Near Misses Volume 2 (So close you can feel it)

McGrath5

Nothing to do with me but this happened yesterday morning I believe on Stocking Avenue in case anyone spotted anything.

A good result, though taking 2 years is insane

https://twitter.com/ciarancannon/status/1712127529073463429?s=20

CramCycle

Well I disgraced myself today, coming through Dun Laoghaire and maybe 200m ahead there were some kids crossing. Car just after overtaking sped up and laid on the horn intentionally. I thought to myself, what a dick. They'd looked, there was time to cross and he just didn't like it.

A few seconds later, as I passed the kids, something snapped, so I went up the road, sat on his bumper, and when traffic stopped I went to his window, let a smack of it, told him if I seen his car aim for kids again I'd rip him out of his car and beat him to death. Worst thing was I could not only hear him curse me but also the kids. I was in the wrong but he genuinely believed he wasn't in the wrong.

And before it's said, I fully understand I was in the wrong and deserve a day in court for it.

callaway92

Nah - fúck that guy in the car.

More people should have the balls to say what you said to be fair.

Another bus driver one

https://twitter.com/righttobikeit/status/1714996256886436270

Wildly Boaring

Not one for being the baying mob.

But that driver should be suspended at least.

CramCycle

Wait till he reports it, Garda will probably charge him for going on the pavement to talk to the driver.

Pawwed Rig

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121261068#Comment_121261068

Nothing will happen to the driver unless the Gardai do something. The internal process is toothless

callaway92

That is disgusting from the Bus Driver. Absolute wuss then when confronted.

magicbastarder

This has gone a bit viral as Jeremy Vine, the BBC lad, has tweeted it. It's northbound through drumcondra at the Griffith avenue junction. Not a stellar performance by either party.

https://twitter.com/theJeremyVine/status/1715642644670353871

Weepsie

On first look That's shambolic cycling if you ask me. He cycled into an already turning vehicle. On second look it's shambolic driving. They're both shite

standardg60

Being a van driver myself he's really in an impossible position there. The cycle lane is too far away to firstly see any cyclists in the wing mirror and you can't see them at all once you're turning as you can't see through the van.

Cyclist should have read the situation and stopped, dumb in my view.

magicbastarder

not just you. it must have been deleted in the last five minutes.

Weepsie

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121266566#Comment_121266566

Also being a van driver, if you have to mount the kerb, the turn is not on though.

AndrewJRenko

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121266614#Comment_121266614

Probably got a huge pile on from Vine's 'fans'

Liam O

Not a near miss as such but a funny encounter with a taxi driver who had decided to park where the green circle is above this morning (obviously facing the wrong way). Had his sliding door open and the passenger he was picking up was getting in.

I was going up the incline so didn't really want to stop, I seen whoever it was getting into the car, the driver put his hand up as if saying sorry so I went around the door when it was open as the passenger was in there. I sort of was shaking my head at the driver for parking there in the first place but it was one of those things I just went on.

Turns out the hand being raised was actually a request for me to stop as when I was passing I glanced at the driver and he was frothing at the mouth and aggressively pointing his middle finger at me 😂

One of those situations where I think about it half an hour later and wonder what would have happened if I'd stopped and asked what the problem was. The level of aggression was insane.

Schorpio

Continuous line is a mandatory cycle lane - goes without saying but the taxi driver was 100% in the wrong.

Honestly, if a driver gets that worked up, I think the best case outcome is as little interaction as possible.

I had something very similar happen to me, expect the taxi crossed the road and pulled in facing me as I was cycling along. Think I yelled 'oi' and wagged my finger, but the legend of the passenger got out and said 'don't worry, I give out to him too'. The idea of the taxi driver being given out to inside the car made my day.

magicbastarder

https://twitter.com/FHmediastuff/status/1718654683294630378

a new concept. too old to be held responsible for safe driving, but not too old to be allowed drive...

CramCycle

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121300034#Comment_121300034

Sadly not a new concept at all, court cases up and down the country have had similar reinforced by judges since i was a child. It is up there with too old, too employed, having family, and in a very American tone, we can't restrict someones ability to move around in a car.

