Heart Beat: "As soon as there is life, there is danger" - Ralph Waldo Emerson. Yes indeed, there are many variations on this theme. I suppose though, in so far as possible, we should seek to minimise risk and danger. This would appear to be common sense. Such is not universal, writes Maurice Neligan.
While walking the other day, I passed my poor bin standing forlornly on the pavement, having been stood up, once again, by its date. Maybe it'll get lucky one of these days.
However, I immediately noticed something else. Somebody had painted a white bicycle on the road outside my home. It was part of a scheme of shiny, clear markings on the new-look Rock Road. I have alluded to this project before, with its seemingly endless capacity to generate employment. They were digging up bits of it again last night. I suppose it is Ireland's answer to the perpetual painting of the Forth Bridge.
The white bicycle, I was informed, denoted a cycle lane. It was immediately adjacent to the footpath and was an integral part of our other new acquisition, a "lána bus".
My Polish friend, who must be one of the 1.6 million Irish speakers, told me that this translated as "bus lane". This set me thinking. As it was physically impossible for a bus and a cyclist to share the designated area at the same time, which would have precedence?
If the bus, what was to become of the cyclist? Was he/she expected to mount the footpath and join the pedestrians like myself, or stand their ground and get killed?
On the other hand, if the cyclist had precedence, what was the bus supposed to do? The footpath, I hope, is not an option, so it either crawls along behind the bicycle or crosses the continuous white line into the usually stationary line of cars in the outer lane.
The latter option negates the supposed advantage of the bus lane, ie speed in transit, however, the former is presumably illegal. Some of the footpaths are quite narrow and the slipstream of passing buses creates uncertainties of balance for older folk and for children.
However, to return to the seminal point; a well-swung cat would comfortably encompass all three lanes on the roadway. There is already no wobble room between them. My point is that the provision of a cycle lane, or indeed a bus lane, on such a restricted section of roadway is a dangerous farce. Buses are big and can take care of themselves, cyclists are little folk and cannot.
I am full of admiration for Ireland's cyclists, hardy, all-weather people, eco-friendly and, sadly on occasion, brave to the point of foolhardiness. The least that can be done is to provide them with an environment that is as safe as possible. On some roads and this is one, it is simply not possible to construct such a lane with any reasonable safety margin. And it is not purely an academic point. Any cyclist injured, or kin of those possibly killed, would surely seek redress from those who perpetrated such an ill-advised scheme. Incidentally, this cycle lane springs unheralded from a traffic island at the foot of an adjacent road. How cyclists got there before embarking on their wall of death is unclear. It seems a bit small for a helicopter.
There is, however, on the island, a pole, which currently serves no discernible purpose. I would suggest that a box containing organ donor cards be affixed to it. I just don't see how anybody could find this level of danger acceptable. Road safety requires the exercise of common sense.
While on the subject of road safety, it appears that randomised breath testing has, at least initially, reduced the levels of death and injury. It is an endless debate between those who would criminalise drivers who had ingested a wine gum, and those asinine folk who think their driving is unimpaired after drinking 14 pints.
There is, however, a downside to this. I do not for a moment underestimate the problems caused for small country towns and isolated rural pubs. Many friends who are licensees have told me that business has fallen by more than 50 per cent since first the smoking ban, and now randomised breath testing, were introduced.
Such decline is markedly less in cities, where public transport and taxis are readily available. It is a real problem and one to be handled with sensitivity by the authorities. Sensible law is best administered in a sensible way. The motives are worthwhile; the life of the community is also.
Minister Ó Cuív raised the possibility of using the rural transport scheme to mitigate the effects of the problem. The proposal generated some discussion and the usual mixed response. A politician acerbically pointed out to me that, at a time when hospital transport schemes were being curtailed on economic grounds, we could hardly justify, as he put it, "ferrying drunks around at closing time".
Harshly this is so, but a genuine problem remains. Perhaps such a scheme could be managed by the vintners, aided by meaningful tax concessions. If tax concessions are available to builders and breeders among others, why not some to preserve rural life? Will Minister Ó Cuív progress this scheme before the election?
Cynically, I feel that he will in his "asal". Mischievously, might I ask where he got the "v"? I don't think there was one in the language when I was a garsún. Maybe one of the 1.6 million speakers can enlighten me?
I have to go now, a pig has just flown by the window.
Maurice Neligan is a cardiac surgeon.