T McGibney
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What's wrong with that ?
Because at the very least, I'd expect you to at least do some basic research before you question the fairness of the comparison I made.
Man caught doing 208km/h on motorway jailed for three months
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Because at the very least, I'd expect you to at least do some basic research before you question the fairness of the comparison I made.
I accept it might be safe to drive faster in Germany, but do not think it is fair to make comparisons between German and Irish motorways.
I have never been on a German motorway, I have been on several other European motorways, I am a frequent user of Irish motorways. In the past I have heard of other persons experiences of German motorway driving and recently I looked up German motorways on line, so for the following reasons, I think it is unfair;
It seems to me that some of the German motorways are two lane but a lot are three or more lanes in each direction, with the exception of maybe 30/40Km of the M50 which has a 100Kph limit anyway, I think all of our motorways are two lane, (one lane for driving and an overtaking lane.)
It seems to me that there is a far higher police presence on German motorways than we have here, and the rules of the road on German Motorways appear to be enforced.
It seems to me that German drivers understand and generally adhere to motorway rules of the road. In Ireland many appear to be clueless regarding motorway rules re-entering / exiting, lane discipline, overtaking, braking distances for motorway speeds, and see a speed limit as a target that must be at least achieved, regardless of weather conditions traffic volumes etc.
The thought of raising speed limits here, in my opinion is frightening, and I think would increase motorway injuries and fatalities substantially.
T McGibney
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They're not.
No comment necessary.
There we disagree. Which we're respectively entitled to do.
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At this stage, I have to be honest and say that the thoughts of you being on a motorway at the same time as me, are frightening
I am reading your posts and find myself wondering how you can possibly form such rigid views on things that by your own admission, you know nothing about or have never experienced (i.e. German motorway lanes, German police enforcing laws etc).
My 2c based on a few visits: they are not that dissimilar.
Near the cities, three lanes. Traffic is usually 60-120% of the road's capacity, same as the M50
Between cities, two lanes, mostly with worse/older surfaces than ours. Traffic is 30-60% of capacity, rather than our 10-30% outside the pale.
The general standard of German driving isn't dramatically better, except in the bottom 10%. There's plenty of driver error, they bunch up closer than I'd consider sensible, but there seems to be fewer profoundly incompetent drivers. They use horns and lights more than we do, both defensively and to scold bad behavior.
Germans' lane discipline is a little better. When roads are below capacity traffic stays to the right, and the (fairly regular) experience of a 911 or supersaloon whizzing past at 180kph+ encourages people to check their mirrors twice before changing lanes to overtake.
I have been to Germany and driven on German roads and I agree with the above.
One of the reasons it is better, and I accept not dramatically better in your and Purple's experience is because motorway lessons are compulsory for learners in Germany, and should be compulsory here.
‘’ A certain number of practical and technical lessons has to be completed again depending on the type of vehicle. Obligatory lessons include a minimum number of lessons each driving on: the motorway Autobahn; rural areas, and in the dark.’’
http://www.techinsider.io/germanys-autobahn-vs-us-highways-compared-2016-3
In Ireland learners are not allowed on motorways, pass their test and off they go up the M1 or whatever having never had any experience of entering / exiting / overtaking etc or any experience of driving or braking distances for motorway speeds.
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You can't test for every scenario, pulling out of a side road or regular overtaking on a single or dual carriageway use the same skill set. Just because they are permitted to drive on motorways once qualified doesn't mean they should do so if they are not confident enough in their abilities. Just like you can legally drive at 100kph on some pretty brutal roads doesn't mean that you should. There's an underlying theme in much of the Road Traffic Acts that state that while it is permissible to do certain things, you should only do so if you do not put yourself or others in danger.
No one is ever taught to enter a road like the Naas road and immediately pull into the second lane and cruise there to save themselves some minor inconvenience of having to be aware of other traffic entering at subsequent junctions. A lot of people who I see doing this aren't new drivers.
If I am driving in the nearside lane of a 3 lane motorway and realise that I am about to 'undertake' a middle-lane hogger, I thought that what I am supposed to do is go into the second overtaking lane in order to overtake them. Which I do, but I'll generally get their attention while behind them by flashing lights at them.
It's frightening to have the current situation with so many middle-lane hoggers who don't seem to realise that they are in an overtaking lane.
I would have thought that this is well covered in the Rules of the Road.
It's frightening to have the current situation with so many middle-lane hoggers who don't seem to realise that they are in an overtaking lane.
I would have thought that this is well covered in the Rules of the Road.
Gordon Gekko
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What is also pretty annoying is when you're in the overtaking lane and passing a number of other vehicles, and someone comes up behind you travelling faster and flashing their lights. They really don't like you completing your manoeuvre safely.
Going back to an earlier discussion re; should our motorway speed limits be increased, I have been giving it some more thought.
9 European countries have a higher maximum motorway speed limit than we have, 12 have the same 120Kph that we have, and 6 have a lower limit.
http://www.theaa.ie/aa/motoring-advice/driving-in-europe/speed-limits.aspx
What would we gain, given our relatively short motorway network, if we increased our motorway speed limit to the 130Kph that some have ?
100 Km at 120Kph takes 50 minutes.
100 Km at 130Kph takes 46 minutes.
A saving of 4 minutes for each 100 Km travelled on a motorway.
Dublin to the outskirts of Cork city for example is motorway from Naas, assuming you could maintain 130Kph for the entire 220 Km’s of motorway, you would save less than 9 minutes, is it really worth it ?
My opinion is no, it is not worth the additional risk, (even if minimal), that comes with higher speeds.
9 European countries have a higher maximum motorway speed limit than we have, 12 have the same 120Kph that we have, and 6 have a lower limit.
http://www.theaa.ie/aa/motoring-advice/driving-in-europe/speed-limits.aspx
What would we gain, given our relatively short motorway network, if we increased our motorway speed limit to the 130Kph that some have ?
100 Km at 120Kph takes 50 minutes.
100 Km at 130Kph takes 46 minutes.
A saving of 4 minutes for each 100 Km travelled on a motorway.
Dublin to the outskirts of Cork city for example is motorway from Naas, assuming you could maintain 130Kph for the entire 220 Km’s of motorway, you would save less than 9 minutes, is it really worth it ?
My opinion is no, it is not worth the additional risk, (even if minimal), that comes with higher speeds.
losttheplot
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To be honest, I think the debate on speed limits is a little pointless, they are so poorly enforced that little notice is taken of them. You could extend this to all our road rules - parking, overtaking, roundabouts etc. When they are enforced there's public outcry that it's unfair ( I was only a little bit over the speed limit, I only parked there for a minute etc)