In response to multiple reports of cyclists suffering injuries in slips and falls, which was first highlighted by Dublin Cycling Campaign, Dublin City Council has taken actions to help protect people cycling in the city.

Dublin Cycling Campaign gathered data on over 120 slips and falls across Dublin in late January and submitted them to the council last weekend. Three days later, the total number of falls reported to the campaign is now over 200.

While many of the victims escaped with only minor injuries, some have reported fractures or other serious injuries which required surgery.

Dublin Cycling Campaign has mapped out the locations of reported falls across the city centre [Interactive map here]. There were noticeable spikes in the number of complaints on Thursday 23rd, Wednesday 29th, and Thursday 30th January 2020. Analysis of the weather showed that neither rain nor freezing temperatures were linked to the slips and falls. Mapping out the incident locations show they were clustered around construction sites across the city.

On Monday, Dublin City Council responded to the data the cycling campaign provided. Dublin City Council’s road maintenance division inspected all of the roads and junctions which the data had flagged as being hazardous.

Additionally, Dublin City Council has committed to prioritising the cleaning of these junctions with a mechanical road sweeper, as part of their ongoing street cleaning activities. Dublin City Council said “We expect the inspections and cleaning works to be completed on Tuesday 4th February 2020”.

Regarding one specific area, Dublin City Council has informed us that “There was evidence to suggest that the oil spillage related to construction activity from an adjacent construction site. The affected road was treated and a ‘Notice of Offence’ under Section 13(10) of the Road Act, 1993 was served on the Contractor responsible for these works”.

Dublin Cycling Campaign welcomes Dublin City Council taking these reports seriously by inspecting all reported sites, cleaning the roads and enforcing the law against negligent construction sites.

Thank you to everyone who reported a slip or fall to the campaign, or who shared the reporting form. Without a strong response from the cycling community in Dublin, we would not have been able to get the council to take action.

Reporting Future Hazardous Roads

Now that Dublin City Council is taking the issue seriously the campaign recommends that you report any hazardous or greasy road conditions directly to them.

The council has asked that people “provide details of the precise location of the oil spill and where possible a photograph(s) capturing the extent of the problem. In addition, if there is evidence of where the spillage is emanating from, you should include this information in the report.”

This will allow the council to quickly clean the affected road and aid in their investigations against any negligent construction sites.

Reports can be emailed to roadmaintenance@dublincity.ie or by phone on 01 222 2255 during working hours, and 01 679 6186 if outside normal business hours.