Madam, – The danger of the passing car being driven too close for comfort and without regard for the cyclist is the great fear that every cyclist has (Life Features, April 22nd). Cycle lanes are brilliant, but it’s not possible to have them everywhere.
While I was driving in the state of Montana last year, cyclists were to be seen in considerable numbers, obviously encouraged by the very sensible and workable law in that state that if you drive your car within six feet of a cyclist you will be prosecuted. – Yours, etc,
A chara, – As a car owner who would prefer to cycle to work, I am delighted to see the launch of the Government’s new National Cycle Policy Framework (Home News, April 21st), but I have two reservations.
First, in the development of safe cycling infrastructure, there is a big difference between “cycle lanes with visual segregation” and “physically separated cycle tracks”.
While cycle lanes marked off in paint offer little protection from motor traffic, dedicated cycle tracks might eliminate three of the top four types of cycling accidents listed by Dublin City Council (almost 75 per cent of cyclists killed in Dublin were hit by HGVs turning left).
The following types of accidents would not occur if cyclists followed a network of kerbed cycle tracks based on the Danish model: drivers turning right in front of an oncoming bicycle; drivers hitting a bicycle when overtaking or changing lanes; and car doors being opened in front of cyclists.
A second practical issue, particularly relevant in the Irish context, is our climate of frequent rain.
The framework does not discuss this except to mention plans to address the “myth” that it rains all the time.
Now, although it does not rain all day, every day, Met Éireann tells us that the average number of wet days per year ranges from 150 on the east coast to 225 in the west, and this poses a practical problem for cyclists, especially during the school season.
The framework mentions bicycle stations with showers, lockers and changing rooms, but makes no mention of any incentives to provide such facilities in schools or workplaces.
Another partial solution, proposed by a group of engineering students in the report of the Energy Needs Ireland project in 2007, might be to construct covered cycle tracks, which “would protect the cyclist from road vehicles as well as the elements”.
Although that project was funded by the Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources, the Department of Transport’s new framework makes no mention of it.
I wish the Government every success in devising innovative, workable solutions to the problems posed. – Is mise,
Madam, – I was intrigued to learn that the Minister for Transport is eager to encourage more people to take to their bicycles.
I cycle to and from work each day in Dublin and I have just returned from a trip to Munich where I hired a bicycle to cycle around the city. The difference between cycling in the two cities could not be more stark. In Germany cycle lanes are amply provided and well-maintained, whereas in Ireland facilities for cyclists are strewn with shards of glass (because the roads are rarely cleaned) and littered with potholes (because the roads are poorly maintained). No doubt the members of the Cabinet are unable to see these facts because of the restricted view from their ministerial cars.
The day that I see politicians using bicycles and public transport to get to and from work each day, sending their children to State schools and relying on the public health service when they are ill, then and only then will I know that politicians in this country are serious about funding public services. I will not hold my breath. – Yours, etc,
Madam, – I was very interested to read in your edition of April 21st about the Government’s plans to encourage cycling – all of which are very laudable – but what surprised me greatly was that two photographs with the article showed cyclists without helmets. Given the real dangers facing cyclists, many of whom sustain brain injuries when involved in accidents, I think this practice is as unacceptable as driving without a seat belt. It is also disappointing not to see any reference in the article to the need to encourage cyclists to wear helmets at all times. – Yours, etc,