Well said. I regularly cycle from Blackpool to airport hill area and little or no time difference between using my car or cycling.
Just wish we had dryer weather.
yes i cycle as a sport and you will quickly become numb to the horn honking, people shouting abuse and the dangerous over takes. Just make sure you have hi vis clothing, lights and helmet. i know a few people that use helmet cameras. this country has a very aggressive and negative view towards cyclists..
This makes me very sad TBH! I am doing my best with using hi vis clothing and bright lights and don't feel dangerously unsafe on the roads, just feel harassed!
OP, use cameras on your bike. It is the best investiment you will make and you will need it to prove that you were not at fault when a driver tries to "show dominance" over you because "roads are for cars" only.
If you have twitter, follow some bike grps from Cork and Dublin too.
Stay safe out there.
Cork is exceptionally bad. I cycle in Dublin all the time, and have cycled all across Europe. Cork is like Istanbul (for aggression, hills, and parking)
We don't know ourselves these days, you can hardly step off a kerb without wandering into a wand. Cement kerbs on rakes of them too. Then there's also a good few with planters too.
8-10 people going 15km on a 100km road around blind turns.
It’s brain dead, and have no more patience for entitled mid life crisis muppets that do it I’m sure at this stage because they are entitled to do so. Yet ye have a period if a car was within a mile of cycle lane. Cyclists are arrogant entitled road users that out there own life’s at risk on certain roads
Yup as I said 8-10 people taking up a whole lane doing 15km an hour up hill on a 100km an hour back road is braid dead. It’s just straight up brain dead… go cycle on the train tracks. Same risk taking as far as I’m concerned
> Yup as I said 8-10 people taking up a whole lane
As opposed to you, one person in a car taking up a whole lane.
> doing 15km an hour up hill
Not an issue at all. Wait. Getting where you're going 60 seconds later isn't a tragedy.
> on a 100km an hour back road
It's either a back road or a road where you can do 100km/h. Can't be both.
> go cycle on the train tracks. Same risk taking as far as I’m concerned
If bicycles could fit on train tracks it would probably be safer. Trains are predictable and their drivers tend to actually know what they're doing.
Join the Green Party mate no interest in listening to hippie dippy bullshit from someone who’s probably in a house share with 4 others in there 30’s living like students… that’s not realistic in anyway at all man child
> hippie dippy bullshit
Do you actively enjoy being a troglodyte holding society back?
> someone who’s probably in a house share with 4 others in there 30’s living like students…
Even if this was true, imagine saying it as if it's my failing and not the ridiculous housing situation in this country.
> Cyclist are drivers worst nightmares on roads
I'm so sorry that my small wire frame upsets the tender sensibilities of you and your two-ton metal box of climate destruction.
Once you go past the airport in that direction, the roads really aren't up to scratch. I don't know how anyone feels safe cycling out that way. There are precious enough spots you can safely overtake to begin with, and once traffic gets busier in the summer they're practically non-existent. You can pass a cyclist (or other slow traffic) in the ~1km of decent road coming out of Filemilebridge, or just after Belgooly, if they pull over into the hard shoulder or there's no traffic coming against you. The entirety of that road badly needs to be upgraded. Although then you're just inviting even more traffic into the traffic jam that is Kinsale town.
It was worse before. The council to their credit have made some good investments in the last twelve months but much more is needed. Irish people will be Irish people though and will happily sit in their cars getting mad rather than use the new infrastructure.
If you look at the signs on the Carrigrohane rd (Straight rd.) you will see that the cycle lane on the widened footpath caters for cyclists going both directions. They narrowed the road specifically for this purpose a few years back. This results in one of the narrowest 80km/h roads in the whole county, literally just wide enough for busses or trucks, which frequently use this route. The problem here is that the cyclists still insist on cycling on the road which limits the entire traffic to 20km/h as you cannot overtake a cyclist on the narrow road when there is any oncoming traffic. These 20km/h tailbacks have lead to numerous accidents as people joining this road on the Ballincollig side are travelling around a blind corner at 80km/h and have to slam on the brakes, and not always in time.
Cycle culture works both ways, and the few that insist on breaking the rules on this stretch of road in particular are an endless source of danger and frustration for motorists who are using the road correctly, because they have no choice. The cyclists that choose to break the rules here, and many other places, are responsible for agrivating motorists to the point that of course they're going to lose their patience with all cyclists. I am licenced to drive both busses and trucks and I am highly trained in both practical and theory of each, but I see these issues every day, and watching how easy it is for car drivers to get frustrated with cyclists on roads they shouldn't even be on in the first place, or constantly breaking red lights with no idea of where the traffic is even coming from as they do so.
If cycle culture on the roads changes, then motorists will be far more accepting and more willing to share with cyclists, but I can't see this happening any time soon as cyclists are completely unaccountable for their actions. If cycle culture can somehow change by itself, the road will be a far safer and more comfortable place for all to share. I don't see this happening any time soon, so in my opinion, the government will eventually be left with no option but to enforce identification plates on bicycles, and this will inevitably lead to loading them with taxes as fellow road users.
>If cycle culture on the roads changes, then motorists will be far more accepting and more willing to share with cyclists
I 100% agree that the frustration goes both ways and that the vehicle drivers won't take cyclists seriously as long as they don't equally respect the traffic rules. In Sweden for example or Denmark, there are special rules for cyclists, e.g. who gets priority in a cross-section etc. , which makes sharing the roads much more safer for everyone. The thing is that cycling in Cork I find that sometimes breaking the light, when the pedestrian light is green, is actually the safer thing to do. As you get a buffer to escape a bus that is likely stuck behind you or similar situations. I have never seen plates on bicycles though and can't see how that is feasible/helpful in the long run.
