Dutch Courage
Dublin should follow Amsterdam’s lead and put cycling to the fore of commuter infrastructure, says Fergus McDonnell
Amsterdam can teach Dublin a thing or two about how to treat cyclists
ANYONE who has ever sat on a saddle to pedal their way to work, school, college or even just to the local shop will understand the feeling. It’s as if as soon as you get on your bike you are immediately enveloped in a cloak of invisibility.
Very handy if you’re a superhero fighting crime on the mean streets, not so clever if you’re trying to steer yourself through traffic and around potholes and shore covers with only a couple of inches of rubber separating you from the unforgiving tarmac.
Since taking to the bike seven years ago, I’ve been squeezed into the kerb by busses, had drivers’ doors suddenly open in front of me, cars pull out or pull in without their drivers checking their mirrors or turn left without warning or even a glance over their shoulders.
But my personal favourite is the vehicle that races past you, mad keen to get in front, and then has to stop just ahead to turn or wait for the lights to change. Madness.
There are two sides to the coin, of course. Motorists will complain long and loud about cyclists having no respect for traffic lights, nor indeed many of the rules of the road, and about these two-wheeled demons taking up road space without paying road tax.
But the truth is that most adult cyclists are also motorists, and playing fast and loose with the rules of the road is not a cyclist thing, it’s an Irish thing. You don’t have to wait long at any junction to witness motorists and/or cyclists breaking the lights.
Many drivers seem to view the change from green to orange as a signal that only five more cars will get through the lights and they better put the boot down or they’ll be left sitting (horror of horrors) for as long as three minutes.
There has been an effort to improve the lot of cyclists on Dublin’s streets in recent years. There are now quite a few cycle lanes on the major commuter routes (although using one of these didn’t prevent me getting clipped by a driver who was in such a mad rush to get to the red light ahead that he just couldn’t wait the few seconds it would have taken for him to have enough room to pass safely).
Many of the cycle lanes are also prone to be liberally strewn with two of a cyclist’s worst enemies – glass and pedestrians.
The former could be solved by a better effort from the local authorities to maintain these lanes rather than just put them there and consider the problem solved. The latter, like our disregard for the rules of the road, is purely down to attitude.
Take the Phoenix Park for example. It is no exaggeration to say that cyclists will encounter fewer obstacles on the road than they will in the cycle lanes. And the reason is simple – pedestrians simply refuse to buy into the idea that there should be something that looks like a pathway, but is reserved for bicycles.
They will quite happily, therefore, stroll along two or three abreast managing to completely block your passage, and if you advise them of your arrival with a tinkle of your bell or a friendly warning to watch behind them, you can expect to be greeted with a look that screams ‘who the hell do you think you are?’
They will walk their dogs with one of those extendable leads, which seem specifically designed to enable canine and master to force you into testing your brakes to the limit.
It doesn’t have to be like this, though. A recent visit to Amsterdam revealed that cyclists, motorists and a sophisticated public transport system can actually co-exist. All it takes is the proper infrastructure and the willingness of its users to obey the rules and use it properly.
In Amsterdam, bicycles are used daily by just about everybody, to the extent that a group of people going out for the night will cycle to the pub, from there to the restaurant or nightclub, and will climb on the bikes again at the end of the night to get home.
Cycle lanes run as distinct entities to the roads and the paths, separated by paving, and woe betide the pedestrian who steps onto the cycle lane, in that half-asleep way we are so fond of in this country, without first checking if their way is clear.
Everywhere you look in Amsterdam there are bicycles of all shapes and sizes, chained to every available railing or the many parking stands when not in use. Often they come with child seats attached and some with a big box on the front to carry your shopping or even your dogs.
The bike is king on those streets. The trams trundle happily along, carrying the non-cycling commuters around with little fuss. There are cars, busses and vans as well, of course, but their drivers know their place and are happy to take their time, no doubt fully aware that while they aren’t cycling at the moment, it won’t be long before they are.
Cycling in Dublin is at best dodgy and often downright dangerous. You have to have your wits about you at all times and, even then, such are the many hazards that there always seems to be something that will catch you out.
Still, I wouldn’t swap it for the world. The worst day on the bike is still better than the best day in the car or on the bus.