cyclists caused a big traffic jam today

Joe Malone

I was travelling eastbound on the N4 this afternoon at around 3.30pm when I come across a massive traffic jam/cars travelling really slow - I joined the "queue" just outside Rathowen (Co Westmeath) on the Longford side. Was travelling at between 10-15 mph all the way to the dual carriageway of the Mullingar bypass (took bloody ages).
The cause of the slow moving traffic - a load of cyclists (most wearing clothes with "Lakeside Wheelers" written on them - a Mullingar based cycling club by all accounts) were accompanied by cars, vans and two Civil Defence ambulances who were travelling alongside the cyclists (at the same speed as the cyclists) on the main road with their hazard lights on (the cyclists were, by and large, using the hard shoulder)
The ambulances even had their blue lights/beacons flashing - though no emergency was apparent!

It really pi$$ed me off, I was half way through a 3 hour journey when these boys and girls decide to give the proverbial two fingers to motorists - I reckon they added around 30 - 45 minutes onto my journey time.
Hundreds of people were affected, I estimate the queue was up to 10 miles long.
Normally I would just accept things like this and shrug it off but not this time for a number of reasons:
1. This was on the N4 - a national primary road on a Sunday afternoon ( a pretty busy road especially eastbound on a Sunday as culchies (like me) head back for work and dubs head home from a weekend down the country

2. The appears to have been an organised event - I really don't want to face this again

3. The driving of vehicles at such slow speeds must surely be against the law? It certainly was driving without due consideration for other road users.

4. The cyclists appear to be members of a large cycle club in Mullingar - they should know better

5. Civil Defence ambulances were two of the offending vehicles - surely they should have known better

6. I rang the cops in Mullingar - they didn't seem to give a toss, said they would send out a car to have a look!

Anyhow, rant over, what I would like to know is, can I do something to make sure this doesn't happen again? I am thinking of ringing the Road safety authority and also Civil Defence to complain but I would appreciate any constructive thoughts anyone???

peasant

A similar (if not the same) group was travelling the N4 outside and towards Sligo yesterday afternoon. It was fairly strung out and there were at least 100 (probaly more) participants.

Met them going towards Boyle in the Curlews and got stuck behind them then going back outside Sligo an hour later or so.

They even had a Garda motorcycle escort at some stages (over the Curlews), so I guess the whole thing would have been official, signed off and all.

Not an overly bright idea, doing something like that amid busy traffic on a main artery ...but obviously quite legal.

Run_to_da_hills

If you come across these guys again, make sure you overtake them beside a very large puddle

cyclopath2001

Every day when I cycle to work in Dublin, hundreds of motorists in mostly empty cars cause huge traffic jams, blocking buses and cyclists.

Let's do something about that too.

Wossack

cyclopath2001 wrote: »

Every day when I cycle to work in Dublin, hundreds of motorists in mostly empty cars cause huge traffic jams, blocking buses and cyclists.

Let's do something about that too.

yea, like make separate lanes for cars, and some sort of... hmm, lets say 'bus-lane', or 'cycle-lane' (WIP names) or some such

S.I.R

i think we employ columbo , theres not a crime he cant solve. :rolleyes:

maidhc

cyclopath2001 wrote: »

Every day when I cycle to work in Dublin, hundreds of motorists in mostly empty cars cause huge traffic jams, blocking buses and cyclists.

Let's do something about that too.

Ban bikes and buses?

Joe Malone

I got a response back from the cops - they want me to send a letter detailing my experience - they say they can use this to curtail the cyclists from organising the event at similar times or routes in the future.
Waiting to hear back from Civil Defence - got talking to HQ but they have referred the issue onto the local office in Westmeath Co Council!
Rhe Road Safety Council don't even answer the phones!!!

