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Buffalo & Doozerie - The mild musings of two grumpy old men!

Lusk Doyle

Having read a fair amount of giving out rants from these two recently and also the responses to same from both the subject matter of said ranting and fellow boardsies, I think it's time for this thread to be rolled out. Their stories are deserving of their own home!

Buffalo, doozerie - care to humour us?

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RayCun

Judging by the reports on here, the Gardai won't prosecute but might drop around and give him a warning. If nothing else, he was driving while on the phone.

doozerie

CramCycle wrote: »

Apparently, I am a VERY VERY angry man. I will admit, my response to nearly getting hit by a car this morning was far from dignified.

Like you, I’ve had incidents (and still do, on occasion) where I let my adrenaline dictate what I said/shouted in response to the actions of someone or other. The greater the threat posed to me, or someone I care about, by their actions the greater the adrenaline kick and consequently the stronger my response. After such an incident I usually do my own head in with an internal monologue, questioning over and over how I could have dealt with the situation better.

Fundamentally the outcome I want from any such incident is that the person in the wrong comes away from it with some realisation of what they did wrong and some understanding of the risk it posed to others. My hope is that that would make them less likely to repeat the same actions. I like to believe that, if I’m the one in the wrong, I’ll have the humility to learn those same lessons from it. A shouting match usually feels like it achieves the exact opposite, an entrenchment of the disregard and downright animosity towards others that is represented by the dangerous actions that caused the incident.

So I usually feel like I’ve failed at some level when I can’t calm down in the midst of the situation and somehow swing it towards a rational discussion. I have to remind myself though that not everyone is willing to engage in rational discussion and some aren’t even capable of it. Some people are, basically, just dicks. You can’t appeal to their conscience because they don’t have one to speak of, they won’t learn from anything because in their world view they are entitled to do whatever they like and expect everyone around them to go to whatever lengths are necessary to accommodate them and avoid being harmed by their actions, etc.

Sadly, in the worst cases there is simply no cure for being a dick, and the guy you encountered sounds like one of those cases - dealing with such people is like trying to deal with an irrational child, but far worse since they’ve long since rejected every opportunity to ever develop some maturity and they’ll remain the very same anti-social and reckless git that they’ve just demonstrated themselves to be.

I recently encountered a cyclist who came barrelling through a red light to ride across the top of a T-junction. I was turning right, on green, onto the top of the T. He had full visibility of me, and the car behind me, before he even reached the junction but he didn’t slow down, he didn’t even hesitate, despite being on a collision course with me. I was left to do what was necessary to avoid the otherwise inevitable collision. He was an utter dick too. It was one of those scenarios where I came away with absolutely no regrets about telling him so because he deserved no better. Sometimes it’s good to listen to the angry voice in your head

CramCycle

RayCun wrote: »

Judging by the reports on here, the Gardai won't prosecute but might drop around and give him a warning. If nothing else, he was driving while on the phone.

Normally they would but the fact that I shouted back etc. they might be less inclined to because even in my version of events, despite being in the right initially, my behaviour would be unaccceptable, and that blurs the lines for them, and I respect that.

On a different rant, holy crap there are alot of ninjas out there at the minute, one appeared a metre from me going through a junction last night, probably 5 more on the way home. Couple of ninja cars as well, nice dark grey, no lights, blending into the road in heavy traffic.

Bloggsie

CramCycle wrote: »

Apparently, I am a VERY VERY angry man. I will admit, my response to nearly getting hit by a car this morning was far from dignified. I will also admit that I am not the calmest person in the world but I have learned with the exception of an adrenaline rush to walk away and take a deep breath, and then just leave.

I suppose what got my goat was the fact that me being angry in response to a car driving onto a main road from a side road, without slowing, while on the phone, and without even glancing to the right, is still a palatable excuse for bad driving.

