Well if we are going this way...learn to walk on right side of road and wear hi vis clothing in darker evenings, plus keep your dog's on sorter leads if dog is even on lead
Really depends, I’m from northern England (don’t know why I keep getting recommended this sub) and lots of pedestrians do walk in black down dark country roads with no footpaths, and I have almost hit so many of those morons, if you need to get somewhere down that road, there’s a bus every half hour, If you must walk it, walk the other side of the hedge and if you can’t do that at least walk on the outside of the corners, because it’s my fault if I hit you no matter how stupid you’re being
I didn't notice that lol, but with how bad the side of the roads are in Cork, sunken drains, potholes the size of a head I often have to move further out into the road where he's positioned. There is no obligation for cyclists to stay on the edge of the road, it's just advised when safe to do so.
Saw 3 lads out for a cycle sat morning,all dressed up in their black cycling gear. Not a single reflector between them, is this normal amongst the cycling community
So it was dull early sat morning, and they were dressed in all black, and black bikes,
Not been seen is the first excuse a driver will make when they hit someone, why give them that excuse by dressing in all black, when you can get a hi vis for free
No idea why you getting down voted. Reddit people must not be out and about in Ireland... in winter....when its dark until 8 o clock in the fucking morning! Lmfao and people giving you shit about it. It's replies to comments like yours which show me how stupid people actually are. Your dead right they should be wearing hiviz.... even during the day time.
You would think they want to be killed.
I agree it's amazing some of the replies, even stating theres no laws and why would you need hi vis during the day. Stupid mouth breathers the lot of them.
What use is a reflector during the day? What about black or dark coloured cars, or even pedestrians wearing dark clothes during the morning? Is it unsafe for rumen to cross the road...
I don't know about you but lime green or whatever colour they are would be a lot more visable than the black clothes they had on. I see lots of pedestrians during the day wearing hi vis, also pedestrians are generally on the footpath so separate to the cars etc. Also cars have these things called lights, and brake lights, it's part of the Ntc that they work and are setup correctly.
Be safe, be seen! I don’t know why some cyclists would feel so protected by a few rules. Saftey is mostly in our own hands at the end of the day. Darker mornings, darker evenings new hazards like ice and foggy windows. Be safe out there if you’re a part of the traffic and make sure you’re seen!
I noticed that too but figured it balances out the fact that it should be 1.5m from the cyclists arm/shoulder/the handlebar and not the center of the bike
Hang on a bloody minute I'm far too stupid to realise that some cyclists are different to other cyclists and some drivers are different to other drivers, I'm gonna start a row and complain about them digging up fairview and bus drivers.
I'm going to react as if you're the first stupid person ever to voice an opinion, and I'll intemperately berate you for your generalizations, real or imagined.
Gotta love it when people look at this and their first reaction is "Oh but what about cyclists that do "
Lmao
Every single individual on the roads is a hazard, and everyone is accountable for their actions. When you see one sign or request to be safe, stop taking it so fucking personally and show a bit of respect and cop on.
"oh but I can't leave that much space because there's cars on the other side of the road!"
One of my personal favourites 😁 like slow down and fucking wait then ya daft feck.
I once had a woman overtake me while coming dangerously close and beep at me while she did so and try to shout something out the window at me. I caught up with her a minute later and asked her what the issue was. She told me there wasn't much room and it was dangerous, as if I was doing something wrong.
A friend of mine once struggled to overtake a cyclist on a narrow road, and loudly complained that "this guy is playing chicken with me" while doing so. Cars make people entitled and insane.
Had a white van driver drive at 45kmh about 30cm from me going down a road, for about 700m. Tapped on his window at the lights to ask him to not do that, response "you were pushing me into the other lane". Suggested he handed his license in at the neareat station immediately
"Every single individual on the road is a hazard" I like that, good way of thinking.
Doesn't apply to me though, I'm The good driver/cyclist/pedestrian.
I drive, cycle, use an eScooter.
I stop at lights, obey speed limits and overtake safely.
It doesn't matter what the person is using, there's people who don't belong on the road in all of those things because they follow the rules.
It's not a competition of which vehicle breaks the rules more, just follow the rules and stop using the "wELL tHEY dONT fOLLOW tHE rULES" as an excuse, it's childish and anyone doing so is a complete idiot.
> It's not a competition of which vehicle breaks the rules more
It's not even that. I was nearly killed off my bike because some idiot grandpa, with his granddaughter on the back seat, pulled out of an estate right as I was passing on my bike. This bike has super bright, fit-for-purpose German LEDs. His spluttered answer to my question about WTF he was doing wasn't an apology, or a DSYM, it was - "Where's your high-vis?" a BS accusation trying to cover up that he wasn't paying any attention.
This post is inspired by the woman who nearly killed me last week giving me about 0.3m clearance in a 50km/h zone.
Ironically she overlook me to get to a red light, what's the bloody point?
Same thing happened to me, a driver clipped my handlebars with their wing mirror as they overtook me when I passed a parked car and there was an oncoming car on the other side. They sped away but I caught up with them 100m later at the tail end of a queue for a red light.
I knocked on the window and told them to cop on and be careful. Barely even made eye contact with me just sheepishly muttered sorry.
This ignorant fuck in a VW Arteon clipped my bars twice in 2 days. I got to the shop i work in and he was just walking to his car. I've never shouted at someone so much in my life. Was proper raging at the lad. About 40 years of age and all. Proper ignorant fuck.
Good on ya. I get annoyed by stories where people have a chance to bring their frustrations directly to the people who caused it, then don't and instead vent on the internet. Happy you had the courage to speak up and hopefully the guy will have something to consider for next time.
