Yesterday evening.

Kildare Street, Dublin 2

Cyclists perform a ‘die-in outside Leinster House to highlight the dangers faced by cyclists on Irish roads.

Previously: For Tomorrow We Die

Dublin Cycling Campaign

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58 thoughts on “Falling Down

  1. Boj

    Jeez, they really got into character there…closed eyes n’all on a few of them. Some of those bikes don’t look very roadworthy though. The lack of helmets is a worry too imo…but sure isn’t it safer to wear no helmet..or so I’m led to believe by some.

      1. Paul

        I’m not a motorist or a cyclist but the lack of helmets is a good point. Anything to potentially save a life.

        1. Cian

          Are you a pedestrian Paul?
          Because if so your life is at risk too. Do you wear a helmet?

          You should. Anything to potentially save a life.

          1. Paul

            I am a pedestrian but I rarely get above 5kph and never set foot on the road unless I have a green light. I could jaywalk, break lights or nip between cars in an unsafe manner but I don’t… anything to potentially save a life.

          2. ZeligIsJaded

            Not sure you could possibly be as committed as you seem to this “Anything to potentially save a life” mantra, Paul.

            I mean, how far are you willing to go?

    1. theo kretschmar schuldorff

      Helmet won’t help when you’re being crushed to death by a bus due to :
      * the cycle lane abruptly ending throwing you back into the bus lane.
      * some jerk parking in your cycle lane for their convenience and you’re thrown back into the bus lane.
      * avoidance of pothole / sunken gully / general lunar condition of the gutter you’re expected to cycle in forcing you back into the bus lane.
      Helmets and armor are for battle. A battle for a road-space is one the cyclist will always lose. Give them some space, give them decent infrastructure.

      1. Boj

        By all means, don’t bother with any safety gear.
        I think helmets for cycling should be made mandatory or compulsory or whatever, just wear a damn helmet!

          1. Rob

            But if you are cut off by a bus, rather than crushed, and knocked to the ground, it may well save your life.

            I was saved a serious head injury in such circumstances.

          2. Boj

            That’s a very specific scenario. A seatbelt isn’t going to prevent me (in a car) getting crushed either but I wear it for cover most bases. Wearing a helmet could benefit you in many many more common scenarios. Again, it’s your prerogative if you don’t want to wear a helmet, but I personally think this should be essential cycle safety gear and a legal requirement. The resistance and debate to this suggestion is bewildering as the whole point of ALL of this is (supposedly) safety!?!

          3. theo kretschmar schuldorff

            Don’t be bewildered. It’s simple:
            If a cyclist wants a helmet, they pay €20 and have a helmet.
            If a cyclist wants to cycle on a dedicated cycle lane, they cannot. Hence all the lobbying.

          4. Boj

            Lobbying in the name of safety…come off it!
            You are actually arguing AGAINST wearing a helmet?? Madness.
            Just wait until your cycle lanes are tolled ;-P

          5. Lilly

            Some studies suggest you’re safer without a helmet, that they obscure your line of vision, so it’s not as clear cut as you think.

          6. Boj

            “safer without a helmet” good one!
            Were these studies commissioned by the insurance industry by any chance. It’s cheaper to pay for a funeral than a lifetime of care.

            Again with the resistance to wearing a helmet…craziness!

          7. Cian

            Boj it is not better to reduce the likelihood of any collision than to reduce the severity of the outcome of one type of collision (head injury)?

      2. rotide

        A battle for a road-space is one the cyclist will always lose.

        A lot of cyclists seem to think that righteousness and “the way it should be” will protect them against something 10 times heavier and moving twice as fast as them.

  2. John

    This is great. Cycling in Dublin needs more funding. Segregated cycle lanes are good for everyone.

  3. Alex francis

    Cyclists should be encouraged to write to Shane Ross describing the dangerous parts of their cycle route and how it can be improved.
    The most dangerous part of my cycle is crossing the Stillorgan dual carriage way at Greenfield park onto Nutley lane and down to the Merrion road. It beggars belief there is no provision for cyclists on such a busy road that serves UCD, RTE, Vincents and a huge Tesco. Perhaps the death of the UCD student last week might prompt some improvement for that area.

    1. ZeligIsJaded

      Its lethal.

      I frequently cycle from Central Park in Leopardstown, but never go that route to town.

      Much rather cycle the extra couple of kilometres via Blackthorn avenue and into town via Clonskeagh

      1. Alex francis

        No Cian. I’m going across it – from Greenfield Park to Nutley and from Nutley to Greenfield Park. It is not possible to navigate that junction as a cyclist from the N11 to Nutley. You would mave to dismount and cross as a pedestrian.

