Whats the point anymore?

PARKHEAD67

Whats the bloody point anymore in having a decent car? With these new cameras everwhere, you might as well have a wheelbarrow.I used to enjoy driving but now its camera here , camera there -50km and all this shtite.Ive tried keeping to these limits just to see and most of em are bloody rediculous-the car is on the verge of cutting out.. but GUARANTEED thats where the cameras are.SAFETY FIRST. I hate the way our government pull this safety first sh... when its really MONEY,MONEY,MONEY.

CiniO

Move to the country side
I have to travel for over 40km to reach first camera zone.
Normally, while I drive to work 20km, at this time of the year (very little tourists here) there's barely any cars on the road. So pretty much road, my car, and my driving technique is the limit

montane

PARKHEAD67 wrote: »

Whats the bloody point anymore in having a decent car? With these new cameras everwhere, you might as well have a wheelbarrow.I used to enjoy driving but now its camera here , camera there -50km and all this shtite.Ive tried keeping to these limits just to see and most of em are bloody rediculous-the car is on the verge of cutting out.. but GUARANTEED thats where the cameras are.SAFETY FIRST. I hate the way our government pull this safety first sh... when its really MONEY,MONEY,MONEY.

Ha, I was thinking the exact same thing during the wheel. Whats the point in having anything over 2 litres. For me, I drive about 1% of the time on national primary roads where a little extra power would come in useful for overtaking.

My latest fixation has become trapster on my phone, and my speedometer. Hopefully I wont crash into someone while looking at these, and not the road.

FoxT

Motoring has changed radically over the last 30 years.

Roads & infrastructure have been improved significantly, but we also have far more cars using them.

Both social & institutional Tolerance for speeding, drink driving etc., has vanished.

As a result, Road deaths (per million passenger km) have fallen dramatically.
This can only be a good thing.

The downside is that driving is not as enjoyable in many ways. The speed cameras, like the NCT, are a cynical moneygrubbing racket.

Nevertheless, given the reduction in fatalities I think this is something we just have to adjust to.

Gregsor

I like the cameras and the scare factor involved.
I am on the roads myself for 90 minutes or so a day and none of my routes are in the camera zone.
Am i happy yes
If you are not doing anything wrong then you have nothing to worry about imo.

PARKHEAD67

Gregsor wrote: »

I like the cameras and the scare factor involved.
I am on the roads myself for 90 minutes or so a day and none of my routes are in the camera zone.
Am i happy yes
If you are not doing anything wrong then you have nothing to worry about imo.

I hate this "if you are not doing anything wrong" bull****. Just coz you havent been caught.The speed limits are rediculous on most roads.

PARKHEAD67

CiniO wrote: »

Move to the country side
I have to travel for over 40km to reach first camera zone.
Normally, while I drive to work 20km, at this time of the year (very little tourists here) there's barely any cars on the road. So pretty much road, my car, and my driving technique is the limit

Luckily enough I am moving to the countryside soon enough. Same speed limits and speed(safety)vans still apply I think. Your prob in an 87 corolla anyway and think your cool as fcuk.BLUE CHROME AND ****E>

Gregsor

PARKHEAD67 wrote: »

I hate this "if you are not doing anything wrong" bull****. Just coz you havent been caught.The speed limits are rediculous on most roads.

True the speed limits are wrong on a lot of the roads,but we have known that for years.
Yes i have been caught before and paid the fines and insurance hikes and the points have fizzled out and i am now a clean license holder so yeah .

PARKHEAD67

Gregsor wrote: »

True the speed limits are wrong on a lot of the roads,but we have known that for years.
Yes i have been caught before and paid the fines and insurance hikes and the points have fizzled out and i am now a clean license holder so yeah .

Lucky you.Im on 4 points. Back to 2 in march but these new bloody cameras are freakin me out.

corktina

Thats the idea...to make you aware of your speed and slow down.

Jimmy Bottlehead

PARKHEAD67 wrote: »

Luckily enough I am moving to the countryside soon enough. Same speed limits and speed(safety)vans still apply I think. Your prob in an 87 corolla anyway and think your cool as fcuk.BLUE CHROME AND ****E>

I think '87 Corolla's with blue chrome and ****e are awesome.

djimi

FoxT wrote: »

The downside is that driving is not as enjoyable in many ways. The speed cameras, like the NCT, are a cynical moneygrubbing racket.

I agree with you about the speed cameras; anyone who thinks they are anything other than a revenue generating scheme is naive, but I have nothing against the NCT. It virtually irradicated all the rustbucket deathtraps that used to be on the road and for that alone its a good thing. Plus at least now all cars get a decent check at least once every year/two years, which is more than most would probably get otherwise...

djimi

PARKHEAD67 wrote: »

Lucky you.Im on 4 points. Back to 2 in march but these new bloody cameras are freakin me out.

