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THE VAST MAJORITY of serious accidents on Dublin’s roads involve cyclists, pedestrians or motorcyclists, Gardaí have said.
Gardaí have launched a major operation to reduce the number of casualties on the capital’s streets after research found that October and November is traditionally a blackspot for serious accidents as clocks go back and evenings get shorter.
Speaking at the launch of the campaign today, Gardaí said:
The National Transport Authority is to give out up to 75oo sets of lights to cyclists at major events and popular cycling areas in order to increase their visibility as part of the casualty reduction plan.
All four of Dublin’s local authorities will run highly visable signs along roadsides urging drivers to reduce their speeds. Ads will also be placed on Dublin Buses and Luas trams to encourage road safety.
Speaking at the launch, Assistant Commissioner Gerard Philips said that Dublin now has the safest roads of all EU capital cities.
The Asst Commissioner also said that he would support recent calls for an increase in penalty points for drivers who use mobile phones, citing research which said that people are four times more likely to be in an accident if they use their phones while driving.
The plan to reduce casualties on the roads at this time of year, which is now in its third year, has seen a significant reduction in road fatalities. 32 people died on Dublin’s roads in October – November 2009, 19 died in 2010 and there were 11 fatalities during the same period in 2011.
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Handing out free lights is a fantastic idea, well done NTA.
Cyclists also note, High viz vests are a must for every cyclist, please wear them.
I nearly flattened a girl on a bike driving down Kilmainham Lane the other nite. Missed her by inches. No lights front or back and dressed in dark clothes. I was shook for hours after with the fright.
There should be a free eye check for drivers too. Just saying.
I paid almost €40 for lights on my bicycle and those who could not be bothered will get them for free.
censored if your referring to me, my eye sight is perfect. The Girl was invisible because of the lights of on coming cars. Your obviously not a driver judging by that comment.
Lights are active protection equipment. They don’t need a light to be shone upon them for them to be visible. Great in Dublin. Hi-Vis vests only work if there is a light shone on them. ie. if you dont have your high beams on, you won’t get light reflected on them. Try it the next time your behind a cyclist. A high vis vest is no substitute for a light at all.
In short.
Lights>High Vis vest.
Patrick you are dead right at least you are taking responsibility by purchasing lights ,well done now go down get a set of free ones just in case yours are ever stolen fair enough why should those too irresponsible enough to purchase one get a freebie .The free eye check is a good idea but should apply to everyone getting or renewing a license at present only new applicants get checked EVERYBODY should be checked i know of 2 drivers who are nearly blind but drive without glasses through sheer vanity
Based on the article, “The most risky period.. is between 4pm and 6pm”. Most year it’s not dark at this time of the day.
Lights and high-viz are nice and make the road users more visible all the time, but I doubt a shiny vest and a light bulb would actually change the statistics.
A solution should consist of three things:
1. a massive reduction of the number of motor vehicles on the roads.
2. an improvement of cycling tracks.
3. training cyclists and enforcing the rules of the road on them too.
Many cyclists don’t stop on red light, push themselves everywhere and are very impatient in general. There are quite many examples of cyclists in Dublin that ride dangerously on the following page:
http://dublincyclists.blogspot.ie/search/label/safety
Patrick, €40? In Dun Laoghaire I got lights for my bike for 3 euro – batteries included!
Yeah and it would be a start if the small minority of cyclists were reminded that a RED light does actually mean you should STOP so you dont end up on a trolley for 7 hours for your foolishness, clogging up and adding to the problems of an inefficient A&E system.
No Joe, not referring to you. I should have clarified that. A free eye test for motorists would be a good thing because the only time most of them can see cyclists is when the cyclist is going through a red light!
I am a cyclist and I feel very frustrated regularly because Dublin’s roads are designed for cars, lorries and buses. It is difficult to get around the city safely and quickly on a bike. There needs to be a massive overhaul of the roads in Dublin. The council need to make it it safe to cycle and much more pedestrian friendly. Especially the city centre.
Maybe I’m mad but couldn’t the same “message” be put out by fining anyone caught without lights?
An come on. Credit where it’s due like
No you’re not mad at all, you’re probably just as sick as the rest of us who constantly see ambivalent pedestrians & cyclists not lit up, and many are unfortunately getting knocked down, thus driving insurance premiums through the roof and putting the misfortune who knocked them down through severe anguish. The govt (on behalf of the in$urance lobby) has gone after the drivers, how about a national campaign on road safety for other road users, starting with the primary school kids, it would undoubtedly save a few more lives. It is insane how many people walk on the wrong side of the road at night.
