Cyclists and the law,is anyone else sick of them breaking it

stewygriffin

I beeped at 2 grown men today breaking the red lights and allmost causing a bad crash on the Swords Road.
They caused a motorbiker to jam on his brakes and caused a car to skid out of control and almost wipe out the motorbiker.

I pointed to them at the very obvious red light that the rest of us were stopped at and abiding by.
One of the cyclists stopped and waved back at me and said sorry,the other gave me the one fingered salute and continued on as if nothing had happened.

Both cyclists were in good gear and on good looking bikes and wearing helmets too.

How is it that these cyclists think they dont have to abide by the law??

Also what would their attitude be to the motorbiker and car,if both had have ploughed into them and put them all in hospital??

Chuchote

It's not "cyclists and…", it's "people using transport and…"

I'm not going to whatabout here, but there's no point in spouting on about the horror of cyclists breaking traffic laws when car, van and truck drivers, and pedestrians, do just the same.

Big pain in the ass, I have to admit, whoever's doing it.

MSVforever

stewygriffin wrote: »

I beeped at 2 grown men today breaking the red lights and allmost causing a bad crash on the Swords Road.
They caused a motorbiker to jam on his brakes and caused a car to skid out of control and almost wipe out the motorbiker.

I pointed to them at the very obvious red light that the rest of us were stopped at and abiding by.
One of the cyclists stopped and waved back at me and said sorry,the other gave me the one fingered salute and continued on as if nothing had happened.

Both cyclists were in good gear and on good looking bikes and wearing helmets too.

How is it that these cyclists think they dont have to abide by the law??

Also what would their attitude be to the motorbiker and car,if both had have ploughed into them and put them all in hospital??

The issue is that they are getting away with it. When I drive with my bike to work on Goatstown Road towards Clonskeagh I can count the cyclists who are stopping for the red light on one hand (especially at the turn off for Roebuck Road).

On Monday I nearly witnessed an accident where a cyclist broke a red light and missed two children (I think there is a primary school around the corner)on their bicycles by a few inches.

Im a cyclist myself (well I used to commute on my bicycle before I got the motorbike) but Im aware of my surroundings/other road users. Most of those muppets who dont give a damn about others are those wannabe Lance Armstrongs...)

Some of them cheeky f@ckers give out to me when Im filtering through their lane (with a broken white line).... but my scorpion can shuts them up quickly...lol...

Motorcyclists are no saints by any means but we are usually more aware as we value our lifes (well most of us).

degsie

I see cyclists breaking red lights EVERY SINGLE DAY! It annoys and disgusts me

furiousox

This topic is LONG overdue being discussed on boards.
Just let me grab some popcorn and I'll be right back.

Sleeper12

I'm fed up with cyclists, pedestrians and motorists breaking the law.

arybvtcw0eolkf

Well Stewie as you know (and he's met me in my lyrica/budgie smugglers) and yes I'm sick of it too.

Now I know cyclists will take great offence at this thread, but they're lying to themselves or living in country villages without traffic lights because on my commute I'm usually in a very small minority of cyclists who actually stop for red lights.

As much as I love motorcycling I love cycling too so I'm not one of those fooking idiots who think all cyclists are assholes. But!.. But sadly most cyclists on my commute (20km x2 daily) pay scant regard to lights.

Max Headroom

MAMILS.....middle aged men in Lyrcra.....:D

I saw a cyclist stopping at a red light nearly getting rear-entered by another cyclist that was suprised as i was...he screamed some profanity at the guy as he swerved around him..

endacl

degsie wrote: »

I see cyclists breaking red lights EVERY SINGLE DAY! It annoys and disgusts me

I see people doing it. Some on bikes. Some on bikes with engines. Some in cars. Some on foot.

Chuchote

'MAMILS', 'cyclists', etc, etc. The topic isn't long overdue being discussed on boards, it has been discussed in a million (not a scientific survey) threads.
The trouble is, if you're sitting in your car, you see the idiots on bikes going through the lights.
If you're on a bike, and coming up to the lights from either side, you have a view of the several cars that rush through the lights just as they turn, followed by several more going through on red, and of the cyclists who pass you and go through the lights, and of the pedestrians who walk across on the red.
Cyclists are not a single group with a single thought, any more than drivers are (damn you, you drivers, every one of you using Facebook on your phone in the car - do you not realise that you're giving all drivers a bad name…!) or pedestrians are. Anyone who thinks any group sharing a mode of transport moves as a mind with but a single thought is… well… a bit dim…

BorneTobyWilde

Postmen and women on bicycles are incredible , they will do anything. Straight through red lights up on to the pavement, cut between people and out the other side.
See it all the time.