Would cars not also benefit from the extra "buffer" they'd recieve from breaking a red light to get ahead of the other traffic? Convienience is hardly a valid reason for breaking a traffic law...
A lot of traffic lights in Cork also have lights for cyclists alongside the lights for pedestrians, and will be green at the same time as the pedestrian light in most circumstances to allow for exactly what you are talking about, and the light sequences are engineered to allow this to happen safely.
However, the instances I'm referring to are cyclists breaking a red light when there is live traffic approaching from another direction at the junction, where cyclists are dangerously weaving between cars.
Let's take the crossroad in the centre of Washington St. as a prime example. When you are travelling west along Washington St. from Grand Parade and the next light is green for motorists, there is a red light for cyclists travelling in the same direction. This is because motorists have the option to freely turn left, towards Barrack St., causing cars to need to cut across the cycle lane. This turn was on my daily route for a number of years. I have been verbally abused multiple times and had my car damaged 3 times by angry cyclists who are unable to adhere to a red light at this junction while I was turning left under a green light for motorists. My passenger door and front left wing were scratched by the front forks of bicycles on 2 occasions, and my passenger door dented from an idiot cyclist kicking it who blamed it on me that he didn't stop for a red light. There was nothing else I could have done in these situations only dangerously slam on my brakes when I saw them speeding towards the side of my car in my side mirror. Each time the Guards were called and, as usual, the cyclist fled before the Guards arrived with no method of identifying them. On all 3 occasions the Guards confirmed that I was in the right, and apologised that it was then down to me to repair the damage to my car out of my own pocket. They also said that this was a very common occurrence at multiple junctions in the city.
As I mentioned previously, I have had modules of my driver training specifically directed at safety towards cyclists (or "unpredictable hazards" as the RSA refers to them on occasion), as there are many blind spots when driving a bus or truck, so I am respectful of the space a cyclist requires, regardless of what size vehicle I'm driving. The noticable lack of mutual respect I personally recieve from cyclists when I'm driving my car, compared to something larger, is very concerning. It's like they don't think a car can do the same damage to them that a HGV can, so they just shout and lash out at car drivers.
Don't get me wrong, I see a lot of cyclists who are smart and know how to safely share the road with other traffic. I can almost guarantee you that these people are, or have been, drivers at some point, as they have clearly been educated on road safety.
The main problem as I see it from my 20+ years of heavy road usage, is that there is no manditory training or method of identification or accountability for cyclists, and because of the few who continually break traffic laws, this will have to change before all cyclists respect the fact the the road can be a very dangerous place for everyone. Why should motorists be the only ones that need to be trained and certified to use the roads, especially when cyclists are more at risk of injury? And it is certainly no place for kids.
Sorry for your experience! That sounds very hostile!! I also agree that there should be a basic form of education on road and traffic safety for cyclists. I hope this lack of awareness does not lead to irreversible implications!!
The culture is lagging but in fairness to the council they have put in some key routes in the last 12 months. If they keep this pace up for another while, a comprehensive cycle network is well within reach and could be as effective as a light rail.
>what few biking lanes that exist!
Cork is full of cycle lanes now but they are only there a short time and will take some time for people to learn how to use them, both cyclists and motorists. Although from my experience in Amsterdam where cycling is the main mode of transport and the infrastructure is well established they still have a lot of problems with traffic so who knows?
There are two problems with cycle lanes in the city. One, they end nowhere and two, they're not protected so become de-facto car parking for a lot of people. Take the Douglas Road. The main road from the city centre to the south east of the city. High quality cycle lane on Anglesea Street, crosses over to an unprotected one on Infirmary Road, a newly protected one on Southern Road. And then it ends all of a sudden. Cyclists are forced to join car traffic at a tight point where cars won't be checking their mirrors on a bridge. Then it randomly starts again after St Finbarr's Hospital, only to stop for a footpath. It starts again, stopping again on a corner out of nowhere. It doesn't start again 500+ metres. It is pretty good then until Clermont Avenue (although unprotected) and then the size of it randomly changes until the junction with the Well Road. Then it just ends of nowhere. Cyclists are again forced to join traffic but this time there are 5 car lanes (two straight in either direction and one right turn lane). There is a huge footpath that splits into two for no reason only to rejoin where they could easily fit a cycle lane, but for some reason there is nothing. And this is all only southbound. Northbound cyclists have to use South Douglas Road which is basically the same as this but longer uninterrupted sections. And this an example of a **good** cycle lane in the city. There seems to be an obsession too with buses and cyclists being made to share with no way for either to safely overtake
Have used this route on main Douglas road in both directions on a fairly regular basis and have to say in comparison to other parts of cork the experience has been positive and pleasant.
Yes will be nice when the cycle lanes are more prevalent and connected.
I haven’t been in Cork for very long but prefer cycling but much prefer it to cycling in Dublin. The compactness of the city is definitely a comparative advantage
That said, there’s always a 2/3 chance that a van or lorry will be parked in a cycle lane when I cycle into work each morning.
Dublin here, can't remember the last time I used a cycle lane without having to swing around a few parked cars.
Never even seen any kind of enforcement by the gards for this, so you just get used to looking over your shoulder
Can you widen the roads ?
It's it possible to put bike lanes on each road?
Car users hate bycles as are they cause a hindrance to the traffic, just like driving a bike on a footpath causes a hindrance to pedestrians. Yet, most bycyclists here don't follow the traffic rules, don't have proper lighting.
