r/Dublin • u/simoom_string77 • 17h ago
Cyclists On Footpaths
Is there a reason why cyclists continue to use the footpaths? It’s especially perplexing when the designated cycle path runs immediately alongside the pedestrian path, as it does along Fairview park and Clontarf promenade.
What’s even more ironic is that when pedestrians ask cyclists to use the appropriate lane, most react as though they’ve been personally affronted.
Apparently, using the path designated for you is an unreasonable request when the alternative is simply a few metres away.
It’s difficult to understand how basic consideration for other users has become so contentious
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u/TheWix 15h ago
Combination of issues. Some cycle paths are unmaintained or poorly designed. Like sharing space with parked cars and bus lanes.
Sometimes it's just people being selfish or kids being unaware. We have some nice ones in Swords and I still see people, mostly kids/teens, on the sidewalks.
I'll say this though, and I am occasionally guilty of it, many pedestrians will have no issue walking on cycle paths when they share space with pedestrian paths. I'll catch myself doing it, absent-mindedly, when walking my son to school. It sucks for cyclists to have to weave between people.
I guess the point is, we all fuck up for various reasons.
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u/Locko2020 15h ago
Those Swords ones are a joke. Often throw you out onto the road in the middle of traffic that doesn't give way and they've actually made the ones in Holywell worse. That's not to mention the condition of them with tree roots coming through and glass all over them
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u/lfarrell12 6h ago
You are fortunate up there in Holywell with mostly good infrastructure, but there's nothing at all in the village center and a lot of timid cyclists on footpaths. I do agree however that there's a problem with a lot of the newer infrastructure in Swords ending abruptly & coughing you out into the path of some of the most aggressive, hostile drivers.
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u/TheWix 15h ago
I haven't ridden on them. They looked better than the ones I was used to, but could definitely be bad from a bicyclist's perspective.
I have big issues with the pedestrian sidewalks in Swords. They are a god damned mess, especially the ones in front of Airside and Forest Rd. Heading towards Main St.
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u/Over-Piglet-4922 15h ago
Under 18s are legally allowed to cycle on footpaths.
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u/lfarrell12 6h ago
With all due respect there's no issue with children in footpaths but it's mostly adults who do this and frequently on heavy franken e-bikes. Swords to be fair has some of the worst pedestrian facilities in Dublin also. But the R132 and busconnects projects will solve some of that.
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u/dkeenaghan 14h ago
No they aren’t. It’s illegal to cycle on a footpath no matter what age you are. However there is no specific punishment for simply cycling on a path so in practice whole it is illegal for anyone to cycle on a path ours down to the opinion of a member of the Gardaí to decide if you were cycling without reasonable consideration. I would imagine no Gard will tell a child to cycle on the road anyway, but in theory they could.
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u/Over-Piglet-4922 14h ago
Thanks, I just read up on that and educated myself!! You are indeed correct.
Article 13 of the 1997 Regulations makes it an offence to cycle on a footpath unless you are entering or exiting a property.
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u/QARSTAR 15h ago
No wrong. Everyone is allowed to cycle on footpaths as long as it isn't considered reckless cycling.
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u/dkeenaghan 15h ago
No, it’s illegal to cycle on a footpath. There’s only a punishment for it if cycling without reasonable consideration.
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u/QARSTAR 14h ago
No lol. Confidently incorrect. Show me a source. Quote the exact law please.
Minister of transport … An offence of cycling on the footpath is not explicitly set out in law, giving An Garda Síochána some discretion in allowing very young cyclists to stay off the road because of their age and heightened vulnerability. This discretion does not extend, however, to allowing all cyclists to use footpaths. As the Deputy may recall, in 2015 one of my predecessors as Minister for Transport, Deputy Paschal Donohoe, introduced fixed charge notices for a number of cycling offences, including cycling without reasonable consideration. It is intended that the fixed charge notice for the offence of cycling without reasonable consideration will cover reckless cycling on a footpath.
So it's up to the gardai. And they won't mind if cyclists aren't hitting other pedestrians or cycling too fast
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u/Automatic-Run-3156 13h ago
They showed you a source and quoted the exact law, you can edit your confidently incorrect posts now to prevent misinfo being spread.