Lumen

Almost everyone breaks the law.

Is there a single motorcyclist that rides within speed limits and stays out of bus lanes? I've not seen one.

Max Headroom

Not every car or biker runs red lights, but 99% of cyclists i've seen do....

Lumen

Max Headroom wrote: »

Not every car or biker runs red lights, but 99% of cyclists i've seen do....

Right, but just to be clear on how high your horse is, do you obey speed limits and stay out of bus lanes when on your motorcycle?

I don't know why this thread is here. Irony? Motorcyclists are the least law-abiding road users.

GBX

In before the "they don't even pay road tax Joe"...

It's everyone on the road that breaks the law. Hands up because id be laughed at if I said I didn't break the law - be it bus lanes, speeding etc.

There is not enough enforcement of the rules hence the blatant disregard for them. How many red lights in Dublin - How many Garda would be needed to stop them after the red lights have been broken. Apply that then too if they started targeting bikers for using bus lanes .. it goes on and on. Every motorist has their gripe about what other motorists are doing to piss them off. It only becomes an issue with red light breakers if they are involved and/or do cause a crash .. but
at that stage they could be written off more than a car/motorbike is .. lesson learned way too late.

Chuchote

Max Headroom wrote: »

Not every car or biker runs red lights, but 99% of cyclists i've seen do....

Or… ahem… 12% according to the RSA

http://www.rsa.ie/Documents/Road%20Safety/Crash%20Stats/RSA%20observational%20study%202015%20%E2%80%93%20Cyclist%20compliance%20with%20traffic%20lights.pdf

Still too many, of course - but then a lot of countries allow cyclists to run through certain red lights -

http://www.latimes.com/opinion/livable-city/la-oe-babin-bicycle-laws-20161003-snap-story.html

and in San Francisco, when cyclists went on strike and stopped en masse at red lights, yield signs, etc, it caused citywide gridlock -

http://road.cc/content/news/160118-san-francisco-cyclists-protest-obeying-traffic-rules

frozenfrozen

maybe everyone could start saying "dublin cyclists"

because where I am the cyclists and I get on very well together on the roads, we even wave at each other

mjsc1970

frozenfrozen wrote: »

maybe everyone could start saying "dublin cyclists"

because where I am the cyclists and I get on very well together on the roads, we even wave at each other

Where's this lovely place?

frozenfrozen

mjsc1970 wrote: »

Where's this lovely place?

wesht

Wonda-Boy

Sick to death of them bleeding 2 wheeled freaks doing what ever they want, not to mention the grannies pressing the button to cross the roads!!! And dont get me started on the postman putting letters in the door and 10 past the nine o clock in the mornings!!!!!!

Max Headroom

Chuchote wrote: »

Or… ahem… 12% according to the RSA

http://www.rsa.ie/Documents/Road%20Safety/Crash%20Stats/RSA%20observational%20study%202015%20%E2%80%93%20Cyclist%20compliance%20with%20traffic%20lights.pdf

Still too many, of course - but then a lot of countries allow cyclists to run through certain red lights -

http://www.latimes.com/opinion/livable-city/la-oe-babin-bicycle-laws-20161003-snap-story.html

and in San Francisco, when cyclists went on strike and stopped en masse at red lights, yield signs, etc, it caused citywide gridlock -

http://road.cc/content/news/160118-san-francisco-cyclists-protest-obeying-traffic-rules

Or..ahem...dont get me started on the RSA......and we dont live in the USA,UK or wherever....;)

dre_jspeed

I commute along the canal every day. 99.9% break the red lights and god forbid that anyone beep at them. You would swear they are riding a high horse not a bike

My biggest issue with the majority of cyclist is, once they throw their leg over the bike I think their heads lock straight ahead. They never look around to check its safe to make a manoeuvre.

Alkers

Doesn't bother me in the slightest. Cyclists should be allowed to break red lights when safe to do so, the same as motorcyclists should be allowed to ride in bus lanes and avail of advance stop lines.

The only thing that actually annoys me about cyclists is when they move out to overtake another cyclist / pedestrian / parked car etc without looking or checking over their shoulder.

arybvtcw0eolkf

Or bikers who ride in cycle lanes ~ lets open this up a little

Max Headroom

Izaiah Helpless Switchblade wrote: »

Or bikers who ride in cycle lanes ~ lets open this up a little

Only when i'm holding them up............:p

Muahahaha

One thing Ive noticed recently in Dublin is cyclists now using the middle of the road to filter past traffic, i.e. the extreme right hand side of the road that motorbikes also tend to use to filter. Im pretty sure cyclists are supposed to keep left unless theyre turning right but Im not seeing any of them turning right. So an extra hazard has now been added to the motorbiker commuting through town as these cyclists just pop out from between two cars to get into the middle of the road to filter.