Glitzy100

Joe Malone wrote: »

I got a response back from the cops - they want me to send a letter detailing my experience - they say they can use this to curtail the cyclists from organising the event at similar times or routes in the future.
Waiting to hear back from Civil Defence - got talking to HQ but they have referred the issue onto the local office in Westmeath Co Council!
Rhe Road Safety Council don't even answer the phones!!!

I think the best idea is to ban cyclists all together. The mere THOUGHT of someone actually using their own energy to go from A to B? Bah, humbug. All that fresh air involved couldn't be good for the human brain either???

Oh dear me. And surely it's sacrilege? I think you should involve the church too! Shame bikes aren't made from wood or you could make a big bonfire together with all your road-rage friends. But hey, I think cyclists burn very well? Burn the witches!!!!

Roads are for cars and if anything else ever uses it, it's just so easy to run them over isn't it? So go ahead, treat yourself. Run over a cyclist today. It's nine points as well! For we all know, a good cyclist is a dead cyclist.

axer

I have cycled during an annual charity event called the maynooth galway cycle where we cycled from Maynooth to Galway and back again for charity. I know they raised about €80,000 - €100,000 during the event this year. They cycle on the main road all the way as the back roads would be too dangerous.

1. This was on the N4 - a national primary road on a Sunday afternoon ( a pretty busy road especially eastbound on a Sunday as culchies (like me) head back for work and dubs head home from a weekend down the country

The back roads are too dangerous.

2. The appears to have been an organised event - I really don't want to face this again

Isnt that better than an event not properly organised. Maybe start an organisation - Motorists against cycling (MAC) :rolleyes:

3. The driving of vehicles at such slow speeds must surely be against the law? It certainly was driving without due consideration for other road users.

Of course. Cycling is illegal! :rolleyes: Should you be taken off of the road for your lack of consideration for the cyclists?

4. The cyclists appear to be members of a large cycle club in Mullingar - they should know better

A Cycling club should know better than organise a cycling event! :rolleyes:

5. Civil Defence ambulances were two of the offending vehicles - surely they should have known better

Maybe a flashing light means danger or warning rather than emergency? Shame on them to try be as visible as possible! :rolleyes:

6. I rang the cops in Mullingar - they didn't seem to give a toss, said they would send out a car to have a look!

Maybe because your complaint was rubbish and inconsiderate!

So basically you would not put up with the inconvience because you own the road and because of 6 stupid reasons. Well done!

Heinrich

Joe Malone wrote: »

I got a response back from the cops - they want me to send a letter detailing my experience - they say they can use this to curtail the cyclists from organising the event at similar times or routes in the future.
Waiting to hear back from Civil Defence - got talking to HQ but they have referred the issue onto the local office in Westmeath Co Council!
Rhe Road Safety Council don't even answer the phones!!!

This is bringing road rage to an entirely new level! The cops will take you letter and trash it then tell you there's not much they can do!

Now if these cyclists were members od a cycling club they would be pretty fit and travelling at more than 25 kph so you would not be too discommoded. Were you really in a great hurry. You could practice road rage daily on the M50 where the gridlock is composed entirely of motorised polluting vehicles.

axer

Heinrich wrote: »

The cops will take you letter and trash it then tell you there's not much they can do!

Yeah, i'd say they were just taking the píss. They probably had the OP on secrecy while laughing at the stupidity.

Gegerty

Joe Malone wrote: »

I was travelling eastbound on the N4 this afternoon at around 3.30pm when I come across a massive traffic jam/cars travelling really slow - I joined the "queue" just outside Rathowen (Co Westmeath) on the Longford side. Was travelling at between 10-15 mph all the way to the dual carriageway of the Mullingar bypass (took bloody ages).
The cause of the slow moving traffic - a load of cyclists (most wearing clothes with "Lakeside Wheelers" written on them - a Mullingar based cycling club by all accounts) were accompanied by cars, vans and two Civil Defence ambulances who were travelling alongside the cyclists (at the same speed as the cyclists) on the main road with their hazard lights on (the cyclists were, by and large, using the hard shoulder)
The ambulances even had their blue lights/beacons flashing - though no emergency was apparent!