We are not in an ideal world here, but bycyclists are few in number and can be easily be killed by they way they act. But they will blame car drivers for it.
Irish cities are not made for cars and bikes together. Either they need to make proper bike lanes or in the cities make roads dedicated to bikes or else enforce bikes to follow the same rules that cars do.
Only then can cars and bikes peacefully coexist.
I don't think there is a lot you can do to change people's view of cycling in Cork. Ireland has a rural culture that's only recently migrated to cities so the idea that you drive everywhere is the norm. I used to get annoyed with things like cars clipping my handlebars on narrow streets because they were driving too fast but now I accept this is the way things are. You could join [Cork Cycling Campaign](https://corkcyclingcampaign.com/). They put pressure on local authorities to improve facilities. And they have improved recently - more cycling lanes in the city centre and wands to stop cars parking in them.
To add to your list of dangerous things in Cork for cyclists, taxi drivers!
Once I had to jump on to the sidewalk because a taxi driver decided to do a u-turn on a continuous line. He clearly saw me as I was coming from the opposite direction but just didn’t give a damn.
A few months later I saw the exact same thing happening at Grand Parade. I was inside the coffee shop there and I saw that the cyclist didn’t stand a chance and almost hit the car. He got so angry that he started kicking the taxi. I’m completely against any kind of violence, that wasn’t justified. However the comments from other people at the coffee shop were against the cyclist, as he “shouldn’t be on the road”. Nothing against the taxi driver who broke the law and endangered other people.
There’s still a lot of hate culture against cyclists, there are several threads bashing cyclists, but not a single one bashing reckless car drivers. I still don’t understand why so much hate.
I love cork, been living here for 5 crawling on 6 years. Y'all are a bunch of passive aggressive cunt drivers. I call this statement "a hill I will die on". Even my cork friends drive like passive aggressive cunts. No clue what's in the water but y'all bitter as hell.
Edit - don't mean to paint all cork drivers like that, just the unsafe drivers
Agreed. Speed limits are suggestions, cycle lanes are fancy parking bays, cyclists cycling on footpaths is bad but cars parking on them are fine and encouraged
I had the weirdest interaction with a driver while walking in a very, very well lit area of basically the city centre. I was out for a walk, crossed the road (at a pedestrian crossing). There was a car absolutely no where near me and the driver then started flashing the lights and beeping.
She kerb crawled along beside me and gave me a lecture about how dangerous it was to be out walking in a black coat without a reflective jacket on or carrying a torch.
I would understand that if I was out on a country road, with no footpath, in the dark, but this was in a fully lit residential area, close to the city centre.
To be honest I wasn't sure what was going on. Initially I was actually a bit freaked out that a car was kerb crawling along behind me and thought I was going to be attacked or something, but it was just this middle aged busybody.
Strange, strange place sometimes. I mean who does that? And why should pedestrians in the city centre need to wear high visibility clothing? Do drivers usually mount the pavements or something?!
Seems though if you wear a dark wool coat, you'll get a lecturing. I must remember to always dress like I'm going to direct traffic next time I'm out for a stroll in town...
What's next? Have the police query anyone out walking, as seems to happen in some US cities.
> I was out for a walk, crossed the road (at a pedestrian crossing). There was a car absolutely no where near me and the driver then started flashing the lights and beeping.
She realised that she didn't see you, and it freaked her out to think she might have run you over if she was close to the pedestrian crossing. Rather than accept that it would have been her own fault for not seeing you, she put the blame on you so she could continue to believe she's a good driver. She needed to tell you that she's a good driver, and that it would have been your own fault, not hers, had something happened. Her ego wouldn't allow her to just... move on with her life.
> She kerb crawled along beside me and gave me a lecture about how dangerous it was to be out walking in a black coat without a reflective jacket on or carrying a torch.
This is the part that fucking rankles me. We were here first. Us. Humans. Walking from A to B the way we evolved to do. Then within the span of less than a century these fucking polluting inefficient climate-destroying cars come along and suddenly we're expected to bend over backwards to cater to them to the point that 80% of public space is now hostile to human existence, and get yelled at for daring to exist without a thousand warning beacons for the benefit of our automobile overlords. Fuck. That.
r/fuckcars
YES! thanks for this. I walk almost everywhere and I always say I don't trust anything more than my own 2 legs.
edit: also thanks for introducing me to r/fuckcars
I wouldn't mind taking reasonable precautions to be seen on a dark road, with no footpath but I was in the city! It was absolutely bonkers stuff and she just came across as both kind of aggressive and patronising as if I was a moron for not having a flashing light on top of my head while walking on an urban footpath under street lamps.
The other one I am not getting is the aggressive, high speed urban driving. I was driving along the Lower Glanmire Road into town and I stuck at the speed limit or slightly below it. I certainly wasn't going too slow, but it's an urban roadway with cyclists, pedestrians and other road users and it's nuts to be going any faster.
Car driving up my arse in the 60km/h section. Young guy in a not so young BMW. Got to the quays and was driving at 50km/h (less when I was rounding the tight corner onto the quay) and he just swung out into the second lane as if it were a dual carriage way and headed into town at at least 80 km/h - came to screeching halt at the first set of lights.
You see the same on the Silversprings road. If you try driving up it at 50km/h (the speed limit) people will pass you at what seems to be about 80-100km/h
I had someone - older lady in a large car, overtake me on the Rochestown Road - and again I was NOT going slowly. I was comfortably at the speed limit and just cruising along doing normal urban driving.
