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Dublin riders protest "Cyclists dismount" signs on tramway

Action comes as Ireland experiences a big increase in number of cyclists killed

Cyclists in Dublin have held a protest after signs were erected on a section of the city’s new tramway telling them to dismount from their bikes and proceed on foot instead.

The protest took place on Nassau Street, which is on the route of the Luas Cross City line, reports thejournal.ie.

Organised by the group I Bike Dublin, the event saw the three dozen or so riders who took part dismount close to College Green then push their bikes along Nassau Street.

Organiser Stephen McManus said: “It is quite obvious that cycling was a complete afterthought, that no planning was put in place and it is today very dangerous as there were a number of accidents.

“And now they have decided to make themselves safer they put signs saying cyclists dismount, so basically exonerating themselves of any responsibility.

“So what we are doing is making a statement here by dismounting. There is nowhere to go so we are going to be walking on the street and making a point that it is an absurd policy. They can’t just turn their backs and close their eyes on the issue.”

So far this year, 16 cyclists have lost their lives on the Republic of Ireland’s roads in collisions involving motor vehicles. In 2016, there were 10 cyclist fatalities in the country, but three of those did not involve a motor vehicle.

“It’s a crisis, a 130% increase in anything should send alarm bells going off but it doesn’t seem to be happening,” McManus said. “We are hoping we won’t see any more for a while but the environment is there for creating more tragedies unfortunately.”

A spokesperson for the National Transit Authority (NTA), which manages the Luas service, said that the signs were advisory only.

They added: “In this area, cycling in the tram line involves dealing with a restricted width between kerbline and tram track, with a high number of trams, buses/coaches and taxis which will all be using the same street space.

“This gives rise to the possibility of bicycle wheels becoming caught in the groove of the tram track leading to accidents and incidents.”

Simon joined road.cc as news editor in 2009 and is now the site’s community editor, acting as a link between the team producing the content and our readers. A law and languages graduate, published translator and former retail analyst, he has reported on issues as diverse as cycling-related court cases, anti-doping investigations, the latest developments in the bike industry and the sport’s biggest races. Now back in London full-time after 15 years living in Oxford and Cambridge, he loves cycling along the Thames but misses having his former riding buddy, Elodie the miniature schnauzer, in the basket in front of him.

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18 comments

Avatar
hawkinspeter | 6 years ago
0 likes

...

Avatar
alansmurphy | 6 years ago
1 like

This is small, that one's far away...

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Edgeley | 6 years ago
9 likes

As this is a UK website, talking about an Irish issue, is there any chance of using UK and Irish English?

 

You can only "Protest a sign" if you speak American.  We protest about a sign.

Tsk.

 

 

Avatar
hoski replied to Edgeley | 6 years ago
1 like

Edgeley wrote:

As this is a UK website, talking about an Irish issue, is there any chance of using UK and Irish English?

 

You can only "Protest a sign" if you speak American.  We protest about a sign.

Tsk.

 

 

 

Avatar
KarlM77 replied to Edgeley | 6 years ago
4 likes

Edgeley wrote:

As this is a UK website, talking about an Irish issue, is there any chance of using UK and Irish English?

 

You can only "Protest a sign" if you speak American.  We protest about a sign.

Tsk.

 

There should be more websites in Hiberno-English, so there should.

Avatar
Bikebikebike replied to Edgeley | 6 years ago
1 like

Edgeley wrote:

As this is a UK website, talking about an Irish issue, is there any chance of using UK and Irish English?

 

You can only "Protest a sign" if you speak American.  We protest about a sign.

Tsk.

 

 

Down with this sort of thing.

Avatar
hawkinspeter replied to Bikebikebike | 6 years ago
1 like

Bikebikebike wrote:

Edgeley wrote:

As this is a UK website, talking about an Irish issue, is there any chance of using UK and Irish English?

 

You can only "Protest a sign" if you speak American.  We protest about a sign.

Tsk.

 

 

Down with this sort of thing.

Careful now!

Avatar
brooksby | 6 years ago
3 likes

Here in Bristol we have fun with those 'advisory' dismount signs too, but without even the pretence of 'elf'n'safety.

Here, its where a bridge was built as part of a new development as a cycling and pedestrians shared-use bridge; the bridge has "suddenly" turned out to be too narrow for shared use (according to the private developer thereof) and so they first put up chicanes (without planning permission), and then advisory 'get off and walk' signs, and then our local newspaper picked up on it and made out like cyclists were killing babies (again) because cyclists were ignoring the advisory signs.

