bicycle lanes

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joanmul

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Has anyone noticed that some of these bicycle lanes are not being used by the people they were made for - cyclists. A new road near me - the Sally road - has a cycle lane on the other side of the boundary wall. However, an employee from An Post regularly uses the road instead as have some racing cyclists. I can't complain to An Post as I'm afraid my post might get dumped. It's disconcerting to suddenly see a cyclist when you know there shouldn't be one there and it's an awful lot of taxpayer's money - yours and mine - gone to waste. Can a complaint be made to a relevant body and who would that be?
 
Welcome to the real world! As a cyclist myself I can tell you that I've often seen cyclists using the road in situations where cycle-paths have been made available.


Apart from the foolhardiness of so doing, the question is - is it actually illegal??
 
Just to give a bit of balance, I'm also a cyclist and while cyclepaths are for the most part great and cyclists should use them there are instances when even I don't/can't use them:

- when people choosing to walk on them instead of on the path.
- when cars park on them.
- where they have been laid where there used to be a footpath and instead of widening the path they just split it in half and as a result the path is only wide enough for one pedestrian and so there's always people walking in it (have to say I don't blame pedestrians in this instance).

For the most part I agree with what you've said though, if they're there they should be used by cyclists.
 

I would hardly think it is illegal to use a bicycle on what is after all a public road even if a cycle lane is provided. Although as you point out it would be wiser to use the cycle lane if one is provided.

As a cyclist myself, I come across roads where there is one traffic lane and one bicycle lane, these get doubled up into 2 traffic lanes during the morning and evening rush hours.
 
As a cyclist and a driver, I have to say that cycle lanes are mostly useless and in many cases do absolutely nothing to increase safety. To be honest, I don't blame cyclists for not using them - usually they have the worst surface of anywhere on the road and also gather debris including glass. Worse than that is that using them can be more dangerous than not. Practically all accidents between motorised traffic and cyclists in towns and cities occur at junctions and this is where cycle lanes are actually dangerous as they mostly just finish at or before a junction. For example, a cyclist in the cycle lane approaching a junction will have traffic passing at speed, this makes it impossible or very dangerous to try to execute a right turn or even go straight if there is a left turning lane for traffic. A cyclist is far safer being actually IN the flow of traffic approaching a junction. Studies in the UK are now starting to question whether urban cycle lanes are a good idea at all.

To be honest, in towns and cities the pecking order is guided by common sense: pedestrians, then cyclists and last motorised traffic. This is a simple recognition of the fact that it is the latter that cause death and injury. A pedestrian or cyclist at worst can irritate car drivers. I can't get over how some of the people I know work themselves into a rage over any perceived infringment by pedestrians or cyclists while driving even if it doesn't affect them in any way at all. When cycling and walking causes 400 deaths and countless injuries a year, then the rage might be justified. When I drive (or cycle or walk for that matter), I try to have some empathy for the other road uses - not adopt an "us versus them" mindset; it makes the experience far more pleasant and less stressful. Sorry - I seemed to have drifted off the subject a bit.
 
The cycle lane where I live in Naas is described as advsiory: i.e. it is not a solid line, but a dotted one, meaning cars can drive in it. they have to do this because they took a good chunk of the road for it, with the upshot that if you drove outside the lanes as laid, then you would have to drive partly on the other side of the road, if you meet another car, then you have no choice but to use the 'cycle lane'.The upshot is that it dangerous for both cyclists and cars, but allows the council to say, we have X miles of cycle lanes.
 
joanmul said:
it's an awful lot of taxpayer's money - yours and mine - gone to waste.
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Good point - just like non drivers contributing to the hundred billion plus spending on roads.

I cycle into town every day and the use of each cycle line is decided on a case by case basis.

I ignore the ones by the Phoenix Park that are covered in broken glass from all the kids leaving the 21st birthdays in the rowing clubhouses at Islandbridge. I used to use that cycle lane but six punctures including two in two days forced me to abandon it.

I aslo avoid the ones where loads of cars suddenly appear from gateways and don't stop till they reach the edge of the road.

I will use ones where it does not put me and my bike in jeopardy.
 
joanmul said:
It's disconcerting to suddenly see a cyclist when you know there shouldn't be one there
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The roadway is not exclusively for cars!


joanmul said:
Has anyone noticed that some of these bicycle lanes are not being used by the people they were made for - cyclists.
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Do you think that cyclists are deliberately ignoring the cycle lanes just to antagonise cars ? There are a myriad of reasons why cyclists (myself included) don't always use the cycle lanes. DirtyH20 makes several valid points to this effect.

I'd also like to add that I'll never use a cycle lane that forces me to yield more than I would have to when I cycle on the road. You can see this phenomenon on several cycle lanes that are on main roads in Dublin. The cycle lane part is parallel to the main road but the cyclists have to yield at each minor road that turns on to the main road. Daft.

This [broken link removed]here gives some examples of the deficiencies of cycle lanes. The site is a little underdeveloped but it will help you get the idea...
 
A cardinal rule of city cycling is when you are approaching a junction containing a left turn but you are going straight on, you slowly move towards the centre of the lane to prevent cars from overtaking and cutting across you as they turn left.

Staying in a cycle lane will prevent this manoeuvure.
 
This is the type of thing that discourages cyclists from using cycle tracks:
[broken link removed]
 
And since gianni's link with Irish examples is still just in its infancy, [broken link removed], where they do things just as badly. (Click on the arrows beside the heading to scroll through the photos.)

Some of my favourites:
[broken link removed]
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[broken link removed]
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gianni said:
I'd also like to add that I'll never use a cycle lane that forces me to yield more than I would have to when I cycle on the road.
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Here here! I used to cycle to work and did not use many of the lanes (between Knocklyon and Dublin city center) for that reason...cyclists work very hard to build up momentum so giving it up for no good reason is highly frustrating.

If, as a driver, cyclists annoy you during your daily commute, I only ask that you try biking yourself for a couple of days and you will know all of the issues cyclists face.
 


Staying in a cycle lane will mean you have to yield to the traffic that is turning left. As much as the car drivers might like this to happen it is hardly a satisfactory situation for the cyclist.....
 
gianni said:
Staying in a cycle lane will mean you have to yield to the traffic that is turning left. As much as the car drivers might like this to happen it is hardly a satisfactory situation for the cyclist.....
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Having been knocked off my bicycle by a van driver who overtook me at speed to turn left about a metre in front of me, I can attest to the dangers of this. Mind you, since he had to have been not looking out his windscreen for half a minute not to see me (on a fine day, wearing hi-vis gear, sun not in his eyes), there's every chance he'd still have ploughed into me had I moved out as per polaris's recommendation.

Funny, I don't cycle these days...

Time for the general exhortation: Wear bicycle helmets, folks. They really do save lives and prevent catastrophic head injuries: I suffered a broken nose, but the helmet made sure my skull was protected.
 
The joys of Dublin's cycle paths/lanes are highlighted here. I don't have many cycle lanes on my cycle commute. On the lane in Ranalagh, I have to watch like a hawk for cars exiting from the Esso station in heavy traffic. Once a car stops to give way, the exiting driver seems to think there is no further need to watch out for traffic such as bikes and motorbikes. The very short stretch of cycle lane just under the Luas bridge in Dundrum is blocked by cars mooching round the corner, 4 days out of 5. The look of total surprise on the car drivers face when I inform them they are blocking the cycle lane is priceless.
 
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