To be fair, you know where they are going to be so slow down when you are in a speed camera zone. Its a pain in the ass but its not that hard; just requires a bit more effort.

bigbadbear

I am very throttle happy and I was thinking there yesterday that the speed cameras probably will actually save lives. The next thing to do is to change speed limits to what they should be instead of just doing them by default using the road classification.

spooky donkey

FoxT wrote: »

Nevertheless, given the reduction in fatalities I think this is something we just have to adjust to.

Our fatatilities are not as bad as they would have you believe. I recently looked into the worlds top ten countries for road death per million and expected ireland to be in that top ten and we were not. Perhaps we are 11.

Another way to save lives is to make better roads , remove bad bends, create more over taking or fast lanes as so many people die over taking all them slow drivers who go 15 to 20 K below the speeds limits over fear of speed cameras. Oh wait that would cost the goverment money not make them money, yes speed camera`s are the way to go so.... [/endScarsam]

Kenzi

Over 2days I drove from Tralee to Charleville, Charleville to Athlone(via Limerick) and back and then Charleville to Limerick(the next morning) and back

Didnt pass one camera.....

kwalshe

spooky donkey wrote: »

Our fatatilities are not as bad as they would have you believe. I recently looked into the worlds top ten countries for road death per million and expected ireland to be in that top ten and we were not. Perhaps we are 11.

What a nonsense statement, it's totally irellevant how many or where we are in the world, 1 death caused by excessive speed is too much.
If you took the total amount of people died in ireland last year, lets say 200 or thereabout and placed them in your living room the figures would'nt look so rosy.

kwalshe

spooky donkey wrote: »

Our fatatilities are not as bad as they would have you believe. I recently looked into the worlds top ten countries for road death per million and expected ireland to be in that top ten and we were not. Perhaps we are 11.

What a nonsense statement, it's totally irellevant how many or where we are in the world, 1 death caused by excessive speed is too much.
If you took the total amount of people died in ireland last year, lets say 200 or thereabout and placed them in your living room the figures would'nt look so rosy.

PCPhoto

kwalshe wrote: »

What a nonsense statement, it's totally irellevant how many or where we are in the world, 1 death caused by excessive speed is too much.
If you took the total amount of people died in ireland last year, lets say 200 or thereabout and placed them in your living room the figures would'nt look so rosy.

seriously - if the government were going to do the job properly - throw 10,000-20,000 gardai on the roads and get them to enforce the traffic laws (ALL OF THEM) - this would change people's attitude to driving and would result in lower death rates.


if we know there is a likely chance of getting caught people will stop breaking the laws - how many people brake a red light ? thousands of cars every day - even if the gardai were put at junctions and fines were issued for red light breaking .... there would be a serious amount of cash generated - and drivers would learn RED IS FOR STOP (when safe to do so)

Wicklowrider

O.P
If you think the restrictions are impacting on your motoring enjoyment maybe consider a different car? A classic? a rwd convertible with smaller engine?
Perhaps a track day is an option? Get it all out of your system in a few hours
I can see how people with performance cars would get frustrated but these measures are here to stay.

Javiero

I Dont really think the government really care much about saving lifes.they seem to be more concerned with screwing people to make money for their salary's/pensions/ and possibly mistake correctio etc

Recently I drove down to the Cliffs of Moher and the speed limit on the narrow windy roads (where I add too cars could not pass easily) was 100km/h
The same speed limit as our flagship m50 is? Seems a bit crazy!!!

IMO Safe speed (To save lifes) would require a re-structuring of all the speed limits on our roads.

AntiRip

kwalshe wrote: »

What a nonsense statement, it's totally irellevant how many or where we are in the world, 1 death caused by excessive speed is too much.
If you took the total amount of people died in ireland last year, lets say 200 or thereabout and placed them in your living room the figures would'nt look so rosy.

Interested I looked up about the number of road deaths and found that the world's first traffic collision death was an Irish person, a scentist Mary Ward died when she fell out of her cousins' steam car and was run over by it in 1869.

So our track record isn't great

CiniO

PARKHEAD67 wrote: »

Luckily enough I am moving to the countryside soon enough. Same speed limits and speed(safety)vans still apply I think. Your prob in an 87 corolla anyway and think your cool as fcuk.BLUE CHROME AND ****E>

I can't deny that my car is blue

CyberGhost

My car can't go faster than 80km/h anyway, but is there a website with some info on the locations of these speed cams?

Is there a speed cam warning on the road? Or do you just get a surprise a week later in the post?

fonecrusher1

Just take a spin in the country? Wherever you are in ireland your only a few miles away from country roads.

Its not as if you can drive 'enthusiastically' in & around built up areas anyway.

AugustusMinimus

Anytime I get a new car I usually take it up to the Healy Pass to give her a bit of a run about.

I'll still do this on the basis that the Healy Pass isn't a speed zone area and the vans would stand out a mile away up there.

Drummerboy08

Lads has anyone actually seen one of these new vans on the road? They stick out like a sore thumb!

