Madam, - I was interested to read the letters about the possibility of adding bicycle lanes to O'Connell Street (February 19th and 21st). As a cyclist with over 20 years' experience on the roads of Dublin, I have found, with very few exceptions, that such facilities do not increase cyclists' safety.
This is primarily because they increases the chance of collisions - bike-car collisions at junctions in the case of on-road cycle-lanes, bike-pedestrian collisions in the case of footpath cycle-lanes. Another problem is that vehicles tend to pass cyclists on cycle-lanes more closely than they would otherwise, since drivers have a tendency to drive close to painted lines.
The scientific literature on the subject is usefully summarised at: http://www.cyclecraft.co.uk/digest/research.html.
I believe that the best approach to make roads more cycle-friendly in general is:
1. Make left-hand traffic lanes wider than a bus by about two metres.
2. Leave those two metres unmarked, but paint in a division from all other traffic lanes to guide motorists away from the side of the road.
I have come across a few roads which have this wider left-lane design. It reduces tension between cyclists and motorists considerably. - Yours, etc,
DERMOT RYAN, The Tramyard, Inchicore, Dublin 8.