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

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Comments

  • #502
    josip
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 14,163 ✭✭✭✭josip


    Will it take a court case to clarify the SI ?
    I haven't heard of a case going to court yet for failing to cycle on a provided path.
    I'D have thought the Traffic Corps would be very reluctant to issue an FCPN on a vague point of law?

    Maybe what's needed is a (mass) cycle on a road somewhere there's a substandard cycle lane.
    Inform the Traffic Corps of the schedule and invite them in advance to come along and issue FCPNs if they see fit.
    Inform various media groups in advance also.


  • #503
    Bushmanpm
    Registered Users Posts: 191 ✭✭Bushmanpm


    Tombo2001 wrote:
    (And note, I have zero interest in 'advice' or 'constructive criticism' from drivers - there are a million other threads where I can find this).

    Says all I need to know right there!
    The only people who don't need advice are those who already know everything.


  • #504
    Danbo!
    Closed Accounts Posts: 3,942 ✭✭✭Danbo!


    RobertFoster wrote: »
    Does actual contact with another vehicle count as a "near miss"?

    Inbound in Fairview today...

    Had an incident with a bus a couple of months back, tight overtake and moved back in half way by me, came very close to coming off. Driver said himself "You should be on the cycle track, there's no room for me to pass you". There was no talking to the guy at all, tried to argue if there was no room then why overtake, but it was clear he was 'educating' me.

    For reference, it's in terenure where there's a sign pointing into a housing estate saying "cycle track" with no actual cycle track, just takes you off the main road. The road was at the time caked in wet leaves, so I generally used the main road without any hassle.

    It shook me for a few days tbh, both how close it was to spilling under either a wheel or into a wall (no footpath) and also the worrying attitude of the driver who was convinced he was both correct (debatable) and justified in passing me.


  • #505
    magicbastarder
    Moderators, Category Moderators, Arts Moderators, Sports Moderators Posts: 50,223 CMod ✭✭✭✭magicbastarder


    is this the lane you were in? looks like it's marked as a combined cycle lane/bus lane at this point:

    https://www.google.ie/maps/@53.364327,-6.2306129,3a,49.6y,228.51h,79t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sMp5oH5G6yroTuhNSHh-eiQ!2e0!7i13312!8i6656?hl=en


  • #506
    RobertFoster
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 9,229 ✭✭✭RobertFoster


    magicbastarder wrote: »
    i assume the traffic corps people didn't leave you any contact details?
    i'd be inclined to mail the super (if there is one) questioning his subordinate's grasp of the law. not that i'd expect it'd get very far.
    No contact details for the Traffic Corps, and the Garda phoned from a private number.
    magicbastarder wrote: »
    is this the lane you were in? looks like it's marked as a combined cycle lane/bus lane at this point:

    https://www.google.ie/maps/@53.364327,-6.2306129,3a,49.6y,228.51h,79t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sMp5oH5G6yroTuhNSHh-eiQ!2e0!7i13312!8i6656?hl=en
    Yes, that's it. There's even a sign at the bus stop https://goo.gl/maps/iEQWVQxk7EM2


  • #507
    magicbastarder
    Moderators, Category Moderators, Arts Moderators, Sports Moderators Posts: 50,223 CMod ✭✭✭✭magicbastarder


    that's bananas. one would hope that one group of people who would support your right to be in a combined bus/cycle lane would be the traffic corps, but they're issuing vague threats about it instead...


  • #508
    ThisRegard
    Closed Accounts Posts: 27,833 ✭✭✭✭ThisRegard


    Maybe contact traffic watch yourself directly to see, or steer it, towards a different direction.

    I'd wonder why the Garda in question would contact the traffic corp, and he seemed prejudiced as to the outcome from the start. The call, if it happened, may have gone along the lines of hey, this lad claimed he had an incident but I reckon he was wrong. Yeah, go with your instincts, you're probably right.


  • #509
    Chuchote
    Closed Accounts Posts: 5,368 ✭✭✭Chuchote


    Contact details for the Traffic Corps

    http://garda.ie/Controller.aspx?Page=110&Lang=1

    The Traffic Corps would be worth talking to and inviting to informational seminars on matters like whether safety is better served by making cyclists wear lovely bright colours and plastic hats or by educating drivers to drive safely around cyclists.


