Irish Motorway Speed Limits should be Increased.

limklad

150 on all Motorways ( excluding passing large urban areas )

unirock wrote: »

In a 2Mill Km accident free driving career on 4 Continents but principally in Europe, I have been present at more road deaths than most. The overwhelming amount of carnage that I have witnessed has been the result of SPEED, drink and testosterone fuelled younger males who believe that they are invulnerable. Recent accidents in Donegal endorse that view and when young drivers call for increasing speed limits at this time it shows an alarming lack of intelligence and understanding for the grief of the families and loved ones left to carry the pain. Grow up young people and try to understand that every time you take a car for a drive, you have the potential to be a killer or a victim of one. Do you ever think of how many people's lives are devestated by a single road death ?

Yet these are not Motorway speed Deaths you are commenting about. You are only mentioning speed on unsuitable roads where you have severe bends, poor surfaces, Traffic coming against you on single carriage roads and other stupid stuff that people do on National and Local Roads. There is no head on collisions which are the majority of Two car + crashes on Local/National Roads unless there is some idiot who drives down the wrong way on the Motorway.

Causes for Accidents 2008 Statistics

• There is no Motorway in Donegal that lost more lives per head of population than everywhere else because of reckless driving on National and Local Roads.
• Your comments are no way relevant to Motorway Driving.
• Your comments are relevant to National and Local roads that were not built for higher speed driving.
• Motorways are build for higher Speed driving over large distance i.e city to city.
• You comments are relevant for those Drivers who are reckless and have will have no consideration for others nor their/other families and never will.

bigbadbear

limklad wrote: »

If most Trucks are limited to 90kph then I am The President Barack Obama. I have clock too many Trucks on the Motorway from Limerick to Dublin and many of them are Travelling well above 90kpm especially at night and most of them are well known stores trucks travelling between 100kph to 110 kph. Do not Believe me Travel the road yourself and find out.

I'm nearly having a fit here because of this reply

unirock wrote: »

In a 2Mill Km accident free driving career on 4 Continents but principally in Europe, I have been present at more road deaths than most. The overwhelming amount of carnage that I have witnessed has been the result of SPEED, drink and testosterone fuelled younger males who believe that they are invulnerable. Recent accidents in Donegal endorse that view and when young drivers call for increasing speed limits at this time it shows an alarming lack of intelligence and understanding for the grief of the families and loved ones left to carry the pain. Grow up young people and try to understand that every time you take a car for a drive, you have the potential to be a killer or a victim of one. Do you ever think of how many people's lives are devestated by a single road death ?

You see speed doesnt kill.... Excessive speed kills! The idea is that people want to go as fast as possible without being unsafe.

these guys are fools...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1sJp1XgKKPE&feature=related

These are the "younger males who you are talking about. notorways have nothing to do with boy racers. I think the problem is that people cant separate speed from excessive speed.

You see the big signs with red rings around them dont always have the right number in them. they are just a default sign that has no real bearing on the actual road on which they regulate.

corktina wrote: »

Yep...if you put up the speedlimit, those now doing 160k will go even faster. It's about right as it is, with a bit of Garda discretion. In the UK you wont normally get stopped whilst you are doing about 90 UNLESS you are driving eratically or dangerously. It's these last guys that we want booked not every Joe Soap squeezing the limit a little.

people doing 160k will not go faster. I'm fairly sure that if your doing 160k now you don't give a flying f*** what the speed limit is. The reason nearly everyone breaks the speed limit on motorways is because they are comfortable doing 140+

corktina

130 on all Motorways ( excluding passing large urban areas )

nope the reason people do 140 is that they think that they will get away with it at that level. Put up the limit and these people will squeeze the pedal a little more. I know, I am one I think.

And as for trucks doing 100k plus, its the old chesnut of over-reading speedos. The truck I had last week was travelling at 92 or thereabouts (the speed limiters are calibrated and pretty accurate imho) If a car speedo is typically overreading 10% , that might appear to its driver as if the truck is doing 100k+

bigbadbear

corktina wrote: »

nope the reason people do 140 is that they think that they will get away with it at that level. Put up the limit and these people will squeeze the pedal a little more. I know, I am one I think.

And as for trucks doing 100k plus, its the old chesnut of over-reading speedos. The truck I had last week was travelling at 92 or thereabouts (the speed limiters are calibrated and pretty accurate imho) If a car speedo is typically overreading 10% , that might appear to its driver as if the truck is doing 100k+

Seriously........enough about trucks

The reason I do 140 is because my car eats petrol over that. I would do 140 if there was no speed limit. (untill my next car)

So what if they go faster than that? This is the whole point of the thread. I'd love to put some of the slow enthusiasts into my friend's M5 and do 200km/h on a nice stretch of motorway. They would never say 120 is fast ever again.

