Near misses - mod warning 22/04 - see OP/post 822

shootermacg

Near miss today, in a turning land a motorbike came up the outside at speed, I was almost on the white line and he overtook at speed very close.
At the stop, I overtook him stopped and asked him why he nearly took me out, probably accompanied by a few muppet mentions etc.

He invited me to take discussion this to the kerb etc, I gave him the victory salute, to which he drove his bike into the back of mine, screaming... Then sped off straight ahead into the distance, which is weird because we were in a turning lane when he did this. Didn't get his number, because, well..a little shook up.

AndrewJRenko

Panjandrums wrote: »

This post has been deleted.

Ah please do come back and tell us about the deaths and serious injuries caused by cyclists that you mentioned earlier. I was really looking forward to hearing the facts that informed your view on this.

buffalo

buffalo wrote: »

Only that you said Dublin Bus, I would've assumed it was the Bus Eireann driver I encountered last night. Whitworth Road - totally clear of oncoming traffic, gives about half a meter as the front of the bus overtakes and then pulls back in so I've about 20-30cm clearance from the middle of the bus.

Passed him in traffic, he did the same but worse on the N2. I went around a parked car, nice straight lines to be visible and predictable. He overtook and pulled in toward the kerb before I'd finished my overtake, and (I believe this is the correct wording) I collided with the bus. Thankfully arm only, but I didn't get his reg I was so focussed on staying upright.

Only took BE two weeks to reply about this with a boilerplate response. Are they that snowed under with complaints?

mr spuckler

East wall road on Monday evening :mad:


And tonight - spot the difference. There was also a Garda there keeping an eye on things.


Not the only change since Monday!

magicbastarder

buffalo wrote: »

Only took BE two weeks to reply about this with a boilerplate response. Are they that snowed under with complaints?

any resemblance to this?

Dear Mr. Sexypants,

I refer to your email dated 6th June, 2015 and regret any distress caused to you by one of our services on Saturday 6th June, 2015.

The difficulties experienced by you are most unfortunate. The safety of our passengers and other road users is of paramount importance to Bus Éireann. I was most concerned to note the behaviour of the driver as outlined by you and the lack of courtesy afforded to you on this occasion. Instances as outlined in your email are taken very seriously and investigated thoroughly. We are very conscious of the need to treat all passengers with due care and courtesy at all times and all staff members are required to attend regular customer care courses in this regard.


The driver concerned has been identified and arrangements have been made to interview him regarding this incident as outlined by you. I would like to assure you that this matter will be dealt with accordingly and suitable corrective action taken in order to ensure there is no recurrence of your difficulties.

magicbastarder

mr spuckler wrote: »

Not the only change since Monday!

a handy weather resource:
http://www.taps-aff.co.uk/dublin/

John_Rambo

HugoMyBoss wrote: »

Does anyone have any experience of reporting any of these incidents?.

Hi Hugo, I'm going to quote myself from earlier on in the thread. Mods, I hope that's ok.

John_Rambo wrote: »

I had a punishment pass a few weeks ago. Shockingly close. Caught up with the driver and his first words were "it wouldn't have happened if you were in the cycle lane" I told him the cycle path ended 20 metres back, he just kept repeating himself, telling me it was my own fault, you choose to cycle in the the car lane etc... it got nasty and I cycled off. He drove about three inches behind me until I had to hop up on to the footpath and stop, then he drove of laughing at me.

I called traffic watch, told them what happened. A guard called me on the mobile late that day, was pretty doubtful, told me it would be his word against mine, but I went in anyway and made a strong, truthful statement. Included everything, including my bad language.

The guard called me today to tell me the driver got penalty points and a fine for dangerous driving, or careless driving or something like that. I couldn't really hear him on the phone. He said if the motorist doesn't pay the fine he'll end up in court. Not sure if I will have to go.

This motorist was a mature, healthy, intelligent, wealthy, well spoken, well turned out man in his fifties driving a modern expensive saloon car.

I didn't think the Guard was taking me seriously at first. I just hope, giving recent stories he's telling the truth! I'll keep you informed if anything else comes up.

That was last year. Haven't heard anything since.

Kaisr Sose

John_Rambo wrote: »

Hi Hugo, I'm going to quote myself from earlier on in the thread. Mods, I hope that's ok.



