Sunday Cyclists
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Brendan Burgess
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HI Delgirl
I wouldn't pay any attention whatsoever to the National Safety Council. They are perceived as being anti-cyclist. According to the Dublin Cycling Campaign, they have suggested in the past that children should not cycle to school. Their board has many represenatives of the motor industry but no represenative of cyclists.
I cycle up Howth Head occasionally on a Sunday. It is very dangerous due to the speed of cars. I think it would be a great idea to bar cars occasionally from such places to allow families to cycle safely.
I don't cycle in groups, but I think it would be very difficult for a group to use a cycle lane. It would be a very long string of cyclists instead of group of people out enjoying the road.
Traffic problems are caused by cars and not by cyclists. I have not seen cyclists swarming in the centre of a main road. But I have seen them taking up the full lane where there is only one lane and as far as I know, they have every right to do this, especially on a Sunday.
Brendan
I wouldn't pay any attention whatsoever to the National Safety Council. They are perceived as being anti-cyclist. According to the Dublin Cycling Campaign, they have suggested in the past that children should not cycle to school. Their board has many represenatives of the motor industry but no represenative of cyclists.
I cycle up Howth Head occasionally on a Sunday. It is very dangerous due to the speed of cars. I think it would be a great idea to bar cars occasionally from such places to allow families to cycle safely.
I don't cycle in groups, but I think it would be very difficult for a group to use a cycle lane. It would be a very long string of cyclists instead of group of people out enjoying the road.
Traffic problems are caused by cars and not by cyclists. I have not seen cyclists swarming in the centre of a main road. But I have seen them taking up the full lane where there is only one lane and as far as I know, they have every right to do this, especially on a Sunday.
Brendan
Brendan Burgess
Founder
- Messages
- 52,175
The pedestrians are a terrible problem but so also are cars parked in cycle lanes.
Brendan
Brendan
M
Max Hopper
Guest
So what can be done to stop the abuse of cycle lanes? I for one inhabit the roadway on many occasions due to homeowners 'supplementing' their off-street parking. And the ubiquitious white or red Transit van. Where is the enforcement?
Speaking as a sometime cyclist (less regular than years ago) I have to say that it seems like the vast majority of cyclists simply don't observe most of the rules of the road (e.g. signalling when turning, stopping at red lights and Yield signals etc.) and are a danger to themselves, other road users and pedestrians. I used to know and cycle with many amateur racing and touring cyclists and many of them were unbelievably irresponsible on the road. Almost as bad as some less "serious" commuter cyclists that we all see every day. I read something in todays Indo about the Dublin Cycling Campaign calling HVG trucks in the city serial killers of cyclists which is simply ridiculous on so many levels and hardly conducive to people taking the campaign seriously. On a related note I tend to avoid off road cycle paths due to debris/glass, pedestrians and other obstructions and generally stuck to the road and generally cycle responsibly. I have never had an accident although I had two near misses where motorists were at fault.
Brendan said:
I can't believe I am about to flame Brendan !!!
In your 'two-wheel good four-wheel bad Utopia' my driving around Howth Head yesterday would have been outlawed ?
Drive from home to Howth village for lunch, walk around Sunday market then drive to summit carpark for family walk.
We'd have to have walked from home or cycled instead ? With my 3-year old on her tricycle, we'd be about Sutton Cross by now. With her on the back of my bike, we'd have no hope to getting to the summit.
Cyclists are entitled to use the road. I believe larger groups cycle in this manner because it makes them more visible and forces drivers who would otherwise not do so to slow down. Is it against the law?
A large group of cyclists should be treated like a slow moving vehicle - whether in a rural or urban area makes no difference.
A large group of cyclists should be treated like a slow moving vehicle - whether in a rural or urban area makes no difference.
ClubMan said:
Um, I'm guessing but would I be right in saying most of the cyclists you're referring to would be young men? Not noted for correct behaviour no matter what manner of vehicle they're driving, cycling, or even just walking?
On the second point, the HGV drivers are indeed responsible for quite a few cyclist deaths, especially along the quays. I no longer cycle along the quays at all because the bike lane keeps vanishing when the road narrows (!) and the truck thunder by uncomfortably close. They don't seem to use their mirrors or their mirrors aren't positioned well to see even the large fluoro hi-vis jacket I wear.
Yes.Gordanus said:
To say that they are "responsible" or, worse still, for the DCC to call them serial killers suggests an element of negligence or, worse still, deliberate intent on their part which I cannot accept is necessarily the case.
Terrible and all as these accidents are it should be remembered that many cyclists habitually ignore the warning signs not to cut down the inside of HGVs especially when they are turning, and otherwise don't exercise much caution when cycling near such vehicles (especially given the fact that these vehicles often have significant blind spots which prevent the drivers from seeing some other road users in certain circumstances). I would expect that at least some of the accidents involving cyclists and HGVs or other vehicles can be explained by negligence on the part of the cyclists involved.