Speeding again.....

whomitconcerns

So Garda stats again released
http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/news/gardai-clock-motorists-travelling-at-three-times-speed-limit-on-irelands-busiest-roads-31257046.html

In one case, a motorist was clocked travelling at 140kmh on the Cappagh Road in Dublin 11- where a maximum limit of 50kmh applies. In another, a driver was caught doing 178kmh on the R563 at Faha East in Kerry. The limit is 60kmh.
The terrifying lack of awareness of the dangers involved was revealed as gardaí launched an enforcement campaign for the June bank holiday weekend.
An analysis of the highest speed detections per garda division reveals that the highest speed recorded was 195kmh at Ballacolla in Laois, where a 120kmh limit applies, followed by 189kmh at Keadue in Donegal, where the limit is 100kmh.

I mean they say that speeding kills and there are many detections of 140/150 on motorways...but the above stats are not just speeders they are idiots..which is by far a bigger contributor..Check out the image of the road that the car was going 178kph on https://www.google.com/maps/place/Dhu+Varren+Garden/@52.132502,-9.694244,3a,75y,130.35h,82.26t/data=!3m4!1e1!3m2!1s3Xa62tZlIi1s4sSBPt1BYg!2e0!4m2!3m1!1s0x484547df8f4f4cbf:0x9e73882661c48365!6m1!1e1

A common sense approach is needed to address speeding not just focusing on motorway drivers etc. All of their above examples are gross stupidity more than anything else.

kingtut

Every bank holiday weekend they say they are going to clamp down on speeders, I travel between Dublin and Cork every bank holiday weekend and only ever saw them once.

All talk no action as usual! In all honesty it seems like if someone is going to speed a bank holiday is when they are least likely to get caught :eek:

keithclancy

Was in Ireland for 6 months, saw 1 roadside speed gun and 1 go safe van.

Here in Holland I regularly pass 2-3 mobile speed traps per day on 2 different routes to work.

Chances of being caught speeding in Ireland are very low, especially on dangerous roads.

IMO they should focus on the rat runs in housing estates and back roads as this is where people drive like lunatics.

coolisin

The biggest problem is you have people believe the speed limits do not apply to them.
"Sure it's a straight stretch of road with a limit set to catch people."
Is a line trotted out too often.

I'm glad there is a speed trap on the road you posted OP it's those type of roads where they should be.

But if you agree or not speed limit is the speed limit. If your caught your breaking a law.

I wouldn't say Speed kills there are many factors which do in every car crash.

People's inability to read a road, judge the surface, knowing their abilities.
Knowing the abilities of the tyres and brakes on the car.
Cars being in a state of poor repair.

To say speed kills is a bit of a generalisation.

There should be more speed traps, as of late they have disappeared a lot.
I'd rather have the gardai looking after it.
I don't believe it should be a source of revenue it should be safety based.

ChippingSodbury

coolisin wrote: »

To say speed kills is a bit of a generalisation.

This is very true. My feeling is that it sends out the message that "well, I know I can go Xkph on this stretch and I'm fine, I don't care what the speed limit is". It allows drivers to almost consider the road as a racetrack ("I know I can go around this corner at Ykph, sure don't I do it every day" with little or no thought to the tractor or kid on a bike that may be just around the corner)

I also don't agree with spending all of that money on the Go-Safe vans. I think, if the same investment was made in unmarked Traffic Corps patrols, the roads would be made safer. I'm sure a lot of accidents are caused by poor driving/ judgement/ decisions and the consequences are just made worse by speed. Poor driving habits (other than speeding) will never be detected by Go-Safe vans.

H3llR4iser

coolisin wrote: »

I'm glad there is a speed trap on the road you posted OP it's those type of roads where they should be.

That is a big one. "Enforcement" often done only in clean, easy spots to access where it is relatively easy to find somebody 20 km/h over the limit (e.g. motorway). Nobody however points out that the majority of serious accidents seem to happen on secondary roads in the backarse of nowhere.

coolisin wrote: »

But if you agree or not speed limit is the speed limit. If your caught your breaking a law.

I am absolutely fine with this - as long as other violations are checked for and punished with the same effort. Currently, this does not happen and there's an enormous list of them that easily go undetected, even 'though they are far more common than "speeding":

- driving under the influence;
- talking on the phone;
- playing around with a tablet;
- hogging the overtaking lane or the middle lane for no reason;
- breaking red lights;
- crossing over continuous lines when joining dual carriageways;
- no use of turn indicators;
- moving lanes with no consideration whatsoever;

coolisin wrote: »

I wouldn't say Speed kills there are many factors which do in every car crash.

