Journalism and Cycling 2: the difficult second album

Paddigol

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120132216#Comment_120132216

I don't understand the need for "Green God" dramatisation? And I don't see how it's reasonable to say "now that you're in Government and have a couple of seats at Cabinet, we expect you to solve all of society's problems that tangentially touch on green issues, however minor, even if they're outside your department's remit and would require the involvement and cooperation of third parties such as the Gardai and Attorney General just to get to the draft legislation stage".

The lazy blaming of the Greens for everything really bugs me. You'd swear we were blessed with other political parties who have decades worth of overachievement and the purest of reputations rather than involvement with terrorist organisations and allowing the entire economy to collapse on their watch.

magicbastarder

indeed; is the minister for transport responsible for worrying about car theft?

Tombo2001

Not cycling obviously, but interesting to see they will do away with grants for electric vehicles.

Tenzor07

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120132981#Comment_120132981

Glad I ruffled someone's feathers, and people should be angry at our politicians who've done nothing to improve the rampant levels of bicycle theft in our cities.. In particular the Green party who has a stated aim in Government to reduce carbon emissions and reliance on Diesel/petrol motor vehicles, that's not working so the solution is spending €€€millions of taxpayers money on charging points for electric cars.. At least you can go home and say you were knocked off your bike by a "Green" vehicle or sat in traffic behind a row of Electric cars!

My point is that nothing in the piece by Prime Time is new or surprising, people should accept that your bike will be stolen unless you pull some old bike out of the skip and use it so not even the thieves will rob it, since I had my first bike stolen in broad daylight on a busy street back in the '90's nothing has changed... So the Government can build as many cycle lanes as they like dotted in various locations all over the city but the fact is that people use their (Diesel) cars as I do to travel the 3k to the local shops or 7k to work as at least I know my vehicle will still be outside when I get back...

Paddigol

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120133228#Comment_120133228

Fair enough. I don't agree with most of your viewpoint though. I think this is purely a policing issues and there's minimal scope for the Greens, with their tiny amount of TDs, to have any influence.

Thieves will nick any old bike btw... I'd imagine a lot of thefts are purely opportunistic thefts of crap bikes by young little scrotes who dump it in a ditch after a few hours. Like my old Raleigh Mustang 90s MTB which I used as a hand run around and had stolen during a football match in Nutgrove about 10 years ago. No economic loss other than sentimental value as it was my first 'adult' bike which I'd had for about 20 years.

Seth Brundle

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120133228#Comment_120133228

But you weren't trying to ruffle feathers. You obviously dislike the greens & Ryan and like so many others feel the need to throw a dig in. Crime is not under his remit so why blame him and not any other TD? You created a stupid link between someone who endorses active travel for being responsible for levels of crime because it suited whatever agenda you are pursuing.

In terms of carbon emissions, he is reducing them but as a nation we don't want to follow so there is huge push back. It can't be done quickly, it has to be gradual.

As for the Prime Time piece, maybe now AGS, the Dept, the judicary (and the prison service) will start taking it seriously (although I doubt it). You even summed it up yourself - car theft is taken more seriously than bike theft and is therefore less prevalent - this was referred in the programme also!

Seth Brundle

Just very quickly going back to the discussion about whether the driver should be referred to in headlines relating to colissions, this non-bike related example today is an example of how the driver is absolved...

https://twitter.com/CheshireLive/status/1616049986445185026

Tenzor07

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120133314#Comment_120133314

He's in government and has a great deal of power so yes I will single out the leader of the greens who's on the news daily promoting sustainable transport, only recently we see that he'll have a Garda protection officer escorting him by bicycle also..So you're accusing me of "taking digs" and "Having an agenda"...don't make me laugh! Who else should I look to champion cycling as viable means of getting around the city then if not the most powerful Green in Government... Until bicycle theft is taken seriously myself and thousands of others will continue to use our fossil fuel cars to travel short cycleable distances in Dublin etc..

Ferris

Really impressed with this solution for secure bike parking, plenty of empty units in town that could be repurposed for this and are probably more prevalent in the areas most at risk for bicycle theft.

https://mobile.twitter.com/ktclcb/status/1592853079388737536?cxt=HHwWgMDShffb-ZosAAAA

De Bhál

Primetime piece was pointless I thought. Bikes are robbed in Dublin, lets leave an expensive bike with a cheap lock down a sidestreet to see how long it takes the scobes to take it, after that talk to three of four people that have had bikes robbed then a Green party polictician to tell us he's had bikes robbed. Further chat with a bike mechanic about how U-Locks are best.

No chat with guards or any insight about where the 20,000 robbed bikes are going or maybe some proper instruction on how to lock a bike, which bike stands to avoid, where in Dublin to avoid parking etc...

i just felt it was a bit pointless

Paddigol

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120133554#Comment_120133554

I don't think you understand how the wheels of power in government work. But if having a rant about the minister for the environment in the context of responsibility for crime prevention makes you feel better then that's your entitlement. I just think your (justifiable) anger would be better directed at the Garda Commissioner and Minister for Justice. Or even just your local TD (please tell me it's not Eamon!!).

what_traffic

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120133855#Comment_120133855

Agree - no contribution from the Gardai or Dublin City Council. Just another RTE piece done on a shoe string. No research goes into these topics. Did not see the point of ringing Ciaran Cuffe in Frankfurt Haubtbahnhof to be honest either; it wasnt like he was showing them what they do at Frankfurt train station and City to stop bike crime there.

