Are cyclists invisible???

KdjaCL

Today for the 1st time in about 7 years i had to use a push bike and in a 5 minute cycle was near killed 3 times by idiots in cars who for some unknown reason couldnt see me or didnt know that a car and a push bike could fit onto the same road.

The 1st guy was avoiding a puddle in the middle of the road i was hugging the kerb as cyclists are supposed to (they are, arent they??) and he clipped me (got the fúkers reg)

2nd guy i was at an intersection stopped he was coming towards me and turning to my left (his right) i was stopped as he had his indicators on half way tru his turn, i had started moving so he should have been around the corner and i would cycle the empty road when the bástard decides he wants to go straight after all, head on shít with a car ,thankfully he beeped and told me i was an idiot (got that fúkers) reg too.

3rd guy was special ,real special i was entering an Industial Estate ojn the left as you do still hugging the kerb he is coming out on the right in his Mercedes and using his Mobile phone when he decides he wants to go back into the industrial estate quick U Trun and near fúckin kills me i had to put me feet down jump with the bike onto the kerb.
he waved at me in a vain apologetic way (got that fúkers reg too)


Simple Q are ppl on push bikes invisible??

I had cream bright jeans on a white T Shirt and a black jacket it was 12.25 pm Sun was splitting the trees.


KdjaC

Occidental

Drop into your local station and report the sods. You'll be doing us all a favour, motorists included.

Mercury_Tilt

This post has been deleted.

seamus

Having taken my bike out recently after a few years, I was quite nervous on it, where I used to be a psycho. Probably a combination of knowing what the roads can be like, and being to used a a bike with an engine and wheels 3 times the thickness. I think it depends what area you're in. Lucan for example is full of roundabouts, so at each one, I made majorly sure that everyone could see me when I was on it. Despite the fact that cyclists have the same rights as other road users, cars and jeeps (especially) tend to 'forget' that you're there and don't bother giving you right of way. It also took a while to occur to me that I could avoid major junctions by cycling on the path - Illegal, but if you tell a Garda 'I don't feel safe going through that crazy-ass junction', he'll understand.

It all goes back to crap driver education in this country. Drivers don't know how to react properly to cyclists. Some drivers drive too close, not giving you enough 'wobble room', risking your life. Other drivers give waaay too much room, holding up traffic and risking collisions with oncoming traffic, again, risking your life.

My best advice is to not think that you have equal rights anywhere. Cycle like you were invisible, and when in traffic, think of the most stupid thing anyone could do, and be prepared for someone to do it. Lord knows, thinking like that has saved my life on many occasions on the motorbike.

Gordon

People are so selfish that they are a danger to walk on the freakin sidewalks with them - no way would I trust anyone behind the wheel of an engine block.

Give a man an umbrella and he pokes you in the eye with it.
Give a man a rule book and he scans the back for the cheat sheet.
But give a man a car and he's got his whole life to sit in wait for the right time for you to be run over.

And I don't just mean men.

Best thing to do is be as luminous as possible but even then motorists still seem to be selfish b'stards. I'm sure a lot of it is plain forgetfulness as well as inconsideration but that's no excuse.

Chimaera

One thing that helps immensely when dealing with cars as a cyclist is keeping up with them as much as possible - if you can keep your speed up around 20mph on the bike, then you can move into the line of traffic where they will see you. It's a good excuse to get fit anyway

It is important to make your intentions very clear to motorists - use hand signals, and make eye contact with anyone you think will turn across your intended path. Make sure the guy in the car sees you. If you're in doubt, wait - better to be delayed a bit than dead.

As a motorist, it's important to leave room for cyclists, especially at junctions, or in slow moving traffic. I've been knocked off a bike in heavy traffic before because I was cycling up the kerbside of a line of slow-moving traffic and this b****x pulled over in front of me, leaving me nowhere to go bar falling on to the path beside me.

Also, acting stupidly on a bike will piss off motorists, and make them less inclined to be nice to you on the road. This thing works both ways, as has been mentioned in another thread.

Incidentally, I'm both a cyclist and a motorist, so I've seen this thing from both sides.

KdjaCL

Cream Bright Jeans?

yah they was €25 for 3 pairs handy for work

I live in Neilstown Clondalkin and work in Cloverhill Ind Est in Clondalkin.
Its a 5=10 minute wlak i was late back from lunch so cycled.

It was scary. Cars just didnt see me or didnt want to.
Damn have to cycle home later in the dark

kdja

Borzoi

Originally posted by Chimaera
It is important to make your intentions very clear to motorists - use hand signals,

Wow, there are some cyclists left who use hand signals, cause I haven't seen one on years.

I'm an ex-cyclist, now motorist, so I've seen it from both sides. You're not invisible, but you are bloody hard to see, and many cyclists behave, like many motorists, in an erratic and stupid manner. The difference being that a cyclist is far more likely to DIE in an accident.

It is a sad fact that as a cyclist you should assume that you can't be seen, and that all drivers are homocidal maniacs hell bent on killing you, it may lengthen your life.:cool:

Victor

Cyclists and pededtrians cause 10% of accidents, but represent more than 25% of those killed on the roads www.nra.ie

Merrion

One of the problems with cycling in Dublin (and I assume this is the case elsewhere in Ireland) is that potholes at the edge of the road don't seem to get fixed at all. This means that there are several places on my cycle home where I have to either (a) use the footpath or (b) put myself in the middle of the lane to go around the holes.

