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Cars sitting in cycle lane in traffic- what's acceptable?

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  • 23-09-2020 7:39pm
    #1
    bb1234567
    Registered Users Posts: 5,494 ✭✭✭


    So a few days ago I was cycling in a designated cycle lane in town and wasn't paying attention properly and clipped a wing mirror of a car who was sitting way over the line of the cycle lane. I hit it quite hard but was cycling slowly so no immediately visible damage and I wasn't hurt, I stopped for a second to adjust myself after getting a fright and the driver to my right started honking their horn at me for clipping it. She rolled down her window to bark something at me but I scooted off before she had the chance.

    I actually felt bad for a moment for having hit it but was she not in the wrong for sitting partly in the cycle lane? If I was too guess from memory I'd say the wheels of her car were sitting maybe on or just over the white line, and of course the car body/ wing mirror sticking at least 6-8 inches further again. The way she acted made me think I was in the wrong and I'm not too well versed in rules of the road so I darted off instead of engaging with her. This seems a common occurrence and I've seen much worse offenders than her. It is really very annoying to have your clear cycle way broken by an ignorantly stopped driver. Are we as cyclists in the right to bang on their window to tell them off or what is acceptable? I would love to tell them off, there is so much room for cars and yet drivers so often feel the need to encroach further on what little is reserved for cyclists.


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    #2
    Wishbone Ash
    Registered Users Posts: 24,958 ✭✭✭✭Wishbone Ash


    bb1234567 wrote: »
    ...was she not in the wrong for sitting partly in the cycle lane? ....
    That's not really relevant. You have a duty of care to be observant whilst using the roads and adjust your cycling accordingly.


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    #3
    Nigzcurran
    Registered Users Posts: 2,690 ✭✭✭Nigzcurran


    bb1234567 wrote: »
    So a few days ago I was cycling in a designated cycle lane in town and wasn't paying attention properly and clipped a wing mirror of a car who was sitting way over the line of the cycle lane. I hit it quite hard but was cycling slowly so no immediately visible damage and I wasn't hurt, I stopped for a second to adjust myself after getting a fright and the driver to my right started honking their horn at me for clipping it. She rolled down her window to bark something at me but I scooted off before she had the chance.

    I actually felt bad for a moment for having hit it but was she not in the wrong for sitting partly in the cycle lane? The way she acted made me think I was in the wrong and I'm not too well versed in rules of the road so I darted off instead of engaging with her. This seems a common occurrence and I've seen much worse offenders than her. It is really very annoying to have your clear cycle way broken by an ignorantly stopped driver. Are we as cyclists in the right to bang on their window to tell them off or what is acceptable? I would love to tell them off, there is so much room for cars and yet drivers so often feel the need to encroach further on what little is reserved for cyclists.

    Plenty of situations where vehicles and bikes must share the cycle lane/roads so it’s up to us all to be careful. You should have just apologised and then went on your way


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