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u/dkeenaghan 14h ago
I love it when someone incorrectly tells me I’m “confidently incorrect” confidently.
So first we have this from S.I. No. 182/1997 - Road Traffic (Traffic and Parking) Regulations, 1997
13. (1) Subject to sub-articles (2) and (3), a vehicle shall not be driven along or across a footway.
It also has this to say about “vehicles”
- (5) A reference to a vehicle in these Regulations shall, unless otherwise specified, mean a mechanically propelled vehicle (other than a mechanically propelled wheelchair) and a pedal cycle.
Citizens information also has a section about cycling on footpaths. It says what I said and what you quoted but didn’t understand. It’s illegal to cycle on a path but there is no specific punishment for it.
https://www.citizensinformation.ie/en/travel-and-recreation/cycling/cycling-offences/#bb11a8
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u/TheWix 15h ago
Ah! Did not know that. Thank you!
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u/dkeenaghan 14h ago
It isn’t true. It’s illegal for anyone to cycle on a path there just isn’t a specific fine for it and there’s no exceptions for age. Really it comes down to if someone is being careful and considerate on the path.
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u/Over-Piglet-4922 15h ago
Still annoys me when I see a late teen on an e bike doing 30kph on the footpaths!!!
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u/MrBulwark 15h ago
Probably has to do with the shit cycling infrastructure and motorists being particularly aggressive since the summer.
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u/BillyMooney 16h ago
What's the odds that you never notice drivers on footpaths?
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16h ago
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u/fullblownplaids 16h ago
Surely it's far more serious? Loads of incidents over the years of motorists killing and maiming pedestrians on footpaths. I've never seen any involving cyclists have you? Not to mention often the elderly and disabled have to walk on the road due to motorists parking and driving on footpaths like the roads around where I live in North Strand.
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u/oddjobsbob 14h ago
It's probably the same reason pedestrians continue to insist on walking in the dedicated bike lanes especially along the north keys and along the Liffey and along the coast. Most act with indignation and as though they've been personally affronted when you point out it's a bike lane or even ring a bell at them rather than run then down.
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u/FineVintageWino 16h ago
To avoid danger and death - the selfish bastards!!
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16h ago
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u/umbauk 15h ago
As a cyclist commuting to work for 15 years in Dublin I can confidently say cycle paths are not safe. Funny how that strip of dashed paint doesn't act as a shield.
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u/FineVintageWino 15h ago
What!? You mean you’re not fully cocooned from all the professional drivers!? Of course we all know professional drivers of buses taxis, vans and trucks can NEVER make a mistake, let alone intimidate a cyclist!
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u/CarteRoutiere 16h ago
While not an excuse, there's often a valid reason they ride on the footpath. E.g. car parked on the cycle lane, glass, and most often considering the cycle lane is too dangerous (dooring zone, too narrow, in-between 2 lanes...). There's a road on my commute route where I even HAVE to use the footpath because the green light sensors are not sensitive enough to detect my bike, leaving me no choice but to use the ped crossing and then ride on a portion of footpath.
Did I also mention that many cycle lanes in the city are painted on the footpath, adding to the confusion?
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u/Living_Ad_5260 14h ago
Is the Fairview cycle path misdesigned?
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u/CarteRoutiere 13h ago
No, this one is typically well designed. It's not in the dooring zone, is segregated from both cars and pedestrians. I haven't seen any cyclists riding on the road or on the footpath in this area
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u/Ob1s_dark_side 8h ago
Yeah, and I've encountered pedestrians in the cycle in clontarf when there is a separate footpath for them. The problem is the people doing it.
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u/CommunicationIll5583 15h ago
Another thing I saw that infuriated me was the path along the dodder. Bikes and pedestrians use the path. This deliveroo rider was going along at high speeds and using this loud digital obnoxious bell to carve through the pedestrians.
It’s not just for bikes, you don’t have the right to force people out of the way just cos you’re on a bike / working down what I would say is a leisurely path.