However when it rains and the road floods you can no longer see where the deep holes are so your only option is to break the law and cycle on the footpath which is absolute madness, and potentially dangerous to pedestrians.

RicardoSmith

I'm also a cyclist/driver and agree that cyclist are extremely hard to see. As a driver you have to watch 360 around you and thats impossible. Another big problem is that most drivers are very selfish and do not think of other people when they drive. Its all me me me. So many have poor road manners. Plus everyone is in too much of a hurry.

I actually think that you should cycle in the middle of the lane and not to the edge of it. Put yourself in the middle of the drivers view so they can't ignore you. Make yourself as big as possible and take up as much road space as possible. Visibility is as much about road presence as anything else.

I always report bad drivers when I can, these are the morons that are going to kill some by accident. It the Guards get enough reports of bad driver they will pull him. People not reporting bad drivers are part of the problem not the solution.

Kenjd

The majority of the drivers in this country are crap! They couldn't tie their shoe laces up and hold a conversation at the same time!! So cyclists are screwed!
I cycle(for 15 years) and drive (for 2), and it is a shame that our system of teaching people to drive is so bad! And people wonder why there are so many road deaths! Wake up and smell the coffee!
It also has to do with the safety of driving a car. People think that because they pay road tax, pay so much,and over the odds for their cars, they are entitled to do as they wish.
E.G. when i pick my daughter up fom school they all park their cars on double yellows?!?!?!!? Isnt that illegal?
But it all boils down to social responsibility which is fading in our bu11**** celtic tiger economy!
And who do we have to blame? OURSELVES
Yes its your brother,neighbour,dad,sister,mum,friend,cousin,boss,....ourselves,...US
Sort it out !!!!!

Fey!

It's not all the motorists fault.

On my route home from work I come across a lot of cyclists. It is a dark, unlit stretch of road (Bridge Street, Dominic Street, Henry Street, St Helens Street, and Shantalla Road in Galway for those of you who know the area), and EVERY DAY I encounter cyclists, in the dark, with no lights, helmets or high visibility jackets/stripes. Often, later in the evening, you'll meet them 2 or 3 to 1 bike! You also get the guys who are so cool that they can cycle wilst wearing their walkman and not using the handlebars. And do any of them ever get stopped for their stupidity? Of course not.

I will concede that many drivers are not as aware of cyclists as they should be, but stop tarring everyone with the same brush - some of us do watch out for them, don't overtake them where it might be dangerous, and watch at green lights for the inevitable ones coming from the other direction who break the red lights.

Cyclists please remember - rules of the road are there for YOUR safety and direction too.

egon spengler

Cyclists get the worst end of deal, theyre feared by pedestrians (unreasonably most of the times- youre a hundred yards away from them going at a snails pace and they start shouting that youre going to kill them, and Im not talking about on the foothpath) and are dismissed by motorists. The worst things are having an asshole speed down a road really close to the pavement and nearly knocking you down in the process or crossing a road without any traffic lights or those which are designed to unfairly favour the motorist ie having to wait 2 years before it turns green for about 1 second. No one stops to give the other person right of way out of generosity, it seems like everyone is in too much of a rush these days.

Tbh I think if we had a system like that in Amsterdam everything would be perfect. Over there, if a motorist hits a cyclist they are immediately at a disadvantage following a court proceeding. Moreover they basically have to give cyclists right of way (within reason of course but its seems more fair and equitable). Also if youre a pedestrian you better get off the cycle lane (unlike here where not only do people just treat it as another footpath, but it is usually littered with broken glass). Of course its not so feasible here for obvious reasons (geography/time/costs/disruption to traffic). But in any case I think there are way too many cars on the road as it is in Dublin and this must be remedied.

Stark

egon spengler wrote:

Tbh I think if we had a system like that in Amsterdam everything would be perfect. Over there, if a motorist hits a cyclist they are immediately at a disadvantage following a court proceeding.

I thought it was a similar situation over here?

egon spengler wrote:

unlike here where not only do people just treat it as another footpath

The Phoenix Park is the most infuriating for that :mad:

egon spengler wrote:

But in any case I think there are way too many cars on the road as it is in Dublin and this must be remedied.

It would be a great city to cycle in considering it's so flat. They really need to build a few dedicated cycle paths that are seperated from both the road and the footpath, then it would be brilliant. I used to cycle in, out and across town all the time when I was more fearless. I'd probably be more panicky now though.

Borzoi

Kenjd wrote:

The majority of the drivers in this country are crap! They couldn't tie their shoe laces up and hold a conversation at the same time!! So cyclists are screwed!

Wow, four year old thread, is this an OLD POST record?

fletch

Is it in the ROTR that you should indicate around a cyclist? I always do this but rarely if ever see anybody else doing it.

yoshytoshy

hello ,just like to add that people sometimes get annoyed on a sunday while driving on a road behind two cyclists ,cycling abreast.
It doesn't bother me at all ,thats their way of making sure you overtake them properly and don't try and squash them into the nettles.

I think we'll all have to cycle more often in years to come ,just wish there was somewhere proper to cycle to .

dudara

TBH, I'm terrified of killing a cyclist ever since I've moved to Dublin. I've never come across more cyclists who are poorly lit, don't wear reflective clothing, cycle in the twillight/night and cycle out in the middle of the road.

I'm not tarring all cyclists with the same brush, but it really does seem to me that a large proportion of Dublin cyclists are an accident just waiting to happen.