The Road Safety Authority (RSA) has allocated a “similar spend” for cycling safety promotion this year as for 2016 despite a sharp rise in deaths among cyclists in the first six months of 2017.
Tag Archives: Health&Safety
All health & safety issues, inc. diet & lifestyle; also helmets
Cycling Budget Must Be Increased
From Cycling Ireland
The cycling community has lost another member to the roads. This year has seen eleven people die while cycling their bike on the road. The circumstances vary, city cycling, rural cycling, commuting, recreational cycling, day and night. This is no longer a debate about who deserves the road more, the finger pointing has to stop and a commitment from the government to an increased investment in cycling must be agreed before this number becomes twelve.
Currently less than 1% of the transport budget is spent on smarter travel – or cycling and walking. We need this to increase in order to make the roads safer and more user friendly for everybody. The Infrastructure and Capital Investment Programme for 2016-2021 was published last September, proposing that out of a €10 billion transport budget, €100 million would be spent on Smarter Travel.
Similar article in the Irish Times
UN Global Road Safety Week
Dublin, 8 May 2017
Today marks the start of the UN’s Global Road Safety Week. All around the world, communities are coming together to organise events focused around the theme ‘Save Lives #SlowDown.’ “Speed is at the core of the global road traffic injury problem,” notes WHO Director-General Dr Margaret Chan. “If countries were to address just this key risk, they would soon reap the rewards of safer roads, both in terms of lives saved and increases in walking and cycling, with profound and lasting effects on health.” 54 people have been killed on Irish roads in 2017 already, of whom 21 were vulnerable road users (pedestrians, cyclists, motor cyclists and pillion passengers). Approximately one third of all these accident fatalities are speed related. Drivers need to make the pledge and act to Save Lives
#SlowDown.
This week will see the Garda Traffic Corps out in force, carrying out extra speed checks around Dublin. Love 30 will be holding a series of events on the 9 th of May, asking drivers to make the pledge to ‘Save Lives #SlowDown.’ At 8.15am schoolchildren from Scoil Chaitríona on Mobhi Road will be out giving drivers their views on why they should slow down. At 11 am on Tuesday 9 th May, Love 30 and the Garda Traffic Corps will be Monck Place, a known ‘rat run’ in Phibsboro, asking drivers to make the pledge to ‘Save Lives #SlowDown’. At 1pm on Tuesday 9 th May, a cross-party Oireachtas group of cycling TDs and Senators will be showing their support for this campaign at the Leinster House gates on Kildare Street.
Welcoming the initiative, Inspector Ronan Barry of the Garda Traffic Corps called on everyone to take part this week. “Slowing down isn’t just for UN Global Road Safety Week,” he said. “We all need to take responsibility for saving lives on our roads.” Love 30 is a coalition of cycling and community groups who campaign for lower speed limits to make our towns and cities safer and more pleasant places to live, work and play. “We are one group out of thousands of groups, all around the world, calling on drivers to slow down,” says Love 30’s Mairéad Forsythe. “We must accept that speed is a critical factor leading to deaths on our roads and change our behaviour accordingly.” Dublin Cycling Campaign are also supporting this intiative. “In Dublin alone 3 cyclists have been killed off their bikes this year already,” said Colm Ryder of the Dublin Cycling Campaign. “It is a frightening situation that cannot continue. We are delighted that An Garda Síochána are carrying out these urban speed checks.”
Contact: Love 30, Mairéad Forsythe, 086-8337577
UN Global Road Safety Week: 8 – 14 May 2017: The #SlowDown campaign operates on the principles of the Decade of Action for Road Safety 2011-2020. On 11 May 2011, dozens of countries around the world kicked off the first global Decade of Action. From New Zealand to Mexico and the Russian Federation to South Africa, governments committed to taking new steps to save lives on their roads. The Decade of Action seeks to prevent road traffic deaths and injuries which experts project will take the lives of 1.9 million people annually by 2020. The Global Plan for the Decade of Action outlines steps towards improving the safety of roads and vehicles; enhancing emergency services; and building up road safety management generally.
It also calls for increased legislation and enforcement on speeding. More information
Love 30: Ireland has already seen 6 cyclists die on our roads this year, 3 of them in Dublin. Approximately one third of all accident fatalities are speed related. Drivers need to be cognizant of their speed levels and potential to kill or maim vulnerable road users (VRUs), particularly in urban areas. The Love 30 Campaign strongly supports the introduction of a 30 km/h speed limit on many roads in Irish towns and cities and, together with the Garda Traffic Corps, is supporting the UN’s Global Road Safety week with daily speed checks throughout the week across Dublin. More information
Paul Williams & Shane Coleman on cycle safety
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Related article in the Irish Times
Helmets, hi-vis & safety
Deborah Coleman, writing in the Independent rolls out the “no brainer” approach
Phil Skelton, of Safe Cycling Ireland, makes a different case, below
Cycling to work linked with large health benefits
Walking to work is also good for you, although it does not offer the same benefits as taking a bike, experts from the University of Glasgow found.
The new study on 264,337 people – 52% of whom were women – found cycling to work is linked to a 45% lower risk of developing cancer and a 46% lower risk of cardiovascular disease, compared to driving to work or taking public transport. Read more
See also: BBC
And: Independent
And helmets are no panacea either
Cyclists demand action over number of road fatalities
The Government is facing calls to do more to protect cyclists, as the death toll of those killed on bicycles in 2017 has already reached half of last year’s total. Read article
We Need our Space! Minimum Passing Distance Legislation
Have you been frightened by a dangerous overtaking manoeuvre while cycling? If so you are not alone as these overly close passes on Irish roads show.
In fact, a recent survey conducted by Stayin’ Alive at 1.5 and the Dublin Cycling Campaign revealed that 97.2% of respondents had been scared by a dangerous overtaking manoeuvre whilst cycling.
Motorists support introduction of 30km/h speed limits
More than two-thirds (68 per cent) of motorists support the introduction of 30km/h speed limits in city centre areas.
The annual 123.ie car review survey of nearly 4,000 motorists, found large-scale support for plans to lower limits in residential areas. Plans for the phasing in of such limits throughout Dublin city and suburbs were approved by the city council in December, despite opposition from AA Ireland.
The 30km/h limit will apply on almost all roads and streets as far as the council’s boundary with the four other Dublin local authorities, excluding “arterial” roads.
What Makes Dutch Kids the Happiest in the World? Cities That Allow Them to Roam
A new book has found (not for the first time) that Dutch children are happy … top of the list comes “Freedom to Roam”; that means creating public spaces that allow children to walk and cycle unaccompanied from an early age … read article