People's inability to read a road, judge the surface, knowing their abilities.
Knowing the abilities of the tyres and brakes on the car.
Cars being in a state of poor repair.

To say speed kills is a bit of a generalisation.

Correct, but people don't want to hear this. Doing the legal 120 on the motorway in a banger with bald (and cheap!) tires, a dodgy steering rack and barely any brakes is far more dangerous than 160 in a perfectly maintained vehicle, but most will never understand. This is the country where a lot of people still call the NCT a "money racket", and get their knickers in a knot over having to spend any cash for vehicle repair or maintenance, "Shur I had her in the garage 3 years ago, they took 100€ off me, the feckers!".

coolisin wrote: »

There should be more speed traps, as of late they have disappeared a lot.
I'd rather have the gardai looking after it.
I don't believe it should be a source of revenue it should be safety based.

The problem is, there are more pressing issues.
First and foremost, people need to understand they are entitled to nothing. Driving is not a given right but a privilege you earn.

To this day, we still have the occasional post here, on these very boards, from people going "Have no license - got a job far away - need to drive, will they catch me?". It speaks volumes of a mentality that, in the year 2015, should be unacceptable. Ireland is a country plagued with a poor transport network, that makes the private car a necessity - therefore, people should make provisions to get a license as soon as possible. It should be seen as a life skill.

Yet, many love to moan about the "cost", and how it's all again a "money racket". I call bullsh1te on it; How many 16-17 years olds, today, don't have a last generation smartphone in their pockets? Less iPhones, more driving lessons folks.

Get people used to drive, both on open and narrow roads. Make it clear they are part of a flowing system, and can't do "as they please". Doing 90 in a 100 zone is ok, doing 50 in the same zone is not ok. Make a point that they aren't vigilantes nor they can enforce the speed limit as they please, brake testing and trying to piss off other drivers is idiotic at best, and hogging the outside lanes is a bad idea.

Ban tractors from dual carriageways - they pose one of the biggest possible hazard, with their speed delta to other vehicles. Drivers often react wildly around them, and tractor drivers also love to hog the middle lane (have a trip on the Cork N40 and enjoy...).

Make the point that driving a 1.3 Subaru with a WRX body kit doesn't make you Petter Solberg, nor the car a real WRC. It's usually these types who plaster themselves around an oak and give rise to the "safety" campaigns.

If these issues aren't fixed or at least mitigated, any other "safety" initiative will have a very moderate, if any at all, effect.

frozenfrozen

Speed limits need to be variable depending on the road conditions, whether that is changed and displayed on signs or left up to the motorist.
It's insane that the limit on the motorway is 120kmh on the warmest day of the year and on a frosty morning. It's doubly insane that the limit is 100kmh on roads with a soft margin, uneven surface and tight bends, while a dual carriageway is the exact same 100kmh limit. Will the gosafe van be at one of these bends? No, it'll be sitting on a straight piece of road just below a dip (nice example where they park at that bus stop, what a great public service, catching people doing 110 as they come down an incline)

speed kills is a good motto for roads like the one pictured in the OP where someone was doing 178kmh. But 178kmh on a motorway is barely scratching the surface of inappropriate speed.

what's more dangerous is the kind of driver that does 80kmph most of the time. on the dual carriageway 80. through the town 80. down the bohreen 90 (they live just down the road so they're used to the turns). on the motorway 90.

Gosafe vans catching people on dual carriageways is just a money gathering exercise, no two ways about it. Fair enough if they catch someone doing 190kmh, but how often is it someone doing 115 that's caught. What's more dangerous is the slamming on of breaks as people pass these vans. The vans should be there to get evidence of serious dangerous driving including speeding, sitting in the overtaking lane, tailgating, and anything else. Not just shooting fish in a barrel as people are doing extremely reasonable speeds on roads designed for such speeds.