A crazy collection of near misses.

https://twitter.com/righttobikeit/status/1719796263879684521

To be honest, if I was in his shoes, I'd be moving much further away from the roads edge, towards the middle of the lane. I had similar qty's of dangerous passes which dwindled to 1, maybe 2, per quarter instead of 1-3 a day, once I adjusted positioning to force those overtaking into the other lane. I do this on all road types, regardless because, as can be seen in the video, dangerous passes are not limited by road type

Wildly Boaring

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121312208#Comment_121312208

A month!! Some of them are criminal. Several were buses which is ridiculous.

A lot of them beeping at him. That a Cork thing?

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121313064#Comment_121313064

The beeping, no, thats common. You either get beeped at just for being on the road or just for delaying by not riding the gutter. I get beeped on a regular basis for the second one

barryribs

That white one at the end is frightening

Be right back

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121312208#Comment_121312208

If I were him, I would cycle from Carrigaline to Passage, via back roads and then onto the cycle path all into the city.

VonLuck

It was kind of comical with the car breaking the read light and the guy running through the junction after him!

John_Rambo

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121313415#Comment_121313415

Driver aggression is worse outside Dublin, attitudes towards cyclists and pedestrians much worse. You can see it on boards.ie, some users want cyclists and pedestrians banned from some roads.

standardg60

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121316463#Comment_121316463

Agree with this, there was someone on here a while ago calling for cyclists to be banned from rural roads, 'cos at times there wasn't enough room to get by them straight away'.

CramCycle

Cork city has been the worst for me, most other places are grand for the most part, Wicklow used to be bad but has improved in recent years. Wexford is wonderful. Dublin is only bad due to sheer volume, you are more likely to come across an ars*hole, most of the time, the issues are human error rather than malice.

AndrewJRenko

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121300268#Comment_121300268

Same sh1te up north, it seems;

https://x.com/righttobikeit/status/1720019657791266823?s=20

Wildly Boaring

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121317429#Comment_121317429

Ha

I was just nodding along to the generalised areas, thinking louth/meath is kinda OK, and thinking the north must be a disaster.

Serious proportion of the close passes around here are yellow regs. And their main roads can be quite narrow.

Utter Consternation

I cycle twelve km each way to work when i'm in the office. Every single fcuking day, i have a close one with someone driving a car or see another cyclist having a close on with someone driving a car.

Every single fcuking day.

2 solid minutes of crazy aggression

https://twitter.com/ciarancannon/status/1724778984230027736

Delighted to see him taking the lane.

CramCycle

F*ck me, its not like he wasn't keeping a decent pace, if the van had overtaken him, he'd have been stuck on its rear door, it couldn't really have gone faster. It's rare I feel bad for RTBI but that van driver was bang out of order.

Hurrache

I saw that at the time, people are just morons, some were saying they're reporting him to the RSPCA and I have no doubt some did.

VonLuck

If you look at the video, the cyclist manoeuvres to the right but doesn't give any hand signal. I wouldn't give all the blame to the moped(ist?) overtaking him as even a cyclist would have done the same thing. Maybe should have pre-empted that he may have been turning though.

Also I do think it's irresponsible carrying a cat on a bike like that. Same with that "character" in Dublin who has his dog on his bike.

callaway92

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121378661#Comment_121378661

It’s a one-vehicle lane. Nobody should be parallel in the same lane.

Not sure why it’s irresponsible having a cat on the bike as opposed to a baby strapped up on a bike?

I know you mightn’t mean to - but this is the exact victim blaming that often gets thrown at people that is unwarranted.

Weepsie

There's a skip in the video. People assume he has not signalled when he may well have done in the bit that's cut

CramCycle

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121378661#Comment_121378661

Met him a few times, really nice guy, bit eccentric. Raven is the best dog, follows him around work all day and I would trust that dog in traffic more than most people I meet.

Squidgy Black

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121378745#Comment_121378745

Don’t think it’s your man with the cargo with Raven he’s talking about to be fair, there was a lad with a westie who used to cycle round with the westie just clinging to his back.