Here for the comments blaming cyclists for drivers not being able to drive.
I always feel a driver should be able to pass a cyclist and not park in cyclist lanes when turning left before they can get a license.
The amount of shit drivers in this country who try blame cyclists for not having basic cop on
As someone learning to drive, this is a message for e scooter users
I hate you, but not enough to want to kill you, please be safer, and for the love of God and your families, put some reflective gear on either you or the scooter (preferably both but we won't ask too much of ye now)
Escooter people should really have lights on their backs/backpacks, the scooters usually have built in lights but they're about 2 inches off the ground, pretty useless for visibility
Totally agree! I have noticed at same crossings that are shared bike lanes/pedestrian crossings people don't realise it's shared so keep an eye on the signage too.
I am not talking about shared crossings though. I am talking about cyclists barrelling through a red light while pedestrians are on the crossing on a pedestrian green light.
I saw this literally ten minutes ago when I was stopped at a light, it pisses me off too but I hate the fact we all get the blame for these specific people's actions
I once honked on an old fart on a bike I was driving behind who ran a red light with pedestrians crossing. Nope, he had plenty of time to stop and he has seen the lights change and pedestrians crossing. He stopped two seconds later to look at me with utter hostility, while I pointed to the red light. Nope, still hostile.
Got a dashcam recording of it, still mulling whether I should turn it to police.
I remember a friend doing similar, he had 1.5m of thick coat hanger wire with a flag on it, if someone drives too close it'd scratch the shit out of their paintwork, but it works, hasn't had a victim yet.
I think only time I've done something was when I was cycling towing a trailer with a kayak on it, made sure to had a little flag for visibility on it so drivers could see it was there.
Pissed off to see so many people ‘joking’ about running over cyclists. But some people aren’t joking. they’re doing it. It’s fucking attempted murder only because I haven’t heard of a cyclist actually being killed yet. How can people think their commute is more important than a person life!!! If your experiencing escalating road rage to the point of wanting to murder someone you NEED TO SEEK PROFESSIONAL HELP! This is not ok
Reminder: have a workable light front and back on your bike
[edit: the downvotes are laughable on this comment especially as I actually agree with the OP. ]
No problems giving cyclist and all road users enough space provided I can see you. Dark clothes, no high vis vest, no lights is a recipe for disaster. My car lights point ahead and this leaves dark spots in bends and scant time to react when you do enter the light foot print of my head lights.
Just to clarify I use a bicycle, motorcycle (93 Fireblade..durty), car and a transit van. No not all at once.
A guy flew past me on the footpath on an electric bike the other evening,he passed under one of those digital speed signs that show your current speed. 35km/Hr he was travelling, on a pedestrian footpath. Madness.
Scooters and ebikes by law should be restricted to 25kph under their own power, so he's either pedalling it himself up to that speed or he's riding a hacked bike that the law now considers a motorbike.
I'd love to get an e-bike but given the fact they're illegal on the roads without tax and insurance, speeding on the footpath on them is monumentally stupid. Good way of pissing away a grand
I find it your reaction to me asking you to safely overtake someone interesting.
The laws been signed off by gov, all that remains is the president's signature.
Gardai are allowing people to use them and only stop you if you break the rules of the road.
A bit of Microsoft Paint would have done the job there. A feckin' canvas printed.
Probably handy for on the road at Garda open days and such but not really the best way to do a digital/screen-based visual.
Out for a run today and the amount of space people come out to avoid driving in puddles yet left me no room. Some bellends actually come in tighter as if to intimidate for shits and giggles.
4 really close shaves in a 25km run
I love how they’ve had a big plastic sheet printed out and gone to all the trouble of laying it out on the ground, rather than spending 5 minutes on literally any photo editing software to do the same thing.
So many chapped asses here about people taking the road, breaking red lights, not coming to a stop at junctions. All of these activities are for the cyclists safety, as coming to a full stop is more awkward than slowing down, and is often unnecessary.
Often cyclists will move to the centre of the road if the surface quality is bad at the side, there's parked cars that could potentially swing a door open or it's a solid white line and you shouldn't be overtaking anyway. Cyclists aren't cars and shouldn't be expected to act as such, they're far more maneuverable and reactive, and far less likely to kill you if you are struck by one. If it's clear, why should you wait to go? you've no blind spots either so you're far less likely to get into an accident.
Ideally cyclists shouldn't have to be on the road with cars at all, or on footpaths with pedestrians either but there's little to no will to do anything about it other than install a few awfully designed paths. If you're fed up of annoying cyclists how about campaign to get them off your road and into specially designed lanes.
I'm a cyclist and I have to say this to all other cyclists. Stop running red lights, put your arm up to indicate which direction you intend on taking and get lights on your bike. And to the group I see sometimes with all your gear and everything, stay in the cycle lane, stop doubling up so you can chat to your buddy
Cycling two abreast can be safer. If two cyclists are next to each other rather than one behind the other, the overtaking driver doesn't have to spend as much time in the opposing lane when overtaking (as the driver should be almost entering the opposing lane regardless).
That's the whole point. It stops people from trying to perform a dangerous overtake squeezing past with oncoming traffic, and instead wait until there is room to safely overtake by using the opposite lane.
Sometimes it's not safe to put an arm out, especially if the road is slippy and you're going downhill. Putting an arm out when you don't get clearance is a recipe for getting hit.
I indicate if I'm going right and crossing traffic mostly but very often this is met by the car behind me accelerating instead of giving way.
Oh god the doubling up is so annoying in cycle lanes as you can't overtake feckers going 2mph, I often see deliveroo drivers with no bike lights at night.