It really pi$$ed me off, I was half way through a 3 hour journey when these boys and girls decide to give the proverbial two fingers to motorists - I reckon they added around 30 - 45 minutes onto my journey time.
Hundreds of people were affected, I estimate the queue was up to 10 miles long.
Normally I would just accept things like this and shrug it off but not this time for a number of reasons:
1. This was on the N4 - a national primary road on a Sunday afternoon ( a pretty busy road especially eastbound on a Sunday as culchies (like me) head back for work and dubs head home from a weekend down the country

2. The appears to have been an organised event - I really don't want to face this again

3. The driving of vehicles at such slow speeds must surely be against the law? It certainly was driving without due consideration for other road users.

4. The cyclists appear to be members of a large cycle club in Mullingar - they should know better

5. Civil Defence ambulances were two of the offending vehicles - surely they should have known better

6. I rang the cops in Mullingar - they didn't seem to give a toss, said they would send out a car to have a look!

Anyhow, rant over, what I would like to know is, can I do something to make sure this doesn't happen again? I am thinking of ringing the Road safety authority and also Civil Defence to complain but I would appreciate any constructive thoughts anyone???

Hi Joe,
I'm glad I've got this opportunity to talk to one of those people who "own the roads". Is it just the N4 you own or is it all the roads in Ireland? Just asking cause I have a complaint about all these culchie reg cars clogging up the Dublin roads, I mean come on I have to get somewhere and these eejits are just getting in the way! Is there something you can do about it? Maybe have people keep an eye out and throw down spike strips whenever they see one, especially the ones coverd in muck!

Thanks in advance for your help.

Glitzy100

Reading the OP again there. Surely it's troll? It must be????
If it's not, where do they grow people like the OP? Did he grow out of his driver's seat??? What does he eat for breakfast? Who's killed all his happy thoughts?

Joe Malone

For the record, I have no problems with cyclists - they were rightly cycling on the hard shoulder. My problem was with the clowns who were driving alongside them at 10-15mph on the main part of the road.
They had no consideration of the hundreds of commuters who were using the national primary road to get to Dublin. The tailback extended some 10 miles - the sarcastic response from the last two posters is exactly the type of inconsiderate ignorance displayed by the drivers of the vehicles accompanying the cyclists.

Glitzy100

Ok ok no troll then. My apologies.

TBH I wouldn't dare venturing out as a cyclist on Irish roads, to anyone that does, hat off!!

That's probably why all the extra "clowns" were needed. So that Mr. "I'm driving a 4wd and I own the road so die" didn't knock any of them over.
I don't drive. I walk. And it's scary to watch who drives on Irish roads. And how...

maidhc

Joe Malone wrote: »

For the record, I have no problems with cyclists - they were rightly cycling on the hard shoulder. My problem was with the clowns who were driving alongside them at 10-15mph on the main part of the road.

Thats a fair point.

I would also venture to say some cyclists display the arrogance shown by drivers of aforementioned 4x4s. It should very much be a case of live and let live. Cyclists have no more of a right to impede motorists as motorists have to run cyclists off the road.

Causing a 10 mile tailback is NOT REASONABLE behaviour from any road user, no matter what the cause is.

BrianD3

Just because someone can do something doesn't mean they should. Presumably this group of cyclists (and support vehicles) was on the road for recreation. It's not as if they were cycling to work etc. When your recreation starts to interfere with other people getting from A to B, then there's a problem. Was this event advertised, were there any alternate routes or diversions or was it a case of "ah sure let a 10 mile tailback build up, we've every right to be here"

If a group of motorists decided to do a "charity go-slow" on the N4 on a Sunday afternoon people would be just as annoyed, so no need for cyclists to get a persecution complex about being targetted because they're cyclists. And if a few tractor drivers decided that for a bit of Sunday afternoon recreation they were going to drive at 5 km/h in front of this group of cyclists how would the cyclists react. Not too well I suspect.

