Sir, – I agree wholeheartedly with Mary O’Sullivan (Letters, January 21st) regarding the urgent need for the Government to take action on the introduction of mandatory wearing of hi-vis jackets by cyclists, pedestrians and motorcyclists.
Back in 2020, I wrote to the then minister of state with responsibility for road safety, Hildegarde Naughton, to appeal for the introduction of such legislation.
I was very disappointed by the response, which was as follows:
“To create a statutory obligation on the wearing of reflective clothing would entail making it a criminal offence under Road Traffic legislation for any person guilty of not wearing high visibility clothing.
READ MORE
“A person in breach of such a provision would fall to be issued with a fixed charge notice or summonsed to court, depending on what procedure would be put in place for the processing of such offences. Minister Naughton believes that this would prove difficult to enforce and be regarded as a very severe step”.
Given that the number of road deaths has increased exponentially since then, exacerbated by the widespread use of e-scooters, it is now time for the officials in the Department of Transport to take a proactive approach and prepare legislation for the obligatory wearing of hi-visibility clothing and substantial on the spot fines for failure to do so. – Yours, etc,
ALISON FERGUSSON,
Stillorgan,
Co Dublin.
