Speeding - queries?

sporina

hi there, grrrr.... freaking out.. saw another speed van and now worried I was going over the limit.. there are so many speed vans on the rds now.. and I am not heavy on the pedal - but it can be so hard to keep to the limit in some areas.. esp when there is no traffic..

i need to know speed limits... is there an app or something I can download that would beep when I am going over or something?

Or is a dash cam the only option? I had a quick look on amazon - they look v complicated and €€.. I am not v tech savvy

TIA

AndrewJRenko

Have you tried keeping an eye out for road signs? They look like this.

Atlantic Dawn

The Waze app is popular, warns you of upcoming speed checks that have been previously spotted by other drivers.

Fuzzy Logic

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119854023#Comment_119854023

Or they could simply use their pair of eyes to look at the dashboard to see how fast they're going

65535

If you don't know what speed you are doing you will get caught.

'Calibrate' your car's speed indicator (Also called a speedometer) by using Google Maps or similar

For example mine shows 105 Kph while the Google Maps (GPS Accurate Speed) shows 100 Kps exactly

So then I know that if my car speedometer shows 105 that I'm doing 100 and all is OK.

Setup and know how to use your car's Cruise Control

Set it for the speed of the road and carry on.

Then you do not need to instantly brake when you see a 'cash grabbing van' but sail on by

I normally hoot the horn but that part is voluntary.

Further: If you do suspect you got caught then ensure that the road that you were caught on is actually a place where speed camera vans are allowed to operate.

It has happened to me that they were operating in a place where they did not have the instruction to do so, I was 10 Kph over the limit (road behind and ahead were 60 but the road past the van was 50).

On going to court the charge was struck out along with other people that attended and the judge said the driver of the speed van was not working for the company any more.

thebiglad

Speed camera warnings are of limited use if OP is unsure what limit is.

Does your car have android auto or apple car play? You can connect phone with google maps.

Otherwise if you have a smart phone with Google maps you can use that with phone held in a cradle, problem is you cannot touch the phone whilst driving and the screen can be quite small, especially to see the speed limit for the road.

A sat nav is an option and not highly technical to install or use but the maps may not be, or or stay up to date - make sure to get a model with speed limit notifications of course

Damien360

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119854035#Comment_119854035

It seems to be really good during week days and early morning so it makes me think the truckers are bigger users of Waze. Utterly useless at night and weekends. It’s good for GPS readback of your current speed. I use it as a calibration of my own speedometer.

sporina

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119854076#Comment_119854076

thanks for all that.. I'll have to educate myself.. no idea how to calibrate speedometer..

I don't have cruise control

with regards to speed vans - how does one know where they are allowed to operate?

Damien360

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119854304#Comment_119854304

The gardai publish the locations on their website but it pretty much covers every road in the country.

mikeecho

Ireland has more speed limit reminder signs than any other country I've driven in.

Go to mainland Europe, you're expected to know the speed limit for the type of area you're in.

You pass a speed limit sign.... That's it till you pass the next one for a different speed limit.

sporina

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119854315#Comment_119854315

thanks..

is there a link to the location of the fixed cameras?

Damien360

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119855736#Comment_119855736

On their website

https://garda.ie/en/roads-policing/safety-camera-locations/

artanevilla

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119855736#Comment_119855736

I don't believe there's any fixed cameras currently in operation here?

Damien360

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119856116#Comment_119856116

just the one. The new average speed cameras on M7 near Limerick. Everything else is camera van.

edit. Forgot Dublin tunnel average speed camera

artanevilla

Oh yes, also forgot about those.

cnocbui

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058271094/speeding-queries

You could get Here WeGo for your phone. It is an offline navigation app where you download and store the maps for each country you want, so you don't need data or a network connection for it to work. Then just get a phone mount for the car, turn on GPS location on your phone and off you go. It will show you what the speed limit is and has a series of warning tones if you are currently exceeding the speed limit. You can set the threshold of the warning tone to how ever many kmh you want it to be. You can even use it for turn by turn navigation if you set a destination.

