Calling out fellow cyclists for illegal or dangerous behavior

tomasrojo

I think it's mentioned in Effective Cycling (the belief that cyclists should, like pedestrians, travel towards oncoming traffic) as a persistent belief in some parts of the USA.

Tombo2001

SusieBlue wrote: »

I saw a woman (not for the first time) this morning, weaving through rush hour traffic in the pouring rain carrying a small baby no older than 6 months old in a forward facing sling.
Absolutely reckless behavior, even the most minor of falls or collisions could crush that baby to death if the woman fell forward or off the bike. I told her if I see her doing it again I'm calling the Gards but she wasn't remotely interested or bothered. The baby was also getting soaked because he/she had no shelter from the rain.
So bloody dangerous and selfish.

I think you are absolutely way out here.

Plenty of parents including myself have cycled with kids that are strapped into a seat on a bike - in my view this is far more dangerous than the situation you describe.

And to go telling her you are calling the gardai - really, what are you thinking.

Do you call the guards everytime you see a punter driving through a red light?

plodder

I suppose weaving through traffic always looks more dangerous to onlookers, and carrying a small child makes it look way worse.

I used to see a chap pulling a trailer with a child in it, breaking lights and one time stopping in the median of a dual carriageway with the trailer sticking out - absolutely insane. I would have said something if I caught up with him. More recently, saw a chap on the path carrying his toddler under the shoulders, in one arm, with the kid's legs dangling over one side and he steering with the other hand. He was going slowly and I could only hope and assume he was traveling a very short distance. But, it didn't look good.

Tombo2001

plodder wrote: »

I suppose weaving through traffic always looks more dangerous to onlookers, and carrying a small child makes it look way worse.

I used to see a chap pulling a trailer with a child in it, breaking lights and one time stopping in the median of a dual carriageway with the trailer sticking out - absolutely insane. I would have said something if I caught up with him. More recently, saw a chap on the path carrying his toddler under the shoulders, in one hand, with the kid's legs dangling over one side and he steering with the other hand. He was going slowly and I could only hope and assume he was traveling a very short distance. But, it didn't look good.

If there is one group of people that is even more used to being lectured than cyclists about all the things they are doing wrong, its parents of young kids....

jim o doom

I have had 2 of these:

While driving motorbike up Wexford st, a cyclist kept popping out of the cycle lane inches in front of a bus without ever once checking it it was safe to do so, or even indicating his intent to come out of the cycle lane, bus was very wary of this suicidal lad.

At a set of lights I called him on it, he spluttered out some excuse, I told him "that doesn't matter if you get yourself flattened by a bus". He proceeded to evade me by cycling through a red pedestrian light. Once it changed I drove past him intentionally laughing loudly enough for him to hear it.

This week crossing the canal to Rathmines on my bicycle, a lad goes through the red (cutting across the canal), close enough to where a cyclist was killed by an ambulance / firetruck in the last few years. Catch up with him in Rathmines and tell him "dude you went through the light at the canal, it's mad dangerous to do that there, a cyclist died doing it".

He responded in a thick country accent that he hadn't, I replied yes you did, I was right beside you before you did it.. he goes "so what next? are you going to give me a warning?" I looked at him flabbergasted.. "A warning? dude I'm telling you that you are a f&*ing idiot".. he looked doubly confused and went "oh right?" and I cycled off. I had a zipped up high viz jacket on, so maybe he thought I was a gard.. but I really don't look like one, beard and the like.

Duckjob

plodder wrote: »

I suppose weaving through traffic always looks more dangerous to onlookers, and carrying a small child makes it look way worse.

I used to see a chap pulling a trailer with a child in it, breaking lights and one time stopping in the median of a dual carriageway with the trailer sticking out - absolutely insane. I would have said something if I caught up with him. More recently, saw a chap on the path carrying his toddler under the shoulders, in one arm, with the kid's legs dangling over one side and he steering with the other hand. He was going slowly and I could only hope and assume he was traveling a very short distance. But, it didn't look good.

TBH I never take descriptions like "weaving through traffic" on trust from other people in the first place as they're far too subjective and based on the bias of the person saying them.

I've seen perfectly safe and legal cyclist filtering described by people as "weaving through traffic".

I've seen people described as "cycling in the middle of the road" or "cycling all over the road" when they had the temerity to leave the bit of paint on the left and try to get to a right turn lane to turn right.

I've seen people described as "cycling in the middle of the road" when they were occupying the area specifically allocated for their safety at traffic light junctions.

That sort of commentary is made generally by the same people who highlight non-wearing of certain safety gear as part of a sentence about cyclists "bad behavior".

I often carry my daughter the short distance home from school to home on the cross bar of my bike. Never had an incident and the least safe I've ever felt was hearing idiots approaching from behind at inappropriate speeds (in a residential area) and having to slow down quickly behind us.

