Journalism and Cycling 2: the difficult second album

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120716028#Comment_120716028

The planners would appear to disagree

cletus

Okay, remove "permanent". If you look at the link I provided, and the quote I gave, it very obviously falls under the "you can't do it" category.

Comparisons with cars are a false equivalency. They're very obviously not 'structures' and it doesn't add anything to the conversation

knockoutned

I was thinking about this earlier, as I am potentially in the market for something like this as I am currently living in a terrace house with a front garden. If you had any sort of container / shed in the front of the house, but you had it in such a way that it could be moved like a trailer i.e. basic wheels at one end and a trailer mount at the other, could you circumvent planning laws. I know caravans cannot stay on a property all year round, but can a trailer?

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120716466#Comment_120716466

Might defeat the purpose of being secure storage if anyone could wheel it away

Could buy a banger of a van and leave that in the driveway and use it as your bike storage

CramCycle

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120716728#Comment_120716728

I used to use a Saab 93 for years for bike storage, very effective. Other than a note every once in awhile to see was the car abandoned (it wasn't, taxed, insured etc.) there were no issues. A van might attract people looking to nick tools. Neighbour in my last house use to clear his van every night and just leave it unlocked after he kept getting broken into.

check_six

How does the no structures in front of the front wall system work if someone was adding one of those old style porch with door in front of their front door? Would they be barred under the regulations?

I used to work nightshifts in a suburban office building where I was prohibited from parking the bike in front of the building even though the underground carpark was locked before I'd arrive on site leaving me with no alternative. So, every morning the jerk security guard would "clamp" my bike with a u-lock and I'd be forced to have a dispute with them to get it unclamped. I was told that it was simply not permitted for staff to park in front of the building. I asked why there wasn't a problem with my colleagues on shift with me parking in the visitor spots in front of the building every time in a manner that was contrary to the same rules that got me clamped every day. "That's different. They have cars." *head explodes*

cletus

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120716964#Comment_120716964

Porches fall into their own separate category:

CLASS 7

The construction or erection of a porch outside any external door of a house.

1. Any such structure shall be situated not less than 2 metres from any road.

2. The floor area of any such structure shall not exceed 2 square metres.

3. The height of any such structure shall not exceed, in the case of a structure with a tiled or slated pitched roof, 4 metres or, in any other case, 3 metres.

As for the caravan question, they also have a separate category:

CLASS 8

The keeping or storing of a caravan, campervan or boat within the curtilage of a house.

1. Not more than one caravan, campervan or boat shall be so kept or stored.

2. The caravan, campervan or boat shall not be used for the storage, display, advertisement or sale of goods or for the purposes of any business.

3. No caravan, campervan or boat shall be so kept or stored for more than 9 months in any year or occupied as a dwelling while so kept or stored.

Before anyone says that they know someone with 3 boats, or a caravan that hasn't moved in 5 years, or whatever other scenario, the County councils do not apply this stuff on a proactive basis. There are houses up and down the country contravening these laws. However, if someone complains, they will be enforced

The document I linked to is several hundred pages long, and you can search for any word or term you might be interested in.

magicbastarder

the funny thing about a porch is that you can build one under 2sqm on a monday, exempt from planning permission; but if you change your mind and take it down on tuesday, you're technically in breach of planning law.

Hurrache

You regularly see lots of examples of this in the UK, but here's one from the N7.

Remember folks, mandatory high-vis is the only way to stay safe

https://twitter.com/DubFireBrigade/status/1669259805381279744

Not cycling related but stay with me for a moment. There was a tragic incident on a rail line where a lady was killed by a train yesterday and her friend is in hospital with serious injuries.

https://www.rte.ie/news/connacht/2023/0615/1389276-sligo-train-death/

One thing that jumped out at me was this bit in the reporting

The incident will also be subject to a separate investigation by the Railway Accident Investigation Unit (RAIU).

It is charged with examining the circumstances surrounding any fatalities or serious injuries on the rail network, with a view to making recommendations for the avoidance of similar incidents in future.