Sheeeeit

I travel the M7 from Limerick to Dublin about 4 times a month for the last 3 years and I've never seen one speed camera.
I do tend to speed on this road, 140km/h on a 120km/h road is not the end of the world though. Especially when you're going through places like Tipperary and Offaly where there's no traffic. It's the examples shown in the OP that are wrong, driving crazy speeds on 50km/h roads is just mental! There does seem to be more a garda presence on slower roads which is right but there should be a lot more speed cameras on these types of roads imo.

yop

Travel from Castlebar to Galway at least 3 times per week. We have now 3 speed van locations, 1 just outside Castlebar after a long straight on a corner, only 1 reason its there.
The next is in the middle of Ballyheane village, you come in from a long straight and around a corner, I'd say 90% of motorist are doing over the 60km limit as they come into the village and slow as they come in.
The 3rd is in Cross village, the road is shocking bad, but as you come over the brow of the hill in the 80kmph its sitting there, ready to take a pic.

In my opinion these are not there to stop speeding motorist, there has been no fatalities anywhere near any of them and they are just money grabbing vans. You can just do over the speed limit BARELY on these roads, but if you do then you will be nabbed.

I'm sceptical anyway about them, but only my own thoughts!

As for the lad doing 178!!! Deserves everything thrown at him for that.

ironclaw

Did a 6 hour round trip over Memorial Weekend here in the States, I counted in the region of 30 Police and State Troopers each way all out doing speed, with many more undercover patrolling. Its more than I've encounter in the past 5 years in Ireland.

ChippingSodbury

yop wrote: »

The next is in the middle of Ballyheane village, you come in from a long straight and around a corner, I'd say 90% of motorist are doing over the 60km limit as they come into the village and slow as they come in.
The 3rd is in Cross village, the road is shocking bad, but as you come over the brow of the hill in the 80kmph its sitting there, ready to take a pic.

In my opinion these are not there to stop speeding motorist

Any chance they might be there to protect pedestrians in villages?

Del2005

ChippingSodbury wrote: »

Any chance they might be there to protect pedestrians in villages?

No

ChippingSodbury

That's a pretty cynical view...

I suppose there are thousands of motorists on our roads whose driving is exemplary and nobody knows better how to handle a car.

The road is not a racetrack, the unexpected often happens.

_Kaiser_

Sheeeeit wrote: »

I travel the M7 from Limerick to Dublin about 4 times a month for the last 3 years and I've never seen one speed camera.
I do tend to speed on this road, 140km/h on a 120km/h road is not the end of the world though. Especially when you're going through places like Tipperary and Offaly where there's no traffic.

Mostly true, although you'll get the "GoSafe" :rolleyes: van camped out between exit 10 and 9 inbound at least one morning a week, or further up the road when it becomes the 3-lane N7. Be wary of that one!

120 on the M8 is a farce though.. You can easily drive 5+ minutes on that without coming across another car, and yet you'll still come across our boys and girls in blue on their little ramps now and then.. although the last girl I passed in such a place was more interested in looking down and texting than anything else!

We need variable limits on main N/M routes like the N7/M50 that change depending on traffic volume, visibility, weather etc. There was talk of that for the M50 recently but it wasn't quite clear if this was going to be intelligently managed, or just a blanket 60 limit between peak times.

Reedsie

An analysis of the highest speed detections per garda division reveals that the highest speed recorded was 195kmh at Ballacolla in Laois, where a 120kmh limit applies, followed by 189kmh at Keadue in Donegal, where the limit is 100kmh.

What period of time are they talking about? This year? Last year?

yop

ChippingSodbury wrote: »

Any chance they might be there to protect pedestrians in villages?

At 6.30am they aren't there for the pedestrians I would be thinking, the village has a shop that opens at 7.30 and a school at 8.30 with 30 students.
Id like to think that its helping reduce deaths as it was intended but not in this case.

Francie Barrett

Reedsie wrote: »

An analysis of the highest speed detections per garda division reveals that the highest speed recorded was 195kmh at Ballacolla in Laois, where a 120kmh limit applies, followed by 189kmh at Keadue in Donegal, where the limit is 100kmh.

I read that and thought what a great challenge

ChippingSodbury

I haven;t seen any of the new signs (attached) yet...

Vicxas

Sorry to go off topic slightly, but are those fixed position GATSO's still active?

I saw a fella working on one on the old N3 between the Toll Booth and Dunshaughlin.

gooner99

"189kmh at Keadue in Donegal, where the limit is 100kmh"

Jesus there is no way on this earth you could do that on this road. must have been a low flying plane.

ironclaw

gooner99 wrote: »

"189kmh at Keadue in Donegal, where the limit is 100kmh"

Jesus there is no way on this earth you could do that on this road. must have been a low flying plane.

I'm guessing a bike. But 120mph for a brief period is easily achievable in most parts of the country. Sustaining it is another thing entirely.