More fines issued to cyclists but not to drivers parking in cycle lanes

Cyclists received considerably more fines for breaking red lights and going on pedestrian streets in 2017 than in 2016, but there were fewer fines for drivers who parked on cycle lanes.

The number of fines issued to cyclists who passed red lights in the Dublin region more than doubled, climbing to 571 last year from 276 in 2016. Fines issued for “riding of pedal cycle without reasonable consideration” also nearly doubled, jumping from 77 to 150.

There was a large increase too in fines handed out for cycling into a pedestrian street, or a portion of a pedestrian street. In 2017, cyclists received 300 fixed charge notices for these infringements compared with 32 fines in 2016.

But the number of fines issued for parking a vehicle on a cycle track and not removing it has actually fallen in two years, going from 205 in 2016 to 165 in 2017.

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Dublin Cycling Campaign chairman Paul Corcoran said the majority of cyclists behave responsibly on the road but it was good to see the rules being enforced.

“I welcome the fact that they [the gardaí] are out there catching people who are actually breaking the rules. But in fairness with the pedestrian streets, people sometimes don’t have a choice because of the lack of infrastructure and cycle lanes available to actually cycle down a street.” He added that cars parked on cycle lanes remains a “huge” problem for cyclists.

The recent Garda figures also show fines were issued 90 times to cyclists in Dublin with no front lamp last year (compared to 39 in 2016) while cyclists received 81 fines for not having a rear lamp, an increase of 51 on the number of 2016 fines for the same offence.

An Garda Síochána said they remain focused on enforcing road traffic legislation around cycling. “Issuing fixed charged notices is only one of a number of measures used by gardaí in relation to this matter, in many cases gardaí will administer cautions and advice to both cyclists and motorists,” a spokesman said, adding that “the statistics clearly show a marked increase in enforcement activity”.

Last year, 49 cyclists were seriously injured in the Dublin region after crashes involving motor vehicles, up from 39 the year before. Four cyclists died in crashes on roads in the Dublin region last year.

In July 2017, cyclists formed a human barrier on Dublin’s Andrew’s Street as part of a demonstration against drivers illegally parking in a contraflow cycle lane.