When cyclists are involved in crashes with drivers on Irish roads the driver's inattentiveness is twice as likely to be at fault than cyclists not paying attention, the Road Safety Authority has said.

In a new study of the main characteristics of road crashes involving cyclists in the Republic of Ireland it was also found that only eight per cent of crashes involved just the cyclist, with no other road user involved.

Most of the crashes involved drivers of cars, but goods vehicles - heavy and light - also featured regularly.

Overall, when crashes involving cyclists occurred, in 40 per cent of the cases the failure of the drive to observe (his/her surroundings on the road) caused the crash while the same inattentiveness on the part of cyclists was to blame for fewer than 20 per cent of the crashes cyclists were involved in.

More cyclists injured during morning and evening commutes than at any other time and of all
collisions involving another vehicle,
four in five cyclists injured by
a car driver.

Over half of the cyclists injured on Irish roads crashed at junctions and there were a total of 1,056 cyclists injured in collisions in 2018 in Ireland.

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Moyagh Murdock, chief executive of the Road Safety Authority said the research showed most crashes involving cyclists also involved a vehicle.

“We need to remove the potential for conflict by providing more dedicated and better cycling infrastructure," she said.

"While the announcement of the creation of a cycle lane on the north quays in Dublin city is a welcome development, much more needs to be done.

"Ireland is lagging behind many of our European counterparts in introducing dedicated cycle tracks.

"We need separate infrastructure for vehicles and bicycles that remove danger points from our roads and reduce conflict between road users.

"The European Transport Safety Council (ETSC) earlier this month called on EU member states to prioritise the provision of separate cycling infrastructure to protect cyclists."

Main findings of Road Safety Authority

• 73.7 per cent of cyclists injured in 2016 were male and 57.1 per cent were between the ages of 25-49.
• 51.1 per cent of crashes involving cyclists occurred at junctions
• 24.7 per cent were injured in collisions that took place at a T-junction.
• 47 per cent of cyclists were wearing a helmet at the time of the collision, while 41 per cent were not.
• 91.3 per cent of were injured in crashes that involved at least one other vehicle; meaning very few crashes involved cyclists crashing themselves with nobody else involved.
• Of the cyclists injured in multivehicle collisions, 84 per cent were injured in a collision with a car.
• Of the cyclists injured in multivehicle collisions, 11 per cent were injured in a collision with a goods vehicle - both light and heavy goods vehicles.
• When cyclists were involved in crashes with drivers of cars or goods vehicles, those vehicles were being moved forward in about 40 per cent of the crashes, turning right in 20.5 per cent of the crashes
• In 41.4 per cent of collisions with drivers in cars, it was reported that the car driver failed to observe prior to the collision.
• In 40 per cent of collisions with goods vehicles, it was reported that the goods vehicle driver failed to observe prior to the collision.
• In 19.8 per cent of crashes involving cyclists in a collision with a car, it was reported that the cyclist failed to observe.