There's a good reason why you see people people in NL pedalling around happily with kids draped on the front and backs of their bikes:

Not saying accidents never happen, but the biggest danger in cycling doesn't come from falling off your bike - it comes from people driving heavy vehicles around you being unwilling to drive slowly and take care in areas where they share close proximity with unprotected people.

Pinch Flat

I weave through traffic every morning. What am I meant to do - sit behind the car in front? Might as well drive then. In weaving I weigh up the risks, never take chances and I’m super observant of what’s going on around me - frequent shoulder checks.

Yeah it can look dangerous to a tin canner, but until segregates lanes that are respected (sometimes I’m weaving to avoid cars and other vehicles plonked bike lanes), then I’ll continue to weave thanks very much.

dubrov

Pinch Flat wrote:

Yeah it can look dangerous to a tin canner, but until segregates lanes that are respected (sometimes I’m weaving to avoid cars and other vehicles plonked bike lanes), then I’ll continue to weave thanks very much.

Be careful, you could be in for a lecture from the self appointed Gardai on this thread

plodder

Pinch Flat wrote: »

I weave through traffic every morning. What am I meant to do - sit behind the car in front?

I do it sometimes, but for me I get the benefit of cycling in traffic mostly from being able to pass stationary traffic on the left. If I was carrying a child, I think I'd cycle on the path ahead of actual weaving/filtering.

Tombo2001

plodder wrote: »

I do it sometimes, but for me I get the benefit of cycling in traffic mostly from being able to pass stationary traffic on the left. If I was carrying a child, I think I'd cycle on the path ahead of actual weaving/filtering.

But is that not 'weaving' also.

Especially as you inevitably get one punter that leaves a 6cm gap to the footpath, and you have to go around them.

plodder

Tombo2001 wrote: »

But is that not 'weaving' also.

Well maybe it's a definition problem. For me 'weaving' involves lots of sharp turns. If you are just passing stopped traffic in a mostly straight line, that's just 'cycling' for me.

Tombo2001

plodder wrote: »

Well maybe it's a definition problem. For me 'weaving' involves lots of sharp turns. If you are just passing stopped traffic in a mostly straight line, that's just 'cycling' for me.

Without getting into the definitional thing - the rear of some buses and trucks have signs telling cyclists not to overtake on the LHS - which confuses me a bit. So if bus is stopped in traffic - what am I supposed to do?

Duckjob

plodder wrote: »

Well maybe it's a definition problem. For me 'weaving' involves lots of sharp turns. If you are just passing stopped traffic in a mostly straight line, that's just 'cycling' for me.

Exactly my point - highly subjective language that is wide open to abuse based on bias.

I've had abuse roared at me at by a taxi-driver that I "wasn't allowed on the motorway" while going around the Dublin Airport roundabout and into the Airport.

I've no doubt he joined in a cyclist moan with his mates down the pub afterwards with his little anecdote of the cyclist he had to roar at "cycling on the motorway near the airport".

It's all too easy to twist the truth out of a situation with words.

Wishbone Ash

Duckjob wrote: »

...I've had abuse roared at me at by a taxi-driver that I "wasn't allowed on the motorway" while going around the Dublin Airport roundabout and into the Airport....

It also happens on the N1 northbound between the Santry turnoff and Santry Lane junction. A lot of motorists think that's part of the motorway when it's clearly marked with green signage and a yellow line along the edge.

Pinch Flat

Duckjob wrote: »

I've had abuse roared at me at by a taxi-driver that I "wasn't allowed on the motorway" while going around the Dublin Airport roundabout and into the Airport.

Sure, because motorways regularly have roundabouts on them :rolleyes:

I always find taxi drivers to be the least qualified to lecture people on road safety.

Stark

Careful guys, say the t word too many times and we'll have Spook_ie in here ranting.

Stark

plodder wrote: »

I suppose weaving through traffic always looks more dangerous to onlookers, and carrying a small child makes it look way worse.

Not my favourite thing in the world to do but try making your way through the quays on a busy morning/evening without "weaving".

magicbastarder

cycled past a woman on a bike on the rock road earlier whose coat was hanging down over the back of the saddle and obscuring the (probably not present) rear light. i briefly considered mentioning this to her, but decided that a bloke striking up a conversation with a woman on a dark enough road was probably not what she needed.

Tombo2001

The most dangerous thing I have done personally - and something I've completely stopped doing - is carrying shopping on the handle bars. Cycling along with a heavy-ish bag hanging off the handle bars.

Its something on the face of it looks harmless enough; in my view (as daily cyclist commuter for several years) I'd rate it more dangerous than cycling at night time on well lit city streets without a light.

silverharp

Happened a couple of times now on the canal around Rathmines, blokes cycling out of side roads taking left turns onto the canal road at full speed and not a glance to the right. First guy did apologise , second didn't see me so I yelled at him and he looked a bit sheepish but just kept going.

