Madam, – The Dublin Cycling Campaign decries lawbreaking by rogue cyclists, particularly the worst infraction for a cyclist – failing to respect pedestrians’ right to peaceful enjoyment of their journeys. As vulnerable road users, cyclists must surely show exaggerated respect for those even more vulnerable.
The Campaign calls for better enforcement of all road traffic rules, particularly of speed limits in urban areas and of dangerous overtaking, defined as passing within 1.5m of a cyclist.
The fact is that road users’ obedience to rules is proportionate to the effort spent on enforcement. It’s credible that busy gardaí enforce rules more vigilantly against motorists simply because motor vehicles kill and bicycles, by and large, do not.
Provision by Ireland’s road designers of cycle lanes on footpaths, through parks and along riverbanks is surely enough to confuse even the most law-abiding cyclist? Our view is that footways are for pedestrians only and since the bicycle is classed as a vehicle it belongs wholly on the road. If some riders cycle on footpaths it is likely they are too scared to cycle on the road – the policy response to this fear is to make the roads safe for all users. Cycling is a fast-growing transport mode, set to increase exponentially, so these issues must be quickly and properly resolved.– Yours, etc,
Madam, – It is surely only a matter of time before a pedestrian is seriously injured or killed by a cyclist on a pavement and it is clear that gardaí cannot be bothered to enforce the law. Some time ago I was knocked over by a cyclist as I hopped off a bus onto the path. When I told him he could have killed me, he replied pleasantly “you coulda killed ME, ya stupid etc etc”.
But what when the speeding cyclists are themselves gardaí? Recently in Terenure a man wearing a garda vest scorched on to the path and sped round the corner towards the Garda station. Yesterday in Rathmines, a Garda cyclist pedalled onto the pavement to chat to another uniformed member of our finest, while I gazed in disbelief. Why did I not challenge our guardians? What would be the point? – Yours, etc,