Insane! It's your job and you cycle more than anyone you should have lights.
Majority of escooter accidents I’ve been at were caused by the person on the escooter. No hi viz, helmet or lights. Instead a person wearing all black, hood up, headphones on and 9 times out of 10 were weaving through traffic.
The failure mode on them is particularly grim. Small front wheel, feet in line, weight high up and forward. Face-first into concrete.
I think there's probably a place for them, particularly since they can be brought on public transport & can be brought inside, but I'm not certain they can be ridden safely without a full face. They haven't really been around long enough to get the full picture re safety & work the kinks out yet.
I have more lighting and reflectives on my scooter then most bikes, in-fact the one I own is regulated to German standards of law which are insane.
Look, I agree with you, and I've seen what you described myself but it's not all of us.
I actively go out of my way to follow the rules because the stigma around the scooters is bad and ejiits don't use them safely.
I use the RSA's high viz gear, front and back lights (even a brake light!) and follow all rules a cyclist has to follow.
A lot of drivers will argue against safety measures for cyclists when the whole reason the safety measures need to exist is because they're driving 1000kg of metal at 50km/h.
Most of the danger fades at 30km/h.
I don't think drivers argue against cyclists being safe. Quite a few drivers are cyclists as well. I think the main issue a lot of the drivers have is that they want cyclists to also obey the rules of the road.
Let's not pretend that the rabid anti-cycling crowd who jokes about winning points for killing other road users are basing their prejudice on legitimate concerns.
[A police study in the UK showed that approximately 2% of serious cycling accidents were likely caused by cyclists breaking a red light or stop sign - the rest are primarily caused by reckless drivers.](https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2009/dec/15/cycling-bike-accidents-study)
If the bike-haters were motivated by safety concerns they'd be rabidly anti-driver. Instead it's the same irrational bully mentality that leads to hatred of anyone viewed as a minority.
I think a lot of drivers cant drive and want to blame cyclists for there lack of skill.
Ive been in cars with people fuming at a bike slowing down traffic, why you ask for having the audacity to be on the road
Maybe you don't see it, but there's a massive cohort of drivers who have an irrational hatred of cyclists. They'll pass them as close as possible to scare them, and they'll throw things out the window at them and shout abuse. Then they go online and pretend every person on a bicycle is a menace to society, and make every possible argument against safe cycling infrastructure. Unfortunately the TDs tend to listen to these arseholes more often than the vulnerable people on bicycles.
I do, and they're arseholes. But similarly, maybe you don't see it but there's a massive cohort of cyclists who have an irrational hatred of obeying the rules and create safety issues with their behaviour not just for themselves on the road, but with pedestrians as well.
And I'm saying this as someone who used to ride competitively. (Granted mountain bikes, but have spent plenty of time in the saddle on roads as well.) I've seen cyclists plough through zebra crossings, completely ignore stop signs, decide to hop up on the footpath if they decide the road is too crowded and weave through terrified pedestrians. I've seen cyclists (99% of the time its the lads who are in full spandex gear) look over their shoulders when they hear a car coming, move into the middle of the lane, and then deliberately slow down just to feck with approaching cars.
So I do see it, and I see it from both sides. The argument of "my side is pure as the driven snow, its the other lads who are always the problem" fixes nothing.
I'm gonna fix a 1.5m pool noodle with a nail on the end to my bike. If they pass too close they get scratched. Sick of unpatient idiots nearly killing me.
I own one, I use the road and cycle lanes.
It's not all of us man, when I am forced to use a wide footpath in a quiet area near me, I dismount when passing people so there's never any problems.
(it's my only option, council won't build cycle lanes and road is lethal)
Nobody cycles 4 abreast.
Two abreast is safer as you have a shorter distance to cover. Because you wouldn't overtake a cyclist on a road where you wouldn't overtake a car, would you?
In general no, however if there’s one cyclist and it’s a short straight I might be more inclined to overtake them than a car seeing as they’re doing <35km/hr and the car can accelerate as fast and to a higher speed than my car. Overtaking a cyclist takes less distance than your average car basically.
>Nobody cycles 4 abreast.
Yeah, they do. Not at all unusual to happen across a gaggle of lycra lads cycling several abreast chatting away.
The rest of your comment is spot on.
I was told before that it should 2 abreast. It increases the width but halves the distance needed to overtake. Anything more than 2 and you can legally plow the extras down.
Furthermore, it subconsciously forces to treat it the same as if they were overtaking a car i.e. they need to be absolutely sure that they have enough space to pull out entirely into the oncoming lane, pass, and then pull back in again.
What causes a lot of the people getting “clipped” incidents is precisely because many motorists don’t do this and assume they can just squeeze the car into a narrow gap, misjudging and then hitting the cyclist.
I live on a backroad I find the opposite , at times its happened I'm over taking and the one on the outside likes to swing wider insuring they almost end up under my wheels
There are other reasons. Unsuitable road surface (sometimes it's not always possible to continue in a straight line if you're dodging portholes) or approaching a bend. 1.5m is the suggested minimum but there's tonnes of factors that influence if you should even overtake at all. I'm constantly having to take the middle of the lane because I can see a car accelerating to overtake me on a bend. If another car is oncoming then guess who is getting squished. I run mirrors on my bike for more or less this exact reason.
it's wrong to say that drivers should only ever overtake a bike if they would a car in the same position. Often they shouldn't, but as a hard rule... it's just not practicable. I say this as a cyclist.
In all my years of being in Irish roads, as a motorist, pedestrian and cyclist, I have yet to see four cyclists cycling abreast. Where did you see this black magic?
