Cyclists and motorists are at war, says road safety head

Liz O’Donnell has said there is a “war between cyclists and motorists” taking place on the roads that she would like to end in her tenure as chairwoman of the Road Safety Authority.

“It’s like a war going on, some cyclists are very militant, some motorists are very militant and aggressive. It’s as if they are unwilling to share this road space,” said the former politician on this week’s Roisin Meets podcast.

She acknowledged that “many cyclists do not comply with the rules” but said that “there can’t be equality” of responsibility for road safety between cyclist and motorists because “ultimately, if there’s a collision between a car and a cyclist, the cyclist will come out worse.”

“Over the next five years we’re going to have to really talk about being reasonable to each other” she said. “Many cyclists are being seriously injured, and it’s not always their fault.”

She said that despite the work of the Road Safety Authority since its creation in 2006, fatalities are rising again, and “things we thought we had overcome”, such as failure to wear seat belts, were returning.

“During that decade the statistic for road fatalities really dropped, by 60 per cent, so we had a really good run. I’m taking it over now when there’s a rise in the figures. So it’s a challenge.”

“When it comes to road safety, enforcement is important, but there is also cultural need for people to be aware that they are driving a potential murder vehicle,” she said.

Ms O’Donnell also said that the 8th amendment to the constitution allowing equal rights to unborn children “is too restrictive and needs to be changed”.

“You cannot have equality of rights in that sense. When there’s a conflict it must be for the born woman. It’s that little tangent where the tragedies occur. It’s impossible to balance those rights without damaging the dignity and individual liberty of the woman” she said.