Is there anything similar for road collisions where recommendations are made on how to prevent reoccurrence? Personally, I'd like to see a body that would be charged with investigating the causes behind any incident that resulted in any injuries, and making recommendations on how to prevent a reoccurrence.

This is not unheard of. I believe its Denmark or the Netherlands that has something like this where all incidents are investigated and, if engineering or layout changes are required, they have to be done or a justification has to be made as to why its acceptable to not take any action. That justification has to be signed off at a senior level then. I'm a bit fuzzy on the exact details but I'm almost sure thats the system.

Anyone familiar with something like this?

what_traffic

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120716851#Comment_120716851

Perhaps a small horsebox with wheels removed would be ideal I think for these scenarios; get plenty of height and can unload bikes from front and back!!

Get an older cheaper version of one of these and Bobs you uncle: https://www.adverts.ie/trailers-link-boxes/510-horsebox/30391318

magicbastarder

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120717158#Comment_120717158

i know the jury in an inquest/coroner's court can issue recommendations, but they're far from legally binding. the jury are not experts, anyway, so the recommendations should not be legally binding regardless.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120717753#Comment_120717753

Agreed. It would be useful to see a panel of experts to look into these incidents on a larger scale though.

One for the wish list I think

buffalo

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120717699#Comment_120717699

I wouldn't get that one anyway, it never works. "Breaks 100%".

magicbastarder

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120717927#Comment_120717927

not sure how it'd scale to road traffic. i obviously cannot predict the outcome of the rail investigation, but in theory it could mandate an extra check, or an extra piece of equipment for the train, but you can't implement that for car drivers or cars.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120718256#Comment_120718256

True enough, it is possible to recommend engineering works to reduce the likelyhood of conflict e.g. bollards, lane narrowing, chicanes, staggered junctions, protected intersections and so on

Heck even in some locations something as simple as the provision of footpaths would see a big improvement in safety for the likes of pedestrians. I'm thinking of one or two stretches in galway city, Letteragh rd for example, which is a nightmare for pedestrians and has seen a number of serious collisions yet little action in terms of the provision of paths.

Now, if there were, say a collision this year and it was a recommendation to provide paths, and then further collisions and further recommendations to provide paths at the same location, it could be used to force the hand of the local councils to act sooner than they might, especially if they are required to be involved in the compiling of such a report into an incident

Steoller

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120718256#Comment_120718256

You don't think it could be used as a mechanism to introduce things like minimum safety standards for motor vehicles sold in the state, institute a purge of dangerous vehicles, or instigate a reform of the driver training, testing, and licensing system?

Macy0161

Again, a bit off topic, but for all the greenways and active travel (and even health) initiatives, provision of footpaths seems way down the list.

buffalo

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120718318#Comment_120718318

I've a stretch of road near me where there were a few serious RTCs (i.e. emergency services on scene) and a fatality back in 2020. The council announced it would conduct a 'road safety audit' last year or the year before, but I've heard nothing since. I'd love someone with the power to kick them up the backside and publish the report and follow any recommendations. Same council shrugged its shoulders at its own findings that 86% of people driving were speeding on the section of road leading on to the RTC section: "It's a matter for the Gardaí".

magicbastarder

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120718482#Comment_120718482

vehicle design is decided at european level, though; i don't think the state has any requirements for motor vehicles which are specific to ireland?

a rail review can suggest or implement things without recourse to legislation; changing things like that in relation to cars will almost certainly require legislation (e.g. the requirement to have an NCT cert is underpinned by law)

Large bottle small glass

The NRA have a unit investigating fatal RTC for many years.

Insofar as I know they no longer do so for non national network roads.

The investigation and report will often generate road layout/surface changes/signage etc suggestions/recommendations.

The Council own the road and it is up to them to do the actual works.

The same unit are contracted to individual councils to redesign problematic junctions, surfaces etc. The outcome is nearly entirely dependent on the appetite for work the individual council road engineer has; some are lazy so are very eager.

