Dummy opening post
I don't think being aggressive is the way to approach these kinds of scenarios. Best to just be in dismay and almost be disappointed in the person if you end up talking to them. Angry exchanges tend to lead greater vitriol towards cyclists whereas if you calmly explain yourself there may be a greater chance he'll think twice the next time.
the chap - going by the first post and not even needing to revert to the second; did not make 'a mistake'. it sounds like it was deliberate.
someone getting a bolllocking for treating a red light like an optional extra, when there are crossing pedestrians, getting a dressing down, gets the world's smallest violin from me. he's more likely to hesitate next time as a result.
That's a very different scenario. There is no mention of any phone in your initial post
Exactly, if the driver had stopped dead there poster would have been into the back of them. Complete lack of awareness.
to not make 'mistakes', i suspect.
The guy made a mistake and put his hands up - several times. What more do you want him to do?
If you have video it is definitely easier but it depends on the Garda you get. There is no way to upload video. We are in the dark ages in that way unfortunately. You could say to the Garda that you just want them to have a word and not make a statement. That driver was totally inconsiderate / unaware and deserves to be aske to account for that pass.
For the sake of tackliing the rise of close passing, I see it as correct to report them. Each incident could be the next cyclist in collision with motor vehicle, but motororist uninjured report in Media. Its time this sort of driving was tackled and proper records of how endemic it is built up.
Yeah one I'd shake my head over as opposed to shaking my fist at.
Fair enough it's not the worst left hook I've had but still poor driving if I didn't adjust speed and position I'd have hit him all because he was too impatient to wait and turn behind me.
Dunno if you could call that a left hook in fairness, cars a fair distance ahead of you and is indicating clearly well ahead of the junction. He just slows right down to make the turn which is why you catch up with him.
Lucky I was pulling up short as he certainly wasn't stopping I was looking right for traffic on the road and lane and just looked left as he passed! https://streamable.com/i71n9a and a classic left hook https://streamable.com/unb6v1 yesterday on the way to work.
No effort to pass at a safe distance and overtaking against oncoming vehicle. All too common. Will you report this?
With on coming vehicle and narrow lane I move out more. Then a driver from behind has to cross into the path of oncoming traffic to pass. Most will hold back until its safe or safer. You should not have to do this but when you dont you may get a pass like you experienced, which is a Jesus Christ and FFS pass.
I wonder if they apply the same filter logic to burglaries (why not stay home and not give thieves the opportunity to break in) or assault victim( if you were not there the assault would have been avoided)
Etc...
The attitude of some of them leaves a lot to be desired. No wonder its a free for all with close passes etc. It's unlikely to be reported and even less likely to be taken seriously.
Policing by consent or is it if they consent to police?
Pre pandemic I'd a close pass and intimidating driving from a guy who reckoned I should be in the bike lane. He was revving his car behind me, beeping and shouting all caught on camera. I reported it to Lucan and the first question was why wasn't I cycling in the bike lane, even when explained they said it could all have been avoided if I was cycling where I was supposed to be!! I instantly knew it wasn't going to go anywhere.
Careless driving will only land someone in District Court, where the standard of judges is pretty damn low. You'll encounter the exact same attitude from a DC Judge as you will from the average Garda Sergeant when it comes to offences against cyclists.
Please report that and insist on making a statement.
It's the second or third car tailgaters thst are often make the scariest passers. 1sr car safe and they follow blind, often clueless as to the obstacle or hazard ahead. Muppets. Tailgating is a real problem in Ireland, and not policed effectively or at all.
Absolutely I try to do the same too but it's not always easy a few seconds lapse in concentration and you're too close to the kerb. Looking at the video again the ops positioning isn't too bad but the state of the road, footpath widths and entrances etc. the good pass beforehand he drifts a little left something I'm probably guilty of daily! Then you get the close pass reminder :(
You are right but it is nice to have that space to move into if they drift whiel skimming you. Not much better but a tiny bit. If everyone was like the first car though, then it wouldn't matter a f* where you were as it would be safe.
I'm not sure taking the lane here would have done anything to prevent that the other lane was clear he wasn't squeezing by just not bothered to give space
If you don't take the lane, you're asking for close/dangerous passes because Irish drivers have no patience
Take the lane or they take chances.
Not excusing that driving at all, and not having a go at you over what was likely a very scary incident, just saying there's a way you can lessen the likelihood of close/dangerous passes. Hope you're ok
Cycling inbound towards the Children's Hospital, taking the lane so nobody tries to fly up past me in the bus lane after the junction and I hear a beep behind me to see a Prius right on my arse, I give him the WTF hand signal then he floors it past me. Normally bullying would make me move over more but before I could think he was already flooring it. I was behind him at the next light as it went green, then he flew down Kildare Road where I would have caught up to him again but I was turning off. You're never far from a red light in a built up area, speeding and driving aggressively is just pointless.
Traffic Watch can't deal with actual collisions in my experience, and the Gardaí have to take that seriously so there's no benefit.
That's not my experience. The benefit of using TrafficWatch is that you know that the incident has been logged. I've had a few experiences going into the station where they take details on a post-it note, which I'm fairly sure gets filed in the bin when I walk out. They can't do that with TW as it has een logged from day 1.
Odd, usually traffic watch are great, take very specific details, very helpful etc and it's the Gardai that are useless!
I called TrafficWatch in the evening of the day it happened and they took all the details over the phone. Then I had a call from a Garda at the local station a couple of weeks later inviting me to come in and make a statement.
Mostly but not always. You can get lucky depending on the garda and his superior and their mood on the day. My written account with no video was enough to get at taxi driver a couple of penalty points and an €80 fine for a close pass before I bought a camera.
nowhere near the worst i've seen on the road, but yesterday a car came round a bend towards me about two foot over the white line, with the driver clearly bent over trying to find something on the seat beside him, or even in the footwell of the passenger side of the car, so very much not with eyes on the road.
the main reason it was noteworthy was i'm 90% certain it was my father in law.
After my own incident, can empathise with arriving over the handlebars. Funny how quick you can stop a bike at times!
That's great, it was dreadful driving
It took me a little while to find someone in An Post to complain to, I didn't have time to try their live chat in hours so resorted to guessing email address and the way back machine to find addresses! In true Irish fashion, the response I got came from an address with an auto responder configured to say it was unmonitored!! That aside they couldn't have been more professional I got two calls to apologize one from the driver's immediate manager to say it was taken very seriously and was far below what was expected. I thanked them for the reply and said I'd be happy if they were shown the clip from my perspective and realized the dangers of their driving/parking.
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