There is “compelling” evidence that building more cycle lanes will make Ireland’s roads less dangerous, Eamon Ryan has said. 

The former Green Party leader and Transport Minister said people are well aware of the “tragic loss and death” on Irish roads. 

Last year, 174 people died on Irish roads but Mr Ryan said far fewer people know about the significant number who suffer life changing injuries. 

“The Garda figures show almost a doubling of the number of serious injuries in the last 10-years,” he told The Pat Kenny Show. 

“A serious injury is broken bones, a serious concussion; the medical analysis is that if you’re hospitalised, you’ll typically be there for 10-days.”

A Garda laying flowers after a crash. Picture by: Sasko Lazarov / © RollingNews.ie

On average, four people are injured every day in Ireland because of a road crash; half of them are usually car drivers or passengers, one is a pedestrian and the other is a cyclist. 

Mr Ryan said society “cannot ignore that” but urged people not to give up on cycling.  

“Our response can’t be to stop walking or to stop cycling because of the health impact of that,” he said. 

“Not to mention, if we go to the alternative, which is a car-based transport system, it gridlocks for everyone. 

“It just physically, mathematically, economically as well as environmentally can never work. 

“So, we do have to make the shift to make it safer to walk and cycle.” 

A cyclist on Nassau Street in Dublin. Photo: Sam Boal/Rollingnews.ie

Mr Ryan said while the majority of fatalities occur on rural roads, most serious injuries are caused by urban drivers. 

“Of the serious injuries, the majority, about 55%, are in urban areas,” he said. 

“For pedestrians, it’s about 90% in urban areas and cyclists are the same.

“Therefore, we do have to continue what was started in the last Government, to make it safer to walk and cycle - particularly for the most vulnerable users.” 

Cyclists and cars using Dublin City Roads. Picture by: Leah Farrell/© RollingNews.ie

In the Programme for Government, Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael promised to, “Continue the development of greenways and cycle routes across Ireland”. 

Mr Ryan said it is vital for public safety that they keep their word. 

“The international evidence is increasingly compelling,” he said. 

“When it comes to cycling, you do need a segregation, you do need to separate it out - that sometimes will require difficult political decisions.

“And this is political decision making that has to occur at the local level; councils have to make the call here, not central government. 

“But you can’t in central government have the knowledge or expertise down to single street level.” 

According to the CSO, 75% of people in 2021 said they never cycled.

Main image: Eamon Ryan on a bike. Picture by: PA Archive/PA Images