want fewer vehicles on our roads.
By day and by night, engineering works have been rolled out, all designed to give more elbow room to cyclists.
At Constitution Hill on the northside of Dublin city last month, a big machine scraped away the surface of an old cycle track, leaving a cloud of dust in its wake.
...
The other reality is that there is now less road space for vehicles.
...
Watch reporter Barry Cummins and producer Angela Ryan's report on the roll-out of new cycle lanes on Prime Time tonight on RTÉ One at 9.35pm.

https://www.rte.ie/news/primetime/2020/1116/1178570-pop-up-cycle-lanes-leave-less-space-for-cars/

eeeee

Oh God.

Stark

As someone who also drives, I'll say this: good riddance to the extra lane on Constitution hill. It's one lane before it and one lane after it, all it does is give people a few seconds to race each other for the sake of getting an extra car ahead and makes the driving experience much more stressful. Having one lane consistently makes for a much more relaxed experience.

magicbastarder

i drove home from the southside up constitution hill and through phibsboro during the summer, at rush hour. it was a nightmare, and like you say, the extra lane makes no difference. it pinches back to one many times going through phibsboro.
the main junction at phibsboro needs redesigning, they should make the left lane explicit left turn only (except for buses) - you get people running up the inside who want to go straight on, and all that happens is that they then block the lane when an explicit left turn only is signalled.

McGrath5

There is going to be a piece on Prime Time tonight looking at Dublin's new cycling infrastructure, will be sure to watch it.

MisterJinx

Constitution hill is one of the few places where I will purposefully cycle on the path as it's simply too dangerous with the busses and cars all fighting to claim the space in the 2 lanes and then back into one lane at the turn off in Broadstone. Haven't seen the new cycle lane but it was very much needed there.