I do think its a fear of the unknown for alot of people.

Mister men

Nonsense thread. The limit should be lowered as speed kills.

bigbadbear

Mister men wrote: »

Nonsense thread. The limit should be lowered as speed kills.

Your a funny man

EDIT: trolling is against the charter. be careful

The Guvnor

160 on all Motorways ( excluding passing large urban areas )

I agree it should be higher and I think 150-160kmh is a good limit.

I think a lot of people would not drive at 150 or 160 even if it was the limit but sit around 130-140 which is what a lot seem to do now on the m1!

I personally would not do 160 all the way but would be comfortable and happy to do 140.

dr.fuzzenstein

The Guvnor wrote: »

I agree it should be higher and I think 150-160kmh is a good limit.

I think a lot of people would not drive at 150 or 160 even if it was the limit but sit around 130-140 which is what a lot seem to do now on the m1!

I personally would not do 160 all the way but would be comfortable and happy to do 140.

Well, we might as well go all German on this one.
Petrol over there is a bit more expensive than over here, but there are no limits on the motorway.
The reason being: If you're toying with the idea of introducing a limit of 160 km/h, most people will naturally gravitate towards the 130-140 km/h zone.
Only a handfull would actually go all the way to 160 and at that stage you might as well give up on the limit, slap a bit of duty on the fuel and say "go nuts if you can afford it, why not"
The result will be pretty much as it is now, speed will not increase dramatically, neither will accidents or fatalities and if you wish to see how much your M5 really can do, go for it!

Stats here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Road_traffic_safety

Saab Ed

dr.fuzzenstein wrote: »

Petrol over there is a bit more expensive than over here, but there are no limits on the motorway.

Incorrect. There are limits on German motorways. Only a certain percentage of Autobahns are un-limited .


.... but I agree with the rest of your post.

dr.fuzzenstein

Saab Ed wrote: »

Incorrect. There are limits on German motorways. Only a certain percentage of Autobahns are un-limited .


.... but I agree with the rest of your post.

Absolutely right, large portions are limited to 120-130 km/h.
Suppose there would have to be some limts here, but not too many.;)

Saab Ed

dr.fuzzenstein wrote: »

Absolutely right, large portions are limited to 120-130 km/h.

And thats where a bit of balance has to come into the argument. For sure you cant have people doing 140-150 on the M50 but at the same time driving west on the new M6 and being stuck at 120 is just silly. Even a busy time on this road leaves 100's of metres between cars. Sections of this road are well capable of 160 kmh limit. People just need to expand their minds a little.

Saab Ed

Poll added , now everybody can have their say

Cookie_Monster

150 on all Motorways ( excluding passing large urban areas )

Saab Ed wrote: »

Poll added , now everybody can have their say

I said 140 in the end, I think that that 150/160 is a bit much for the average motorist.

I also agree that you could with your previous post about keeping the like of the M50 lower than this due to volume (and minimal distance between exits)

limklad

150 on all Motorways ( excluding passing large urban areas )

corktina wrote: »

And as for trucks doing 100k plus, its the old chesnut of over-reading speedos. The truck I had last week was travelling at 92 or thereabouts (the speed limiters are calibrated and pretty accurate imho) If a car speedo is typically overreading 10% , that might appear to its driver as if the truck is doing 100k+

Incorrect 90 +10% = 99kph not 100kph+
I have stated 100kph to 110kph that well above 10% plus my GPS confirm my speed with my Phone GPS data collection which record both distance, time and speed.

Anjin

dr.fuzzenstein wrote: »

Well, we might as well go all German on this one.
Petrol over there is a bit more expensive than over here, but there are no limits on the motorway.
The reason being: If you're toying with the idea of introducing a limit of 160 km/h, most people will naturally gravitate towards the 130-140 km/h zone.
Only a handfull would actually go all the way to 160 and at that stage you might as well give up on the limit, slap a bit of duty on the fuel and say "go nuts if you can afford it, why not"
The result will be pretty much as it is now, speed will not increase dramatically, neither will accidents or fatalities and if you wish to see how much your M5 really can do, go for it!

