It’s bc of cars alright. But also you have to have safe infrastructure, and when I mean safe, dedicated bike lanes! Paint ≠ Infrastructure
If the car traffic is light enough, and drivers considerate enough, you don’t even need the paint.
To achieve that you need to block roads so cars cant go through neighborhoods, and employ traffic calming road designs, so the only car traffic is slow and people who actually live there or visiting someone who lives there; and need enough people cycling so encountering a cyclist isn’t an unusual or unexpected event… (And for that you need propper separated cycle paths between neighborhoods/destinations/public transport with cycle parking)
Yep, the car brain paradox. Same around schools over here in Germany: “I transport my kids to school by car because cycling or walking to school is too dangerous due to the heavy car traffic around the school.”
No irony, not a grain of self reflection, not a single sensible thought of any kind all around. That is a literal quote.
Jesus it’s dangerous enough to drive a car on most roads in Ireland, nevermind a bike. Country never saw a blind curve it didn’t like.
After having cycled on Northern Irish roads for years I have to say it’s not just because of cars (although car drivers really are some of the most entitled I’ve encountered in Europe). The state of roads and decisions around where to place bike lanes are utterly insane nevermind the lack of cycle lanes.