Rebecca Moynihan (Labour) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State. I welcome the introduction of this Bill as a step towards achieving a reduction in road deaths and, I hope, greater public safety on our roads. The importance of the Bill cannot be overstated at this moment as we have seen a 19% rise in road deaths in the past five years. It represents 184 lives lost, 180 families affected and 184 communities devastated by what could be an alternative if we had safer roads and safer driving. The dramatic shift we have seen in driver behaviour is extremely worrying, especially since the Covid-19 pandemic. It cannot continue to be ignored. It needs to be addressed. There is no acceptable number of road deaths and fatalities in 2024 and there should be no room in our country and our communities for the upward trend we are seeing.

I will raise an issue that is often overlooked when it comes to road deaths because we very much focus on roads being for drivers; attention must be paid to our most vulnerable road users, cyclists and pedestrians. We can do a huge amount more to ensure enforcement of rules against dangerous driving for people who are on bicycles and walking. I cycle mostly. My daughter is one year old and we have a cargo bicycle. Even cycling with my daughter on the electric cargo bicycle from where we live to Leinster House we often come across dangerous driving behaviour. People put my life and that of my daughter in danger to be able to get 20 seconds ahead of me on the road. When I say to people that with a small child I want to use a cargo bicycle and safe and active transport, they ask why I would put my child in danger like that. It should not be a question that we are in danger in a city like Dublin in 2024. We should be able to cycle safely. She and I have as much right to road safety as people have when they are in their cars and driving.

Every bit of infrastructure is built for drivers. Infrastructure is not built for cyclists or pedestrians in the same way. There is a haphazard, half-thought-out approach to it. I have caught bad driving behaviour on camera many times when I was on the bicycle by myself. I have had drivers essentially trying to force me to the side or force me off the road if I am not going fast enough. If I am in the middle of the road, they consider that it is their road and they are entitled to pass me out, putting me in danger. It is completely unacceptable and An Garda Síochána simply does not police it. I see gardaí drive past bad driving behaviour all the time. Cars that are parked on footpaths pull up so that cyclists have to swing out unexpectedly into the middle of traffic. An Garda Síochána neither clamps the cars nor issues tickets. Drivers are allowed to get away with their behaviour. Drivers go through orange and red lights all the time. Drivers need to be penalised for that, but they get away with it and that type of dangerous driving and behaviour has become acceptable, certainly in cities.

For every person killed while cycling on Irish roads, 25 people are seriously injured. That is notably higher than the overall rate between serious injuries and death, which is nine to one. We cannot overlook the serious danger involved in choosing to cycle as a method of transportation. We can only properly incentivise people to cycle if they are safe to do so. We need to move beyond the people who currently cycle and make it safe for everyone to cycle, including young people, old people and people in their middle ages. It has to be the safe alternative and quickest mode of transport available to us in a city. We all pay for driving and congestion, especially in cities.

We cannot become numb to the numerous stories that have surfaced about cycling deaths. We must strive to have a society where these stories are no longer commonplace. In November last year, a 36 year-old carer was killed while cycling to work in Dolphins Barn. That is just one of the eight cyclists killed last year and one of the eight tragic deaths that could have been avoided with stricter road safety laws and proper enforcement of dangerous motorists who use the city. We need a road culture that respects cyclists, especially given the alarming trends emerging in road accidents. As another fatal cycling death has already been recorded in 2024, safer legislation for cyclists is sorely needed, as is a concerted effort by An Garda Síochána to police this.

In addition to the increase in cyclist fatalities we are seeing people being disincentivised from using this form of transport. We need to address this properly to seriously come into alignment with our vision for zero road deaths. We have seen it happen in other countries, including those that are wetter, colder and hillier than ours. They have the ability to put in place proper safe infrastructure where the hierarchy of road users is pedestrians first, then cyclists and only then the private motorist.