Sir, – With reference to the upcoming Road Traffic (Minimum Passing Distance of Cyclists) Bill 2017, when my friends and I cycled to school together, we were told by our parents that if we were cycling side by side to drop back into single file to allow following vehicles to pass, for our own safety and that of others.
Here, in rural Ireland on the country roads we do not always have the mandatory 1.5m or 1m overtaking space, but I do know I always give as much space as possible. Neither do I follow closely behind a cyclist, although this doesn’t prevent some club cyclists, of which we get many, cycling side by side, determinedly staying in position after turning around to glare at the following motorist, a very unwise manoeuvre, I would have thought, considering the wobble this causes the cyclist. When did common courtesy and respect for each other disappear from our roads? – Yours, etc,
RITA MOORE,
Westport,Co Mayo.
Sir, – I don’t know how much they pay bus drivers in Dublin, but it isn’t enough. Heedless jaywalkers, cranky motorists and daft cyclists. Talk about stress! – Yours, etc,
CATHERINE MOLLOY,
Dublin 3.
Sir, – When is a bicycle lane not a bicycle lane? When buses swerve in. When builders leave a skip on it. When trucks don’t fit in their lane. When a driver’s indicator “doesn’t work”. When vehicles pass on the inside. When the council doesn’t clean rubbish off it. When cars and vans race through a red light. That’s when a bicycle lane is not a bicycle lane. – Yours, etc,
EVE PARNELL,
Dublin 8.