Dáil Eireann has been told cyclists are “inferior road users” in Ireland. It also heard road safety and enforcement could be improved by establishing an online portal so cyclists could lodge self-recorded videos that captured close passes and other offences.
The matter was raised in a debate last night by Ciaran Cannon TD (FG), who has campaigned on cycling issues. However, his request for an online portal, like that in operation in the UK, was met with a confusing response from Minister for State Peter Burke TD (FG).
Despite the fact cyclists’ self-recorded videos have already
been successfully used against drivers, Mr Burke told the Dáil such footage was
not reliable enough to be used as evidence.
He said while Mr Cannon had proposed the establishment of a dedicated online portal for cyclists' videos of alleged motoring offences, the current TrafficWatch facility already allowed online reporting (it does now allow video to be submitted – Ed).
“There are strict standards in legislation that relate to photographic evidence obtained by An Garda Siochana,” Mr Burke said. “While An Garda Siochana has confirmed that private dashcam footage may be used during a prosecution, its use must be in accordance with the best evidential practices and entails structures that must exist around continuity of evidence.
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“Any decision to allow film by members of the public to be used in evidence in road traffic cases would raise questions of reliability and possibly tampering with the apparatus used as well as potential privacy issues,” Mr Burke said.
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“It may also raise questions about why An Garda Siochana apparatus was held to a standard not required by private individuals if both were ultimately to be treated as reliable evidence.”
Mr Burke explained that Minister for Transport Eamon Ryan TD (Greens) had informed him of the legal difficulties relating to cyclists using videos as evidence.
Mr Cannon responded by saying cyclists’ videos had “already been accepted by numerous Garda stations around the country” in cases that resulted in successful prosecutions.
However, there was an issue around an inconsistent approach being taken to the videos; a problem he said could be alleviated by the use of an online portal, with videos examined by specially trained gardai.
He saw no reason why the Department of Transport and Department of Justice could not work to bring about the creation of the dedicated online portal to submit self-recorded videos.
He insisted a “competent computer science student” could create such a portal in a weekend, adding Irish cyclists were treated as “inferior road users” in the Republic and that this must stop.
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