The findings of a new survey about Irish cyclists’ and motorists’ attitudes to each other suggests, erm, a less than harmonious relationship. Do you believe the results?
Almost 70 per cent of motorists believe cyclists don’t pay enough attention to vehicles on the road, and 56 per cent of cyclists have the same complaint about drivers.
Nearly one third of motorists believe cyclists are ‘a menace’.
They’re the findings that jump off the page in a new survey by the Easytrip electronic tag company.
The results will do little to ease the ‘them Vs us’ mentality that sometimes characterises the relationship between drivers and bike riders on the roads of Ireland.
However, despite the fact a lot more drivers distrust cyclists than vice versa – 69 per cent as against 56 per cent – there was one surprising result of the survey.
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Some 40 per cent of motorists questioned said they understood the challenges facing cyclists on the roads.
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Just sayin'.......
While some of the survey results suggest a gulf between the attitudes of cyclists and motorists when it comes to sharing the road, many motorists did acknowledge bad behaviour towards cyclists.
Some of the other findings include:
- Just over half of motorists said they had witnessed other drivers or passengers in cars engage in behaviour dangerous to cyclists, such as opening a car door on them as they passed.
- More than one in four, or 26 per cent, of motorists said they saw other drivers cutting off cyclists when taking a turn.
- One in five, 20 per cent, of motorists said they had seen pedestrians step into the path of cyclists while distracted using their mobile phone.
- And a whopping near-95 per cent of drivers said they saw cyclists not wearing hi-vis clothing, breaking red lights or cycling on footpaths.
The cyclists surveyed said the most common errant behaviour on the part of motorists was their failure to indicate when turning, not leaving space between car and kerb and cutting them off when turning left.
Over half of the motorists surveyed wanted a test introduced for those who wished to start cycling on the roads, while cyclists were split 50-50 on that idea.
Are you surprised by these survey findings? Let us know in the comments section below.
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