Highlights
- Top two: Cancer / Circulatory diseases (inc. heart)
- All accidents: 12,000 per year
- Transport from 2,968 in 2007 to 2,284 in 2009, 25% down
- Cycling mortality: 2007 – 2011: 177, 154, 140, 123, 132
- Male / Female ratio: average 8:1
Tag Archives: Health&Safety
All health & safety issues, inc. diet & lifestyle; also helmets
FAQ: Why do you ride like that?
“Biking in the middle of the lane like that sure looks dangerous.”
Driving in the middle of the lane actually protects cyclists against the most common motorist-caused crashes: sideswipes, right hooks, left crosses, and drive-outs. A bicycle driver’s top safety priority is to ensure he or she can be seen by motorists with whom they might potentially be in conflict, and bicycling in the middle of a lane is one of the most effective ways to do that. Most overtaking crashes involve a motorist who attempts to squeeze past (illegally) in a lane that is too narrow to share. Read more + video animation
Cyclists Set out their Demands ahead of Election 2016!
With the general election just around the corner, cyclists have set out their political demands!
Our vision is for everyday cycling to be normal part of life for all ages and abilities (the ‘8 to 80’ cohort as it is sometimes put) – very similar to the ways it is in many northern European countries. Remember also that #COP21 is a game changer – we need radical reductions in CO2 emissions from the Irish transport sector!
We want all political parties to commit to these two overarching aims:
- Allocate at least 10% of transport funding to cycling
- Implement the NCPF in full (initiated in 2009 it has only four years to run – time is ticking on actions/objectives not realised so far)
Additionally and more specifically, we must:
- Achieve at least 10% of all journeys by bike by 2020 [It is currently only at 1.6% at a national level]
- Appoint a National Cycling Officer in the Dept of Transport [This is a crucial step in being able to implement the NCPF effectively.]
- Make 30km/h the default urban speed limit
- Introduce a legally enforced 1.5-metre gap for overtaking cyclists; more information
- Provide for contra-flow cycling on one-way streets
- Retrofit the top 50 most dangerous junctions in Ireland
- Fund high quality cycle infrastructure
- Upskill An Garda Síochána to understand cycling so as to address (1) dangerous overtaking (2) illegal parking in cycle tracks; see #free-the-cycle-lanes
- Provide mandatory cycle training in all primary and secondary schools
- Introduce compulsory certificate of professional competence (CPC) for all taxi/hackney drivers by end 2017
Over the coming weeks, election candidates will be knocking on your door. Please relay the above points to them, explain why everyday cycling makes so much sense, and do feel free to share, tweet and post our graphic to get its message out there.
Cyclist.ie and its constituent local campaigns, and festivals will be working hard to ensure that all political parties understand the issues and see the value of putting the bicycle at the heart of transport and public health policies. If you support our work representing cyclists, please considering joining Dublin Cycling Campaign or, if you are outside the capital and not resident near a local campaign group, Cyclist.ie – the Irish Cycling Advocacy Network. This support makes a real difference is enabling voluntary organisations with their work. Thank you!
One Simple Trick To Stop NYC Drivers From Killing You
Just a few days ago, Mayor de Blasio proclaimed 2015 to be the safest year on New York City’s streets since 1910 thanks to his ambitious Vision Zero plan; despite the decrease in traffic fatalities, a report a day later soberly pointed out that Vision Zero is on track to be some three decades behind its stated goal of achieving zero traffic fatalities by 2024. Some safe streets advocates are growing impatient with the pace of Vision Zero initiatives—and for the families of the 134 pedestrians killed in traffic crashes last year, the city is already moving far too slowly. Read article
China Cups and Butterflies; Options and Ethics
Vulnerability and risk. Statistics and ethics. Solutions or fixes. Top-down interventions or individual actions. These are the core issues in the long-running bike-lane (or cycle track)-versus-integration argument and in the book Antifragile by Nassim Nicholas Taleb (better known for his previous book, The Black Swan). Antifragile is a long and complex read, but the author managed to summarize it while metaphorically standing on one foot: “Everything gains or loses from volatility. Fragility is what loses from volatility and uncertainty.” Read article
Quantifying the contribution of utility cycling to population levels of physical activity
Population levels of physical activity are far below recommendations limiting its public health benefits. Utility cycling (i.e. cycling for transport purposes) may be a means of increasing this activity. Empirical evidence quantifying the contribution of utility cycling to the population levels of physical activity is sparse. Read article
Published by the Health Economics Research Group (HERG)
The True Costs of Driving (USA)
Car owners don’t come close to covering the price of maintaining the roads they use
A report published earlier this year confirms, in tremendous detail, a very basic fact of transportation that’s widely disbelieved: Drivers don’t come close to paying for the costs of the roads they use
Four out of five drivers escape conviction over penalty points
Four out of five drivers summonsed to court over penalty points offences are escaping conviction, new figures show.
Almost 150,000 drivers who were ordered to appear in court over the past two years were not convicted for reasons including not being served with a summons at the correct address, or claiming to have never received a fixed-charge notice in the post.
Free the Cycle Lanes
Follow #FreeTheCycleLanes
Hotspots: Rathmines, St. Andrews Street Contra Flow, Westland Row, Richmond Street South, Ranelagh
Four in five disqualified drivers holding on to licences
Almost four out of five drivers disqualified in court are failing to surrender their licence, figures from the Road Safety Authority (RSA) show.
These figures also show some disqualified drivers are continuing to drive and to commit motoring offences while they should be serving the six-month driving disqualification.
According to the RSA, 9,611 drivers were disqualified in court between October 29th, 2013 (when the RSA took over responsibility for driving licences) and a further 476 received disqualifications for accumulating 12 penalty points.