I did actually apologise, by the time I was talking to him, my voice was at a normal conversational level. I said, sorry, you scared the **** out of me, hence why I shouted, I thought I was going to get sidelined by your car. It would be nice if you acknowledged that you made a mistake though, being on your phone and not looking right, at all. His passenger then popped around to say that she was nearly hit by a cyclist, several times while out walking. I told her it wasn't me to which she looked confused and then proceeded to tell me that we were dangerous and should not be on the roads. I pointed out, again, that he came onto a main street without slowing while on the phone. To which he then said, "Admit it, you engineered that situation" ?!?!?
"You were in the middle of the road". I told him, as he now knew, I was turning right, hence my road position.

"You speed up to my window to shout at me", I pointed out that he was in a Carrera and I was on a bicycle, the only way to engineer it was if you drove out in front of me. He then pointed out it was not a Carrera. He was in of course right, it was a Caymen, apologies.

"We will agree to disagree", I decided it was time to go, as did he.

Like I said, my initial response was far from dignified, hands up, I admitted it to the guy at the scene, his reaction afterwards was just confusing though.

Numpties or Spanners, call them what you will, no need to worry about pidgeonholeing them, they are what they are plain & simple. As for the passenger's claim that a cyclist nearly hit me, what are the chances that the numpty was walking on a cycle track, for example the amount of walkers & runners on the cycle track in the phoenix park is huge & they get the hump if it is pointed out to them that they have a path solely for the purpose that they are engaged in just 10-15 metres to their left(or rigth)

CramCycle

Bloggsie wrote: »

Numpties or Spanners, call them what you will, no need to worry about pidgeonholeing them, they are what they are plain & simple. As for the passenger's claim that a cyclist nearly hit me, what are the chances that the numpty was walking on a cycle track, for example the amount of walkers & runners on the cycle track in the phoenix park is huge & they get the hump if it is pointed out to them that they have a path solely for the purpose that they are engaged in just 10-15 metres to their left(or rigth)

I didn't really care about the statement, it could have been true, it was the stated in such a way as to imply, I also do this and that all cyclists are the same, like some homogenous group of assh*ts. Then when I said, it wasn't me, she looked confused, as if she could not contemplate the idea that I would not feel responsible for the actions of another road user with a similar mode of transport.

It would be like going to my Dad and saying an 8 wheeler nearly hit me the other day, why don't you sort that sh1t out. I seen it in another forum where a poster told a cyclist who was posting to get his own house in order before criticising other road users. How do people make these jumps, the poster he was giving out to had been arguing in favour of the same measures as him.

I get annoyed with other cyclists doing stupid sh1t because I know some people have that lump them altogether mentality, but I also get annoyed with those people who have that mentality. It cannot be possible that they have spent their entire lives inside of groups where there were no discernable differences between the members of said group.

CramCycle

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hLmuF-0P4tk

Today was nice, I decided that no more, I would just be polite, let everything roll of my back, try my best to not get annoyed. And it was glorious, really easy going commute, few odd decisions by other cyclists, some by other motorists, and indubitably, some by me (one actually where a guy jumped off the path and I swerved/braked, much to the surprise of the Audi driver who was behind me), but friendly waves dissipated it all.

Then I got to Donnybrook Church junction, I was heading in the direction of Stillorgan. The left filter was green, so I merged over to the top of the straight ahead lane and stopped. Just as the lights went red for crossing traffic (ie my light was about to go green, a woman walked out in front of traffic, that was about to gun off. She had barely cleared the left filter lane when I said, "Careful, the light is about to go green" (in fact it had by the time I said it), she was in a nice dark overcoat, it was already quite dark outside, the motorbike beside me had already rolled forward and blocked her path and the taxi beyond him would never have seen her.

And boy was she thankful, she took the time to stop in the middle of the road to shout at me that I had a red light. I said I know but its about to go green I was just warning you. She heard nothing, not even noticing that the light was now green and traffic was trying to move, she did go back to the path F'in me blind. I clipped in and was pushing off when she roared "Assh*le" after me.

