Sir, – In Olivia Kelly’s article on cycling (“On your bike”, Weekend Review, June 15th), there are photographs of 11 cyclists, only four of whom are wearing helmets and, to compound the problem, one noodle is sporting earphones!
I have lost count of the number of cyclists I have observed who are helmetless, wearing earphones or making phone calls. If cyclists (of whom I am one) want to be taken seriously when they talk about safety and the inconsiderate behaviour of motorists (of whom I am also one), wouldn’t their case carry far more weight if they were to observe basic safety precautions themselves?
Thanks to Olivia Kelly for having inadvertently highlighted these problems in her article. – Yours, etc,
PADRAIG O’ROURKE,
Merrion Road,
Dublin 4.
Sir, – Recent commentators have urged the powers-that-be to target cyclists by setting up road blocks and applying spot fines, etc, for minor infringements of the rules of the road, such as turning left at a red light or approaching pedestrian crossings in the same way as zebra crossings.
Such minor infringements by cyclists, executed with due care and attention, have for generations been ignored by gardaí, with cyclists generally accepted as quasi-pedestrians rather than vehicles.
With responsibilities come rights and if cyclists were forced to always obey exactly the same rules as fully fledged motor vehicles, then they could claim the same rights too by “riding to rule”. For example, instead of considerately relegating themselves to cycling single-file in the gutter to allow larger, faster vehicles to pass on the outside, cyclists have every right to travel in the main lane. With a normal cruising speed of 10-20 kmph and helmet-cams mounted front and rear to record all those who drive too close, shout abuse, change lanes without indicating, speed through red lights or attempt dangerous overtaking manoeuvres, a concerted “war of the rules” campaign undertaken by even a few dozen individuals on their daily commute might quickly change the character of the current debate.
Zealously enforcing inappropriate and unrealistic laws only proves that the law is an ass. The pragmatic solution is to change the rules of the road to recognise that it is generally safe for cyclists to do many things that are unsafe for cars, and to define reasonable limits and caveats for safe road use by cyclists that are transparent to all. – Yours, etc,
JOHN THOMPSON,
Shamrock Street,
Phibsboro,
Dublin 7.