Cyclists deaths on Irish roads at joint low in 2013

3373537590_5cf7e9242fFive cyclists were killed on Irish roads in 2013, three less than the previous year and a joint 20-year low shared with 2010.

The decline is the opposite of the general trend, which includes overall road deaths rising from 160 to 189 deaths in the last year. The overall amount of deaths included 29 pedestrians, 27 motorcyclists, 95 motorists and 32 passengers of motorists.

Four out of five of the cyclists were killed on roads in rural areas, and three out of five died in the first three months of the year.

One of the cyclists were killed in Co Dublin – which follows the trend for Dublin for the last four year. Cyclists deaths in the capital county have averaged under 3 cyclists per year for the last 15 years, but have declined since hitting 6 deaths in 2006 and stayed at a single death per year in the last four years.

The Dublin City Council area, which has the highest concentration of cyclists and is home to the DublinBikes scheme, has had no deaths within its boundaries in the last two years. Although, the past, zero and low levels of deaths have been followed by spikes in the death rate.

Two of the cyclist deaths nationally followed consumption of alcohol by driver or cyclist: There was one case where a cyclist had a high level of alcohol in his system and another case where a driver who was involved in a collision with a cyclist was arrested for suspected drunk driving.

Overall, the cyclists who died were:

  • James Gilmore (61), who died after he was reportedly in involved in a two-car collision near Ballygar in Co Galway in February 2013.
  • Martin Mimnagh (40), who died in a collision with a 4X4 on a narrow section of the N30 between Enniscorthy and New Ross Road in Co Wexford in February 2013.
  • Gregory McGovern (81), who died in May after he was in a collision with a driver who was arrested for alleged drink driving.
  • Louise Butler (26), who was killed when she was in a collision with a turning truck in Blackrock in Co Dublin in August.
  • Declan Lowney (68) died in March after a collision with a van on the Tralee to Killarney Road.

The inquest heard that Declan Lowney had just returned from the US and had been drinking for most of the day. According to the Kerry Man newspaper, an inquest into the death of Lowney heard that he was on an electric bicycle, and on the wrong side of the road with no lights or high-vis. A toxicology report on his body found that he had a high level of alcohol and some prescribed drugs in his system.

Cyclists deaths in IrelandCyclists deaths in Ireland and Dublin

CORRECTION: The above originally reported that James Gilmore and Martin Mimnagh died in January, when both died in February. This has now being corrected.

MORE: Cyclist deaths and injuries on Irish roads

9 comments

  1. The three Cyclist dying in the first three months of the year can have a lot to do with the bad Wintry weather especially in rural areas. Motorists tend to speed or go fast on rural roads.most of the deaths on Irish roads are rural. A lot of them are single cars on their own in the early morning crashing into walls and ditches. I think also that motorists do not think there are Cyclists on rural roads and so do not keep an eye out for them. Worst scenario is a speeding car on a narrow country road without lights late at night and comes across a Cyclist .

    Most of the time the cars does not hit the Cyclist but there is more of a chance of being hit on country roads.There should be proper driver training to watch out for Cyclists on Country roads ,it should be constantly repeated to them before they get their Licences. Also it does not hurt to post notices on country roads to watch out for Cyclists at all times and not just in daytime.

    Reply
  2. It goes without saying that any reduction in these figures is good news.

    Are there any numbers for the amount of accidents involving cyclists? My personal observations as a cyclist on rural roads are that there hasn’t been any improvement in general road usage. Practically every spin involves an incident of some measure.

    Reply
  3. I would like to know the statistics for Cork City and other Cities and Towns. How are they fairing elsewhere area by area. I would like to know how safe or what problems Cyclists are finding in Cork or elsewhere.

    Reply

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