  • #510
    ED E
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 36,169 ✭✭✭✭ED E


    @RobertFoster put in a TrafficWatch report and dont mention talking to those two members. Will go over their head first.


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  • #511
    tomasrojo
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 11,805 ✭✭✭✭tomasrojo


    The Gardaí really have a lot of institutional problems.


  • #512
    WAPAIC
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 240 ✭✭WAPAIC


    RobertFoster wrote: »
    Does actual contact with another vehicle count as a "near miss"?

    Report it, I'll pay the fine if you get a FCPN.

    Got knocked down by a bus a few months ago doing a similar thing, regret not reporting it to be honest.

    If we don't report the near misses, the serious injuries and deaths look like anomalies.


  • #513
    tomasrojo
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 11,805 ✭✭✭✭tomasrojo


    A Dublin Bus took a sideswipe at me in Fairview years ago, because I was at the edge of the on-road cycle track, even though I actually was still in it. This was before the new cycle track SI, but I've assumed since then that Fairview has a similar problem as on the N11 with bus drivers "teaching lessons", and, as in the case of the N11, I worked out routes to avoid Fairview.

    Of course, teaching lessons using the weight and speed of a bus is completely disproportionate, not remotely within the duties or competencies of the driver, and, unless something is very wrong with the statute books, breaking far more serious laws than mandatory-use instruments.


  • #514
    HivemindXX
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,208 ✭✭✭HivemindXX


    That bus driver and those guards are a disgrace. If there was any justice they would all lose their jobs.

    Using a bus to bully a cyclist off the road is a serious offence. If that driver had misjudged things or the cyclist had hit a pot hole the cyclist could easily have been killed and it would have been manslaughter, although I have no doubt that the driver would lie about what he was doing and the video would be mysteriously out of action and nobody would ever be charged. The same thing happened to me on the N11 some years ago and neither Dublin Bus nor the guards gave a damn.


  • #515
    Moflojo
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,006 ✭✭✭Moflojo


    If I'm understanding the Gardaí's attitude to these matters correctly, I can beat the absolute sh1t out of any vehicles that park in a cycle lane - smash windows, slash tyres, key the paint work - and the Gardaí will then issue FCNs to the drivers of those vehicles because they shouldn't have been parked there in the first place, and I will get off scot-free?

    Nice one.


  • #516
    AndrewJRenko
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 29,484 ✭✭✭✭AndrewJRenko


    WAPAIC wrote: »
    Report it, I'll pay the fine if you get a FCPN.
    I'll split it with you.


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  • #517
    CramCycle
    Moderators, Sports Moderators Posts: 25,180 Mod ✭✭✭✭CramCycle


    HivemindXX wrote: »
    That bus driver and those guards are a disgrace. If there was any justice they would all lose their jobs.

    Using a bus to bully a cyclist off the road is a serious offence. If that driver had misjudged things or the cyclist had hit a pot hole the cyclist could easily have been killed and it would have been manslaughter, although I have no doubt that the driver would lie about what he was doing and the video would be mysteriously out of action and nobody would ever be charged. The same thing happened to me on the N11 some years ago and neither Dublin Bus nor the guards gave a damn.

    Same here, I actually looked at the footage of my incident again (had a helmet cam). First of all, when I get the sh1t scared out of me, I sound very British which is unusual but it is so clear. BE lost the footage, AGS who I followed up with a few times, just lost interest. I had it on camera. He admitted it was on purpose. I was calm, I did not shout at him. I gave him my name and details after he claimed there was no way to prove who I was. Never put it on youtube, followed all the rules, nothing happened. Got bored with due process this morning and sent BE and traffic watch his pic via twitter but I expect just to be blocked.
    AndrewJRenko wrote: »
    I'll split it with you.
    Me three


  • #518
    dermabrasion
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 471 ✭✭dermabrasion


    TrafficWatch is open to bus drivers too in order to report cyclists for not adhering to the ROTR. Garda should be advocating drivers follow that route to act on alleged offences, as as opposed to condoning summary traffic justice.
    ISIS see large vehicles as effective weapons against vulnerable people. AGS should take threatening behaviour more seriously.
    But in all of the recent sorrow, the Minister for Transport is silent. He is as much use as a fart in a spacesuit.


