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

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  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,091 ✭✭✭Technophobe


    queldy wrote: »
    What happened today is about this spot: https://goo.gl/maps/74VpvzDR7xN2
    It is a problematic spot, imho, as there is a bit of a climb and it is easier if you manage to not get unclipped. It makes sense so to slow down a bit and wait for the green while moving slowly, thus risking to piss the drivers even more than usual (who do not understand that there is a red light there anwyay). Often I get passed anyway, sometimes people wait. I manage to approach the lights anyway as fast as possible and get over as soon as possible when it gets green, so that the cars can pass me. To do so I need to sprint for ~100m, as the road is very narrow and there is a turn right after the lights, and the opposite lane is almost always busy with cars waiting at the lights. It is not fair, I know - we are roas users as them, but considering 99% of the time they get pissed off and considering I have to survive, and also in a way because I want to be kind and gentle, I do so! I am there, I have right to be there, road is narrow and passing is dangerous - so I speed up as much as possible to free the road from my fat ass. Let's put it this way.
    Often people are patient enough, 10 seconds of thei life, after the turn they pass. The more cautios wait for the next straight piece of road, the more jerks pass during the turn. They get to stop anyway at the next traffic lights, always! It is synchronized this way, it always always get red and always they have to stop (I cycle this way very often).
    Anyway, today approaching this lights, I hear a car behind me, looks it's patiently waiting for me to approach the red lights, and it's waiting behind me. As soon as the lights go green, I am trying to free the road as fast as possible, car doesn't wait behind but overtakes me in the turn - another car is approaching in the other direction, car number 1 does not give up, but accelerates more. So i say "here it is, I thought he wouldn't do it, but he is doing it". I move left as much as possible (there is a pavement there...), I try to understand if he will give up or if he continues, so that I have to slow down. All this in a fraction of second of course. So he accelerates more, car approaching does not slow down but horns, car number one swerves left almost hooking me. I scream at him and give move my arms, at least only for the sake of letting him know what he did (did he realise it???)
    So I know he is goona stop at the queue at the next lights, in fact after the turns I see he is stopping there.
    Those few dozens of seconds are very helpful, I calm down and I am approaching him like "Saint Francis speaking with the wolf" - I simply would like to tell him "listen, have you realised what you did there?You could have waited instead of endangering me, yourself, and the other driver".
    So approach the driver side, I ask (gesturing politely also) to open the window "I need to talk to you, could you please open?" etc etc.
    He is starring at me with a mafia look (I come from the South of Italy, I know what I mean :D ), he is simply starring at me like "I don't give a s*** who you are and whatever you are gonna tell me, I have such important businesses to take care of, and be careful you are risking your life with me". I try for 15/20 seconds or so, no way. He is doing the "mafia looking".

    Wanna know what was the weirdest thing?
    IT WAS the SAME car, same man, same other man sitting on the right side, overtaking me on the gran canal and left hooking me (quite on purpose I would say, even though I'm not 100% sure) a few months ago; at that time, I also reached him at the next lights, I asked him he could put the window down because I had to tell him a few words; I got the same reaction.

    Anyone having similar issues with this huge SUV Mercedes dark-grey (or black?)? I know it's a kind of improbable over half a million of citizens, but if I have got contacts with him twice... who knows!

    I know that hill alright..sometimes cycle in that way on the brighter days...As you say, its a pain to stop there as is hard to get going again...ideal is to be climbing as it turns green but i usually get caught on red...


  • Moderators, Category Moderators, Arts Moderators, Sports Moderators Posts: 52,406 CMod ✭✭✭✭magicbastarder


    i actually viewed the house on the left in that street view location (not actually visible in the picture) and one of the reasons we didn't bid on it was the sound of the revving engines from cars pullign away from the lights uphill.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 3,255 ✭✭✭Dr_Colossus


    I cycle that hill daily on my commute, a pain having to stop on red alright and to my embarrassment once misclipped while trying to track stand waiting for the lights to turn and tumbled sideways onto the road but fortunately there was only another cyclist behind. Generally don't have a problem with cars there, I give them space to overtake up until the lights but then I take the lane as it's too busy and windy after along with some nasty gulley trains to hug the kerb.


