Speed Cameras

Niall1234

Anyone know the timetable for the roll out of speed cameras country wide and the roads which they are going to be on ?

I'm guessing that Motorways and Dualcarriageways are going to be targeted along with other Primary routes. Will Regional roads also be done ?

Chris_533976

Yes.

But dont expect them to be touched until the Interurbans are done.

faolteam

i was travelling down the Chapelizod bypass today and it had just been downpouring rain i was doing about 65km im not sure what speed was but there was a 60 km after the garda with the camera but i was a good 100 meters away and just want to know where is he fixing the camera on when there is a lot of traffic coming towards him cause as i passed him he had put the camera down and was just looking at traffic

Andrew Duffy

The speed limit on the Chapelizod bypass is 80km/h; either end has a 60km/h limit (i.e., as you enter Palmerstown going West and as you join St. John's Road West going East).

orbital83

What's the craic with those speed "display" units that keep popping up on the side of the road?
I was on a R-type road in Leitrim the other day, normal speed limit 80km/h, and I passed by one of those units which displayed my speed as 76km/h.

All fine and well but at the time there was a temp speed limit in operation of 25* (yes 25km/h) :rolleyes:

Do these devices actually "flash" you or do they just serve as a reminder of what speed you're doing? (Pretty pointless if the latter?)

___

* Before the flamers arrive, it was a Saturday morning, no-one working on the road, very little traffic, the road was unmarked but no obstacles other than traffic cones on the side of the road

John J

John J wrote:

What's the craic with those speed "display" units that keep popping up on the side of the road?
I was on a R-type road in Leitrim the other day, normal speed limit 80km/h, and I passed by one of those units which displayed my speed as 76km/h.

All fine and well but at the time there was a temp speed limit in operation of 25* (yes 25km/h) :rolleyes:

Do these devices actually "flash" you or do they just serve as a reminder of what speed you're doing? (Pretty pointless if the latter?)

___

* Before the flamers arrive, it was a Saturday morning, no-one working on the road, very little traffic, the road was unmarked but no obstacles other than traffic cones on the side of the road

These just display your speed, some of the ones from the UK have number recognition systems as well and can display your number AND speed.

Nothing to stop someone putting a camera/police car berhind it to catch you!:(

MDTyKe

I think statistically, those reminders are better at slowing you down than the speed cameras. We're forgetting that the objective is to slow us down, NOT to get money off us. If the latter, speed cameras do the trick.

Matt

A Dub in Glasgo

Those speed display signs are a cheap alternative to cameras although the SPECS average speed system is the most effective in my experience.

Niall1234

MDTyKe wrote:

I think statistically, those reminders are better at slowing you down than the speed cameras. We're forgetting that the objective is to slow us down, NOT to get money off us. If the latter, speed cameras do the trick.

Matt

Don't think so. I've passed Gardai doing speed checks on the Glanmire to Watergrasshill dual carriageway.

This stretch of road will prob be put up to 120 kph within the year and yet the gardai will do you for speeding at the moment if you do 110. There obviously is no safety aspect to this considering the NRA consider HQDC's to be safe at 120 kph.

Considering practically all speed traps are set up at places likely to catch people out, its fairly obvious that it is firstly a money generating exercise and secondly a safety exercise.

If they want to improve safety, then speed traps should be setup on R roads where the vast majority of road deaths and major crashes actually happen.

People know there are no speed traps on by roads and so don't give a crap about speeding on them.

Niall1234

Niall1234 wrote:

Considering practically all speed traps are set up at places likely to catch people out, its fairly obvious that it is firstly a money generating exercise and secondly a safety exercise.

Yes, many motorists just see them as yet another hazzard to keep a look out for! at least in the UK they are marked in hazzard yellow, thus reducing the risk of shunts caused by some not seeing them in time and stamping on the breaks.

giveth

Niall1234 wrote:

Don't think so. I've passed Gardai doing speed checks on the Glanmire to Watergrasshill dual carriageway.

This stretch of road will prob be put up to 120 kph within the year and yet the gardai will do you for speeding at the moment if you do 110.

