Council calls for mandatory hi-viz gear

It should be a criminal offence to not wear high visibility clothing on public roads according to a Cootehill Councillor.

Cllr Carmel Brady (FG) said she came close to hitting a woman on the Redhills to Cootehill road recently.

She told the November meeting of Cavan County Council that the woman was walking her dog at the time but was not wearing any bright clothing on a dark evening.

Speaking at the meeting, Cllr Brady said the wearing of hi-viz should be mandatory for all pedestrians, cyclists and motorcyclists.

She described the clothing as “affordable” and cited building sites and other workspaces where it is mandatory to wear hi-viz attire.

Her party colleague, Cllr Peter McVitty seconded the motion, describing it as “an ongoing issue”, which the council has “discussed down through the years”.

He said he couldn’t understand why people don’t wear bright clothing if out on a dark evening and said organisations, like the Road Safety Authority (RSA), give out hi-viz clothing for free.

“If you hit someone you have to live with it for the rest of your life,” he said.

The motion, calling on the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport to make the wearing of high-viz clothes mandatory received unanimous support from councillors.

“It’s common sense but some people don’t have that”, said Cllr Aiden Fitzpatrick (FF), with Cllr TP OReilly (FG) saying it’s unfair on motorists to expect them to be able to see a pedestrian or cyclist on a dark road.