Kevin Myers

Victor

The Kevin Myers column in Irish Times last Friday.

An Irishman's Diary

Katarzyna Stanczyk. Remember the name. Katarzyna Stanczyk, cyclist, is dead, killed by a lorry on January 14th at North King Street in Dublin. You want to know why this 26-year old won't see 27? You, mostly. Because for the most part, you don't give a damn about road deaths, writes Kevin Myers.

They happen to other people; isn't that so? Which is why deaths mount remorselessly, without a whimper from all those letter-writers, TDs and broadcasters who can be relied on to shrill hysterically and beat someone to death over the trivial, passing mood of the day, yet ignore our greatest scandal.

But there is another reason. Stupidity. Asinine, supine, organisational stupidity.

For years, I have been urging the addition of extra mirrors on those lorries with in-built restricted vision before they are allowed into our cities - and to absolutely no effect. But now it seems that the authorities were actually trying to do something about such lorries. This only emerged during a recent inquest into the death of 80-year old William Keating, crushed by a lorry at a Dublin pedestrian crossing.

In that inquest the jury was told of an "educational awareness campaign" about lorries that give their drivers limited vision. So, who were the campaigners trying to educate? Lorry-drivers? The Road Hauliers Association? The importers of lorries? The manufacturers (the criminals who are morally and legally responsible for the deaths that result)? No. The Garda and National Safety Council awareness campaign has been aimed at other road users to teach us about the blind spots lorry-drivers experience. "Not everyone has been reached by this campaign in relation to blind spots," Garda Edward Davin, a forensic investigator, told the William Keating inquest.

Not everyone has been reached? Jesus, I've been writing on this subject till I'm purple in the gills, and even I have never heard of it. But that's the lesser point. For making the general public responsible for the consequences of the institutional delinquencies of lorry manufacturers, lorry drivers and the Road Hauliers Association is like making rape victims guilty for being raped. In this world view, lorry manufacturers apparently don't have to change their vehicles and make them safer, any more than rapists have to curtail their desires. Instead, cyclists have to become literate in the lore of lorry black-spots, and no doubt learn how to detect them as they approach from behind. Oh yes, and you girls, if you wear that low-cut little Brazilian number and you get gang-banged, you've no one else to blame but yourself.

Poor Katarzyna was merely the first cyclist to die on our roads in 2006. A dozen others or so will follow, while Ireland watches on, unmoved. Between 1996 and 2002, of the 21 cyclists killed in the Dublin City Council area, 16 were crushed by lorries. In the past two years in Dublin, eight pedestrians or cyclists have been killed by lorries whose drivers could not see them because of vehicle design faults. Moreover, heavy trucks have accounted for 78 per cent of all cyclist deaths in Dublin over the past eight years and have been responsible for one-quarter of all road deaths.

The figures could not be clearer, or the situation more scandalous.

Now what has the Road Hauliers Association done about this? After all, it has some clout. It can mobilise scores of lorries to block toll booths when it doesn't like tolls. If it was really interested in reducing the amount of macedoine de bicycliste smeared all over our roads, it could insist that membership of its association was contingent on not having blind spots on their vehicles. Comparable professional bodies such as the IMA and the INO insist that its members adhere to certain ethical standards: why should the RHA not insist its members may not drive lorries which are almost designed to harvest cyclists and pedestrians at corners?

Stupid question, of course. Because there's no money in it for the drivers, is there? That's the really important thing. Compare and contrast the energy with which the RHA has addressed the issue of road-tolls with the lassitude with which it has tackled pedestrian and cyclist deaths. If RHA had seriously wanted to stop the casual
butchery inflicted on people, it could have done something by this time.

But far from saving its members money, such measures would actually cost them. These fine lads can certainly blockade toll-booths to demand a cut in costs; yet they seem curiously unable to blockade Dáil Éireann, insisting that lorries be made safer by law.

So demanding the legally obligatory addition of mirrors or video cameras to lorries to remove blind spots is clearly too much to ask of the RHA - or, come to that, the dealers, or the manufacturers, who of course know of the unnecessary killings that they are causing. Meanwhile, the Government continues to allow these lorries to enter cities, where terrible deaths (admittedly, of the largely powerless and unimportant: an octogenarian here, a voteless Pole there) are an actuarial certainty. Then, when yet another victim has been crushed to death, the National Safety Council and An Garda Síochána can shake their imbecilic heads sadly and murmur to the mangled remains: "Everyone has still not been reached by this campaign to tell people to avoid blind spots."

But if you not have been reached by this campaign, some 20 of you this year will certainly be reached by the blind-spot itself, followed shortly afterwards by the lorry. And then it's farewell fair world, a heart-shattering funeral, a line in this newspaper, and maybe even a little wreath from the RHA.

© The Irish Times

Mexicola

A good peice, apart from the 'gangbang' reference - no need for that.

Aidan1

Generally a fan of Myers, but this is a pointless piece. The vast majority of trucks already have all the mirrors they are ever going to need. For a start, theres only so many of them a driver can look at while driving. The same applies to CCTV. Does Kevin really believe that a driver trying to take a ~20m truck around Dublin streets should have to look down into the cab at a tv screen?

