Adopting good ideas from other countries

naughtysmurf

Being allowed to turn right on a red light in the U.S. if safe to do so unless a sign says 'No turn on red', always thought this was a great idea that we could adopt here (obviously left over here)

Anybody come across stuff that other countries find perfectly acceptable that we should introduce here.

Or things we should get rid of here like pedestrian crossings on roundabouts, genius, how people aren't killed on these I'll never know

djimi

Turn left on red was the first thing that came to mind when I saw the thread title. Common sense really and should be introduced.

That said, knowing Ireland there would be thousands of accidents the first week its introduced from idiots turning left at a red light onto a road that is not clear, all because the sign said that they could...

challengemaster

This is, in a way the same as introducing new traffic laws while still not enforcing the old ones. There's no point bringing in anything new until the majority of the country can actually drive properly.

bennyineire

The hook turn in Melbourne
this link explains it, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hook_turn
very usefull in cities

Anan1

Raising the legal BAC to 1.0 and coupling it with proper enforcement.

Raising motorway speed limits and reducing those in built-up areas.

Saab Ed

This sign please ....

Anan1

Another handy one is traffic lights flashing orange at suitable intersections at off-peak times.

CiniO

Red and amber light at the same time for few seconds before green is lit, so drivers can put their first gear, and get ready to move.

Guy:Incognito

Saab Ed wrote: »

This sign please ....

People would need to actually know what the national speed limit is though.

CiniO

Anan1 wrote: »

Another handy one is traffic lights flashing orange at suitable intersections at off-peak times.

But for that there would have to be some "right of way" regulations on those junctions.

F.e. on the Continent, on every junction with traffic lights, you have road signs as well indicating which road is major and which is minor. Those signs don't apply when traffic lights work, but when traffic lights are off (f.e. for the night) and only amber is flashing, then road signs governing right of way start to apply.

challengemaster

Actually, the best one I can think of is variable speed limit zones (around school areas, etc)

Guy:Incognito

challengemaster wrote: »

Actually, the best one I can think of is variable speed limit zones (around school areas, etc)

They have those here. Outside Drimnagh castle on the Long Mile road (in Dublin ) has a variable speed limit iirc.

mfceiling

Get rid off traffic lights for pedestrian crossings at roundabouts (stick in a bridge)....spa well...the amount of times the traffic backs round the roundabout is mental.

Jimbob 83

Bunga Bunga parties !

challengemaster

Guy:Incognito wrote: »

They have those here. Outside Drimnagh castle on the Long Mile road (in Dublin ) has a variable speed limit iirc.

In one or two places around the entire country doesn't really count though :P

Should be most places and do away with speed bumps

Jimbob 83

Speedbumps are a disaster at night

Guy:Incognito

challengemaster wrote: »

Should be most places and do away with speed bumps

If it was as simple as putting up a sign and everyone obeyed it there wouldnt be speed ramps in the first place

naughtysmurf

I also thought that the regular gaps in the central reservation on some dual carriageways in the U.S. to allow legal u-turns were great but not sure we are ready for that here yet

When exiting for example a service station on a major / primary road, you must turn left rather than holding up everybody as you wait for two gaps to appear simultaneously to allow you turn right

djimi

bennyineire wrote: »

The hook turn in Melbourne
this link explains it, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hook_turn
very usefull in cities

Im not understanding this at all from reading the wiki link. Basically it means that drivers who want to turn right at a junction would do so from the left hand lane rather than the right hand lane? How is this of benefit?

Anan1

CiniO wrote: »

But for that there would have to be some "right of way" regulations on those junctions.

F.e. on the Continent, on every junction with traffic lights, you have road signs as well indicating which road is major and which is minor. Those signs don't apply when traffic lights work, but when traffic lights are off (f.e. for the night) and only amber is flashing, then road signs governing right of way start to apply.

We could do that so.;)

John_Rambo

We are supposed to do this, but we need the signage for idiots with the "I'm not letting that feicer out in front of me" attitude.

T-Maxx

4-way stop, SA

naughtysmurf

T-Maxx wrote: »

4-way stop, SA

This is an interesting one, I struggled with it for a while, couldn't remember whose turn it was!

dr.fuzzenstein

This sign!
Means you can overtake tractors in no overtaking zones.
Here you do it anyway, because only a retard will crawl behind a tractor for miles, but you risk points and fines everytime.