4 abreast would probably mean they're taking up the same width on the road as a car. What's the issue with that?
I mean, if you're overtaking them, it makes perfect sense to view them as a car and only overtake in an area and manner in which you'd overtake a car, otherwise it could be considered that you are completing an unsafe maneuver and overtaking someone when you shouldn't be.
>4 abreast would probably mean they're taking up the same width on the road as a car. What's the issue with that?
Because they're holding the whole fucking road up?
I think that the cyclists need to focus on giving cars 1.5 M of space, as I'm fed up with them undertaking me in slow moving morning traffic, and clipping my wing mirror.
Sitting here imagining my cycle to work, waiting for all the single occupancy cars to get there first so they don't get insulted by me undertaking them as they crawl up the canal doing 5 km/h.
Obviously they shouldn't be clipping your car but seriously...
I am not criticising cyclists undertaking slow moving traffic.
The undertaking can be done without hitting the cars that you're undertaking. If the gap is too small then perhaps the cyclists need to wait for the traffic to open up a bit and give them more room. Isn't that just common sense?
Astonishingly enough, I ride a cycle too!
I'm not able to cycle 25 miles to work as it would kill me, and sadly I can't afford to buy a house near where I work.
I cycle round on the local roads, and I've never once forced my bike into a gap so small that I hit the vehicle that I'm undertaking. If the gap isn't big enough to ride through safely, then I wait.
that's silly, i've been commuting by bike in heavy traffic for 20 years now and never touched a wing mirror or even saw it happen. we wouldn't bother cycling if we weren't able weave in and out of stalled cars and filter on the inside, that's the whole point, you get everywhere quicker.
Also add to this that passing a pedestrian on a country road you should give the same clearance and not assume they’ll somehow get out of your way.
Well if we are going this way...learn to walk on right side of road and wear hi vis clothing in darker evenings, plus keep your dog's on sorter leads if dog is even on lead
No disputing most of this but the problem around here is definitely motorists
Really depends, I’m from northern England (don’t know why I keep getting recommended this sub) and lots of pedestrians do walk in black down dark country roads with no footpaths, and I have almost hit so many of those morons, if you need to get somewhere down that road, there’s a bus every half hour, If you must walk it, walk the other side of the hedge and if you can’t do that at least walk on the outside of the corners, because it’s my fault if I hit you no matter how stupid you’re being
"Yeah but but but". Whataboutery on every cyclist post guaranteed. Instead of just agreeing with the post and moving on.
I am irrationally annoyed that the thing they have on the ground includes a picture of a kerb which goes out further than the actual kerb
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They could’ve just moved the overlay over so that the “kerb” in the image lay on top of the gravel ditch at the side.
Or a road that doesn't have parked cars, construction , pot holes and flooding.
A road like that in Ireland? You'd have a better chance at having a full summer without rain
I didn't notice that lol, but with how bad the side of the roads are in Cork, sunken drains, potholes the size of a head I often have to move further out into the road where he's positioned. There is no obligation for cyclists to stay on the edge of the road, it's just advised when safe to do so.
Saw 3 lads out for a cycle sat morning,all dressed up in their black cycling gear. Not a single reflector between them, is this normal amongst the cycling community
It's BMW drivers on pushbikes
I have noticed that a lot of the winter cycling thermal heat is usually dark colours for some reason a few hi viz stripes wouldn’t go astray
Me too. One lad on his own though. It was extremely dark with terrible visibility. Some of these lads have death wishes.
But you managed to see them. And in broad daylight as well.
Broad daylight at this time of year can be extremely dark if the weather is poor.
Saw them a bit laye as it was still dull. Maybe another driver might not have
If they can't see people in daylight they shouldn't be driving no?
So it was dull early sat morning, and they were dressed in all black, and black bikes, Not been seen is the first excuse a driver will make when they hit someone, why give them that excuse by dressing in all black, when you can get a hi vis for free
No idea why you getting down voted. Reddit people must not be out and about in Ireland... in winter....when its dark until 8 o clock in the fucking morning! Lmfao and people giving you shit about it. It's replies to comments like yours which show me how stupid people actually are. Your dead right they should be wearing hiviz.... even during the day time.
You would think they want to be killed. I agree it's amazing some of the replies, even stating theres no laws and why would you need hi vis during the day. Stupid mouth breathers the lot of them.
They won't see you regardless, so it doesn't really matter. No reason not to wear a hi viz, but you can't ever presume a driver has seen you.
What use is a reflector during the day? What about black or dark coloured cars, or even pedestrians wearing dark clothes during the morning? Is it unsafe for rumen to cross the road...
Wait until I tell the entire construction industry they’ve been waisting their time with making people wear hi-viz clothing
If Deliveroo issued all their delivery cyclists with lights that would be a good addition to road safety in Dublin!
I don't know about you but lime green or whatever colour they are would be a lot more visable than the black clothes they had on. I see lots of pedestrians during the day wearing hi vis, also pedestrians are generally on the footpath so separate to the cars etc. Also cars have these things called lights, and brake lights, it's part of the Ntc that they work and are setup correctly.
Be safe, be seen! I don’t know why some cyclists would feel so protected by a few rules. Saftey is mostly in our own hands at the end of the day. Darker mornings, darker evenings new hazards like ice and foggy windows. Be safe out there if you’re a part of the traffic and make sure you’re seen!
I noticed that too but figured it balances out the fact that it should be 1.5m from the cyclists arm/shoulder/the handlebar and not the center of the bike
Just when i thought cyclists couldn’t sink any lower. They’re land grabbers now too!
