In defence of cyclists

opti0nal

Tony EH wrote: »

Often times, it simply isn't safe for the cyclists to do so.

Why would it not be safe?

MajesticDonkey

Tony EH wrote: »

Often times, it simply isn't safe for the cyclists to do so.

Actually, as a member of a cycling club myself, we very rarely cycle in single file - it's nearly almost two abreast. But as you mentioned, we don't cycle in cities.

Tony EH

opti0nal wrote: »

Why would it not be safe?

Because a lot of motorists are dickheads, to be frank, they think that their vehicle has the right of way all the time and get frustrated at the slightest things, at the slightest drop of the hat. They then become dangerous to cyclists and if your riding 2 abreast, a lot of them think it's absolutely "outrageous", or against the law and instead of concentrating on the road, get ticked off at the people on the bikes.

opti0nal

Tony EH wrote: »

Because a lot of motorists ...think that their vehicle has the right of way all the time and get frustrated at the slightest things, at the slightest drop of the hat. They then become dangerous to cyclists and if your riding 2 abreast, a lot of them think it's absolutely "outrageous", or against the law.

This resembles the argument that women who dress in a certain way have to blame themselves if they get sexually assaulted.

Fortunately, to date, in Ireland, motorists who get angry, restrict their acting out to horn-blowing and rude gestures.

But there certainly seems to be an attitude for their own safety, cyclists should be put off the road and encased in bubble wrap and a high-vis jacket.

SuperInfinity

I don't like cyclists, I think they always create a distraction and a danger. If everyone in a car is doing their job right, then so long as someone isn't being aggressive or highly negligent, everything will run fine every time. With cyclists it always feels like there's a bit of inherent risk going on. Passing out on a wide main road isn't much hassle, no, but roads are a certain width for a reason. They don't make them that width for fun, so I think the cyclists are always taking a bit of a chance.

The last time I had to slam on the brakes really hard, which is really rare for me, was in a rural area where I wasn't going fast at all. But I was coming around a corner and there was a car in front of me almost standing still, and in front of her was a woman on a bike with a toddler up on the back going extremely slowly. God, it was the most dangerous thing. I felt like hooting but I didn't want to seem mean and aggressive and overreact myself, by the time I had a chance to let it sink it the moment had passed and it was too late.

Tony EH

opti0nal wrote: »

Fortunately, to date, in Ireland, motorists who get angry, restrict their acting out to horn-blowing and rude gestures.

It's not "assault" that I'm talking about, but dangerous driving due to motorists getting their knickers in a twist because somebody is cycling a bike in front of them.

ProudDUB

Ok. My 2 cents worth about cyclists. I used to be on their side. Was cycling home from college one day when some idiot getting out of a parked car opened her door without looking to see what/who was there. Slammed her door right into me, and I was knocked off my bike. Luckily no other cars were around. I was bruised and battered, nothing more. I'd be dead if there were cars around. Never got on a bike ever again. Moved to the US. Hardly anyone rides bikes, so no issues there.

Move back here to the IFSC, (the Connolly Station area for you non Dubs). There is not much parking for the nearby office workers, so a lot of people bike it to and from work. Oh my sweet Mother of Divine God ! The crap that I see on a daily basis from utterly clueless cyclists, navigating some of the busiest roads & intersections in Dublin does my fcuking head in. :rolleyes:

My personal favourites are the lady cyclists who are leaving work at dusk in the evenings on piece of crap bikes, with no lights and no safety helmets or hi visibility gear. Then they ride their bikes in their work clothes, short tight skirts and ballet flats, which means they can only pedal at .0001 miles per hour, and their foot wear gives them next to no control of the pedals on their bikes. Then there are their massive hand bags slung over their shoulders that contribute to a wonderfully unpredictable wobble factor due to uneven weight distribution. Get stuck behind one of them on the stretch of road that the Luas goes down, and its some crack I can tell you. The road is so narrow & their are trams coming and going, so you can not just go around them.

So my personal opinions is that if you want to ride your bike to work, get a proper bike, wear the appropriate clothes/footwear for cycling so that you can make good progress, wear the proper safety equipment, and for the love of God leave the kitchen sink hand bag at home, or buy a back pack. And oh yeah, unplug the iPod from your dainty shell likes so that you can focus on, and more importantly hear, what is going on around you. Do that, and I have no problem at all sharing the road with you. Don't, and well...you can just shag off. You are a hazard to you and everyone around you ! :mad:

(Ok rant over. I'm of the female persuasion myself btw, before some one accuses me of being a sexist pig. )

squod

ProudDUB wrote: »

lady cyclists who ride their bikes in short tight skirts......

Pics etc.....

ProudDUB

Crap. I walked right into that one, didn't I?

squod

ProudDUB wrote: »

Crap. I walked right into that one, didn't I?

Er.... or rode cycled typed into it

SuperInfinity

SuperInfinity wrote: »

The last time I had to slam on the brakes really hard, which is really rare for me, was in a rural area where I wasn't going fast at all. But I was coming around a corner and there was a car in front of me almost standing still, and in front of her was a woman on a bike with a toddler up on the back going extremely slowly. God, it was the most dangerous thing. I felt like hooting but I didn't want to seem mean and aggressive and overreact myself, by the time I had a chance to let it sink it the moment had passed and it was too late.