Used to go round all the pubs with the dog trying to get free pints

magicbastarder

trying to get free pints

the actions of a completely sane man, if you ask me.

CramCycle

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121378765#Comment_121378765

Ah, I was wondering when @Stark said he couldn't walk as I met Raven and owner walking loads, I know from talking to him his actual job involves huge amounts of standing.

Paddigol

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121378902#Comment_121378902

I'm surprised it's even up for discussion. Kind of like the cars that overtake/ undertake you on a roundabout.

VonLuck

All I said is that I wouldn't give all the blame to the moped rider. I don't think that anyone can argue that if you're using public roads that you should be predictable. A motorist is always liable if they hit a pedestrian crossing the road, but that doesn't mean that pedestrians should cross the road without looking!

This is borne out me cycling and constantly seeing other cyclists drifting across lanes without signalling or looking over their shoulder. No one seems to be familiar with the concept of self-preservation!

Maybe I'm given the moped a bit too much leeway as I'm putting myself in his position as if I he was a cyclist. And I'm not saying it's the cyclist's fault. I'm just saying try to avoid putting yourself at risk!

Also, I don't think carrying an animal on a bike is comparable to having a toddler on the bike. Toddlers are restrained, animals generally are not. They are unpredictable and could jump off at any point or get tangled up in the wheels. No problem if they're in some kind of carry cage!

callaway92

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121379305#Comment_121379305

You can't be talking about ifs and buts in reference to the cat in the basket and making presumptions. The cat had nothing to do with this incident.

The bike was the lead in a single-vehicle lane. How can you not give all the blame to the moped driver? If you were driver a car and another car nudged up on your right trying to squeeze past you there, I doubt you'd be saying the same? This is similar.

There shouldn't be any onus on the cyclist in this instance to have the 'awareness' etc. They were the lead for that lane. Anyone doing anything else in that lane is wrong.

standardg60

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121379305#Comment_121379305

Surely it's better to form judgements based on what actually happened rather than dreaming up scenarios.

The cat would have had much more chance of being injured there if it was stuck in a cage rather than being able to jump free.

VonLuck

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121379498#Comment_121379498

Did I say the cat had anything to do with the incident? It was a side note at the end of my post.

Just curious - would you be against a moped pulling up beside you at a red light? Or even another cyclist?

callaway92

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121380553#Comment_121380553

Why you even felt the need to mention the cat though, I don't know.

If driving, if it was a single-lane at the red-light then yes i'd be against it. Another cyclist, yes I'd be against that too. However, cyclists often get to take the lead at junctions, so if I was in a car and a bike went in front of me into their designated area, I'm fine with that.

I cycle a fair bit (not as much as I wish) and ya I'd be fairly put out by anyone pulling up alongside me in a single-lane where I have front position.

Weepsie

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121380553#Comment_121380553

The moped didn't pull alongside him though. He was behind. And then tried squeezing by when moving. It's **** driving and no more

Paddigol

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121380847#Comment_121380847

That's it. That's literally all there is to it. Nothing to do with cats, or indicators or wobbles. It was a dangerous overtake of someone doing absolutely nothing wrong, just because the driver was too impatient to wait the 2 seconds it would have taken to be able to effect a safer overtake. Again, same thing as the over/undertakes you get on roundabouts - JUST WAIT THE FEW SECONDS TIL WE CLEAR IT AND THEN PASS ME, YA IGNORANT LANGER! (not you Weepsie!)

VonLuck

I don't know why everyone is getting so worked up. We all know what it's like being on a bike and that's why an abundance of caution is needed, even if you're not the cause of the incident. In an ideal world we would all like to assume that other road users will behave logically, but it's never the case!

Yes, it was a dangerous overtake and the moped rider was at fault. But, if the cyclist had given a hand signal or looked over his shoulder, the incident may have been avoided. That isn't victim blaming, it's trying to protect yourself from other road users. No use being technically in the right if you end up dead as a result.

And to say that it's nothing to do with a cat - there's a cat literally in the video. How can you not comment on something so unusual!