27 September 2001: A major drop in fatalities amongst pedestrians, cyclists and motorcyclists has been attributed by the Galway Cycling Campaign to a drop in the numbers of people cycling or walking on Irish roads.

According to GCC safety officer Shane Foran, this is a reasonable conclusion from the official figures for road deaths over the last four years, which have pedestrian deaths down by 35%, cyclist fatalities reduced by 54% and motorcyclists by 43%. Over the same period, the number of deaths of car users have increased by 19%.

He quotes ESRI figures to back up his suggestion: "According to the ESRI, in the last five years the proportion of commuters cycling in Dublin fell from 5.6% to 3.7%," he notes in a recent statement. "The proportion of commuters travelling from the mid-East who cycled has fallen from 2.7% to 1%. This is likely to represent a national trend."

Mr Foran also says that 'subjective discussions' with others suggest a 'collapse' in the numbers of children walking or cycling to school.

He then makes a 'conspiracy' suggestion that Irish authorities involved in road safety have deliberately made the roads unsafe for pedestrians and cyclists in order to help themselves achieve the primary aim of the Government strategy in the 'Road to Safety' programme of reducing by 20% the road fatalities between 1997-2002.

"The NRA, the Gardai, the National 'Safety' Council, Dept of Environment etc now have a clear vested interest in keeping the Irish roads network as dangerous as possible for those road users outside cars," he says. "By this means, they can ensure a 'successful' road 'safety' strategy and make themselves look good for the national media."

Up to the end of 2000, there has been an overall 12% cut in fatal accidents on Irish roads since the publishing of the 'Road to Safety' document.