Six people on bicycles have died on Irish roads, a revision upwards of two, the Garda press office has confirmed.
The two cases not reported as fatal cycling deaths until now are a collision on East Wall Road between a driver of a truck and a person cycling a bicycle, and a man who fell off his bicycle on the Sally Gap in Co Wicklow.
In relation to the East Wall Road collision, Sargent Margaret Flanagan at the Garda press office said: “The injured party passed away on 18th March, 2018 at Mater Hospital. The incident occurred on 7th March, 2018 at 7.15am when the pedal cyclist and a 40 ft truck collided. The deceased was a male aged 60 years old. The investigation is ongoing.”
In the case of the man who died on the Sally Gap, it involved no other vehicle and the man is said to fallen when travelling at high speed. He died as a result of his injuries five days later in hospital. The five other fatalities involved collisions with motor vehicle in some form or another.
The Garda press office confirmed the following breakdown of cycling deaths so-far this year:
- 26/1/18 – Ards beg, Gortahork, Donegal – Collision between car and cyclist.
- 7/3/18 – East Wall Road, Dublin – Collision between truck and cyclist.
- 20/3/18 – Golflinks Rd, Bettystown, Meath – Cyclist in collision with minibus.
- 27/3/18 – Newpark Drive, Kilkenny – Collision between truck and cyclist.
- 8/04/18 – Sally Gap, Roundwood, Wicklow – Cyclist fell off bicycle.
- 18/4/18 – Greenfield Park, Donnybrook, Dublin – Cyclist in collision with a truck.
IrishCycle.com requested clarity on the issue as campaigners and members of the public noticed that the fatal collision statistics on Garda.ie were revised twice in recent weeks and both cases did not tally with reported cases of fatal collisions involving people cycling.
Gardai note that the traffic collision statistics on their website are provisional, operational and subject to change. In some cases cyclists may suffer serious injuries only to pass away weeks, months or even years later in hospital. The statistics are then updated to reflect this. In other cases a person may die as a result of underlying health issues while out cycling and following an inquest traffic statistics are again adjusted to reflect the findings.
How did I not hear of the death on the E Wall Road? I cycle that road every day. It’s a very dangerous road. High volumes of trucks to and from Port tunnel & Dublin Port.
What worries me is that this sets us on track for the same number of cyclists killed on our roads this year as last year. That is just a heartbreaking possibility to face.
The East Wall Road RTC is particularly disturbing in that none of us saw any media reports about it. The entire route between Alfie Byrne Road, R131, The Point roundabout, East Link Bridge and toll plaza is cycling-hostile.
(1) The road surface around the roundabout is entirely ripped apart by HGV wheel pressure and it is a major hazard for people who cycle it’s so deeply rutted;
(2) The junction has still not been signalised;
(3) There are new signs on East Link Bridge warning drivers not to overtake vehicles while transiting the bridge. No pictogram warning drivers not to overtake cyclists! No pictogram instructing cyclists to control the lane;
(4) There is no legal route off the bridge on the south-side to enter York Road. Only a footway is provided.
This is what I call designing for death.
No reports of the East Wall Road crash, involving a 40-foot truck, at 7.15 on a Saturday morning (the cyclist passed away on the 18th), and no reports either of the Sally Gap crash when a man or woman came off the bike coming down that gravel-strewn hillside on Sunday 8 April and died five days later in hospital.
These were among the many “accidents” involving people on bicycles that are not reported, because the people don’t die instantly, but die within 30 days.