If you pay enough attention to the road and whats up ahead, you will have no problem spotting them and slowing down in time.

the_syco

fonecrusher1 wrote: »

Its not as if you can drive 'enthusiastically' in & around built up areas anyway.

Those that do put everyone at risk, not least themselves.

ICE HOUSE

I just cant do this S**T anymore. Its just beyond rediculous at this stage. Im trying to stay within the limits on the roads everyday and im causing tailbacks the length of roads which is embarassing and completely unnecessary as the many of the roads are straight and empty. Same issues as someone pointed out earlier the car is nearly cutting out. Its so dangerous as i cant keep my eyes on the road as im permanently watchin the speedo to make sure im not going over. This crap just has to STOP!!!!!!:mad:

djimi

ICE HOUSE wrote: »

I just cant do this S**T anymore. Its just beyond rediculous at this stage. Im trying to stay within the limits on the roads everyday and im causing tailbacks the length of roads which is embarassing and completely unnecessary as the many of the roads are straight and empty. Same issues as someone pointed out earlier the car is nearly cutting out. Its so dangerous as i cant keep my eyes on the road as im permanently watchin the speedo to make sure im not going over. This crap just has to STOP!!!!!!:mad:

No car nearly cuts out at 50kmph and its not hard to stick to that limit in a built up area. The only limit that your comments have any bearing on is the ridiculous 30kmph limits.

If youre driving the speed limits then its not your fault that there is a tailback behind you. You are not obliged to break the speed limit just to accomodate other drivers; if they are tailgating you then let them pass, otherwise its not a tailback, its just heavy traffic.

There are a lot of speed limits that are too low and that is an issue that really needs to be addressed, but its not hard to stick to the limits as they are, and it certainly should not require you to be constantly watching your speedo to ensure you are not going over the limit.

ICE HOUSE

djimi wrote: »

No car nearly cuts out at 50kmph and its not hard to stick to that limit in a built up area. The only limit that your comments have any bearing on is the ridiculous 30kmph limits.

If youre driving the speed limits then its not your fault that there is a tailback behind you. You are not obliged to break the speed limit just to accomodate other drivers; if they are tailgating you then let them pass, otherwise its not a tailback, its just heavy traffic.

There are a lot of speed limits that are too low and that is an issue that really needs to be addressed, but its not hard to stick to the limits as they are, and it certainly should not require you to be constantly watching your speedo to ensure you are not going over the limit.

Facepalm!!

GTE

ICE HOUSE wrote: »

Facepalm!!

Although that is a contribution to the thread, no one can deny that, I would love to read some informed debate about your position.

If you feel so pressured by other people on the road, which cant be proven to be exerting pressure on you aside from the view of large tailbacks in your mirror, then pull over and let them pass or dont drive at all.

Realistically it is very easy to drive in or around a specific speed and pay only the attention that is needed to traffic around you. If you are getting wound up by it you will be the one causing an incident.

Regular glances at the speedo is what is taught by instructors as well as regular glances to the mirrors. It is you and you only who is causing this problem when you put yourself under the pressure when you look at these things. You see the traffic, register that wrongly in your mind which then puts pressure on how you keep to your speed and ultimately this hits your driving quality.

I used to do it when I started driving but it was something easily flushed out of me once I got used to it all.

Complaining that sticking to a speed limit is difficult is the worst case in my mind for getting limits increased. The 30 limit is an exception to this as I have not driven through those yet.

djimi

ICE HOUSE wrote: »

Facepalm!!

Care to elaborate?

-Corkie-

Pointless thread.

bigbadbear

-Corkie- wrote: »

Pointless thread.

^^pointless post^^

-Corkie-

bigbadbear wrote: »

^^pointless post^^

FFS I have a pain in my hole with all this moanin about these cameras. He is as likely to get caught speeding driving a pile of sh1t as opposed to driving a 10 reg Mercedes.

the_syco

The funny part is, is that the speed cameras were placed in spots where people speed, and they are having their desired effect of getting those speeders to slow down.

congo_90

Right kinda getting sick of these threads on the motors forum.

To those who beleive their car will cut out for doing the speed limit (ranging from 30 to 120 km/h) then clearly your driving ability is has been overestimated! Simply shift gears to suit your needs. 2nd or 3rd for that ridiculous 30 kmh limit and 5th to suit 120 no problem. (in most conventional cars).

as for continuously watchin the speedo... I'm going to apply some information from my flight instructor. "If it feels right and looks right, then it is 90% it is likely right, but use your instruments 10% of the time to confirm".

The cameras are here to stay yes it is a kick where it hurts to those of us with access to high hp motors but at the end of the day there are plenty of quiet roads to... *ahem* test yourself. I don't agree with the speed limits on the road like I don't agree with the income "levy" but we're stuck with it so deal with it and move on imo.

This post was not meant to cause any sort of flame war/ trolling.

vetstu

ICE HOUSE wrote: »

Same issues as someone pointed out earlier the car is nearly cutting out.

Anyone who can't hold a car at 50kph without cutting out should not be on the road!