Nearly half of Dublin cyclists ignore the rules of the road, according to a new study

Are you a cyclist? Do you follow the rules of the road? A new study has revealed that a large number of cyclists are failing to pay attention to these golden rules – not good news if you’re a motorist who shares the roads with cyclists every day of the week.

The Irish Independent reports that nearly half of cyclists in Dublin city don’t give a second thought to the rules of the road. Shocking. The study was carried out over two days by Semperit Tyres, who wanted to see the impact that traffic laws have on road users of the two-wheeled variety.

So what were the main traffic infringements that cyclists were found guilty of?

Cyclists regularly opted to bike on the city’s footpaths rather than in the designated cycle lanes, putting pedestrians at risk. 19 per cent of the bikers surveyed admitted to breaking red lights when cars were stopped at them. A surprising 14 per cent also admitted to cycling against the flow of traffic and even cycling the wrong way on a one-way street.

While 46 per cent of cyclists in Dublin pay no attention to the rules that govern our roads, the good news is that the other 54 per cent said that they firmly observed the rules and never broke them. Can someone get these people a gold star?

Researchers who carried out the survey also found that 73 per cent of the cyclists that were questioned said that they did not wear a helmet. While bicycle helmets are not obligatory in the city, they can significantly reduce head injuries if you suffer a bad fall – and given that a lot of Dublin bikers fail to observe the rules of the road and occasionally cycle the wrong way up one-way streets, we can only assume that these people should most definitely make sure their brain is protected.

While adult cyclists were found to be more responsible about cycling alongside traffic and adhering to road rules, the survey discovered that the younger the cyclist, the less likely they  were to observe the rules of the road. Teenagers were the biggest offenders (pesky kids!) while the over 50s were the best behaved. Researchers noted that 66 per cent of teenage cyclists that were observed, were actually breaking the law.

The authors of the study stressed that cyclists are obliged to obey road traffic laws, specifically under the terms of the Road Traffic Act.

Speaking about the results of the survey Paddy Murphy, the chief of Semperit Tyres Ireland, said that safety was the key motivation for carrying out the research in the first place. He added that there was an urgent need for the “significant minority” of cyclists who don’t obey the rules of the road to be aware of the danger that they pose not only to fellow cyclists but also to motorists.

The Dublin streets can be mean whether you’re driving or cycling, so it’s important to make sure you’re doing everything you can to remain as safe as possible, because let’s face it – falling face-first onto some gravel in the middle of the road at Stephen’s Green isn’t a great look for anybody…