Galway Cycling Campaign Releases Two New Information Sheets

national | rights, freedoms and repression | press release

Tuesday March 16, 2004 14:12

by Shane Foran - Galway Cycling Campaign

galwaycyclist at yahoo dot co dot uk

c/o Galway One World Centre, the Halls, Quay St. Galway

087 9935993

History of Cycle Tracks: Translated abstracts from German researchers telling the story of how the National Socialist Regime of the 1930's/40's, and their post war successors, used cycle tracks for the explicit purpose of clearing cyclists out of the way and encouraging a switch to the mass use of private motor cars in German towns and cities.

Galway Cycling Campaign Releases Two New Information Sheets

History of Cycle Tracks: Translated abstracts from German researchers telling the story of how the National Socialist Regime of the 1930's/40's, and their post war successors, used cycle tracks for the explicit purpose of clearing cyclists out of the way and encouraging a switch to the mass use of private motor cars in German towns and cities.

* Cycle Track History: Cycle Tracks for the Expansion of Motorised Traffic
http://www.eirbyte.com/gcc/info/vbriese_abstract.html
* Cycle Track History: On the Decline of a Mass Means of Transport
http://www.eirbyte.com/gcc/info/bhorn_abstract.html

It is a matter of historical fact that "segregated" cycle tracks were developed on behalf of the car lobby in the 1920's and 1930's. The specific intent was to benefit motorists by providing them with cyclist-free routes. In Germany, the use of cycle tracks was central to National Socialist propaganda and central to National Socialist traffic policy. The explicit intent of the National Socialist's in constructing cycle track networks was to suppress and impede cycling and encourage a switch to mass use of private motorcars in German towns and cities. In the 1930's, cycle track construction efforts were also attempted by the UK car lobby. This ran into the determined opposition of cyclists' groups. The Cyclists' Touring Club organised mass meetings to protest the imposition of such devices and any legislation requiring cyclists to use them. The CTC were successful and the use of cycle tracks fell out of favour in the UK. Similarly in the 1930's, German cyclists objected to the imposition of such cycle track devices. In Germany, the National Socialist regime apparently solved this issue by outlawing cyclists associations.

In the intervening years the well-founded suspicions of the pre-war cycling activists have been confirmed. Serious safety problems have been identified with segregated "cycle facilities". The overwhelming finding from countries where they have been tried is that they lead to increased rates of car/bicycle collisions. This finding has been documented in internationally published reports from Denmark, Finland, Germany, the US, and the UK.

There is compelling evidence that similar motivations lie behind recent attempts to impose similar cycle-track networks in Irish Towns and cities. The strong implication is that Irish politicians and traffic engineers have been seeking to "clear cyclists out of the way" in order to promote increased use of private motorcars. As elsewhere in the 1930's, Irish cycling activists have opposed these activities with determination. Galway cyclists have been asking public and pointed questions about how cyclists are supposed to make safe use of the "cycle lane" devices in Galway city since 1987. Since 1998, the Galway Cycling Campaign has sought the removal or modification of these devices. The Cork Cycling Campaign has also been raising serious concerns. These efforts have gone hand-in-hand with efforts to prevent the worst excesses of car-centred planning and traffic policies. The Dublin media's curious inability to report these issues merely confirms that it is prudent to be suspicious of the agenda of the Dublin media.

If this is the intent of the Government, then it has been entirely successful. According to recent census data, between 1996 and 2002 there was a 28% fall in cycle commuting, a 39% drop in cycle use among third level students, a 61% drop in cycle use among secondary school children and a 59% drop in cycle use among primary school children (Source: Census of population 2002).

Irish Political parties have been made repeatedly aware of serious concerns surrounding purpose and safety of segregated "cycle facilities". In particular, these facts are known to prominent individuals within the Green party. Nevertheless, certain Green Party representatives and candidates continue to make claims and statements in the media that appear intended to give the public an erroneous impression as to the established purpose, and established negative safety effects, of many "cycle facilities". While this is a prominent Green party phenomenon it is not isolated to the Greens and is found in other political parties of all hues. The clear implication is that there are those within Irish politics who would seek to exploit the lives, safety and convenience of Irish cyclists for their own purposes. This matter is particularly pressing in the run up the local elections and Irish cyclists need to be fully informed so that they can challenge any false or spurious claims from election candidates.

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Galway Cycling Campaign Releases Two New Information Sheets