The Dublin Cycling Campaign is an independent, voluntary lobby group that has been working to improve the city for all cyclists for over a decade and a half.
Sign up to our free email newsletter to keep up to date
Latest Tweets
National Safety Council (NSC)
National Safety Council Campaign
Letter One
Dublin Cycling Campaign ,
12 Millmount Grove,
Windy Arbour,
Dublin 14.
22-Apr-2003
Dear Mr Shaw,
I am writing to your on behalf of the Dublin Cycling Campaign, which is an affiliated member of the Irish Cycling Campaign. I wish to outline our dissatisfaction with the current direction of the NSC safety campaign and required changes to the NSC strategy.
The main changes that we want in the NSC policy are:
1. A simple statement, that "the primary responsibility of all road users is not to act in a manner that endangers the safety of other road users". This is simply to get across the message that road safety is not primarily about looking after just your own safety (which seems to be the focus of most of the motoring industries advertising).
2. Require that the NRA provide a break down of all road deaths, but particularly those of pedestrians and cyclists, in terms of what the lethal weapon was i.e. of the number of cyclists killed each year were they killed by HGVs, cars etc. These are the key groups that the authorities need to focus their attention on.
3. Compare compliance and enforcement levels to best international pratice. Enforcement is the key.
4. Focus on rampant illegal parking on footpaths and dangerous bends etc that seems to be accepted as the norm in city suburbs, towns and villages. The parking of goods vechicles in residential areas appears to be extremely common place.
5. Instruction of fines and penalty points for adult passengers accompanying driver who are stopped (and subsequently convicted of) drunk driving. A similar system has been operating with great success in Japan for a number of years.
We wish to request an urgent meeting with senior NSC officals to outline our position, to be consulted on all future road safety campaign (particularly ones focused at cyclists). I look forward to hearing from you on this issue.
Yours truly,
David Maher.
PRO Dublin Cycling Campaign. (Affliated member of the Irish Cycling Campaign)
