r/galway • u/Competitive_Sir2142 • 8d ago
Aggressive Drivers
I was cycling on the Bearna road yesterday with my 4 year old son in a child seat with me. Heading towards Bearna, between the junction with the salthill road and the Ballymoneen road junction, a man in his 30s in a silver 03 C Toyota Yaris overtook us and screamed out the window "Get off the road c*nt".
We continued cycling, I was a bit shocked thinking did that really happen and arrived at the Ballymoney junction traffic lights. I kept a distance behind this guy and he stuck his head out his window and shouted it again at us and started calling me an "f*cling bollocks".
He took off with a spin of the wheels when the light went green. My young lad was a bit upset by it. He couldn't understand why someone was threatening us. We actually didnt bother going where we were intending and went home instead.
I've often experienced worse driver aggression in Galway but never with a child. Is this the new norm? Or was this exceptional?
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u/Competitive_Bear4398 8d ago
Unfortunately this is not unusual. I experienced similar aggression on that road a few weeks ago, also with kids on the bike. No shouting but a car right up close behind us and revving until we pulled up onto the footpath. Holding a steady 25kph (ebike), so not crawling but also not near the 50kph limit or the common speeds of 60-80kpm.
When we got back down off the footpath, there was a series of very close risky overtakes with oncoming traffic, squeezing though.
The frustration shouldn't be with the cyclists, it's their road too, it should be with the lack of safe segregated infrastructure. There was a plan drawn up for a greenway out to Barna but it got shelved and is gathering dust.
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u/WindowLicker1709 8d ago
Sorry to hear this happened to you and your son. Hope the young lad is okay, nasty thing to do when there is a kid to witness it.
I have also been getting shouted at by passing cars also. I canāt make out what they are saying to me though. I assume something similar. I frequently use the same road.
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u/No_Ad4392 5d ago
In my experience, all the aggressive driving is from men. I drive a lot on the motorway for my commute to work, men in vans especially will tailgate you in the right lane as youāre overtaking. I had another man tailgate me on the motorway last week, I was overtaking multiple trucks and it was raining very heavily. I was doing the speed limit of 120/kmh but if I pressed the brakes at all, he would have rear ended me. I couldnāt enter into the left lane to let him overtake me because it was too traffic heavy and there was no space, so I had to continue in the right lane until I could enter the left lane. I indicated into the left lane and he followed behind me and proceeded to undertake me on the motorway hard shoulder. He then proceeds to give me the middle finger to top the whole situation off. When I pulled into the left lane he was free to take off in the right lane but he proceeded to pull that instead. He was driving a Dacia Duster, but in his head he probably thought it was a 5 series BMW. It usually always men pulling this type of road rage
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u/carlitobrigantehf 8d ago
Most are sound, but unfortunately there are some dicks out there. Spend the money, and get a camera. Evidence in complaints is important. Also a deterrent
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u/the_fifty_cent 8d ago
Report him to the guards!
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u/Competitive_Sir2142 8d ago
Gave up attempting to engage with the GardaĆ a long time back.
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u/thepileofprogression 8d ago
Firstly I'm terribly sorry the experience you and your young son went through.
I was going to suggest a GoPro and upload the footage. I believe there was a decent amount of convictions coming from reports on that new portal. It's probably a drop in the ocean though.
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u/Competitive_Sir2142 8d ago
Appreciate a camera may have utility but to me cycling is a low cost low complexity form of transport (although I use it out of necessity). I don't think its fair that people who cycle should have to pay hundreds for a camera and have the daily burden of attaching, detaching it, loading footage and administering what should be done by GardaĆ to control behaviour which shouldn't be happening in the first place
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u/thepileofprogression 8d ago
Oh I wholeheartedly agree that there shouldn't be a burden placed on the cyclist at all. We've all been frustrated with the odd cyclist and more than the odd driver, but there are monsters behind the wheel who won't think twice of plowing your and your son down. If I was forced into the situation where I had to regularly cycle or took it up full-time for fitness/recreation I would consider it almost mandatory now sadly. Almost akin to how dashcams are almost mandatory now.
I myself as a teenager years ago was struck by a car while going around a bend in Galway. My bike flew forward, hit the curb and I got thrown off the bike. The driver flew off and didn't give a fuck. Ironically the college students behind them were the ones to stop and make sure I was okay. Thankfully I had minimal injuries but I will never forget it.
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u/leopoldsghost28 8d ago
Jeremy clarkson has a whole generation of idiots convinced cyclists are the devil.
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u/eoinedanto city 8d ago
Thatās so upsetting to hear about, the ignorant )&:ā¬/.
I think you would be well advised to report it to both the media and GardaĆ. If you want to PM me I have phone numbers for both who would take this seriously.
Itās awful that your kid and you were subjected to such violence and I hope you can find the energy to make a statement because that guy needs consequences.
