M50 60 km/h speed limit

BrianD3

With the roadworks on the M50 between the Tallaght exit and the Lucan exit the speed limit is now 60 km/h. Limit has been in place for a while now, has been well publicised and there are signs up all over the place. I believe this is an official speed limit that has been approved by the relevant County Manager(s) so it is a legit limit and can be enforced. Yet 99% of drivers are completely ignoring the 60 km/h and driving at 100-120 km/h when it is possible to do so (eg at off peak times and weekends when the traffic can move quickly)

IMO it is dangerous to drive at double the speed limit on any road as there will always be some law abiding drivers who will stick to the posted limit. So now you've got a large discrepancy in speed between vehicles.

The Gardai have GATSO vans in the roadworks very regularly so I'd say it's bonanza time for them with hundreds if not thousands of driver being caught each time a van is there. This might teach people a lesson to READ THE F*CKING SIGNS! I wouldn't be surprised if the van has caught some drivers several days in a row with the result that some driver may already have accumulated 12 penalty points before receiving notice of the first offence. TBH I have no sympathy.

Stark

BrianD3 wrote:

IMO it is dangerous to drive at double the speed limit on any road as there will always be some law abiding drivers who will stick to the posted limit. So now you've got a large discrepancy in speed between vehicles.

You'll get drivers driving at 60km/h when the speed limit is 120km/h as well Mrs. Lovejoy.

kikel

I drove that section of the M50 on tuesday night (11.30-midnight) and stuck rigidly to the speed limit. It was comical the difference in speed between me and the other drivers. if anything i think the speed limit is to low for that time of night.

Seth Brundle

I try and keep to the limit every day Im on my way to work. Its actually quite difficult as you can find yourself getting sucked into driving faster.

As for drivers ignoring the speed limit signs - maybe its because there are so many ridiculous limits about that are ignored, that drivers don't bother heeding them anymore.

WizZard

kbannon wrote:

maybe its because there are so many ridiculous limits about that are ignored, that drivers don't bother heeding them anymore.

This is true, unfortunately.

I drove the M50 last night and there was no need to have the speed limits that low when there is nobody on site working, IMHO

The Muppet

I heard a rumour that the M50 is motorway. I drove it twice this week during peak (I dont usually) and I feel sorry for anyone that has to do it twice a day. It's the most frustrating road to drive on when its busy. I,m not condoning not obeying the signs but I'm not surprise that speed limits are ignored as most drivers must be at breaking point most of teh time on that particular road.

Sizzler

I thought the 60kmh was just an arbitry number where drivers could then decide to drive slower or faster depending on the conditions

cregser

Is it gonna be like this for a few years? God help us.

cormie

People should be thankful they even get to go 60kmph on the M50.

faceman

Really a timed speed limit should be introduced like they have in some parts of europe. The risk of accident is less when construction workers arent there so the 60k speed limit is unneccessary.

Vadrefjorde

cormie wrote:

People should be thankful they even get to go 60kmph on the M50.

ROFL

It must be a real novelty for the guards to actually use a speed camera on the M50!!

seamus

The constant 60kph limit is a joke. In essence there's no change (it's still two lanes), so I don't see any reason for the limit to be in place 24 hours a day. Large signs displaying a variable limit would be a better idea, and people would be more likely to obey them. The other problem is that there's no cancellation of the limit when the roadworks are done. You see the 60km/h limit, and then you've driven past the roadworks and there's no sign increasing the limit back up to 120km/h. That's another reason why the limit is ignored.

cormie

seamus wrote:

The other problem is that there's no cancellation of the limit when the roadworks are done. You see the 60km/h limit, and then you've driven past the roadworks and there's no sign increasing the limit back up to 120km/h. That's another reason why the limit is ignored.

Yeah that's really annoying alright, going southbound you don't see another 120 sign for ages once it's passed the works, in fact, the first one you see is on a slip road down from Tallaght I think it is.

Misticles

i drive that way every day, i dont stick to the 60km road works speed limit.. afaikl for garda to catch you there as to to signs saying "garda enforced speed limits", when the limit isnt what it should be. ive seen these signs before but not on this occasion. could be wrong on this now.

Seth Brundle

it is a legal speed limit and the gardai are entitled to sit there catching people if they so wish. No notification needed - thats just with fixed cameras.

redman

BrianD3 wrote:

The Gardai have GATSO vans in the roadworks very regularly so I'd say it's bonanza time for them with hundreds if not thousands of driver being caught each time a van is there..

Has anyone actually seen these GATSO vans on the M50 since the 60 signs went up? I've been up and down a few times and haven't seen any.

seamus

Nope. Been up and down pretty much every evening, and haven't seen a sign of them. They would be fairly obvious since they couldn't hide them in with the construction vehicles.

The Doktor

I have been told that there have been gatso vans spotted, but havent seen em myself. But I have seen a black Camry with dark tinted windows on 4 occasions, with blue lights flashing and cars pulled over.

fletch

I haven't seen them either and I use the M50 every day. I'm just praying that they haven't been there because I haven't paid attention to those signs, I just count myself lucky to be moving so if I am, I'm generally going as fast as I can.

sprinkles

as said already the 60km/hr is ridiculous when there's no one working there. It just highlights the utter stupidity and the lack of planning that go into these kind of decisions.

As for the Gardai with their Gatso vans out there, why aren't they out on the roads that people are dying on rather than the money pit the M50 will be with stupid speed limits. They are looking for money, not to reduce the road deaths.

The Muppet

I have been up and down the m50 a couple of times since the roadworks started and didn't see the gatso vans either. The last few times I was looking out for them as I had read about them being there. I did see a car pulled over by an unmarked police car.

samo

The Muppet wrote:

I have been up and down the m50 a couple of times since the roadworks started and didn't see the gatso vans either. The last few times I was looking out for them as I had read about them being there. I did see a car pulled over by an unmarked police car.

I saw a car being stopped on Friday afternoon on this section by an unmarked blue Toyota Corolla Hatchback (00 I think!) :eek: 1st time I'd seen that type of car being used by the Gards!

On the subject though, I think I would rather run the risk of going slightly higher than the speed limit if the traffic was actually able to move than take my life into my hands and have some dozy driver slam into the back of me!