Sir, – AG Winston and Gavin Dredge (January 23rd) both assert that cyclists are responsible for their fair share of road incidents. While I don’t deny this, as a commuting cyclist I can attest that at least once a week on my short cycle to work I am confronted with a potential incident through no fault of my own.
The two main causes are pedestrians stepping into the cycle lane without looking when they see that motor traffic is at a standstill; and motorists turning into the road space used by cyclists without first checking if there is anyone there.
I have been lucky to avoid serious incident thus far, but there have been many close calls and I feel re-education on road safety is required for pedestrians, motorists and cyclists alike. – Yours, etc,
Sir, – Scientific studies have shown that the wearing of helmets when riding a bicycle does protect the head from serious injury and can even prevent a fatality.
One has only to consider the risk of being momentarily knocked from a bicycle (for whatever reason), and making contact with a hard surface to appreciate this. Brian McArdle displays a clear lack of logic in blaming motorists for all accidents that may befall a cyclist.
I would never allow any of my children to ride their bicycles without wearing a helmet. It is a small price to pay for minimising the risk of serious injury. The Road Safety Authority has done an excellent job in reducing fatalities on our roads. It should now push to make it mandatory for cyclists to wear helmets. It should also be made an offence for a cyclist found to be wearing ear phones while riding a bicycle. I witness this activity quite a lot. Along with not wearing a helmet, it increases the risk of a dangerous occurrence quite significantly. – Yours, etc,