  • Moderators, Category Moderators, Arts Moderators, Sports Moderators Posts: 52,406 CMod ✭✭✭✭magicbastarder


    well, that was the 'what am i, chopped liver?' cycle home. about 8 or 10 times, i had cars pull out (or already pulled out) in front of me in the cycle lane, some not happy when i indicated to them that they were where they shouldn't be. saw some fantastic examples of red light breaking, the one which most directly involved me was when i was crossing the N11 from leopardstown onto newtownpark avenue.

    what happens with those lights is outbound traffic on the N11 gets a right turn green to turn up towards leopardstown; that goes red and then goes green for traffic coming from leopardstown heading onto newtownpark avenue - i.e. i was going the way the white van is here:
    https://www.google.com/maps/@53.2781952,-6.1856063,3a,75y,26.22h,89.66t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1s807jGbTZMXISWSb4RtJgOw!2e0!7i16384!8i8192

    lights go green, i clip in and pull off - and next thing am directly facing a white van, head on. he'd obviously run the red very late on the right turn filter to do a u-turn, but went anyway, which meant he ended up facing head on to me and the car beside me. we both had to jam on, and he roared off back towards town.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 916 ✭✭✭sy_flembeck


    Newtownmountkennedy yesterday. Heard him behing and knew it was coming.Clearly the FLY6 on my seat post, See.Sense Icon+ on my helmet and hi-viz gilet wasn't enough.



    I challenged him when he pulled in (on a disabled parking space) around the corner and he claimed ignorance.


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  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 970 ✭✭✭rushfan


    I challenged him when he pulled in (on a disabled parking space) around the corner and he claimed ignorance.


    In fairness, ignorance would probably sum it up alright.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 141 ✭✭coward


    I fell off my bicycle a few weeks ago when avoiding a driver coming very close to knocking me over anyway. The driver said they didn't see me. Tongue-in-cheek mode.. I think I've got myself a cloaking device! Bright clothing, a couple of rear lights and a Ravemen CR900 light up front which are always on when I cycle.



    In the last moments I was preparing to be up high to land on the bonnet nicely. Thankfully the car didn't collide with the bicycle. I had gripped the brakes and momentum brought me over the handlebars when the bicycle came to a stop. It was actually a nice dismount. No harm to myself or the bicycle.

    The other clips are pretty predictable stuff. Sometimes people just don't look for or register your presence.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 689 ✭✭✭Ray Bloody Purchase


    coward wrote: »
    I fell off my bicycle a few weeks ago when avoiding a driver coming very close to knocking me over anyway. The driver said they didn't see me. Tongue-in-cheek mode.. I think I've got myself a cloaking device! Bright clothing, a couple of rear lights and a Ravemen CR900 light up front which are always on when I cycle.

    That's an excellent camera you have, what type is it?

    That last guy was fairly shifting it!


  • Moderators, Politics Moderators Posts: 42,878 Mod ✭✭✭✭Seth Brundle


    coward wrote: »
    Trying to crash into cars, almost mowing down pedestrians. You're a danger to all around you.
    That's exactly the kind of behaviour the RSA were referring to in their recent newspaper article!


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 141 ✭✭coward


    That's an excellent camera you have, what type is it?

    A GoPro Hero4 Session - nice and small sized cube. After 3 years of daily use I'm getting only about an hour of battery life on 1080p 60 fps setting.


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  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,139 ✭✭✭What Username Guidelines


    coward wrote: »
    A GoPro Hero4 Session - nice and small sized cube. After 3 years of daily use I'm getting only about an hour of battery life on 1080p 60 fps setting.

    You're doing well, I get less than an hour on the Hero5 session after maybe a year - Great camera but terrible battery


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 36,170 ✭✭✭✭ED E


    coward wrote: »
    A GoPro Hero4 Session - nice and small sized cube. After 3 years of daily use I'm getting only about an hour of battery life on 1080p 60 fps setting.

    Now its winter you can turn off 60fps and save a little juice, unless its quite sunny it fakes 60fps.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 12,881 ✭✭✭✭average_runner


    coward wrote: »
    I fell off my bicycle a few weeks ago when avoiding a driver coming very close to knocking me over anyway. The driver said they didn't see me. Tongue-in-cheek mode.. I think I've got myself a cloaking device! Bright clothing, a couple of rear lights and a Ravemen CR900 light up front which are always on when I cycle.



    In the last moments I was preparing to be up high to land on the bonnet nicely. Thankfully the car didn't collide with the bicycle. I had gripped the brakes and momentum brought me over the handlebars when the bicycle came to a stop. It was actually a nice dismount. No harm to myself or the bicycle.

    The other clips are pretty predictable stuff. Sometimes people just don't look for or register your presence.

    The first one in Crumlin, the car didn't even stop when pulling out, crazy stuff


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 921 ✭✭✭benjamin d


    That last guy in the van sums up the daily experience. I've been driving in the city very early in the morning a lot recently and the red light situation needs critical attention now. Multiples of cars breaking literally every last one of the red lights I come to even before rush hour.

