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    #242
    mambo
    Registered Users Posts: 697 ✭✭✭mambo


    paddy2k wrote: »
    I'm thinking of taking a spin out that way, why avoid the quays?

    Lots of traffic, trucks, buses, etc. More dangerous and a bit unnerving if you're not used to it. Much quieter on the luas tracks :-)


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    #243
    Chips Lovell
    Moderators, Politics Moderators, Sports Moderators Posts: 24,269 Mod ✭✭✭✭Chips Lovell


    Given the amount of people I've seen crashing on Luas tracks, I'd question that.


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    #244
    Jip
    Closed Accounts Posts: 3,418 ✭✭✭Jip


    And the fact there's one particular zealous cycle garda who will stop you if seen and give you a lecture about it.


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    #245
    Ekaterina
    Closed Accounts Posts: 43 ✭Ekaterina


    mambo wrote: »
    Lots of traffic, trucks, buses, etc. More dangerous and a bit unnerving if you're not used to it. Much quieter on the luas tracks :-)

    Hey guys,

    how do you actually find it to cycle on db through all this busy traffic in the city center? There are no helmets there provided, are there? And I mean its probably a hassle to bring your own one, even though I saw some people cycling with helmets on the db's... Do you think it would be a good idea if there were helmets as well provided? Or is it fine to cycle without? I mean I would not be glad to be the reason for the next gost bike to be added to the two that are already there in Dublin... What do you think?


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    #246
    mambo
    Registered Users Posts: 697 ✭✭✭mambo


    Ekaterina wrote: »
    Hey guys,

    how do you actually find it to cycle on db through all this busy traffic in the city center? There are no helmets there provided, are there? And I mean its probably a hassle to bring your own one, even though I saw some people cycling with helmets on the db's... Do you think it would be a good idea if there were helmets as well provided? Or is it fine to cycle without? I mean I would not be glad to be the reason for the next gost bike to be added to the two that are already there in Dublin... What do you think?

    Hardly any Dublin-bike users use helmets, or even high-vis jackets. Whereas maybe half(?) of regular cyclists wear one or both.


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    #247
    monument
    Moderators, Motoring & Transport Moderators Posts: 14,080 Mod ✭✭✭✭monument


    Ekaterina wrote: »
    Hey guys,

    how do you actually find it to cycle on db through all this busy traffic in the city center? There are no helmets there provided, are there? And I mean its probably a hassle to bring your own one, even though I saw some people cycling with helmets on the db's... Do you think it would be a good idea if there were helmets as well provided? Or is it fine to cycle without?

    From your post here and on another thread, it looks like you may be doing research for one reason or another. If you are doing research could you please be open about it and what exactly you are doing and for what or who? :)

    Why do you think helmets for DBs is a question that needs to be asked? The system has being up and running in Dublin for nearly 6 months, the usage percentage wise has other cities with street bike rental systems. Paris has had theirs up and running for a few years now, and have kept expanding it. No helmets were or are needed.

    I mean I would not be glad to be the reason for the next gost bike to be added to the two that are already there in Dublin... What do you think?

    I suspect you may work for a tabloid newspaper. :P

    Joking aside, most cyclist deaths would not be prevented by helmets. Studies show motorists and pedestrians could benefit more from helmets.

    mambo wrote: »
    Hardly any Dublin-bike users use helmets, or even high-vis jackets. Whereas maybe half(?) of regular cyclists wear one or both.

    From my very much so unscientific study, less than half overall wear helmets. It changes depending on day of the week, time of day, route etc etc. More than half might wear high-vis sometimes but this changes depending on the above mentioned factors plus it can change too depending on time of year -- ie the percentage of cyclists wearing high-vis seems to go up in the winter, this is likely because it's darker more often in winter, but it also could be effected by the fair weather only cyclists not cycling or cycling less in winter.

    It could also be the case that some new cyclists will start out using helmets but will stop using them after a while (I only have anecdotal evidence), while some I'm sure will never stop wearing one.


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    #248
    dolliemix
    Registered Users Posts: 4,048 ✭✭✭dolliemix


    Ekaterina wrote: »
    Hey guys,

    how do you actually find it to cycle on db through all this busy traffic in the city center? There are no helmets there provided, are there? And I mean its probably a hassle to bring your own one, even though I saw some people cycling with helmets on the db's... Do you think it would be a good idea if there were helmets as well provided? Or is it fine to cycle without? I mean I would not be glad to be the reason for the next gost bike to be added to the two that are already there in Dublin... What do you think?

