Complaint Regarding Poster Advertisement

Text of a complaint to The Advertising Standards Authority for Ireland 14/0403

Complaint Regarding Poster Advertisement

FAO: The Advertising Standards Authority for Ireland

CC: Minister for Transport, National Safety Council

The Subject of the Complaint

The subject of this complaint is a bus-stop poster advertisement for 7up. The poster depicts a person on a bicycle and has the caption "Avoid road rage. Use the footpath".  The poster was seen at a bus stop on the Seamus Quirke Road in Galway on 12/4/03.

The Nature of the Complaint

The nature of the complaint is that the poster encourages dangerous and illegal behaviour that is likely to result in personal injury and public nuisance.

Cycling on footpaths

Legal situation:

Under Irish traffic law a person controlling a pedal cycle is considered to be a driver. In the words of the 1961 Road Traffic Act, "driving" includes managing and controlling and, in relation to a bicycle or tricycle, riding, and "driver" and other cognate words shall be construed accordingly".  Similarly, under Irish traffic law a bicycle is held to be a vehicle and is treated as such in the regulations.  It is illegal under Irish traffic law to drive or cycle on, or along, a footway.

"Article 13 Subject to sub-articles (2) and (3), a vehicle shall not be driven along or across a footway." Road Traffic Regulations, SI 182 of 1997.

Footway cycling: Safety effects

1) Pedestrians

The presence of cyclists on footways results in a marked reduction in the safety and comfort of pedestrians, especially the very young, the elderly and the disabled.  Most Irish bicycles have a wide selection gears, it is perfectly possible for a reasonably fit adult commuter cyclist to reach speeds of 20mph.  On hills it is entirely possible for cyclists to reach, or exceed, speeds of 30mph.  In the footway environment a cyclist moving at such speeds represents a serious injury hazard to pedestrians.

2) Cyclists: Falls and collisions with roadside objects

Cycling on footways or footway type "cycle facilities" also has safety implications for cyclists. The majority of cycling incurred injuries (up to 85%) result from simple falls[1], a common cause being surface defects.  In a footway environment there are also additional injury hazards due to lampposts, telegraph poles, bollards and of course pedestrians, who are also at risk of injury.  In many cases it is simply not possible to travel safely at normal Irish cycling speeds on a footway/raised adjacent path.  In one Canadian study, sidewalk cyclists were found to experience a fourfold (x4) increase in the rate of falls and injuries relative to road cyclists [2].  A subsequent study found a nine-fold (x9) difference in the fall rate of sidewalk cyclists versus road cyclists [3].  It is reported that in the US, up to sixteen-fold (x16) differences have been found in the injury rates of sidewalk cyclists vs. road cyclists (however, this figure includes injuries from car/cycle collisions) [4].

3) Cyclists: Collisions with motor vehicles

Three quarters of all collisions between cyclists and motor vehicles occur at junctions. Cycling on footpaths or footpath type devices multiplies the risk of such collisions at every junction encountered, including driveways.  For 25 years, the Irish authorities have been aware of data showing that footway/cycle track cyclists experienced a 135% increase in the risk of accident at junctions.  To quote the standard Irish text "the provision of separate bicycle lanes alongside the main traffic flow is self defeating if no additional provision is made at intersections - because the very real risk of collisions in the merging phase adds to the overloading effect" [5] . A selection of multiplying factors from the international literature is given in the table below.  In particular, using footpaths or other devices to cycle the wrong way against the traffic is associated with massive, e.g. 10-12 fold, increases in the risk of collisions at junctions (motorists are not accustomed to looking for cyclists coming from the wrong direction on the wrong side of the road).  It should be noted that collisions involving footway/cycle track cyclists involve a greater proportion of direct rather than glancing impacts, and consequently incur greater injury severity.

Table 1: Car/cyclist collisions at junctions on segregated cycle facilities/footways

4) Cyclists: Collisions with other cyclists

It has already been established that some cyclists can reach or exceed speeds of 20mph. It is also established that some cyclists may attempt to use footways or footway type devices to cycle against the normal flow of traffic. The combination results in a situation in which cyclists could be coming at each other on a footpath type structure at combined closing speeds in excess of 40mph.  One Swedish study of injured cyclists found that bicycle/bicycle collisions accounted for 56% of two-vehicle collisions, and that these were strongly associated with cycle tracks [11].  In Ireland, footway cycling has not been historically been practised.  A similar Irish study did not find this to be a significant accident type.

Conclusion

I ask that this poster be withdrawn on the grounds that it encourages dangerous and illegal behaviour that is likely to result in personal injury and public nuisance.

Yours Sincerely

Shane Foran M.Sc.

Galway Cycling Campaign

The Galway Cycling Campaign can be contacted c/o the One World Centre, The Halls, Quay St, Galway

References