So far all I had done was warn her that what was about to happen, I never went near her. She was already crossing a left filter light and crossing traffic, even though there is a pedestrian crossing only 10 metres away (although I admit a tad annoying). I went back and said sorry, and tried to tell her again what I said but she lost it, reamed off about me running a red light, how she was a pedestrian, blah blah blah. I actually asked " Can I explain myself?" to which she replied, "No, I don't give a sh1t, I am 7 months pregnant and I don't need this sh1t". So dark was it at no point had I even noticed that she was pregnant

I said congratulations, swung my leg over my bike and told her to enjoy motherhood, it is a wonderful experience.

Why fuppin bother, I do the right thing, people hate me, at least when I am an assh*le I get the right response. In either scenario I have ended up apologising even though I can't fathom why and/or how natural law has evolved so much to protect such ignorance and stupidity.

While it had annoyed me though, I found my inner zen immediately, had lovely DB driver wave me across at UCD instead of overtaking me when I indicated. I did chortle at the student who in a desperate attempt to speed through UCD, overtook me on a bend and then only copped the barriers were down with a millisecond to spare.

I will continue to try to be nicer or care less which may not be mutually exclusive, it is overall a far more pleasant experience, and in future, I will say good luck to those who think the life of their unborn child is worth risking to save the 2 minutes that the lights take to rotate (although traffic is nearly continuous on the other side of the road so her red light theory would be found short soon enough) or the 3 minutes it takes to walk around the pedestrian path.

galwaycyclist

CramCycle wrote: »

<snip>
or the 3 minutes it takes to walk around the pedestrian path.

This is the problem. The "Irish" system of road design and traffic management is based on the systematic inconvenience and abuse, in my view, of people who walk.

The reason why many Irish cycle facilities are crap is because they are designed by the same people who design pedestrian facilities. They bring the same attitude to cycling facilities and cyclists that they use when designing pedestrian facilities.

Its probably unfortunate that you got to be the focus of her indignation - but in my view she is right - she should not have to put up with this crap.

magicbastarder

CramCycle wrote: »

to which she replied, "No, I don't give a sh1t, I am 7 months pregnant and I don't need this sh1t".

ideal comment in this scenario was 'well, you should take more care at crossings so'.

CramCycle

galwaycyclist wrote: »

This is the problem. The "Irish" system of road design and traffic management is based on the systematic inconvenience and abuse, in my view, of people who walk.

Completely agree, I have sent several mails to complain about the pedestrian lights on the canal, it is only a matter of time before someone is knocked down doe to the 5 seconds green, 5 seconds amber rotation every 2.5 minutes. Pedestrians should have priority in light sequences at all junctions.

Its probably unfortunate that you got to be the focus of her indignation - but in my view she is right - she should not have to put up with this crap.

Its hard to say, I don't think she was paying attention, and when she set off thought she was in the right. She was under the left filter light so could only see the red straight ahead. She clearly was also not paying attention as she would have seen the light for crossing traffic turn amber as she set off. I wasn't trying to be a d*ck. I do think upon reflection, that she had earphones in before I pointed out the lights and she may have thought that I was abusive or threatening, and like some people, felt unable to back down, I thought my sorry and gentle tone (despite the boring midlands drawl) would settle her annoyance, obviously not.

galwaycyclist

CramCycle wrote: »

Its hard to say, I don't think she was paying attention, and when she set off thought she was in the right. She was under the left filter light so could only see the red straight ahead. She clearly was also not paying attention as she would have seen the light for crossing traffic turn amber as she set off. I wasn't trying to be a d*ck. I do think upon reflection, that she had earphones in before I pointed out the lights and she may have thought that I was abusive or threatening, and like some people, felt unable to back down, I thought my sorry and gentle tone (despite the boring midlands drawl) would settle her annoyance, obviously not.

Just to clarify - I agree that "legally" she was probably in the wrong - I just disagree with the way the law is used in this country by certain interests.

