A Road Safety Authority expert penned a column in which cycle lanes were referred to as "psycho lanes". And that was on for starters; some of the phrases are simply incredible.
The Road Safety Authority’s credibility has taken a hammering after a newspaper used the Freedom of Information Act to obtain the original draft of its recent column on cyclists.
Last month the column appeared in the Irish Independent written by ‘RSA Expert’. Cyclists were described as “busy bees” with little regard for other road users.
It argued the point that because motorists were responding well to advice to pass cyclists at 1.5 metres, cyclists now needed to step up and extend the same courtesy.
The writer than went on to outline examples of incidents they had seen involving cyclists almost hitting pedestrians, breaking red lights and weaving in out of traffic.
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The article was breathtaking coming as it did from an agency charged with promoting safety for all road users. But now it emerges the original draft was even worse and needed to be toned down.
Using FOI, The Times newspaper has obtained a copy of the original article and correspondence about it within the Road Safety Authority.
It was only circulated internally and the existence of the secret draft was not known before The Times obtained it.
The original article, which was “toned down” before publication, described cyclists as “a law unto themselves”, adding they had a “complete disregard for the rules of the road”.
It continued that cyclists were “swarming masses” who had developed a “majority rules mindset”.
Cyclists were “battling it out for first place in the cycle lane, or as some call it, ‘the psycho lane’”.
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The RSA’s Brian Farrell told The Times that the original article was never intended for publication.
The chief executive of the organisation, Moyagh Murdock, has kept her head down and out of the controversy.
In the article that was published, the RSA writer maps some bad behavior by some cyclists onto all cyclists.
They also furnish no evidence that even attempts to prove the assertion drivers were responding very positively to the advice to pass cyclists at 1.5 metres.
The writer also said they had witnessed a parent holding the arm of their child to prevent a cyclist crashing into them after breaking a red light.
“All the cyclist could say was ‘sorry’, after which they hurtled onwards, minus any helmet or high-visibility gear,” the writer adds.
Maps bad behaviour onto all cyclists
The RSA expert also chides the cyclists they saw behaving badly on the roads for not wearing hi-vis or helmets.
There is no mention of the fact helmets are not compulsory, but the suggestion is left in the air that not wearing one is the act of an irresponsible road user.
And there’s no mention of the fact high-vis clothing is also not compulsory (though advisable when need) even when it’s dark.
The writer adds of seeing the cyclist break a red light: “This is not an isolated incident. I see cyclists breaking pedestrian lights all the time.
“I’m talking flat out, Tour de France-style as pedestrians on opposite sides frantically bump into each other to avoid being flattened.”
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