CultureOfImpunity

There are people driving on our roads who would kill us and leave us for dead. We don't want to hear about "shared responsibility" or wearing hi viz.

We want safe segregated cycle lanes, more enforcement and higher penalties for those who drive in a way that puts lives at risk.

Hit-and-runs made up almost 10% of serious crashes on Irish roads in last two months https://jrnl.ie/6591049

All the appeals to drivers, all the educational videos, all the expensive campaigns, they all count for nothing if you don't have good enforcement.

If we had this level of enforcement everyday, our roads would be a lot safer and fewer families would be facing Christmas with an empty chair at the table.

RTE news : Driver at twice speed limit near school on Slow Down Day

http://www.rte.ie/news/2024/1220/1487532-national-slow-down-day/

I know I should be used to it at this stage but the pure ignorance of this struck me on an early morning school drop off this morning. The driver of the white car decided parking almost fully on the footpath, at double yellow lines, on the opposite side of the road, was a better idea than parking in the large parking bay on the left.

This is a cul de sac leading up to a school where over 600 four to twelve year olds walk through the gates every morning.

One of the greatest public servants I know is the woman who holds the lollipop sign on my walk into my kid's school. She puts her life in danger every single day, and gets regular verbal abuse and threats of physical violence, just so our children can cross the road safely. And she does it for peanuts.

The fact that we need her at all, at a signalised pedestrian crossing, illustrates the abject failure of our roads policing and our road safety strategy.

A woman was killed yesterday while standing on a footpath on the main street of a small Irish town in the middle of the day.

But rest assured, it was the car that killed her. The driver had "lost control" of the car and therefore cannot be blamed. It was completely unavoidable, don't you see. And the driver is to be pitied as much as the victims.

https://www.irishexaminer.com/news/munster/arid-41509070.html

Good to know that two convictions for violent disorder and a conviction for dangerous driving are no impediment to being awarded one of the GAA's top accolades.

Four times over the legal limit and he gets off on a technicality. There's something wrong with the way Road Traffic cases are dealt with in Irish Courts that allows people to evade justice like this.

JC Decaux casually parking their van in the bike/bus lane in Rathmines at the height of the morning rush hour as school children are cycling to school and people are travelling to work by bus and bike. They were there for at least 15 minutes and most likely longer.

As long as this behaviour is tolerated we will never have a reliable public transport service or a safe cycling network.

The GAA have nominated a player with a conviction for violent disorder and a separate conviction for dangerous driving for the Hurler of the Year Award. He is currently serving a suspended sentence for the first conviction and a two year driving ban for the second.

I'm sure it was absolutely essential that this Garda completely blocked the footpath outside the Kevin Street HQ yesterday evening. At least this woman was able to navigate around the car but if it had been a wheelchair used they would have been stuck.

"the only thing that advertisement accomplished was to make it less likely that people would choose transport modes other than driving, and more likely to keep driving no matter how many bans the courts slap on them"

@racingboo is spot on here

https://irishcycle.com/2024/09/07/unintended-consequences-in-a-world-where-we-think-driving-is-freedom/

More great investigative reporting from @dublininquirer

70% of reports of illegal parking in Dublin City are either not followed up on or followed up too late to act.

Only 9% of reports lead to any kind of action against the perpetrator.

The results of this lack of enforcement are plain to see

#CultureOfImpunity

https://dublininquirer.com/2024/08/21/if-you-report-a-car-parked-illegally-in-the-city-its-unlikely-to-result-in-any-enforcement-action-records-show/

An almost total absence of enforcement leads inevitably to a culture of impunity among drivers with the result that our roads are less safe for people cycling than they should be.

This not only impacts on people who cycle but also on accessibility for people who would like to cycle but who find the existing infrastructure too challenging.

#BikeTooter #CyclingInDublin #ActiveTravel #CultureOfImpunity

https://www.irishtimes.com/transport/2024/08/16/five-motorists-fined-by-gardai-for-driving-in-cycle-lanes-over-four-years/

The scene on the approach to my children's school this morning.

Once again the Road Safety Authority and An Garda Síochána are launching a road safety campaign while parking on the footpath and the cycle lane.

It's astonishing that they are still doing this despite being repeatedly called out for it in the past.

This is why I hate these "Cyclists beware" graphics on the back of vans. This driver obviously DGAF about anyone walking or cycling and these graphics are just an attempt to absolve him of responsibility.