It’s been just under two weeks since the Irish government – amid a cacophony of confusion and mixed messages – insisted that cyclists would not be required by law to wear high-visibility clothing every time they get on a bike.

But that hasn’t stopped Ireland’s National Bus and Rail Union, who this week have called for hi-vis jackets to be made mandatory for people on bikes, a move the union says will “make the roads a safer place”.

Speaking at a Joint Oireachtas Committee on transport and road safety in Leinster House, Ireland’s parliament, on behalf of Dublin’s bus drivers, the union’s assistant general secretary Thomas O’Connor said that a legal hi-vis requirement would “make potential hazards easier to spot”.

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“Driving a large public service vehicle is hard,” O’Connor told the committee. “Navigating all the hazards when there is a deluge (a daily occurrence in Ireland) or at night is even harder.

“The requirement for mandatory high-viz clothing for all cyclists and scooters, from the perspective of a bus driver, would make the roads a safer place, as it would make potential hazards easier to spot.

“Bus drivers, as they gain experience, learn to anticipate things and often prevent potential accidents through pre-emptive defensive driving. High-visibility clothing would make that task inherently easier.”

Cyclist riding in hi-vis
Cyclist riding in hi-vis (Image Credit: Farrelly Atkinson)

Describing mandatory hi-vis clothing as “absolutely essential” in reducing danger on the road, O’Connor continued: “People just don’t realise how hard it is to drive a large public service vehicle or a truck and to be watching out for people who may be in dark clothing in dark evenings, nights, or mornings.

“This is especially important due to the new battery-powered bikes which are very fast, and mandatory hi-vis clothing will save us.”

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Elsewhere in his speech in parliament, O’Connor called for public transport and the rules of the road to be made a mandatory part of the curriculum, while also urging the government to ensure that illegal parking of cars in bus lanes is properly enforced.

“Every time a bus has to manoeuvre around obstacles, illegally parked cars, or other obstructions, it increases the risk of accidents. Investment in bus lanes and adequate enforcement to keep them free is paramount for safety,” he said.

The union leader also criticised the design and layout of Dublin’s roads, which he claims fail to provide adequate space for bus drivers, while raising the much-publicised issue of so-called ‘floating bus stops’ adjacent to cycle lanes.

“Cycle paths that intersect with bus stops have created a risk for vulnerable passengers, especially those with visual impairments,” he said.

Bus driver undertakes up cycle lane and pavement (Kevin Gorman, Twitter)
Bus driver undertakes up cycle lane and pavement (Kevin Gorman, Twitter) 

That sentiment was echoed by Dublin Bus Driver Committee President Liam Weston, who told the committee that poor infrastructure and “weak” enforcement were fuelling tensions between bus drivers and cyclists, especially at floating bus stops.

“I would it is essential to have protected cycle lanes, in that they do not cross over with the buses,” Weston argued. “They are also on electric bikes now going at speed, so isolate the cycle lanes.”

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Prior to his appearance at the Oireachtas committee, NBRU leader O’Connor told Newstalk that the road safety issue in Dublin has worsened in recent years thanks to the “proliferation” of electric scooters and electric bikes on the city’s streets, claiming that mandatory hi-vis could help address the current problems.

He told the radio station that it is essential to do “everything you can to mitigate the risk” faced in traffic, including wearing bright, reflective clothing if you’re on a bike.

“It’s very difficult driving a large public service vehicle, 40 feet in length, on the way around this sprawling city,” O’Connor said during the interview.

“There’s been a proliferation of faster vehicles, electric scooters and electric bikes, making their way around the streets. And the job of a professional bus driver is difficult enough, and we want to do everything we can to assuage and mitigate that risk.”

The union representative concluded that the best way to reduce risk is to make sure “anyone out there is visible to give the bus drivers an opportunity to avoid accidents”.

> No plans for compulsory helmets and hi-vis for cyclists, Irish government confirms… 24 hours after saying the exact opposite

The NBRU’s calls for hi-vis come just two weeks after Ireland’s Department for Transport appeared to signal that current government plans to introduce mandatory helmet and hi-vis legislation would include bicycles of all kinds, even those without a motor – only for that official government announcement to be contradicted just hours later by Tánaiste Simon Harris.

Amid serious confusion and backlash from active travel campaigners surrounding the new proposals, which also affect e-scooter and e-bike users, the government issued a statement on 4 February indicating that cyclists not wearing protective gear or reflecting clothing could be fined by the police under the prospective new law – making Ireland the only EU member state to implement such a measure.

“Requirements for mandatory helmets and high-visibility equipment are currently being considered for e-scooters, bicycles, and e-bikes,” the department said in a statement when asked about the scope of the proposals first revealed in January, seemingly in a bid to tackle concerns about the growing number of collisions involving e-scooter users.

However, speaking in the Dáil the morning after the government’s statement was published, Harris, Ireland’s deputy prime minister, insisted that there are “no plans” to change the law to make helmets mandatory for cyclists riding non-motorised bikes.

Instead, the Fine Gael politician said any change in the law would only apply to e-scooters and e-bikes – noting the “letter e is a bit of a giveaway” – and argued that mandating helmet use for all cyclists “would be a really bad use of Garda time”.

And hours after Harris’s speech in the Dáil, the Department of Transport completed its own U-turn on the measures by clarifying that users of bicycles of the non-electrically assisted variety would not, in fact, be part of any new legislation.