The death of a cyclist in a collision in Belfast on Thursday has sparked calls for improved cycling infrastructure in the city from campaigners and an MP, politician Claire Hanna suggesting the “dire situation of underinvestment” needs to change and that some drivers have “irrational attitudes” towards people travelling by bike.
Police named Gary McMahon as the cyclist who died in a collision involving a lorry being driven in the Clifton Street area of north Belfast, the 58-year-old passing away at the scene as a result of his injuries. The Police Service of Northern Ireland has asked for anyone with information or dash-cam footage to contact them, although nobody has been arrested and the circumstances around the collision were described as still unclear.
The death has raised questions about the city’s cycling infrastructure, a policy manager at cycling charity Sustrans claiming there are “no safe cycle lanes in north Belfast”, as well as SDLP leader Claire Hanna speaking out about the “dire situation of underinvestment and prioritisation” and “irrational attitudes of some drivers towards those trying to reduce congestion by using bikes”.
The MP said Mr McMahon’s death will only “deter more people” from cycling unless safe cycling infrastructure is provided. She also suggested a conversation about attitudes towards cyclists was also needed.
“People talk about the abuse politicians get. I get more abuse, week in, week out, on my bike than I do in my work,” she said. “I don’t know whether people are jealous that the cyclist is moving faster than them but I have taken really serious abuse from people for what they perceive as minor infractions.”
Hanna had begun by offering condolences to Mr McMahon’s family and said the “community” nature of cycling, where “you meet [people] at traffic lights”, meant when she heard the news there were multiple people she knew from riding around the city that she feared might have been involved.
“I think it will have genuinely made a lot of cyclists and their families very frightened because there are pinch points in everybody’s journeys that are iffy, no matter how cautious or competent the cyclist is,” she continued. “This will unfortunately deter more people.
“Nichola Mallon had brought in the Cycle Network Delivery Plan in 2022. That hasn’t, as far as I can see, progressed anywhere near adequately. I recall there were about 16 projects on it. I think two have been delivered and I think around 20 per cent of what should have been spent by now.
“It is the fact that cycling is considered an afterthought. There are slivers of great infrastructure, I know we’re probably more spoilt than others in south Belfast with the towpath where it is a joy to commute by bicycle as I do most days, but it is absolutely the exception rather than the rule.
“There are some of the great cycling capitals that we all associate with bicycles, Copenhagen would be among them and Amsterdam. But there are other cities who have decided they’re going to do it, who didn’t have a cycling culture but who actively decided and the fact is — even leaving aside the health benefits and the air quality — there is a massive congestion issue here.
“Basically we’ve got two choices. We can start knocking down buildings to make the roads wider because the city has a finite space or we can get people as far as possible to travel actively.”
Alliance Party MLA Nuala McAllister also told the BBC the death should be a “wake-up call for action”, an issue she wants to raise in the Northern Ireland Assembly today.
Likewise, Anne Madden from cycling charity Sustrans called the infrastructure in the north of the city “really poor” and went as far as to say there are “no safe cycle lanes”.
“There are a few advisory cycle lanes but that means that cars can park in them, so most cyclists are forced to weave around traffic — and there’s a horrendous amount of traffic in north Belfast,” she added, explaining she texts her partner an “I’ve arrived alive” message every day following her cycle to work. “Nobody should have to do that,” she said.
A spokesperson for the Department for Infrastructure said it was “very sorry” to hear of Mr McMahon’s death and confirmed it would be “working closely with the PSNI to assist them with their investigation”.
“The department is continuing to progress a number of cycling infrastructure improvements in accordance with the Belfast Cycle Network Delivery Plan. We have been undertaking engagement with key user groups in the development of these schemes before we commence statutory processes to implement legislation for new cycle routes,” a spokesperson said.
The government department responsible for roads has made headlines recently, a report by the Belfast Telegraph suggesting that a claimed £2.6m investment in a new cycle lane is “misleading” as it is actually funding a road resurfacing for drivers.
Northern Ireland’s Department for Infrastructure claimed it is the “sole objective to improve” cycling and walking routes, so “significant” cost will be “met from active travel budget” — but questions have been asked about why works also include road “resurfacing”.
The Department for Infrastructure also recently launched its new long-term Active Travel Delivery Plan, which aims to deliver over 200km worth of “high quality” cycling and walking infrastructure during the next decade. The announcement was somewhat overshadowed by the comments of one DUP councillor who claimed the government is “prioritising active travel over safety” and one new bike lane being built that was so wide he “thought it was a dual carriageway”.
16 thoughts on ““I get more abuse on my bike than in my work”: Cyclist death sparks MP to highlight “dire situation of underinvestment” in cycling, urges some drivers to change “irrational attitudes””
Quote:
I sometimes wonder that myself – all those motorists leasing a car for hundreds of pounds a month, only to “discover” that the roads aren’t as empty as they are on the adverts and that they will spend most of their driving life in first gear.
Part of it is that but a
Part of it is that but a large part of it is just deeply ingrained hatred of cyclists because cyclists are blamed for ridiculous things and drivers have been conditioned to think that cyclists suffer no penalties and that they, as a driver do.
They think cyclists don’t pay for roads. They do. In fact they contribute more than people who just drive because they don’t damage the roads like car journeys do.
They think cyclists break the rules and don’t get punished…which they do… and so do drivers…all the time and the danger of both isn’t remotely comparable.
They think funding goes massively towards cycling infrastructure instead of driving which is complete bollocks but thats the only time you hear about money being spent on things.
