Bollards along cycling lanes

EnzoScifo

I know the next time I'm cycling, I'll be looking out for a crazed motorist constantly reaching over to press the capture button on their dashcam and not looking at the road.

Flinty997

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117943117#Comment_117943117

It might be your reality. Its not reality though.

Nothing beats real-time data for understanding traffic patterns, and Dublin City Council have maintained a cycle counter at Grove Road, which is a key cycling route in Dublin city centre, since 2012.

Ireland also has low cycling levels compared with many other European countries. For example, only one-fifth of trips under eight kilometres are completed by walking or cycling in Ireland (two-thirds are by car), while the proportion of trips under five kilometres completed by bike in The Netherlands is three-times that of Ireland. Is it down to the weather? Not at all, as the Grove Road cycle counter data shows cycling numbers in mid-winter are similar to those in summer. 

The cycling advocacy group has been working with Strava Metro which converts the GPS data people use to track their rides, runs, and walks, into trends and insights. Its dataset for Cork reveals striking changes in mobility patterns in the region, including:

a 35% growth in cycling in 2020 compared to 2018/19 figures;

an increase across all age categories in the numbers of people cycling;

a doubling of the number of children/teenagers cycling;

an almost doubling in the numbers cycling over the winter months compared to 2018/19 levels;

strong growth in the number of people walking.

Flinty997

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117943335#Comment_117943335

Well its not a cycle lane, there's no cars parked in it.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117942837#Comment_117942837

Reply to that won’t be forthcoming.

The J Stands for Jay

Some serious absence of logic on this thread. People won't cycle because cars are so expensive? Cyclists don't like hills?

timmyjimmy

People won't cycle because cars are too expensive? Ignore this lad, he's not even making sense.

Weepsie

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117942834#Comment_117942834

Now share with us your dashcam clips of cars breaking lights, and bad driving, because there's likely as many of them and youre being very selective

the beer revolu

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117943990#Comment_117943990

That is the most bizarre reasoning I've heard in a long time - since this poster came up with it before.

So, how can we encourage more people to cycle?...... I know, it's obvious, we make motoring cheaper - that'll get them on their bikes!

Thing is, it's not just something this poster wrote without thinking. The made the exact same argument a couple of years ago, too.

Bonkers stuff, altogether.

the beer revolu

What I really don't understand is what these "pro cars in city centres/anti cycling & walking infrastructure people" think will happen if we just continue as we are with regard to transport and traffic.

Do they think that everything will be grand? That we'll somehow fit more and more cars into the same space without gridlock?

Seriously, what do you people think will happen?

hans aus dtschl

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117945669#Comment_117945669

Perhaps you're going wrong by asking WHAT they think. Another question might be IF they think at all! I suspect most people don't think about transport infrastructure and traffic. They don't think about the speed they're driving at, where they park their car, etc. They're on auto-pilot while they drive and on auto-pilot most of the time outside of their cars too. All that really matters to most humans is convenience.

Thus, we end up with ugly bollards, like the ones being complained about. These passively reinforce good driving practice and also...shudder....make you pay attention while you're driving. Perish the thought: it's a serious inconvenience for someone who prefers being on auto-pilot.

That these bollards are disliked by many seems absolutely logical to me. If I were in the practice of driving fast, undertaking turning vehicles, performing sweeping turns across cycle lanes, or parking on cycle lanes and footpaths, (basically driving without thinking) then these things would be quite irritating. Forcing me to be more aware of my surroundings? No thanks!

I hate that they're needed too, to be honest. A preferable alternative might be full kerb segregation with room for cyclists to overtake and priority at junctions. Also high fines and driving bans for the people who show themselves to be incapable of driving/parking in accordance with the law. But I guess we're a bit away from that yet, so bollards will have to do!

Mardyke

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117942834#Comment_117942834

Jesus wept. Its depressing to think that people like you exist. Staggering stupidity and ignorance.

Pawwed Rig

I think it is fair to say (and I have been reading threads like this for years) that generally people want to be able to travel in whatever way they see fit but don't want anyone else to be able to travel faster than them. The biggest issue that I see with a lot of motorist (itc) boils down to annoyance that someone passed them out or might get from a to b a bit quicker than them thereby making their decision to travel in a slower form of transport to be a bad one. It is the same hate that some meat eaters have for vegans. The cyclist/vegan* has the moral high ground which is intensely irritating and in the case of the OP makes him extremely angry that good behaviours are rewarded by road infrastructure whereas bad behaviours are being (in his perception) punished.

*I am neither btw. Well I cycle a bit but wouldn't consider myself a cyclist as such.

The J Stands for Jay

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117961684#Comment_117961684

Thinking about how annoyed certain motorists get when you attempt to overtake them in another car, and suddenly I'm getting an insight into why they go mental at cyclists passing them

Seth Brundle

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117961688#Comment_117961688

Too many drivers mistakenly believe that I have no right to be on the road and should be out of their way. I have as much right to be there as they do (possibly more because someone on a bike does not need to be licenced). It frequently appears that drivers attempt to punish cyclists for existing because of this mistaken belief (and because those drivers are dicks).

I have no problem with motorists passing me when I'm on a bike (or in my car). I do have a major problem with them passing me without proper consideration, usually driving too close to me or passing and then immediatley stopping to turn left or right. If a driver wants to drive dangerously fine, just don't involve me!

Only yesterday, I got abuse from a driver coming up behind me who wanted to turn right as I was turning right (and indicating so). Had he waited for me to safely take the turn, he could have easily made up for any lost time. I didn't delay him* but his impatience even approaching me overruled any rational thought. His decision to overtake me as I'm taking the turn endangered me - and for no actual gain for him. More worryingly, he had his kids in the car which will help normalise them towards both the agressive behaviour and the his abusive language towards a vulnerable road user.

* although he did stop further on to check his passenger door which I reckon he thought I managed to kick when he was passing me (but obviously that didn't happen!).

breezy1985

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117880768#Comment_117880768

Car parked on the cycle lane in the top picture proving why these ugly bollards are necessary

Pawwed Rig

Hear you Seth. I don't know how many times I have been cycling to the park with the kids and a car will squeeze by me just to sit in a tailback 20m further up the road.

No benefit gained but there seems to be a mist that descends that demands that they get ahead of the bike.

magicbastarder

i've said it before and i'll probably say it again - the psychology of why some drivers do this has to be linked to the fact that most of the time there's a window between them and the rest of the world. my own experience is that you're much more likely to have a cordial end to any interaction with a driver if their window is open.