I think you did the responsible thing warning her that the lights were about to change.

The underlying problem is that we have had several generations of roads engineers training several generations of pedestrians to ignore pedestrian crossings if they want to get anywhere at a reasonable pace.

Before anyone kicks off on a "jaywalking" rant. I have a paper somewhere that showed that for female pedestrians, those who waited for the green man were more likely to get knocked down than those who took their chances crossing on the red man. This of course means that they were getting hit by cars running red lights.

magicbastarder

galwaycyclist wrote: »

This is the problem. The "Irish" system of road design and traffic management is based on the systematic inconvenience and abuse, in my view, of people who walk.

you probably heard about the talk given by a dutch engineer in dublin recently - the point he made which seems to have been picked up most was the idiocy of pedestrians having to 'apply' to cross the road in the city centre (via the use of push button triggered pedestrian crossings).

how many zebra crossings are there in dublin city centre?
i've been meaning to email the council about two very obvious locations for them - either end of castle market, i.e. between powerscourt and grogan's, and the other end of castle market across to the george's arcade.

CramCycle

galwaycyclist wrote: »

Just to clarify - I agree that "legally" she was probably in the wrong - I just disagree with the way the law is used in this country by certain interests.

I wasn't concerned about the legalities of the situation. Despite my rantings about the rules etc. on here, I don't give out to pedestrians or say anything to them. The system is broken and unfortunately no one with a position to fix it seems willing or able to do anything about it. Jaywalking in Dublin, it maybe illegal but there are a few situations where it is safer such as the long turn around times in the city cetre at rush hour which leads to so many pedestrians on both sides that it is neither feasible to clear the junction when they do get a green man but it leads to crowds of 50+ people barging through each other, often more, imagine how dangerous these crowds would be if people did not jaywalk

I think you did the responsible thing warning her that the lights were about to change.

Pretty much all I wanted to do, if it was a single lane, I just would have held my ground and let her pass, we would have nodded to each other, she might have said thanks, I might have said no bother.

The underlying problem is that we have had several generations of roads engineers training several generations of pedestrians to ignore pedestrian crossings if they want to get anywhere at a reasonable pace.

Oddly enough, while in theory it makes sense, in practice it is flawed, a green wave with increased pedestrian times, will have traffic moving alot smoother. The increased preference given to pedestrians may also encourage, maybe not likely, other commuters to use PT if they see its not being crammed into a tram, then crushed at a junction, then nearly run over by a clutch jumping driver.

magicbastarder wrote: »

you probably heard about the talk given by a dutch engineer in dublin recently - the point he made which seems to have been picked up most was the idiocy of pedestrians having to 'apply' to cross the road in the city centre (via the use of push button triggered pedestrian crossings).

how many zebra crossings are there in dublin city centre?
i've been meaning to email the council about two very obvious locations for them - either end of castle market, i.e. between powerscourt and grogan's, and the other end of castle market across to the george's arcade.

I pass through one in UCD alot and it is routinely ignored. Drives my OH bananas as she walks through their in the evenings. Driving through it doesn't even make sense as it is at the Clonskeagh gate so you hit a traffic jam less than 5 metres further. The number of times on my cycle I have seen cars parked in traffic on the Zebra crossing.

I know in another thread someone made the excellent point that all pedestrian crossings should default to green when crossing traffic has no right of way. A simple measure. But the number of junctions in Dublin where it is safe to cross but the red man remains for some reason is beyond me. It is an annoyance not only for regular pedestrians but imagine the visually impaired hitting a button and having to wait for another 3 minutes for the light to turn even though when they hit the button, it was clear and safe to cross.

CramCycle

magicbastarder wrote: »

ideal comment in this scenario was 'well, you should take more care at crossings so'.

I had thought of several witty remarks after the fact but while annoyed none jumped to mind, I am happy in the realisation that she would not have listened anyway, probably should have pretended to say something witty.