    Not a chance would I wear a helmet other people have been wearing.

    My spins on db bikes are short and I'm never going at speed so I don't feel the need for a helmet


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    #249
    bkbk
    Closed Accounts Posts: 20 ✭bkbk


    Hm, very suspicious, new poster, first 4 posts all in just 10 minutes in different threads about dublinbikes and asking strange questions. I suspect a reporter trying to dig for dirt.

    BTW Helmets don't necessarily make you safer. A guy in the UK did research where he added a device to his bike that measured how close vehicles got to him. First he cycled around with a helmet on, then with no helmet and finally no helmet and a long blond wig to try and make him look like a woman.

    He found that with the wig he was given by far the most space, while vehicles drove very close to him while wearing the helmet. In fact he got clipped twice by vehicles, both times while wearing a helmet.

    His theory is that the less equipped and experienced you look, the more careful drivers are near you.

    Also I would ask, why aren't all passengers in vehicles made wear helmets, just like car racing drivers? After all statistically they suffer more head injuries then cyclists!

    The best way to improve safety of cyclists is to increase the number of cyclists. The more cyclists there are, the more drivers get use to them and are more careful of them. Also it puts more pressure on the city council to design our city to be safe for cyclists (more bike paths, 30 km/h zones, etc.).

    Helmets don't help increase the number of cyclists as it makes cycling look scary and dangerous which can discourage parents from letting their kids cycle. Instead I believe the dublinbike scheme has done more to encourage people to cycle, thanks to all the typically good looking young people pottering around the city streets at moderate speeds, in normal clothes and without all the dorky helmets and high viz gear *. It just makes cycling look safe and easy and there I say perhaps even cool and sexy.

    * BTW I completely understand why some people wear helmets and high viz gear, if you are cycling many miles from outside the city, through dark roads with cars passing by at 120km/h, it is a completely different story to biking in Dublin city center where cars travel at a maximum of 30km/h

    Ekaterina, if you really are a journalist, please write about the above, please don't do the boring typical trashy scare story about no helmets.
    Formerly bk, haven't gotten my account back since the hack :-(


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    #250
    BostonB
    Closed Accounts Posts: 18,056 ✭✭✭✭BostonB


    Ekaterina wrote: »
    Hey guys,

    how do you actually find it to cycle on db through all this busy traffic in the city center? There are no helmets there provided, are there? And I mean its probably a hassle to bring your own one, even though I saw some people cycling with helmets on the db's... Do you think it would be a good idea if there were helmets as well provided? Or is it fine to cycle without? I mean I would not be glad to be the reason for the next gost bike to be added to the two that are already there in Dublin... What do you think?

    How about you spend a afternoon with a few people used to cycling around Dublin, so they can show you how to get around on a bike. That would be real research.


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    #251
    Ekaterina
    Closed Accounts Posts: 43 ✭Ekaterina


    bkbk wrote: »
    Hm, very suspicious, new poster, first 4 posts all in just 10 minutes in different threads about dublinbikes and asking strange questions. I suspect a reporter trying to dig for dirt.

    BTW Helmets don't necessarily make you safer. A guy in the UK did research where he added a device to his bike that measured how close vehicles got to him. First he cycled around with a helmet on, then with no helmet and finally no helmet and a long blond wig to try and make him look like a woman.

    He found that with the wig he was given by far the most space, while vehicles drove very close to him while wearing the helmet. In fact he got clipped twice by vehicles, both times while wearing a helmet.

    His theory is that the less equipped and experienced you look, the more careful drivers are near you.

    Also I would ask, why aren't all passengers in vehicles made wear helmets, just like car racing drivers? After all statistically they suffer more head injuries then cyclists!

    The best way to improve safety of cyclists is to increase the number of cyclists. The more cyclists there are, the more drivers get use to them and are more careful of them. Also it puts more pressure on the city council to design our city to be safe for cyclists (more bike paths, 30 km/h zones, etc.).

    Helmets don't help increase the number of cyclists as it makes cycling look scary and dangerous which can discourage parents from letting their kids cycle. Instead I believe the dublinbike scheme has done more to encourage people to cycle, thanks to all the typically good looking young people pottering around the city streets at moderate speeds, in normal clothes and without all the dorky helmets and high viz gear *. It just makes cycling look safe and easy and there I say perhaps even cool and sexy.

