Journalism and Cycling 2: the difficult second album

magicbastarder

Three people fined for travelling 80km for a burger

Twenty-nine people have been fined €100 each for breaching Covid-19 restrictions since the introduction of new enforcement measures on Monday.
...
Two cyclists from separate households were find after being stopped near Carrick in Co Galway.

https://www.rte.ie/news/crime/2021/0114/1189771-29-people-fined-for-breaching-5km-limit-since-monday/

what_traffic

magicbastarder wrote: »

https://www.rte.ie/news/crime/2021/0114/1189771-29-people-fined-for-breaching-5km-limit-since-monday/

Two cyclists from separate households were find after being stopped near Carrick in Co Galway.

Sounds like a very remote or an isolated place.
I have lived in Galway County and City for decades now - were exactly is "Carrick"?
Never heard of it before.

magicbastarder

https://www.townlands.ie/galway/ross/cong/cong/carrick-west/

there's a carrick middle and east too, all contiguous. so i guess that's carrick.

what_traffic

Nice Scenic area, pretty remote area really, never heard Corr na Mona referred to as Carrick though.
I think its a typo in RTE report. I suspect its Carrick, Roscommon but the cyclists were Co Galway residents? Its near border with Mayo and Galway on the N60 between Ballyhaunis and Ballinlough
https://goo.gl/maps/doyspiMFByhm8Gu6A

Stark

Seems a bit petty tbh. There are the usual rat lickers broadcasting their trips up North on Facebook every weekend and the Gardaí seem to give them a free pass.

Seth Brundle

They most likely failed the Garda attitude test, I'd reckon.

cletus

Stark wrote: »

Seems a bit petty tbh. There are the usual rat lickers broadcasting their trips up North on Facebook every weekend and the Gardaí seem to give them a free pass.

What's a rat licker?

Stark

cletus wrote: »

What's a rat licker?

Member of the anti-mask/anti-vax/anti-lockdown brigade. Someone coined the term "rat licker" to imply that if they lived in bubonic plague times, they'd be the ones going around licking rats because people told them not to.

CramCycle

My favourite story from the first lockdown was a friend of mine who lives near Rosslare and he was sticking strictly to the limit. Going through a checkpoint he was stopped and asked where he was going to and where he was from. The Garda got annoyed with him, after presumably being lied too most of the day and sent him packing and told him if he turned in at the next junction (a popular route, but went straight to his house) he'd lift him, so the Garda made him cycle a further 15km as it was the only way to go in a loop to get back to his house.

buffalo

CramCycle wrote: »

My favourite story from the first lockdown...

A friend who is a Garda was stopped the Easter weekend in south Dublin, when the crackdown on Dubs heading down the country was in full effect.

He was off duty in civvies, travelling as a passenger. When asked their business, he said that they'd been driven most of the way down to their holiday home in Wexford, but realised they'd forgotten the barbecue and were coming back for it! :pac:

Macy0161

I'd say they were somewhat unlucky in that they were caught in the first period of the extra enforcement policy, where the gardaí are setting the precedent, particularly ahead of the weekend. However, the rules are clear.

I was stopped in the car yesterday (valid reason), and was quite surprised at the questioning I got when I hit a check point. Definitely wasn't just a token stop and wave through anyway!

CramCycle

https://www.irishexaminer.com/news/courtandcrime/arid-40207298.html

I presume the journo is paid by the word

Thelonious Monk

It's really ridiculous that the authorities lose their sh*t if you make something self propelling, be it a bike or a scooter or something.
We should be encouraging things like this, and motorbikes and vespa type scooters in my opinion. Anything that isn't a car.
The Garda seem to take things like this far more seriously than considerably worse "crimes" that you'd see regularly.

CramCycle

CramCycle wrote: »

https://www.irishexaminer.com/news/courtandcrime/arid-40207298.html

I presume the journo is paid by the word

I loved this bit

Garda Lynch said that a seized vehicle which is not claimed back, might be destroyed. That was in response to a question from Judge Kelleher who laughed when he asked the guard: “Where is the bike now? Are you driving it yourself?”

MojoMaker

Thelonious Monk wrote: »

It's really ridiculous that the authorities lose their sh*t if you make something self propelling, be it a bike or a scooter or something.
We should be encouraging things like this, and motorbikes and vespa type scooters in my opinion. Anything that isn't a car.
The Garda seem to take things like this far more seriously than considerably worse "crimes" that you'd see regularly.

We're asking the wrong questions. Surely the core of this should be "was Mr Dos Santos wearing a helmet and hi-viz clothing??"

Thelonious Monk

I think there's eScooter legislation being passed today in the Dail. I said this in one of my whatsapp groups with friends and they're all saying "ban them get them off the roads they're dangerous", yes because they cause so much mayhem on the roads. Idiots!
Some people wouldn't be happy unless there were no bikes or scooters and everyone was driving a Qashqai or Suzuki Vitaras, they're ever so safe.

breezy1985

Thelonious Monk wrote: »

I think there's eScooter legislation being passed today in the Dail. I said this in one of my whatsapp groups with friends and they're all saying "ban them get them off the roads they're dangerous", yes because they cause so much mayhem on the roads. Idiots!
Some people wouldn't be happy unless there were no bikes or scooters and everyone was driving a Qashqai or Suzuki Vitaras, they're ever so safe.

