Near Misses Volume 2 (So close you can feel it)

Send that on to TrafficWatch if you remember the reg as it might at least require him to answer some questions, mention the lack of seat belt also as guard might actually act on that if he inadvertently admits it. Attitudes make a big difference in diffusing a situation so when someone does wrong, admits it and apologies I'd be inclined to let it go if no damage done but with such scum as above doubling down and/or doing so deliberately make it as difficult as possible for them.

Lots of distractions in cars nowadays. While it’s most likely the driver being inattentive, they could be talking on a hands free phone, or following instructions from a sat nav etc. combine that with the fact that most drivers are simply looking out for other cars, not cyclists, motorcycles or pedestrians.

That tool might be worthy of a sticky post on the forum.

Very Dublin centric at the moment, though given it's a Dublin Inquirer initiative that's fair enough.@fiacha 's suggestion of a sticky isn't a bad one if we could get a wider geographic spread. It's the kind of thing that could be pointed at when trying to convince council etc. of poor infra

Not sure if this is the correct thread, however I have seen this type of situation discussed here before.

I was driving this morning and had an interaction with a couple of cyclists and I want to see if I was in the wrong. This is a junction I turn at daily so I would appreciate any response. It is also busy with cyclists, but this is the first time this has happened where verbals were exchanged.

Turning left from Merrion road onto Ailesbury road and was stopped at the lights, second car from the front. I had my indicator on and was positioned in the middle of my lane.

This is a left turning lane, but would also have a painted cycle lane, boarded by a broken while line. There is also a bus lane ending approx 50m before the junction and continues on after the junction.

I was in front of all cyclists from the point I turned into the lane. First cyclist came up from behind, banged on my car and rolled up to the window shouting that I was in the cycle lane, which was repeated by another cyclists.

Now it is my understanding that I am allowed be there if I am turning left and clearly indicating that that was my intention, and cyclists are supposed to wait behind until I have turned. I don’t think I can do anything different, but would rather not have a similar confrontation again. Below is an arial picture of the junction. I was in the same position as the white van.

I believe the idea is you're meant to leave the cycle lane clear and wait for cyclists to go ahead before you turn left.

I'd be pissed off too if someone moved in to deliberately block the lane as well tbh. One car at the front not too bad, I usually move to the right or directly behind any cars I see with left indicators on at a junction anyway but generally it happens that people behind go "monkey see, monkey do" and you end up with several hundred metres of cycle lane that's blocked by cars.

It's a dashed line cycle track, so non-mandatory, therefore you're allowed drive in it. So complaints about you being in the cycle lane should be directed to the local authority who didn't make a larger cycle track and mark it with a solid white line.

However, while you're waiting with your indicator on, cyclists are allowed overtake on the left or right. They may not overtake a vehicle on the left where "vehicle to be overtaken has signalled an intention to turn to the left and there is a reasonable expectation that the vehicle in which the driver has signalled an intention to turn to the left will execute a movement to the left before the cycle overtakes the vehicle". (SI 2012/332)

So while a driver is sitting in a non-moving queue, or is far back from the turn, cyclists can proceed up the inside. However, as a driver (who is indicating) approaches the turn, a cyclist is no longer allowed to overtake on the left.

Sorry this was initially responding to @MangleBadger but probably covers other responses

Not sure I would agree with your last sentence.

There is no advance stop line, so where are they going. The cyclist should stop in line with the first car before the pedestrian lights, as the stop line continues across the cycle lane. Me being the second car really shouldn’t impact them too much especially as it’s a shared lane and I have indicated my position before their arrival.

Anyway, I agree on Seth’s take that it’s bad infrastructure. Hopefully the bike lane from the Merrion Gates can be extended and can proceed without Bus Connects as it’s badly needed. It also a strange junction as the green light for the Merrion Road is on 90% of the time with only a small run for both Ailesbury Road and the pedestrian crossing, so probably won’t be caught in this situation again!

*just to add, I was in the right straight lane until the bus lane ends about 50m from the junction. When I moved lanes there was no cyclists beside me or in front of me. As noted, the lights here are typically always green for traffic towards town and have very short times for the other roads / pedestrian crossing, so even the lights were red when I arrived, they do change quickly to green.

Those cyclists sound like an angry, ill-informed self-entitled bunch. Bad luck coming across them. Can't see you did much wrong. At those kind of junctions (think also N11 at the Trees Road/ Stillorgan junction) I just abandon any thought of being restricted to the cycle lane and behave instead like a car/ motorbike. In slow moving traffic you're probably going to cause less issues by just taking the lane and filtering accordingly.

As others have said, it's a case of really poor road infrastructure. Tokenism really. Perhaps the anger you encountered is a result of years of those cyclists being roared at to "get in the cycle lane" when very often there's a good reason not to use it. Or perhaps they were just angry asshats. But it should be help up as an example of what happens when you trumpet "25 Gazillion Billion Euro spent on cycling infrastructure" but in reality provide a really poor end product for people to use - it just generates conflict, confusion, fear and anger among the people using the roads.

It shouldn't be that hard to get right.

Edit: as for the banging on your car, that's not on at all. Losing the rag after nearly being taken out by a car is one thing, but nobody has the right to go around banging on other people's property just because they're angry over a perceived infraction. They'd get little sympathy from me if someone got out of their car and gave the bike a welly. There's enough aggro on the roads without that kind of nonsense being added to the pile.

They are not legally allowed to filter on the left when the vehicle has already moved to the left. The OP had already moved there.

Do you agree that the cyclists had no right to tell the OP that they shouldn't be in the non-existent cycle lane?