Safety plea after cyclist’s death

NEW restrictions must be placed on heavy goods vehicles (HGVs) to stop cyclists being killed, it was claimed yesterday.

A cyclist was hit by a lorry on the North Wall in Dublin yesterday, bringing the number of cyclists killed so far this year to five.

The Dublin Cycling Campaign said HGVs accounted for 78% of cyclist deaths in the city.

“Everybody is sitting back and waiting for the Port Tunnel to open but there are loads of measures they could have put in, in the meantime,” said spokesman David Maher.

“Generally people who cycle in Dublin come from the lowest socio-economic group and nobody could care less.”

He said there was no restriction on HGVs entering the city, no mandatory fitting of additional mirrors and no proper enforcement of speeding by the gardaí.

“If you were to pool together drunk drivers, illegal parkers, speeders and everyone else, they’re still insignificant compared to the danger caused to cyclists by HGVs.”

He said there should be a safety summit involving cycling groups, hauliers, the National Safety Council (NSC) and the Department of Transport.

The 5.6km Port Tunnel, due to open next March, will remove 20,000 lorries from the city every day.

Trucks currently travel to and from the port along the quays, where the highest number of accidents have occurred. The NSC said it viewed the Port Tunnel as the remedy to the problem.

“It will remove the conflict between cyclists and trucks in Dublin city because what you have is a situation where cyclists and trucks are competing for space in a small area,” said spokesman Brian Farrell.

According to the NSC, more than 2,000 cyclists were killed or injured between 1998 and 2002, while 13 died last year.

The Irish Road Haulage Association said it had been working to educate its members about the dangers to cyclists.

“We’ve been tireless in our efforts to eliminate the problem. It really troubles us greatly that these things take place on an infrequent basis,” said spokesman Jimmy Quinn.