All cars should be preceded at a distance of no less than three and no more than six metres by a walking man waving a red flag.
Maybe they should also make it mandatory for pedestrians to carry rocket-propelled grenade launchers, and be trained in their operation.
This would hopefully make car drivers to exercise more caution.
/sarcasm that has an unfortunate chance of becoming reality in a few decades, you just watch
The historically accurate documentary “Team Fortress” also taught me it’s a GREAT method of transportation
That website is propaganda group that both fuels and funds far-right movements. They are not journalists, but an influencing machine. The better subs have banned their links.
If you want to read about our asshat politician and this story in particular, it’s covered here: https://irishcycle.com/2025/07/05/td-asks-about-making-high-vis-compulsory-for-all-pedestrians-cyclists-and-users-of-school-transport/
It should be noted that in rural areas, many roads are unlit and quite winding. Ireland has very high road density with lots of minor roads. Many people walk on these roads which have no path. Use of lights and reflective or hi vis clothing is sensible and already common.
I can understand. Once I encountered a jogger wearing a completely black outfit in a dark unlit road. The only reason I saw the guy was because there were a few reflective bits on his shoes. That was a nice scare.
Is wearing hi vis clothing sensible on country roads with no sidewalks? Yes.
Should it be mandatory just to go out on a walk? No. How about we lower speed limits on those roads or create safer roads. Walking is a basic human right (or moving about in whatever way you need to if your body doesn’t allow you to walk). Driving a car is not.
Sounds like Ireland should invest some of that money they earn from being a tax-haven into some proper infrastructure.
When my dad visited Dublin and the surrounding area, they were driving by another car on a road with a car they rented and the road was so narrow that the side mirror got knocked right off.
When they returned the car, the rental company was completely nonplussed because it happens so often. Afterwards, they started noticing that a lot of the cars had their mirror missing on the same side.
Sounds like the speed limit should be 20km/h then.
12mph?! Never traveled rural areas? It would take me over 2 hours to get to my camp in the boonies and 26 hours to pick up my kids.
Wanna go faster? Get your politicians to build you safer roads. Pedestrian lives are not expendable.
I don’t think you’ve ever been to a rural area, have you?
Ooooo urban people and their weird “don’t kill pedestrians” ideas.
Yeah, I’m guessing you’ve never been anywhere properly rural. The distances involved are huge, and there are almost no pedestrians, as going anywhere but the neighbour’s place would mean walking for hours.
Putting in footpaths on every road would be an absurd amount of money.
Are we still talking about rural and periurban Ireland?
Use of lights and reflective or hi vis clothing is sensible and already common.
Thanks for sharing, would you say accidents happen enough to make this mandatory?
Like seatbelts, of it saves lives and is harmless, then why not. If no lives are saved, nobody is worse off. If one life is saved, it’s worth it. Like seatbelts laws, the idea is a change in thinking not to fine people for non compliance.
I doubt it will become mandatory. It seems more like a thought bubble. Ireland used to have very high road death figures but has worked hard to change that.
Wouldn’t reevaluating the road system to meet pedestrian needs better be a far saner response than trying to mandate everyone wear special clothing? Maybe convert a few of those roads from vehicle to pedestrian only and explore options to provide better lighting on both.
I think you are misunderstanding the roads. The roads in towns and cities have footpath and lighting. These are rural roads with minimal car or foot traffic.
Conversion would be both cost prohibitive and wasteful. Not to mention that many of these roads are narrow and to wide sufficiently would mean encroaching on people’s houses or farms.
Ireland already has one of the lowest level of road deaths per 100, 000 people globally. This is not a case where the road system needs evaluation but a low cost method to reduce road deaths further.
I think you’re looking at it from a USA overzealous cop perspective. It’s like seat belt laws. Nobody ever gets a fine (ticket). It’s setting an expectation to force through mentality change.
Ireland has aggressive road safety advertising that puts the blame and onus on the driver. There is a culture of driving safe being the responsible thing to do and not tolerating speeding or drink driving. (There are enforced fines for those). It’s socially unacceptable to drive after drinking. It does still happen but at low levels. Whereas other countries, it’s illegal but common.
Here is a sample of a recent ad.
This Irish Road Safety Ad Is So Horrifying, It’s Banned On TV Before 9PM : r/fuckcars https://share.google/MpYA2UolsWhyuWkD0
Where you live, do people already wear reflective gear to go walking? In Ireland they do already.
In other news, the Irish accidentally elected a car.
That tracks.
Then it would be a tram, wouldn’t it?
Pedestrians call for mandatory glasses for all driving members of parliament.
I’d propose to introduce a pedestrian’s licence, too. Can’t have these people just run around without any proper training!
“Jay walker” propaganda all over again.
Very common in Ireland. The main contribution of the RSA (Road Safety Authority) over the past few years seems to be handing out high-vis elements to pedestrians and cyclists. The media is antropomorphising cars instead of blaming drivers, to the extent that statistics on the causes of crashes aren’t being collected.
I mean, making sure drivers can see you seems like a very sensible thing to do. I’ve come across pedestrians on unlit roads, and any sort of high visibility clothing or a light makes them visible from multiple times the distance.
There’s a reason cyclists are required to have lights outside of daylight hours where I live.
I’m currently vacationing in a country where pedestrians are required to wear reflexive elements when it’s dark, and I really like that. However, putying all onus on pedestrians while not even analyzing the causes of crashes (including hit pedestrians and cyclists), which would lead to improved road infrastructure, signage and enforcement, will lead to more deaths. As long as you’re allowed to drive 80 km/h on a winding road where two cars can’t even pass each other, no amount of lights or reflective vests will save the pedestrians.
