Enniskillen Court House, RMGFH04
A CYCLIST has hit out at the “young cub” who threw water at him from a moving car, warning such behaviour could result in serious injury or worse.
Danny Browne, who is chairman of long-established racing group Lakeland Cycle Club, said he was out riding on Sunday morning on the Enniskillen to Irvinestown road when the car passed and the water was thrown on him. Police have confirmed they have called to and spoken with the motorist involved in the incident.
Speaking to the Herald, Danny said such incidents were sadly not uncommon, and were proving dangerous
“From the response I’ve got on Facebook, things like this seem to be happening quite often,” he said. “I know that a lot of my friends get abused, shouted at and so on. Things like this have certainly happened others before, but they weren’t quick enough to get a registration number.
“There was no need for it. Throwing water could put anyone off, causing them to swerve. We have really thin wheels and do around 17 or 18mph. We’re all road users, we all have to share the road and respect each other.”
Danny, who is in his mid-40s, said he had taken up cycling around four years ago now loved it, getting out on his bike three or four times a week. He said cycling on main roads along with traffic could be “quite daunting” at first.
“I live in Irvinestown and the main road to Enniskillen had a lot of big lorries on it that don’t give you much breathing room. The suction from the lorries can actually pull you towards them. The attitude of drivers is generally quite good, though.”
When Danny posted about Sunday’s incident on Facebook, he received a lot of support from fellow cyclists, with many adding their own stories of abuse from drivers, while some others commented that cyclists could also be inconsiderate road users at times. Pointing out that, just like drivers, you can get some bad mannered cyclist, he said all those he knew were fully licensed riders that obeyed the rules of the road.
“Anyone who I cycle with all have licences and are governed by Cycling Ireland and their rules,” he said. “We cycle in twos, never in threes, because it’s safer. If you have a group of ten cyclists, there is less distance for a car to pass if they are cycling two abreast than if they are in single file. There’s no real difference there than with a overtaking a tractor, except we are much more vulnerable and have nothing around us protecting us.”
Danny had the following advice for motorists: “At the end of the day, we’re all road users. We all share the road and respect each other, so please give us the one-and-a-half metres distance when passing. All we have to do is hit a pothole and swerve and we’ll be into your car. God forbid there is a fatality.”
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