Dundalk JPC write to government to request road safety pilot scheme
Dundalk Joint Policing Committee agreed to write to Minister of State Jack Chambers to put the Dundalk area forward for a potential pilot scheme to increase public awareness on road safety rules.
John Temple of the Louth Public Participation Network had put forward a motion calling for better road safety training in the county.
Addressing the meeting, he stated that:
“There’s been too many accidents and too many fatal accidents in the country.”
He said that while there was an obligation on cyclists to use cycle lanes, “when it goes rural there are no cycle lanes.”
He also said that there needs to be more signage for cyclists to indicate where it is not safe to cycle two abreast.
“What I’m looking for is that Louth County Council will take on board the motion [and] that there will be some sort of training programme.
He said that the Newry Wheelers and the Cuchulainn Cycling Club had already engaged in such programmes and that they were “very well attended.”
“We see road traffic signs as road users. People on bicycles, if they saw a different type of sign that applied to them only, and I don’t mean that in a discriminating manner, but if there was some sort of sign for them to say ‘from here on in it’s best advised that you’d cycle single file’ [to be safer].
“There’s an opportunity here for Louth County Council, if they put up the signs…[for measures] that would be rolled out as a pilot scheme to identify how to make it safer for everybody.
Green Party councillor Marianne Butler submitted that:
“All road users should respect each other, cyclists need to respect motorists and motorists need to respect cyclists and be aware of each other, especially vulnerable road users when it comes to pedestrians.
“I’ve been close passed, and it is horrific. It frightened the life out of me and I think the RSA campaign is very useful for people.”
Sinn Fein councillor Antoin Watters said that as a representative of an area that sees a lot of cyclists coming from surrounding counties, “I think respect is the key word.”
“Lordship is a real pinch point, because two cars can just about meet and if a cyclist is there, you can’t get around them and there does be big crowds there. I’ve even come across five or six abreast, nevermind two.
“So I think it’s a worthwhile campaign that we should try and put it out there that we’re looking to do something on this.
“It is the season now with the long evenings and it is going to get busier on the roads.
“I think it’s a good idea that we try and be proactive to try and stop anyone being added to the figures [of road fatalities].”
Louth County Council’s Director Joe McGuinness agreed to look into the matter, saying:
“What we could commit to do, and certainly consider, is talk to people in our sports partnership which link in with all these sporting clubs and cycling clubs and try and encourage some engagement [to ensure]that there’s proper management of these things.
Chair of the JPC Sean Kelly suggested writing to the Minister of State to suggest the implementation of a road safety pilot scheme in Dundalk.