Dublin cyclists
Posted in events, Personal on 03/06/2008 02:02 pm by Laura CzajkowskiRight since I’ve moved up here I’ve noticed something. Every morning on the way to work I avoid getting killed, knocked down by cars, taxis, buses, and the Luas, this is all good. I do however find that nearly every morning I find myself dodging death from the flipping cyclists up here. They seem oblivious to the rules of the road.
So as you can imagine I’m not really awake first thing in the morning, so I can see large objects coming at me and I avoid them. Crossing the road, looking to see if it’s clear, (even if the little green man tells me so, I like to double check) getting the all clear, I go to cross and out of no flipping where comes a cyclist who then gives out to me for crossing!!!!! It’s not just crossing the road when this happens, they have loads of cycle lanes up here and even then that’s not good enough, if there is a somebody cycling too slow for them, they don’t think twice but swerve onto the footpath and then come up really fast behind you!
Mind boggling!
03/06/2008 at 3:29 PM
I agree… cycled to work for a few months while I was in Dublin and I was never so scared! Lunatics overtaking at high speed while a bus is overtaking us both. Having said that, the cyclists have plenty of problems of their own (I don’t know how many times a car is half-parked in the cycle lane and opens the door as I’m approaching).
03/06/2008 at 3:42 PM
Rules of the road? Surely those are for car-drivers
Seriously though – I’m very surprised that there don’t appear to be any driving theory laws for cyclists who intend to use busy city roads.
I did a theory test recently (and failed it, by the way) which had a question in it “what side of the road should a pedestrian walk on?” That question really annoyed me because it suggests that there is a law about what side of the road a pedestrian should walk.
The same kind of thing applies when you think about bikes – are there actually laws that govern how a pedestrian or cyclist should behave on the street?
I mean, I know the Americans have something called “jay-walking”, but that doesn’t appear to exist here. Frankly, we wouldn’t stand for it.
The same probably applies for cyclists. There is a certain freedom to being able to zip around and do things that a car driver simply is not allowed to do. Even if it is rude (breaking lights, going onto the paths, etc).
03/06/2008 at 4:29 PM
Kae, um Jay Walking is an offence here also but:
It’s an offence however any Garda to bring a charge against someone for it, and bring them to court, would actually or could actually be held to be wasting the courts time, which is a worse offence” ……
03/06/2008 at 4:50 PM
From what I’ve seen in Americay cyclists and walkers have all the rights, cars still don’t respect them (A friend of mine has been hit twice while cycling and once while running) while he was in california. The driver said, are you ok ? Here’s a hundred box, gotta run!
No one respects cyclists or walkers (They barely respect each others in cars …)
However, personally I am probably the one that respects the less amount of cyclists, I find them to be dangerous and most of the times inattentive to what else is happening on the road. The cyclists lanes are made for them, just use it ffs.
03/06/2008 at 4:50 PM
Kae,
The side of the road (without a pavement) on which you walk is pure common-sense, you walk on the side where you’re facing the oncoming traffic …
So, in Ireland, that’s the Right-hand side, and in France, the Left … unless you *want* to be hit from behind by a car ??
03/06/2008 at 6:15 PM
On any side, Ireland, Tunisia, New Zealand, if you cross a road without looking or drive your cycle right and left without caring too much because you believe that you have the right to drive as you feel, you’ll still get the same reaction from the car drivers.
03/06/2008 at 11:24 PM
Kae – are you mad?
A cyclist (or anybody else for that matter) breaking lights isn’t rude – *suicidal* is the word I’d use. I wouldn’t be surprised if some drivers might see that as a challenge and decide to speed up.
The Rules of the Road aren’t like a pick’n'mix selection of sweets where you choose which rules you’ll adhere to and others to ignore.
That’s of course unless you do want to wind up in hospital?
03/07/2008 at 12:06 PM
my point about the side of the road wasn’t about common sense. yes, it makes sense to do that, but does that make it illegal to do something which is /not/ common sense? I mean, if it’s not illegal to walk on the left side instead of the right, then why is it part of teh driving theory test? in fact, why is a pedestrian question part of the theory test in the first place?
and yes, I’ve been whacked by a truck for walking on the wrong side of the road
03/07/2008 at 12:19 PM
@Ken Guest yes I must admit at times when I’m then driving you’d feel like trying to get added bonus points to teach them a lesson! …. yes I’m going to hell!
05/27/2008 at 2:23 PM
Cycle lanes in dublin are a death trap. not wide enough, not seperated enough and not good enough.
Poor bikers are just trying to stay alive. Good cyclists flit through your early morning dreams like a butterfly.
In Dublin, the rule to remember is if it’s bigger or moving faster than you, get out of the way.
(And if it’s ugly it’s probably a taxi:))