AndrewJRenko

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120132807#Comment_120132807

Do we blame motorists for car thefts?

There seems to be a fair amount of stolen bikes being exported, based on recent reports, though I've no idea what percentage this would be of the overall problem.

tomasrojo

I will eventually have a bike be stolen, I don't doubt it, but I've been leaving bikes in Dublin city centre for hours at a time for a very long time, and the most I've ever had stolen is a front wheel, after which I looked up how to avoid that happening. It isn't true that if you have anything that isn't a piece of scrap metal with wheels that you'll lose your bike within weeks.

It's hard to calculate the risk:benefit when I haven't actually had a bike stolen, but it's been massively more beneficial for me than a nuisance, getting about by bike in Dublin.

Tenzor07

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120133970#Comment_120133970

Who's ranting here you? And yes he is... and no I didn't vote for him..

Thelonious Monk

I wonder who the anti-everything brigade will blame for everything when the greens are gone after the next election?

anyway bike theft is a problem in dublin but you can be smart about it. i always locked mine beside pearse st garda station, never had any problems, even having left it there over a weekend when i was too drunk to cycle home.

CramCycle

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120135153#Comment_120135153

Labour most likely or one of SF/FF/FG, whoever is the minority. It won't be any group of independents unless they just want an election. Best guess is actually FF or FG with anti everything groups split into it was both of them (SF supporters), it was FG (FF supporters), it was FF (FG supporters) with the rest of us just accepting that its both the fault of them all and all of us for not either voting for better or actuallly stepping up ourselves.

Thelonious Monk

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120135392#Comment_120135392

i reckon they'll still blame the greens' term in the previous government

Wishbone Ash

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120134837#Comment_120134837

As I said in my post, most car thefts are for one-off uses of the car - gangland shootings, robberies, getaways etc. Registered vehicles are much more difficult and expensive to sell on to a new market. I doubt bikes are being stolen for such uses as cars are. And I don't see what relevance it is that they are being exported. Presumably being exported for use by cyclists. If cyclists didn't purchase stolen bikes, there would be very few thefts.

mvt

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120134871#Comment_120134871

Great,relevant post by tomasrojo,as always.

Cetyl Palmitate

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120134871#Comment_120134871

Have to agree. I've been parking bikes on the street in cities for 15+ years and never had one stolen. Once I left a bike at a bike stand on Dawson Street with keys hanging from the lock. When I got back to it a few hours later, bike, keys and lock were all in the same place. more recently I left my bike parked on the street for 3 days after cycling to a place and walking home later. Bike was in exactly the same position I left when I came back. Neither were very obvious targets but were both good bikes.

Seth Brundle

I'd be surprised if this case was successful...

https://www.irishtimes.com/crime-law/courts/2023/01/20/cyclist-sues-council-alleging-serious-injuries-caused-when-bike-struck-road-defect/

CramCycle

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120135862#Comment_120135862

Who knows, a line dug in the road for cable wiring took out my front wheel. I ended up so annoyed with the wait time in St Vincents, I went home and cleaned and stitched it myself. Never occured to me to sue anyone, it did teach me to pay more attention. More fool me I suppose.

Large bottle small glass

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120135968#Comment_120135968

A front wheel and few stitches is hardly the same as

"He says he fractured his elbow, which required surgery and the insertion of two plates and screws. He pleads he has a memory deficit and eyesight deterioration due to the impact to his head."

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120135862#Comment_120135862

How do you know what will turn up in a 5 year discovery haul?

CramCycle

I have had two bikes stolen and one badly damaged after an attempted theft. The first two were poorly locked and neither particularly valuable, one I seen years later been ridden by what I presume by standing beside him was a UCD student from abroad. He probably paid 20pound for it and it got him around, I doubt he even thought about it being stolen or not, I didn't care enough to even point it out. I think you will find that many people are quite naive about the value of a bike, and just think, grand, I need a bike to get from a to b and this person is selling it in my price range. Some obviously know but I don't think its the majority based on the surprise some show at the price of my mid level bike gear.

CramCycle

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120136036#Comment_120136036

I didn't say it was, my sarcastic point was that while the council are partially to blame, I am of the opinion that there lies a responsibility with a road user to cycle/drive/progress in a manner that they can adapt to changes in conditions, more so in cases where those conditions are stationary. There aren't enough specifics in the article to comment in detail though.

AndrewJRenko

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120135693#Comment_120135693

Not sure about most cars being stolen for one off uses, there seems to be a big export business for high end car theft too.

Should we blame phone users for street phone theft?

magicbastarder

a chap the year above me in school ended up in a coma for 48 hours after cycling into an open manhole cover*; i wonder was there any subsequent action. his father was a TD, so probably well able to afford pursuing the legal option.

*this was as it was told when it went around the school, which may not 100% accurately reflect the reality of the situation.

Weepsie

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120133554#Comment_120133554

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120132216#Comment_120132216

Some hysteria and hyperbole here. I'm in city centre daily and have been for 10+ years. I've had a light taken in that time, that's it.

It's most definitely a problem, but what your saying is just blatantly untrue

Wishbone Ash

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120136509#Comment_120136509

100% agree. I've never had a bike stolen or obviously interfered with while locked up in city center. I've had one bike stolen (circa. 2010) but I left it unlocked and unattended for a few minutes at 11pm (ironically in a rural area).