Near misses - mod warning 22/04 - see OP/post 822

homer911 · 11-05-2018 07:03PM

Outside the Talbot Hotel in Mount Merrion on the N11 this evening I saw a Taxi emerging with its bonnet blocking the cycle path and a cyclist standing right in front of it with his bike, making some sort of point. They seemed to be there for a few minutes with the cyclist refusing to move for a while until he had made his point

Felexicon · 11-05-2018 08:08PM

homer911 wrote: »

Outside the Talbot Hotel in Mount Merrion on the N11 this evening I saw a Taxi emerging with its bonnet blocking the cycle path and a cyclist standing right in front of it with his bike, making some sort of point. They seemed to be there for a few minutes with the cyclist refusing to move for a while until he had made his point

Probably giving out about the driver forcing him out of the bike lane. It happens though. Can be hard to see the road clearly without nosing out sometimes and it can just happen at the wrong time. Not a massive one for me when I'm cycling I must say.

AndrewJRenko · 11-05-2018 10:12PM

axer wrote: »

So I had this Garda this morning that you were talking about on College Street by the Trinity Luas stop asking cyclists to take the cycle track.

While I stopped behind a bus he looked at me and pointed at the cycle track. I looked back at him and pointed to the road straight on. We both danced like this about 5/6 times until the lights went green and the buses started moving. He then called me over as I was passing him and said for me to use the cycle track. I told him I was going to use the road and asked him what law was I breaking and informed him I'm fully legally entitled to use the road. He said he knows that and he was just saying it for safety reasons. I pointed out how I was using the road safely and had all the magic gear such as hi-vis and lights during the day to keep me safe plus good road positioning - middle of the lane etc. He suggested I didn't want to use the bike track because it would take longer so I had to explain to him why it was safer for me to stay on the road (e.g. how stupidly confusing the bike track layout is and people on the wrong side etc). He accepted what I said but I could see he didn't know how to back out of the conversation as he was clearly wrong. I was tempted to re-enforce how wrong he was to pull me aside as if I had done wrong (all the buses probably thought I was being given out to for breaking the law) and how he can suggest and point to the cycle track but should have stopped once I indicated I was staying on the road but it would have looked like the typical cyclist angry at poor Garda just trying to help. Instead I told him I appreciate where he is coming from (what he thinks is a road safety point of view) but that it is safer for me to stay on the road, which he accepted again, and left it at that. I don't know if he will keep doing it but if he pulls me aside again i'll be making a complaint.

It would be really interesting to see if he continues to push less educated and less assertive cyclists into the bike lane, despite the fact that you've educated him now.

Ray Bloody Purchase wrote: »

The amount of times i've delivered the ultimate burn (in my head) after some flute has driven off is countless.

I find it's a bit of a 'groundhog day' situation, where you're basically have the same 'chat' with different drivers - whether it is the close pass or parking in the bike lane or whatever. If it didn't work out for you today, consider it a practice run for the next time you run into the same situation.

VW 1 wrote: »

Not a near miss, but I was travelling south on Leeson Street this morning and stopped at the lights at the junction of Hatch Street. Light goes green for traffic to proceed on Leeson Street, and busses can't go and miss the light as a Garda Road Policing Unit is blocking the way having pulled into the middle of the junction as the light turned from amber to red. If they cant obey the lights, what hope have we with other traffic.

Ah here, they couldn't be expected to know that traffic would be busy on Leeson St in rush hour. Who'd have thunk it?

homer911 wrote: »

Outside the Talbot Hotel in Mount Merrion on the N11 this evening I saw a Taxi emerging with its bonnet blocking the cycle path and a cyclist standing right in front of it with his bike, making some sort of point. They seemed to be there for a few minutes with the cyclist refusing to move for a while until he had made his point

andymann · 12-05-2018 10:33AM

Not a near miss, but at St. Vincent's on the Merrion Road yesterday there was a lad on his bike cycling away looking down at his phone and tapping away, occasionally glancing back up at the road. When I was cycling past him I let a roar at him to get off the phone. Was this the right thing to do, or should I have said nothing?

Chiparus · 12-05-2018 10:40AM

andymann wrote: »

Not a near miss, but at St. Vincent's on the Merrion Road yesterday there was a lad on his bike cycling away looking down at his phone and tapping away, occasionally glancing back up at the road. When I was cycling past him I let a roar at him to get off the phone. Was this the right thing to do, or should I have said nothing?

Are you a guard? or a troll?

andymann · 12-05-2018 10:56AM

Chiparus wrote: »

Are you a guard? or a troll?

I'm just another cyclist.

