The urban areas of Waterford city, Tramore and Dungarvan have been chosen by the government for a trial experiment that will see people over 50 years of age banned from cycling on public roads.
The Minister for Transport, Darragh O’Brien, told The Munster Express there was sufficient evidence to show that cyclists over 50 years of age were, to varying degrees, a menace on the roads.
“According to information collected from Gardaí on the beat from all over the Republic, cyclists over 50 in urban areas are causing no end of problems for other road users and for pedestrians,” said Minister O’Brien.
“When the Danish cities of Copenhagen and Odense introduced a ban on cyclists over 50 last September, there were immediate positive results all round. If the trial in Waterford, which commences this Wednesday, is a success, it will be quickly introduced all over the country,” he added.
A Garda spokesperson said many people over 50 appeared to have a certain attitude that mid-life often bestowed and they believed they knew best and were superior to everybody else.
“They are often contemptuous of the young, especially teenagers, and are increasingly impatient with everybody else,” said the high ranking officer.
A spokesperson for Waterford City and County Council confirmed that, in consultation with Gardaí, the ban would commence this Wednesday and operate within the city, Tramore and Dungarvan areas until the end of September.
No financial fines would be issued but people breaking the ban would have their cycles confiscated on the spot by Gardaí or Traffic Wardens and would have to collect them from a special office situated at named Garda Stations after 6.00 pm in the evenings from Monday to Friday only. A small reclaim fee of €5 would apply.
In the first of what is expected to be an avalanche of protests, Councillor David Daniels said he was ‘incandescent’ with anger at what was an ill thought-out and offensive insult to mid-life and elderly cyclists. “What on earth will they think of next,” he wondered.
John O'Connor
