Motorway speed limits.

novarock

I've never seen a Go-Safe on a motorway. I have seen Garda marked Vans, as far as I know they are traffic monitoring. Again, I'm sure this is a myth, but I believe the reason that the Go-Safe's can't be on an 'M' road is because it is illegal to park in the hard shoulder on these roads.

Speed traps on Motorways are typically hand-held, and from my experience they tend to be lenient up to 135. I am basing this on blatantly passing a Garda at this speed and having him gesture at me to slow down a little.. Lucky day!

pred racer

novarock wrote: »

I've never seen a Go-Safe on a motorway. I have seen Garda marked Vans, as far as I know they are traffic monitoring. Again, I'm sure this is a myth, but I believe the reason that the Go-Safe's can't be on an 'M' road is because it is illegal to park in the hard shoulder on these roads.

Speed traps on Motorways are typically hand-held, and from my experience they tend to be lenient up to 135. I am basing this on blatantly passing a Garda at this speed and having him gesture at me to slow down a little.. Lucky day!

There is a Gosafe zone at the end of the m7 before it changes into a dual carriageway at Naas.

novarock

I know the one, I've only ever seen a Garda marked van or a handheld speedtrap here, not the third party vans.. Anyone else ever see a go Safe van here?

Mister Jingles

There was one on the M3 an hour ago.

novarock

yeah, A quick look at the GoSafe map, they are the only two in the country - Naas Bypass, and Clonee Bypass.. None on any of the other motorway in the country..

duffman3833

i hope im able to post this link but
here is link to motorway speeds worldwide
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/29/World_Speed_Limits.svg/1024px-World_Speed_Limits.svg.png

Mc Love

Was driving on the M8 to Cork and I don't think one car i met was doing 120 including myself. I was doing about 130-140 and cars around me doing the same, some cars even passing me out.

I'd be all for a speed limit increase and a decrease on some roads

Victor

novarock wrote: »

Again, I'm sure this is a myth, but I believe the reason that the Go-Safe's can't be on an 'M' road is because it is illegal to park in the hard shoulder on these roads.

Myth. Not only that, but many sections of motorway have dedicated lay-bys for carrying out speed checks.

http://www.irishstatutebook.ie/eli/2004/act/44/enacted/en/print.html

27.—Requirements under the Road Traffic Acts 1961 to 2004 relating to vehicles and requirements, restrictions and prohibitions relating to the driving and use of vehicles, other than those provided under sections 49 and 50 (inserted by sections 10 and 11, respectively, of the Act of 1994), 51A and 52 (inserted by sections 49 and 50, respectively, of the Act of 1968) and 53 of the Principal Act and sections 12, 13, 14 and 15 of the Act of 1994, do not apply to a driver of a fire brigade vehicle, an ambulance or the use by a member of the Garda Síochána of a vehicle in the performance of the duties of that member or a person driving or using a vehicle under the direction of a member of the Garda Síochána, where such use does not endanger the safety of road users.

GoSafe vehicle operate under the direction of a member of the Garda Síochána - the local superintendent.

mikeecho

True, but how would the gosafe operator safely conduct his setup routine on an active motorway?

It would involve him standing out on the side of the road.

Can't see it happening, too many H&S factors.

novarock

Victor wrote: »

Myth. Not only that, but many sections of motorway have dedicated lay-bys for carrying out speed checks.

http://www.irishstatutebook.ie/eli/2004/act/44/enacted/en/print.html

GoSafe vehicle operate under the direction of a member of the Garda Síochána - the local superintendent.

All true,

But honestly, I do a lot of motorway km's, I've never seen a GoSafe on a Motorway.

Paddy@CIRL

120KM/H with the current 10-15KM/H unofficial leeway is fine IMO, driving standards are far too poor here for anything more. When you consider the UK's top limit is 113KM/H and the standard of driving is far better there, it should puts things into perspective.

mikeecho

Paddy@CIRL wrote: »

120KM/H with the current 10-15KM/H unofficial leeway is fine IMO, driving standards are far too poor here for anything more. When you consider the UK's top limit is 113KM/H and the standard of driving is far better there, it should puts things into perspective.

Their limit might be 70mph, but in my experience, they generally travel at 80 -90mph

slimjimmc

Paddy@CIRL wrote: »

120KM/H with the current 10-15KM/H unofficial leeway is fine IMO, driving standards are far too poor here for anything more. When you consider the UK's top limit is 113KM/H and the standard of driving is far better there, it should puts things into perspective.

Where you're getting this 10-15km/h unofficial leeway from. Are you mixing it up with the overread tolerance many speedometers have? Put it this way, if my speedometer was spot on (reading 120km/h @ true 120km/h) I wouldn't be confident doing 135km/h past a speed van. If my speedometer overread by 10% (reading 132km/h @ true 120km/h) I wouldn't be so bothered.

mikeecho

slimjimmc wrote: »

Where you're getting this 10-15km/h unofficial leeway from. Are you mixing it up with the overread tolerance many speedometers have? Put it this way, if my speedometer was spot on (reading 120km/h @ true 120km/h) I wouldn't be confident doing 135km/h past a speed van. If my speedometer overread by 10% (reading 132km/h @ true 120km/h) I wouldn't be so bothered.

Vans seen to have less tolerance than humans at the roadside

Anyway.. getting caught on a motorway is pretty difficult.

I always check my mirrors at on ramps

veganrun

There are times when I wish the speed limits were a bit higher on motorways and main roads but with the amount of idiots I see speeding, tailgating, and driving badly/dangerously I think a higher speed limit would be nuts. Having said that, no matter what the speed limit is, there will be people who will exceed it.

But seeing lots of people can't even drive and signal at a roundabout correctly at low speed, letting them drive faster seems like a bad idea.