Rechuchote · 12-05-2018 10:57AM

andymann wrote: »

Not a near miss, but at St. Vincent's on the Merrion Road yesterday there was a lad on his bike cycling away looking down at his phone and tapping away, occasionally glancing back up at the road. When I was cycling past him I let a roar at him to get off the phone. Was this the right thing to do, or should I have said nothing?

Perhaps not a roar, but just as you might tap on a driver's window and point to the phone or do the "I'm on the phone" hand-to-ear-with-thumb-and-pinkie-extended gesture, you would certainly be right to say "Eyes on the road, not on the phone".

magicbastarder · 12-05-2018 11:28AM

I let out a yell once in vaguely similar circumstances, but he was wobbling and being a danger/inconvenience to other cyclists.

Torres09 · 12-05-2018 12:15PM

A near miss of sorts by...2 club cyclists!!! So I'm finishing up my 65k spin, not a near miss in sight! tipping along the Old Swords Road heading for home in Santry just opposite the Cheauffer\CarWash place beside Airways Ind Est there's a MASSIVE pot hole in the bus lane, but these 2 decide to pass me right now and leave no room for me to move out..... I had to do my best Sagan impression and try bunny hop over said pot hole.....

Rechuchote · 12-05-2018 03:06PM

Torres09 wrote: »

A near miss of sorts by...2 club cyclists!!! So I'm finishing up my 65k spin, not a near miss in sight! tipping along the Old Swords Road heading for home in Santry just opposite the Cheauffer\CarWash place beside Airways Ind Est there's a MASSIVE pot hole in the bus lane, but these 2 decide to pass me right now and leave no room for me to move out..... I had to do my best Sagan impression and try bunny hop over said pot hole.....

Grass them up to their club - and report the pothole here http://www.dublincity.ie/main-menu-services-roads-and-traffic-road-maintenance-and-street-repair/repair-road-or-footpath (or paint "BOBY SANDS, HERO OF THE I.R.A." on it) to get it fixed fast.

site_owner · 12-05-2018 04:32PM

close pass Dublin bus today

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6M2BhWjyLSw

site_owner · 12-05-2018 04:41PM

and a taxi man trying to run me off the road and give me a piece of his mind out his window at malahide.
according to strava i averaged 43kph from portmarnock to malahide and he was barely behind me at all before he started closing in

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tWZkD6bM2I4

sorry for the terrible video editing

Fighting Tao · 12-05-2018 04:42PM

site_owner wrote: »

close pass Dublin bus today

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6M2BhWjyLSw

And his reply would be “I wasn’t across the line”. It’s amazing that so many drivers think that painted lines are force fields that protect cyclists.

Boilermaker · 12-05-2018 04:44PM

site_owner wrote: »

and a taxi man trying to run me off the road and give me a piece of his mind out his window at malahide.

Why did you fail to use the dedicated cycle lane?

Rechuchote · 12-05-2018 04:49PM

Boilermaker wrote: »

Why did you fail to use the dedicated cycle lane?

Eh? From the film, the cyclist is in the cycle lane - though it's a bit of a foolish question anyway, as all cycle lanes are optional for cyclist use (luckily, because a lot of them are so badly damaged from heavy cars driving in them).

Fighting Tao · 12-05-2018 04:49PM

Boilermaker wrote: »

Why did you fail to use the dedicated cycle lane?

I presume that you haven’t used it yourself.

Boilermaker · 12-05-2018 04:51PM

Rechuchote wrote: »

Eh? From the film, the cyclist is in the cycle lane - though it's a bit of a foolish question anyway, as all cycle lanes are optional for cyclist use (luckily, because a lot of them are so badly damaged from heavy cars driving in them).

Your response was foolish, read the section I quoted, it's from the post with the taxi driver.

Fighting Tao · 12-05-2018 04:53PM

Boilermaker wrote: »

You're response was foolish, read the section I quoted, it's from the post with the taxi driver.

You’ll last long here.

Rechuchote · 12-05-2018 04:55PM

Boilermaker wrote: »

You're response was foolish, read the section I quoted, it's from the post with the taxi driver.

But in the film with the taxi driver there is no cycle lane at the point the driver passes.

Fighting Tao · 12-05-2018 05:00PM

Rechuchote wrote: »

But in the film with the taxi driver there is no cycle lane at the point the driver passes.

There is actually one that I used once and I will never again. It has a number of problems of I remember:
1. It loses the right of way and that is not good when moving at 40kph
2. It goes off in a different direction and so if you don’t know it you’d think you’re going the wrong way
3. It has a kerb to get back onto the road
4. Coming back onto the road is nearly at a 90 degree angle too.

I’d never use it again.

cython · 12-05-2018 05:00PM

Boilermaker wrote: »

Why did you fail to use the dedicated cycle lane?