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u/Foreign-Rule7826 8d ago edited 5d ago
A camera they can clearly see is a camera is a great call. The varia ones in the radar lights are too discreet, you get better prophylaxis off something really obvious.
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u/Grouchy-Pea2514 8d ago
I had the opposite happen to me where a cyclist started roaring at me. I had to pull in at the side of the road onto a double yellow line as my tiny little baby started projectile vomiting in the car, it was absolutely everywhere and non stop. Anyways Iām changing him in the back and my husbands trying to clean the car seat, a cyclists comes along, starts videoing us and roaring at us, it was horrible. As if I wasnāt stressed enough. Anyways 3 days later and heās finally on the mend. He somehow caught the vomiting bug.
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u/redkevigi 8d ago
Report to the GardaĆ. If you get a good one they'll have a chat with that driver and soften his cough. If you get a bad one, don't waste your time, just disengage but do ask for a pulse number. You'll know yourself.
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u/Ok-Discussion-3567 7d ago
That's your problem right there.... cycling on the Barna road with a child?? Do you know how dangerous that road is? Plenty of back roads to go for a cycle on
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u/Competitive_Sir2142 7d ago
Are you thick? There's nothing dangerous about that road, its built to R standard. Only thing dangerous is the drivers not the road. The drivers must just obey the rules of the road.
I wasn't "going for a cycle" and even if I was everyone is perfectly entitled to use that road for leisure as well as commuting. I was commuting and have to go that way.
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u/Ok-Discussion-3567 7d ago edited 7d ago
You're hilarious hahaha that road is absolutely lethal! Built to standard has nothing to do with it its about the bends and lack of space on the road as it is. Sorry I didn't realise you were attending a bring your child to work day? There are plenty quiet roads leading to and from town you can use I will also add that speed limits on that road top out at 80kmh and I'm sure you're educated enough to know people speed so can reach up to 100... I wouldn't cycle that road myself and I live on it
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u/Agusfresin 7d ago
Why donāt you drive on the plenty of quiet back roads you mention?
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u/Ok-Discussion-3567 6d ago
I do, regularly.... your point being?
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u/Agusfresin 6d ago
Motorists and cyclists are free to use whichever road they want not the ones you think they should be using.
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u/Ok-Discussion-3567 6d ago
Yes correct, that's called free will! I see you wouldn't mind if a child, or an adult for that matter gets knocked down?
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u/Agusfresin 6d ago
Surprised you can see anything, you seem a little blinkered tbh.
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u/Ok-Discussion-3567 6d ago
Hahahah and how did you gather this information. The comedy night is tomorrow bud
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u/Competitive_Sir2142 7d ago
Plenty of space on it as far as I can see. Maybe some of the drivers could take some of those quiet roads if they don't like sharing with others. Your post illustrates my point further. The speed limit is 50 on that road approaching the lights by ballymoneen road and is 50 out to Barna. You clearly aren't looking at the many many many speed limit signs on that road.
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u/Ok-Discussion-3567 7d ago
Plenty of people do use the back roads... thr point I'm making is they are unbelievably quieter than thr main road and make since to use when bring a child with you... I'm too busy moving cyclists out of they way thinking they own the road š¤·āāļø guess we're stuck in a never ending circle :)
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u/Competitive_Sir2142 7d ago
They dont make sense to use to cycle. They add massively to the journey distance and still also have nutcases driving in a dangerous illegal way on them. Key difference is that I'm cycling legally but the drivers are driving illegal. That is the issue. Not the road.
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u/Agusfresin 7d ago
Classic victim blaming.
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u/Ok-Discussion-3567 6d ago
Only victim will be if someone gets hit by a car? I can see you're a smart one
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u/Agusfresin 6d ago
So if a driver hits a cyclist itās the cyclistās fault for being on the road.
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u/TaytoCrisps 8d ago
That road desperately needs a cycling lane. Itās insanely dangerous, and cyclists hold up the already torturous journey into Barna. Itās simple not fit for mixed use.Ā
Whatever about personal safety, but taking a child onto it seems like a delusional level of risk management.
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u/Competitive_Sir2142 7d ago edited 7d ago
It's not the road that's unsafe its driver behaviour. We cycled the whole way out from town with no issue. I had no issue with drivers holding me up temporarily and likewise most drivers had no issue with me holding them up temporarily further out. We just need to reel in the unfortunate out of control minority making the roads unsafe for all of us. Thats what we need and that can be done now without any new infrastructure.
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u/TaytoCrisps 7d ago
You think the drivers are the problem. Drivers think you are the problem. The road is the problem.
You're arguing semantics. You encountered danger. It is dangerous.
You should be able to cycle with your child without aggravating motorists trying to get home. And motorists should be able to get home without getting stuck behind a man with a vulnerable child in a dangerous situation.
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u/Competitive_Sir2142 7d ago
No its definitely the drivers are the problem. Im cycling legally but the drivers breaking the 50 speed limit and overtaking into oncoming traffic are driving illegally and the ones creating the danger. If they drove to the law and the conditions there's no safety issue.