Once upon a time, Nokia had one of the worlds best mapping and navigation subsidiaries in Here. When they got out of phones they sold Here to a conglomerate that includes Mercedes. Luckily it's still available and free.

Flinty997

Even google maps show you the speed limit. Very handy when driving somewhere you are not familiar with.

Gooser14

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119856261#Comment_119856261

It doesn't always show the correct speed limit for a given location. One therefore needs to be observent of the local speed limit signs. But it is a good tool.

Flinty997

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119856288#Comment_119856288

Its correct the vast majority of the time.

It's only recent changes catch it out. Like all things in life common sense should be applied.

Citizen Six

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119854304#Comment_119854304

He just means drive at at higher speed indicated on the speedometer. My speedo reads at 130kph when I'm doing 120kph.

Furze99

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119854023#Comment_119854023

Problem is that these can be sparse in places, particularly rural roads. I'm sure many drivers have experienced wondering what the current limit is and not a sign in sight.

Advice to use cruise control is also dodgy. It's only really suitable for wide main roads and motorways, in moderate or light traffic. Dangerous on smaller roads or in heavier traffic.

No other advice other than to drive sensibly. Keep an eye on signage as best you can and get a feel for when your speed is not appropriate for any reason.

Flinty997

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119856822#Comment_119856822

Basically the GPS on a phone is more accurate (usually)

I don't see the point of buying a SatvNav vs using a smart phone.

Smart phone does exactly what he asked.

Flinty997

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119856883#Comment_119856883

Yeah cruise control is useless in any kind of traffic. Even if that traffic is on a motor way.

I often find places with no signage. UK has more signs but its ugly with all those signs.

Damien360

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119856822#Comment_119856822

Changes from car to car so be wary. Just from my own experience

skoda - 126 is 120

seat - 124 is 120

toyota - 127 is 120

07 ford fiesta - 120 is 120

Flinty997

Changed also if you don't have the original tyre size and wheels fitted.

Gooser14

Using cruise control on wet roads can be dangerous & cause loss of control of the vehicle.

I have a fairly basic (has to be manually set) speed limiter on my car & I use it extensively, especially in urban areas.

sporina

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119857011#Comment_119857011

how do you know? sorry I am really not tech savvy - like, I have a smart phone - and I use google maps - but my head gets wobbly with tech talk..

thanks to all who have replied sincerely

Damien360

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119857282#Comment_119857282

Go to your phone and download a free app called “Waze”. It’s owned by google. It uses your phones GPS to give a live readback of your road speed.

So you drive to the speed on your cars Speedo of 120kmph and you look or get someone to look at the live reading on the app. It will be lower than 120 as your car is designed to not be 100% accurate.

Now increase your car speed until you read exactly 120 on the app. Look down at your car Speedo and now you have a reading for your car accuracy. It will be anything from 122 to 126 typically. The app is by GPS and that is the accurate reading.

cnocbui

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119857315#Comment_119857315

Does Waze have offline maps now?

There are many differences between Google Maps and Waze, but one of the most important concerns offline maps. While these are fully supported in Google Maps, the offline maps are missing entirely in Waze, as the application requires an Internet connection to do its magic.

Flinty997

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119857261#Comment_119857261

I had to check that.

https://easterntyres.com.au/can-i-use-cruise-control-safely-in-the-rain/

Damien360

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119857395#Comment_119857395

Just looked at the app and it doesn’t appear to have offline maps mode.

Flinty997

Speed limits are just a setting you turn on in Google maps.

Citizen Six

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119856908#Comment_119856908

Who buys a satnav unit these days?

Citizen Six

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119856916#Comment_119856916

Most modern cares have speed limiter as well as cruise control. Works better for stopping you from going too fast.

Flinty997

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119857796#Comment_119857796

How?

erlichbachman

Speed limits are just the recommended minimum guidelines, the target is always higher

Miscreant

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119857811#Comment_119857811

Some cruise control systems have a speed limiting function whereby you can set a max speed that the car will go to and then alert you as well as actively try to ensure you do not go over that limit (it can dampen throttle response or reduce fuelling to the engine, but I am sure there are other ways). It can be overridden mostly by pressing harder on the accelerator pedal but at least on my car, it acts as a separate option within the Cruise control system and I can't have both cruise and limiter on at the same time.