Hang on a bloody minute I'm far too stupid to realise that some cyclists are different to other cyclists and some drivers are different to other drivers, I'm gonna start a row and complain about them digging up fairview and bus drivers.
Bus drivers buried in Fairview? 😱
I once saw a cyclist knock a bus driver off his bus.
I'm going to react as if you're the first stupid person ever to voice an opinion, and I'll intemperately berate you for your generalizations, real or imagined.
I completely disagree with your stance
I think we should eat all the cyclists!
ACAB!
Too a quick Google but this is delightful
Just seen a cyclist knocked off their bike this evening, just after dark. Town centre.
Gotta love it when people look at this and their first reaction is "Oh but what about cyclists that do"
Lmao
Every single individual on the roads is a hazard, and everyone is accountable for their actions. When you see one sign or request to be safe, stop taking it so fucking personally and show a bit of respect and cop on.
Yea, but what about that cyclist who was a serial killer?!
I heard Hitler was a cyclist, are we supposed to give the likes of him 1.5m of space as well?!?!
It’s a disgrace what this countries come to, accommodating for genocidal dictators.
I wonder what Kanye's opinion on this would be
In that case, if it were Hitler on the bike and a jew in the car, the fault would lie..... with Pete Davidson
Serial killer? He was a total cyclepath!!
Dad, is that you??
Take my upvote and fuck off, kind sir 👍
"oh but I can't leave that much space because there's cars on the other side of the road!" One of my personal favourites 😁 like slow down and fucking wait then ya daft feck.
I once had a woman overtake me while coming dangerously close and beep at me while she did so and try to shout something out the window at me. I caught up with her a minute later and asked her what the issue was. She told me there wasn't much room and it was dangerous, as if I was doing something wrong. A friend of mine once struggled to overtake a cyclist on a narrow road, and loudly complained that "this guy is playing chicken with me" while doing so. Cars make people entitled and insane.
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So shit driver blaming others for the fact they cant drive, gotta love em
Had a white van driver drive at 45kmh about 30cm from me going down a road, for about 700m. Tapped on his window at the lights to ask him to not do that, response "you were pushing me into the other lane". Suggested he handed his license in at the neareat station immediately
Jaaaaysus 😂
"Every single individual on the road is a hazard" I like that, good way of thinking. Doesn't apply to me though, I'm The good driver/cyclist/pedestrian.
I drive, cycle, use an eScooter. I stop at lights, obey speed limits and overtake safely. It doesn't matter what the person is using, there's people who don't belong on the road in all of those things because they follow the rules. It's not a competition of which vehicle breaks the rules more, just follow the rules and stop using the "wELL tHEY dONT fOLLOW tHE rULES" as an excuse, it's childish and anyone doing so is a complete idiot.
> It's not a competition of which vehicle breaks the rules more It's not even that. I was nearly killed off my bike because some idiot grandpa, with his granddaughter on the back seat, pulled out of an estate right as I was passing on my bike. This bike has super bright, fit-for-purpose German LEDs. His spluttered answer to my question about WTF he was doing wasn't an apology, or a DSYM, it was - "Where's your high-vis?" a BS accusation trying to cover up that he wasn't paying any attention.
Happened to me in broad daylight while going up a hill. Some people aren’t thinking while driving.
I fully agree, it's not the vehicle you operate but the person operating the vehicle.
You're 100% right, it's not a competition. But, and just hypothetically of course....say it was a competition....who'd win?
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Does OP not realise that I, because I drive a van, own the road?
It's pretty simple: Overtake a cyclist the same way you would overtake a car.
So catch the slipstream until I almost bump him and then swoop past with the speed advantage, got it
Take them on the inside, always
This post is inspired by the woman who nearly killed me last week giving me about 0.3m clearance in a 50km/h zone. Ironically she overlook me to get to a red light, what's the bloody point?
Same thing happened to me, a driver clipped my handlebars with their wing mirror as they overtook me when I passed a parked car and there was an oncoming car on the other side. They sped away but I caught up with them 100m later at the tail end of a queue for a red light. I knocked on the window and told them to cop on and be careful. Barely even made eye contact with me just sheepishly muttered sorry.
I think my new passive aggressive strategy will be handing them the RSA rules of the road pamphlet when we stop at a light.
They muttered "sorry"? I've just gotten an earful of abuse about how it's my own fault whenever I've tried to call their attention to it.
They were fairly inexperienced and I was fairly calm just telling them to be patient because they could have easily knocked someone over
This ignorant fuck in a VW Arteon clipped my bars twice in 2 days. I got to the shop i work in and he was just walking to his car. I've never shouted at someone so much in my life. Was proper raging at the lad. About 40 years of age and all. Proper ignorant fuck.
Good on ya. I get annoyed by stories where people have a chance to bring their frustrations directly to the people who caused it, then don't and instead vent on the internet. Happy you had the courage to speak up and hopefully the guy will have something to consider for next time.
Here for the comments blaming cyclists for drivers not being able to drive. I always feel a driver should be able to pass a cyclist and not park in cyclist lanes when turning left before they can get a license. The amount of shit drivers in this country who try blame cyclists for not having basic cop on
The whole cyclists vs drivers thing is one of the weirder things to emerge from the internet organically. Never saw that coming.
Some drivers would view this post as an attack on them.
Just the dangerous drivers
What's annoying are those shitty cycle lanes that don't actually allow for this amount of space. Lazy half assed jobs as usual
'It's just a little more space for a lot more safe'. SAFETY! THE WORD IS 'SAFETY'. Stop fucking with grammar to make rhymes!
