The soon to be introduced new lower speed limits will make the roads more dangerous, in my opinion.

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RichInSpirit

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In my opinion the soon to be introduced new speed limits will make it very uncomfortable to drive very far on most roads other than motorways.
Driving at 60kmph on roads that just a few years ago had limits of 100kmph will be a nightmare.
If you try and stick to the 60kmph speed limit you will soon have 5 or 6 hummers or SUV's tailgating you, trying to drive you off the road.
Plus no ICE vehicle is designed to be driven at 60kmph so the greenhouse gases will increase.
Plus the increased commuting time will make for more tired drivers and reduce productivity.
And people who drive all day for a living will be driven demented.
 
RichInSpirit said:
In my opinion the soon to be introduced new speed limits will make it very uncomfortable to drive very far on most roads other than motorways.
Driving at 60kmph on roads that just a few years ago had limits of 100kmph will be a nightmare.
If you try and stick to the 60kmph speed limit you will soon have 5 or 6 hummers or SUV's tailgating you, trying to drive you off the road.
Plus no ICE vehicle is designed to be driven at 60kmph so the greenhouse gases will increase.
Plus the increased commuting time will make for more tired drivers and reduce productivity.
And people who drive all day for a living will be driven demented.
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It will be hard enough for the , honest or good, drivers . It will make no difference to the usual idiots who don't seem to care ... unfortunately.
 
johnwilliams said:
what's the expected entry date ?
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Feb 1st.

You see many new signs with black covers - underneath the cover is the new speed limit.

Looks like most "r" and "L" roads will have a default 60kmh.

"N" roads will have a 80kmh default limit.

Not sure if a higher limit can be designated.

Many European countries have introduced similar changes.
 
Allow me to nail my colours to the mast. I’m in favour of the new speeding laws for the following reasons:-
1. Outside of cycling lanes/greenways no cyclist can feel safe because of speeding/uncaring motorists.
2. Walkers in rural areas have essentially been removed by speeding/uncaring motorists.
3. The conduct of many motorists has become increasingly dangerous.
4. The blame for all these dangerous is largely on the shoulders of speeding/uncaring motorists.
5. And for two marks what’s the common denominator?
 
Leper said:
Allow me to nail my colours to the mast. I’m in favour of the new speeding laws for the following reasons:-
1. Outside of cycling lanes/greenways no cyclist can feel safe because of speeding/uncaring motorists.
2. Walkers in rural areas have essentially been removed by speeding/uncaring motorists.
3. The conduct of many motorists has become increasingly dangerous.
4. The blame for all these dangerous is largely on the shoulders of speeding/uncaring motorists.
5. And for two marks what’s the common denominator?
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I agree with all points. I walk every evening on our secondary road with my son who works indoors all day and likes to get out for a walk and because of some uncaring idiots it has become more dangerous. This particular road 80 km , used to be relatively quiet but since J5 service station arrived, which is very close to where I live , the traffic has become heavier and some not obeying the speed limits. He is closer to the town but walking there is not a great idea because of heavy traffic.
Idiots expect that we shouldn't be on the road.......yeah right.
 
We need a network of countryside paths like they have in England to take walkers off the roads.
Between speeding cars and intimidation from dogs there's no peace walking on most country roads.
 
Hefty dump of snow in Portlaoise today. Drivers going very slowly, being polite to each other and pedestrians. Amazing!
 
RichInSpirit said:
Plus no ICE vehicle is designed to be driven at 60kmph so the greenhouse gases will increase
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I don't think that's https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2095756424000709 (true), ICE engines produce significantly more emissions per distance travelled at higher speeds. Driving at 60km/h would reduce all the accelaration / decelaration on many of these roads.
 
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Eamon Ryan must have been thinking of saving lives when he blocked the Cork Limerick motorway.
According to Google Maps's journey calculator when driving from Cork to Limerick your average speed will work out at 60 kph while the average speed driving from Cork to Dublin is 98 kph
 
First fundamental issues is that a lot of the current speed limits are nonsense. I've seen glorified boreens with 80kph speed signs on them in the past. Hence, reducing some of those is actually the correct thing to do. Note it is 100 to 80 and 80 to 60, not 100 to 60. There are a lot of roads in Ireland with 100kph speed limits and it is simply not safe to drive at the limit on them. Plenty of 60k routes that are not safe to drive on at that speed as will.