I dont think they will stop you for going 110kmph here. I drive that road regularly and always do 120kmph. I have driven past speed checks going this speed. I was the only car on the road and I wasnt pulled over (or get a ticket in the post... this was over 6 months ago)

Its down to the individual gaurd I guess, but I would give them sh!t if they pulled me on this stretch of road.

heyjude

MDTyKe wrote:

I think statistically, those reminders are better at slowing you down than the speed cameras.Matt

Agreed, but before they blanket the country in cameras they also need to educate people into realising that the speed limit is the maximum legal speed that you can drive on a road, not a recommended cruising speed or a target speed. Then they need to get all the speed limit signs sorted, we all know of stretches of country road with sharp bends, hills and humpback bridges, but featuring an 80kph limit ! Drivers need to appreciate what speed it is safe to drive at, the fact that you were driving within the limit doesn't mean you were necessarily driving safely.

MDTyKe wrote:

We're forgetting that the objective is to slow us down, NOT to get money off us. If the latter, speed cameras do the trick.
Matt

Agreed, if the cameras are about road safety, then they will initially place them at accident blackspots, predominantly on rural roads and you will never ever see them on motorways, which are statistically the safest roads in the country. If on the other hand, they are about generating money, then every stretch of motorway, bypass and busy dual carriageway in the country will have speed cameras on them, even those new stretches which have never had a crash, while speed cameras on dangerous country roads will be as rare as a dry day this summer.

A few months from now, we'll know - Speed Cameras - Improved Road Safety ? or Revenue Generation ?

Guy:Incognito

Niall1234 wrote:

If they want to improve safety, then speed traps should be setup on R roads where the vast majority of road deaths and major crashes actually happen..

I've never come across a speed camera on a dangerous rural road in any country, The simple reason is that it would turn a deangerous rural road into a very dangerous rural road. how many crashes do you think there would be if a speeding car came around a blind bend on a country road to be greeted by a gard wit a speed gun, or a fixed speed camera?

Stekelly

Stekelly wrote:

I've never come across a speed camera on a dangerous rural road in any country, The simple reason is that it would turn a deangerous rural road into a very dangerous rural road. how many crashes do you think there would be if a speeding car came around a blind bend on a country road to be greeted by a gard wit a speed gun, or a fixed speed camera?

Not if you place the camera BEFORE the bend and paint it wasp yellow , then it MAY have some safety benefit. :rolleyes:

Guy:Incognito

Considering tools that use the M50 with a clearly signposted speed drop to 60kmph and signposted camera cant help droppng anchors at the markings on the road, how do you figure a good few of them wont bury themseves into a ditch on a country road?.

Stekelly

Stekelly wrote:

Considering tools that use the M50 with a clearly signposted speed drop to 60kmph and signposted camera cant help droppng anchors at the markings on the road, how do you figure a good few of them wont bury themseves into a ditch on a country road?.

There will always be some that would do that, less chance of a crash before the bend rather than immediately after it (where the revenue gatrherers would place it:rolleyes: ).

Slowing down vehicles before the dangerous bend reduces the chance of them crashing round the corner.

Niall1234

Have to agree that regular warnings about having camera's on R roads is the way to go. Then people would drive to speed limit on the road, instead of braking hard when they see the camera.

The practice of the Gardai of setting up speed checks around corners is very dangerous, considering people will break hard when they see the squad car. Prob only cause an accident.

Victor

If you set up a checkpoint before a bend, what about people coming from the opposite direction? Aren't they at risk of endangering the gardai on duty?

Victor

Victor wrote:

If you set up a checkpoint before a bend, what about people coming from the opposite direction? Aren't they at risk of endangering the gardai on duty?

Common sense (hopefully) dictates that such a speed trap is placed off the roadway, a checkpoint near a bend would be murder!

OTK

Niall1234 wrote:

Anyone know the timetable for the roll out of speed cameras country wide and the roads which they are going to be on ?

I'm guessing that Motorways and Dualcarriageways are going to be targeted along with other Primary routes. Will Regional roads also be done ?

According to this article: http://www.ireland.com/newspaper/motors/2007/0606/1180721122527.html
the gardai will deploy 100 cameras this year to be operated by them. A further 60-100 privatised cameras will be deployed in 2008.

The article quotes a senior garda as stating that cameras will be deployed according to likelihood of collision based on accident data:

Irish Times wrote:

This list [of dangerous roads] is the result of research into the roads and times of day where serious collisions occur and where speed enforcement is required. It will be used by the Garda to decide where and when it wants the private company to deploy speed cameras.

The research coded almost 900 routes and junctions as either red, yellow or green depending on the risk of collision.