Do you think its safe for someone averaging 43kph to use a shared-use off road path (it's split between peds and cyclists)? Or reasonable that they have to yield to traffic coming from side roads as would have been required when the white crossover vehicle pulled out as they passed the junction.

Flawed question (by use of the term dedicated) is flawed.

Rechuchote · 12-05-2018 05:02PM

cython wrote: »

Do you think its safe for someone averaging 43kph to use a shared-use off road path (it's split between peds and cyclists)?

Interesting point - the continual fobbing-off of both pedestrians and cyclists with "shared use" paths is something that really has to stop.

Build decent infra and don't be pretending that streaks of paint in the city and paths shared between mammies with buggies and people training for races in the country and suburbs are accurate!

site_owner · 12-05-2018 05:08PM

Boilermaker wrote: »

Why did you fail to use the dedicated cycle lane?

Didn't fail to do anything .

I legally chose not to use a shared use path for a multitude of reasons.

Learn the rules of the road before getting back into your taxi or whatever it is you use to sit in traffic

Boilermaker · 12-05-2018 05:21PM

site_owner wrote: »

Didn't fail to do anything .

I legally chose not to use a shared use path for a multitude of reasons.

Learn the rules of the road before getting back into your taxi or whatever it is you use to sit in traffic

That's a very defensive answer, I was just wondering what your rationale for not using the lane was.

Look up "first amendment audits" on YouTube, "patriots" going out of their way to wind people up. I was wondering if you were one of those.

AndrewJRenko · 12-05-2018 05:21PM

Boilermaker wrote: »

Why did you fail to use the dedicated cycle lane?

'fail' seems to imply that there is some requirement or obligation or expectation to use the 'dedicated cycle lane'. There is no requirement or obligation or expectation to use the 'dedicated cycle lane, any more than there is a requirement for motorists to use the 'dedicated motorway'.

Boilermaker · 12-05-2018 05:24PM

AndrewJRenko wrote: »

'fail' seems to imply that there is some requirement or obligation or expectation to use the 'dedicated cycle lane'. There is no requirement or obligation or expectation to use the 'dedicated cycle lane, any more than there is a requirement for motorists to use the 'dedicated motorway'.

Do you expect pedestrians to use the footpath if it's provided?

brianomc · 12-05-2018 05:37PM

Boilermaker wrote: »

Do you expect pedestrians to use the footpath if it's provided?

Nope, I just overtake them safely, without telling them what to do and get on with my day.

brianomc · 12-05-2018 05:45PM

Had my closest pass for a good while this morning, travelling inbound along the Chapelizod Road, which is a pretty goddamn wide road as has been mentioned before.

Some guy wanted me to sit in his passenger seat he was so close. He then checked his rearview mirror as he went by, he didn't hit me so he will probably deem that a safe overtake. Needless to say I hadn't switched my camera on at that stage.

An yes there is an offload cycle lane, but I dislike punctures so I'll stick to the road thanks. That and I hate the junction where traffic exits the park near Island Bridge, vehicles shoot out the gate to stop at the edge of the road, which means they cross the cycle lane. If you're motoring along they wont see you until it's too late.

magicbastarder · 12-05-2018 05:54PM

Boilermaker wrote: »

Do you expect pedestrians to use the footpath if it's provided?

interesting that you mention this. if a footpath is provided, a pedestrian is legally required to use it.
if there is a cycle lane or cycle path provided, a cyclist is *not* legally required to use it, unless it's a cycle lane running contraflow up a one way street, or through a pedestrianised area.

also, it's probably rare that a footpath will place a pedestrian in greater danger if they use it; it's depressingly common for cycle infrastructure to be designed by people who don't like cyclists.

rodneyTrotter. · 12-05-2018 05:56PM

site_owner wrote: »

and a taxi man trying to run me off the road and give me a piece of his mind out his window at malahide.
according to strava i averaged 43kph from portmarnock to malahide and he was barely behind me at all before he started closing in

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tWZkD6bM2I4

sorry for the terrible video editing

Don’t be afraid to report him if needed , I had an incident recently on the back roads near there . Reported to traffic watch . Didn’t hear back for 3 weeks until Malahide station rang me out of the blue . I had video footage of someone dangerously overtaking me then pulling in nearly squashing me against a wall when a car in the opposite side nearly hit her . Usual story over took me on a blind bend .
The guard in Malahide was a gent . He even called up to her house . I didn’t want to take it further as I was unhurt but asked the officer to tell her how dangerous it was and how close she came to creaming me .

As for that stretch of cycle path near where you had the encounter on . It’s ridiculous and not fit for purpose . I’ve alsi had abuse for not using it by a taxi man there . Probably the same bloke!

Near misses - mod warning 22/04 - see OP/post 822

Comments