Wicklow cyclist involved in hit and run reminds road users ‘we all have families to get home to’

An experienced cyclist, Owen Shortt lives between Ashford and Roundwood and is a truck driver by trade. He feels his two-decade love affair with the open road might be over after a car driver clipped him and left him face down on the tarmac on the outskirts of Rathdrum.

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It was the second time he had endured a bad crash, but the aggression from this driver is what has changed his perspective to think: “as much as I love it, it’s not worth dying over.”

Today's News in 90 Seconds - April 23rd

The 49-year-old had been out on his weekly cycle with his friend, coming from Glenmalure into Greenane and onto Rathdrum, when a car pulled alongside and closed in against the footpath, with the rear and side of the vehicle clipping Owen’s bike and sending him hurtling to the ground.

Although avoiding serious injury, salt was rubbed into Owen’s wounds when the driver fled the scene, with he and his friend unable to capture the driver’s complete registration number.

“It’s a straight part of the road, on a slight downhill, and there was no other traffic other than this car that passed us from behind,” said Owen.

“We were in single file, with my friend sitting behind me, and out of the blue, the car closed in against the footpath, slammed on the brakes, and I hit the back and side of the car.

“I was knocked off the bike, face down on the road, and the car just drove off. Thankfully, I was just badly bruised, but it could easily have been a lot worse.

“There were no mitigating circumstances whatsoever. We weren’t on a corner holding the car up, the road was clear on the other side, and there was no oncoming traffic. There was no reason for him to do what he had done.

“I rang the gardai, and they met me in Rathdrum. Seemingly it’s common enough. Even they said that what was happening on the roads lately is lunacy.”

As Owen explained, the incident in Rathdrum brought back traumatic memories of a horror crash he was involved in at the Sally Gap, which left him hospitalised with multiple broken bones and questioning whether he would ever saddle up again.

“I was involved in a bad crash at the Sally Gap a few years back, which was purely accidental,” Owen recalled.

“I was coming down the hill at speed, and a driver was doing a three-point turn and never saw me, but she stopped, rang the ambulance and the road was closed.

“It was quite serious, and I was out of work for seven months with a broken collar bone, vertebrae, ribs and a punctured lung.

“It was hard to get back on the bike after that, and there was a fear there for a long time, but I love it so much – it’s my outlet. A lot of people I cycle with have, like so many in the community, mental health issues, and cycling is their escape – that’s what they do.

“The incident in Rathdrum brought up a few memories, and I’m actually giving serious consideration to giving it up now,” he continued.

“There are a couple of us that do sportives together, not racing, but to places like the Pyrenees. I’ve been to the Alps when the Tour de France was on for weeks and never saw an incident – none. You’re on busy roads that are quite popular with cyclists, but there just seems to be more tolerance and understanding.

“You try to be sensible about it back home, and there are certain roads in Wicklow that you don’t go on because they’re too busy or narrow, or where you’ll be causing too much grief for motorists, so you try to go on the rural roads. The road from Kilmacanogue to Glendalough is a prime example – I’d say it’s 15 years since I’ve been on that road.

“I’ve been cycling 20 years, and it used to be only on rare occasions that you got a close pass when you’re out, but it feels like every time you go out now, there are two or three misses, and I’ve been saying to my friends for years that one of us is going to get cleaned out of it someday.

“As much as I love it, it’s not worth dying over.”

Despite the succession of accidents, Owen has retained a diplomatic outlook and a belief that both drivers and cyclists could do so much more to care for one another, calling for “common sense on both sides”.

“From my perspective, it’s always us against them, when there is bad behaviour on both sides,” Owen said.

“I know there are high-profile campaigns, which say that they’re going to clamp down on drivers, make the fines stiffer, make the penalties harder, and it just seems to be driving this wedge in between cyclists and motorists – I just can’t get my head around it.

“From a cyclist’s point of view, I’ve never seen such level of aggression towards us, and I wonder where it comes from.

“If a rabbit or cat jumped out, you’d stop, but it seems some people are willing to go through cyclists. It’s like we’re not human, and you start questioning whether there is a target on your back, whereas in reality, most cyclists are motorists too – I’m a truck driver myself.

“I think there is still a perception of the middle-aged men in Lycra with a sense of entitlement and arrogance, and don’t get me wrong, they do exist.

“I’ve been in groups where the behaviour is despicable and someone might blow the horn to let you know they’re there, and guys would be giving them the fingers,” he continued.

“My dad is 80 years of age, and he saw me lying in bed for six months. Only a couple of weeks ago, he beeped at a group of cyclists before he made the manoeuvre to pass them, and every single one of them gave him the finger and roared abuse at him.

“Big cycling clubs need to step up, be mannerly, and accommodate motorists – it doesn’t take a lot. If it’s a big group, split into three. If the car can’t see past, beckon them on if it is clear, and they’ll give you a little beep to say thanks.

“The onus is on us cyclists too to behave properly and have regard for motorists’ safety. I know education should be there on the motorist’s side, but we need to ask why some people have this level of aggression towards us and what can we do to change that?

“We can’t demand respect – it must be earned. And with it looking like we’re going to hit record deaths on our roads this year, the onus is on every road user. We must all try to work together and have a little more tolerance and understanding.

“We all have to share Wicklow’s roads and we all have families to get home to.”