Journalism and cycling

check_six

Chuchote wrote: »

I'm expecting the national flag to be changed for fluorescent green, reflective white and fluorescent orange any day now.

Any suggestions where they might be manufactured?

Chuchote

check_six wrote: »

Any suggestions where they might be manufactured?

Islandeady?

endagibson

check_six wrote: »

Any suggestions where they might be manufactured?

Know a FG donor with a textile factory?

Moflojo

MPs in the UK have launched a cross-party inquiry into "Cycling and the Justice System" to see whether the current judicial system is serving all cyclists. Interestingly, they're also using The Guardian's online comments system to allow the general public to make submissions to the inquiry. Here's The Guardian article introducing the inquiry:

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/bike-blog/2017/jan/12/is-justice-system-failing-cyclists-help-us-find-out?platform=hootsuite

We’ll be asking specific questions about how aspects of the legal system could be improved, such as whether the Highway Code provides good enough guidance on how to behave around cyclists.

We’ll also be seeking to find out whether the police are effective in detecting crimes on the roads and whether prosecutors and the courts are using all the means available to them to prevent illegal behaviour from recurring.

CramCycle

Portwest ltd would be where my money would go.

V-man

Rokta wrote: »

What is the fetish with High Viz clothing in this country?

The are useless and will never be as good as a decent set of lights. Every night I see cyclists with no lights but wearing this useless neon jackets/vests? I used to own one of this jackets myself and even in bright day light random white vans, buses and cars tried to kill me at least once a week in a roundabout.

Wednesday morning Garda was giving free High-Viz to cyclist on Samuel Beckett bridge. I kindly declined.
Prefer they give fines and points to road abusers.

Effects

Rokta wrote: »

What is the fetish with High Viz clothing in this country?

The are useless. Every night I see cyclists with no lights but wearing this useless neon jackets/vests?

That's not true.

Chuchote

He's at it again

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2017/jan/12/cyclists-dont-count-as-road-users-argues-transport-secretary?CMP=twt_gu

(Britain's) transport secretary, Chris Grayling, has been accused of showing “an astonishing lack of knowledge” of his brief after arguing in the House of Commons that cyclists do not count as road users.

Grayling, shown in a video last month knocking a rider off his bike by suddenly opening the door to his ministerial car outside Westminster, made the comment on Thursday morning.

tomasrojo

In case anyone really wants to get into detail about hi-viz and whether it's great or useless or something in between, we do have a hi-viz megathread.

magicbastarder

i assume the article is paywalled - this is lifted from broadsheet.

Chuchote

Irish Cycling is reporting that the City Council is looking at options for bringing cyclists across the Tom Clarke (East Link) Bridge:

http://irishcycle.com/2017/01/14/council-assessing-options-for-cycling-crossing-river-liffey-at-east-link/

“We’re currently assessing how to put in proper pedestrian and cycling facilities on the Tom Clarke Bridge. That may be a seprate bridge beside the Tom Clarke Bridge for cyclists and pedestrians,” said Brendan O’Brien, director of traffic at Dublin City Council.

The comment was made to local councillors at a meeting of the central area committee of the council. O’Brien was giving councillors a presentation covering the Liffey Cycle Route.

Moflojo

magicbastarder wrote: »

i assume the article is paywalled - this is lifted from broadsheet.

It's interesting that they've focused on 'Dublin' in that headline - I'd be under the impression that cycling has boomed nationwide. I guess they're specifically referring to cycling as a means of general transport/commute, whereas cycling nationwide is still perhaps seen more as a 'leisure pursuit'.

magicbastarder

so what's going on here?
http://www.irishtimes.com/news/ireland/irish-news/ross-unnecessarily-confrontational-says-rsa-chairwoman-1.2937904

CramCycle

magicbastarder wrote: »

so what's going on here?
http://www.irishtimes.com/news/ireland/irish-news/ross-unnecessarily-confrontational-says-rsa-chairwoman-1.2937904

Ross aside, her comment stating:

the RSA had been successful in reducing road deaths since its establishment in 2006 from 365 to 166 and it was highly regarded by the public and Oireachtas members.

