Meanwhile on the Roads...

https://www.independent.ie/irish-news/crime/drink-and-drug-driving-a-key-concern-amid-a-spike-in-road-fatalities-this-year/a926015489.html

Some stark facts in that piece. A copy of it should be printed off and rammed down the throat of the next populist idiot of a local councillor who suggests everyone should be forced to wear builders vests.

A very factual, but dry response from Eamon Ryan. It bugs me - it's precisely the reason why I started this thread; to highlight the myopic way we view road use and road safety. It show's what we're up against - 'careful now, don't start an argument on this or they may start a campaign to force us wear builders vests, just state the facts'.

Whereas in reality O'Snodaigh should have been absolutely lambasted - pilloried for having the neck to try and raise an issue without actually appreciating the very simple law on that very issue. It just perpetuates the whole concept of 'sure why wouldn't you do anything that might protect you', 'sure drivers can't be expected to see everything', 'sure it's hard enough for drivers as it is', 'sure they were just trying to get to work' and on and on AND ON.

What that kind of response does is maintains the dynamic of looking at road safety from a 'what can we do for drivers' perspective instead of a 'what should we demand and expect of drivers'.

So O'Snodaigh will simply forget that he was ever put back in his box, see the lack of legislation making builders vests mandatory as simply an abberation and beat his drum again from a different angle at some opportune moment in the future. He doesn't give two f**ks about road safety, just about political point scoring. And unfortunately he's probably representative of a majority of TDs. How else can you explain the lack of meaningful action or reform.

Looks like it alright. I actually passed it last evening on the bus coming home. Only saw the road closure before it, thankfully I missed the scene itself.

That would be my standard work commute - the exit looks to be the northbound offramp to the Southern Cross, Greystones. It would be a nightmare for any cyclist unfamiliar with the road or not entirely confident. The hard shoulder would basically start to divert you to the off ramp before you realise it, meaning that to go straight ahead you'd have to pull out of the hard shoulder and across the left turning lane, back onto the main road. I just drift onto the main lane in advance to avoid that scenario, but you'll still come across asshats who'll overtake you just to then pull hard across you to race down the exit.

There was another nasty incident a few years back at that junction, also involving a cyclist.