Gino Kenny (Dublin Mid West, People Before Profit Alliance) | Oireachtas source

There has been an alarming increase in road fatalities. Compared with the figures in 2019, there are now 50% more fatalities, which is staggering because in Ireland we had a good campaign of awareness around road deaths. The figure had been going down significantly over the previous ten to 15 years, but that is not the case now. Obviously, there is a range of factors contributing to why this is happening. As one of the busiest bank holiday weekends of the year approaches, we hope that everybody who travels throughout the country on bicycles or on public transport will come back safely. However, there is a chance somebody will not. Hopefully that does not happen but the trend at this time is that people are dying on our roads every week. A campaign would be warranted in relation to road safety awareness. We all remember the very hard hitting-advertising about speeding. The advertisements were emotive, but they got the message across to motorists, pedestrians and cyclists that people can die through reckless behaviour. We need to look at more advertising and more awareness. That should apply to everybody who uses the road.

I will talk about cyclists and pedestrians. I do not use a car. I cycle in here most of the time. Things have improved over the last number of years but it is still risky to cycle in the city centre. Infrastructure has been put in place but it could be much better. Over 30% of those who die on the roads are pedestrians and cyclists. It is incredible that such a figure exists. It needs to be looked at. Why is that happening? Each case is probably different but we need to bring the figure down significantly because in some situations people are just walking and are hit by a car, badly injured or sometimes killed. We have to find the reason that is happening. The fact is that the figure is at a 15-year high. There should be a cycling etiquette. Some cyclists do not adhere to the rules of the road at all. I will not mention who they are. However, some of their behaviour is quite reckless. If a cyclist hits a car, the cyclist will come off worse than the motorist. It is important that cyclists are aware of their own situation in relation to their safety.

The city centre, and the spokes coming out of the city centre, are getting better when it comes to cycling infrastructure. Segregated cycling lanes are important to take cyclists away from traffic. There are bottlenecks in the city centre that are extremely dangerous. One takes one's life in one's hands when cycling in certain parts of Dublin. There should be a campaign in regard to cycling safety and pedestrian safety to urge everybody to respect each other on the roads. There are more cars than ever on our roads, more pedestrians and more cyclists. It is great that people are cycling to work. Agriculture House has hundreds of bicycles outside. People are cycling to work but they want to feel safe. Putting in the infrastructure and having public transport alternatives to the car is important. The main thing is that we respect each other. There is a huge issue around campaigning about safety for everybody, regardless of what mode of transport they use on our roads.

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