Spat at by Merc driver

RainyDay

cunnins4 wrote:

a bus driver pulled out without looking while i was going along his rhs today. he was talking on his mobile as he pulled out. I let a roar at him and he turned around and gave me the finger. nothing unsuspected tbh.

I would definitely report this to his employers, if I were you.

gabhain7 wrote:

this is the crowd you want 602 2500

http://www.dsps.ie/site/index.htm

Many thanks - Do you (or anyone else) have personal experiences of how they respond to reports about cars in cycle lanes?

BeerNut

clown bag wrote:

I've done the oul cycling really slowly in front trick a couple of times too

I used to cycle home along part of the South Circular and would always do this if there was an illicit vehicle in the lane behind me. I used to get really disappointed when I spotted a potential offender in my rear-view and then noticed the taxi plate...

The drivers using the bus lane to dodge the main traffic jam would almost always be driving guiltily fast with often minimal observation and no indication. A couple of times I was almost knocked off by someone pulling straight out into the bus lane. That guaranteed them a place on the Slow Road to Leonard's Corner.

saobh_ie

cunnins4 wrote:

a bus driver pulled out without looking .... I let a roar at him and he turned around and gave me the finger .... i just cycled fast out in front of the bus and went dead slow, and he drove up really close to me trying to intimidate me. He didn't.

Fair enough, the bus driver was in the wrong three times, pulling out without looking, responding as he did with the finger and then driving close behind you.

You however are taking the piss by trying to impeed him, especially after he gets up your hole. If anything puts you off the bike or makes you stop suddenly you'll be squashed immeditally. Not clever dude.

Why do ye all get so pissed off. Surely the OP could have waited a minute, or manouvered the bike around the mirror, lean the bike over or do something to get the handle bar past without touching the car.

It's much simpler to forget about these guys, if somebodies just tried to kill you and you've survived, congradulate yourself and start looking for the next guy because confronting people does not work in my experience anyway. If anybody comes out of it worse its you.

cunnins4

^^ I think you missed the point of my post! I was saying that i realised how stupid it was to play chicken with a double decker bus! Especially when the chap in the white van nearly killed me while i checked that the bus wasn't too close. So no, it wasn't very clever at all.

Wishbone, of course it was Dublin Bus!:p

Daymobrew, i meant to grab his licence number so i could report him, but the white van incident drew my attention elsewhere. However, the terminus for that route is right beside my house, i might pop up to it a couple of times next week if i get the chance and get his name if he's there. I was rightly pissed off over it. I rarely take the bus, so the chances of me seeing him on the route are slim. Even this horrible rain won't put me on a bus! i'm hardcore me!:cool:

bartislartfast

cunnins4 - report the approximate time and the route number of the bus to DublinBus - the incident might be on the onboard external cameras.

Some of the video remains on the video system for a few days (I think its up to 4 days, depends on how old the system is) but it does eventually get overwritten!

I'm led to believe that DB have been responsive to cyclists in the past where video footage is available (even those that are wasting their time)...

markpb

RainyDay wrote:

Does anyone know if the Dublin clampers will respond to such calls? If yes, please let me have the number for my speed-dial.

I think they're very hit and miss. If it's close to the city centre and a combined bus & bike lane, I have a feeling they respond faster. Sometimes they'll openly say they don't have time but that's not just for bikes (they refused to come out and clamp/remove a car completely blocking a bus lane because they were needed around Croke park on a match day), other times they respond very quickly (they clamped a van within five minutes one morning because his right-read tire was blocking the bike lane).

It's definitely worth doing though, even if they only respond occasionally, it'll get the message through to a few drivers.

RainyDay

Thanks for the comments, Mark.

mikemac

Just to give my 2c, imo the best drivers in Dublin are Dublin Bus drivers.
Yes, there will always be the odd fool but the majority are highly trained, always use indicators and generally aware of other road users. This makes them highly predictable which is always good if you want to filter around them

I'm basing this on 3 years of cycling and driving on a scooter all over the city.