  • #519
    magicbastarder
    Moderators, Category Moderators, Arts Moderators, Sports Moderators Posts: 50,223 CMod ✭✭✭✭magicbastarder


    would be interesting, for future reference, to understand how many bus lanes are *not* also cycle lanes.


  • #520
    Chuchote
    Closed Accounts Posts: 5,368 ✭✭✭Chuchote


    magicbastarder wrote: »
    would be interesting, for future reference, to understand how many bus lanes are *not* also cycle lanes.

    None, as I understand it. By definition, isn't a bus lane also a cycle lane?

    It's time for cyclists to start using helmetcams as the norm. They're not dear, and they may save lives.


  • #521
    Pinch Flat
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 7,767 ✭✭✭Pinch Flat


    magicbastarder wrote: »
    would be interesting, for future reference, to understand how many bus lanes are *not* also cycle lanes.

    I used to cycle from City West to Dublin 15 - got onto the dual carriageway at the N7 / Grange castle and followed this to Lucan. This bus lane is buses only - found this out the hard way when I was side swiped and blared at a few times. There is a cycle lane adjacenct to this road.

    https://goo.gl/maps/Z9t7cE8Ueq22


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  • #522
    Roland27
    Registered Users Posts: 127 ✭✭Roland27


    Thats a crazy incident, RobertFoster. I've had near misses like this with Dublin Bus's before, and I agree with others in this thread that its about time cyclists take action against incidents like this and report them as much as they can.

    Surely the guards cannot tell someone that they must use bike lanes? I know the law of bike lanes being mandatory is unclear at the moment given recent comments, but I'm still under the impression they are not all mandatory?


  • #523
    tomasrojo
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 11,805 ✭✭✭✭tomasrojo


    Yeah, I think all bus lanes that aren't contraflow implicitly include the option of use by bicycle. The standard bus lane sign has a bicycle symbol on it. The councils did occasionally put a blue patch over the bicycle in the past to make a "bus only" sign, but, of course, the design wasn't in the statutes, and so was nonsense. @monument got quite a few of them removed, I think.

    And anyway, the mandatory use was rescinded, which is part of the reason standard bus sign was not revised when they regularised "shared space" signs and other hitherto non-standard signange in common use. I have no doubt in my mind that as the statute stands, you don't have to use cycle tracks that are not in contraflow bus lanes or in pedestrian zones. If Ross ever gets it together to write a new statute, that will almost certainly change, but ...

    ?u=https%3A%2F%2Fpbs.twimg.com%2Fprofile_images%2F3414420125%2F3a3d1bec87a49eececf749ba1d5d5956.jpeg&f=1


  • #524
    CramCycle
    Moderators, Sports Moderators Posts: 25,180 Mod ✭✭✭✭CramCycle


    Chuchote wrote: »
    It's time for cyclists to start using helmetcams as the norm. They're not dear, and they may save lives.

    Isn't it such a shame that people feel that way, it is a damning review of our society that the fear of going out in public and getting harmed is so accepted by some that a camera to record your every action is seen as a necessity rather than a novelty.

    A favourite quote of mine, not directly related, but I like it, so that is that.
    What Orwell failed to predict is that we'd buy the cameras ourselves, and that our biggest fear would be that nobody was watching.


  • #525
    tomasrojo
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 11,805 ✭✭✭✭tomasrojo


    Pinch Flat wrote: »
    I used to cycle from City West to Dublin 15 - got onto the dual carriageway at the N7 / Grange castle and followed this to Lucan. This bus lane is buses only - found this out the hard way when I was side swiped and blared at a few times. There is a cycle lane adjacenct to this road.

    https://goo.gl/maps/Z9t7cE8Ueq22

    That looks like one of the "blued-over" signs of yesteryear.

    There are a few bus lanes on dual carriage ways that are narrow and very high-speed, so they maybe should be bus-only, if they're not.


  • #526
    CramCycle
    Moderators, Sports Moderators Posts: 25,180 Mod ✭✭✭✭CramCycle


    Roland27 wrote: »
    Surely the guards cannot tell someone that they must use bike lanes? I know the law of bike lanes being mandatory is unclear at the moment given recent comments, but I'm still under the impression they are not all mandatory?

    A far more important point, that many overlook, is the lack of decency. Forget the laws, the rules and the regulations. Let us say this driver was correct and the cyclists was not legally allowed in the bus lane.