That was the original intention Damocles but the problem arose when the Justice minister was informed that cyclists don’t have to carry identification so it would be difficult to ensure the right information was being given. It was in the news a while back.
should get a fine for no lights, the amount of cyclists(me one of them too) without any lights is unreal
stay safe and be seen! its a no brainer
Cyclists should be made use cycle lanes where provided as well
@ Laim
They’re planning to change the mandatory useage of them thankfully.
@Liam you’ve obviously never used a cycle lane in Dublin, otherwise you’d understand how downright dangerous the majority of them are and why cyclists avoid them.
There are cycle lanes?
Cycle lanes are often unusable. Littered with broken glass, potholed and usually have cars parked on them!
The NRA should adapt the Dutch model where cyclist get proity on the road n at junctions. I’m not a cyclist myself but it’s so much safer and encourages more people to use this green form of transport..
crap idea holland is flat so more cyclists,over here they should pay attention obey traffic laws have lights front and rear and wear hi-vis vests from dusk onward .And those posy riders in their leotards should ride single file when on a main road and shut up and pay attention, when in bus lanes or cycle lanes ride side by side talk but still pay attention, plus cyclists don’t pay road tax but us motorists pay for the cycle lanes and i am a motorcyclist who looks out for himself and doesn’t whinge every time somebody nearly kills me ,take responsibility for yourself !!
@ Niall.
I don’t know where to start with that comment, you could use a few spaces here and there and a paragraph at least.
Cyclists are entitled to be on the road as much as anyone else. Also its MOTOR TAX, not road tax. Do cyclists have internal combustion engines attached to their bikes? Last time I looked they didn’t. It’s a tax for having an engine in your vehicle. Nothing else.
If possible cyclists shouldn’t use the same space as cars & trucks. It’s madness. If it was a factory and not a road it would be shut down.
A good idea – but try cycling in the rain (even when fully lit with helmet & hiviz) with a 4×4 on one side and deep potholes on the other.
No amount of lights will save u then.
Good to see that fatal accidents went from 32 in 2009, to 19 in 2010 to 11 in 2011. This decrease occurred during a time when cycling numbers have increased significantly. Suggests that despite anecdotes to the contrary, motorists are getting more used to cyclists and cyclists are getting more used to being on the roads.
Bound to be an increase in the number of dublinbikes users cycling on the pavements.
I’m a cyclist myself but find the increase in cycling on pavements dangerous.
There are still a lot of bad cycling routes, one way streets, no cycling around the green etc., that should really be sorted by DCC. Bit of a mess.
Why is it,every time there is a story about road safety,the key element that is always left out is the state of the roads ???
almost got hit by a guy just now in an English reg audi who jumped the lights at the ifsc. guy had the audacity to give me the fingers when i pointed out the red light to him. sorry i know its a bit off topic!
I drive a moped. Visible jacket, lights default to being on. Careful driver. I have lost count on the number of times a car has almost side swiped me by coming out of a junction when I am approaching. They wouldn’t do it to an oncoming car! Happened last week when it was raining, had to break suddenly and could feel the wheels slip on a manhole. Too shocked to blow the horn. I was lucky.
Every road user should be aware of other users!
Agree completely … There are a few mitigating strategies you can use to reduce the incidence of these “SMIDSY”s (Sorry Mate I didn’t see you!) … Easiest is move out a touch at junctions … You’re entitled to use the entire lane … Lateral movement attracts the eye faster.
Still won’t help if they’re not looking though.
I drive all over Ireland for a living & have lost count of the number of close shaves I have had down the years with cyclists & pedestrians who were well nigh invisible
If I have as much as a parking light out I get points & a €80 fine. But not these suicide jockeys
If you can’t see them, you’re driving too fast.
Car drivers: “CYCLISTS ARE DANGEROUS MORONS!!”
Cyclists: “CAR DRIVERS ARE DANGEROUS MORONS!!”
…repeat ad infinitum…
I cycle everyday. I follow the red/green traffic lights. I wear a high-viz/helmet and have front/back lights. No excuses that should be the standard requirement BY LAW!
Dublin city has improved over the years I’ve been cycling however during my ten minute cycle to work each day I meet motorists/motorcyclists/cyclists who shouldn’t be on the road. Cyclists who listen to music/with headphones – you’re a danger to yourself and OTHERS! Everyone else..at traffic lights it shouldn’t be who can get closest to the pedestrian crossing or who can park on ALL the bicycle section…taxis and cyclist learn your colours..red/yellow/green
I remember I met a major of Dublin once and asked her would she cycle in Dublin..she instantly said ‘oh no..it’s too dangerous’…
Brian, there is no need to enforce your interpretation of safety on others. The problem is clearly the sharing of road space, and not the visibility of cyclists. I drive and cycle, as needed and spend half my year in holland, and half in Ireland; the difference (apart from the fact that most motorists are cyclists) is that there are independent cycle paths throughout the city, road network and countryside. Lights should be mandatory, but there should be no need for vests, helmets or any form of lycra to be able to hop on a bike. In most cycle routes, there is only a small white line in the middle of a wet road that motorists have to swerve around. There is not one continuous path from the city centre to any suburb, and as a result it is dangerous.