    I was driving through roadworks on the N2 in Monaghan a few weeks back, and approaching the road workers' traffic lights you crest a small hill and they come into view about 7 or 8 cars in front when in traffic. When I crested the hill the light was fully red but every single car in front of me broke it, AND the guy behind me screeched around me to break it too when I had the gall to stop. When I got the green a minute later I had to wait fully fifteen seconds to allow all the gob****es who broke it coming the other way to clear the road, so the cycle continued. The "I'm alright, Jack" attitude is absolutely ingrained in drivers these days.

    Painting yellow boxes, stop lines and ASLs must almost be a satirical joke by the council at this point. It's not even enough to park in cycle lanes now either, the amount of completely blocked footpaths I see all over the place is at epidemic levels.

    Large scale garda intervention is essential at this point to curb driver behaviour.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 919 ✭✭✭Danjamin1


    I'd like to point anyone giving out about cyclists on footpaths to Loreto College Crumlin, every day I see drivers mounting the footpath and driving along it before parking on it to drop off their precious cargo. Not just half mounting either, they're driving fully on the path, it's ridiculous. The parents who aren't parking up on the footpath routinely block the bus lane around the corner. That section of Crumlin road is a pain in the hole.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 5,606 ✭✭✭schemingbohemia


    benjamin d wrote: »
    That last guy in the van sums up the daily experience. I've been driving in the city very early in the morning a lot recently and the red light situation needs critical attention now. Multiples of cars breaking literally every last one of the red lights I come to even before rush hour.

    I was driving through roadworks on the N2 in Monaghan a few weeks back, and approaching the road workers' traffic lights you crest a small hill and they come into view about 7 or 8 cars in front when in traffic. When I crested the hill the light was fully red but every single car in front of me broke it, AND the guy behind me screeched around me to break it too when I had the gall to stop. When I got the green a minute later I had to wait fully fifteen seconds to allow all the gob****es who broke it coming the other way to clear the road, so the cycle continued. The "I'm alright, Jack" attitude is absolutely ingrained in drivers these days.

    Painting yellow boxes, stop lines and ASLs must almost be a satirical joke by the council at this point. It's not even enough to park in cycle lanes now either, the amount of completely blocked footpaths I see all over the place is at epidemic levels.

    Large scale garda intervention is essential at this point to curb driver behaviour.

    I saw a Garda car blithely drive past 8 cars and 4 vans parked in the bus lane on Camden Street the other day, not a single f*ck given.
    I also nearly got into an argument with a Garda, fed up with a load of cars in the bus lane, there was one ahead of me that was inching into driving lane having driven 300m in the bus lane with a garda car behind, she mouthed "not my problem" to me when I pointed it out to her, if my wife hadn't been in the car with me i'd have gotten out and asked her to do her job.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 956 ✭✭✭site_owner


    benjamin d wrote: »
    AND the guy behind me screeched around me to break it too when I had the gall to stop.

    I've started breaking reds on the bike for the first time in years when on certain roads because of this. One of the times i stop i know the car behind wont swerve and I'll be mince. If i stop at cerrain reds i get 2 cars at least that will speed past me.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,139 ✭✭✭What Username Guidelines


    site_owner wrote: »
    I've started breaking reds on the bike for the first time in years when on certain roads because of this. One of the times i stop i know the car behind wont swerve and I'll be mince. If i stop at cerrain reds i get 2 cars at least that will speed past me.

    One of the worst near misses for me was a few years back at harolds cross bridge inbound. Light had gone red so I slowed to stop and stupidly made the assumption the cars behind me would too. I began to shift over into the middle of the advanced stop box when the van behind which had sped up to break the light brushed past. I'm talking millisconds or millimetres in the difference and I'd be gone. Must have been doing north of 60 and the first cars crossing along the canal had even started moving when he sped through.

    Had a decent sit down after that before continuing the journey.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 689 ✭✭✭Ray Bloody Purchase


    One of the worst near misses for me was a few years back at harolds cross bridge inbound. Light had gone red so I slowed to stop and stupidly made the assumption the cars behind me would too. I began to shift over into the middle of the advanced stop box when the van behind which had sped up to break the light brushed past. I'm talking millisconds or millimetres in the difference and I'd be gone. Must have been doing north of 60 and the first cars crossing along the canal had even started moving when he sped through.

    Had a decent sit down after that before continuing the journey.

    Brandy. Have a glass of brandy after that.

    Or a fcuking bottle.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,139 ✭✭✭What Username Guidelines


    Brandy. Have a glass of brandy after that.

    Or a fcuking bottle.

    Yep! This was years ago, but even after countless close passes and a couple of actual hits, this one stands out in my mind as the scariest, and I doubt the van driver even noticed.