Will some people ignore the changes- most definately. Will more of them get caught, fined, have points added to their licence or put off the road- hopefully yes.

Will the rest of us be frustrated as a result of this, absolutely but given the nearly 180 people killed last year, perhaps we should remember that speed is the number 1 killer.
 
Peanuts20 said:
Will the rest of us be frustrated as a result of this, absolutely but given the nearly 180 people killed last year, perhaps we should remember that speed is the number 1 killer.
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In the mid 1970's, when there were 3 million people in the country and around a half a million cars on the road there were around 600 road deaths a year.
We now have over 2 million cars on the road, a population of over 5 million and less than one third of the road deaths. In terms of deaths per kilometre travelled the road death rate is about one tenth of what it was 50 years ago. Every one is a tragedy but lets not catastrophise things.
 
Purple said:
In the mid 1970's, when there were 3 million people in the country and around a half a million cars on the road there were around 600 road deaths a year.
We now have over 2 million cars on the road, a population of over 5 million and less than one third of the road deaths. In terms of deaths per kilometre travelled the road death rate is about one tenth of what it was 50 years ago. Every one is a tragedy but lets not catastrophise things.
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You can't compare like with like. Back in the 70s, before seatbelts were compulsory (or even the culture), before there were safety bags in cars, where the advice on drink driving was not to take the 5th pint, it was a different world.

What we have right now is clear issues with
  • People not having the skill set to drive powerful cars and the driving licenece/testing regime not reflecting that
  • speed, back in the 70s, cars could simply not do the speeds/acceleration that is there now
  • drug driving
  • far more cars on the road, far greater and more powerful lorries
I agree it is far better then back in the 70's, but the numbers are going in the wrong direction.
 
Peanuts20 said:
You can't compare like with like. Back in the 70s, before seatbelts were compulsory (or even the culture), before there were safety bags in cars, where the advice on drink driving was not to take the 5th pint, it was a different world.

What we have right now is clear issues with
  • People not having the skill set to drive powerful cars and the driving licenece/testing regime not reflecting that
  • speed, back in the 70s, cars could simply not do the speeds/acceleration that is there now
  • drug driving
  • far more cars on the road, far greater and more powerful lorries
I agree it is far better then back in the 70's, but the numbers are going in the wrong direction.
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They are, and we should be concerned, but they have reduced massively over the last could of decades.
Road deaths are mainly caused by people driving over the current speed limits. Reducing those speed limits will have no impact on people who already drive faster than the current limits. I think the current plan is remarkably stupid and makes the law an ass.
 
losttheplot said:
It's enforcement that is the issue. We don't take traffic laws seriously. If they are enforced we complain it's not fair. If we want to change the driving culture we need to take the rules seriously.
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If we enforced the current speed limits that would do the job. Lowering the speed limits to stupidly slow levels and then not enforcing those limits either will, as I said, make the law as ass.
 
Purple said:
If we enforced the current speed limits that would do the job. Lowering the speed limits to stupidly slow levels and then not enforcing those limits either will, as I said, make the law as ass.
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We only like to make rules so we can say something was done, speed limits signs are just roadside decorations to most people. we don't like or aren't able to sufficiently enforce rules. If we were really serious about reducing speed, we'd have hidden speed traps. Would never be accepted here.

Some people probably think the broken white lines in the centre of the road were just to save paint.
 
jimmij said:
With those numbers a cost benefit analysis might well suggest that trying to reduce them further would be a waste as in it would be better to spend that effort elsewhere.
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Just be careful about suggesting policy should only be decided on a cost benefit basis as this would see a lot of healthcare options, particularly for the elderly eliminated.
 
Gardai have been given an extra €9m in funding for next year for road safety with 100 new Go Safe cameras in the works and 75 additional Gardai road safety units. I expect it will be like shooting turkeys for the first few months and a lot of people will get caught speeding.
 
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