Del2005

Guy:Incognito wrote: »

They have those here. Outside Drimnagh castle on the Long Mile road (in Dublin ) has a variable speed limit iirc.

They have them around DLR. Doesn't make a blind bit of difference without enforcement.

naughtysmurf wrote: »

I also thought that the regular gaps in the central reservation on some dual carriageways in the U.S. to allow legal u-turns were great but not sure we are ready for that here yet

Difference there is that you could have several hundred miles without a junction. Over here it's less than 20.

djimi wrote: »

Im not understanding this at all from reading the wiki link. Basically it means that drivers who want to turn right at a junction would do so from the left hand lane rather than the right hand lane? How is this of benefit?

IIRC it's only in Melbourne to stop motorists blocking the tram tracks from the right lane.

Del2005

naughtysmurf wrote: »

Anybody come across stuff that other countries find perfectly acceptable that we should introduce here.

A professional courteous police force which enforces all traffic laws, not just 2.

Bigcheeze

dr.fuzzenstein wrote: »

This sign!
Means you can overtake tractors in no overtaking zones.
Here you do it anyway, because only a retard will crawl behind a tractor for miles, but you risk points and fines everytime.

"But Gard, the sign said I could overtake that X5"

Bigcheeze

"Keep Left Unless Overtaking" signs on dual carriageways and motorways. These are on all Australian motorways.


Red light cameras.

Bus lane use for people who have passed an advanced driving course :pac:

Our man in Havana

Government control of the production and attaching of number plates. Should stop the muppet font brigade in their tracks.

veetwin

John_Rambo wrote: »

We are supposed to do this, but we need the signage for idiots with the "I'm not letting that feicer out in front of me" attitude.

Or even worse is the slob that lets in about 10 cars in front of him.

CiniO

Changing regulations about using lights.

Situation where most drivers don't use lights at all no matter what the weather is, and then at dusk and sometimes when completely dark they use only sidelights is ridiculous.

1. Prohibit using side lights on it's own, except when parked on a dark road - that's what side lights are for.
2. Require drivers to use dipped headlights during bad weather (rain, drizzle, mist, fog, falling snow) and also at all times during lighting up hours no matter the weather.
3. Prohibit using rear fog light when visibility is bigger than 50 metres.

Our man in Havana

CiniO wrote: »

Changing regulations about using lights.

Situation where most drivers don't use lights at all no matter what the weather is, and then at dusk and sometimes when completely dark they use only sidelights is ridiculous.

1. Prohibit using side lights on it's own, except when parked on a dark road - that's what side lights are for.
2. Require drivers to use dipped headlights during bad weather (rain, drizzle, mist, fog, falling snow) and also at all times during lighting up hours no matter the weather.
3. Prohibit using rear fog light when visibility is bigger than 50 metres.

Easiest thing to do would make the use of dipped lights mandatory 24/7/365.

Solair

Saab Ed wrote: »

This sign please ....

I'd love to know why we removed this end-of-speed-limit sign which was in existence for decades in Ireland. The current 80km/h or 100km/h speed limits look ridiculous. I know they're a maximum speed limit, but people tend to use the speed limit as an advisory as "oh it's safe to drive at 80km/h here" when you're on some boreen with grass up the middle...

I don't know why someone got the bright idea to step away from what is normal practice across all of the EU member states. I've never seen anywhere else prescribe speed limits for every road. It makes even less sense in Europe where many rural roads are of very varied quality, size etc and the driver really needs to drive at an appropriate speed, not at a prescribed one.

In Ireland of all places, where you have thousands and thousands of kilometers of rural roads, it makes even less sense than most places.

We should be trying to do something that is taking best practise from areas of Europe with similar levels of density of population e.g. Western France, non-urban UK, Scandinavia etc, not trying to adopt ideas that work in new-build parts of the USA or whatever where all roads are standardised width because they were built about 50 years ago at most.

CiniO

Our man in Havana wrote: »

Easiest thing to do would make the use of dipped lights mandatory 24/7/365.

Easiest - yes, but would it be the best??? That's discussable.

