While cyclist road deaths are well covered in the media, the huge increase in cyclists being injured will come as a surprise to many.
The new head of the Road Safety Authority, Liz O’Donnell has said a report compiled by her organisation which has yet to be published has found an exponential increase in the number of cyclists being injured in crashes in recent years.
Ms O’Donnell, who has just taken up her position following the retirement of broadcaster turned road safety campaigner Gay Byrne, said the total number of road deaths was creeping up again after years of decline.
However, fewer drivers were dying; with much of the growth in fatalities among pedestrians and cyclists.
“The biggest and most worrying increase in deaths this year in Ireland has been among pedestrians, now at 34 deaths, seven more than this time last year,” she wrote in the Irish Independent.
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“The increase in cyclist deaths is also of concern; we have already seen 10 cyclist deaths on our roads in 2014, five more deaths compared to the full-year toll for 2013.
Liz O'Donnell, centre, has urged motorists to consider how badly injured any cyclist would be if hit by a vehicle.
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“There has been a noticeable explosion in the number of cyclists using the roads and increased numbers means more risk.
“A soon-to-be-published report by the RSA will show that there has been a 59pc increase in injuries among cyclists.
“Regardless of who is at fault, drivers need to appreciate that if involved in a collision with a cyclist, the cyclists is going to suffer the most.”
Information on the increase in the number of cyclist fatalities to date this year is not new, with all 15 deaths in the Republic having been reported here on stickybottle.
However, little was known before now of the increase in the number of cyclists being injured in crashes.
While the Garda is obliged to release the details of all road fatalities, those collisions where road users are injured rather than killed are generally not publicised so it is much more difficult to monitor changes in trends.
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