That was last year. Haven't heard anything since.

No surprise. They never let you know the outcome be there is no way of knowing if they even followed up. Its a poor service. Policing and enforcement is thieir space. If they don’t have the resources to do this, then it’s not effective policing.

Saw this earlier when watching tour of Croatia highlights on Eurosport. We've all had moments like this just not when riding a pro race.

https://twitter.com/laflammerouge16/status/986970954587832320

John_Rambo

Kaisr Sose wrote: »

No surprise. They never let you know the outcome be there is no way of knowing if they even followed up. Its a poor service. Policing and enforcement is thieir space. If they don’t have the resources to do this, then it’s not effective policing.

Sorry, maybe I wasn't clear. The driver got penalty points and a fine. The Garda was to get back to me if he contested the result and wanted to go to court. I haven't heard back which makes me presume the driver accepted the fine and points.

So, it was a result.

buffalo

magicbastarder wrote: »

any resemblance to this?

Dear Mr. Sexypants,

How do you know BE's nickname for me!?

Similar but different:

I was very sorry to hear about the incident you encountered. We are investigating the identity of the driver concerned and formal investigation will be carried out. Bus Eireann expects a high standard of driving from all of its drivers and the appropriate disciplinary action and retraining will be carried out with the driver concerned.

I would like to assure you that suitable corrective steps will be taken in order to prevent a recurrence of this nature in the future.

Once again thank you for bringing this matter to our attention, sorry for any inconvenience and distress caused to you on this occasion.

queldy

Commuting from Inchcore to city center, half an hour ago - in front of Guinness, taxi driver coming fast from center lane from behind me decides to give me a punishment pass swerving left (I was on the "bus/cycling lane"), then avoids another car (which was on the bus lane) pulling on the right again to the center lane; this way he managed to overtake one car that was impeding him. So done, he arrives at the traffic light, which were by far red (at least 1 second), slows down, check if he can go anyway, and he does. Next stop for him is the km-long queue after the light. I approach him, he is happily enjoying his ride with his arm out of the window, smiling, wistheling a nice song - I was expecting an angry man in a rush, but no. That was his normal way, I fear he did not even realised the trouble he caused to me, and the trouble he could cause to himself, pedestrians, other riders and drivers.
Happy spring everyone (the mentioned taxi driver included??!?)!

benjamin d

The red light jumping has just gone off the charts recently in my view. Literally every set of lights I approach has a number of cars going through the red, often several seconds after the change and commonly making vehicles with right of way brake hard to avoid a crash. I even get the impression at some junctions that drivers have learned to wait on green for a few seconds because some pr¡ck will take the piss with the red.

I approached a red light yesterday (well gone red before I got there) and was freewheeling into the advance stop box when a taxi and a motorbike blasted past me side by side through the junction.

It's baffling how cyclists jumping the lights is such an issue for drivers to whinge about when as far as I see way more cars do it, and way more dangerously.

RacoonQueen

benjamin d wrote: »

It's baffling how cyclists jumping the lights is such an issue for drivers to whinge about when as far as I see way more cars do it, and way more dangerously.

This is exactly why it annoys me when they bring up cyclists breaking lights. I think because they break it just after it goes red, they don't see it as a problem whereas a cyclist might rock up 20 seconds later and cycle through while they're sitting there

benjamin d

RacoonQueen wrote: »

This is exactly why it annoys me when they bring up cyclists breaking lights. I think because they break it just after it goes red, they don't see it as a problem whereas a cyclist might rock up 20 seconds later and cycle through while they're sitting there

What gets me is that it's not even close to just after it turns red. I've seen people breeze through 5 seconds or even longer after a red, almost to the point where traffic in the other directions is in full flow.

amcalester

I think the rule now is that if the light is red but vehicles in front are still clearing the junction then it’s ok to break the light.

site_owner

i think the obsession with cyclists supposedly jumping lights is just projection.
and it is getting to ridiculous proportions. even trying to get my kids to crosss the road, we have to be careful as the green man means nothing to some drivers

i stop at reds and i always feel vulnerable to getting rear ended to the extent that i plan out my stops as much as possible, what side of the lane, how far forward to go, etc. also, around the city center i just dismount and walk or jog once i stop at red as there is no way i am having a traffic light grand prix with some of the looneys in town trying to get 5 yards ahead.

