Cyclist.ie issued the following press release following the unprecedented number of cyclist deaths in the past two weeks.

Cyclist.ie, the Irish Cycling Advocacy Network, is horrified by the death of three cyclists on our roads in the past week, bringing to five the number of cyclists killed in the first quarter of this year (vs 10 in 2016). We would like to convey our deepest sympathies to the families of the victims and indeed to the families of all those killed on our roads.

Colm Ryder, Cyclist.ie Chairman, said “These deaths have not been caused by accident; they have been caused by avoidable collisions. Collisions arise because of error, incapacity, or inattention on the part of drivers or cyclists, with inadequate design or maintenance of roads or vehicles as contributory factors. Other factors that contribute are lack of awareness of, and/or respect for the vulnerability of cyclists, and lack of Garda enforcement in combating dangerous driving such as speeding and dangerous overtaking.”

We are calling for immediate action to reduce or eliminate the risk of impact of vehicles with cyclists on our roads.

We call on the Minister for Transport to invest in decent infrastructure for cycling and to introduce necessary changes in the law such as the proposed Minimum Passing Distance Law (MPDL) as proposed by Deputy Ciaran Cannon. Less than 2% of transport funding is allocated to cycling. This low figure compares with a UN recommendation to allocate 20% of Transport funding to cycling!

We call on the Minister for Justice and the Garda to improve and increase enforcement of road traffic laws, especially in relation to markedly improving the safety of cyclists.

We call on the RSA to increase its efforts to improve road safety and particularly to bring about improvements in the training and education of drivers to be more aware of, and to give proper space and respect to cyclists and pedestrians on our roads.

And, finally, we call on all drivers and cyclists to drive with care and attention, to refrain from speeding and using mobile phones and other distractions, to refrain from drinking and driving, to keep their vehicles roadworthy and above all to be aware of, and respect each other on the road.