One cyclist treated for trauma every three days in Ireland

Brendan Burgess

Brendan Burgess

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An interesting report in today's Irish Times by Paul Cullen.

Irish hospitals treat one cyclist every three days for trauma injury on roads



Wearing a helmet was associated with a significantly reduced rate of head injury, he said. Some 27 per cent of cyclists wearing helmet had head injuries, against 52 per cent of those not wearing helmets.
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While a bike-helmet wearer himself, he pointed out that many cyclists object to making this compulsory. Motorists tend to driver close and more riskily to cyclists wearing helmets, it is argued, while compulsory helmet-wearing could result in fewer people taking up a healthy activity.
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Of the 410 cycling injuries recorded, 130 involved a motor vehicle, 23 fellow cyclists, 23 mountainbiking, while 53 occurred when the cyclist hit an obstacle. Seven cases arose from a collision with an animal and 173 had an unspecified cause; many of these are thought to be single-vehicle incidents, often caused by mechanical issues or a loss of control.
 
I am surprised that the amount of cyclist trauma injury on our roads is not greater. Our motorists, cyclists, motorcyclists, pedestrians need to respect other users of our roads. I don't think there's a day goes by without me seeing some road users trying to emulate the Japanese suicide pilots of WW2.
 
Cycling is generally safe in Dublin, it could be a lot safer. This report included references to sports cycling including mountain biking and this was extrapolated into everyday cycling is dangerous which is ludicrous. It also referenced 12 deaths between 2014-2016 when there were more than that but also implied the 12 deaths all had head trauma but did not state that the head trauma was not the cause of death in each case.
It really didn't shed a whole heap of light on the issue.
 
DeeKie said:
It’s scary cycling and driving in Dublin.
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I disagree. Cycling in Dublin is much less difficult than it was 20 years ago. Drivers are far more considerate and there's less speeding or drink driving.

What I find surprising is that motorists are only involved in 30% of incidents and, considering the way many cyclists behave, I am of the opinion that cyclists are responsible for at least half of that 30%. Therefore why all the emphasis on motorist behaviour? Adverts and campaigns should be aimed at cyclists themselves. When was the last time anyone heard of a cyclist being stopped for not having a light on their bike when it's dark? You can get a set of lights for under a Euro on Amazon so there's no excuse.
 
Purple said:
I disagree. Cycling in Dublin is much less difficult than it was 20 years ago. Drivers are far more considerate and there's less speeding or drink driving.

What I find surprising is that motorists are only involved in 30% of incidents and, considering the way many cyclists behave, I am of the opinion that cyclists are responsible for at least half of that 30%. Therefore why all the emphasis on motorist behaviour? Adverts and campaigns should be aimed at cyclists themselves. When was the last time anyone heard of a cyclist being stopped for not having a light on their bike when it's dark? You can get a set of lights for under a Euro on Amazon so there's no excuse.
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I totally disagree as someone who cycles quite regularly in Dublin. There is much more anger on the roads now than there was 20 years ago, there are many more distractions in cars with people regularly on mobile phones instead of paying attention.
Attention focusses on Driver behaviour because they're the ones in vehicles that cause catastrophic injuries and deaths, cars are much larger than they were 20 years ago also.
This past spring there were numerous photos by Garda twitter where they were stopping cyclists without lights, there were no such photos of them pulling over motorists without lights on or with only one light working. They have now progressed to stopping and seizing e-scooters because that's where the problems really lie, not with vehicle drivers parking in the few cycle lanes we have, turning across cyclists without indicating, passing very close by cyclists and beeping at cyclists for having the temerity of not cycling in the gutter.
Along with all the other stats quoted in the article I wouldn't take much heed of the 30%.
If you want actual details, have a look at coroner court reports, most deaths have not been the fault of the cyclist, they have often been hit from behind in daylight.
https://irishcycle.com/2018/01/03/cycling-deaths-2017/
 
Hi derek

That is a really interesting article.

All the deaths were caused by drivers which is not the impression I got from the Doctor's research.

I do think that cycling in Dublin at least, is much better now than it was 20 years ago. We have more cycle lanes and bus lanes.

The NCT has almost eliminated the horrible fumes from cars who don't bother getting their exhausts fixed.

And I would say that there is more compliance now with speed limits than there was 20 years ago.

Likewise, there is much less drink driving.

And the article shows that there is only an average of one fatality a year in Dublin City area which is where I do most of my cycling.

Brendan
 
I find it incredible (as in it is not credible) when I read that cyclists were not responsible for a single death where a car and a cyclist were involved in a crash.
I cycle in Dublin on a regular basis. I find motorists leave more room now than 20 years ago. There are far more cycle lanes and people drive more slowly.
 
Purple said:
I find it incredible (as in it is not credible) when I read that cyclists were not responsible for a single death where a car and a cyclist were involved in a crash.
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Completely agreed.
Just because there was a car / truck involved doesn't mean the cyclist wasn't to blame.
 
Brendan Burgess said:
The NCT has almost eliminated the horrible fumes from cars who don't bother getting their exhausts fixed.
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Less oil being burned, so fumes are less smokey, but air quality is significantly worse with the increase in diesel usage. Dublin air quality in particular is regularly below the minimum safe WHO standards, and ~1500 premature deaths are attributed to air pollution here annually.
 
Brendan Burgess said:
Hi derek

That is a really interesting article.

All the deaths were caused by drivers which is not the impression I got from the Doctor's research.

I do think that cycling in Dublin at least, is much better now than it was 20 years ago. We have more cycle lanes and bus lanes.

The NCT has almost eliminated the horrible fumes from cars who don't bother getting their exhausts fixed.

And I would say that there is more compliance now with speed limits than there was 20 years ago.

Likewise, there is much less drink driving.

And the article shows that there is only an average of one fatality a year in Dublin City area which is where I do most of my cycling.

Brendan
Click to expand...
Purple said:
I find it incredible (as in it is not credible) when I read that cyclists were not responsible for a single death where a car and a cyclist were involved in a crash.
I cycle in Dublin on a regular basis. I find motorists leave more room now than 20 years ago. There are far more cycle lanes and people drive more slowly.
Click to expand...
RedOnion said:
Completely agreed.
Just because there was a car / truck involved doesn't mean the cyclist wasn't to blame.
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I don't think the article I linked to implied that all these deaths were caused by drivers, they all involved drivers.

Dublin is a safe city to cycle in, but it could be safer. There are over 10 million journeys by bicycle in the City Centre (between canals) every year and very few deaths. However, perception is key, there would be many more people cycling if they felt it was safer. There is also a significant gender imbalance which needs to be addressed and will be by greater investment in fully segregated cycle lanes which hopefully BusConnects will bring in despite the NIMBYs (if you travel along the Grand Canal Cycle Track you will notice many more women than on other routes).
 
I think there will always be a gender imbalance as men don't need as much time or as many facilities at the end of their journey to get ready for work.
 
I'd agree but maybe not for same reasons but it's way starker than it should be. Getting to 60/40 would be great.
 
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