Today FM broadcaster Matt Cooper has said he receives vitriolic texts from listeners when covering cycling safety. But he is still joining the campaign for the 1.5 metre safe passing distance.
Matt Cooper receives vitriolic abuse when covering cycling safety
Today FM broadcaster Matt Cooper has said when his show covers cycling safety it receives a large volume of vitriolic messages.
Cooper, who hosts The Last Word daily evening news show, is a cyclist himself.
And he has told the Irish edition of The Times UK newspaper that he is joining it in supporting the campaign for the introduction of 1.5 metre safe pass legislation.
Senior Government politicians Ciaran Cannon and Regina Doherty last year published a Bill setting out how it would work.
Motorists would be required by law to allow a distance of 1.5 metres when passing cyclists. The passing distance would be reduced to 1 metre in zones where the speed limit was under 50km per hour.
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Matt Cooper believes many cities are not safe for cycling. And he believed the new law would send out a clear signal that overtaking cyclists must be done safely.
“Rage towards cyclists is prevalent; this idea that somehow if they are hurt or injured it must be their fault,” he said.
“Clearly it is going to take a long time to change such ugly attitudes, so laws to enhance the safety of vulnerable cyclists are obviously needed.”
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He said the negative attitudes towards cyclists were clear from the many text his show received when it covered cycling safety.
And he also revealed he would not allow his own son to cycle to school over safety concerns.
“I’m denying him the opportunity to do something that I did all the time when going to school in Cork in the 1980s,” he said. “But it just isn’t safe enough to let him cycle in Dublin now."
Safe pass law under review
The Department of Transport is currently examining the possibility of introducing the new legislation.
However, officials in the Department and indeed Minister Shane Ross have suggested it would be unenforceable.
“We are looking at it, it has difficulties. It was tried in Australia and elsewhere. The problem is proof, the problem is enforcement,” Mr Ross said last month.
“I do not want to introduce a measure that is basically unenforceable. How do you prove someone is 1.5 metres away? That is very hard to prove.”
He added that his official were “sceptically” examining the idea.
“It is not ruled out but it is not as easy as it looks. If you put 1.5 metres between them all the time, you have got to be able to prove people have committed that offence.”
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