*Cllr Pat Burke, Tánaiste Simon Harris, Joe Cooney TD and Cllr Conor Ryan.
PEDESTRIANS and cyclists should be made wear hi-vis jackets or vests “in the interest of public safety,” according to a former Leas Cathaoirleach of Clare County Council.
Fine Gael’s representatives in East Clare have admitted to having near-misses with pedestrians on the byways of the county with the local authority’s newest member remarking that he could have been up for “a political murder” after nearly colliding with a Fianna Fáil stalwart in his locality.
Clare County Council have written to the Minister for Transport, Darragh O’Brien (FF) after a motion from Cllr Pat Burke (FG) was adopted seeking the introduction of “legislation making it mandatory for pedestrians and cyclists to wear hi-vis Jackets/vests in the interest of public safety”.
Speaking at a sitting of the County Council, Cllr Burke admitted, “I had a personal close one” with his near collision serving as the inspiration for his proposal. “People out walking and cycling, they don’t think it is as dark as it is, they are out walking and not wearing a hi-vis, it is amazing and I don’t have stats but it is amazing there isn’t more fatalities and accidents from people not wearing a hi-vis jacket”.
Walkers and cyclists can lose track of time, the Whitegate representative felt. “When clocks change people think you can go off for a walk and by the time they get back, it is nearly dark”.
While traversing East Clare, Cllr Burke said he had a near-miss with a pedestrian. “I had a very close shave with a woman in black clothes and no hi-vis on a bad bend”. He continued, “it baffles me how people will go out in the evenings walking without a hi-vis”.
Campaigns are run by the Road Safety Authority and they need to add the importance of hi-vis jackets to their list, Cllr Burke said. “You will see a light on a fine summer’s day before you see anything else, the RSA run campaigns on drink and drug driving, they should also run campaigns on this”.
Near-misses are far too common on country roads, Cllr Pat O’Gorman (FF) argued. “If you’re living on the country roads in winter evenings, there’s always near misses, every winter without fail I did a video from Knockalkisheen where people were walking from Meelick, it is was a death trap and I encouraged people to wearthe hi-vis, I was told that jackets were in the camp but that they weren’t mandatory”. He added, “This is all about public safety and I don’t want to ram down anyone’s neck what anyone should or should not wear”.
Cllr Conor Ryan (FG) quipped that he was almost at risk of being caught for “political murder” with a member of an opposing party. “I remember a near-miss with a good neighbour, a Fianna Fáil man who was perfectly camouflaged, I didn’t get to move the car until I saw the whites of his eyes, it would have been considered a political murder”. He felt the “in-between twilight stage” was “particularly dangerous” on the roads, “It is the dusk sunset when you can see but can’t see perfectly, I was over confident but not anymore”.
“I’d hate to see what would happen with a bad neighbour,” responded Mayor of Clare, Cllr Paul Murphy (FG).
Finance should be set aside by the Council to instigate a campaign where the public are encouraged to wear reflective bands on their shoulder or waist, Cllr Rita McInerney (FF) suggested and that this be made available to publicans. “People are sometimes too cool to wear reflective jackets, the Council could lead on this. It is something simple could be produced quite easily and might save lives”.
Advising the meeting that his daughter even puts the hi-vis on her dog, Cllr Dinny Gould (IND) felt the message needed to be pushed in schools. “It should be brought to schools, children go on and forget about them on their bikes, if it was brought to schools and local councillors went to schools and maybe spend their GMA it could save the life of a child and it would be well spent”.