    WHO ****ING CARES? Since when did we as a people condone attempted murder as an acceptable retribution from a vigilante. The only time this is acceptable is in a Superhero comic, and even then, only if the cyclist has a weapon that will blow up half the city. A commuter on the N11 and Supermans latest family friend from his long dead planet have little in common I imagine, but to some, they may as well be one and the same.


  • #527
    Pinch Flat
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 7,767 ✭✭✭Pinch Flat


    tomasrojo wrote: »
    That looks like one of the "blued-over" signs of yesteryear.

    There are a few bus lanes on dual carriage ways that are narrow and very high-speed, so they maybe should be bus-only, if they're not.

    Be interested to know. It's a 80 km/hr limit along this road ,not that it's observed in any way.


  • #528
    CramCycle
    Moderators, Sports Moderators Posts: 25,180 Mod ✭✭✭✭CramCycle


    Pinch Flat wrote: »
    I used to cycle from City West to Dublin 15 - got onto the dual carriageway at the N7 / Grange castle and followed this to Lucan. This bus lane is buses only - found this out the hard way when I was side swiped and blared at a few times. There is a cycle lane adjacenct to this road.

    You could argue it is not a bus lane due to lack of signage but it would be a hard sell.


  • #529
    Tombo2001
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 6,709 ✭✭✭Tombo2001


    Cycled from town to Ratoath at the weekend.

    There is a huge network of bike lanes, off road up around the Ballycooling industrial estate. Would love to know how much use they get.

    Particularly -

    -The quality of the bike lanes is appalling compared to the road surface for cars. To be fair, its not that evident to the naked eye unless you are on the bike path, but I actually began to feel seasick from all the undulations.
    - There are a large number of roundabouts in this area, but the bike lanes only give you the opportunity to turn left; you cant event get off the bike lane and carry the bike across the road because of the rails, so you end up turning around, cycling back to the next pedestrian crossing.

    I very much had the Marty Morrissey radio show from Friday on my mind; and all the texts he read out about cyclists having perfectly good bike lanes but using the bus lane instead.

    Having said that, there are so many beautiful country roads with zero traffic once you get past Hollystown.


  • #530
    tomasrojo
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 11,805 ✭✭✭✭tomasrojo


    CramCycle wrote: »
    Isn't it such a shame that people feel that way, it is a damning review of our society that the fear of going out in public and getting harmed is so accepted by some that a camera to record your every action is seen as a necessity rather than a novelty.
    If things got to the stage that I thought this was a necessary strategy, I'd probably give up cycling, or certainly carry on with a very heavy heart. A low-cost, low-barrier, convenient form of transport slides into a routine more akin to being a Securicor courier.


  • #531
    tomasrojo
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 11,805 ✭✭✭✭tomasrojo


    CramCycle wrote: »
    WHO ****ING CARES? Since when did we as a people condone attempted murder as an acceptable retribution from a vigilante.

    The analogy that occurred to me was somebody waiting in line to buy a lump hammer in Woodie's, when someone cuts in front of them, so they swing the hammer just past their head to teach them a lesson, and everyone in the queue starts talking about how awful people who cut in line are.


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  • #532
    Tombo2001
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 6,709 ✭✭✭Tombo2001


    tomasrojo wrote: »
    If things got to the stage that I thought this was a necessary strategy, I'd probably give up cycling, or certainly carry on with a very heavy heart. A low-cost, low-barrier, convenient form of transport slides into a routine more akin to being a Securicor courier.

    I'm getting to this point.

    I cycled along Richmond road this morning; a number of cars did the dangerous overtake into oncoming traffic manouevre. Its particularly dangerous where there is a bend left on the road.

    On one of the occasions, I had to pull off the road quickly onto the path. As it happens, on this occasion the van was overtaking me as a garda car was coming the other way. The van left about a foot and a half as he was completing the overtake.

    What annoyed me was
    - the van driver was completely unconcerned about completing this dangerous manouvre despite it being in full view of a garda car.
    - no reaction from the gardai. Meanwhile I'm up on the footpath after yet another near miss.


  • #533
    Roland27
    Registered Users Posts: 127 ✭✭Roland27


    CramCycle wrote: »
    A far more important point, that many overlook, is the lack of decency. Forget the laws, the rules and the regulations. Let us say this driver was correct and the cyclists was not legally allowed in the bus lane.

