Passing Distance

at

This afternoon.

Leinster House, Dublin 2

Minister for Transport Shane Ross with junior minister Ciaran Cannon at the formal handing over of a submission about Minimum Passing Distance Law (MPDL) to the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Transport (JCT).from cycling bodies in Ireland, including (pic 2) Ernestine Woelger from Skerries Cycling Club with Vice-President of European Cyclist Federation Dr. Damien O Tuama

The number of cyclist fatalities (15 dead) increased by 50% in 2017.

The proposed distance is 1.5 metres.

FIGHT!

Leah Farrell/RollingNews

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15 thoughts on “Passing Distance

  1. Deli

    I cycle a lot and I am also a motorist. What a ridiculous suggestion. You will have the cycle brigade out there everyday with some way to be go out of their way to annoy motorists that are trying to pass. Lets have a rule that cyclists have to be within a certain distance to the kerb if this comes in. Fine cyclists that have no lights, wear headphones and are not visible to other road users.

    1. Snippity

      No you don’t, Dell.

      It’s a sensible law which is in operation in 42 jurisdictions all around the world.

      The 1.5m distance would come into operation when a driver is going over 50km/h. Under that it would be required to leave a metre – not exactly a huge amount of space to leave between you and another road user.

      1. Neilo

        40 inches is feck all but should be doable at reasonable speeds. A lot of cats drive way too fast, anyway, so this might keep them holy.

  2. david

    So Shane tim dim but nice ross is now seen as clueless
    Dublin transport infrastructure is nothing more than a joke
    Will be great for those on the dart or luaus line but a disaster for motorists and bus users
    Its seems Owen Keegan destruction of Dublin will exceed his destruction of dun longhaire

  3. scottser

    i will be shortly going into business making 1.5m long signs that affix to the bike. they will feature a picture of you in mc hammer pose in your cycling gear and ‘you can’t touch this’ written underneath.
    winner winner chicken dinner.

  4. Nullzero

    Typical nonsense from the cycling brigade, all the onus is on the motorist, cyclists have no responsibility for their own personal safety, if an accident occurs its the fault of a motorist. All road users need to give enough care and attention to what they are doing on the road, this type of thing is unenforceable in practice. Try driving along the grand canal at rush hour and keep 1.5 meters from ever cyclist, cars will be crashing into each other head on to avoid cyclist ls overtaking each other.

    1. manolo

      Fill a road with people on bikes, nobody dies.

      Fill a road with cars, many people in cars die.

      Mix cars and bikes and people in both modes die. Can you spot the pattern?

    2. Nigel

      So you’re saying there are times when the volume of cars on the roads makes it impossible to drive safely? Sounds like we need a lot fewer cars.

  5. Cian

    Can we have another law that a cyclist cannot undertake a car unless he leaves 1.5 m between himself and the car?

    1. Snippity

      Nope. That’s legal, because it’s sensible. If you don’t like it, get a bike and join the future, Cian.

  6. Joxer

    its a measure to try to decrease the number of deaths of cyclists by Motorists on the road…. so whats wrong with that? do you not think that’s something worthy?

  7. Ciarán

    Thanks for covering this important issue, Broadsheet. I’m not sure the last word in your article was necessary, though. This legislation is about saving lives, pure and simple, no need to frame it as a conflict.

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