So posters in this thread may have had a bad experience and by all means report a bus driver doing something dangerous.
I'm just pointing out that I respect and trust Dublin Bus drivers far more than any other road user in the city.

And don't be cycling to deliberatly slow a bus, it's not safe and hardly fair on the 50 plus people inside who want to get somewhere just like you do. Fairly childish tbh.
As for cycling slowly in front of bus lane dodgers, well then be my guest

cunnins4

micmclo, you're absolutely right about the 50+ people on the bus, and it was a ****ty thing to do to them. as for the gimps who use bus lanes as their own personal short cut i will impede them as much as i can! Asseholes!

ya should take a look at overheardindublin.com - dublin bus drivers get some great praise there for their incredible wit, and unforgettable one liners!

And they are HIGHLY predictable, as i said, i anticipated his stupid move. it's not unique to bus drivers though, plenty of other motorists do it too! As i said earlier, just stay alert guys and stay safe.

Ghost Rider

I agree. Sure, they get in the way but, for the most part, they're very predictable.

micmclo wrote:

Just to give my 2c, imo the best drivers in Dublin are Dublin Bus drivers.
Yes, there will always be the odd fool but the majority are highly trained, always use indicators and generally aware of other road users. This makes them highly predictable which is always good if you want to filter around them

I'm basing this on 3 years of cycling and driving on a scooter all over the city.

So posters in this thread may have had a bad experience and by all means report a bus driver doing something dangerous.
I'm just pointing out that I respect and trust Dublin Bus drivers far more than any other road user in the city.

And don't be cycling to deliberatly slow a bus, it's not safe and hardly fair on the 50 plus people inside who want to get somewhere just like you do. Fairly childish tbh.
As for cycling slowly in front of bus lane dodgers, well then be my guest

Traumadoc

micmclo wrote:

Just to give my 2c, imo the best drivers in Dublin are Dublin Bus drivers.
Yes, there will always be the odd fool but the majority are highly trained, always use indicators and generally aware of other road users. This makes them highly predictable which is always good if you want to filter around them

I'm basing this on 3 years of cycling and driving on a scooter all over the city.

So posters in this thread may have had a bad experience and by all means report a bus driver doing something dangerous.
I'm just pointing out that I respect and trust Dublin Bus drivers far more than any other road user in the city.

And don't be cycling to deliberatly slow a bus, it's not safe and hardly fair on the 50 plus people inside who want to get somewhere just like you do. Fairly childish tbh.
As for cycling slowly in front of bus lane dodgers, well then be my guest

Ifind generally bus drivers are very aware of cyclists

mikemac

3 consecutive posts agree with me and I was quoted twice
Don't think that's ever happened to me on my 2 and half years on boards.ie

That's allright, I post s**te most of time

Ghost Rider

I disagree.

micmclo wrote:

3 consecutive posts agree with me and I was quoted twice
Don't think that's ever happened to me on my 2 and half years on boards.ie

That's allright, I post s**te most of time

Phil01

After reading some replies i think there are some very iggorant cyclists out there... i too am a cyclist but unless there is a cycling lane a cyclist has to follow the same rules of the road as cars.. Cars or trucks are not obliged to keep away from the kerb when driving. Its the same for traffic lights, the cyclist should stop behind the car infront, not go up the side and expect the car to pull over or keep out of the kerb...
Its inconsiderite of some cyclist to expect to race by cars or expect cars to go out of the way when there is no cycling lane. But the same rules apply to cars and trucks when there is a cycling lane is there, and that is they should keep out of it.
Hope i contributed to this crazy thread...

markpb

Phil01 wrote:

Cars or trucks are not obliged to keep away from the kerb when driving. Its the same for traffic lights, the cyclist should stop behind the car infront, not go up the side and expect the car to pull over or keep out of the kerb... Its inconsiderite of some cyclist to expect to race by cars or expect cars to go out of the way when there is no cycling lane.

If cyclists stopping at the back of every line of traffic they hit, there'd be no point cycling at all - we'd be faster walking since we'd have subjected to the bad sides of both walking and driving.