"Drive at a speed that enables you to stop within the distance you can see to be clear."-from the road traffic act.


It's not the cyclist's fault that you were driving too fast for the conditions.

SuperInfinity

Deleted User wrote: »

"Drive at a speed that enables you to stop within the distance you can see to be clear."-from the road traffic act.


It's not the cyclist's fault that you were driving too fast for the conditions.

I tell you what JamesL85, if I were going at that suggested speed around that corner then I would be the one causing the same sort of pull up or worse from the person behind me.

opti0nal

Tony EH wrote: »

It's not "assault" that I'm talking about, but dangerous driving due to motorists getting their knickers in a twist because somebody is cycling a bike in front of them.

In law, you don't have to make physical contact to be guilty of an assault. Intimidating behaviour combined with the ability to cause the threatened injury may be prosecuted as assault.

Therefore, driving close to someone, revving the engine, making gestures, blowing the horn might be an assault.

hardCopy

SuperInfinity wrote: »

Deleted User wrote: »

"Drive at a speed that enables you to stop within the distance you can see to be clear."-from the road traffic act.


It's not the cyclist's fault that you were driving too fast for the conditions.

I tell you what JamesL85, if I were going at that suggested speed around that corner then I would be the one causing the same sort of pull up or worse from the person behind me.

Ah, another who misunderstands the concept of a speed limit.

And to the poster woo complained about cyclists in the IFSC, that's about the last place in Dublin that you should expect to make significant progress by car. People don't cycle there because there's no parking, they cycle because the city centre is an awful place to drive.

magicbastarder

SuperInfinity wrote: »

I tell you what JamesL85, if I were going at that suggested speed around that corner then I would be the one causing the same sort of pull up or worse from the person behind me.

i'll see if this can be rephrased - you go at a speed that will allow you to stop within the amount of road you can actually see to be clear, and no faster.
we're not talking about the speed limit as a 'suggested speed'. that's utter lunacy.

if you're driving in a rural area - especially in the last few weeks, with all the harvests coming in - you may find yourself rounding a bend, with something bigger than a cyclist in front of you. something like a combine, which you'd probably barely leave a dent in, but you can imagine how well you'd come off.

monument

Qualitymark wrote: »

Why are motorists in such a hurry anyway? Unless they're heading to hospital to get treatment for the heart attack caused by their sedentary lifestyle, it's not going to make a *huge* difference to go a little slower.

Most of them just seem to be in a hurry to stop just a short distance ahead to clearly visible red traffic lights or a line of cars going nowhere or nowhere quickly.

SerialComplaint

monument wrote: »

Most of them just seem to be in a hurry to stop just a short distance ahead to clearly visible red traffic lights or a line of cars going nowhere or nowhere quickly.

Yeah. it actually really, really funny seeing/hearing motorists complaining about being held up by cyclists. Look around you, lads. It's not cyclists that hold up cars. It's cars that hold up cars.

Iwannahurl

monument wrote: »

Most of them just seem to be in a hurry to stop just a short distance ahead to clearly visible red traffic lights or a line of cars going nowhere or nowhere quickly.

I was passed out twice by a Ferrari, of all things, yesterday evening on a narrow urban residential road. The driver was revving the engine ostentatiously, coincidentally while also passing two twenty-something females walking by.

I caught up with the driver at the traffic lights a few hundred metres down the road. The lights changed and the Ferrari raced past me again, accelerating hard along another residential road, before I caught up again 200 metres further on as the driver pulled in to park (against the flow of traffic, btw).

If you're not better than a cyclist, who are you better than?

CramCycle

SuperInfinity wrote: »

I tell you what JamesL85, if I were going at that suggested speed around that corner then I would be the one causing the same sort of pull up or worse from the person behind me.

Surely the person behind you shouldn't be that close, they should be far enough away that if you slam on the brakes, they have time to react and slam on their own before they catch up with you. If they hit you, it would be their fault, thats why you hear of people in trouble for rear ending traffic, not for slamming on brakes (usually).

Raminahobbin

Tony EH wrote: »

It's legal to cycle two abreast.

Maybe it's you who need to learn the "rules of the road".

I didn't say cycling 2 abreast was illegal, just that it's a really inconsiderate thing to do when there's heavy traffic on the opposite side of the road, forcing the car behind to go at a snails pace for longer than necessary. Slipping into single file and then back to two abreast when clear takes seconds.

magicbastarder

you know cyclists are more likely to do the opposite? they'll ride two abreast when there's oncoming traffic, and into single file when clear?

cyclists don't *want* to be overtaken when there's oncoming traffic - that's the dangerous way of doing it. it's when the way ahead is clear that they will co-operate with overtaking manouvres.

what you're suggesting is asking the cyclists to place themselves in greater danger.

SerialComplaint

Raminahobbin wrote: »

Slipping into single file and then back to two abreast when clear takes seconds.

Yes, it takes seconds to let a driver squeeze through without leaving anything near the recommended 1.5 m space, putting the cyclist's life in danger. That's why it's not a good idea.

Korvanica

Had a bottle thrown at me yesterday by some scumbags in a car.

ALL DRIVERS ARE TOTAL ASSHOLES

(See.... us cyclists can put drivers into one big group too... :pac: )





(I'm not actually doing it though. this is a joke. Said id type this to make it clear over the internet.)

Scumbag is still scum though.