A local blog covered it here: http://bristolcars.blogspot.co.uk/2017/12/breaking-cyclists-using-bridge-intended.html

Avatar
Eton Rifle replied to brooksby | 6 years ago
2 likes
brooksby wrote:

Here in Bristol we have fun with those 'advisory' dismount signs too, but without even the pretence of 'elf'n'safety.

Here, its where a bridge was built as part of a new development as a cycling and pedestrians shared-use bridge; the bridge has "suddenly" turned out to be too narrow for shared use (according to the private developer thereof) and so they first put up chicanes (without planning permission), and then advisory 'get off and walk' signs, and then our local newspaper picked up on it and made out like cyclists were killing babies (again) because cyclists were ignoring the advisory signs.

A local blog covered it here: http://bristolcars.blogspot.co.uk/2017/12/breaking-cyclists-using-bridge-intended.html

The Bristol Post is a ghastly rag full of anti-cyclist clickbait. I genuinely did not know the full story on Valentine's Bridge, so thanks for the link. One wonders why the Bristol Post did not report this story as a) it is more interesting and b) the truth.

Avatar
brooksby replied to Eton Rifle | 6 years ago
1 like

Eton Rifle wrote:
brooksby wrote:

Here in Bristol we have fun with those 'advisory' dismount signs too, but without even the pretence of 'elf'n'safety.

Here, its where a bridge was built as part of a new development as a cycling and pedestrians shared-use bridge; the bridge has "suddenly" turned out to be too narrow for shared use (according to the private developer thereof) and so they first put up chicanes (without planning permission), and then advisory 'get off and walk' signs, and then our local newspaper picked up on it and made out like cyclists were killing babies (again) because cyclists were ignoring the advisory signs.

A local blog covered it here: http://bristolcars.blogspot.co.uk/2017/12/breaking-cyclists-using-bridge-intended.html

The Bristol Post is a ghastly rag full of anti-cyclist clickbait. I genuinely did not know the full story on Valentine's Bridge, so thanks for the link. One wonders why the Bristol Post did not report this story as a) it is more interesting and b) the truth.

I think you hit the nail on the head, there: the Post is legally unable to post a story which is interesting and true (at a stretch they can do one or the other, but I think they prefer 'neither')

Avatar
Grahamd | 6 years ago
1 like

Imagine having to stop, get off, walk and then start again, would be a bit like having a border crossing...

 

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brooksby replied to Grahamd | 6 years ago
0 likes

Grahamd wrote:

Imagine having to stop, get off, walk and then start again, would be a bit like having a border crossing...

Maybe they will say its just a general statement of intent and not legally binding...

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FluffyKittenofT... replied to Grahamd | 6 years ago
0 likes

Grahamd wrote:

Imagine having to stop, get off, walk and then start again, would be a bit like having a border crossing...

 

 

Are you trying to turn this into a thread about Brexit?

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BehindTheBikesheds | 7 years ago
5 likes

The Irish gov will just say well you weren't wearing hi-vis and use increased deaths to push for it (& helmets) to be compulsary, easy solution innit.

If you had the same thing for cars and told to stop and push the vehicle for a distance it would be absolutely outrageous but it's always ok to inconvinience people on bikes!

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Yorkshire wallet replied to BehindTheBikesheds | 6 years ago
1 like

BehindTheBikesheds wrote:

 

If you had the same thing for cars and told to stop and push the vehicle for a distance it would be absolutely outrageous but it's always ok to inconvinience people on bikes!

Not the best comparison there really. 

Avatar
Helmut D. Bate replied to Yorkshire wallet | 6 years ago
4 likes
Yorkshire wallet wrote:

BehindTheBikesheds wrote:

 

If you had the same thing for cars and told to stop and push the vehicle for a distance it would be absolutely outrageous but it's always ok to inconvinience people on bikes!

Not the best comparison there really. 

Maybe if they had to get out of their car and push a bike, while someone else moved their car past the obstacle for them, and then they got back in the car, and handed back the bike.

Imagine the uprage!

Avatar
don simon fbpe | 7 years ago
4 likes

If there's limited space, why don't they put up the "Do not overtake the cyclists" signs that I'm starting to see? Seems much more useful for everyone.

Avatar
Initialised replied to don simon fbpe | 6 years ago
3 likes

don simon wrote:

If there's limited space, why don't they put up the "Do not overtake the cyclists" signs that I'm starting to see? Seems much more useful for everyone.

Make's sense, drop narrow/urban roads to 20mph and put up no overtaking signs. Job done in most urban centres.

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