Comment & Analysis: The media and politicians all too often treat exaggerated complaints about cyclists and cycle paths. They wrongly treat these at face value when there are clear pointers that we should look at many such complaints as being made in bad faith.
In some cases, issues such as poor perception, ignorance of the law or other issues can also play a part in the flawed complaints.
Dublin City Council’s cycling-related Facebook posts regularly give an insight into the lies, exaggerations, and mis/disinformation that some people have about cycling. At least some of these people are the type of people who will be contacting politicians, the Road Safety Authority, and other transport bodies about cycling.
The council’s video and other posts about the recently opened George’s Quay to Aston Quay cycle path are nearly a mini-case study in mis/disinfromaion regarding cyclists and cycling.
Here are a few examples of the lies, exaggerations, and/or mis/disinfromaion and what the issue is with each of them:
“The improvements are just for cyclists“
There are significant improvements for pedestrians on both sides of the road shown in the video (and beyond the clip but as part of the project), including making the footpath generally far wider on the quay side and accessible to wheelchairs, other mobility devices and prams for the first time in decades.
“All the cyclists are breaking the red traffic lights“
The people cycling shown using the cycle path are clearly pictured cycling ahead with a bicycle signal showing the colour green.
In saying that, there’s also no doubt that many cyclists as a group run red lights. There’s no point denying that because cyclists are, after all, humans, and running a red light is an issue for people regardless of whether they are driving, cycling a bicycle, or walking.
But because of physics, dynamics and the nature of a bicycle, cyclists breaking red lights is generally more on the scale of pedestrians doing it in terms of the type of behaviour it is and the level of risk involved.
Red light camera data shows that more motorists run red lights.
“Cue the cyclist that’s cycling along the road. Even your promo videos are highlighting the fact that so many don’t use these lanes and there’s no enforcement in place.”
The 48-second video shows 11 people using the cycle path. Yet, it somehow highlights “the fact that so many don’t use these lanes” when only one person does not use the cycle path? And, on the legal point…
“Where there’s a cycle lane provided in a built-up area, you are required to use the cycle lane”
This is not true. The compulsory use of cycle lanes in Ireland was removed for very good reasons. Many reasons are not clear to motorists and may not even be apparent to some cyclists — for example, a motorist may not see glass all over a cycle lane, and a mountain bike may be able to navigate a poor transition or surface which may damage a racing bicycle.
If cyclists don’t use a cycle lane, there’s a good reason for it.
Other reasons include motorists blocking cycle lanes by driving in them, parking in them and loading in them. It includes people cycling making turns not provided for on cycle lanes, and also the poor quality of the design or maintenance of many cycle lanes, including cycle lanes being painted in the door zone where there’s a risk of being hit when a car door is swung open or shared with people walking.
Even in the Netherlands, where the general standard of cycle paths is much higher than in Ireland, authorities are looking at allowing faster cyclists to use the road as they can be safer than them being on crowded cycle paths and near to pedestrians.
“Where are the traffic corps? Why are they not out at peak time morning and evening and catch a few cyclists not using the bike lanes provided?”
The roads policing units cannot enforce non-existing laws.
“…half the road space given over to a minority…”
The cycle path takes up around 3 metres of space. It is not close to half the road space on any part of this project, which includes 2-3 other traffic lanes along its length as well as footpaths, which have also been widened.
Also, at rush hour, before any segregated cycle paths were built here, people cycling accounted for more people movements than the number of cars. Motorists are very much a minority here too, with the bulk of uses of these streets on buses and on foot.
“Politicians don’t use bikes”
This is not true. In Dublin, a significant number of politicians at both the local and national levels use their bicycles regularly.
Cian.i raised the red light issue as there is a conflict point there with pedestrians crossing on a red they see remember there is no advance bike green on the opposite side of the bridge where one should have been placed as it is a large distance between the lights
I did not see your comment and none of the above is in reply to any comment you posted.
The comments under that Facebook post along with your analysis gives the impetus for both the Road Safety Authority and the Garda RPU to put the brakes on this misinformation and patent rubbish by clear statements of the facts.
This is why I repeatedly call these safety agencies out for failing bike users.
I don’t think many “normal” people comment on facebook posts anymore to be fair, it’s mostly just miserable losers who get their daily dopamine hit from endlessly moaning and complaining online, and most of us have decided it’s better for our sanity to just ignore rather than engage, even where we strongly disagree with their nonsense!
Truly. Social Media sites are the pits of despair these days. Strangely politicians seem masochistic enough to want to engage on these platforms.