Balfa

What's with all the hate? The OP definitely has a point. Who wants to be delayed by up to 45 minutes, whether they're driving, or waiting for the DART, or waiting to be seen by the doctor, or anything else. Cyclists have as much right to be on the road as anyone else, but it's not about rights. It's about being nice to other people, and I'd say if you're doing something that causes such a considerable inconvenience to so many people, then something's going wrong, even if it is for charity.

Were there announcements in the papers/on the radio?

Joe Malone

my point was simply that those vehicles accompanying the cyclists were driving without due consideration for other road users.
The whole cyclist vs motorist debate does not interest me, nor do the childish and feeble attempts at sarcasm posted by some of the previous posters.
The rules of the road allow cyclists to use the road at no more than two abreast, the road in question has an ample size hard shoulder meaning the cyclists could conduct their cycle in safety and in compliance with the law without the inappropriate use of slow moving vehicles for "protection".
The club in question showed total disregard for the needs of other road users in this instance. Normally I just accept such bad luck as being caught up in this situation (a very Irish trait I think) and just forget about it but this one took the pi$$ altogether and made me want to do something to make sure it doesn't happen again

Saruman

I agree with Joe Malone. He has said that he has no problem with the cyclists as they were in the hard shoulder.
His problem is with the support vehicles who were NOT in the hard shoulder, and so slowing the traffic behind them for miles.
What if there was an accident ahead? And an ambulance or firetruck was stuck 10 miles back having to drive on the wrong side of the road for 10 miles because cars can not overtake the line of support vehicles?

He is dead right. If the gardai were to do anything, they should have been there directing traffic along the way to over take safely and the support vehicles should be in the hard shoulder driving with the cyclists. Obviously where there is no hard shoulder you can not do that, but at least it keeps things moving for the most part.

I saw the one recently what started in Maynoth to Galway. I was heading in the other direction. The cyclists were approaching Enfield and the traffic tailed back all the way to Kilcock. This was during Rush hour when people are leaving the city for the country run.

Gegerty

Why not contact them directly: http://www.lakesidewheelers.ie/

And let us know how you get on

axer

Joe Malone wrote: »

my point was simply that those vehicles accompanying the cyclists were driving without due consideration for other road users.
The whole cyclist vs motorist debate does not interest me, nor do the childish and feeble attempts at sarcasm posted by some of the previous posters.
The rules of the road allow cyclists to use the road at no more than two abreast, the road in question has an ample size hard shoulder meaning the cyclists could conduct their cycle in safety and in compliance with the law without the inappropriate use of slow moving vehicles for "protection".
The club in question showed total disregard for the needs of other road users in this instance. Normally I just accept such bad luck as being caught up in this situation (a very Irish trait I think) and just forget about it but this one took the pi$$ altogether and made me want to do something to make sure it doesn't happen again

I'd say the extra vehicles were there for safety reasons which I can very much understand. If you have ever cycled on one the main roads you'd know what I am talking about. Cars and trucks will fly past within centimeters of you and the shock and wind generated could possibly make someone unstable on the bike.
I am also pretty sure you are not allowed to drive on the hard shoulder but I am open to correction on that so that would account as to why they were driving on the road and not pulled over. Even if they are allowed and the support vehicles drove on the hard shoulder then that would not stop cars and trucks flying past close to the cyclists.

Saruman

axer wrote: »

I am also pretty sure you are not allowed to drive on the hard shoulder but I am open to correction on that so that would account as to why they were driving on the road and not pulled over.

Rubbish... that is on Motorways only... or where the line is solid yellow.

granturismo

Joe Malone wrote: »

For the record, I have no problems with cyclists - they were rightly cycling on the hard shoulder. My problem was with the clowns who were driving alongside them at 10-15mph on the main part of the road.

