Near Misses Volume 2 (So close you can feel it)

That is an absolute shocker, how an Garda haven't done anything with this is baffling.pure stupidity to come in when he saw the bike, followed by lunacy of trying to overtake.
It wouldn't be 200 euro I'd be after.
Straight into the insurance company if cyclist has it, if not, on to the uninsured drivers dept (mibi, I think)

wheelo01 wrote: »

That is an absolute shocker, how an Garda haven't done anything with this is baffling.pure stupidity to come in when he saw the bike, followed by lunacy of trying to overtake.
It wouldn't be 200 euro I'd be after.
Straight into the insurance company if cyclist has it, if not, on to the uninsured drivers dept (mibi, I think)

this right here^^^


i hear of too many people who cycle who are only too happy to let a driver off with just paying for the repairs to the bike. then have all sorts of hassle getting the money and getting it in a timely fashion.
they might agree a few euro for a new wheel or whatever but never get the frame checked. some wont even go see a doctor about their injuries.

if you are in a collision get insurance details, go to a doctor, make a claim.
you are entitled to it, and its what insurance is for. dont let people shame you into "all claims are a scam" stuff.

if you are injured and your property is damaged insurance is to set it right. a professional assessor will look at your claim, if you think thye offered too much then turn it down. if it turns out to be only 50eu for a buckled wheel then the driver can pay off their insurance and wont lose their NCB. theyll still get a loading for being a sh!t driver but who have they got to blame for that?

and lastly, the gardai wont do a thing. they see most non fatal motor collisions as as civil issue that can be settled by the insurers.

Seth Brundle wrote: »

Do PIAB resolve non-medical claims e.g. the cost of damage to the person's bike?

I don't think so. I was in such a situation. The system is actually set up in favour of inflated personal injury claims. I found it extremely difficult to get compensated for bike-only damage. In the absence of potential personal injury payout the game wasn't worth the candle for a solicitor

You can’t fall off a bike and not be injured to some degree, even slightly.

If a car overtakes you and you feel anyway unsafe feel free to whack the car as you are in danger. They are required to give you 1 meter space and Michael Phelp's arms aren't even that long so, in my opinion, there can be no complaints. you are letting them know you do not want to be crushed.


If they want to claim you damaged their car let them know you damaged your hand while they put you in danger.


Disclaimer: I know funk all about the law so take your own council and I in no way suggest violence just defense.

Seth Brundle wrote: »

Do PIAB resolve non-medical claims e.g. the cost of damage to the person's bike?

fat bloke wrote: »

I don't think so. I was in such a situation. The system is actually set up in favour of inflated personal injury claims. I found it extremely difficult to get compensated for bike-only damage. In the absence of potential personal injury payout the game wasn't worth the candle for a solicitor

if you have a damage only claim, get the insurance details, call the insurance company and follow their process. its very easy once there is evidence of the collision (photos or video)

if you didnt get insurance details at the scene this is where the garda WILL help. go to them, report the collision and that the driver did not exchange detauls with you. you'll need the registration, and the garda will issue "a lawful request to present" and the driver has 10 days to show up at a station and give their insurance details

That auxiliary lane is really bad. People think because there's a line of paint demarking a cycle lane, they can pass at speed as long as they're in their own lane. Would be better if there was no cycle lane marked out at all.

Ouch - very close one Seth. The slightest wobble and there'd be contact.

CramCycle wrote: »

As a matter of interest, would the HSA be an appropriate body to report dangerous driving by a professional driver if the gardai or company seem disinterested?

I've failed on several attempts to get HSA interested. Anything related to site traffic or parking and you'll be told it is a matter for the Gardai. Or when you do report a matter, they tell you that they can't tell you anything about the outcome for confidentiality reasons. I did an FOI last year which indicated that they did not investigate several deaths involving commercial trucks (which ARE workplace deaths in law). When they did investigate, they tended to rely mostly on the Garda investigation with little independent thinking.