I often wonder why they don't have speed cameras along the motorways. Could be fitted overhead or something like the tag readers on the M50.

savagethegoat

booooring! wrote: »

Minimun speed limit of 80 km/h should be set. Old people doing 60 km/h or less is an accident waiting to happen.

I also see someone talking about new drivers and lack of expierence. Plenty of new drivers are better drivers after passing the test than people who have been driving 20 years and vice versa. A lot of idiots in both categories as well.

Speed limit should be increased depending on engine size. Do you really want a punto or corsa or something driving on the motorway at 160 km/h.

On a motorway I know it's usually 150 km/h I go and ones I don't I stick to the speed limit.

That's total nonsense, no one does 60 or less on the motorway and almost no one does as little as 80. Oh and "old people"? ageist isn't it?

Monkeysgomad

120km/ h is way to low. My mother was caught doing 140 on it before and got the usual penalty points and a fine. Some parts of dual carriages are 120?? I definitely think 150km/h would be adequate. But they won't raise it as then less people will be fined and less money for them.

pippip

Monkeysgomad wrote: »

120km/ h is way to low. My mother was caught doing 140 on it before and got the usual penalty points and a fine. Some parts of dual carriages are 120?? I definitely think 150km/h would be adequate. But they won't raise it as then less people will be fined and less money for them.

They's make more back in the tax on the extra fuel used by everyone at 150.

Victor

If we take the map that someone posted and amalgamate some of the categories, we can see that the vast majority of the world has maximum speed limits of 110-130 km/h or lower. So we are pretty much where the rest of the world is.

Only Texas, UAE, Poland, Romania, Northern Australia and Germany have higher maximum limits or no limit.

Monkeysgomad wrote: »

120km/ h is way to low. My mother was caught doing 140 on it before and got the usual penalty points and a fine. Some parts of dual carriages are 120?? I definitely think 150km/h would be adequate. But they won't raise it as then less people will be fined and less money for them.

Less money for who?

Money from fixed charge notices and fines go to the Central Fund - not one department or agency's funds.

Overall, traffic fines and the criminal justice system lose money (€2+ billion per year) if measured on an accounting basis. Society makes it's money in preventing collisions, casualties and other issues.

pippip wrote: »

They's make more back in the tax on the extra fuel used by everyone at 150.

By 'they', do you mean repressive Middle Eastern regimes, including ISIS?

pippip

What??????? I mean the Irish government would make more as the extra fuel used. They'd still make a decent amount of fines, as others have said if you raise the limit you'll still get people who go 10-20 above that.

XC90_D5

Dartz wrote: »

I really don't want to come up behind a Massey Ferguson while doing 150kph.

It's frightening enough at 120....

Tractors aren't allowed on the motorway

savagethegoat

yes they are, provided they are designed to be capable of meeting the speed requirement.

GM228

XC90_D5 wrote: »

Tractors aren't allowed on the motorway

That's incorrect, there is nothing specifically banning tractors on a motorway, however most tractors are taxed as agricultural vehicles and so are limited to 40 km/h and therefore not legal on the motorway, however if a tractor is taxed as a general haulage vehicle for example and has a top speed which is higher than 50 km/h (since January 1st they must also be plated for speeds above 40 km/h and taxed appropriately) then they are perfectly entitled to be on the motorway!

XC90_D5

140 is the default speed anyway. The M8 coming out of Cork is a perfect example. I often go 150 and that's keeping up with other traffic! A Passat even whizzed past me at that speed although I must say that BMW 5 series are the worst for speeding! It's just like the UK where the default speed is 80mph even though the speed limit is 70mph. Cars are getting faster and more capable of high speed (Mercedes 9 speed transmission allows you to drive at 200km at 2500rpm) and we're only going to get faster and faster...

XC90_D5

savagethegoat wrote: »

That's total nonsense, no one does 60 or less on the motorway and almost no one does as little as 80. Oh and "old people"? ageist isn't it?

Oh come on don't get offended...more often than not it's going to be an old person that will be driving slow and people do often go as slow as 60. They do on the M8 at least

XC90_D5

GM228 wrote: »

That's incorrect, there is nothing specifically banning tractors on a motorway, however most tractors are taxed as agricultural vehicles and so are limited to 40 km/h and therefore not legal on the motorway, however if a tractor is taxed as a general haulage vehicle for example and has a top speed which is higher than 50 km/h (since January 1st they must also be plated for speeds above 40 km/h and taxed appropriately) then they are perfectly entitled to be on the motorway!

Ok sorry I was going by the minimum speed of 50 km/h

GM228

XC90_D5 wrote: »

Ok sorry I was going by the minimum speed of 50 km/h

Most modern tractors can reach 60-80 km/h and possibly higher.

Any tractor which can travel above 40 km/h must now be speed rated and plated.

TheRiverman

There's a lot of people out there who need to be educated in the proper use of Motorways and Motorway speed limits as they currently stand.Some of the driving I see on the M6 (the one I use most) is crazy and don't get me started on the M4 particularly nearer to Dublin.

AMGer

TheRiverman wrote: »

There's a lot of people out there who need to be educated in the proper use of Motorways and Motorway speed limits as they currently stand.Some of the driving I see on the M6 (the one I use most) is crazy and don't get me started on the M4 particularly nearer to Dublin.

I find the M8 just passed the Jack Lynch to about Fermoy to be the worst I've encountered. No idea how a two lane system works in that neck of the woods. Not a motorway but the same applies to the N25 dual carriageway from the JL heading towards Waterford......don't hate Cork people, you know I'm right!

Jesus.

Has anyone driven an 80hp petrol car up and down modern Motorways for a sustained period of weeks? I did it recently and it damn near wore me out.