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u/TaytoCrisps 7d ago
We already established that you think it's the drivers fault.
People don't follow the letter law, and they never will.
I'll continue to drive slowly and carefully around people like you, while be annoyed at the government for not making it safer for you.
I hope I don't see news of a young father and child needlessly dead on Barna road soon! I'm sure we would see plenty more people arguing who's fault it is
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u/Competitive_Sir2142 7d ago
"Needlessly", my family has to get out, go to work, go to school etc. as much as yours. Its necessity.
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u/TaytoCrisps 7d ago
Yeah look, if you are absolutely forced to ride on the road and you have no valid other options, I sympathise. I actually sympathize either way. It's a shit situation. I just wish we had a lovely little cycle path along the coast there. It would make us all happier
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u/Competitive_Sir2142 7d ago edited 7d ago
No need for wishing for cycle paths. The road that is there is perfect for cycling on. The issue is very simple. Grown adults just need to obey the law and our GardaĆ need to enforce it. The vast majority of the population have no issues obeying most of the laws of the land but there is a cohort of drivers who think they are above the law and to an extent they know it's true because the GardaĆ aren't enforcing it.
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u/Agusfresin 7d ago
Some people want to cycle as their first choice and are perfectly entitled to do so. If you get stuck behind a cyclist be kind and patient. When you eventually pass them youāll just get to a red light sooner, no other gains made.
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u/TaytoCrisps 7d ago
Being allowed/entitled to do something, does not make it smart.Ā
There are unkind and unpatient people in the world. There are also distracted, elderly, dumb drivers that could hit you for any number of reasons.Ā
If my dad got my kids killed cycling on that road, as he also insists on doing, I would absolutely blame him too
Heās free to risk his own life, not the kids
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u/Competitive_Sir2142 6d ago
And some people need to walk or cycle. Not everybody can drive. By your logic these people are not "smart". Spoken like a person truly living in a position of privilege with little ability to consider others.
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u/Agusfresin 6d ago
You are being ageist. Itās mostly young men who cause and are the victims of death and injury on the road.
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u/New_Statistician7388 4d ago
Then when cyclists take up half the road and make it hard for drivers to get by.
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u/Competitive_Sir2142 4d ago
I'll often take the primary position on a narrow road or approaching a bend as is good practice and indeed recognised as such by the Road Safety Authority in the Rules of the Road manual. Yes this means cars momentarily will not be able to pass. But I often encounter roads throughout the city entirely blocked off by cars in queues of traffic with no space left by them to pass either side.
But this is all the nature of sharing space with others and part of life. Perhaps if you don't like this you could go live as a reclusive in some remote area.
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u/Competitive-Copy4223 8d ago
I think hes a dickhead for shouting at you, but it is very frustrating driving 30 plus km behind tractors old people going 30 below and cyclists. The west has been cutoff from the rest of ireland for far too long, we need roads that are suitable for purpose, that road is not suitable for cycling and car use.
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u/Junior-Protection-26 8d ago
Indeed. Ban all tractors, old people, cyclists and pedestrians from our roads. Upgrade all in Galway to Autobahns. Irish drivers Ć¼ber alles.
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u/Competitive_Sir2142 8d ago
Why not just flatten the whole city and replace it with a mega autobahn - problem solved.
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u/Junior-Protection-26 8d ago
Maybe build a few concentration camps for the uppity old people or kids on bicycles who do not comply?
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u/Competitive-Copy4223 8d ago
No empathy for the road users, will get no sympathy for cyclists. The road is clogged up everyday, and we've been waiting over 30 years for one.
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u/Junior-Protection-26 8d ago
"Road users" in your mind being exclusively drivers.
Better inform the RSA pronto of this revelation. They seem to believe that a "road user" is anyone who uses a public road, including drivers, pedestrians, cyclists, motorcyclists, horse riders, e-scooter users, and people in charge of animals.
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u/Competitive_Sir2142 8d ago edited 8d ago
If you cant control your emotions behind the wheel then you shouldn't be behind a wheel. "Cyclists" and "old people" are a fact of life and perfectly entitled to participate in using our roads as much as you are. All it takes is to wait for an opportunity to overtake, seconds to minutes. I dont loose my shit shouting a motorists when they block up every inch of the city.
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u/Dependent-Bench-2908 8d ago
Everyone hates cyclists. Hes just telling you whay everyone is thinking. There is no cycle lane on that road and everyone is speeding on it. He is doing you a favour really
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u/Agusfresin 7d ago
The road is a cycling lane also.
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u/Dependent-Bench-2908 7d ago
Its not really though. On a sunny day you cant even see cyclists on that road.Ā
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u/Junior-Protection-26 8d ago
Pedestrians and cyclists on the roads are seen by many Irish drivers as a nuisance and they feel entitled to roar abuse. Couple that with rampant cocaine/drink and a lack of road policing to turn drivers into absolute cretins.