EDIT: What I said to her was "well it will be nice to have someone your mental age around the house next year" :pac:

EDIT2: Not witty enough "considering your lack of observational skills, I am not surprised you never noticed the lack of a condom"

EDIT3: Too crass/risque "I'm rubber you're glue, your words bounce off me and stick to you". Appropriate for attitude and mental age. Perfect

Kav0777

CramCycle wrote: »

Pretty much all I wanted to do, if it was a single lane, I just would have held my ground and let her pass, we would have nodded to each other, she might have said thanks, I might have said no bother.

I admire your optimism.

Leroy42

Just curious Cramcycle, what did you expect her to say to you. You are assuming that she had not seen the situation, that in some way she was unable to make the choice herself and that through her ignornace she was stepping into fast moving traffic. Maybe she thought she'd chance her arm and save a few seconds.

What you perceive as being helpful may have sounded to her as being arrogant. Pedestrians all over seem to think that the traffic is the cause of the problem when they stuck in no mans land.

To be clear, I'm not having any go, just wondering what you're thinking was when you spoke to her and did you think she would suddenly wake from her comatosed state and thank you or something.

BoardsMember

galwaycyclist wrote: »

Before anyone kicks off on a "jaywalking" rant. I have a paper somewhere that showed that for female pedestrians, those who waited for the green man were more likely to get knocked down than those who took their chances crossing on the red man. This of course means that they were getting hit by cars running red lights.

Just for female pedestrians? How could that possibly be? Is that because there are better at taking their chances than men? I can't imagine it means that women are more likely than men to be knocked down when waiting/using the green man,

magicbastarder wrote: »

you probably heard about the talk given by a dutch engineer in dublin recently - the point he made which seems to have been picked up most was the idiocy of pedestrians having to 'apply' to cross the road in the city centre (via the use of push button triggered pedestrian crossings).

how many zebra crossings are there in dublin city centre?

I'd be much more in favour of the pedestrian lights turning red automatically on a timer rather than zebra crossings, which to Irish people are no more than a suggestion to maybe stop if you are so inclined, and are probably more likely to endanger pedestrians than anything else.

My two cents on the woman at the lights in Donnybrook, she's an idiot. She was crossing a 6 lane highway with no pedestrian crossing, when there is one 20 metres away, and when she does not seem to know or take into consideration the lights sequence. You were far more patient than the situation required.

buffalo

BoardsMember wrote: »

I'd be much more in favour of the pedestrian lights turning red automatically on a timer

There's one of those on my road. People have learned that a red light for road traffic doesn't necessarily mean anyone's crossing, and now some people just plough through it.

Doesn't really make it that much more effective than a zebra crossing.

NeedMoreGears

galwaycyclist wrote: »

......... I have a paper somewhere that showed that for female pedestrians, those who waited for the green man were more likely to get knocked down than those who took their chances crossing on the red man. This of course means that they were getting hit by cars running red lights.

I wonder if this is due to people paying less attention to the traffic just because they have a green light. I'd speculate people are more alert when crossing on the red.

@cram - don't sweat it. You tried to do the right thing. Twice.

CramCycle

Leroy42 wrote: »

Just curious Cramcycle, what did you expect her to say to you. You are assuming that she had not seen the situation, that in some way she was unable to make the choice herself and that through her ignornace she was stepping into fast moving traffic. Maybe she thought she'd chance her arm and save a few seconds.

As she stepped out, traffic was not fast moving, it was about to start moving and she would not have been seen by the lane to my right (maybe she would have been). I didn't expect her to say anything. I certainly did not expect her to give out to me for red light jumping (because I didn't), nor did I expect her to call me an assh*le (because for the shortest of times, I wasn't). I know she hadn't fully seen the situation as she claimed the light was red (the filter was green as she stepped off but she could not have seen that from her angle) and the light was green as she just came into my lane. I hadn't moved but I did raise my hand.

What you perceive as being helpful may have sounded to her as being arrogant. Pedestrians all over seem to think that the traffic is the cause of the problem when they stuck in no mans land.

