Disgraceful behaviour of some road users towards cyclists!
A few weeks ago my friends and I took a road trip to Glendalough, we took the scenic route up military road and through the mountains. The scenery is stunning up there - it’s getting back to normal after the bush fires caused by last year’s heatwave, though you can still see scorched patches dotted around the land, writes Jenny McGovern in this week's Jenuine Article column.
On the way we stopped off at a viewpoint to get some ice-cream and noticed four young fellas messing around. They were pushing each other about and threatening to spill their drinks on one another. They just looked like troublemakers to me - the type that would purposely kick a football at your car. So we got our ice creams and jumped back into the car to continue our the journey.
Not 10 minutes later, a white, souped-up Golf overtook us on a narrow hairpin bend and I knew straight away it was the same lads. They put the boot down and sped on ahead of our car. While I was still midway through cursing the brats, their car slowed up ahead, the window came down and at least two of them lobbed their 99’s out of the car window at a passing cyclist before speeding off again.
At this point, everyone in our car was enraged. The two lads were bellowing in fury at the scene and scrambled to get the licence plate details of the Golf.
We pulled up beside the cyclist, an Italian man who was touring the country on his bike and he was shaken and disgusted at what had just happened. After offering him some wipes and a lift, we told him that we’d call the guards and report what had happened. The cyclist was happy enough to keep travelling solo but I can imagine his opinion of Ireland was well and truly tarnished after the incident.
My friend was irate at this point and insisted on calling the Gardaí, giving them the reg and the description of the car and telling them that they were heading towards the nearest town and, as we stopped off in Laragh, Co Wicklow, we were delighted to see that the white Golf had been pulled over at the side of the road. I hope they got a good scare from the guards.
My God what is the matter with some people? How on earth could anyone ever think throwing something at someone out of a moving car be funny? It infuriates me to think that there are people like that out there.
The cyclist could have been seriously injured, he could’ve fallen off his bike and into a bloody ditch and be alone in the Wicklow Mountains for hours.
Just two weeks ago a cyclist in Cootehill was knocked out by a flying Argos catalogue, which had been flung out of a car window. It’s an absolute disgrace. People who do such acts are, in my opinion, cowardly scum. Cyclists and walkers are vulnerable road users and, no matter if you are on differing sides of the debate when it comes to cyclists V motorists, there can be no argument that motorists are a lot more protected in their powerful machines, and anyone with a bit of common, human decency should be respectful of that.