There's no rule saying motorists have to keep right to stay out of our way but a little politeness and consideration goes a long way. Likewise (as has been said before), there's no rule saying cyclists have to keep left to stay out of cars way but if we didn't, we'd know all about it from cars behind. Give and take on both sides.

cunnins4

phil01, i don't think you'll be too popular for that one! Ah no seriously man, as mark said, if we were all to wait in line behind other motorists at lights etc... then we wouldn't bother cycling. Also by saying that cyclists are all subject to the same rotr as others, we should therefore cycle out in the middle of the lane? That would put us all on the same level - cars, bikes, buses, trucks all dead centre in the lanes, and to hell if you're stuck at a speed you don't like, that's the rules, and we all have to stick by them?

It's about compromise, courtesy and common sense. We have motorways to travel at high speed. bikes can't match those speed, hence we're not allowed on the motorways. we have separate bicycle lanes where possible because bikes have different needs to other road users and vice versa. at traffic lights there's often a bicycle area ahead of the normal space for others. Cars ARE expected to stay away from the kerbs, as are we expected to stay to the side of the road instead of out in the middle. Live and let live.

cyclopath2001

cunnins4 wrote:

we should therefore cycle out in the middle of the lane?

Not so, cyclists are required by law to cycle as close to the left as possible. All vehicle drivers are required not to impede their being overtaken by others.

we have separate bicycle lanes where possible because bikes have different needs to other road users

Not exactly. Cyclists are required by law to use cycle lanes where provided, but, mostly drivers can use a bicycle lane too (for driving, parking, making phone calls, whatever) if they so wish. There are very few exclusive cycle lanes and the rules prohibiting their obstruction by motorists are not enforced.

On balance, the laws are biased against pedestrians and cyclists. It's largely concessional that cyclists can move up on the left, just as it is concessional that drivers are allowed to partially overtake cyclists while in the same traffic lane.

RainyDay

Phil01 wrote:

expect cars to go out of the way when there is no cycling lane.

When did 'leave a reasonable distance from the kerb' become 'go out of the way'? Why would they not want to leave a reasonable distance?

cyclopath2001

RainyDay wrote:

When did 'leave a reasonable distance from the kerb' become 'go out of the way'? Why would they not want to leave a reasonable distance?

I think if Phil01 is going to insist on a strict interpretation of the overtaking laws and that cyclists should not pass on the inside, then this will also mean that cars must not overtake on the outside if the car is going to slow down or stop.

This would rule out any kind of overtaking of cyclists by cars in city traffic.

311

Hello ,just like to add another 2c
I haven't cycled in a good while and when I'm driving ,I always look for cyclists when I'm doing a left turn. Sometimes though ,I'd forget when I'm in the left lane to leave enough room and it's only ever when cyclists weren't on the road as I approached. Obviously a cycle lane would provide enough space.

I always try to let people out ,people cross roads and give cyclists and motor cyclists the most room ,while indicating.


BUT ,when I'm on my bike and people cut me off on bends where there is cycle lanes . I will provide the almighiest punch to their vehicle ,as I have done on a few occasions.
Trust me ,when you do this ,the look on the drivers face is priceless. Very hard to do this though ,because the balance goes to hell while swinging.

I've never had anyone complain to me ,they just apologize.

Civilian_Target

I did that to a bus that was about to kill me last year, the passengers inside screamed! The funny thing about it was that before then the bus driver could actually see me in his mirror and just didn't care, once his passengers were screaming he decided to do something about it!

RainyDay

Coming up Dundrum Road towards Taney cross today, just as I got up by the Stella chipper, I noted a driver a few cars ahead pulling gradually into the cycle lane, probably as a precursor to pulling into the left hand lane at the lights. I approached cautiously, and sure enough, he not only pulled into the cycle lane but also up onto the path in his eagerness to get into the inside line. I knocked sharply on the window, and he was quite apologetic. Hopefully, he'll use his wing mirror in future.