Many cycle lanes are far too narrow, poorly designed or badly surfaced rendering them unsafe. Yet cyclists were legally obliged to get off the road and into any lanes provided; not any more.
Cycle lanes no longer legally compulsory in Ireland
Cyclists in the Republic of Ireland are no longer legally obliged to use cycle lanes whenever they are available.
The change has come about after a recent amendment to legislation.
Up until now if a cyclist was riding along a street where a cycle lane was available they were legally obliged to use it.
And that was the case even when lanes were unsafe due to poor surface or poor design.
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Seven years ago the then transport minister Leo Varadkar told the Dáil the law was a poor one. He agreed it should be changed to allow cyclists to choose whether to use a lane or not.
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However, while he pressed ahead with the change in 2012, the wording of the new provision was later seen as problematic.
The Director of Public Prosecutions advised the Department of Transport in 2015 that the changes introduced three years earlier were flawed.
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While that advice was never made public, the DPP’s advice essentially was that the legal obligation to use cycle lanes whenever available still existed.
However, under Shane Ross the Department has now resolved the matter.
The 1997 road traffic regulations stated that “all pedal cycles must be driven on a cycle track where one is provided”.
But those Road Traffic and Parking Regulations have now been amended. And they clarify that “only the use of contra-flow cycle tracks and any cycle track in a pedestrianised area are mandatory”.
The statutory instrument bringing about the legal change was signed 10 days. However, the fact the change has taken place is only emerging now.
The change is regarded as important because cyclists were legally obliged to use any and all cycle lane facilities when available.
Many lanes are substandard and poorly constructed, with the surface and design rendering some more unsafe than adjacent roads.
And some cycle lanes also lead cyclists into dangerous situations, including into the blind spot of trucks turning at junctions.
This is not a white line marking the edge of the road, it’s the line that marks a cycle lane near Killarney. The cycle lane is – incredibly – to the left of the painted white line. In cases like this, cyclists would be much better advised to ride outside the lane, as the cyclist closest to camera is doing. The other rider, who is riding in the lane, is in a more dangerous position. He's too close to the verge and he is also not asserting himself in the road; a position seen as an excuse by some drivers to pass closely.
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