Overtake That [Updated]

at

This afternoon.

Stillorgan, County Dublin

Minister for Transport Tourism and Sport Shane Ross TD, CEO of the Road Safety Authority Moya Murdock, Cathaoirleach of Dún Laoghaire- Rathdown County Council Ossian Smyth and Chief Superintendent of an Garda Siochana Paul Cleary pictured beside new signage advising motorists of the 1.0m gap they must allow between overtaking cyclists, on the Intersection between Lower Kilmacud Road and Mount Anville Wood, Stillorgan, County Dublin.

Sam Boal/Rollingnews

Earlier….

Transport Minister Shane Ross (top) has introduced new dangerous overtaking laws which took effect at Midnight

From midnight.

The dangerous overtaking of cyclists will now incur a fixed charge fine of up to €120 and a minimum of three penalty points.

The new regulations state “a driver shall not overtake or attempt to overtake if to do so would endanger or cause inconvenience to a pedal cyclist.”

I BIKE Dublin Spokesperson Vanessa Sterry said:

“Our die-in in front of the office of the Garda Traffic Department last Friday was to highlight that current enforcement of existing legislation is completely insufficient to keep people who cycle safe from the minority of drivers who behave dangerously on the roads.

“I BIKE Dublin continues to call for the Gardaí to be equipped and staffed properly and to use evidence-based policing as has been proven to work in other jurisdictions. The West Midlands Police in the UK have pioneered online video portals to enable quick prosecution. New legislation to protect people who cycle is meaningless, without an announcement by Ministers Flanagan and Ross that the Gardaí will use international best practice.”

New cycling laws step in right direction – Dublin Cycling Campaign (RTÉ)

I Bike Dublin

Rollingnews

Friday: Die-In Another Day

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38 thoughts on “Overtake That [Updated]

  1. fister

    well that’s great.
    Some vauge legislation which is almost impossible to enforce would be great. far better than actual infrastrutcural schanges which might improve safety.

        1. george

          It doesn’t. The second part of the new legislation refers to other road users too.

          (1) (a) A driver shall not overtake or attempt to overtake if to do so would endanger or cause inconvenience to a pedal cyclist.

          (b) A driver shall not overtake or attempt to overtake if to do so would endanger or cause inconvenience to a person other than a pedal cyclist.

    1. Cian

      If you look at wording of the “Dangerous Driving” section of the Road Traffic Act, 1961 you can see it is quite vague. But it is used to convict people. This new cycling wording seems to be in a similar vein.

      53.—(1) A person shall not drive a vehicle in a public place at a speed or in a manner which, having regard to all the circumstances of the case (including the nature, condition and use of the place and the amount of traffic which then actually is or might reasonably be expected then to be therein) is dangerous to the public.

      1. Kim Cardassian

        This by a million. We already have legislation around dangerous driving. This new legislation is just pandering to a lobby group and as the dogs on the street already know, if it was enforceable we would be seeing more fines being issues already.

        1. george

          There was a lack of clarity before. Dangerous driving was a very broad offense which includes very extreme behaviour and can come with a very heft prison sentence. Gardaí were reluctant prosecute dangerous overtaking of a cyclist in the same category. This clarifies for all that it is an offense to perform a close pass on a cyclist.

  2. Dr.Fart

    will it be enforced as vigorously as the laws on cyclists introduced a few years ago? ie. not at all.

    1. george

      Probably more vigorously than the enforcement of illegal parking in cycle lanes and on footpaths or speeding which 98% of drivers are doing in 30kph zones and more than 50% of drivers are doing on all roads.

      1. Robert

        In fairness, I’ve seen this being enforced recently around the botanic gardens in Glasnevin. They’ve just recently switched to a 7-day cycle lane and the corpo were out handing out warnings. How do I know? I was one of them, sorry!

        1. george

          Yes, this happened after the parking there was so bad there that buses had to rerouted. There is illegal parking in the same bus and cycle every day and it is ignored.

    1. george

      I wouldn’t be so sure. People have been convicted of dangerous driving for dangerous overtaking of people on bikes.

    2. Robert

      bit negative? progress is progress. just because it’s not as much as you wanted there’s no need to bin it. Too much of a leap and you’d have people crying “draconian” and run the risk of derailing the initiative altogether!

  3. Kingfisher

    Could I suggest an overall law for safe driving and cycling, the Don’t Be an Àrsehóle Law, which would cover:
    * Driving or cycling over 30km/h in a 30km/h limit area
    * Swooping past others in a way that puts the heart crossways in them
    * Blaring your horn at others for any reason other than to warn them of a danger (not posed by you)
    * Texting, watching videos, playing games or chatting while in control of any vehicular contrivance
    * Parking a car or bike in places where other people are supposed to transit safely, including cycle lanes, pavements and traffic lights
    * Generally behaving like a bottom-scratching troglodyte on the road

  4. Jeffrey

    Nothing new aside from the Fine amount and 3 points – it was already an offense to overtake dangerously. Slow news day in Banana Land?

  5. garrett

    A proposed new law that would have set a minimum passing distance for drivers overtaking cyclists has been abandoned after the Attorney General raised concerns, Minister for Transport Shane Ross has confirmed.
    The proposal, contained within the Road Traffic (Minimum Passing Distance of Cyclists) Bill 2017, would have made it an offence to pass a cyclist closer than 1m on roads with a speed limit under 50km/h and within 1.5m on roads with a limit of 50km/h or higher.
    Mr Ross said it had proved exceptionally difficult to draft legislation on a minimum passing distance that was constitutional and that could be enforced, and as a result the Bill would not proceed.
    It is understood the Attorney General’s concerns centred on how the 1m and 1.5m distance could be measured for enforcement purposes.

  6. Bort

    I am a cyclist, I wish cycling in Dublin was safer but is anyone else sick to death the “I’m not wearing a hi-vis or helmet to make a point” brigade? These brigade are cycling advocate, the point they are badly making is that cycling is not an extreme sport but just a normal activity so we shouldn’t have to wear helmets and hi vis, as a way of normalising cycling. WRECKING my head

          1. Cú Chulainn

            In the past 18 months I’ve had one friend who’s alive because he wore a helmet and one who is dead because he didn’t. No car involved in the latter.

      1. scottser

        You SHOULDN’T need a helmet for road cycling but you just can’t trust any other gobshite on the road to be mindful enough as to not need one.

        1. Cú Chulainn

          My friend wobbled, hit the curb and fell backwards. Odd land. Coma. Dead. Total accident. No one else involved. Wear a helmet.

  7. H

    Maybe they should adopt the French model where a car that collides with a bicycle is automatically assumed to be in the wrong

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