Stats here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Road_traffic_safety

Have to agree with the above post. I've driven for years both in Germany and Holland on the motorways and people over there routinely drive at speeds of 160 and more without any problems. It’s all down to driver discipline and correct road manners, which we in Ireland do not have. Most people would have the ability to drive at 140-160 KPH without any difficulty IF everybody knew the rules, unfortunately that’s not the case in this country. And so the bleedin heart brigade have a field day. Speed does not kill – bad driving kills.

limklad

150 on all Motorways ( excluding passing large urban areas )

Anjin wrote: »

Speed does not kill – bad driving kills.

I would expand that to Bad Driving Skills kills. Vast Majority of Accidents happen under the Speed limit such as Driving on the opposite side of the road. Driving through Stop/Yield Signs have the same number of Deaths as Excessive Speed.

That should be the Motto of the RSA campaign and put the emphasise on the Driver own driving Skills and knowledge of the Rules of the Road and their car ability under wear and tear.

af_thefragile

150 on all Motorways ( excluding passing large urban areas )

I've done 140kmph on the motorway many times. It doesn't feel dangerous at all as most people in the first/fast lane are doing that speed as well.

I'ld say a speed limit of 140kmph would be safe on the Motorway. The people who drive slow drive in the outside lane so why can't the people in the inside lane go fast. Especially on the 3 lane motorways where there is lots of room to go fast.

I don't get it why the M50 has become restricted to 100kmph due to some perpetual non-existent roadworks.

SV

160k is a nice cruising speed.
200k is a nice enough pushing it speed.


I'd be happy with 180k with a minimum speed of 140k.

StompToWork

I dunno, I think 120k is high enough.

Think of blowouts, deer, freak gusts on open parts of the motor way. I know there is probably an argument that if any of the above happen and cause you to loose control, it won't matter if you are travelling at 120k or 320k, your probably not going to have a good outcome either way.

However, the difference in momentum between 120k and 160k might make all the difference to other road users in the vicinity of your out-of-control-ness. It would decrease the chance of you spilling across onto oncoming carrige-way.

af_thefragile

150 on all Motorways ( excluding passing large urban areas )

^most small cars struggle to do 140kmph....

SV

af_thefragile wrote: »

^most small cars struggle to do 140kmph....

really? =/
Ok so..put the minimum to 120km/h

af_thefragile

150 on all Motorways ( excluding passing large urban areas )

SV wrote: »

really? =/
Ok so..put the minimum to 120km/h

Most micras, yaris and other 1l hatchback will be on the verge of falling apart at that speed.

My Puma won't go above 140kmph... Or maybe I just don't dare to take it. The engine is already old and asthmatic, wouldn't want to kill it!

SV

I have clips of my old 1.2(really a 1.1 technically though) at 105mph(indicated)
I was proud at the time..guess that's why! :P

R.O.R

SV wrote: »

really? =/
Ok so..put the minimum to 120km/h

Phew! Mine has a horrible shake above 120 (if ever traffic clears enough to get the wrong side of that number), so I tend to keep between 100-120.

Kills the fuel economy as well keeping to 120

SV

R.O.R wrote: »

Phew! Mine has a horrible shake above 120 (if ever traffic clears enough to get the wrong side of that number), so I tend to keep between 100-120.

Kills the fuel economy as well keeping to 120

Build special roads for everyone else who doesn't want to keep to this new limit!


I'll blow the budget a few times over but ye'll be happy

R.O.R

SV wrote: »

Build special roads for everyone else who doesn't want to keep to this new limit!


I'll blow the budget a few times over but ye'll be happy

I like your idea's.

Is there any sort of monthly newsletter to subscribe to?

af_thefragile

150 on all Motorways ( excluding passing large urban areas )

Think the minimum speed limit should only be applicable in the first/fast lane and maybe the middle lane.

The people in the outside/slow lane can then go about in 80kmph in their micras.

SV

R.O.R wrote: »

I like your idea's.

Is there any sort of monthly newsletter to subscribe to?

I'll send it out when I'm sending out the free car cleaning kits to everyone.

GreeBo

I think the car size is a major deciding factor in this.
My 1.8 is fine at 120 and its a 10 year old bangor, just back from driving a 1.2 Fiat in Italy and you really need to be paying way more attention to do 130 in that. The car its much more unsteady than mine, gets buffeted by the wind and when passing other cars, trucks and generally feels very unsafe. It also takes the car a lot longer to get up to 130 than mine does.

I certainly wouldnt fancy trying to merge into 160 traffic in a 1.2 or less car...

Joey the lips

Vroom Vroom I drive as fast as i want.... Vrrroooommmmm

Seriously though drive as fast as you can.... If you loose control its your fault...