What makes them look dangerous is they are mostly ridden by kids.
There are a few round my estate who hop off paths onto the road without looking or drive up the wrong side of the road but they are no more dangerous than all the kids running across the road or playing soccer on the road really

Tombo2001

breezy1985 wrote: »

What makes them look dangerous is they are mostly ridden by kids.
There are a few round my estate who hop off paths onto the road without looking or drive up the wrong side of the road but they are no more dangerous than all the kids running across the road or playing soccer on the road really

This.

I've a big bugbear around the fact that people see kids in scooters, and think scooters are dangerous, they see kids on bikes and think cyclists are dangerous.

But they never never see teenagers in cars and think cars are dangerous.

Its prime double think.

And the tragic irony here is that cars are phenomenally more dangerous when driven by teenagers, compared with bikes or scooters.

breezy1985

Tombo2001 wrote: »

This.

I've a big bugbear around the fact that people see kids in scooters, and think scooters are dangerous, they see kids on bikes and think cyclists are dangerous.

But they never never see teenagers in cars and think cars are dangerous.

Its prime double think.

And the tragic irony here is that cars are phenomenally more dangerous when driven by teenagers, compared with bikes or scooters.

Insurance companies certainly see teenagers as high risk in a car given the premium they charge.

Difference is there are very young kids on bikes and scooters but because people who don't like bikes see what they want to see they refuse to make the distinction between a 12yo and a commuter on a bike but are happy to make the distinction between a car commuter and lads re enacting the circuit of Ireland rally on country roads or doing 60 in a 30 residental zone

Thelonious Monk

Tombo2001 wrote: »

This.

I've a big bugbear around the fact that people see kids in scooters, and think scooters are dangerous, they see kids on bikes and think cyclists are dangerous.

But they never never see teenagers in cars and think cars are dangerous.

Its prime double think.

And the tragic irony here is that cars are phenomenally more dangerous when driven by teenagers, compared with bikes or scooters.

There were a few teenagers killed in cars last year that spring to mind, but they prefer to focus on scooters and tiny engines on bicycles.
When are they going to put speed limiters on cars?

tomasrojo

Tombo2001 wrote: »

And the tragic irony here is that cars are phenomenally more dangerous when driven by teenagers, compared with bikes or scooters.

There was some research done in the UK that suggested that cars were more dangerous to the teenagers driving the car as well as those outside the car, compared with teenagers getting around by other transport modes.

Tombo2001

https://www.irishexaminer.com/news/courtandcrime/arid-40207907.html

In the news today.

FFS.

Thelonious Monk

God that's horrific. It has been proven time and time again that if you want to murder someone here, use a car and you'll get off lightly.

https://www.irishexaminer.com/news/courtandcrime/arid-40191264.html

This wan didn't even do any time at all for trying to run over 2 teenage girls.

Tenzor07

Thelonious Monk wrote: »

God that's horrific. It has been proven time and time again that if you want to murder someone here, use a car and you'll get off lightly.

https://www.irishexaminer.com/news/courtandcrime/arid-40191264.html

This wan didn't even do any time at all for trying to run over 2 teenage girls.

Ah sure 'tis a bit of history with that particular one boss: https://www.sundayworld.com/crime/courts/five-before-court-over-alleged-hit-and-run-car-park-feud-incident-39498616.html

magicbastarder

i don't remember reading *that* enid blyton book when i was a kid.

cletus

https://www.breakingnews.ie/ireland/kerry-co-council-express-concerns-over-any-delays-to-greenway-plan-1064614.html

At least it looks like Kerry Co Co are eager to push on with the development

CramCycle

Tombo2001 wrote: »

https://www.irishexaminer.com/news/courtandcrime/arid-40207907.html

In the news today.

FFS.

To this day, I still can't get around people driving off after an accident. It's so bizarre, the complete lack of what I would define as basic morality is astounding. I've seen both sides of it myself but thankfully not on any incident this serious, witnessed drivers go round a body on the road and continue on. I mean, where did we go wrong.

A friend postulated that its basic survivor mentality. You stay, you definitely get in trouble, and there appears to be no extra leniency unlike other countries given for doing the right thing. Whereas if you run, you might not get caught but so long as you apologise and seem contrite, you will almost certainly receive the same sentence or less than you would have for doing the right thing. This led me down the path that we have a lot of higher functioning sociopaths in society and also that we should adjust our legal system to encourage some sense of morality in those who are incapable of it. Personally I couldn't run, maybe I am the idiot though.

AndrewJRenko

Thelonious Monk wrote: »

God that's horrific. It has been proven time and time again that if you want to murder someone here, use a car and you'll get off lightly.

https://www.irishexaminer.com/news/courtandcrime/arid-40191264.html

This wan didn't even do any time at all for trying to run over 2 teenage girls.

Shame that the judge didn't take her up on her offer; "I’ll go to jail for you."

AndrewJRenko

Tenzor07 wrote: »

Ah sure 'tis a bit of history with that particular one boss: https://www.sundayworld.com/crime/courts/five-before-court-over-alleged-hit-and-run-car-park-feud-incident-39498616.html

The link showed up this interesting headline, which is the kind of driving I could probably get behind.




https://www.sundayworld.com/crime/courts/soldier-charged-with-carless-driving-said-gardai-pulled-gun-on-him-39975057.html

CramCycle

Does that mean he's out of the Army, I have vague recollection that getting a conviction would lead to dismissal.