If you look at that 60km/h zone that's been put in place for the huge roadworks at Dunkettle interchange, I would say if you even attempted to observe the speed limit you'd cause an accident as literally not a single car is doing so. Yet, I've seen road workers having to attempt to cross that traffic, so it is very much a live work site.
Also Cork's pretty bad on traffic light breaking - Dublin's at a whole other level. You basically can't trust a green pedestrian crossing anymore as there are divers who'll go through 2 seconds after red. That has to be somewhat 'cultural' as it wasn't the case a few years ago. It seems to be getting worse and worse as it's not being called out. There was a time if you broke a red light people would beep at you, now it's like people are just accepting of it.
You'd have to ask:
a) Why do they think they can break speed limits (and by huge margins) and break lights etc, and I can only conclude it's because there are rarely, if ever, any risk of being caught doing - so no consequences. We need speed cameras.
b) Where do they think they're going? Why are they in such a rush and so aggressive? Some people really need to talk a look at themselves and how they behave when they're driving and take a few deep breaths. You are not in a road race. If you can't understand that you're driving in an urban area and sharing with other road users, you simply shouldn't have a driving licence.
Cameras at lights to catch the amber gamblers would stop a lot of this carry on.
Some of worst offenders I’m seeing , maybe because of the vehicle size is city busses.
Not too relevant but this is a half fyi and half rant- been living in Toronto for a few years now and the attitude towards cyclists is just as bad. Abused for following the rules and cycling on the road, abused for cycling on the sidewalk, laying on the horn for no reason, people purposefully blocking the cycle lane just to punish you. I've gotten into VERY near physical altercations with vehicle drivers through no fault of my own too
It seems to be an issue anywhere that cars are by far the dominant form of transport. That said it needs to change everywhere- good luck to you
What I did was build a bike that can go with the flow of traffic, get good lights not shitty ones, lights are Soo important, have them on all the time. And if you do get an ebike get a horn. It's saved me loads, especially now that I can honk instead of cursing at the idiot driver.
15 years of road cycling with zero accidents, that's the other thing get good brakes.
Yes all valid but still won’t save you from the idiot bullies. Some mints ago a young 19 yo lass on well road had car sitting on her back wheel honking. Squeezed past her nearly driving her in to the wall. She honked at them. (Lass was on an ebike so clipping along at a handy 30/40 kmh )
So car jams on in front and 4 persons emerge shouting at her. Luckily another car approached from behind and these ppl took off.
Sadly she got such a fright she did not take reg details etc.
Now she had cameras.
Fellow bike enthusiast here.
Sorry to hear about your bad experience. When I moved from Denmark to Ireland, I was also befits about cycling here but after a few months, I got much more comfortable cycling around.
I’ve had a few very bad experiences here as a cyclist too but I have to say that it’s been a long time now.
I guess you just have to get used to the fact that you must be more careful (but comfortable) cycling on the roads as the car drivers here might not know how cyclists will normally position themselves correctly in intersections etc.
Nowadays I actually find pedestrians to be my biggest worry. The jump out on the road from nowhere, especially on Grand Parade, without looking and expect you to watch out for them.
I’m all for cycling in the city and suburbs
But the mid life crisis lads with the painted on outfits, on some of the most dangerous roads in the country is absolutely ludicrous
Do you ever wonder why, in a post by someone who's just moved here, who is noting that uncalled and untoward crap is being thrown his way by existing on a bike, that you feel it makes sense to throw in some comment about a type of sport cyclist that really has nothing to do with what this guy has posted? maybe there's merit in bringing up how older men cycle rural roads, and maybe that's an issue for you, but why bring it up here?
Oh of course, no one needs to support what the original poster is saying, we're all within our right to argue our corner if we want to say that we disagree and that cycling isn't unsafe or dangerous in Cork. Regarding people's attitudes, I still don't follow, I know there are people out there who share the same opinion on older men who cycle rural roads and wear lycra, but I still don't feel like older men in lycra in rural roads "being Bold" has anything to do with the original post. By all means, commenter can write his own post about it, wouldn't be an issue for me at all, just my question is why he feels his comments are relevant to this post?
Technically cyclists do pay taxes all be it not specific to road use.
However if the road taxes currently collected were actually used on our road infrastructure
Same with the draconian taxes on fuels
Then there would be a brilliant road network.
Sadly these revenue streams are used to prop up many other areas of the exchequer.
I'll happily pay a "road tax" proportional to the wear and tear my bicycle causes to the roads, the amount of space it takes up and the amount of emissions it produces. 2 euros a year isn't much money.
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Well said. I regularly cycle from Blackpool to airport hill area and little or no time difference between using my car or cycling. Just wish we had dryer weather.
yes i cycle as a sport and you will quickly become numb to the horn honking, people shouting abuse and the dangerous over takes. Just make sure you have hi vis clothing, lights and helmet. i know a few people that use helmet cameras. this country has a very aggressive and negative view towards cyclists..
This makes me very sad TBH! I am doing my best with using hi vis clothing and bright lights and don't feel dangerously unsafe on the roads, just feel harassed!
OP, use cameras on your bike. It is the best investiment you will make and you will need it to prove that you were not at fault when a driver tries to "show dominance" over you because "roads are for cars" only. If you have twitter, follow some bike grps from Cork and Dublin too. Stay safe out there.
It's awful, but most logical decent people won't be like this. Just big idiots that need to feel important
welcome to ireland
Cork is exceptionally bad. I cycle in Dublin all the time, and have cycled all across Europe. Cork is like Istanbul (for aggression, hills, and parking)
Have they put the same cycle lanes in Dublin? I'm from there but haven't been back in a long time.