Weepsie

RacoonQueen wrote: »

This is exactly why it annoys me when they bring up cyclists breaking lights. I think because they break it just after it goes red, they don't see it as a problem whereas a cyclist might rock up 20 seconds later and cycle through while they're sitting there

They're supposed to stop on Amber though unless it's unsafe to do so, not just red. I don't think I ever see this any more.

cdaly_

benjamin d wrote: »

What gets me is that it's not even close to just after it turns red. I've seen people breeze through 5 seconds or even longer after a red, almost to the point where traffic in the other directions is in full flow.

I was in a car being driven through the city centre and saw very little red light running by cars. Mostly because I was stuck in a tailback and was pretty much never near enough the traffic light to see it happening. Therefore it never happens...

OTOH, on the bike, I'm always at the traffic light so I get to see all of the red light running that goes on.

Moflojo

Irish Traffic Light Laws:

Green means "Why haven't you gone already?" *BEEP*

Amber means go faster.

Red means at least two more cars can go through.

The number of drivers running reds is rising all the time thought because there is no enforcement. The highest number I've witnessed personally is 6 cars going through the red - and that's not counting the 4 or 5 that ran the amber too.

Annie get your Run

Weepsie wrote: »

They're supposed to stop on Amber though unless it's unsafe to do so, not just red. I don't think I ever see this any more.

I always have to look in my rear view mirror to see how close the car behind is when I'm stopping on amber, the chances of someone running into the back of you are very high :rolleyes:. On the bike I've stopped just as lights are turning red only to have several cars then whizz past! On another note, I've noticed recently at some junctions, you could be going through on the bike when they're green, then they go to amber and have gone red before you're through... of course anyone watching that will assume I've broken them (and I'm not that slow really, they're big junctions with a quick light change I swear ).

Moflojo

Just another additional behaviour that I've noticed is the attitude to emergency vehicles, specifically at junctions.

An ambulance or fire truck could have its full blues on and sirens blaring, and drivers are still blocking them or ignoring them or turning across them, either blissfully unaware or wilfully ignorant.

Then there are drivers who "miss" their green light due to an emergency vehicle who then feel they are entitled to break the red light because the emergency vehicle "inconvenienced" them.

It's a culture of selfish entitlement and it is only getting worse.

Is it a reflection of society in general? We're getting more self-centred generally, less empathetic to others. Is it due to the demise of the church? (Seriously!) Is there any moral authority anymore?

eeeee

cdaly_ wrote: »

I was in a car being driven through the city centre and saw very little red light running by cars. Mostly because I was stuck in a tailback and was pretty much never near enough the traffic light to see it happening. Therefore it never happens...

OTOH, on the bike, I'm always at the traffic light so I get to see all of the red light running that goes on.

I think this is a huge part of the 'all cyclist jump the lights' perception. They simply don't see the the amount of vehicles who do same.

RLJing has massively increased in the last few years amongst all forms of traffic IMO.

benjamin d

cdaly_ wrote: »

I was in a car being driven through the city centre and saw very little red light running by cars. Mostly because I was stuck in a tailback and was pretty much never near enough the traffic light to see it happening. Therefore it never happens...

OTOH, on the bike, I'm always at the traffic light so I get to see all of the red light running that goes on.

That is part of it alright but I know many people who will happily blast through a recent red or wait at their green light while the idiots abuse the opposite red and still complain about cyclists jumping lights. People are wilfully ignorant of drivers doing it when they're drivers themselves.

It's like people whinging about traffic backing up at a junction then gleefully take their turn sitting in the yellow box.

droidus

There's a set of pedestrian lights at a crossroad near the end of my road. The cycle is fairly crap for pedestrians as both sets of lights go green for peds once every 2 changes for traffic.

This is a busy junction right beside three schools and there are always kids crossing or waiting to cross. Without fail, every morning, up to three cars take the right turn through the ped lights. It's only a matter of time before a child is hit.

marvin80

Not a near miss, more of an observation/rant!!

Out cycling during the week, in the hard-shoulder of a long straight stretch on a National road. Long queue of cars driving against me and one guy decides to overtake them.
Car going the same direction as me is forced into the hard shoulder (luckily just up ahead of me) - it's stupid sh*t like this that annoys me and puts cyclists in massive danger.

