Whats the solution to cycle lanes being blocked?

iamtony

magicbastarder wrote: »

them why maintain the pretence of cycle lanes which we're told is a legal requirement for us to use?

Well I don't believe we as cyclist are legally required to use cycle lanes. I thought that was clear. I know not everyone knows this but hey what can you do.

07Lapierre

iamtony wrote: »

Ha. It's obvious that if in the case of a Taxi driver had to go to court for stopping in a bike lane to pick up and earn a living without cutting a cyclist off and giving the cyclist enough time to avoid the obstacle he has just created, that a judge would use common sense and throw the case out.
That's what I'm saying some cyclists aren't using common sense in this thread.

Maybe stopping a taxi in a Bike lane should be illegal?

average_runner

buffalo wrote: »

What about congestion and quality of life reasons? Which is why we're cutting down on car traffic in the city centre at present afaics - I haven't heard a single official person mention anything about pollution in relation to the quays reconfiguration for example.

Quality of life is an interesting topic:

Alot of people still see the car as a better quality of life than the bus, cycling, running etc.

If you work late in the evenings in the city, till 630-7pm you get home quicker in your car than on the bus, hence you have more time with your family and a better quality of life.

If you define quality of life by wellness and fitness, alot of people get their fitness from outside cycling so can still have a high quality of life, and maybe higher than some of the cyclists and drive to work. Also directly inhaling bus fumes when cycling can't be good for you.

Don't get me wrong cycling is good for you and the roads need to be made safer and better for all.

average_runner

07Lapierre wrote: »

Maybe stopping a taxi in a Bike lane should be illegal?

Maybe use the taxi ranks!

magicbastarder

average_runner wrote: »

Also directly inhaling bus fumes when cycling can't be good for you.

i'm fairly certain i've repeatedly read that air quality in a car cabin in an urban environment is worse than that outside.

07Lapierre

average_runner wrote: »

Maybe use the taxi ranks!

Use a taxi rank to hail a taxi?...what like "Common sense?"

magicbastarder

why have rules, anyway?

07Lapierre

average_runner wrote: »

Also directly inhaling bus fumes when cycling can't be good for you.

Inhaling any fumes is not good, but If you have to inhale fumes, its normally recommended you do it outdoors or in a "Well ventilated area". Cycling is covered by both

Cars have pollen filters, which filter large particles, but do nothing to filter out harmull fumes. Inside a car would not be considered a well ventilated area.

magicbastarder

Air pollution more harmful to children in cars than outside, warns top scientist

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/jun/12/children-risk-air-pollution-cars-former-uk-chief-scientist-warns

not just any scientist - a top scientist!

Tenzor07

average_runner wrote: »

Alot of people

If you work late

alot of people

Don't get me wrong cycling is good for you and the roads need to be made safer and better for all.

Get off the fence! Where do you stand on this?

Chuchote

iamtony wrote: »

like I said if due care and attention is used in dropping a passenger, particularly an elderly passenger, on the side of the road and a bike has to make an overtaking manoeuvre similar to the one they would have to make at a bus stop then it's not an issue.

I've seen many taxi drivers dropping and picking up many passengers in Rathmines cycle lanes; perhaps 1% were elderly. The drivers and passengers had long conversations while the car was stopped after pick-up and for payment before drop-off.

Surely the solution is to have agreed pick-up/drop-off places (for instance, bus stops)?

tomasrojo

average_runner wrote: »

If you work late in the evenings in the city, till 630-7pm you get home quicker in your car than on the bus, hence you have more time with your family and a better quality of life.

That's fine, and that's not as bad a time to be driving as 1600-1800, in terms of congestion.

average_runner wrote: »

If you define quality of life by wellness and fitness, alot of people get their fitness from outside cycling so can still have a high quality of life, and maybe higher than some of the cyclists and drive to work.

In practice, this is a very small number of people. Most people are not involved in sport, certainly past a certain age, and don't have the discipline to exercise in their spare time (which activity anyway also deprives them of time they could spend with their family).

average_runner wrote: »

Also directly inhaling bus fumes when cycling can't be good for you.

People in cars inhale more noxious fumes than people walking and cycling, even allowing for deeper inhalation. You're sitting directly behind a fume-generating engine of your own, with a ventilation system that sucks fumes directly in from the bus in front of you.

average_runner

Tenzor07 wrote: »

Get off the fence! Where do you stand on this?

I already said I don't believe cycle lanes should be blocked but I don't'believe cycling is the solution for everyone either, there is a balance, the balance is wrong at the moment and that's something that needs to be corrected.

Chips Lovell

magicbastarder wrote: »

i'm fairly certain i've repeatedly read that air quality in a car cabin in an urban environment is worse than that outside.

Twas discussed on another thread last month.

average_runner wrote: »

Cycling in the city cant be that good for your health with all those car and bus fumes going directly into your face.

Cycling is like any other activity, good for health if only you look after yourself when you get off the bike also.

tomasrojo wrote: »

That Glasgow study suggests that cycling is very good for you, even allowing for all-causes mortality. The fumes problem is worse for people inside cars, it was reported this week (and I've seen it reported a few times previousl).

Jep Gambardella wrote: »

Yeah, there's been a few studies done that found this. The latest one found that car passengers are exposed to nine times more pollution than cyclists or pedestrians.