CiniO

Solair wrote: »

I'd love to know why we removed this end-of-speed-limit sign which was in existence for decades in Ireland. The current 80km/h or 100km/h speed limits look ridiculous. I know they're a maximum speed limit, but people tend to use the speed limit as an advisory as "oh it's safe to drive at 80km/h here" when you're on some boreen with grass up the middle...

I don't know why someone got the bright idea to step away from what is normal practice across all of the EU member states. I've never seen anywhere else prescribe speed limits for every road. It makes even less sense in Europe where many rural roads are of very varied quality, size etc and the driver really needs to drive at an appropriate speed, not at a prescribed one.

In Ireland of all places, where you have thousands and thousands of kilometers of rural roads, it makes even less sense than most places.

We should be trying to do something that is taking best practise from areas of Europe with similar levels of density of population e.g. Western France, non-urban UK, Scandinavia etc, not trying to adopt ideas that work in new-build parts of the USA or whatever where all roads are standardised width because they were built about 50 years ago at most.

But all over Europe, there are default speed limits for certain roads like in Ireland.
F.e Cities 50, outside built up areas 90, express ways 110, motorways 130.
Only difference is, that only in Ireland those limits are signed everywhere, while in rest of Europe they aren't, as it's assumed driver knows what the default speed limit for the type of road he is on.

Solair

CiniO wrote: »

But all over Europe, there are default speed limits for certain roads like in Ireland.
F.e Cities 50, outside built up areas 90, express ways 110, motorways 130.
Only difference is, that only in Ireland those limits are signed everywhere, while in rest of Europe they aren't, as it's assumed driver knows what the default speed limit for the type of road he is on.

It doesn't change the fact that driver psychology tends to see a speed limit as a prescribed speed for that road. Not to mention the fact that the vast majority of the rural signs are totally ridiculous with 80km/h on roads that you could hardly drive down at 30km/h in some cases.

They need to add some kind of "drive at an appropriate speed" symbol on these roads. The end-of-speedlimit sign sort of did that in the past quite well.

Two US friends of ours went off the road in Kerry due to this signage. They saw 80km/h and assumed the road was safe to drive on at 80km/h and hit a tight bend. Luckily, no injuries in either case, but they scratched up the car and ended up in a ditch.

If you're going to prescribe speed limits on roads, you'd really have to put one on every bend / slow part too, or putting up signs which generally tend to give drivers a false sense of security, is a BAD idea.

To me it looks like a bright idea in the Dept. of Transport that wasn't thought through properly!

I haven't seen this approach used in ANY other EU country and in general most European drivers will also see a speed limit as "oh, it's OK to go at 100km/h" now... Then you discover you're on an Irish Dual Cabbageway in Connemara...

Our man in Havana

Saab Ed wrote: »

This sign please ....

This is not just an end of speed limit sign, it lifts all restrictions such as no overtaking etc. I have only really seen it used in Germany to advise where temporary limits on the autobahn are lifted and there is no maximum speed limit.

CiniO

Our man in Havana wrote: »

This is not just an end of speed limit sign, it lifts all restrictions such as no overtaking etc. I have only really seen it used in Germany to advise where temporary limits on the autobahn are lifted and there is no maximum speed limit.

Plenty of those signs in Poland.
Means what you said - end of all restrictions put earlier by prohibitory signs like speed limits, no overtaking, weight limits, etc...

cozzie55

+1 on dipped headlights on full time. Would rule out the people who forget to turn them on until its completely dark or when the weather is bad. Lots of countries in Europe enforce this even in the middle of summer

another one i'd like to see would be Minimum speed limits on motorways or at least for the over taking lane.

CiniO

cozzie55 wrote: »

+1 on dipped headlights on full time. Would rule out the people who forget to turn them on until its completely dark or when the weather is bad. Lots of countries in Europe enforce this even in the middle of summer

In my opinion forcing everyone to use dipped lights all day long, just to make sure some drivers who tent to forget to turn them on, don't forget is not a great idea.

another one i'd like to see would be Minimum speed limits on motorways or at least for the over taking lane.

I would love to see minimum of 100km/h on most-right lane, and minimum of 60km/h on all other lanes.
Maximum of something like 140km/h.

However I don't think there is any country in Europe where there would be such high minimum speeds on motorway.

ardmacha

4-way stop, SA

Absolutely not. Nonsense concept.