The recommendations of the Coroners court are not something that councils act on

Large bottle small glass

Here the location of a fatal accident (going by Streetview it occurred sometime between 2009/2011).

The major road the R672 runs N-S with a four cross roads junction to east and west.

The problem with junction is the private house to the south and the curvature of the regional road to the south where it veers SW leaving a close to zero sight line south from the mouth of western byroad. Road users emerging here and turning right (south) and doing so blind.

There is only two reasonable engineering solutions; knock the house or close road/make it entry only; and there in lies the problem with Irish Local government. While the demolition option maybe extreme but the second option is pretty reasonable and would cause minimal inconvenience but wouldn't have a hope in flying fcuk of getting off the ground with political interference.

I've no doubt the engineer in question would have made those recommendations, instead we get what is shown below.

P.S if you are down there with a bike the magic is on the roads running east and west😀

2009 view

https://goo.gl/maps/VkZkv4rtvbp77xcVA

2019 view

https://goo.gl/maps/GifkH2qQUyPpufH86

AndrewJRenko

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120717158#Comment_120717158

HSA are supposed to investigate all workplace deaths. They have investigated some road deaths involving commercial vehicles, but they don’t seem to investigate all. They refuse to take third party reports, so it is possible down the local Garda to report incidents to them.

They could do with that proverbial kick up the arse.

Weepsie

https://www.independent.ie/regionals/dublin/dublin-news/bicycle-racks-in-loading-bays-across-dublin-causing-unnecessary-stress-on-pubs-taking-deliveries/a1468458626.html

don't think this was posted

Grassey

Not sure if this counts as journalism... But saw it posted on LinkedIn earlier.

https://www.linkedin.com/posts/dublin-city-university_bicizen-dcu-cycling-activity-7075412108498071552-vUlv?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_android

https://www.dcu.ie/commsteam/news/2023/jun/new-cycling-community-app-launches-dcu-data-support

https://www.bicizen.org/

BiciZen is an open platform that crowdsources data about everyday cycling experiences from users. Ultimately, the team hopes it will provide insights to improve cycling infrastructure.

When using BiciZen, users can record locations of traffic incidents, tips, routes and other comments. Contributions go towards a broader research project targeting city officials, with insight into patterns and problems related to urban cycling.

The data collected on the BiciZen platform can be consulted by a range of stakeholders, including activists, city planners, and researchers. The aim is to enable users to collectively influence dialogue on the future of bicycle infrastructure in their cities.

JMcL

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120719359#Comment_120719359

Are those rumblestrips in the bottom? They don't look like it but surely that might make some sort of an improvement

AndrewJRenko

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120721581#Comment_120721581

There's an option to report 'vehicle invasion' obstruction in the app. Man, we're going to need bigger datacentres...

Grassey

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120722544#Comment_120722544

I'm disappointed it doesn't really let you report "this is permanent shite infrastructure".

But I can log where I had a pleasant ride /nsfw

Large bottle small glass

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120721961#Comment_120721961

Just paint I'm pretty sure.

Not sure rumble strips are used in isolation on a section of regional road; more typically in the transition zone on the entrance to urban speed limits from rural in combination with signage.

That's a review of safety measures from about 20 years ago and rumble strips are close to bottom of the pile in terms of effectiveness.

For speed reduction creating a section of road where the adjacent vertical height is larger than horizontal road width tends to slow drivers. Typically rural areas that ratio is skewed towards a large horizontal distance but reversed easily in urban areas.

You might get that sensation if you try to drive fast over new bridge in New Ross

RoadSafetyRemedial_Evaluation_Prog3to8.pdf

magicbastarder

https://theconversation.com/safety-vests-and-helmets-make-cyclists-look-less-human-to-other-road-users-207413

when i read things like that, i can't help but think 'the way that study is done is pure horseshit'.

asking people to select someone from a pair who 'looks less human' is asking for the answer you want. if the way it's reported is accurate, they're not asking 'do you think one of these people looks less human?' - they're making the selection mandatory. and that is hardly scientific.