    * BTW I completely understand why some people wear helmets and high viz gear, if you are cycling many miles from outside the city, through dark roads with cars passing by at 120km/h, it is a completely different story to biking in Dublin city center where cars travel at a maximum of 30km/h

    Ekaterina, if you really are a journalist, please write about the above, please don't do the boring typical trashy scare story about no helmets.
    Formerly bk, haven't gotten my account back since the hack :-(

    Hey bkbk,

    as you probably read on other threads already, I am just researching for my DCU project. I am by far the last person to argue for helmets to be made mandatory by law as imo people should care about their lives themselves in whichever way they think it is more suitable for them (wig, helmet, walking, etc.) and have a free choice!

    As for out of town vs. city centre cycling - I am more comfortable cycling out of town really and that is the reason why I actually would never cycle in my home city St. Petersburg in Russia as the traffic is horrible and chaotic, there are no cycling lanes at all and the speed limits are only being kept in front of the traffic police if at all. I actually doubt a bit as well that 30kmh is not only de jura in Dublin either. This however, does not really stop me from cycling around on a 50 euro bike without any helmets or high viz stuff and every 2nd time without lights (as "forgot them at home again") and sometimes going through red lights after checking for cars that are not there. Nothing really happened to me yet and I hope it will remain like this. I mean I realise that it is crazy but it is my life and I look after it my checking for cars rather than only for the traffic light which might be green, but someone will still hit you. And I am NOT by any chance trying to say that my way is the right way - it is NOT, but it works for me. What I am trying to find out is what works for other people, what they feel is right for them, and if this "right thing" might by chance be an opportunity (not an obligation!) to get a helmet together with the bike.

    And I really appreciate every opinion and thank everyone for posting it! I am not trying to offend anybody and right now I am as well trying to protect myself from same.


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    #252
    bkbk
    Closed Accounts Posts: 20 ✭bkbk


    Ekaterina wrote: »
    And I really appreciate every opinion and thank everyone for posting it! I am not trying to offend anybody and right now I am as well trying to protect myself from same.

    No bother, no one was offended or meant offense. You should just have said that you were a student up front.


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    #253
    BostonB
    Closed Accounts Posts: 18,056 ✭✭✭✭BostonB


    bkbk wrote: »
    ... BTW I completely understand why some people wear helmets and high viz gear, if you are cycling many miles from outside the city, through dark roads with cars passing by at 120km/h, it is a completely different story to biking in Dublin city center where cars travel at a maximum of 30km/h...

    If cars are doing 120 your on a motorway. Cyclists aren't allowed on motorways. Traffic around the city center is usually going faster than 30. Considering a lot of roads have a limit of 50 and a lot of people are going much faster than that. In the city, wearing hi viz and using lights is not about being seen in the pitch black. Its about being seen against a background of strong glaring lights. Cyclists seem to think they are far more visible than they actually are.


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    #254
    BostonB
    Closed Accounts Posts: 18,056 ✭✭✭✭BostonB


    bkbk wrote: »
    .... Instead I believe the dublinbike scheme has done more to encourage people to cycle, thanks to all the typically good looking young people pottering around the city streets at moderate speeds, in normal clothes and without all the dorky helmets and high viz gear *. It just makes cycling look safe and easy and there I say perhaps even cool and sexy....

    Its popular because they've they've actually made it easy to use, and useful. Nothing to do with fashion. I use them a good bit. But I've seen a good few near misses with them. Theres people on them who have zero road sense.


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    #255
    bkbk
    Closed Accounts Posts: 20 ✭bkbk


    BostonB wrote: »
    If cars are doing 120 your on a motorway. Cyclists aren't allowed on motorways. Traffic around the city center is usually going faster than 30.

    You are right, I was thinking more of national roads with 80 km/h speed limits coming into the city from the suburbs.
    BostonB wrote: »
    Its popular because they've they've actually made it easy to use, and useful. Nothing to do with fashion. I use them a good bit. But I've seen a good few near misses with them. Theres people on them who have zero road sense.

    Oh I agree, me too. But I do believe that the ease of it and the normal lack of helmets and high viz has made cycling look "sexy" to many people and I know of many people who have gone out and bought bikes as a result. Which is good for all cyclists.


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