The other one is cyclists passing me in the cycle lane, same area funnily, if I am in the middle of the cycle lane there isn't room for a second bike inside the line, next time it happens the person will get an earfull

CramCycle

I weave all the time, in fact at several points on the N11 I find myself in the driving lane on the bike as the bike lane is blocked with white vans, the bus lane is blocked with left turning vehicles and stopped buses. For the most part I get no hassle, I look, I indicate, I look again and if safe move over. Weaving is just a word to imply that the cyclist is acting without due caution and consideration, it should not be used as the negative connotations paint an untrue picture to the reader/listener in many cases.

CramCycle

jim o doom wrote: »

He responded in a thick country accent that he hadn't, I replied yes you did, I was right beside you before you did it.. he goes "so what next? are you going to give me a warning?" I looked at him flabbergasted.. "A warning? dude I'm telling you that you are a f&*ing idiot".. he looked doubly confused and went "oh right?" and I cycled off. I had a zipped up high viz jacket on, so maybe he thought I was a gard.. but I really don't look like one, beard and the like.

What a muppet, I can imagine the conversation if you were a Garda.
Garda: FPN so, whats your name and address?
Muppet: Dave from town,
Garda: Do you have ID to prove that, No, oh well, bike seizure it is so.

magicbastarder

Tombo2001 wrote: »

The most dangerous thing I have done personally - and something I've completely stopped doing - is carrying shopping on the handle bars. Cycling along with a heavy-ish bag hanging off the handle bars.

one of my first jobs, when i was about 16, was working in an ice cream factory. when the owner wasn't there, the manager used to send me home with 16 litres of ice cream (four 4 litre tubs). i used to cycle home with two tubs in two bags hanging off the ends of the bars. i had to plan any turns well in advance. and my poor mother didn't know what to do with all the ice cream.

Tombo2001

magicbastarder wrote: »

one of my first jobs, when i was about 16, was working in an ice cream factory. when the owner wasn't there, the manager used to send me home with 16 litres of ice cream (four 4 litre tubs). i used to cycle home with two tubs in two bags hanging off the ends of the bars. i had to plan any turns well in advance. and my poor mother didn't know what to do with all the ice cream.

About three years ago, I had bought a jigsaw for the kids. Wouldn't fit in the back pack so I was carrying it along.

It got jammed between my knee and the handle bar which made the handlebar turn very sharply. I lost balance and swerved right into middle of the road. For me - I was so fortunate there was no oncoming traffic.

Anecdotally - straps from bags getting caught in spokes is a frequent cause of accidents.

Tombo2001

on a separate note -

four 4 litre tubs. You'd have made a lot of money setting up an ice cream stall with that.

hesker

Tombo2001 wrote: »

Without getting into the definitional thing - the rear of some buses and trucks have signs telling cyclists not to overtake on the LHS - which confuses me a bit. So if bus is stopped in traffic - what am I supposed to do?

Have you considered waiting behind?

Seriously. It’s not a good idea to go up the inside of buses or trucks.

magicbastarder

Tombo2001 wrote: »

on a separate note -

four 4 litre tubs. You'd have made a lot of money setting up an ice cream stall with that.

i forgot to include - this was just on fridays.

Ready4Boarding

rubadub wrote: »

I have very often broken reds and illegally cycled on (completely empty) footpaths for my own safety, I have had gardai give me waves and nods of approval for doing so too.

This is the type of defiance that I detest in cyclists. "Nods of approval"?! Lol, that hasn't happened.

Tombo2001

hesker wrote: »

Have you considered waiting behind?

Seriously. It’s not a good idea to go up the inside of buses or trucks.

As you know - cyclists are advised in the rules of the road to keep to the left.

Frequently, there is a marked cycle lane to the left as a designated area for cyclists.

Trucks and buses should be to the right of this, not in it.

The situation I describe above is where cyclists are along the left, while the motor traffic is in gridlock and not moving. A very common, almost normal scenario in Dublin city centre.:rolleyes:

So are you suggesting that as I cycle along the LHS of the road, and I come upon a bus telling me not to overtake on the left, which in practice is straight ahead for me, that I should just stop?

Its certainly not in the rules of the road.

Why?

Tombo2001

Ready4Boarding wrote: »

This is the type of defiance that I detest in cyclists. "Nods of approval"?! Lol, that hasn't happened.

The type of defiance you detest 'in cyclists'.

All cyclists? Some cyclists? That cyclist you saw that one time? Me?

I'm a cyclist.... so I can only extrapolate here that I have qualities you detest...that's what you're telling me.

Thanks pal.

No doubt you detest it equally in drivers and pedestrians.

Of course not.