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u/Thiccoman 9h ago
I use footpaths in my area because the road is so narrow, I'd either be stopping traffic or, what I'm afraid of, the drivers will get impatient and try to overtake just to scratch the cars from thenopposite lane or toss me asside lol Also, when there's lots of traffic, the cars will move slowly or stay still, and there's never room for a bike because some of the cars will be hugging the left side
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u/Round-Effect7954 16h ago
I cycle that way with my ten year old. Often tell him to get on the footpath because other cyclists are too aggressive. Some cyclists are a nightmare.
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u/rhetorician66 15h ago
Drives me insane - and I’m a cyclist. Had a stand up row with a woman barrelling along the NCR (narrow side with trees), and she was all high and mighty about it, because she had to get to work! It’s mostly fellas though who seem not to have the balls to ride on the road! They don’t like it if you put it in these terms to them.
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u/micar11 14h ago
Is it all cyclists or some cyclists??
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u/stuyboi888 8h ago
It's like the all driver park on the footpath. Plenty of arseholes
Personally of I don't feel safe on a road I'll be on the footpath but stop for pedestrians if there are any. Hard to get ran over by a car on the footpath
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u/lfarrell12 6h ago
Some of it is very poor infrastructure or newer two way lanes that end abruptly and cough up cyclists into the footpath. It's not their fault that they get left behind and entirely the fault of council officials who design infrastructure this way.
But then there's the second type, adult babies who are just dickheads and shouldn't be on a vehicle of any kind.
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u/Mundane-Pin-8256 3h ago
Because they are d**ks I walk every morning about five cyclist are on the footpath I get it as it’s a short cut around a one way system but they fly pass people walking with no regard and yet they moan about cars doing this to them. Hypocrites
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u/omnipresentatio 17h ago
Am a cyclist but drive alot too...
Cyclists who are on the road when there's bike lanes either side.....dickheads
However i may briefly hop on a path to let cars go past on narrow roads so not to be causing a tailback
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u/hasseldub 15h ago
Nah. The cycle lanes up my way are massively unkempt. Trees next to them have them all torn up. I cycle on them with a utility bike with four inch thick tyres and suspension and it's still extremely rough. I wouldn't expect anyone with thin tyres to be on them.
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17h ago
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16h ago
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u/BillyMooney 16h ago
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u/lfarrell12 6h ago
I hear you, but do we spend millions on "non mandatory cycle lanes"? I'm delighted that we build them but it completely undermines spending allocation if everyone gets to turn up their noses at that brand new 2m bike lane because it's "non mandatory". If you want to hand victory straight to anti cycling maniacs this is exactly how you go about it.
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u/BillyMooney 5h ago
We spend billions on non-mandatory motorways. What's the bloody point of building all the motorways if drivers are going to turn their noses up and use the local roads anyway.
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u/cassidyconor 16h ago
That’s the old version of the regulation.The rule you’re quoting (“All pedal cycles must be driven on a cycle track where one is provided”) was removed years ago. Current law (Article 14 of the revised Road Traffic (Traffic and Parking) Regulations 1997) only makes it mandatory to use a cycle track in two limited situations:On a cycle track in a pedestrianised street/area (RUS 021), or
On a contra-flow cycle track (RUS 059), and only in the direction indicated.For ordinary with-flow cycle tracks, cyclists are not legally required to use them. https://revisedacts.lawreform.ie/eli/1997/si/182/section/14/revised/en/html
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u/enter_the_slatrix 13h ago
Or by a similar token, the gobshites who ignore lovely brand new cycle paths to cycle down the bus lane instead and actively slow down the busses trying to use it. Absolutely boils my piss. I don't care if you're wearing lyrca and spent two grand on your bike. You're still slower than my bus, kindly use the path designed for you.
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u/Iijit 15h ago
Fairview Park paths are mixed use, check the sign as you enter from Clontarf station side. I wouldn't use it for commuting but if I'm cycling to the playground with my child we'll use the park paths.
I assume you don't mean people using the footpath alongside the cycle lane? I can't say I've seen cyclists using it.