A judge in Cork has ruled it matters very much what direction you are riding down a cycle lane.
A judge in Cork has ruled that a motorist who collided with a cyclist riding the wrong way up a cycle lane is not liable for his injuries.
Judge David Riordan at Cork Circuit Court said he did not doubt that 60-year-old cyclist Brian O’Callaghan was a decent person.
However, his decision to ride his bike in the wrong direction meant the collision that followed could not be blamed on driver Clare Whelan.
Mr O’Callaghan of College View, Western Rd, Cork, was cycling home on July 12th, 2004, when he entered a cycle lane and proceeded up it in the wrong direction on Sheare St.
He said while cycling down the bike lane he saw Ms Whelan’s car emerging from Coach Lane onto Sheare St.
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While he noticed the driver, Ms Whelan, look right checking for vehicular traffic he claimed she had not looked left checking for pedestrians.
She pulled out and hit Mr O’Callaghan’s front wheel, sending him crashing to the ground.
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“He was seeking to return home to the Mardyke,” Judge Riordan said while ruling against Mr O’Callaghan, who was taking a case alleging negligence on the part of Ms Whelan.
“The cycle lane was clearly marked ‘no entry,” he added of the lane that it was one way from west into Cork city for cyclists and the plaintiff was travelling the other direction.
“In all the circumstances Mr O’Callaghan came off his bike and he did have a good thump when he came off the bike.
“The question is, can that be visited the shoulders of Clare Whelan? He must prove there was negligence on the part of Ms Walsh.
“He cannot succeed. I view him as a decent person all other matters considered.”
Judge Riordan added that, from his own local knowledge, a cyclist looking to travel west from Cork city should use the Western Rd cycle lane and not travel the wrong way down the in-bound lane on Sheare’s St, where the collision occurred.
Ms Whelan, a post mistress in Cork, insisted she had checked both ways when pulling out.
“I looked left to see there were no pedestrians, I looked right to see there was no traffic.
“And the next thing he bumped into the front of my vehicle. He fell off the bicycle softly on to the ground.”
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