A councillor in Dublin was the subject of an intense row during a recent meeting, after he criticised “kamikaze cyclists” for “banging through” shared spaces, claiming they need to be “put off the road”, eventually leading to the politician retracting his choice of words and replacing them with “reckless cyclists”.
Fine Gael councillor Danny Byrne made the comment at Monday’s South East Area Committee meeting of Dublin City Council, during a discussion on transport and shared pedestrian and cycling spaces in the city, DublinLive reports.
“I think a lot of the kamikaze cyclists don’t understand what a shared space means,” Byrne told the meeting.
“I would ask perhaps for signs stating this is a shared space, or for wardens to spend time there to slow down people on these huge e-bikes or whatever they are, motorbikes disguised as e-bikes.
“I am really terrified something terrible is going to happen, especially for children, older people, and riders delivering food. They are just banging through and they don’t seem to realise, and they need to be put off the road.”
Byrne’s remarks were heavily criticised by opposition councillors, who accused him of victim blaming and called on him to withdraw his “insensitive” phrasing.
“I think that’s a very unfortunate and insensitive choice of words,” Green Party councillor Carolyn Moore told Byrne during the meeting.
“Nobody wants to get to a point where we’re blaming cyclists and some of our most vulnerable road users for accidents that happen to them. Perhaps he wants to reconsider the use of that word and would like to withdraw it.”
“Can I ask that this committee note that this is not a term that we, as a committee, condone?” added Moore’s Green colleague Hazel Chu.
However, when asked to withdraw the use of the word ‘kamikaze’, Byrne initially refused to do so, telling the meeting: “No, perhaps I won’t”.
In an attempt to defuse the situation, and prevent proceedings being sidetracked by the ongoing “row”, council chair and Labour politician Dermot Lacey said: “I wouldn’t use the term to be honest with you.
“I think there’s a lot of people who behave badly on the roads and they include motorists, pedestrians, and cyclists. All people should have a little bit more manners.”
He continued: “The issue of procedure and protocol isn’t a matter for this committee. If people feel that a word or phrase is highly inappropriate it is up to the Protocol Committee to determine.
“It’s insensitive at this moment in time, but it’s up to the councillors to determine how they’d like to behave – unless a formal complaint is made.”
Eventually, Byrne told the meeting that the word ‘kamikaze’ had a “much deeper meaning” than he had initially understood, and, upon reflection, he had now chosen to replace the phrase with “reckless cyclists”, bringing an end to the bizarre exchange.
Byrne isn’t the only councillor in Ireland this month to take aim at the behaviour of cyclists on shared-use paths, however.
At the start of November, we reported that Cork County Council is currently debating implementing a speed limit for cyclists on a 23km greenway off-road path, after complaints that a pedestrian was injured in a crash and about “speed merchants” and “fellas in Lycra just whipping past”.
Councillor John Buckley expressed support for the proposed speed-cutting measures on the Midleton Youghal Greenway and predicted there would be a “serious accident” if people do not slow down.
The councillor said he uses the path daily to walk his dog and claimed there are “social cyclists” who “ring their bell when they’re passing”, but also “speed merchants”.
“Some of these fellas in the Lycra are just whipping past you,” Buckley complained. “I didn’t know there was an accident but it’s only a matter of time before there’s another one at the speed these fellas are passing at. They need to slow down before there is a serious accident out there.”
A representative for the county council accepted there had been “a lot of feedback” from path users, announcing that a safety plan will be produce in due course, with Michael Lucey calling out “some of the professional cyclists, as we call them, going with the head down”.
4 thoughts on “Councillor under fire for “kamikaze cyclists” rant, as rivals warn against “blaming cyclists for accidents that happen to them””
I think it would be a good
I think it would be a good idea if the counsellor concentrated on the road users who do nearly all the killing and injuring.
They don’t terrify him though
They don’t terrify him though. I too get scared when a cyclist comes past me at 10-15mph. The people doing 40-50 in a 30 along my local route to nursery though, those guys don’t worry me at all…
There are a few councilors
There are a few councilors and TD’s in Ireland that have hopped on the cyclists are evil bandwagon. I never hear anything from them when people are killed by drivers. Not s peep about rising road deaths, the rise of hit and runs or children being killed. They won’t because that would upset a vocal minority of car users that believe they have a god given right to behave as they see fit.
If your “problem” is shared
If your “problem” is shared space * in urban areas then it’s an easy fix – stop reducing convenience and setting up conflict by making shared spaces. Simply allocate sufficient separate space for walking, cycling and motor traffic. “Not enough space?” First: do you really need the biggest users there (cars, vans, buses, trucks)? Do you really need parking, or multiple lanes – or even two-way traffic? Next: zoom out and look at the networks. Do we need through motor traffic on every road and street etc.
* “Shared space” is sometimes used for the almost always *terrible* idea of mixing cyclists, pedestrians AND motor traffic in space with little indication of who goes where. As soon as more than a handful of motor vehicles appear this simply becomes motor traffic space (and a more dangerous one at that). Plus it’s discriminatory – it’s awful for those with sight impairments or disabilities.