“We need a sense of balance in this debate” – McGrath

Balance


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9 comments

  1. The amount of Motorists and Buses and Taxi drivers passing within inches of Cyclists at speed in Dublin is colossal ,you would not mind so much if they just slowed down when the road is narrow but no. The amount of Motorists parking on Cycling lanes is also colossal especially on that Cycling lane outside of Fairview Park on most days and especially on Weekends. One Motorist recently flew in front of me at speed and beeped me out of the way as he flew around a corner and just did not bother to slow down going down to Temple Bar,he was very close.

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  2. Here we go more of the same bullsh*t from both the cycling and motoring sides. You break the law more than us, yada yada. Will we ever get beyond this discussion and onto something more productive? The figures you quote for the 4-wheel law breaking are there in black and white. It would be a start if the cycling lobby acknowledged the problems with abiding the law amongst the cycling community. The standards of road use by both cyclists and motorists in Ireland in general is pretty sh*t, so let’s acknowledge this and start doing something about it.

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    • You’re wrong Brian.

      Nobody is denying that there is a problem with cyclists — but we do need balance.

      The extent of the problem with driving is not only not acknowledged by Deputy McGrath, he has implied on more than one occasion now that their law breaking is more acceptable because they pay tax.

      And don’t just note the figures for lawbreaking — also not the stats about who is at fault and about them not knowing it, the stat about a huge percentage of drivers thinking they are above average (which is impossable) and the fact that more inexperienced cyclists have come onto on Dublin’s streets and those streets keep getting safer.

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  3. As a cyclist on the road of ten years, we don’t exactly cover ourselves in glory. I used to cycle down the Goatstown Road to/from school and regularly broke the lights at The Goat Grill. I never thought anything of it either. My view was always, “sure a pedestrian could jaywalk if there was no traffic; why can’t I?”

    I also never wore reflective gear, and rarely brought lights with me. I always thought that it was the driver’s responsibility not to hit me.

    Since leaving school however, I’ve realised that I am considered as much of a road user as a driver. I would now never break red lights, cycle on footpaths, or turn without, at the very least, making sure the way was clear. I always have reflective gear on and I wear a helmet.

    There are poor drivers out there, without a doubt. Many also take it as some form of affront when they see a cyclist going passed them, or slowing them down in any way. Irish people are insanely impatient. We’ll all get to the red light at the same time folks!

    However, cyclists undoubtedly break red lights all over the place. Cyclists regularly go out without reflective gear or lights, and this makes them a lot harder to see, obviously. From time to time, I also see cyclists cycling on the WRONG SIDE of the road in the cycle lane. There is simply no excuse for such ignorance in 2013.

    The TDs comments aren’t helpful in anyway, but unfortunately they do reflect a certain “stereotypical cyclist” view that many drivers, who don’t regularly cycle, hold.

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  4. Plus, Brian, let’s have some balance in the likely consequence of law breaking.

    A car is generally going faster and is much heavier than a bicycle. A little rule breaking in a car can (and does) easily kill people. A little rule breaking on a bike usually just annoys people. It’s simple physics.

    An average car at 50km/h has 100 times more energy than an average bike at 20 km/h. It would take 100 misbehaving bikes to equal one misbehaving car, in terms of their ability to cause damage or hurt. 100 times. A bike is 1% of a car.

    Happy with that balance?

    [see calculations http://goo.gl/9OEx4%5D

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  5. After enduring dangerous and inconsiderate driving one too many times, I decided to record my daily commute with a camera on my handlebars so as to have some recourse if something were to ever happen. If you look at the video footage, you can see a car violating a traffic law about every 90 seconds (breaking red lights, driving in bus lanes etc). Use that as in combination with the above calculation and the ‘balance’ looks a lot different.

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  6. @admin
    Unlikely as it may be, there’s nothing impossible about 70% of motorists being ‘above average’ drivers. All you need is for the below average drives to be much further below average than the majority are above average.

    Reply

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