is in my opinion, a bit of a stretch. My own view from talking to various types of road users is that they are ill regarded but necessary (i.e. different people with the same remit would do a far better job). Being highly regarded by Oireachtas members is like being highly regarded by people who either don't want to be called out on something or who want to take your job when you retire and know that the best way to do this is by keeping you on side, hardly best placed to give good judgement.

endagibson

magicbastarder wrote: »

so what's going on here?
http://www.irishtimes.com/news/ireland/irish-news/ross-unnecessarily-confrontational-says-rsa-chairwoman-1.2937904

1) Road deaths have gone up. The media are referring to it as a trend, which will probably worry people who don't understand what trends are.
2) Something must be done.
3) The finger of blame must be pointed somewhere else.

CramCycle

endagibson wrote: »

1) Road deaths have gone up. The media are referring to it as a trend, which will probably worry people who don't understand what trends are.

Always annoyed me and many others around here. The word trend in the media, seems to have no merit passed one number is higher or lower than another number.
We may get a year in the future where there are zero cycling fatalaties. The RSA will claim it as a victory. Politicians will delight in our new record. The media will hail some measure that had nowt to do with it as being the reason. What they will miss is that maybe, it was just a fluke. A nice one, a welcome one, but that is that.

Macy0161

Ross v RSA is like the opposite of daddy or chips for me. I don't rate Ross or the RSA, in general or on cycle safety!

schemingbohemia

Moflojo wrote: »

It's interesting that they've focused on 'Dublin' in that headline - I'd be under the impression that cycling has boomed nationwide. I guess they're specifically referring to cycling as a means of general transport/commute, whereas cycling nationwide is still perhaps seen more as a 'leisure pursuit'.

The article is specifically in relation to the fact that cyclists outnumber cars on a stretch of the quays (Ellis Quay) as reported here

http://irishcycle.com/2017/01/11/cars-off-quays-proposal-for-liffey-cycle-route-not-arrived-at-lightly/

There's also way more stats (and more reliable) in Dublin than elsewhere in country.

HivemindXX

CramCycle wrote: »

We may get a year in the future where there are zero cycling fatalaties. The RSA will claim it as a victory. Politicians will delight in our new record. The media will hail some measure that had nowt to do with it as being the reason. What they will miss is that maybe, it was just a fluke. A nice one, a welcome one, but that is that.

And the next year when there are the usual single digit numbers there will be hysterical headlines. MASSIVE INCREASE IN CYCLING FATALITIES!!! INFINITY PERCENT INCREASE! Should people be allowed cycle on the roads? Without a helmet? At all? With these year on year increases maybe it is time to rethink this cycling thing. Who is to blame for this? The government is always a good bet. Maybe it should be cyclists themselves. Are parents who let their children cycle basically negligent? Here's what the AA has to say about it...

magicbastarder

not about cycling, but god bless miriam lord.

Then there was Shane Ross. In this Government, there is always Ross. He provides the light relief, if little else.

http://www.irishtimes.com/news/politics/oireachtas/miriam-lord-ross-reports-but-not-about-bus-%C3%A9ireann-report-1.2940823

Chuchote

Letter to Irish Times today:

http://www.irishtimes.com/opinion/letters/cyclepaths-and-road-users-1.2941707

from Mike Moran of Clontarf, in reply to one complaining about cyclists on pavements:

Yesterday I also nearly met my Waterloo in north Dublin when a bus attempted to “take me out” on a so-called “cycle path” . Unfortunately the “cyclepath” is on the main road. “Cyclepath” – the clue is in the name. Not.

tomasrojo

CramCycle wrote: »

Ross aside, her comment stating:

the RSA had been successful in reducing road deaths since its establishment in 2006 from 365 to 166 and it was highly regarded by the public and Oireachtas members.

is in my opinion, a bit of a stretch.