Im a cyclist myself so am loathe to condemn them all as a group because they dont all behave the same and many you see actually look a bit nervous cycling in city traffic and they give you a wide berth. But there is a minority of cyclists who are taking the piss in the risks that they are taking.

mrcheez

Just curious what exactly is the problem when a cyclist breaks a red light?

They are going to hurt themselves more than anyone else. Obviously the ones that go through active pedestrian crossings and almost run over people need to check themselves and I don't agree with that.

But the ones that go through a red light when there is no traffic coming from the side are causing no harm, unlike a motor vehicle going through a red light which is essentially a 1 ton death machine and certainly *do* need to adhere to stricter rules. If anything they are making themselves more clearly visible to the traffic behind them, as opposed to pulling up to the left of a vehicle where it's far more dangerous.

Cyclists in Paris can go through red lights when there is clearly no traffic. Should they be condemned too?

I was in Amsterdam recently and everyone goes through the red lights. It's going to happen, get over it.

frozenfrozen

mrcheez wrote: »

Just curious what exactly is the problem when a cyclist breaks a red light?

They are going to hurt themselves more than anyone else. Obviously the ones that go through active pedestrian crossings and almost run over people need to check themselves and I don't agree with that.

But the ones that go through a red light when there is no traffic coming from the side are causing no harm, unlike a motor vehicle going through a red light which is essentially a 1 ton death machine and certainly *do* need to adhere to stricter rules. If anything they are making themselves more clearly visible to the traffic behind them, as opposed to pulling up to the left of a vehicle where it's far more dangerous.

Cyclists in Paris can go through red lights when there is clearly no traffic. Should they be condemned too?

I was in Amsterdam recently and everyone goes through the red lights. It's going to happen, get over it.

ah come on.. cyclist goes through red, motorcyclist hits them, or motorbike slows down, and gets rear ended by a car. Doesn't take much effort to imagine why a cyclist breaking some red lights could cause mayhem.

Red lights that are there for traffic management/ easing... I don't have an issue with cyclists breaking.

I would have an issue with anyone doing absolutely anything on the road causing someone else to have to do an emergency brake like stewy said in the opening post

Commotion Ocean

I'd love to see some posts on the Garda Twitter page about them pulling over cyclists.

prunudo

Lumen wrote: »

I don't know why this thread is here. Irony? Motorcyclists are the least law-abiding road users.

Really, becuase going by the prolific talking, texting, Facebooking and general smart phone use by drivers these days I would imagine car
users aren't exactly model citizens themselves.

Chuchote

mrcheez wrote: »

Just curious what exactly is the problem when a cyclist breaks a red light?

They are going to hurt themselves more than anyone else. Obviously the ones that go through active pedestrian crossings and almost run over people need to check themselves and I don't agree with that.

But the ones that go through a red light when there is no traffic coming from the side are causing no harm, unlike a motor vehicle going through a red light which is essentially a 1 ton death machine and certainly *do* need to adhere to stricter rules. If anything they are making themselves more clearly visible to the traffic behind them, as opposed to pulling up to the left of a vehicle where it's far more dangerous.

Cyclists in Paris can go through red lights when there is clearly no traffic. Should they be condemned too?

I was in Amsterdam recently and everyone goes through the red lights. It's going to happen, get over it.

Don't know about Amsterdam, but in Paris it's legal for cyclists to go (cautiously) through red lights. From August 2015:

http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-33773868

Cyclists in Paris no longer have to stop at every red traffic light - new rules mean that in certain circumstances they can ignore the signals and keep going. The aim is to make the city's roads much safer…
The latest gift, being introduced over the summer, is a radical step that recognises a regrettable truth: that cyclists in cities often fail to stop at red lights. Rather than step up repression of this misdemeanour, the Paris city authorities have decided to make it legal.
Over July and August, signs are being put up at 1,800 junctions across the capital. They show an upside down triangle, with a picture of a bicycle and an arrow.
What this indicates is that when the signal is red, cyclists can nonetheless - and with all due care and attention - jump the lights. They can, to use the lingo, "griller le feu".
"It required a rewriting of the Code de la Route [the laws governing road use], but what in effect we have done is turn the red light for cyclists into a give way sign," says Christophe Najdoski, deputy Paris mayor in charge of transport.
It is important to note that the change only affects right turns or going straight on at a T-junction - in other words where the cyclist can hug the pavement.