I was trying to be helpful, and while nothing may have happened, and while she may not have liked me, I choose to think it was helpful, it certainly wasn't arrogant but I admit with her headphones in and her brain trying to fill in the gaps of the situation, she may have just thought I was an assh*le preparing to jump the light, in fact, its about the only thing I can think of because some cyclists half cross the road here to avoid left turning traffic, maybe she thought the light sequence was not as far advanced as it was.

To be clear, I'm not having any go, just wondering what you're thinking was when you spoke to her and did you think she would suddenly wake from her comatosed state and thank you or something.

I know your not having a go, I appreciate the thought that I missed something that would skew the events from my perspective and hers. I don't think she was comatose, I just think she wasn't paying attention. After she replied to me, I realise that she honestly thought she had been. Most people who are wandering around comatose, realise immediately that they were not paying attention and apologise whether in the right or wrong as some sort of in built Irish reaction.

EDIT: I just looked over my helmet cam, the light had actually went green as I said it was about to go green and before she had set foot in my lane. She actually comes off worse in the video than my description. I had thought for a minute, maybe I had remembered it wrong, maybe I clipped in before she came over and the light wasn't green yet. It turns out I warn her before she crosses my lane, while stationary, and while my light was green. I actually wait for her to leave the road before I move.

It is so dark out that the only part of her visible in the video are her reflective runners and her calves.

CramCycle

BoardsMember wrote: »

I'd be much more in favour of the pedestrian lights turning red automatically on a timer rather than zebra crossings, which to Irish people are no more than a suggestion to maybe stop if you are so inclined, and are probably more likely to endanger pedestrians than anything else.

I should have been clear, I am talking about where pedestrian lights are at a junction with regular traffic lights. Whenever lights are red for traffic through a certain part of the junction, they should automatically be green for pedestrians which is what I think the dutch engineer had said as well.

Leroy42

CramCycle wrote: »

It is so dark out that the only part of her visible in the video are her reflective runners and her calves.

To be honest, if she is pregnant and has to herd cattle I'm not surprised she wasn't paying attention.

I'll

get

my

coat

galwaycyclist

Leroy42 wrote: »

To be honest, if she is pregnant and has to herd cattle I'm not surprised she wasn't paying attention.

In which case be grateful you didnt get a good slap of a wavin pipe for your trouble.

<out the gap>

Rogue-Trooper

Staggering number of cyclists people on bikes early this morning with no lights. It's bad enough in the dark but with that fog thrown in they would just appear out of nowhere.

Obviously some sort of 'natural selection' at work - Darwin must be twitching in his grave.

CramCycle

Rogue-Trooper wrote: »

Staggering number of cyclists people on bikes early this morning with no lights. It's bad enough in the dark but with that fog thrown in they would just appear out of nowhere.

Obviously some sort of 'natural selection' at work - Darwin must be twitching in his grave.

Dublin road users are proof that the theory of Natural Selection is poppy cock, be it the Audi that booted down the wrong side of the road to jump traffic, the 6 cars with no lights this morning, the uncountable number with parking lights rather than dims on, the numbers sitting on yellow boxes and then ploughing through pedestrians who are crossing on green, the number of cyclists with no lights this morning or last night, the number who just thought, who cares about the red light, carry on regardless, the 3 buses that I witnessed half overtaking and merging across cyclists, the immeasurable number of moped users who don't do a life saver before changing lanes with their feet skimming the ground as they move or the pedestrians who could not wait for traffic to stop before trying to run in between (one guy did not even notice the motorbike skid stop last night on the way home)..

