Dangerous Driving incident

Just over 2 weeks ago, I reported an incident of dangerous driving to Traffic Watch. I was overtaken by a truck on a busy, narrow road, with a solid white line with oncoming traffic.  I am a member of Galway Cycling, and they gave me the telephone number of Traffic Watch to contact to report the incident.

So where can you report Dangerous driving? Members of the public can call Traffic Watch lo-call number 1890 205 805 to report aggressive driver behaviour, driving hazards and traffic-related incidents. Calls are answered and logged by civilian personnel at the Garda Information Services Centre, Castlebar. The reported incident is then forwarded to the relevant Garda Station for investigation.  More info here. I recommend you ring as soon as possible to keep the memory fresh. Having footage will be very helpful. I wrote about it here.

Any update?

As I hadn’t heard since I reported the incident, I contacted the Garda Station in Galway City, who put me in contact with the Garda station in Loughrea. Just today the investigating Garda was in contact, and I am now awaiting for a written statement to be taken in a few days time…

Stayin’ Alive at 1.5 m campaign

• 1. to change the rules of the road where a minimum passing distance would be included – this happened in 2017
• 2. To roll out a RSA specific campaign. 
• 3.The ad that you see now on TV is a direct result of my lobbying 
• 4. To change the then ambiguous dangerous overtaking law – this was changed via secondary legislation to a cyclist specific one in 2019 with increased penalties following direct lobbying. 
• 5. The rollout of funded road signage throughout Ireland – this is what you are seeing now in many counties. So rather than us at WexBUG convincing Wexford Co Co to erect signage, this has come from the Dept Transport. To be clear, WexBUG did not need to engage local councillors in this process. The council themselves applied for funding when to opportunity was announced and are now towards the finish in rolling them out. 

And what is the situation in Galway County Council?

Since the pandemic, so many people are out walking and cycling on rural roads, but there is no provision to alert drivers that the road is shared ánd to remind them to reduce speed. Dangerous driving is a real issue. This is another sign we should get on those roads where it is known people are walking and cycling. 

And last but not least, there is the whole initiative of Love30, check out their website here. Check out the submission by Galway Cycling Campaign to bring down speed limits ( for now with limited success.) I’d like to start a debate on the 80 km speed on country roads, how can a country road be safe if the speed limit is 80 km?

How can you help?

I asked Phil for further info on how to go about identifying what roads are eligible and to suggest locations for the signs. He shared recommendations following a zoom chat with the Local Authority Road Safety Officer group in early October last year (He was not sure if Galway Co Co were in attendance) These were the recommendations that he made to them on that subject:

• This first one is a link to some cycling routes from Sport Ireland. There will be other cycling routes in your counties too. This is where I would start with safe overtaking signage. https://www.sportireland.ie/outdoors/cycling-on-road/trails (This is a strange one, it seems there is only one trail in Clifden? )
• This next link is to the Strava heat map. This is an app used mainly by leisure and sports riders and will give a good overview of roads in your local authority area that are used by these riders. https://www.strava.com/heatmap#7.00/-120.90000/38.36000/hot/ride
• This link is from the RSA’s cyclist collision data 2005-2016. This will help to identify particular problematic areas. https://www.google.com/mymaps/viewer?mid=1PpqLW_G84YQc26WQ1fFMFifHNfAz3fys&hl=en_GB    (This really shows the overview of minor, major and fatalities on roads in South Galway – I had a quick look, and it looks like the R380 from Gort to Loughrea has at least one fatality on the Gort Side and a few other incidents and 1 fatality towards Loughrea… 
• Lastly, please engage with local cycling advocacy groups or/and cycling clubs for further location suggestions.

I am looking for people to help me to research the above and request input from Galway Co. Co to make our road safer.  Please contact me here.

Join my Facebook Group Gort Cycling Trails to find out about #GortCycleTrails #SafeCycletrails and sign up here to get updates on when I’ll be setting up a community cycle from Woodford to Flagmount later in the summer( when restrictions are eased hopefully). These are the loops I have mapped so far.

Dangerous Driving 

Have you ever been in a situation where you witnessed or underwent a situation of dangerous driving?  Do you know where to report an incident of dangerous driving? Keep on reading and I’ll tell you! Until last Friday, I had no idea where to report incidents of dangerous driving.

So what happened?

On my cycle last Friday, I took a left onto the Gort-Loughrea Road in the direction of CastleDaly. It’s a windy, narrow road, and mostly no hard shoulder( or if there is some kind of a notion of a hard shoulder, it’s overgrown or there is debris on it). A truck overtook me at a high speed, without making any attempt to give me space, with oncoming traffic and continued to drive at high speed. A clear case of dangerous driving. It all went extremely fast, so at the time I didn’t have much time to think. It was only when I almost felt the truck I realized this was a matter of life and death. I really believe if I had made any wrong move as the truck overtook me, I would not be here to tell the tale.

Where to report Dangerous Driving?

Members of the public can call Traffic Watch lo-call number 1890 205 805 NEW NUMBER 0818 205 805 to report aggressive driver behaviour, driving hazards and traffic-related incidents. Calls are answered and logged by civilian personnel at the Garda Information Services Centre, Castlebar. The reported incident is then forwarded to the relevant Garda Station for investigation.  More info here. I recommend you ring as soon as possible to keep the memory fresh. Having footage will be very helpful.

I didn’t know about the above, however, my colleagues at Galway Cycling Campaign did, and they encouraged me to report. Reporting is essential to make roads safer in South Galway. There are very few reports made to the Garda in South Galway, as people don’t have proof, or can’t remember the vehicle/license plate.

I was testing out how to use a GoPro, so I have video footage. It was only when I got home, I had an opportunity to see what really happened, and see how so very close that truck was… and how lucky I am to tell this scary tale. I am now awaiting a call back from the relevant Garda Station, who will then issue a pulse number and investigate the case. ( I will share the footage once it has been investigated). Update 22/09 – Driver was convicted – License suspended for 4 years. Well, it then got appealed and conviction was reduced to “Careless Driving” , 5 penalty points and fine of 500 Euros( I am about to write up the second Court Case)

Traffic Signs

There are no signs on this stretch of road to remind other road users to keep their distance from cyclists.  ( Image by WEXBug , a community group in Wexford with people from all walks of life striving to make Co. Wexford a better and safer place for people to cycle.) They have been successful in getting signs like these erected, so I am encouraged the same can be achieved in South Galway.

I think we need to get signs like these on busier roads such as the Gort to Loughrea Road.

Since the pandemic, so many people are out walking and cycling on rural roads, but there is no provision to alert drivers that the road is shared ánd to remind them to reduce speed. Dangerous driving is a real issue. This is another sign we should get on those roads where it is known people are walking and cycling. 

And last but not least, there is the whole initiative of Love30, check out their website here. Check out the submission by Galway Cycling Campaign to bring down speed limits ( for now with limited success.) I’d like to start a debate on the 80 km speed on country roads, how can a country road be safe if the speed limit is 80 km?

How can you help?

If you are out walking and cycling, and cars /trucks are flying past without regard for other road users ( after all they can do up to 80 km ), contact your local councillor and ask for their help to get any of the above traffic signs. It’s time we start having a voice before someone ends up in statistic because of dangerous driving.

Join my Facebook Group Gort Cycling Trails to find out about #GortCycleTrails #SafeCycletrails and sign up here to get updates on when I’ll be setting up community cycles and learn to cycle classes for children and refresher courses for adults. These are the loops I have mapped so far.