To the cyclist my GF and I almost hit when turning off a main road about an hour ago...

not paying enough attention to our surroundings.

Enough attention is a function of the speed you're traveling. You were traveling too fast and, by your own admission, almost hit someone. If everyone were to just slow down a little 158 people would not have died on Irish roads in 2017. In my lifetime (I'm 34), over 12,000 people have died on Irish roads, which is more people than live in the town I grew up in. What is wrong with the human psyche that we allow prioritising convenience over life?

You are a dickhead, but so is every other driver out there. At least you now have some vague sense of self-awareness and might not be so life-threateningly over-confident in future. It boggles the mind that the driving test isn't more rigorous and isn't frequently re-tested. There's probably a few hundred thousand drivers on Irish roads who never took a driving test*, and they're old, with failing eyesight, slower reactions and developing degenerative illnesses such as Parkinson's.

This is the fault of politicians who do nothing about this. This is the fault of local council planners who design and allow dangerous road designs. And this is the fault of everyone who drives when they could walk or cycle. The culture is shockingly misaligned with its own safety.

Have you got plans to improve your driving beyond a little self-reflection and a post on Reddit? Advanced driver course? A week on a bike? Learn how to use Google Maps before pressing the accelerator?

*Why roads are safer after 50 years of the Driving Test (Irish Independent)

/r/Dublin Thread