Pinch Flat

CramCycle wrote: »

Dublin road users are proof that the theory of Natural Selection is poppy cock, be it the Audi that booted down the wrong side of the road to jump traffic, the 6 cars with no lights this morning, the uncountable number with parking lights rather than dims on, the numbers sitting on yellow boxes and then ploughing through pedestrians who are crossing on green, the number of cyclists with no lights this morning or last night, the number who just thought, who cares about the red light, carry on regardless, the 3 buses that I witnessed half overtaking and merging across cyclists, the immeasurable number of moped users who don't do a life saver before changing lanes with their feet skimming the ground as they move or the pedestrians who could not wait for traffic to stop before trying to run in between (one guy did not even notice the motorbike skid stop last night on the way home)..

Agree that a lot of cyclists could have lit up better this morning / plenty of cars with either defective or no lights on in dense fog as well.

I must have missed the news last night - apparently the hard shoulder in the phonenix park is now a taxi lane. Well, it was for some taxi man this morning - speeding down in dense fog until he came across a parked car.

We had a world record attempt at Myos pub this morning - glad to be a witness to it. 2 private cars and 2 taxis squeezed through a red light. Kudos to those drivers who will go to great lengths to save them selves a few minutes in the morning and add to the mayhem in the process.

We also had a record attempt in the yellow box at Kevin St / Wexford St and further on toward the green. If this ever becomes an Olympic sport, we will win gold every year - it's like an invitation fit drivers into the box. Don't mind the dozen cyclists trying to get by - we will squeeze through on the bike lane you're blocking.

Followed by a motor bike down the newly formed bike lane at St Stephens green South - revving the engine doesn't make me cycle any faster or get out of your way - happy in the end to squeeze between me and a car to get by - hadn't realised we shared these with motorbikes? Same with advanced boxes at traffic lights - motorbikes and mopeds in them all the time, I really do need to catch up with theses advances I road safety more.

Also had a taxi man in the same lane the other morning. When I banged on his car to stop him squeezing me at the lights, he stopped for a confrontation. Unfortunately for him a traffic corp car was in traffic a few meters down - the lads witnessed the whole thing and were happy to take my story at the side of the road.

Then it was my turn for my favourite - the new bike lane at the east of st Stephens green, which has become a handy drop off for yummy mummy's since its been widened and resurfaced. Girl hit on a Dublin bike while trying to get around 4 or 5 parked cars on Monday. Complained with the school and photographs of offending cars sent to Gardai and DCC.

Had a word with one this morning which went like this:

"excuse me, but you're parked in a bike lane, it's illegal and dangerous"...to which she replied "I know, I'm dropping my child to school" rather defensively. She was on an N plate and showing her daughter the ropes for her own life of car dependency. I thought she'd smile while I took a photo of her and her car in the bike land - she didn't - another one sent to traffic enforcement at DCC and the Gardai.

Peterx

Did you really think she would smile?

Harrybelafonte

CramCycle wrote: »

Dublin road users are proof that the theory of Natural Selection is poppy cock, be it the Audi that booted down the wrong side of the road to jump traffic, the 6 cars with no lights this morning, the uncountable number with parking lights rather than dims on, the numbers sitting on yellow boxes and then ploughing through pedestrians who are crossing on green, the number of cyclists with no lights this morning or last night, the number who just thought, who cares about the red light, carry on regardless, the 3 buses that I witnessed half overtaking and merging across cyclists, the immeasurable number of moped users who don't do a life saver before changing lanes with their feet skimming the ground as they move or the pedestrians who could not wait for traffic to stop before trying to run in between (one guy did not even notice the motorbike skid stop last night on the way home)..

Sounds like London too, and plenty of other cities, Dublin isn't alone in this.

CramCycle

Harrybelafonte wrote: »

Sounds like London too, and plenty of other cities, Dublin isn't alone in this.

I lived in London for years, sure there are bad drivers but considering the population and density, it is nowhere near as bad as Dublin IMO.

Harrybelafonte

Ok, my experience in London was different, then Rome was nuts.

CramCycle

Harrybelafonte wrote: »

Ok, my experience in London was different, then Rome was nuts.

Admittedly it has been nearly 20 years since I lived there and nearly 5 since I last cycled there.