Tag Archives: Behaviour&Legal

Any legal or Gardai related issue; also road user behaviour: cyclists, motorists & pedestrians

EU Posts

Decision of The Advertising Standards Authority of Ireland to require Unilever to pull its Flora advertorial in The Irish Daily Mail is regrettable

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Letter from Cyclist.ie to Advertising Standards Authority for Ireland re: ASAI finding ref no. 19340 for unknown complainant regarding ‘Unilever’ presses advertorial for ‘Flora’ spread and active lifestyle

‘Cyclist.ie’ is the umbrella body for the various cycling advocacy groups throughout Ireland. We are the member for Ireland of the European Cyclists’ Federation. Our goal is to see a vast increase in the numbers of Irish people using their bike for work, shopping or socialising. The benefits of increased cycling are many: population health; personal and public cost savings; better traffic flow; environmental improvement, and better ‘liveability’ of our towns and cities. Our mission is to inform the Irish public and officialdom of these benefits, and the simple changes – engineering, education enforcement and others, required to reap them.

We write to object strongly to the recent finding of the Authority, Ref No. 19340 on the ASAI website, that an advertising feature (Unilever ‘Flora’ spread) in The Irish Daily Mail showing a family cycling in a park-like setting (not on a road) was in contravention of the Authority’s Code section 2.29. The complaint was that the group were not shown wearing helmets. The behaviour illustrated is in fact much healthier than the average Irish lifestyle, and is to be encouraged. Letter from Cyclist.ie to Advertising Standards Authority for Ireland re: ASAI finding ref no. 19340 for unknown complainant regarding ‘Unilever’ presses advertorial for ‘Flora’ spread and active lifestyle It does NOT constitute dangerous behaviour or unsafe practice, in our view. We note that motor vehicles being driven at speed are a constant inescapable feature of advertising and would challenge the Authority to show that all complaints to it regarding all examples of unsafe motoring have been justly upheld. Continue reading Decision of The Advertising Standards Authority of Ireland to require Unilever to pull its Flora advertorial in The Irish Daily Mail is regrettable →

Irish Posts

Mammy State ruling is verging on the ridiculous

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Just in case you thought that the Nanny State had gone away, think again.

In fact, make that the Mammy State, because nobody but a brooding, finger-wagging, cross Mammy could take exception to the vision of a Sound of Music-style family meandering through the woods on bicycles. The Mammy in question is the Advertising Standards Authority for Ireland and the outrageous behaviour they espied consisted of a national press advertisement featuring a two adults and three children cycling on a lane-way through fields. Read article

See also Ditching bike helmets laws better for health

UK Posts

Cyclists must steer clear of the threat of parked cars

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Car “dooring”, or being hit by an open car door, poses significant risks for cyclists, yet many cyclists ride eye-wateringly close to parked cars.

I once attended a cycle instructor training course, where one of the first things we learned was to ride “a door and a bit more” away from parked cars, even on narrow roads. To many cyclists this is counterintuitive as moving cars can feel – and act – like the most threatening thing on the roads.

The danger comes either from hitting a door or swerving to avoid one and falling into the path of oncoming traffic. Read article

International Posts

Which do you think is riskier?

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Some situations seem far more dangerous to us than others, but the perceived risk is often quite far from the truth, writes NIAMH DORNAN … If we look at the numbers only, a different picture can emerge. The lifetime risk of dying in an air crash is 1 in 7,178, according to the National Safety Council of America. This is far lower than the 1 in 98 chance of dying in a car crash or the 1 in 701 chance of being killed as a pedestrian. Cyclists face a 1 in 4,381 chance of dying on their bicycles over their lifetime. Read article

UK Posts

Risky cycling rarely to blame for bike accidents, study finds

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A tiny proportion of accidents involving cyclists are caused by riders jumping red lights or stop signs, or failing to wear high-visibility clothing and use lights, a government-commissioned study has discovered. Read article

Cyclists’ lobby group CTC said the report needed to focus on driver behaviour rather than issues such as cyclists wearing helmets.

US Posts

How to Get More Bicyclists on the Road

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Getting people out of cars and onto bicycles, a much more sustainable form of transportation, has long vexed environmentally conscious city planners. Although bike lanes painted on streets and automobile-free “greenways” have increased ridership over the past few years, the share of people relying on bikes for transportation is still less than 2 percent, based on various studies. An emerging body of research suggests that a superior strategy to increase pedal pushing could be had by asking the perennial question: What do women want? Full article.