Sunday, 24 April 2022 | 8.3°C Dublin

Galway East TD Ciaran Cannon. @ciarancannon

There is backlash to advice by the Road Safety Authority (RSA) for cyclists to use high visibility clothing, with one TD describing it as ‘victim blaming.’

O n Tuesday the RSA posted a tweet which said: ”Cycling safety. Wear high visibility clothing. Keep bicycle lights in good working order. Signal in plenty of time. Don't ever ride or attempt to ride a bicycle while under the influence of alcohol or drugs.”

The tweet also shared a link to the RSA website for further information, however, the post was greeted with distain from many cycling enthusiasts and groups online. 

Fine Gael Galway East TD Ciaran Cannon challenged the RSA in the comments section. 

In July last year, Mr Cannon was seriously injured when he was hit by a car while out cycling in the middle of the day, in Galway. 

He was rushed to hospital after the incident for emergency knee surgery. 

An avid cyclist and a long-time advocate for safer road infrastructure, Mr Cannon used his near-fatal accident as an example of why the Government needs to do more to protect vulnerable road users. 

In response to the RSA post, the Fine Gael TD posted a picture of himself in the same visible yellow jersey which he wore the day he was hit.

"It was broad daylight. I was dressed exactly like this and it made no difference whatsoever to the motorist who just didn’t take the time to check if I was sharing the road with him, 20 mins later I was in an ambulance. You’re focusing on the wrong people here,” he wrote. 

It was broad daylight. I was dressed exactly like this and it made no difference whatsoever to the motorist who just didn’t take the time to check if I was sharing the road with him. 20 mins later I was in an ambulance. You’re focusing on the wrong people here. pic.twitter.com/MYAs6FkH12

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Mr Cannon told Independent.ie there is a culture in Ireland, which is “engrained from childhood”, that a “hierarchy” exists on Irish roads.

He said the hierarchy places motorists at the top and cyclists and pedestrians at the bottom.

He argued that on the continent, there is no emphasis placed on cyclists wearing “high viz” clothing.

By encouraging cyclist to wear reflective gear, he said the RSA is “hardwiring the culture that it is your obligation to wear the hi-viz, not the obligation of the motorists to be more vigilant and more careful”.

How cycling families dress in countries that really understand road safety. Every time you propagate the high vis myth, you shift the balance of power on our roads even further towards motorists and absolve them of the need to drive carefully. pic.twitter.com/ApBLBCSbic

Mr Cannon said the RSA “spends in order of nearly €1m a year” on high viz jackets which are given away to the general public.

He said this money should instead be invested in better driver training programmes. 

"It’s actually blaming the victim for not being visible enough in broad daylight, in the main which is where most of our cycling accidents happen, when in actual fact the blame lies squarely and fairly with the motorist that hit the cyclist,” he said.

"If we continue to promote the use of high viz as part of our road safety strategy we are going down the wrong path. It just needs to stop. They should take that million euro and use it in a way that’s proven to stop serious road safety issues here in Ireland.

"Be it in greater public awareness campaigns, be it in better driver training because that’s a big problem. We don’t have significant enough focus in our driver training programmes in how drivers and motorists approach and care for our vulnerable road users on our roads.”

It comes as the RSA CEO Sam Waide recently said Ireland is Ireland is “in danger of having the highest number of road fatalities in a decade” this year.

The Dublin bike shop and social enterprise Rothar used this comment when replying to the RSA’s advice for cyclists.

It wrote: “You don't see a link between your tweet two days ago and this one? Drivers killing themselves and other people while you're still obsessing with high viz for cyclists and pedestrians? Maybe time for a different strategy? Like an evidence based one?”

Independent.ie contacted the RSA for comment. 

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