        I cycle that junction in both directions – Greenfield park to Nutley in the morning and Nutley to Greenfield park in the evening. A large percentage of motorists do not give cyclists right of way on green.
        Traffic coming down the Stillorgan dual carriage way in the morning routinely sail through the red lights and then get caught marooned on the junction when the pedestrians begin to cross.
        Coming the other way – Nutlely to Greenfield park – Nutley is staggered to the right of Greenfield park ie. it is not directly opposite. So as you cross the 6 lane junction you are met head on with traffic from Greenfield park (it’s bonkers, look at in on Google maps) as it either turns up the dual carriage way or continues down Nutley. I would say it’s about 50% of motorists who give you the right of way here. It’s quite dangerous in daylight but in the dark and rain of winter it is extremely dangerous.
        A box junction should be marked and clear cycle routes over it also marked. A solution that would only require paint. Garda cameras should enforce fines for misuse of the box junction.

          1. Cian

            NRA seems to point to:
            The first region (Network A) is managed by Globalvia Sacyr Jons (GSJ Ltd.) It includes the Greater Dublin area and is approximately 160km in length including parts of the N/M1, N/M2, N/M3, N/M4, N/M7, M9 and N/M11. For additional information contact: info@gsj.ie

    2. Lilly

      I hate that bit of the N11 into town, just before Stillorgan, where the road narrows and busses and taxis whiz by your ear.

  4. qwerty123

    I hope people realise that by voting for the independents you get the likes of Shane Ross, who is probably the best of them. We get what we deserve in this country. He is so hopeless in Sports and Transport but he will probably top the poll next time round.

  5. insert ridiculous internet pseudonym here

    In fairness I see cyclists break rules of the road multiple times a day, putting themselves in harms way and others. Deliveroo cyclists are the worst for it, IMHO… using the wrong lane, facing oncoming traffic, I think helmets, PPE. and having passed a safety course should be mandatory for all cyclists on public roads.

    This new RSA campaign is a fookin joke https://youtu.be/cmYJ6pjQAzg “we need this much space”, if motorists gave that much space THEY’D BE IN THE OTHER LANE! Roads are too narrow for that. The whole campaign lacks common sense.

    1. Alex francis

      I think that’s the point. You wait behind the cyclist and pass when safe to do so. If you don’t understand this you shouldn’t be driving.

      1. rotide

        Or the cyclist could pull over and let the faster moving road user past?

        Maybe if that happened a lot more there would be more sympathy for cyclists completely ignoring the rules of the road

        1. manolo

          Get out of my way because I am faster/stronger/heavier. Sounds awfully like bullying. Thankfully there are rules that beat this poor attitude.

          1. ZeligIsJaded

            Cars, in general, pull over when a faster moving car comes up behind them?

            Where do you observe this selfless behaviour?

            The motorway I assume.

          2. rotide

            Well obviously it’s how motorways work.

            Happens on N roads all the time, if a car realises s/he is holding up a line of cars, they’ll move to the extreme edge of the road to allow others overtake. I’ve seen it happen and I’ve done it.

            In fairness to cyclists, this happens a lot, cyclists do tend to give cars a lot of room to go past them. However, there’s always a few that just refuse to do this. Starting to see who in this thread.

          3. mildred st. meadowlark

            I agree rotide. The road is for everyone and if we’re even just slightly more considerate of other road users – cyclists and motorists alike – we’d have less issues on the road.

            As a motorist and as a cyclist, I’ve pulled over to allow faster moving vehicles to overtake. Holding up traffic can be every bit as dangerous as speeding.

          4. ZeligIsJaded

            Disingenuous Rotide!

            Your original comment was a suggestion that the minimum passing distance being put in place to protect cyclists wouldn’t be necessary if they basically pulled over every time a car came by.

          5. rotide

            That’s actually not what my original comment was but have it your way ZeligisJaded, next time I won’t expand on my point to make it clearer what I meant and we can just trade broad stroke zingers at each other.

    2. Alors

      Strangely, motorists in 42 other jurisdictions are intelligent enough to be able to obey this law. You think Irish drivers are less capable or intelligent, @insert?

  6. rotide

    I mostly walk during the day and drive at night. My days of cycling are over but I cycled both night and day.

    The other night I was making a regular drive of about 3 km and decided to count the number of cyclists i passed.

    It was 12. Of those 12 , 2 had lights on their bikes.

    1. ReproBertie (SCU)

      If you’re driving with children in the car, and they’re young enough not to be bored by anything the parents suggest, have them play a counting game where they count bicycles and motorcycles. In doing so you teach them to keep an eye out for both which will, in a small way, contribute to road safety when they start driving.

    2. Cian

      you only *saw* 12. There were probably another ten that you missed ’cause they had no lights. ;-)

    1. Cian

      An interesting read – I think the key point is that cycling is good for people’s health. If you introduce a law making helmets mandatory then you get a drop of ~30% in cyclists. While you may have fewer deaths in the 70% cyclists this is outweighed by the 30% that are now less healthy.

      However, your point about them being made of polystyrene isn’t valid. polystyrene has been used in packaging (and bike and motorbike helmets) for years – it is great at dissipating forces over a greater area.

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