It is cheap to put in place a full cycle network, including cycle crossings and off road protection to enable more people to trust that they can cycle without being hit by a car or truck. This would bring more cyclists, reduce cars and everybody would have a choice, something that is not there at the moment. As a motorist, this would make the road safer for drivers, and would be something I would be willing to allow my motor tax be used for.
Better idea. Give cyclists each a copy of the Rules of the Road. Give them registration numbers so the ones who disobey pedestrian lights can be prosecuted, make them take out insurance. And a course in manners wouldn’t go astray either – none of which, by the way, excuses ignorant, careless motorists.
Trouble is nowadays many motorists have never been on a bike and don’t understand how much room they need. If a car and a bike collide, regardless of who is at fault, the car gets a bit scratched; the cyclist could end up paralysed or dead.
And if a cyclist breaks pedestrian lights and hits a mother walking a five year old to school and pushing a baby in a buggy or hits an elderly person… Who comes off worst. You see, trouble is when the lights show green for pedestrians they don’t expect cyclists to go speeding through.
I live in Coolock and cycle through Coolock and Ballymun… Where can I get the aforementioned lights?
A man from the NTA said they’ll give out the lights at major events and along routes used by cyclists, but he didn’t give examples of exactly where this will happen. I just tried ringing them there to get more details but seems the person to ask has just left for the day. I’ll give them a shout tomorrow morning to check and will get back to you on this one.
Guessing that a lot of people will be interested in knowing where to get them, giving how pricey bike lights can be…
Thanks very much! I was trying to shop around but they’re very pricey regardless of where you go! The cheap ones aren’t really useful so it’d a waste of like 6 euro!
The RSA were giving away high viz vests in DCU when they were doing a campus tour last year. Hopefully there’ll be another one this year!
€8 in Aldi this week for a set with front and back. Batteries too.
Another way to reduce the amount of accidents involving or caused by cyclists is to put a guard on every junction so when the lights are red they can catch those cyclists who believe the red light applys to cars only and not them and for every cyclist that is involved in or causes an accident is breathalised on the spot just like other road users…free lights wont stop the blatant disregard for the rules of the road displayed by cyclists daily that other users must follow
Cyclists break the rules of the road more than anyone else, I’m surprised there isn’t more fatalities.
maybe some cyclists do break the rules of the road in the dublin at the moment but in my opinion for the majority of cyclists this is because the roads are not designed for them. The council have prioritised one way systems that work to some extent for cars, buses etc but not for cyclists. A big change is needed.
hey Roberto real genius roads were designed for cars pay road tax or do you expect the government and car users to pay for your cycle lanes, as for stephens stupid comment about the state of cycle lanes the ones outside my house are perfect maybe in town they are not but from my experience ,in town on a motorcycle, is that the roads are shite and covered in oil and totally lethal you are safer in cycle lanes even if they are not up to your standard also cyclists stop whingeing like babies look out for yourselves dont expect others to do it for you. thats how i ride expecting to be knocked off so my awareness is heightened and i stay safe and the government should change the law making it mandatory to have id when using roads whatever the vehicle or confiscate the vehicle look at some of the unpopular laws they have passed smoking ban ,points for breaking traffic laws etc so this law will be welcomed by the majority who like me are fed up with cyclists flouting the laws .As for pedestrians as a courier hit a pedestrian who was chatting away not paying attention while crossing a four lane road i had the green light so he should not have even been on road i saw him and took evasive action he saw me at last minute and ran straight into my path i knocked him halfway across park lane he lived but did he pay for damages to my bike NO he was a moron always look before stepping out on road because you could get killed or cause the death of another
“Out of 51 people who were killed or seriously injured on Dublin’s roads so far this year, more than three quarters were pedestrians, cyclists or motorcyclists.”
Ok, something smells here. What were all these people killed or injured by?
1. pedestrian vs pedestrian?
2. pedestrian vs cyclist?
3. cyclist vs motorcyclist?
4. a thunderbolt from the heavens?
… or perhaps is it possible they were killed/injured by a motorised vehicle ie ALL the serious accidents involved cars!
Don’t be asking reasonable questions. Can’t you see this is the Moan About Cyclists thread?