Flinty997

I have speed limiter warning. But its useless as the limit changes all the time. You'd have to keep re-setting it. Unless it reads the speed limits. The cruise control you can reset it with a single press of a button. Much handier. Both are reallly only useful if you open road at a steady speed.

If you have a car with radar, Ldar, and self driving thats entirely different. But then we wouldn't be having this conversation.

Citizen Six

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119857811#Comment_119857811

The car just stops accelerating once you reach the desired speed. Pushing the pedal further does nothing, unless you push and hold it to the floor, and it over rides. I drive a 2006 merc that has it. I always switch it on when driving through Sandymount.

I once put an electric car on 30kph cruise control in Sandymount and it just felt like I was standing still. It was weird.

Gooser14

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119857422#Comment_119857422

It's referenced on page 114 of the RSA Rules Of The Road.

"Cruise Control

Avoid using cruise control in heavy rain, hail, snow, fog and icy conditions. Cruise control can potentially reduce the control you have over your vehicle and impact on your reaction time in dealing with a hazard."

I checked my car hand book & there is no caution or warning regarding safe use of the cruise control.

cnocbui

God, I'm glad I still have an analog car.

Citizen Six

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119857994#Comment_119857994

Why is that? What are the benefits?

cnocbui

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119858053#Comment_119858053

Actually owning what you have bought, rather than agreeing to 26 pages of user licence in fine print, whereby the manufacturer retains ownership of the vehicle, has a perpetual say over what you do with it, and can change their mind about how it functions, whenever they like, not to mentioning altering the T&Cs you accepted when you thought you bought it.

Citizen Six

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119858142#Comment_119858142

Ah I'm with you there. Luckily I've always bought my cars outright, and never had to deal with an agreement there.

I thought you were going to say any car that was drive by wire was the devils work 😂

Flinty997

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119857989#Comment_119857989

That's vague enough to be different to what you implied earlier.

Flinty997

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119857948#Comment_119857948

And if the speed limit changes what do you have to do to reset it.

Allinall

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119858241#Comment_119858241

You just adjust it up or down, dame as you would with cruise control.

Citizen Six

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119858241#Comment_119858241

Just tap the stalk down. Or up if the limit is increasing. This is on a 16 year old car!

I had a Ford rental on a trip to France a couple of years ago, and it had similar. But it automatically reduced speed when it entered a lower speed zone. And the speed limit for the area was constantly displayed on the dash.

cnocbui

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119858192#Comment_119858192

Not really what I meant. Any car that's drive by wire is the devils work - no steeirng feedback.

Any car that has an OS and which gets firmware updates, such as say a Tesla where you buy a car for €120,000 and a battery of 90 kw, and then a few years later they reduce your cars specs and range remotely to protect themselves from any battery warranty claims. You did read and accept the T&Cs which let them do that, right? You didn't buy the car, you bought a licence to use it.

Next will be some bright lad in the Irish civil service will persuade a politician to pass a law requiring all OS equiped cars to constantly monitor your speed vs the speed limit and automatically fine you and deduct it from your card before you have even turned the last corner before your gaf. Imagine how much that will save on speed vans.

Police services the world over will love being able to just type your nuberplate into their terminal and have your doors lock and your car drive you to the nearest prison. Too bad if they mistype it and it's yours.

The shine will be knocked off of the near universal glee when the North Koreans or Russians hack the police system and because the government didn't pay the €100m ransom, 5,000 people are killed when an April 1st, their cars all suddenly accelerated to 140 kph before steering into the oncomming traffic.

Citizen Six

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119858373#Comment_119858373

Now I'm thinking you drive your car while wearing a tinfoil hat. 😂

blackbox

You know the road sings for speed camera zone...

...these should all have the speed limit posted on them.

People often end up driving slower than necessary because they are afraid they might have missed a speed limit sign.