I would adopt this sign from the southern hermisphere for roundabouts

Two US friends of ours went off the road in Kerry due to this signage. They saw 80km/h and assumed the road was safe to drive on at 80km/h and hit a tight bend. Luckily, no injuries in either case, but they scratched up the car and ended up in a ditch.

This is just bad driving, the sign had nothing to do with it. The road was there in front of them, just as visible as the sign. If someone removed the sign or vandalised it would they have done 100Kmh?

Pkiernan

1. High occupancy vehicles in the Bus lanes - say 3 people minimum in your car and you can use them.
2. Motorbikes in the Bus lanes.
3. Turn left on Red light.
4. Speed bumps replaced by average speed cameras.

Chris_Heilong

Our man in Havana wrote: »

Easiest thing to do would make the use of dipped lights mandatory 24/7/365.

Terrible idea, people should not have to have their headlights on during a nice summers day and no Government should force such a stupid law, the countries that do it only do because their leaders have no confidence in there people to use common sense.

Our man in Havana

Chris_Heilong wrote: »

Terrible idea, people should not have to have their headlights on during a nice summers day and no Government should force such a stupid law, the countries that do it only do because their leaders have no confidence in there people to use common sense.

Perfect for Ireland then.

Del2005

CiniO wrote: »

Changing regulations about using lights.

Situation where most drivers don't use lights at all no matter what the weather is, and then at dusk and sometimes when completely dark they use only sidelights is ridiculous.

1. Prohibit using side lights on it's own, except when parked on a dark road - that's what side lights are for.

3. Prohibit using rear fog light when visibility is bigger than 50 metres.

That's already against the law, which leads me back to post 26

CiniO wrote: »

2. Require drivers to use dipped headlights during bad weather (rain, drizzle, mist, fog, falling snow) and also at all times during lighting up hours no matter the weather.

Dipped beams in bad weather I agree with.

DRLs for cars IMO is a symptom of bad driving not good. If a someone can't see a car in normal daylight hours they either aren't paying enough attention or their eyesight isn't good enough for driving. But the solution that some people want is to put the blame onto the person who was hit for another drivers incompetence.

CiniO

Chris_Heilong wrote: »

Terrible idea, people should not have to have their headlights on during a nice summers day and no Government should force such a stupid law, the countries that do it only do because their leaders have no confidence in there people to use common sense.

No. Those governments do it, because they believe when cars will be better visible on the road, safety will increase. It has nothing to do with common sense/

CiniO

Del2005 wrote: »

That's already against the law, which leads me back to post 26

Sadly no - it isn't.
You can legally drive with only sidelights on during bad weather, and for reasonable time after begining of lighting up hours (which begins half an hour after sunset). So in other words, people are allowed to drive without any other lights than sidelights until nearly completely dark.
Also you can drive all night long only with your side-lights provided you are in a lit up build up area.

Re point 3, you are allowed to use your fog lights (both front and rear) when there is fog (or falling snow).
Most countries in Europe, have additional requirement for rear fog-light that it can be on only when fog is so dense it limits visibility to 50 metres.
In Ireland if there is a slight fog limiting visibility to 500metres, people are still allowed to use rear fog light.

Dipped beams in bad weather I agree with.

DRLs for cars IMO is a symptom of bad driving not good. If a someone can't see a car in normal daylight hours they either aren't paying enough attention or their eyesight isn't good enough for driving. But the solution that some people want is to put the blame onto the person who was hit for another drivers incompetence.

I never mentioned anything about using lights during the good weather.
But in relation to this, I'm not really supporter of this idea, however one thing is not questionable - using lights at all times, makes vehicle more visible to others, even in the best weather. But if it increases overall safety - I don't know and I actually don't think so.

It BeeMee

Saab Ed wrote: »

This sign please ....

There's still a pair of these on the way out of Borris In Ossory, heading towards Limerick.

You hit a roundabout abot 50 metres later so they do you no good

Our man in Havana

I know those signs well. There is also a set in Hacketstown, Co. Carlow. I don't know what purpose they serve.

T-Maxx

ardmacha wrote: »

Absolutely not. Nonsense concept.

What have you got against the 4-way stop system? It really works great in the right application.

opti0nal

Speeding fines linked to the amount over the speed limit and the income of the offender