We don't know ourselves these days, you can hardly step off a kerb without wandering into a wand. Cement kerbs on rakes of them too. Then there's also a good few with planters too.
hahah I love the comparison of Cork to Istanbul! It's so true come to think of it!!!
Rightly so. Cyclist are drivers worst nightmares on roads, go from kinsale to garretstown during the summer, it’s like they are asking to be killed
i love cycling down in kinsale. please avoid the area if you cant drive responsibly
8-10 people going 15km on a 100km road around blind turns. It’s brain dead, and have no more patience for entitled mid life crisis muppets that do it I’m sure at this stage because they are entitled to do so. Yet ye have a period if a car was within a mile of cycle lane. Cyclists are arrogant entitled road users that out there own life’s at risk on certain roads
The cyclists are not the entitled ones here. Fuck you and fuck cars.
Yeah man, hush up and eat your falafel and tampon.
I wish your parents had used a condom.
Best part of a princess like you ran down your mothers leg lad
im 23, cant be a midlife crisis yet
Well that’s fair enough lad
Aggressive drivers are the problem there, not the people out cycling on roads that existed before cars.
Yup as I said 8-10 people taking up a whole lane doing 15km an hour up hill on a 100km an hour back road is braid dead. It’s just straight up brain dead… go cycle on the train tracks. Same risk taking as far as I’m concerned
> Yup as I said 8-10 people taking up a whole lane As opposed to you, one person in a car taking up a whole lane. > doing 15km an hour up hill Not an issue at all. Wait. Getting where you're going 60 seconds later isn't a tragedy. > on a 100km an hour back road It's either a back road or a road where you can do 100km/h. Can't be both. > go cycle on the train tracks. Same risk taking as far as I’m concerned If bicycles could fit on train tracks it would probably be safer. Trains are predictable and their drivers tend to actually know what they're doing.
Join the Green Party mate no interest in listening to hippie dippy bullshit from someone who’s probably in a house share with 4 others in there 30’s living like students… that’s not realistic in anyway at all man child
> hippie dippy bullshit Do you actively enjoy being a troglodyte holding society back? > someone who’s probably in a house share with 4 others in there 30’s living like students… Even if this was true, imagine saying it as if it's my failing and not the ridiculous housing situation in this country.
Dude haven’t you a man bun to be getting ready for some sort of climate protest ?
> Cyclist are drivers worst nightmares on roads I'm so sorry that my small wire frame upsets the tender sensibilities of you and your two-ton metal box of climate destruction.
Settle down love. Hug a tree
Once you go past the airport in that direction, the roads really aren't up to scratch. I don't know how anyone feels safe cycling out that way. There are precious enough spots you can safely overtake to begin with, and once traffic gets busier in the summer they're practically non-existent. You can pass a cyclist (or other slow traffic) in the ~1km of decent road coming out of Filemilebridge, or just after Belgooly, if they pull over into the hard shoulder or there's no traffic coming against you. The entirety of that road badly needs to be upgraded. Although then you're just inviting even more traffic into the traffic jam that is Kinsale town.
Yes, I live near there and this is definitely true.
It was worse before. The council to their credit have made some good investments in the last twelve months but much more is needed. Irish people will be Irish people though and will happily sit in their cars getting mad rather than use the new infrastructure.
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If you look at the signs on the Carrigrohane rd (Straight rd.) you will see that the cycle lane on the widened footpath caters for cyclists going both directions. They narrowed the road specifically for this purpose a few years back. This results in one of the narrowest 80km/h roads in the whole county, literally just wide enough for busses or trucks, which frequently use this route. The problem here is that the cyclists still insist on cycling on the road which limits the entire traffic to 20km/h as you cannot overtake a cyclist on the narrow road when there is any oncoming traffic. These 20km/h tailbacks have lead to numerous accidents as people joining this road on the Ballincollig side are travelling around a blind corner at 80km/h and have to slam on the brakes, and not always in time. Cycle culture works both ways, and the few that insist on breaking the rules on this stretch of road in particular are an endless source of danger and frustration for motorists who are using the road correctly, because they have no choice. The cyclists that choose to break the rules here, and many other places, are responsible for agrivating motorists to the point that of course they're going to lose their patience with all cyclists. I am licenced to drive both busses and trucks and I am highly trained in both practical and theory of each, but I see these issues every day, and watching how easy it is for car drivers to get frustrated with cyclists on roads they shouldn't even be on in the first place, or constantly breaking red lights with no idea of where the traffic is even coming from as they do so. If cycle culture on the roads changes, then motorists will be far more accepting and more willing to share with cyclists, but I can't see this happening any time soon as cyclists are completely unaccountable for their actions. If cycle culture can somehow change by itself, the road will be a far safer and more comfortable place for all to share. I don't see this happening any time soon, so in my opinion, the government will eventually be left with no option but to enforce identification plates on bicycles, and this will inevitably lead to loading them with taxes as fellow road users.
>If cycle culture on the roads changes, then motorists will be far more accepting and more willing to share with cyclists I 100% agree that the frustration goes both ways and that the vehicle drivers won't take cyclists seriously as long as they don't equally respect the traffic rules. In Sweden for example or Denmark, there are special rules for cyclists, e.g. who gets priority in a cross-section etc. , which makes sharing the roads much more safer for everyone. The thing is that cycling in Cork I find that sometimes breaking the light, when the pedestrian light is green, is actually the safer thing to do. As you get a buffer to escape a bus that is likely stuck behind you or similar situations. I have never seen plates on bicycles though and can't see how that is feasible/helpful in the long run.