Actually if you look at the stats, the number of pedestrian KSIs dwarfs the other two. Cyclists make the cut only because its easier to flog them “safety” equipment. It would be just as accurate to define vulnerable road users as cyclists, pedestrians, motorcyclists, pink Micra drivers and badgers.
well next time your passing thru the city take an honest at the behaviour of pedestrians….I am a driver and obviously occasionally a pedestrians too , I have lived in other countries for years and I just find it unbelievable the stupidity and recklessness of pedestrians who refuse to cross at lights even if they are only 20 yards further up the street , refuse to wait for green man but insist on crossing as soon as they deem the break in traffic ok , get stupidly drunk late at night in dark clothing and walk shamelessly on the road giving you the finger if you beep a horn and then come out with the classic bullshit that ‘pedestrians have right of way’…..but of course if they end up in accident and emergency its the motorised vehicles fault…
We still have a major cultural problem with pedestrians crossing roads wherever and whenever they like , the amount people who end up in accident and emergency if not fatally injured is unbelievable and still we won’t have an honest debate or consider fines for idiotic crossing on busy roads , we have spent years adding ramps , lights , slow zones , points etc but never actually addressed pedestrians role in the accidents.
And it is not only wherever they like…it is also without looking or listening…
And joggers! There’s a woman who jogs in the bike lane on the grand canal, no reflective gear. I nearly ran her over pulling out of a parking space, it was dark so I was looking for lights or cycle type movement, traffic was clear so went to pull out and just caught a glimpse of something. She was lucky. I’ve seen her a few times since, think next time I may follow her and try to tell her.
I’d say the main causes of cyclists accidents are caused by them not having lights on at night and complete disregard for the rules of the road! Red means stop green means go!
Also trying to nip up the inside of buses or trucks is tantamount to suicide! If all cyclists obeyed the rules of the roads accidents would fall considerably
So ..how long before the NTA make it mandatory for cyclists to attach a registration plate so that they may be “more visible on our roads” ..and hence good candidates for a new tax!
It needs to be made law that cyclists are light up like mobile Xmas trees so they are a lot more visible on the roads, especially now that the winter is coming & days are shorter & darker & cyclists won’t be as visible.
As a motorcyclist I am constantly reading the road & what’s happening around me. I’ve always been annoyed by driving & on the phone but recently I’ve been actually really worried by the amount of texting/surfing I see. You will possibly kill someone if your the type of person that engages in this behaviour. Please indicate before changing lanes & it would be super if people could look prior to indicating.
I agree with much harsher penalties for using a phone whilst driving.
Cyclists & pedestrians alike should consider how difficult it can be to see you at low light levels.
Finally to the lady that rear ended me recently while I was stopped in traffic (thank god not on my motorbike) while she did her make up in her rear view mirror. . . . . . the main dealer quote for repairs would worry the dept. of finance !!!! :)
Ireland needs a lot more bike lanes,
On a raised level from the roads, like footpaths so cars don’t just use them.
Go study the bike system in Amsterdam or Copenhagen, then a lot more people would dump their cars and hop on their bikes
Agreed! Cycle paths here are not cycle paths… The majority of them are predominantly bus lanes, or have cars parked in them so they’re unsafe!
They should be made pay for tax and insurance. And if there is no cycle lane, then they shouldn’t be cycling there. Cyclists are dangerous and inconsiderate.
Any breakdown of the numbers, 75% of 51 is about 37 … But how many each of cyclists, motorcyclists and pedestrians are we talking about?
Does the very low sun during commuting hours play a role?
Will dayglo obscure users further if the drivers are looking into a low sun? (light colour on bright background)
A lot of accidents involving cyclists are when both are stopped at traffic lights and the cyclist thinks the truck is going on straight. The truck then turns left and because of the blind spot it’s usually too late for poor cyclist.
These figures are inefficient. State the number of deaths, and then state the number of serious injuries separately, please. Lumping them together is like talking about the number of footballers killed-or-injured on the playing field.
Looking at all the comments about how most can’t go down a d buy a set of lights for your bike to save your life but prob most of the same van godown to local pub and pi$$ 40 50 60 euros for beer into them I’m were bit confused now
I’ve seen many, many cyclists without headgear lately and I’m absolutely horrified. I so admire all you people who have taken to cycling. you’re a great boon to the environment, keeping yourselves ultra fit and helping ease congestion. please, please don’t leave yourselves vulnerable, because if I hurt or killed someone on the road I would never get over it! so please make yourselves visible in every way possible, wear good protective clothing and headgear and don’t take risks. a lot could be done to improve bike lanes too. some of them just don’t make sense, people park on them, they’re full of potholes or just suddenly stop. cyclists could also think about considering other road users by not cycling side by side, but rather in single file.
have your say