    WHO ****ING CARES? Since when did we as a people condone attempted murder as an acceptable retribution from a vigilante. The only time this is acceptable is in a Superhero comic, and even then, only if the cyclist has a weapon that will blow up half the city. A commuter on the N11 and Supermans latest family friend from his long dead planet have little in common I imagine, but to some, they may as well be one and the same.

    Of course, its a joke, and what the guards and the bus drivers don't realise (or just don't want to know) is just how close incidents like this can result in death. If the cyclist in question had unfortunately gone down under the wheel of that bus, would the guard have had the same "sure you're to blame" attitude then? Its a crazy situation.

    But people still need to know where they stand, as in being able to say to a guard "no, cycle lanes are not mandatory", but the moment its very unclear and not of help to anyone.


  • #534
    D3PO
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 7,879 ✭✭✭D3PO


    decided to cycle into work for the first time this morning. A$$hole bus driver of a 46A did his utmost to kill me passing me while beeping and shutting the door on me to the point my pedal clipped the bus. I could easily have been dragged under the wheels.

    I'm not exaggerating saying I could be dead right now and when I caught up with him a few km up the road and challenged him on it he responded with I should cycle in the bike lane. I'm going to have to use my camera on the bike I wish I had done so today because this muppet should be fired and I wish I had the incident on camera.

    This was on the N11 btw. which by the last few pages of this thread seems that I'm not the only one to experience problems with busses on this route.


  • #535
    ThisRegard
    Closed Accounts Posts: 27,833 ✭✭✭✭ThisRegard


    Tombo2001 wrote: »
    Cycled from town to Ratoath at the weekend.

    There is a huge network of bike lanes, off road up around the Ballycooling industrial estate. Would love to know how much use they get.

    Particularly -

    -The quality of the bike lanes is appalling compared to the road surface for cars. To be fair, its not that evident to the naked eye unless you are on the bike path, but I actually began to feel seasick from all the undulations.
    - There are a large number of roundabouts in this area, but the bike lanes only give you the opportunity to turn left; you cant event get off the bike lane and carry the bike across the road because of the rails, so you end up turning around, cycling back to the next pedestrian crossing.

    I very much had the Marty Morrissey radio show from Friday on my mind; and all the texts he read out about cyclists having perfectly good bike lanes but using the bus lane instead.

    Having said that, there are so many beautiful country roads with zero traffic once you get past Hollystown.


    "Would love to know how much use they get." - Very little !

    I'm very regularly around that area, and up until before Christmas used to run around there almost daily. There was a debate on the Athletics forum about how dangerous it was to run on those off Cycling lanes or something, so as an experiment I counted the number of cyclists I met at a long lunch time run around there.

    I think I met about 4 or 5 cyclists, all on the road. There was one cyclist off road, and he was actually cycling on the pedestrian section, and I met about 4 or 5 other runners, all on the cycle lane section. (it's not much different in the evenings, you might get a couple of more kids on bikes and walkers, but cyclists tend to stay on the road).

    As you said, if you wanted to cycle in a loop they're fine, but with the way there's no cohesion with the cycle lane from getting from one side of the road to the other, you're better off on the road. If you want to go straight at one of the many many roundabouts when on the cycle lane, you actually can't.

    I cycled on the other side of the corporate park a couple of times, where the new pharma plant is going, and stopped soon after. There's a handful of entrances, many not actually used, along them. But the problem is that none of the path is graduated, so you have to come to pretty much a stop unless you're on an MTB or in the mood for bunny hops, to get from one side to the other. And that's if there's no taxi or van parked up blocking you, which they very often do. So it was the road for me from then on.


  • #536
    Tombo2001
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 6,709 ✭✭✭Tombo2001


    ThisRegard wrote: »
    "Would love to know how much use they get." - Very little !

    I'm very regularly around that area, and up until before Christmas used to run around there almost daily. There was a debate on the Athletics forum about how dangerous it was to run on those off Cycling lanes or something, so as an experiment I counted the number of cyclists I met at a long lunch time run around there.

    I think I met about 4 or 5 cyclists, all on the road. There was one cyclist off road, and he was actually cycling on the pedestrian section, and I met about 4 or 5 other runners, all on the cycle lane section. (it's not much different in the evenings, you might get a couple of more kids on bikes and walkers, but cyclists tend to stay on the road).

