1) People walking on the bike lanes
AS A CYCLIST, I should have known this was sacred territory…but it took a hefty jolt and a ‘bike lane dickhead’ shout from a cyclist recently before I actually realised just how sacred.
Yes, nothing irks us more than our grounds being trespassed on…so stay off the bike lanes except you are on two wheels!
2) When all the bikes are gone
With bike theft soaring in the capital – and other cities around the country experiencing similar trends, more and more people are opting for schemes like the Dublin Bikes.
These things are as robust as tanks and have proven hugely popular in Cork and Galway also.
But nothing is more frustrating when you’re already late for work and you find they’ve all been taken from a station you’ve been going to since the scheme began.
3) When someone has taken ‘your’ spot to park it
Most people pick the bikes up in one station and drop them off in another.
This is all well and good until you arrive at your destination and find there’s no space left at the inn…meaning you’ll either have to wait until a space becomes available, or cycle to the nearest available station…
4) Greasy manhole covers…on corners
Commuting can feel like a race at times with so many cyclists all headed in the one direction. Some have earphones on, some talk to friends, some are still half asleep and more are admiring the scenery…
So pay attention or that wet manhole cover will take you down!
5) Buses and cars driving in the bike lanes
This is where it starts to get serious and you will always come off second best if there’s a collision.
Cyclists blame motorists for clogging the streets and motorists will probably argue the opposite but when there’s limited space, it’s the cyclists who suffer.
6) Other cyclists
Cyclists aren’t a united bunch, either, it must be said, and from braking suddenly to deviating from our lines, we attract the ire of our peers.
There are so many cyclists now and though the infrastructure has definitely improved, there’s still a lack of space to cater for the volume of traffic.
7) When bike lanes end for no reason!
You can cruise along pretty much on auto-pilot in the bike lane but when the lane comes to a dramatic halt your safety is in the hands of all those around you…and that is a frightening prospect for some!
8. Moron cyclists ploughing through red lights, giving all cyclists a bad name. (Especially when you get to the next set of lights and the moron is sitting right in front of you)
Or, even better, the ones who jump past you when you are stopped at a red light, only to stop in the junction and then move off slowly when the light goes green, slowing you down.
When there’s a red light, stop at the line and wait for green.
Motorists parking in the cycling lane forcing cyclists to veer out onto the road in front of traffic. Greatly increases the chances of a collision. Ranelagh/Rathmines awful for it.
cyclists on footpaths, the road is big enough… or is it???
9. Drivers playing chicken with you by deliberately driving straight at you when they don’t have the right of way, such as when they’re coming towards you and want to turn right.
10. Drivers using the bike lane to overtake on the inside, without indicating or looking to see if the bike lane is empty. I was hit on my bike by a taxi doing this in Ranelagh a while back. It was a mandatory bike lane (solid white line) so he shouldn’t have been in it full stop.
11. Dublin City Council congratulating themselves on their excellent cycling infrastructure when all they’ve done is bought a few tins of paint to mark out bits of road full of potholes and broken glass that are ignored by driver and pedestrian alike.
These temporary cycle lanes (dashed lines) are a complete joke in Ranelagh and Donnybrook. Buses cant get past the leisurely cyclists, and cyclists have to swerve out into traffic when buses set down at bus stops. And in Ranelagh everyone parks in the cycle lanes anyway!
Yep, you also get situations like at Leeson Bridge where the bike lane is just painted straight on top of a very narrow regular lane which is barely wide enough for a bus as it is. It would be better if it wasn’t there at all.
Dublin Bikes, Cork Bikes etc. users. They have opened the world of cycling to people who have no idea how to cycle correctly.
What about righteous cyclists cycling over the Sean O’Casey bridge in rush hour. There are THREE signs at either end saying to dismount. Then they look at pedestrians half as if to say sorry and half to say get out of my way.
Cyclists treat pedestrians the way drivers treat cyclists. Usually all 3 groups are the same people. We’d all want to abide by the rules at bit more or stay at home.
Cyclists with their magic indicator hand. They don’t bother to look, they just put out their hand and change lanes at the same time.
Cyclists, a red light means stop.
Cyclists, it’s dangerous to enter a junction without stopping or even looking. It’s not a continuous road.
I could go on but I don’t have the time.
They’re not cycling lanes in tipp they’re jogging lanes
In general though it’s depressing how these threads always turn into shouting matches between cyclists and drivers. The truth is (talking about Dublin specifically) there’s pretty nonstop lawbreaking by cyclists, motorists, taxis, pedestrians and bus drivers alike. Depending on whether you’re driving, cycling or walking you’ll notice different rules being broken by different groups more than others.
The real problem is Dublin streets are full to bursting point – apart from some wide streets laid out by the Brits, most of Dublin city centre is narrow medieval streets, and many of the important suburban roads into town in Ranelagh, Drumcondra, Phibsboro, Harold’s Cross etc are single lane in many places too. We have less off street (ie underground or elevated train) public transport than pretty much any city of comparable size in Europe. As a result we have loads of pedestrians on narrow footpaths spilling out onto the road.
In most places in Europe, places like the area between George’s St and Grafton St would be fully pedestrianised but here it’s full of multistory car parks, leading to constant near misses between drivers and pedestrians on South William St, Wicklow St etc. The DCC planners are finally admitting that with the number of people now living and workin the city centre, it’s completely unsuitable for cars (average car speeds in the city centre are now down to around 10 km/h) but as described in articles like http://dublininquirer.com/2015/09/08/frank-for-safetys-sake-tear-down-those-guardrails/ their own engineers don’t follow their own guidelines, so who knows what the city will look like in ten years?
Much safer in a car… Or spaceship.
I don’t know if you have the same layout in Ireland but the frustrating cyclist here is the one that cycles on the busy road next to the shared pavement with the cycle lane on it!
In Ireland the off-road bike lanes and paths generally have pedestrians in them. It’s usually easier and safer to cycle on the road.
Legally, there is nothing compelling a cyclist to use a raised table cycle lane or shared pavement. It frustrates me greatly too though when they take up the narrow lane for cars but I suppose the cost of repairing a puncture or the risk of driving into a gully like on the Stillorgan dual carriageway south of Donnybrook (DCC are you listening?!) is a fair enough reason to hold up a few buses/taxis!
For a while cyclists were legally obliged to use bike lanes where there was one present, but that law was sensibly changed around four years ago. Generally if there’s a bike lane there and a cyclist isn’t using it, they have a good reason not to. Bike lanes are there to make it safer to cycle, not to get cyclists “out of the way” of cars. I think the Stillorgan bike path has improved by the way (well the part DLR CC are responsible for) – it’s not a rollercoaster any more.
taxis
The most annoying thing driver encounter on the road are…cyclists