Don't the Swiss and some other countries require slow moving traffic to pull in when 'its safe to do so' when there are x vehicles tailing behind? I think they have to pull over when their speed is less than 20kph in a 60kph zone or some similar ratio.

Gegerty

Saruman wrote: »

Rubbish... that is on Motorways only... or where the line is solid yellow.

The only difference between a solid and broken yellow line is the rules defining a motor say it has to be solid. They're both hard shoulders and you are correct you can pull in briefly to let drivers by, but I don't agree that that rule applies in this situation.

http://www.rulesoftheroad.ie/rules-for-driving/traffic-signs-road-markings/road-markings.html

axer

Saruman wrote: »

Rubbish... that is on Motorways only... or where the line is solid yellow.

Wow, no need to overreact - I said I wasn't sure. So I could drive all the way from Galway to Dublin on the hard shoulder when on national primary routes legally?

As I said, the support vehicles would still need to be out on to the road to protect the cyclists from motorists driving fast by them.

maidhc

axer wrote: »

As I said, the support vehicles would still need to be out on to the road to protect the cyclists from motorists driving fast by them.

I drive on the hard shoulder in my tractor at 40km/h. I certainly have never been pulled by the Gardaí or critiised for not holding up traffic!

Why do cyclists need to be protected from traffic going past them? Again I have cycled, on pretty busy roads without a support squadron, and it is perfectly managable. Certainly if you cycle in the inner 1/2 of the hard shoulder you are well away from the slipstream of even the heaviest HGVs.

ART6

Tis true that cyclists have every right to be on the road, and to hold everyone else up while they do it. The difference betweentheir rights and those of the motorists and commercial vehicle operators is that we pay dearly to use the roads and they don't.

kona

maidhc wrote: »

Thats a fair point.

I would also venture to say some cyclists display the arrogance shown by drivers of aforementioned 4x4s. It should very much be a case of live and let live. Cyclists have no more of a right to impede motorists as motorists have to run cyclists off the road.

Causing a 10 mile tailback is NOT REASONABLE behaviour from any road user, no matter what the cause is.

you are right, cyclists are arrogant, but for a different reason to gob****es in 4x4s.

1) from experience cycling in dublin its insane and you develop skills to reduce the chances of being slaughtered, being arrogant is one of these.
If i have to take up a whole lane just so i can turn right for example is IMO safer than waiting and chancing a dash across oncoming traffic, who in most cases dont pay attention or have a clue.

2) cyclists dont have a ton of steel and airbags in a collision with a car....we have organic tissue and a helmet(in less cases:o)which is only designed to absorb a fall from a bike at 12mph, NOT over and NOT with a 2 ton jeep moving at 60kmph:mad::o:eek:

now

cyclists dont park in the middle of the road, neither do we abandon our bikes there...............why do motorists in dublin, especially the school run soccer moms and their jeeps they cant drive feel the need to abandon them in dodgey postions both on pedestrian paths and on cycle tracks???

IMO cyclists are arrogant to survive, 4x4s and some car drivers are just arrogant for the sake of it, and piss poor drivers too!

just my 2c, id love to invite all the 4x4 owners and taxi drivers to cycle in the city at rush hour for a month:D:D

natural selection begins:D

here and for the morons that say cyclists dont pay car tax etc , etc....ive car , i pay tax! most cyclists have cars too, they just dont see the point in sitting in traffic in a hour long jouney that on a bike takes 15 mins....

Gregor Samsa

Gegerty wrote: »

The only difference between a solid and broken yellow line is the rules defining a motor say it has to be solid.

This is incorrect. On a normal N road dual carriageway, you'll see that the hard shoulder has a solid yellow like before and after junctions. This is to prohibit stopping or driving in this section of the hard shoulder - just like on a motorway.

So it isn't the case that motorway hard shoulders have different rules or specifications to regular ones, it's that all hard shoulders with solid yellow lines can't be stopped or driven in, no matter where they are.