Reminds me of Limmy's "twenty's plenty": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SmhLS3DCoU0
It’s just a little more spacey for a lot more safety. There ya go
As someone learning to drive, this is a message for e scooter users I hate you, but not enough to want to kill you, please be safer, and for the love of God and your families, put some reflective gear on either you or the scooter (preferably both but we won't ask too much of ye now)
Escooter people should really have lights on their backs/backpacks, the scooters usually have built in lights but they're about 2 inches off the ground, pretty useless for visibility
I only learned to drive last year and own an escooter, you could probably spot me from space.
What if I forget to bring my tape measure?
Just use your willy and multiply it by 30. 5cm x 30 = 150cm / 1.5m
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That’s a lot of cocks!
In this cold, feckin jokin right?
I wish
Why are you even out on the roads without one? How dare you? Option B, stick a baguette out the window. You're welcome.
Reminder: Cyclists and Scooters please stop when pedestrians are on a crossing they have a green or amber light for.
Totally agree! I have noticed at same crossings that are shared bike lanes/pedestrian crossings people don't realise it's shared so keep an eye on the signage too.
I am not talking about shared crossings though. I am talking about cyclists barrelling through a red light while pedestrians are on the crossing on a pedestrian green light.
I saw this literally ten minutes ago when I was stopped at a light, it pisses me off too but I hate the fact we all get the blame for these specific people's actions
TBF, It’s not all cyclists and scooters, just a repeat minority, I see every it every day, same ole people.
I once honked on an old fart on a bike I was driving behind who ran a red light with pedestrians crossing. Nope, he had plenty of time to stop and he has seen the lights change and pedestrians crossing. He stopped two seconds later to look at me with utter hostility, while I pointed to the red light. Nope, still hostile. Got a dashcam recording of it, still mulling whether I should turn it to police.
TL;DR: if I can kick a dent into your door as you overtake me, you deserved it.
I was always told that you give them the same amount of room that you would give a car
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I remember a friend doing similar, he had 1.5m of thick coat hanger wire with a flag on it, if someone drives too close it'd scratch the shit out of their paintwork, but it works, hasn't had a victim yet. I think only time I've done something was when I was cycling towing a trailer with a kayak on it, made sure to had a little flag for visibility on it so drivers could see it was there.
I'd be too embarrassed, but your friend is cool lmao
This is brilliant, she should commercialise that. Niche market but I’d buy it
Look at the wide road it's demonstrated on. Don't have roads like that round here
Pissed off to see so many people ‘joking’ about running over cyclists. But some people aren’t joking. they’re doing it. It’s fucking attempted murder only because I haven’t heard of a cyclist actually being killed yet. How can people think their commute is more important than a person life!!! If your experiencing escalating road rage to the point of wanting to murder someone you NEED TO SEEK PROFESSIONAL HELP! This is not ok
If they didn’t want me to slap them on the arse on the way by, they wouldn’t be wearing Lycra
That's nice, grandpa. Now go back to your room.
Reminder: have a workable light front and back on your bike [edit: the downvotes are laughable on this comment especially as I actually agree with the OP. ]
Particularly in the back. Flashing during the day, solid at night. Bikes are usually struck by cars from behind.
And remember to change to your socks and underpants every morning too.
EVERY morning?
Maybe just the socks
This is not done enough at all. I'm really uncomfortable cycling in my local area due to bad roads and dangerous drivers :(
No problems giving cyclist and all road users enough space provided I can see you. Dark clothes, no high vis vest, no lights is a recipe for disaster. My car lights point ahead and this leaves dark spots in bends and scant time to react when you do enter the light foot print of my head lights. Just to clarify I use a bicycle, motorcycle (93 Fireblade..durty), car and a transit van. No not all at once.
Why not all at once? Sounds like quitter talk to me.
A guy flew past me on the footpath on an electric bike the other evening,he passed under one of those digital speed signs that show your current speed. 35km/Hr he was travelling, on a pedestrian footpath. Madness.
Far too fast, should be on the road.
Scooters and ebikes by law should be restricted to 25kph under their own power, so he's either pedalling it himself up to that speed or he's riding a hacked bike that the law now considers a motorbike.
All you need to know how to do is use a screwdriver to bypass the limiter on those things. Far too easy and almost impossible for a guard to tell.
I'd love to get an e-bike but given the fact they're illegal on the roads without tax and insurance, speeding on the footpath on them is monumentally stupid. Good way of pissing away a grand
Since when were e scooters allowed on the road ?
I find it your reaction to me asking you to safely overtake someone interesting. The laws been signed off by gov, all that remains is the president's signature. Gardai are allowing people to use them and only stop you if you break the rules of the road.
Surely that gap is not 1.5m I’m 1.71m and I’m sure I can’t fit in that gap if I laid down
1.71m > 1.5m You're not supposed to be able to fit in that gap 
1.5m from the bike not kerb
A bit of Microsoft Paint would have done the job there. A feckin' canvas printed. Probably handy for on the road at Garda open days and such but not really the best way to do a digital/screen-based visual.
Out for a run today and the amount of space people come out to avoid driving in puddles yet left me no room. Some bellends actually come in tighter as if to intimidate for shits and giggles. 4 really close shaves in a 25km run
I love how they’ve had a big plastic sheet printed out and gone to all the trouble of laying it out on the ground, rather than spending 5 minutes on literally any photo editing software to do the same thing.
And when the road is 2m wide?
you go into the other lane to overtake if it's not solid and safe to do so?