CramCycle

Seen a bus last night overtake a group of cyclists. Cyclists were probably doing 40km an hour but the bus did not have the acceleration to do it. On a road where the visibility was not good enough to clear them. Driver got lucky, pure stupidity.

What Username Guidelines

benjamin d wrote: »

The red light jumping has just gone off the charts recently in my view. Literally every set of lights I approach has a number of cars going through the red, often several seconds after the change and commonly making vehicles with right of way brake hard to avoid a crash.

Completely agree, mobile phone use is ridiculous these days too. Definitely lack of enforcement. Its getting to the stage where I'm completely fed up obeying the rules, sure why should I stop at red lights when a lot of ignorant motorists seem to think all cyclists go through them. It's not like seeing me stopped will ever change their mind, and it's not as if I'll get caught. Sick of seeing Gardai ignoring blatant law-breaking around them. Saw a traffic corps car in the bus lane in harolds cross last week surrounded by private cars. It's like nobody cares any more.

On the mobile phone thing too, I had an incident a few months back where a guy tailgated me up a hard shoulder, revving his engine and beeping, then overtook with inches to spare, only to get stuck in traffic 50ft up the road. When I passed he called me a spanner and spat at me. Anyway, I reported to traffic watch, but couldnt pursue it, long story. Now every single day, I see the same car (reg burnt into my eyes from the rage of being spat at) with a woman driving it. Every day she's texting. Because of traffic, we'd overtake each other back and forth 4 or 5 times on the cycle home and she's 100% of the time head-in-lap texting. Like every time I pass. As if her commute is her texting time. What could I possibly do about this? Gardai wont care. No point in saying anything I presume? It wrecks my head how she's just blatantly disregarding others' safety through pure selfishness.

marvin80 wrote: »

Not a near miss, more of an observation/rant!!

Out cycling during the week, in the hard-shoulder of a long straight stretch on a National road. Long queue of cars driving against me and one guy decides to overtake them.
Car going the same direction as me is forced into the hard shoulder (luckily just up ahead of me) - it's stupid sh*t like this that annoys me and puts cyclists in massive danger.

Similar-ish one this morning. A very "patient" Shred-it truck driver behind me from Sundrive cross decided to hang back and wait behind me and another cyclist, we were doing >30km/h anyway, but thats usually too slow for most. The whole way down past Mount Argus he's dawdling along behind us with nothing oncoming. I've already drafted the complimenting tweet to his company in my head, when just before the left curve and narrowing over the road, he overtakes. Of course an oncoming car appears in view as soon as he's committed, they have to lean on the horn and bail left into the cycle track on their side. Bizarre.

DaveyDave

The worst thing about motorists running red lights is how dangerous it is for a cyclist. I was cycling from the N4 towards the SCR, stopping at the lights opposite the Hilton, in the bike lane with an advance stop box. A van ploughs through narrowly missing me while I'm stopped. What if I had of moved over into the bike box to give myself some space? I would have been hit at 50kph+ by some bellend.

I've been driving full time since last February, it's not difficult...

TallGlass

I'll hold my hand up and say I have gone past a red on the push bike, but only and only if I was to literally step off the bike, I could walk across and I wouldn't be breaking any red light.

Now the situation with driving of cars in general seems to have taken a turn for the worst, there is just no policing of any type of rules.

I was walking along earlier and was looking at this yellow box, like a massive massive yellow box I mean you could see this thing from space, and I counted not 1 or 2 but 5 cars in the thing.

But what really really really gets me is two things, people breaking red/yellow lights only to go and block up the fúcking junction for everyone else, and then the knob heads who start bullying other road users following the rules of road by blowing the **** out of there horn.

The situation is this, either the Garda get off there arses and start to sort this **** out, or hand over the power to someone else who will sort it out.

As for Bus Lanes, waste of paint on the ground, majority of people don't go into them, others use them as personal lanes and not only that, they absolutely floor it in them and because they are breaking the law by been in the bus lane, there attention is not on anyone that might be in it, like a cyclist, they are too busy looking to see if there is a Garda waiting to nab them (which in the very rare case there might actually be a Garda there!).