Had my first close call / scary incident on the bike this morning. Was cycling solo along an old national road which has been reclassified as a regional. It has a mix of hard shoulder and hard strips. Where I was, there is a 1m wide hard strip which contained mud and other detritus. It was also a cold morning so there was a risk of ice in untrafficked areas. I was therefore cycling on the traffic side of the yellow line. As I was cycling, a pick-up pulled up behind me and started hooting at me, presumably to get out of his way. I ignored him and carried on my way. He hooted at me at least 5 times. He then pulled along side me, close enough for me to touch his vehicle and started berating me for not cycling in the hard strip. I ignored him but he carried on shouting at me. After a while, I'd had enough and told him to f off. He carried on shouting so I told him to f off again. He then pulled away in front of me, pulled into the hard strip and skidded to a stop. He then swung his door open and I had to swerve to avoid it but carried on cycling. He then drove past me at a close distance and stopped in the hard strip 2 more times, although he didn't open his door on these two occasions. To me, he was clearly trying to intimidate me by passing me in close proximity and then stopping. He then drove off.

As soon as I got to my destination, I went to the garda station to report what had happened. The gard was very helpful and was a cyclist too. He took a very dim view of the drivers actions. I had tried to remember the registration of the vehicle but only remembered part of it. Fortunately the vehicle was branded with a company name so the gard called the company and was able to determine who the driver was based on the partial reg and vehicle type that I gave him. He didn't get to talk to the driver but spoke to the company boss, telling him that he wanted the driver to phone him back. I've not heard any more from the gard but he said that he would call me with an update.

Be careful out there folks. It may be the season to be jolly but it is also the season for idiots on the road.

Seth Brundle wrote: »

I'd recommend either a front or rear camera (or preferably both) to back you up in these situations.

Definitely something that I will be looking into after this morning. A side facing / helmet cam would also have be useful to show the driver shouting at me to get into the hard strip.

Duzzie wrote: »

Had my first close call / scary incident on the bike this morning. Was cycling solo along an old national road which has been reclassified as a regional. It has a mix of hard shoulder and hard strips. Where I was, there is a 1m wide hard strip which contained mud and other detritus. It was also a cold morning so there was a risk of ice in untrafficked areas. I was therefore cycling on the traffic side of the yellow line. As I was cycling, a pick-up pulled up behind me and started hooting at me, presumably to get out of his way. I ignored him and carried on my way. He hooted at me at least 5 times. He then pulled along side me, close enough for me to touch his vehicle and started berating me for not cycling in the hard strip. I ignored him but he carried on shouting at me. After a while, I'd had enough and told him to f off. He carried on shouting so I told him to f off again. He then pulled away in front of me, pulled into the hard strip and skidded to a stop. He then swung his door open and I had to swerve to avoid it but carried on cycling. He then drove past me at a close distance and stopped in the hard strip 2 more times, although he didn't open his door on these two occasions. To me, he was clearly trying to intimidate me by passing me in close proximity and then stopping. He then drove off.

As soon as I got to my destination, I went to the garda station to report what had happened. The gard was very helpful and was a cyclist too. He took a very dim view of the drivers actions. I had tried to remember the registration of the vehicle but only remembered part of it. Fortunately the vehicle was branded with a company name so the gard called the company and was able to determine who the driver was based on the partial reg and vehicle type that I gave him. He didn't get to talk to the driver but spoke to the company boss, telling him that he wanted the driver to phone him back. I've not heard any more from the gard but he said that he would call me with an update.

Be careful out there folks. It may be the season to be jolly but it is also the season for idiots on the road.

Sorry to hear this.

Had an incidence not as bad as this but with company van

I had a search for the director and found him on FB. Photos of him doing races on his bike.

I emailed him and explained the incident.

He came back to advise he was a cyclists (which I already knew) and said he would speak to his employee.

Seth Brundle wrote: »

nah, keep it simple.
I've a Cycliq Fly12 on the front bars and it picks up sound just fine (my rear Fly6 picks up too much road & wheel noise). If you need to get a look at the driver, then just turn the handlebars when stopped.

Never seems to miss your swearing mate :D

Former Mountain Bike Olympian,(he was also 4th in the Rás, the year the Russians were 1st, 2nd and 3rd) Alastair Martin, competed in a 10 mile Time Trial at Christmas. It was in Newtownards. He finished in 9th place.
He competed on a Penny Farthing. He has previous in this regard.