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VARIOUS ROAD GROUPS have urged pedestrians and cyclists to light up over the bank holiday weekend – by wearing high-visibility clothing when on the roads.
10 people have lost their lives and 40 more have been seriously injured in bank holiday collisions since 2011.
124 people have died so far this year on Irish roads, an improvement of 36 when compared to the same 10 month period in 2016.
The appeal is being made ahead of the clocks going back on Sunday morning, meaning an hour’s less daylight for road-users.
“Pedestrians and cyclists can be difficult to see in the road traffic, especially at night and in dark weather conditions,” says Moyagh Murdock, CEO of the Road Safety Authority (RSA).
Without wearing something reflective a pedestrian or cyclist is only likely to be visible 30 metres away, in low beam headlights. By wearing something reflective they become visible at 150 metres away.
This gives drivers five times the distance to notice them and, more importantly, to avoid them. There really is no excuse for anyone to be out on the road without a high visibility jacket, especially when you can order one free of charge from the RSA website.
An RSA survey from November of last year found that Irish people’s takeup of high-visibility clothing when using the roads is less than stellar:
There’s much room for improvement then. It’s not like there are no deterrents either – the on-the-spot Garda fine for committing a cycling visibility offence is €40.
The drive for high-visibility on the road isn’t the only measure the RSA is bringing to the table this weekend.
The authority, together with certain Applegreen service stations, is also offering free cups of coffee to jaded drivers between 2pm and 8pm this afternoon and evening, and between the same times on bank holiday Monday, 30 October.
Just say ‘RSA’ or ‘Driver Reviver’ to the till operator to get one. You can’t say fairer than that.
A list of participating Applegreen stations can be found here
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Cianan
The clocks going back does not mean an hour’s less daylight for road users. It just changes when the daylight occurs, not the amount of the daylight.
@Nick Allen: everybody knows the clocks going back is only for Halloween and to give santa more time to deliver the pressies at Xmas. I heard Leo wanted another hour this year so he could try out his new scary socks but the others in cabinet were afraid people might be gone to bed before the FG propaganda news at 9 on rte. They don’t change it back then for another 3 months because the gov can get more tax from the extra electricity usage. And the free coffee, it’s to highten your awareness before tricking you.
@Nick Allen: It doesn’t even change when the daylight occurs; just when we get up!
Upgrading street lighting from the antiquated 70″s and 80′s installations that exist across the country would be of enormous help…..
@Eugene Walsh: Don’t mention infrastructure to the government , they think all we need is electricity going to a data center .
Great job coffee safes lives not safe driving and obeying the laws of the land well done minister for nothing shane ross
It would be more realistic if they went away and stopped people with blown bulbs ..and fined them.. Everyday I see several cars with no headlight bulbs or no rearlights. It is so dangerous …
@OCallaghan TP: I keep the good bulbs for the NCT
@OCallaghan TP: A lot of that is down to DRL’s (daytime running lights) on modern cars. Drivers think their lights are on when in fact it’s just the DRL’s which for some reason only know to the designers, don’t work on the rear. Hence you get a lot of drivers out and about with useless front lights and no rear lights in the dark. In this day and age it must be dirt cheap to install a sensor that automatically switches on the lights when it gets dark. Be careful folks, they are among us.
Does this constitute misuse of public funds and an illegal subsidy to one private company to the detriment of other retailers?
Aaarg ballix. I’m on the plane to Crete now…… If only……
@John Culhane: Na na Na na na , No free coffee where you’re going , nothing but sun sea and drinks . Sniff , I’ll drink so much free coffee while your away , sniff .
@Paddy Hayden: drink till you drop paddy
Wearing Hiviz clothing just makes you more of a target for motorists with road rage, who’ll even pass much closer than they would if you weren’t wearing Hiviz.
That you should have a front and rear light on your bike is common sense though
@Larissa Caroline Nikolaus: Don’t wear the hi-viz , just hold onto it like a bullfighter , Ole .
@Larissa Caroline Nikolaus: wearing a Hi Viz jacket means I have an increased chance of seeing you as you whizz along the footpath at me, expecting me to step out of the way.
@Larissa Caroline Nikolaus: What a stupid thing to say. Everyone needs to be seen when they are out cycling.
@Ne: I hope you don’t budge Ne. The amount of rage i get from cyclists when i won’t move out of their way on a FOOTpath. Straight line down the middle of the footpath, best of luck getting past me.
The RSA recommending coffee just shows their lack of knowledge. No amount of coffee will keep you awake if you’re going to fall asleep. You might as well open a window and turn up the radio.
But……………………where does the dark go when we put on the lights???????
To help with the hangover read still being drunk. And so they can pay better attention to their phones?
Good idea
Will they provide a wide necked bottle to relieve yourself in if/when you get short taken and there are no toilets around? I always carry an empty 500 ml. coke bottle for this purpose. Like any responsible driver, I would pull over to the side first. No texting, drinking, smoking or pissing in the coke bottle while driving would be my motto.
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