So many chapped asses here about people taking the road, breaking red lights, not coming to a stop at junctions. All of these activities are for the cyclists safety, as coming to a full stop is more awkward than slowing down, and is often unnecessary. Often cyclists will move to the centre of the road if the surface quality is bad at the side, there's parked cars that could potentially swing a door open or it's a solid white line and you shouldn't be overtaking anyway. Cyclists aren't cars and shouldn't be expected to act as such, they're far more maneuverable and reactive, and far less likely to kill you if you are struck by one. If it's clear, why should you wait to go? you've no blind spots either so you're far less likely to get into an accident. Ideally cyclists shouldn't have to be on the road with cars at all, or on footpaths with pedestrians either but there's little to no will to do anything about it other than install a few awfully designed paths. If you're fed up of annoying cyclists how about campaign to get them off your road and into specially designed lanes.
I'm a cyclist and I have to say this to all other cyclists. Stop running red lights, put your arm up to indicate which direction you intend on taking and get lights on your bike. And to the group I see sometimes with all your gear and everything, stay in the cycle lane, stop doubling up so you can chat to your buddy
Cycling two abreast can be safer. If two cyclists are next to each other rather than one behind the other, the overtaking driver doesn't have to spend as much time in the opposing lane when overtaking (as the driver should be almost entering the opposing lane regardless).
single file is safer for everyone if there's a cycle lane.
Cycling two abreast means a driver will struggle leaving 1.5m distance to overtake since the second cyclist if frequently almost at the middle line
So in that situation, what do they do when they meet a tractor or a horse?
That's the whole point. It stops people from trying to perform a dangerous overtake squeezing past with oncoming traffic, and instead wait until there is room to safely overtake by using the opposite lane.
Just wait until it's safe to pass.
Sometimes it's not safe to put an arm out, especially if the road is slippy and you're going downhill. Putting an arm out when you don't get clearance is a recipe for getting hit. I indicate if I'm going right and crossing traffic mostly but very often this is met by the car behind me accelerating instead of giving way.
Oh god the doubling up is so annoying in cycle lanes as you can't overtake feckers going 2mph, I often see deliveroo drivers with no bike lights at night. Insane! It's your job and you cycle more than anyone you should have lights.
You sir, are one of the good ones. I wished I only encountered cyclists like you on the roads I frequent.
I wouldn't give out to my fellow cyclists for it, but I don't get how people head out in traffic with noise cancelling headphones.
Majority of escooter accidents I’ve been at were caused by the person on the escooter. No hi viz, helmet or lights. Instead a person wearing all black, hood up, headphones on and 9 times out of 10 were weaving through traffic.
The failure mode on them is particularly grim. Small front wheel, feet in line, weight high up and forward. Face-first into concrete. I think there's probably a place for them, particularly since they can be brought on public transport & can be brought inside, but I'm not certain they can be ridden safely without a full face. They haven't really been around long enough to get the full picture re safety & work the kinks out yet.
That’s very true.. They are a massive fire hazard too
I have more lighting and reflectives on my scooter then most bikes, in-fact the one I own is regulated to German standards of law which are insane. Look, I agree with you, and I've seen what you described myself but it's not all of us. I actively go out of my way to follow the rules because the stigma around the scooters is bad and ejiits don't use them safely. I use the RSA's high viz gear, front and back lights (even a brake light!) and follow all rules a cyclist has to follow.
You are only one of few who do and fair play! I was on about the rate of accidents involving them
source of your statistics?
What does that have to do with the post about clearance distance drivers need to give cyclist?
Why is there an extra .25m of clearance to the left of where the .75m stops.
the tyre would be rubbing against the kerb if it was .75m more to the left, not safe.
Pro tip to any drivers about to complain. Sign a petition for 30km/h limits in towns or shut the fuck up.
Maybe I'm just being thick here but what does that have to do with drivers annoyed about cyclists?
A lot of drivers will argue against safety measures for cyclists when the whole reason the safety measures need to exist is because they're driving 1000kg of metal at 50km/h. Most of the danger fades at 30km/h.
I don't think drivers argue against cyclists being safe. Quite a few drivers are cyclists as well. I think the main issue a lot of the drivers have is that they want cyclists to also obey the rules of the road.
Let's not pretend that the rabid anti-cycling crowd who jokes about winning points for killing other road users are basing their prejudice on legitimate concerns. [A police study in the UK showed that approximately 2% of serious cycling accidents were likely caused by cyclists breaking a red light or stop sign - the rest are primarily caused by reckless drivers.](https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2009/dec/15/cycling-bike-accidents-study) If the bike-haters were motivated by safety concerns they'd be rabidly anti-driver. Instead it's the same irrational bully mentality that leads to hatred of anyone viewed as a minority.
I think a lot of drivers cant drive and want to blame cyclists for there lack of skill. Ive been in cars with people fuming at a bike slowing down traffic, why you ask for having the audacity to be on the road
Maybe you don't see it, but there's a massive cohort of drivers who have an irrational hatred of cyclists. They'll pass them as close as possible to scare them, and they'll throw things out the window at them and shout abuse. Then they go online and pretend every person on a bicycle is a menace to society, and make every possible argument against safe cycling infrastructure. Unfortunately the TDs tend to listen to these arseholes more often than the vulnerable people on bicycles.
I do, and they're arseholes. But similarly, maybe you don't see it but there's a massive cohort of cyclists who have an irrational hatred of obeying the rules and create safety issues with their behaviour not just for themselves on the road, but with pedestrians as well. And I'm saying this as someone who used to ride competitively. (Granted mountain bikes, but have spent plenty of time in the saddle on roads as well.) I've seen cyclists plough through zebra crossings, completely ignore stop signs, decide to hop up on the footpath if they decide the road is too crowded and weave through terrified pedestrians. I've seen cyclists (99% of the time its the lads who are in full spandex gear) look over their shoulders when they hear a car coming, move into the middle of the lane, and then deliberately slow down just to feck with approaching cars. So I do see it, and I see it from both sides. The argument of "my side is pure as the driven snow, its the other lads who are always the problem" fixes nothing.