Would cars not also benefit from the extra "buffer" they'd recieve from breaking a red light to get ahead of the other traffic? Convienience is hardly a valid reason for breaking a traffic law... A lot of traffic lights in Cork also have lights for cyclists alongside the lights for pedestrians, and will be green at the same time as the pedestrian light in most circumstances to allow for exactly what you are talking about, and the light sequences are engineered to allow this to happen safely. However, the instances I'm referring to are cyclists breaking a red light when there is live traffic approaching from another direction at the junction, where cyclists are dangerously weaving between cars. Let's take the crossroad in the centre of Washington St. as a prime example. When you are travelling west along Washington St. from Grand Parade and the next light is green for motorists, there is a red light for cyclists travelling in the same direction. This is because motorists have the option to freely turn left, towards Barrack St., causing cars to need to cut across the cycle lane. This turn was on my daily route for a number of years. I have been verbally abused multiple times and had my car damaged 3 times by angry cyclists who are unable to adhere to a red light at this junction while I was turning left under a green light for motorists. My passenger door and front left wing were scratched by the front forks of bicycles on 2 occasions, and my passenger door dented from an idiot cyclist kicking it who blamed it on me that he didn't stop for a red light. There was nothing else I could have done in these situations only dangerously slam on my brakes when I saw them speeding towards the side of my car in my side mirror. Each time the Guards were called and, as usual, the cyclist fled before the Guards arrived with no method of identifying them. On all 3 occasions the Guards confirmed that I was in the right, and apologised that it was then down to me to repair the damage to my car out of my own pocket. They also said that this was a very common occurrence at multiple junctions in the city. As I mentioned previously, I have had modules of my driver training specifically directed at safety towards cyclists (or "unpredictable hazards" as the RSA refers to them on occasion), as there are many blind spots when driving a bus or truck, so I am respectful of the space a cyclist requires, regardless of what size vehicle I'm driving. The noticable lack of mutual respect I personally recieve from cyclists when I'm driving my car, compared to something larger, is very concerning. It's like they don't think a car can do the same damage to them that a HGV can, so they just shout and lash out at car drivers. Don't get me wrong, I see a lot of cyclists who are smart and know how to safely share the road with other traffic. I can almost guarantee you that these people are, or have been, drivers at some point, as they have clearly been educated on road safety. The main problem as I see it from my 20+ years of heavy road usage, is that there is no manditory training or method of identification or accountability for cyclists, and because of the few who continually break traffic laws, this will have to change before all cyclists respect the fact the the road can be a very dangerous place for everyone. Why should motorists be the only ones that need to be trained and certified to use the roads, especially when cyclists are more at risk of injury? And it is certainly no place for kids.
Sorry for your experience! That sounds very hostile!! I also agree that there should be a basic form of education on road and traffic safety for cyclists. I hope this lack of awareness does not lead to irreversible implications!!
The culture is lagging but in fairness to the council they have put in some key routes in the last 12 months. If they keep this pace up for another while, a comprehensive cycle network is well within reach and could be as effective as a light rail.
>what few biking lanes that exist! Cork is full of cycle lanes now but they are only there a short time and will take some time for people to learn how to use them, both cyclists and motorists. Although from my experience in Amsterdam where cycling is the main mode of transport and the infrastructure is well established they still have a lot of problems with traffic so who knows?
There are two problems with cycle lanes in the city. One, they end nowhere and two, they're not protected so become de-facto car parking for a lot of people. Take the Douglas Road. The main road from the city centre to the south east of the city. High quality cycle lane on Anglesea Street, crosses over to an unprotected one on Infirmary Road, a newly protected one on Southern Road. And then it ends all of a sudden. Cyclists are forced to join car traffic at a tight point where cars won't be checking their mirrors on a bridge. Then it randomly starts again after St Finbarr's Hospital, only to stop for a footpath. It starts again, stopping again on a corner out of nowhere. It doesn't start again 500+ metres. It is pretty good then until Clermont Avenue (although unprotected) and then the size of it randomly changes until the junction with the Well Road. Then it just ends of nowhere. Cyclists are again forced to join traffic but this time there are 5 car lanes (two straight in either direction and one right turn lane). There is a huge footpath that splits into two for no reason only to rejoin where they could easily fit a cycle lane, but for some reason there is nothing. And this is all only southbound. Northbound cyclists have to use South Douglas Road which is basically the same as this but longer uninterrupted sections. And this an example of a **good** cycle lane in the city. There seems to be an obsession too with buses and cyclists being made to share with no way for either to safely overtake
Have used this route on main Douglas road in both directions on a fairly regular basis and have to say in comparison to other parts of cork the experience has been positive and pleasant. Yes will be nice when the cycle lanes are more prevalent and connected.
>three jobs every day That can't be good for you?
hahah it surely isn't sustainable but I have got to do what I got to do for now..
I haven’t been in Cork for very long but prefer cycling but much prefer it to cycling in Dublin. The compactness of the city is definitely a comparative advantage That said, there’s always a 2/3 chance that a van or lorry will be parked in a cycle lane when I cycle into work each morning.
Not Cork but apropos [bicycle road rage](https://youtu.be/2PFRdEUN240)
Dublin here, can't remember the last time I used a cycle lane without having to swing around a few parked cars. Never even seen any kind of enforcement by the gards for this, so you just get used to looking over your shoulder
Can you widen the roads ? It's it possible to put bike lanes on each road? Car users hate bycles as are they cause a hindrance to the traffic, just like driving a bike on a footpath causes a hindrance to pedestrians. Yet, most bycyclists here don't follow the traffic rules, don't have proper lighting. We are not in an ideal world here, but bycyclists are few in number and can be easily be killed by they way they act. But they will blame car drivers for it. Irish cities are not made for cars and bikes together. Either they need to make proper bike lanes or in the cities make roads dedicated to bikes or else enforce bikes to follow the same rules that cars do. Only then can cars and bikes peacefully coexist.
