Glass purposely thrown on bike paths

tomasrojo

I've seen freshly broken glass splashed across the cycle track, with a little bit on the footpath, where it spilled over. So it's not because the council didn't sweep the cycle track (though they don't); somebody deliberately broke glass on the cycle track.

I don't know why this is so unbelievable. I mean, I might be wrong, but it's the simplest explanation. Drunks do stupid stuff all the time. They vandalise bikes as well.

As I said, it's occasional, but I'm pretty sure it is something that drunks do, presumably to amuse their intoxicated companions.

magicbastarder

hypothesising - if i'm a drunk on a footpath with a beer bottle that is now surplus to requirements - will i lob it onto the path in front of me, or just toss it out into the road?

tomasrojo

I grant you, I can't prove to peer-review standard that there isn't some sort of confirmation bias going on in my head, but I'm satisfied that drunks occasionally break glass on cycle tracks because it causes punctures.

tomasrojo

magicbastarder wrote: »

hypothesising - if i'm a drunk on a footpath with a beer bottle that is now surplus to requirements - will i lob it onto the path in front of me, or just toss it out into the road?

I hope you, magcibastarder, would
(c) take it home, rinse it out and recycle it.

NiallBoo

mrcheez & tomasrojo - fair enough, imo you're over-thinking all of this but I don't think I'm going to change your minds.

(I will grant you that there must be someone out there crazy enough to to do it on purpose, but I think you're grossly over-estimating the number and in any case it must be insignificant compared to the amount of glass that ends up on the roads because of accident or idiocy)

Let's assume you're right for the sake of argument - how would it actually be dealt with differently?

There isn't much practical difference between someone being thoughtless and someone doing it on purpose - you still get glass everywhere.

mrcheez

NiallBoo wrote: »

imo you're over-thinking all of this

I'm certainly thinking a lot more about how to circumvent such incidents on my cycle route where I haven't had to for 4 years previously on the same route.

tomasrojo

I wouldn't say I'm over-thinking it. It's not a subject that exercises me very much. I think if I'm wrong what I'm suffering from is closer to a victim complex (speaking loosely, not using the diagnostic manual). However, given that drunks also key cars, and smash windows, I don't see any reason not to assume drunks of that sort also find it amusing to inconvenience people on bikes.

I don't regard it as a major problem, and there's nothing that can be done about it, except allocate a budget to sweep cycle tracks, as countries that take utility cycling seriously already do.

Doctor Bob

tomasrojo wrote: »

There did use to be a device you could attach to your fork and it would lightly brush your tyre as you cycled. Intended to remove glass before it embedded, I guess. Mentioned in Richard's Bicycle Book.

If I recall correctly, in the twelfth edition (fully revised and expanded), he also mentions that the brush should be detachable so it can, in case of emergency, be used to scrob out the eyes of a menacing terrier (if, say, you're squeamish about dashing its brains out on the pavement).

tomasrojo

Ah, that's hilarious!

Actually, I'm sorry in a small way that I (and others) keep returning to that business (except that it's well worth doing, because it's so funny), I actually do like the various incarnations of the Bicycle Book, despite some over-selling of the H-word and VC. He had a vivid prose style and a passionate one (that also, alas, made his descriptions of murdering dogs unforgettable).

jaqian

buffalo wrote: »

http://fixmystreet.ie/

You can't fix the people, face it Dublin has become a sh1th0le. I had a kid not more than 7yrs of age kick a broken bottle across my path deliberately, I mean wtf?

ThisRegard

Dublin is not a ****hole, just that some people are assholes who are in it. Dublin is far, far from unique with its asshole infestation.

com1

I must say I have also noticed an increase in glass on my travels between Leixlip and Dublin CC (not so much yet from Leixlip to Celbridge)


I find Marathon Plus and regular de-glassing quite good.


My solution would be to charge a very large deposit on beer bottles (I am thinking at least 2 euro each) which might make them more recyclable than smashable. Or encourage beer producers to use less splinterable containers

buffalo

com1 wrote: »

My solution would be to charge a very large deposit on beer bottles (I am thinking at least 2 euro each) which might make them more recyclable than smashable. Or encourage beer producers to use less splinterable containers

Why so large? A 15c levy obliterated the use of plastic bags overnight.

com1

buffalo wrote: »

Why so large? A 15c levy obliterated the use of plastic bags overnight.