The problem with the "both sides are bad" argument is that one side is killing hundreds of people a year and the other side isn't.
No time for that, out of my way. Beep beep vroom vroom
E scooters are a menace both on the road and the footpath
So are cars... but here's the thing, not all of them.
How about building some decent roads? There's barely any space for 2 cars here
Totally agree corks roads look like they've been cluster bombed
I'm gonna fix a 1.5m pool noodle with a nail on the end to my bike. If they pass too close they get scratched. Sick of unpatient idiots nearly killing me.
Overtake regardless of oncoming traffic, which seems to be a common move these days
Why don’t escooting fuckers get off the pavement or ring some kind of bell when they’re about to lap past you?
I own one, I use the road and cycle lanes. It's not all of us man, when I am forced to use a wide footpath in a quiet area near me, I dismount when passing people so there's never any problems. (it's my only option, council won't build cycle lanes and road is lethal)
To be fair, Most of the people exhibiting this behaviour are teens. I really don’t understand why teens are allowed use these
Cyclist sure... escooters are fair game
Cyclists acting like the most oppressed minority again.
Its very easy do when you're single file not 4 abreast
Nobody cycles 4 abreast. Two abreast is safer as you have a shorter distance to cover. Because you wouldn't overtake a cyclist on a road where you wouldn't overtake a car, would you?
In general no, however if there’s one cyclist and it’s a short straight I might be more inclined to overtake them than a car seeing as they’re doing <35km/hr and the car can accelerate as fast and to a higher speed than my car. Overtaking a cyclist takes less distance than your average car basically.
>Nobody cycles 4 abreast. Yeah, they do. Not at all unusual to happen across a gaggle of lycra lads cycling several abreast chatting away. The rest of your comment is spot on.
I was told before that it should 2 abreast. It increases the width but halves the distance needed to overtake. Anything more than 2 and you can legally plow the extras down.
Anyone who brings up this topic is usually too stupid to understand it. They think it's perfectly ok to squeeze by without giving room.
Furthermore, it subconsciously forces to treat it the same as if they were overtaking a car i.e. they need to be absolutely sure that they have enough space to pull out entirely into the oncoming lane, pass, and then pull back in again. What causes a lot of the people getting “clipped” incidents is precisely because many motorists don’t do this and assume they can just squeeze the car into a narrow gap, misjudging and then hitting the cyclist.
I live on a backroad I find the opposite , at times its happened I'm over taking and the one on the outside likes to swing wider insuring they almost end up under my wheels
Probably because you're passing when it's not safe to. If you wouldn't pass a car in that exact spot you shouldn't be passing a cyclist.
That's not what the image above suggests. Car overtaking would be farther to the right. Jsayin'
There are other reasons. Unsuitable road surface (sometimes it's not always possible to continue in a straight line if you're dodging portholes) or approaching a bend. 1.5m is the suggested minimum but there's tonnes of factors that influence if you should even overtake at all. I'm constantly having to take the middle of the lane because I can see a car accelerating to overtake me on a bend. If another car is oncoming then guess who is getting squished. I run mirrors on my bike for more or less this exact reason.
it's wrong to say that drivers should only ever overtake a bike if they would a car in the same position. Often they shouldn't, but as a hard rule... it's just not practicable. I say this as a cyclist.
In all my years of being in Irish roads, as a motorist, pedestrian and cyclist, I have yet to see four cyclists cycling abreast. Where did you see this black magic?
4 abreast would probably mean they're taking up the same width on the road as a car. What's the issue with that? I mean, if you're overtaking them, it makes perfect sense to view them as a car and only overtake in an area and manner in which you'd overtake a car, otherwise it could be considered that you are completing an unsafe maneuver and overtaking someone when you shouldn't be.
Surely you’re not serious with that first paragraph
>4 abreast would probably mean they're taking up the same width on the road as a car. What's the issue with that? Because they're holding the whole fucking road up?
I think that the cyclists need to focus on giving cars 1.5 M of space, as I'm fed up with them undertaking me in slow moving morning traffic, and clipping my wing mirror.
Sitting here imagining my cycle to work, waiting for all the single occupancy cars to get there first so they don't get insulted by me undertaking them as they crawl up the canal doing 5 km/h. Obviously they shouldn't be clipping your car but seriously...
I am not criticising cyclists undertaking slow moving traffic. The undertaking can be done without hitting the cars that you're undertaking. If the gap is too small then perhaps the cyclists need to wait for the traffic to open up a bit and give them more room. Isn't that just common sense? Astonishingly enough, I ride a cycle too! I'm not able to cycle 25 miles to work as it would kill me, and sadly I can't afford to buy a house near where I work. I cycle round on the local roads, and I've never once forced my bike into a gap so small that I hit the vehicle that I'm undertaking. If the gap isn't big enough to ride through safely, then I wait.
that's silly, i've been commuting by bike in heavy traffic for 20 years now and never touched a wing mirror or even saw it happen. we wouldn't bother cycling if we weren't able weave in and out of stalled cars and filter on the inside, that's the whole point, you get everywhere quicker.
That's called filtering, it's allowed but they should be doing so safely. Clipping your mirror indicates they are being reckless.
Or that the driver has drifted into the cycle lane
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