Simple fact of the matter is that an articulated truck, or even a rigid and drag, will always have at least one significant blind spot at any given time, its the nature of the design. The real problem is that cyclists (and pedestrians) have to share the road with trucks in the first place.

dts

You could ban large trucks from city centers and make them use small truck and vans?
You could improve the road system (thats not going to happen)
You could put in more cycle lanes.

I dont think there is anything else you can do to the truck?

At the end of the day cyclists shold be more aware of the dangers of pulling up the inside of a truck. When I used to cycle for a club you were well aware that sitting or pulling up the inside of a truck was a big no no. People still do it for the same reason people under take on motorways, because they think it gets them some place faster.

stevejazzx

Aidan1 wrote:

Generally a fan of Myers, but this is a pointless piece. The vast majority of trucks already have all the mirrors they are ever going to need. For a start, theres only so many of them a driver can look at while driving. The same applies to CCTV. Does Kevin really believe that a driver trying to take a ~20m truck around Dublin streets should have to look down into the cab at a tv screen?

Simple fact of the matter is that an articulated truck, or even a rigid and drag, will always have at least one significant blind spot at any given time, its the nature of the design. The real problem is that cyclists (and pedestrians) have to share the road with trucks in the first place.

Good points, but its certainly not pointless when jornalists write angry pieces about corporate bodies, at least Myers is driven by the right motives and seems genuinely passionate about this, albeit the bizarre gang bang references that didnt work in the comparisions he was attempting to make.

mike65

Agree with the consensus so far, anyone who drives a commerical vehicle knows you can't see everywhere all the time and that those who share the roads with us have to take some responsibility for thier own lack of awareness.

Its interesting how this particular issue is so concentrated in Dublin. There are ports and main artery bottle necks (like Fermoy) eleswhere
yet I cant remember the last time I heard of a cyclist being killed by a truck outside Dublin.

Mike.

dts

Thats because you would have to be nuts to cycle on the country roads.

mike65

er outside Dublin there is stuff called towns and cities...

Mike.

randomname2005

dts wrote:

You could put in more cycle lanes.

Which cars, buses and trucks can drive in? Whats the point?

dts wrote:

At the end of the day cyclists shold be more aware of the dangers of pulling up the inside of a truck. When I used to cycle for a club you were well aware that sitting or pulling up the inside of a truck was a big no no. People still do it for the same reason people under take on motorways, because they think it gets them some place faster.

I think it depends on the situation, if a truck is stopped at a set of traffic lights, no indicator on it should be perfectly reasonable to pull up alongside, except when they decide to turn without indicating or looking in their mirrors

luckat

Where on North King Street was Katarzyna killed? Was it that scary right turn into Dorset Street where there's no green filter, by any chance?

My own opinion: trucks don't belong in cities.

daymobrew

dts wrote:

At the end of the day cyclists shold be more aware of the dangers of pulling up the inside of a truck.

I agree. I think that trucks have tons of mirrors and that the driver cannot spend all day looking in them (and therefore not looking at the vehicle in front that he is likely tail-gating).

Non-cyclists often say that cycling in Dublin is dangerous. I, as a cyclist, have a surprising amount of input into the situations I encounter - I can choose whether to cycle alongside a truck. I choose not to.
As I don't know the circumstances of the accident, the HGV driver could be completely at fault, though I have to wonder if the cyclist could have avoided the fatal situation.

On Monday evening, while waiting at a set of lights in Cabra, the car beside me was revving, preparing to turn left. I felt that the driver might try to race ahead of me to make the turn and there was a high chance of him hitting me. When the lights went green I let him go. It was annoying that he would think of such a stupid move but I'm safe because I chose to give up my right-of-way. I'd rather my cycle be a minute longer than be in an accident.

Slice

I thought everyone was exposed to the the campaign aimed at padestrians warning of the dangers HGVs pose to other street users. Though obviously if you're Kevin Myers or if you drive from parking lot to parking lot then you might be overlooked...

A Dub in Glasgo

HGVs do not belong and should not be allowed into the centre of Dublin

dts

mike65 wrote:

er outside Dublin there is stuff called towns and cities...

Mike.

Belfast dont count!

John R

A Dub in Glasgo wrote:

HGVs do not belong and should not be allowed into the centre of Dublin

I agree but at present there is no option for them other than going through the city. When the tunnel is open then the ban should be strictly enforced.

The root of the problem however is the lack of respect given to trucks and other large vehicles by many motorists, cyclists and pedestrians. All the mirrors in the world will not change the fact that they can be deadly if people do not give them the appropriate space.

Then there are those who just blatantly ignore all the rules and rely 100% on every other road user to avoid them at all costs. I am bloody sick of all those idiots who think that cycling at night dressed in dark clothes without any lights is acceptable.

Victor

Eh, the major problem is the blind zone is in front of the truck - the driver can not see what is happening in the area immediately in front or on the opposite side of his vehicle.