MysticMonk

Chuchote wrote: »

I've seen many taxi drivers dropping and picking up many passengers in Rathmines cycle lanes; perhaps 1% were elderly. The drivers and passengers had long conversations while the car was stopped after pick-up and for payment before drop-off.

Surely the solution is to have agreed pick-up/drop-off places (for instance, bus stops)?

Can't you cycle around them?

AndrewJRenko

MysticMonk wrote: »

Can't you cycle around them?

Presumably you've no problem if they stop in the driving lane then instead. Can't you just drive around them?

Tenzor07

average_runner wrote: »

I already said I don't believe cycle lanes should be blocked but I don't'believe cycling is the solution for everyone either, there is a balance, the balance is wrong at the moment and that's something that needs to be corrected.

Of course, don't think anyone would disagree with you..

The balance is wrong and it's in favour of the most inefficient polluting forms of transport there could be in a small city like Dublin...

The balance for the city needs to be Bus, Tram, Cycling, Dart/train, walking, taxi and private car last...

And having clear, unbroken well designed cycle paths and lanes is the way to get people out of there cars and onto bikes..

MysticMonk

AndrewJRenko wrote: »

Presumably you've no problem if they stop in the driving lane then instead. Can't you just drive around them?

I asked a question. I should have known it would revert back to a dig at motorists.

Just to clarify i spend more time commuting by bike than i do by car and the majority of problems i've had and all the accidents i've seen have related to other cyclists.

If the above sort of attitude (motorists this,car drivers that la la la) is typical of cyclists response to the slightest criticism i can see why cyclists as a breed are becoming increasingly unpopular.

I'm sure there'll be others along to point out how statistically this is irrelevant but it's interesting to see the way this cyclist and this cyclist initially tried to blame the person they killed.

magicbastarder

i don't see how that question was 'a dig' at motorists? it's not accusing them of anything, or denigrating them in any way.

again, what's the point in providing cycle lanes for cyclists if they have no practical benefit?

MysticMonk

magicbastarder wrote: »

again, what's the point in providing cycle lanes for cyclists if they have no practical benefit?

They have the practical benefit of keeping cyclists off the roads away from dreaded texting and drugged-up motorists.

They're there for cyclist safety..if cyclists don't want to use them then fine..don't bother.

Same as helmets and high-viz. Sure you don't *have* to wear them but it's a hell of a lot more sensible from a safety perspective than not wearing them..and make no mistake they will become mandatory.

Chips Lovell

@MysticMonk OK, That's enough now. Don't post in this thread again. You're dragging it off-topic. The forum isn't a venue for having generalised rants about cyclists:

8. Negativity
There are lots of places on the internet where you can have a rant about cyclists. This isn't one of them. This is a place for people with an interest in cycling to discuss cycling. If you treat it as a venue for holding all cyclists to account for perceived or actual misbehaviour by some, you can expect to find your access swiftly removed. In short, we are not your punching bag. If you really do want do want an answer to your gripe, do a search. The usual topics, such as cycle lanes, cycling two abreast etc. have been discussed, ad nauseam, many, many times before

mcgratheoin

average_runner wrote: »

the balance is wrong at the moment and that's something that needs to be corrected.

Just to clarify - which way do you think things need to move to be more balanced and how far in that direction?

07Lapierre

Lets face it...NOTHING is going to change until there is more enforcement of existing ROTR. At the moment it's a free-for-all and the chances of getting caught are so low that cyclists, drivers and pedestrians can and do whatever they want.

magicbastarder

i've wondered (cf. my previous posts on bus lane operating times confusing motorists as to whether cycle lanes are affected by the same operating times) how you'd more easily differentiate the two; rumble strips? ideally something which would be safe but offer a clearer signal to the road user. rumble strips would get a bit tiring on the wrists, unless they worked 100% (i.e. the cyclist wasn't constantly crossing them)

ED E

Thats a CI vehicle apparently. Taken today.

jaqian

iamtony wrote: »

Well I don't believe we as cyclist are legally required to use cycle lanes. I thought that was clear. I know not everyone knows this but hey what can you do.

Technically under SI 332/2012 we do not have to use the cycle lanes. However the Dept. of Transport and the RSA are saying that it was never meant that way and are trying to reenforce it. Varadkar who was Ministoer for DoT at the time conveniently cannot remember what was the original meaning was meant. Dublin Cycle Campaign has repeatedly tried under FOI to have the documents released but they are released as redacted, which isn't released at all.

Chuchote

ED E wrote: »

Thats a CI vehicle apparently. Taken today.

A what?

jaqian wrote: »

Technically under SI 332/2012 we do not have to use the cycle lanes. However the Dept. of Transport and the RSA are saying that it was never meant that way and are trying to reenforce it. Varadkar who was Ministoer for DoT at the time conveniently cannot remember what was the original meaning was meant. Dublin Cycle Campaign has repeatedly tried under FOI to have the documents released but they are released as redacted, which isn't released at all.

How can you use them if they're full of parked cars? How can they not be full of parked cars unless they're protected by bollards or planters?

RobertFoster

Chuchote wrote: »

A what?

Cycling Ireland.

magicbastarder

if i am to believe 'the wire', it's actually 'criminal informant'.