    My wife has never been a fan of me cycling (Father in law hit on his bike years back in hit and run and spent a long time in hospital recovering) - but this was the only time I actually properly considered if it was worth it to continue.


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  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,251 ✭✭✭Thinkingaboutit


    One of the worst near misses for me was a few years back at harolds cross bridge inbound. Light had gone red so I slowed to stop and stupidly made the assumption the cars behind me would too. I began to shift over into the middle of the advanced stop box when the van behind which had sped up to break the light brushed past. I'm talking millisconds or millimetres in the difference and I'd be gone. Must have been doing north of 60 and the first cars crossing along the canal had even started moving when he sped through.

    Had a decent sit down after that before continuing the journey.

    A fear of mine. I tell myself to never trust another road user beyond the evidence of what I see, and what could happen, but surely read usually means stop, which it doesn't for a few like quite a few vans or members of the automotive self love crew.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 290 ✭✭Tomred13


    So a strange near miss

    Was coming back from a howth spin last Saturday, heading down parnell st onto the corner of capel st and I see a group of well dressed men all in their 50s and older. As I approach them, one of them stepped to the corner of the curb and threw a punch at me. Luckily I ducked n wobbled out of the way, stopped n shouted back a "what d f##k " and got no acknowledment at all. Was in shock. Live a couple of doors away so ran home dropped bike and put on jeans n shoes ( I find lycra and sidi's are not the best grear for fistycuffs ) and ran out to find the son of a Witch with the intention of calling the garda. Unfortunately they were gone. If he had connected with me he would have flattened me. Be careful out there..some total loons about in cars n on foot..


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,139 ✭✭✭What Username Guidelines


    Looks like an off road segregated cycle track

    https://twitter.com/dubfirebrigade/status/1071081415939379200?s=21


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 32,388 ✭✭✭✭rubadub


    Looks like an off road segregated cycle track

    https://twitter.com/dubfirebrigade/status/1071081415939379200?s=21

    I did not recgonise it at first, it said Rochestown avenue. I can see now it is at the graduate pub roundabout, on "the new road" R118 which I think is called the Sallyglen road, goes to the old deerhunter roundabout.

    https://goo.gl/maps/zHS6d7HKP3P2


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 23,157 ✭✭✭✭Alanstrainor


    rubadub wrote: »
    I did not recgonise it at first, it said Rochestown avenue. I can see now it is at the graduate pub roundabout, on "the new road" R118 which I think is called the Sallyglen road, goes to the old deerhunter roundabout.

    https://goo.gl/maps/zHS6d7HKP3P2

    Good catch. Used to live about 2 minutes from that spot. Can't understand how they've ended up like that... it's so close to the roundabout, at a guess I'd say they were flying around and lost traction coming off. They took out the 60km/h speed limit sign in the process.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 31,719 ✭✭✭✭AndrewJRenko


    site_owner wrote: »
    I've started breaking reds on the bike for the first time in years when on certain roads because of this. One of the times i stop i know the car behind wont swerve and I'll be mince. If i stop at cerrain reds i get 2 cars at least that will speed past me.

    One of the worst near misses for me was a few years back at harolds cross bridge inbound. Light had gone red so I slowed to stop and stupidly made the assumption the cars behind me would too. I began to shift over into the middle of the advanced stop box when the van behind which had sped up to break the light brushed past. I'm talking millisconds or millimetres in the difference and I'd be gone. Must have been doing north of 60 and the first cars crossing along the canal had even started moving when he sped through.

    Had a decent sit down after that before continuing the journey.
    I was turning right from Harold's Cross to Grove Road when a charming lady in an Audi whacked my left elbow with her wing mirror in her mad rush to get to the back of the next queue of cars.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 3,126 ✭✭✭mr spuckler


    cycling up Haddington rd this morning, a large Transit van skimmed past me, I reached out and hit the side a thump. cue hard braking, window down, 3 builders shouting abuse at me. I cycled on past, they came past me at speed again, then he decided to swerve in and brake test me. will wait to see this evening if it looks as bad on camera as it felt in person before reporting.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 10,375 ✭✭✭✭Hurrache


    Shamelessly stolen from the Motors dashcam thread


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,579 ✭✭✭Mickiemcfist


    Jesus my heart from just watching that. Mind boggling.


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  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 32,388 ✭✭✭✭rubadub


    cycling up Haddington rd this morning, a large Transit van skimmed past me, I reached out and hit the side a thump. cue hard braking, window down, 3 builders shouting abuse at me.
    Trick is to thump it once, stop and hold your your shoulder, so when they look out to roar abuse it looks like they have hit you.


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