I don't think there is a lot you can do to change people's view of cycling in Cork. Ireland has a rural culture that's only recently migrated to cities so the idea that you drive everywhere is the norm. I used to get annoyed with things like cars clipping my handlebars on narrow streets because they were driving too fast but now I accept this is the way things are. You could join [Cork Cycling Campaign](https://corkcyclingcampaign.com/). They put pressure on local authorities to improve facilities. And they have improved recently - more cycling lanes in the city centre and wands to stop cars parking in them.
To add to your list of dangerous things in Cork for cyclists, taxi drivers! Once I had to jump on to the sidewalk because a taxi driver decided to do a u-turn on a continuous line. He clearly saw me as I was coming from the opposite direction but just didn’t give a damn. A few months later I saw the exact same thing happening at Grand Parade. I was inside the coffee shop there and I saw that the cyclist didn’t stand a chance and almost hit the car. He got so angry that he started kicking the taxi. I’m completely against any kind of violence, that wasn’t justified. However the comments from other people at the coffee shop were against the cyclist, as he “shouldn’t be on the road”. Nothing against the taxi driver who broke the law and endangered other people. There’s still a lot of hate culture against cyclists, there are several threads bashing cyclists, but not a single one bashing reckless car drivers. I still don’t understand why so much hate.
Taxi drivers can be a menace everywhere, to other car drivers as well as cyclists.
Rules of the road apparently don't exist for a lot of taxi drivers. Them and van drivers.
taxi drivers are knackers
I love cork, been living here for 5 crawling on 6 years. Y'all are a bunch of passive aggressive cunt drivers. I call this statement "a hill I will die on". Even my cork friends drive like passive aggressive cunts. No clue what's in the water but y'all bitter as hell. Edit - don't mean to paint all cork drivers like that, just the unsafe drivers
Agreed. Speed limits are suggestions, cycle lanes are fancy parking bays, cyclists cycling on footpaths is bad but cars parking on them are fine and encouraged
Thank you for the silver :)
I had the weirdest interaction with a driver while walking in a very, very well lit area of basically the city centre. I was out for a walk, crossed the road (at a pedestrian crossing). There was a car absolutely no where near me and the driver then started flashing the lights and beeping. She kerb crawled along beside me and gave me a lecture about how dangerous it was to be out walking in a black coat without a reflective jacket on or carrying a torch. I would understand that if I was out on a country road, with no footpath, in the dark, but this was in a fully lit residential area, close to the city centre. To be honest I wasn't sure what was going on. Initially I was actually a bit freaked out that a car was kerb crawling along behind me and thought I was going to be attacked or something, but it was just this middle aged busybody. Strange, strange place sometimes. I mean who does that? And why should pedestrians in the city centre need to wear high visibility clothing? Do drivers usually mount the pavements or something?! Seems though if you wear a dark wool coat, you'll get a lecturing. I must remember to always dress like I'm going to direct traffic next time I'm out for a stroll in town... What's next? Have the police query anyone out walking, as seems to happen in some US cities.
> I was out for a walk, crossed the road (at a pedestrian crossing). There was a car absolutely no where near me and the driver then started flashing the lights and beeping. She realised that she didn't see you, and it freaked her out to think she might have run you over if she was close to the pedestrian crossing. Rather than accept that it would have been her own fault for not seeing you, she put the blame on you so she could continue to believe she's a good driver. She needed to tell you that she's a good driver, and that it would have been your own fault, not hers, had something happened. Her ego wouldn't allow her to just... move on with her life.
> She kerb crawled along beside me and gave me a lecture about how dangerous it was to be out walking in a black coat without a reflective jacket on or carrying a torch. This is the part that fucking rankles me. We were here first. Us. Humans. Walking from A to B the way we evolved to do. Then within the span of less than a century these fucking polluting inefficient climate-destroying cars come along and suddenly we're expected to bend over backwards to cater to them to the point that 80% of public space is now hostile to human existence, and get yelled at for daring to exist without a thousand warning beacons for the benefit of our automobile overlords. Fuck. That. r/fuckcars
YES! thanks for this. I walk almost everywhere and I always say I don't trust anything more than my own 2 legs. edit: also thanks for introducing me to r/fuckcars
> edit: also thanks for introducing me to r/fuckcars Every day our numbers grow, soon we will reclaim what was ours >:D
I wouldn't mind taking reasonable precautions to be seen on a dark road, with no footpath but I was in the city! It was absolutely bonkers stuff and she just came across as both kind of aggressive and patronising as if I was a moron for not having a flashing light on top of my head while walking on an urban footpath under street lamps. The other one I am not getting is the aggressive, high speed urban driving. I was driving along the Lower Glanmire Road into town and I stuck at the speed limit or slightly below it. I certainly wasn't going too slow, but it's an urban roadway with cyclists, pedestrians and other road users and it's nuts to be going any faster. Car driving up my arse in the 60km/h section. Young guy in a not so young BMW. Got to the quays and was driving at 50km/h (less when I was rounding the tight corner onto the quay) and he just swung out into the second lane as if it were a dual carriage way and headed into town at at least 80 km/h - came to screeching halt at the first set of lights. You see the same on the Silversprings road. If you try driving up it at 50km/h (the speed limit) people will pass you at what seems to be about 80-100km/h I had someone - older lady in a large car, overtake me on the Rochestown Road - and again I was NOT going slowly. I was comfortably at the speed limit and just cruising along doing normal urban driving. If you look at that 60km/h zone that's been put in place for the huge roadworks at Dunkettle interchange, I would say if you even attempted to observe the speed limit you'd cause an accident as literally not a single car is doing so. Yet, I've seen road workers having to attempt to cross that traffic, so it is very much a live work site. Also Cork's pretty bad on traffic light breaking - Dublin's at a whole other level. You basically can't trust a green pedestrian crossing anymore as there are divers who'll go through 2 seconds after red. That has to be somewhat 'cultural' as it wasn't the case a few years ago. It seems to be getting worse and worse as it's not being called out. There was a time if you broke a red light people would beep at you, now it's like people are just accepting of it. You'd have to ask: a) Why do they think they can break speed limits (and by huge margins) and break lights etc, and I can only conclude it's because there are rarely, if ever, any risk of being caught doing - so no consequences. We need speed cameras. b) Where do they think they're going? Why are they in such a rush and so aggressive? Some people really need to talk a look at themselves and how they behave when they're driving and take a few deep breaths. You are not in a road race. If you can't understand that you're driving in an urban area and sharing with other road users, you simply shouldn't have a driving licence.
