A Cork cyclist who was knocked off his bike while riding the wrong way along a bike lane has attempted to sue the motorist involved in the collision. A judge at Cork Circuit Court dismissed his case and ordered him to pay costs to the defendant.

The Irish Examiner reports that Brian O’Callaghan was riding home to the Mardyke on July 12, 2014, and took the Sheare’s Street bike lane rather than the one on Western Road, despite it being marked ‘no entry’ from that direction.

O’Callaghan said that he saw Clare Whelan emerging from Coach Street and said he saw her looking to her right for the possibility of vehicular traffic but not to her left for pedestrians. He cycled on and was hit by her car as it pulled out. He was thrown to the ground and his bike was damaged.

Whelan said: “I looked left to see there were no pedestrians, I looked right to see there was no traffic, and the next thing he bumped into the front of my vehicle. He fell off the bicycle softly onto the ground.”

Judge David Riordan said O’Callaghan could not prove negligence on the part of Whelan and said an award of costs in favour of the defendant had to follow the judgment.