    As you said, if you wanted to cycle in a loop they're fine, but with the way there's no cohesion with the cycle lane from getting from one side of the road to the other, you're better off on the road. If you want to go straight at one of the many many roundabouts when on the cycle lane, you actually can't.

    its true, the concrete for pedestrians was a much better surface than the cycle path.

    The reason it annoyed me is that you'll hear these statistics about how many kms there are of offroad cycle paths in Dublin; and they do exist - but in daft places with daft layouts and really poorly made.


  • #537
    mr spuckler
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 3,121 ✭✭✭mr spuckler


    CramCycle wrote: »
    Isn't it such a shame that people feel that way, it is a damning review of our society that the fear of going out in public and getting harmed is so accepted by some that a camera to record your every action is seen as a necessity rather than a novelty.

    yep, i wouldn't say it's a necessity but yet i've still started rocking both front and rear cameras on my commute. my view on this is that if something bad does happen i sure as hell won't be the cause of it and don't want the other party lying their way out of it.

    thankfully i've never had reason to bring any footage to the gardaí and in 14+ years of commuting by bike in Dublin i've never had a collision.

    a pedestrian once spoke to me at traffic lights and asked why the camera (was a larger helmet mounted version then) and following my answer he said...."oh, kinda like an insurance policy then?" and i think that sums up how i view it. i insure my house but i certainly didn't buy a house that i expect to be broken in to!


  • #538
    Wishbone Ash
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 25,011 ✭✭✭✭Wishbone Ash


    tomasrojo wrote: »
    ..There are a few bus lanes on dual carriage ways that are narrow and very high-speed, so they maybe should be bus-only, if they're not.
    A bus with a double deck or a bus with standing passengers is legally limited to 65km/h which is below the speed many cyclists would experience close passes on ordinary roads.


  • #539
    Liam28
    Registered Users Posts: 118 ✭✭Liam28


    Tombo2001 wrote: »
    Cycled from town to Ratoath at the weekend.

    There is a huge network of bike lanes, off road up around the Ballycoolin industrial estate. Would love to know how much use they get.

    Particularly -

    -The quality of the bike lanes is appalling compared to the road surface for cars. To be fair, its not that evident to the naked eye unless you are on the bike path, but I actually began to feel seasick from all the undulations.
    - There are a large number of roundabouts in this area, but the bike lanes only give you the opportunity to turn left; you cant event get off the bike lane and carry the bike across the road because of the rails, so you end up turning around, cycling back to the next pedestrian crossing.

    I very much had the Marty Morrissey radio show from Friday on my mind; and all the texts he read out about cyclists having perfectly good bike lanes but using the bus lane instead.

    Having said that, there are so many beautiful country roads with zero traffic once you get past Hollystown.

    I cycle to work in this Ballycoolin / Blanchardstown / Damastown area, and agree the bike lanes are unusable. The lane surface is poor, loads of broken glass, interrupted every 100 yds by entrances and two inch kerbs, and no continuity through the many roundabouts. Totally unsuitable for road bikes, designed for cyclists by non-cyclists.


  • #540
    tomasrojo
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 11,805 ✭✭✭✭tomasrojo


    Wishbone Ash wrote: »
    A bus with a double deck or a bus with standing passengers is legally limited to 65km/h which is below the speed many cyclists would experience close passes on ordinary roads.

    Very good point. I presume the airport-bound coaches and so on don't have that restriction?


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  • #541
    Wishbone Ash
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 25,011 ✭✭✭✭Wishbone Ash


    tomasrojo wrote: »
    Very good point. I presume the airport-bound coaches and so on don't have that restriction?
    Ordinary single deck coaches were limited to 50mph - 80km/h for years when I drove them but AFAIK that was increased to 90 or 100km/h a few years back hence the reason you see them horsing along motorways now.

    (The route from Dublin to the airport and vice versa is restricted to 80km/h at a maximum regardless of whether R132 or M1 is used but I've yet to see the Gardai pull over a coach for exceeding that.)


  • #542
    m5ex9oqjawdg2i
    Closed Accounts Posts: 11,221 ✭✭✭✭m5ex9oqjawdg2i


    Does this not mean that only contraflow and cycle tracks in pedestrianised areas are mandatory? I understand this to mean that if you are in a pedestrianised area, you have to use the track, but roads are not pedestrianised.