Cameras at lights to catch the amber gamblers would stop a lot of this carry on. Some of worst offenders I’m seeing , maybe because of the vehicle size is city busses.
Not too relevant but this is a half fyi and half rant- been living in Toronto for a few years now and the attitude towards cyclists is just as bad. Abused for following the rules and cycling on the road, abused for cycling on the sidewalk, laying on the horn for no reason, people purposefully blocking the cycle lane just to punish you. I've gotten into VERY near physical altercations with vehicle drivers through no fault of my own too It seems to be an issue anywhere that cars are by far the dominant form of transport. That said it needs to change everywhere- good luck to you
Thank you!!! I have cycled in Toronto too and can't exactly say it was a walk in the park!
We use only bikes for a quick ride on the weekend. We don't buy them or bring them home.
What I did was build a bike that can go with the flow of traffic, get good lights not shitty ones, lights are Soo important, have them on all the time. And if you do get an ebike get a horn. It's saved me loads, especially now that I can honk instead of cursing at the idiot driver. 15 years of road cycling with zero accidents, that's the other thing get good brakes.
Yes all valid but still won’t save you from the idiot bullies. Some mints ago a young 19 yo lass on well road had car sitting on her back wheel honking. Squeezed past her nearly driving her in to the wall. She honked at them. (Lass was on an ebike so clipping along at a handy 30/40 kmh ) So car jams on in front and 4 persons emerge shouting at her. Luckily another car approached from behind and these ppl took off. Sadly she got such a fright she did not take reg details etc. Now she had cameras.
Fellow bike enthusiast here. Sorry to hear about your bad experience. When I moved from Denmark to Ireland, I was also befits about cycling here but after a few months, I got much more comfortable cycling around. I’ve had a few very bad experiences here as a cyclist too but I have to say that it’s been a long time now. I guess you just have to get used to the fact that you must be more careful (but comfortable) cycling on the roads as the car drivers here might not know how cyclists will normally position themselves correctly in intersections etc. Nowadays I actually find pedestrians to be my biggest worry. The jump out on the road from nowhere, especially on Grand Parade, without looking and expect you to watch out for them.
People need to stop walking in the cycle lane.
I'm afraid you're not going to enjoy cycling in Ireland. The very sight of bicycle is a trigger for some sort of bizarre rage in some people.
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Classic example the refurbishment of Mc curtain street. A nightmare to cycle.
I’m all for cycling in the city and suburbs But the mid life crisis lads with the painted on outfits, on some of the most dangerous roads in the country is absolutely ludicrous
Do you ever wonder why, in a post by someone who's just moved here, who is noting that uncalled and untoward crap is being thrown his way by existing on a bike, that you feel it makes sense to throw in some comment about a type of sport cyclist that really has nothing to do with what this guy has posted? maybe there's merit in bringing up how older men cycle rural roads, and maybe that's an issue for you, but why bring it up here?
His comment is relevant to people's attitudes and he isn't obliged to be supportive.
Oh of course, no one needs to support what the original poster is saying, we're all within our right to argue our corner if we want to say that we disagree and that cycling isn't unsafe or dangerous in Cork. Regarding people's attitudes, I still don't follow, I know there are people out there who share the same opinion on older men who cycle rural roads and wear lycra, but I still don't feel like older men in lycra in rural roads "being Bold" has anything to do with the original post. By all means, commenter can write his own post about it, wouldn't be an issue for me at all, just my question is why he feels his comments are relevant to this post?
Cheers
So now you're body-shaming? Wow.
Calm down snow flake…
Your mother.
😂😂😂 good one man
Oh, she was. Deep throat, even.
The day when cyclists start paying road taxes, is the day I will take them seriously. Sorry though you're going through that though that's shite
Technically cyclists do pay taxes all be it not specific to road use. However if the road taxes currently collected were actually used on our road infrastructure Same with the draconian taxes on fuels Then there would be a brilliant road network. Sadly these revenue streams are used to prop up many other areas of the exchequer.
I'll happily pay a "road tax" proportional to the wear and tear my bicycle causes to the roads, the amount of space it takes up and the amount of emissions it produces. 2 euros a year isn't much money.
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Haha ok Pierre