Yes, also in the sense that there was a gigantic recession in 2008, which always reduces road deaths, by reducing HGV traffic, and also journeys generally. Other factors outside the control of the RSA also affect road fatalities. So taking credit for the entire reduction is a bit of a stretch.

tomasrojo

CramCycle wrote: »

Always annoyed me and many others around here. The word trend in the media, seems to have no merit passed one number is higher or lower than another number.
We may get a year in the future where there are zero cycling fatalaties. The RSA will claim it as a victory. Politicians will delight in our new record. The media will hail some measure that had nowt to do with it as being the reason. What they will miss is that maybe, it was just a fluke. A nice one, a welcome one, but that is that.

Yes, especially by looking at percentages, there is a strong tendency to see great momentum in what are really modest moves in very small numbers.

Cycling fatalities up 40%! (5 to 7)
Cycling fatalities down nearly 30%! (7 to 5)

(Already said by HiveMind, but what the hell.)

Chuchote

Today's Irish Times - at last the question is asked (letters column) by Mary Fallon of Dublin 3:

http://www.irishtimes.com/opinion/letters/cyclists-and-pedestrians-1.2943317

When will the authorities do something about parked cars on cyclepaths?

and Eamonn O'Neill of Templeogue writes:

Unfortunately, many cycle paths are created on footpaths, either as shared spaces or marked with white paint. Neither is fit for purpose for pedestrians or cyclists. This is a short-sighted attempt to save money.
Councillors should not approve such routes, and central government should greatly restrict their use.

HivemindXX

With regard to the Belfast Bikes bike rental scheme the Belfast Telegraph was trying to encourage the council to close the "loophole" whereby the first 30 minutes of each bike trip was free. Except of course you pay for that with your membership.

http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/northern-ireland/cost-of-belfast-bikes-rental-may-increase-35379061.html

Luckily the council voted against it. Although the Telegraph didn't seem happy characterising this as voting against a proposal to 'save' £15,000. Surely that should be charging their users an additional £15,000 though, right?

http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/northern-ireland/belfast-council-votes-to-keep-30-minutes-free-wheeling-time-on-bikes-scheme-35383528.html

Moflojo

HivemindXX wrote: »

With regard to the Belfast Bikes bike rental scheme the Belfast Telegraph was trying to encourage the council to close the "loophole" whereby the first 30 minutes of each bike trip was free. Except of course you pay for that with your membership.

http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/northern-ireland/cost-of-belfast-bikes-rental-may-increase-35379061.html

Luckily the council voted against it. Although the Telegraph didn't seem happy characterising this as voting against a proposal to 'save' £15,000. Surely that should be charging their users an additional £15,000 though, right?

http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/northern-ireland/belfast-council-votes-to-keep-30-minutes-free-wheeling-time-on-bikes-scheme-35383528.html

The Belfast Telegraph appears to have an agenda against all things public travel and active transport. They've been campaigning against bus lanes and cycle lanes for a few years now - the paper appears to be a mouthpiece for the Belfast chamber of commerce, much like 'Dublin Town' is in Dublin.

The myopic nature of the proposed "£15,000 saving" by halving the grace period astounds me. If one was to monetise the benefits of bike sharing schemes [in terms of reduced emissions, cleaner air, reduced pressure on infrastructure and the direct health & exercise benefits to the users engaging in active travel] the savings would be in the hundreds of thousands, if not millions, per year.

Chuchote

http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/row-grows-over-plans-for-115km-cycle-path-on-river-35389268.html

Row grows over plans for 115km cycle path on river
Ian Begley
A major battle is brewing over a controversial plan by Waterways Ireland to replace the 115km grassy towpath along the River Barrow from Kildare to Carlow with hard surface to accommodate a cycleway.
Described by Irish environmentalist Dick Warner as "the most beautiful riverside walk in these islands", the Barrow Way stretches from Lowtown, Co Kildare, to St Mullins in Co Carlow, along over 100km of canal and river towpaths.
Planning permission to start the work is due to be lodged with Carlow County Council this week.

magicbastarder

to be fair, i can see his point.

Tenzor07

Chuchote wrote: »

http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/row-grows-over-plans-for-115km-cycle-path-on-river-35389268.html

NIMBY's!

Tenzor07

No fine's for cycling on the pavement:

Police-won-t-punish-cyclists-riding-pavement