It would be a deposit not a levy. It would act as a substantial incentive to return the empties. Though if the proceeds of a levy were used to clean up the debris then fair enough

Chuchote

com1 wrote: »

It would be a deposit not a levy. It would act as a substantial incentive to return the empties. Though if the proceeds of a levy were used to clean up the debris then fair enough

The main reason for not returning glass bottles is that shops don't want the bother of returning them to the wholesalers, and so on up the line, surely?

But I think drunks would still continue to smash bottles on roads even if there were a levy. The problem is not only drunks and fools smashing bottles, it's that the glass isn't swept up.

There's a general lack of house-trainedness in Ireland. I was on a bus yesterday where a half-empty Lucozade bottle was rolling around the floor, ignored by everyone - and this is not uncommon. Often enough there are also chewed sandwiches, packets of chips, etc; things you wouldn't expect to see on the mainland.

magicbastarder

we don't have any glass recycling facilities in ireland anyway.

mrcheez

magicbastarder wrote: »

we don't have any glass recycling facilities in ireland anyway.

They add a bit of shiny bling to my wheel, that's some good recycling

Pepe LeFrits

There's a huge amount of glass on the cycle path (and on the road) on Memorial Road and on the Talbot Memorial bridge at the moment. Was there a multi-vehicle pile-up there overnight or something?

2RockMountain

Someone else seems to think it is deliberate too;

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IqHoK-ptCwU

mrcheez

2RockMountain wrote: »

Someone else seems to think it is deliberate too;

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IqHoK-ptCwU

Hmm no that's not thrown into a bike lane, that's just edge of the road

RainyDay

Did anyone else get a puncture on the Grand Canal cycle track today? I picked up this little bugger somewhere around Leeson St or Baggot St, and the tyre was flat within 1km.



I can't be sure exactly where it happened, so perhaps I'm a little paranoid, but just thought I'd check. There have been a few attacks on cycle tracks in the UK with pins in recent weeks.

V-man

RainyDay wrote: »

Did anyone else get a puncture on the Grand Canal cycle track today? I picked up this little bugger somewhere around Leeson St or Baggot St, and the tyre was flat within 1km.



I can't be sure exactly where it happened, so perhaps I'm a little paranoid, but just thought I'd check. There have been a few attacks on cycle tracks in the UK with pins in recent weeks.

One in my front tire this morning.

RainyDay

V-man wrote: »

One in my front tire this morning.

Were you in that area?

Roadhawk

magicbastarder wrote: »

we don't have any glass recycling facilities in ireland anyway.

Ah but we do...
http://www.rehabglassco.ie/

magicbastarder

RainyDay wrote: »

Did anyone else get a puncture on the Grand Canal cycle track today? I picked up this little bugger somewhere around Leeson St or Baggot St, and the tyre was flat within 1km.

maybe it's a hallowe'en thing - i had to replace the full set of tyres on the car last year, on the day after hallowe'en, due to thumbtacks.

magicbastarder

Roadhawk wrote: »

Ah but we do...
http://www.rehabglassco.ie/

from what i can see, the glass is collected and crushed here, but shipped to northern ireland to be actually recycled.

Roadhawk

magicbastarder wrote: »

from what i can see, the glass is collected and crushed here, but shipped to northern ireland to be actually recycled.

Well Rehab Glassco crush the glass into different grades of sand which is bagged, palleted and shipped all over the place. The sand is like a raw material that can be used for many functions. It can be melted down to make more glass but is often used for sand blasting, road construction, landscaping, sport facilities and horse arenas.

Fian

RainyDay wrote: »

Were you in that area?

Also interested to hear, but in the meantime I will avoid the canal cycle track on my way home this evening and stick to the roads. 2 thumb tacks in the same morning sounds like it could be more than a co-incidence, considering the number of posters to this forum.

V-man

RainyDay wrote: »

Were you in that area?

Seville place.
But the result was a nice walk along the grand canal

GreenFolder2

The issue is more likely street sweeping machines being used incorrectly.

They'll tend to pick up only light litter, leaving glass and heavy items behind.

They need to run those vacuum trucks with sweeping rollers tight to the edge of the road and move quite slowly. a lot of issues are caused by stuff being swept by bushes or just by motion of traffic to the sides of the road.

It's not anyone dumping glass and debris to annoy cyclists, rather just rushed maintenance and sweeping.

It's just a big issue for the council to get enough time to do deep cleaning without disrupting lanes.