They think that cyclists get in the way and slow them down…which we do, about 1/100th of the amount that other drivers/cars do. In fact on my bike I am slowed down by drivers waaay more than I slow any drivers down. Either I am cycling at crazy speeds or cars create so much traffic that they literally ruin the roads for everyone.
Unfortunately all of these things are just accepted truths because the vast majority of people don’t cycle and it avoids having to confront the fact they are bigoted against a group of people. Something that they would absolutely hate to be accused of if it was any other group.
I agree with all bar the last
I agree with all bar the last para. The bigoted opinions have been fet to them by click driven journalism and politicians (Shapps e.g.) driven by whatever motivation. That being the case, this could be reversed by action from these and others.
There’s truth to that *. But
There’s truth to that *. But I think it’s not as simple as just “reversing” this (top down). There’s an element of fighting human nature about just “improving the perception of cyclists” in the UK road context. (Even leaving aside the fact that no change will happen without motorists “losing” something – convenience, speed of journeys or having to pay more. Otherwise why would you change?)
Firstly there’s the natural tendency to identify in-groups and out-groups or “others” – and to be extremely sensitive about our position relative to them. There’s also the related “cheater detection” psychological machinery; currently cyclists are accused of “not paying road tax” and “riding on the pavement” (often it’s technically shared use) and “overtaking on the inside” (filter). While of course all taxpayers fund the roads and other drivers do these things this is very salient and causes massive umbrage because cyclists are obviously not other drivers or pedestrians. So it becomes “they’re not playing by the same rules”.
I bet you’d find this effect even in NL, where obviously cycling is an entirely normal mode of transport and in residential or other “street” environments drivers are happy (mostly…) to “share the road”. I suspect if you spent much time cycling on main roads though (or walking along the middle of urban cycle paths) you’d be treated to invective which – when translated – might sound familiar!
* And don’t forget behind politicians and journalists … there are also the massive energy, motor and related industries with armies of lobbyists. Businesses which have in no way been behind malicious lies told in their own interest and sinister (but real) conspiracies – e.g. the invention of “jaywalking”, the leaded petrol affair, the more recent car emissions scandal etc.
All too true.
All too true.
And it’s getting worse. I think in part because as per your last paragraph – some people need a bogey-man, and the usual suspects aren’t allowed to be overtly racist, sexist and homophobic these days, but cyclists are seen as bringing it on themselves. It’s even easy to convince yourself that you are supporting pensioners and people with disabilities when you other a group you assume to be full of fit and able middle class people on expensive bikes.
It’s not something that will be easy to push back against. There are some actions that can be taken to challenge some of the misunderstandings. I’m sure some people angry at cyclists for blocking lanes have never considered why we avoid door zones or don’t want to cycle in the gutter, and discovering that some people with disabilities use their bikes as mobility aids would encourage some to rethink their assumptions. But being cynical, I think the motoring & oil lobbies are behind a lot of the rhetoric and they have a lot more power than our media or politicians would like to admit.
There was an interesting (chilling) three part documentary which unfortunatley doesn’t seem to be on the iPlayer any more, which discussed just how much money is spent on hugely complex, organised and insidious the campaigns by the likes of the Koch Brothers have been to protect the profits of the oil and associated industries.
https://www.bbc.com/mediacentre/2022/big-oil-vs-the-world
FionaJJ wrote:
https://www.bbc.com/mediacentre/2022/big-oil-vs-the-world— FionaJJThere seems to be a copy on YT (though I haven’t actually watched any of it) – https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLlfblLude-tfj0X-ITlQQM8m5YAW-ZbtU
Many people don’t know (and often don’t want to know) how oligarchs, thinktanks and other organisations and individuals twist the narrative and influence politicis to maximise their revenue and wealth, which is always at the expense of everyone else and the environment.
Simon E wrote:
That still annoys me about the BBC – iplayer only keeps some programmes available for a short time, so we have to rely on people making copies to stop them from disappearing. Also, it looks like the episodes are to be shown soon on BBC Persian TV and an arabic channel that I can’t read. It’s like they haven’t learnt from all their old programmes that disappeared forever as they re-used their tapes to save money.
Isn’t it a rights issue?
Isn’t it a rights issue?
Simon E wrote:
True. We are partially protected in the UK relative to the US because we don’t allow politicians to spend so much money on campaigning, and political advertising, but we are still vulnerable to astro-turfing, big money interests funding lobby groups, and so-called independent talking heads.
The Conservatives also doubled the amount of allowable spending at elections just before the last election. It didn’t save them in July, but it is likely to benefit them next time around, unless there can be some tightening of the rules.
Let’s face it, it’s not going
Let’s face it, it’s not going to get better, as permanent growth doesn’t fit well with a limited environment.
S.E. wrote:
To be complete – in fact permanent growth (even if slowly in human terms [1] [2]) is the natural plan. We just have to accept one or both of:
https://www.youtube.com/watch
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hyhz4q-5NKA
gives some options.
Thoughts with Mr McMahon’s
Thoughts with Mr McMahon’s family and friends.
The police asking for dashcam footage, is there no cctv in the area? Find that very strange.
There’s a few places
There’s a few places clustered either end of the road that might potentially have CCTV (a few shops, garage, Orange Hall, surgery), but a much bigger chunk in the middle where there’s not likely to be any (unless there are some attached to the traffic lights).
Sadly the cyclist hate in
Sadly the cyclist hate in this country seems to have worsened of late. Dangerous motoring combined with anti-cycling officialdom in some places is now reaching new levels.
I have been in Belfast for
I have been in Belfast for work this week and have been shocked by the congestion around the city centre. There are lots of frustrated drivers moving at a snails pace and then racing to get through traffic lights. It seems like a dangerous place to cycle. My condolences to Mr McMahon’s family.