People cycling in Ireland at risk from increasing level of construction traffic -- IrishCycle.com

THIS IMAGE: Truck blind spots where somebody on a bike is invisable to a driver; MAIN IMAGE: A sign for the Dublin city centre 5 axle ban — THIS IMAGE: Truck blind spots where somebody on a bike is “invisible” to a driver; MAIN IMAGE: A sign for the Dublin city centre 5 axle ban

An increased level of construction will put people cycling at risk, Irish cycling lobby group Cyclist.ie has told Irish MEPs.

Dr Mike McKillen, chairman of Cyclist.ie, said the delay in forcing manufacturers to redesign trucks “panders to the truck manufacturers”.

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It comes as years-long changes to the EU regulations covering weights and dimensions of trucks is to be finalised on Friday. The European Cyclists’ Federation said this week that manufacturers, through heavy lobbying, have succeeded in maintaining the status quo of brick shaped lorry design that has been dominant over the past 20 years.

“Cyclist.ie calls this a retrograde decision that panders to the truck manufacturers who have known full well for decades just how dangerous their cab designs are to cyclists and pedestrians,” said McKillen.

He said: “The semi-trailer rigs, in particular, are the main cyclist maimers and killers on our roads in Ireland as Cyclist.ie knows only too well from its attendance at Coroners’ Inquests into cyclists’ fatalities. With the increase in construction activity in Ireland the frequency of trips made by these rigs will increase so the risk to cyclists will increase in step. This year we have 11 cyclist fatalities – too many.”

“We call on the MEPs for Ireland to ensure that this FATAL design flaw is taken seriously by the Commission and the truck manufacturers. No more prevarication,” added McKillen.

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