    "only use of contraflow cycle track and of any cycle track in pedestrianised area is mandatory"


  • #543
    Kaisr Sose
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 3,260 ✭✭✭Kaisr Sose


    Wishbone Ash wrote: »
    A bus with a double deck or a bus with standing passengers is legally limited to 65km/h which is below the speed many cyclists would experience close passes on ordinary roads.

    That's interesting. I have seen these types of busses exceeding that frequently. Never seen a bus stopped for speeding.


  • #544
    Tombo2001
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 6,709 ✭✭✭Tombo2001


    Kaisr Sose wrote: »
    That's interesting. I have seen these types of busses exceeding that frequently. Never seen a bus stopped for speeding.

    Its hard to know though - a double decker at 60km hr, or a truck, will appear to be going very very fast.

    Its difficult to judge unless you are in a car beside it at the same speed.


  • #545
    looie
    Registered Users Posts: 88 ✭✭looie


    Chuchote wrote: »
    None, as I understand it. By definition, isn't a bus lane also a cycle lane?

    It's time for cyclists to start using helmetcams as the norm. They're not dear, and they may save lives.

    I don't wear a helmet but like the idea of having a camera. Is there one out there that I could just attach to my handlebar?


  • #546
    D3PO
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 7,879 ✭✭✭D3PO


    looie wrote: »
    Chuchote wrote: »
    None, as I understand it. By definition, isn't a bus lane also a cycle lane?

    It's time for cyclists to start using helmetcams as the norm. They're not dear, and they may save lives.

    I don't wear a helmet but like the idea of having a camera. Is there one out there that I could just attach to my handlebar?

    Yep get a camera that attached to a go pro mount and attach it to your handlebars. most cameras will take this kind of mount.

    Id also add you really should invest in a helmet. You cant put a price on your life and a helmet could very well save it at some point.


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  • #547
    Wishbone Ash
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 25,011 ✭✭✭✭Wishbone Ash


    looie wrote: »
    I don't wear a helmet but like the idea of having a camera. Is there one out there that I could just attach to my handlebar?
    Most are inter-changeable AFAIK. The advantage of one on a helmet is that it's filming where you are looking.


  • #548
    mp31
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 816 ✭✭✭mp31


    D3PO wrote: »
    decided to cycle into work for the first time this morning. A$$hole bus driver of a 46A did his utmost to kill me passing me while beeping and shutting the door on me to the point my pedal clipped the bus. I could easily have been dragged under the wheels.

    Ring Dublin Bus to make a complaint even if you don't have your own video footage. Tell them the route, the bus number, the time of the incident and they will be able to locate the driver and hopefully the video footage from the on-board video cameras. Get them to ring you back with a case number and make a call to Traffic Watch with that case number to report the incident to the Garda.


  • #549
    Kaisr Sose
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 3,260 ✭✭✭Kaisr Sose


    Tombo2001 wrote: »
    Its hard to know though - a double decker at 60km hr, or a truck, will appear to be going very very fast.

    Its difficult to judge unless you are in a car beside it at the same speed.

    I have a pretty good perception / judge of speed. Also, when you see these vehicles going at the same or high speed then other traffic either the other traffic is going slow for no reason (not my experience) or they are going faster than they should be.


  • #550
    tomasrojo
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 11,805 ✭✭✭✭tomasrojo


    D3PO wrote: »
    Id also add you really should invest in a helmet. You cant put a price on your life and a helmet could very well save it at some point.

    We do have a thread that teases out (and bickers tediously) over this issue:

    As Ben Goldacre said: "I think you'll find it's a bit more complicated than that."


  • #551
    tomasrojo
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 11,805 ✭✭✭✭tomasrojo


    Charli Loose Snowball wrote: »
    Does this not mean that only contraflow and cycle tracks in pedestrianised areas are mandatory? I understand this to mean that if you are in a pedestrianised area, you have to use the track, but roads are not pedestrianised.

    "only use of contraflow cycle track and of any cycle track in pedestrianised area is mandatory"


    This is beyond any reasonable doubt what Varadkar intended when he wrote the new statutory instrument: no cycle tracks are mandatory for cyclists to use, apart from cycle tracks that go through pedestrian zones, and cycle tracks situated in contraflow bus lanes.


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