The new 50mph instead of 60mph Regional roads are gonna create way more accidents.

rander00

These particular roads i happen to use daily, is like driving on a completely different route since the new limits. I never seen all this overtaking before on any roads. ts like a complete transformation of the traffic. I guanantee there will be more deaths on these roads with these hideous new limits and expect to see way more head on collisions. I see at least 2 "just about made it" incidents each day and way more risky overtakings that I used never witness on these roads.

I travel these roads daily. 7 days a week, between work and college.

While i fully agree with the new 50mph limit on "country" roads,,, regional/main roads should not be 50mph surely??? The regional roads i travel on, could take 2 cars alongside each other on each lane , and theres even a yellow lined strip to the side for walkers, ect..... You could pull in at the side no bother. My point is, ITS A WIDE ROAD. And in no way dangerous!

And now its 50mph. Its a fookin disgrace. Even the general average drivers both women and men, and basically everyone finds it hard to drive at this crawling speed on perfectly wide roads.

Heres what i now see everyday: Way more overtaking and jamming on. Some ppl sit at 45mph,,, and then a convoy forms,,, then someone risks overtaking 3 cars in one go, and the amount of near misses ive seen is Unbelieveable. People are frustrated being stuck behind 2 cars at 45mph and overtaking on bends and everything.

Then theres ppl that dont know what speed to do, 1 min there sitting at 50, then up to 60 then back to 50. A nightmare to drive behind over a long distance. Then ppl overtaking at 70.
If they had of left the speeds at 60 which is a safe avgrage speed by any measure on these roads, it would have made sense, the way it had done.

Personally i just stick to the old 60mph, and watch out for the cops.

_sheep

rander00 wrote:

Personally i just stick to the old 60mph, and watch out for the cops.

Exactly

Stark

Wow rander00, yet again you tone your comments in such a way that even if you had valid points, people would still be inclined to disagree with you for being an opinionated loudmouth.

While I agree with you that the new "80kph" speed limit is wholly inappropiate for some of the roads to which it's been assigned, most of your post points to problems caused by plain old fashioned bad driving, not the speed limit. I've been dangerously overtaken many a time whilst driving at 60mph.

And for the sake of a little pedantry, 60mph was the maximum speed at which you were meant to drive, not the average speed

rander00

Jaysus christ!!

While I agree with you that the new "80kph" speed limit is wholly inappropiate for some of the roads to which it's been assigned, most of your post points to problems caused by plain old fashioned bad driving, not the speed limit. I've been dangerously overtaken many a time whilst driving at 60mph.

My point is, there is way more overtaking going on now. Whilst in the "old days", you wouldnt bother overtaking a lad going at 60, cause 60 was fast enough for most of us. But if ur behind a lad at 50, you will be more inclined to overtake. And many overtake 2 yokes in 1 go now.

And for the sake of a little pedantry, 60mph was the maximum speed at which you were meant to drive, not the average speed

Errrr, i know that. I meant an aveage of 60 by keeping the limit as 60, as opposed to 50, or realistically 70 as ppl now have to do to overtak a car travelling at 50.

Ps: Please dont smile at me you ****.

Calibos

Much as I am loath to agree with someone who threatened to break my legs :D, I think Randers point is valid, ie that while there will always be muppets dangerously overtaking no matter what the speed limit, their number has increased dramatically due to frustration at the new lower limits. I don't think he's saying their right to do it, just that they are doing it more. His route is arguably more dangerous now with the lower speed limit. Its bringing out the muppet in more motorists.

damien

rander00 wrote:

I never seen all this overtaking before on any roads. ... way more risky overtakings that I used never witness on these roads. ...

My point is, ITS A WIDE ROAD. And in no way dangerous!

How is it dangerous to overtake if the road is at least two cars wide ?

HerrLipp

rander00 wrote:

While i fully agree with the new 50mph limit on "country" roads,,, regional/main roads should not be 50mph surely??? The regional roads i travel on, could take 2 cars alongside each other on each lane , and theres even a yellow lined strip to the side for walkers, ect..... You could pull in at the side no bother. My point is, ITS A WIDE ROAD. And in no way dangerous!

Personally i just stick to the old 60mph, and watch out for the cops.

What are you doing driving a tractor at 60mph on a regional road in the first place???

I mean really, it's all moan moan moan with you farmers.

stratos

I drive a lot (all day) on these types of roads. The slower driver causing accident's whilst I know it seems a valid point it's not. I have often overtaken people on such roads to find they are behind me 10 miles later at a Q at a cross roads. So there is no point thinking it slows you down it doesn't. People seem to take the actions of other drivers so personally these days. People make mistakes, They are not doing it to annoy you. Why would anyone treat their own lives and the lives of those around them so cheaply , as to initiate a bad overtake. The person in the car in front of you is a mother/ father /daughter/son of someones. When you overtake there is a lot at stake. Turn the radio up enjoy the music and relax you'l live longer!

John R

damien.m wrote:

How is it dangerous to overtake if the road is at least two cars wide ?

because overtaking is just about the most dangerous manouevre you can do on the roads, wide or not.
the types of roads he is talking about, both R and N roads are notorious for head-on accidents because people will take chances overtaking that they would not on a narrower road.

Blitzkrieger

I was thinking of bitching about this because one of my favorite back roads has been changed to a 50 zone, but after about 30 seconds of driving it I realised it made no difference anyway cos you'd never see a cop on it. How many people will take a blind bit of notice of an unenforced ridiculously low limit? After a bit of time people will get used to it and drive at a more reasonable speed.

Borzoi

rander00 wrote:

Ps: Please dont smile at me you ****.

That's way out of order, rander00. You've previously been warned. You are out of here. Goodbye.

DukeDredd

Thats a little unfair - Stark called him an "opinionated loudmouth" - thats would make anyone a little angry...just my 2 cents - please don't ban me!

Boggle

That's way out of order, rander00. You've previously been warned. You are out of here. Goodbye.

I'm with DukeDread - either moderate fairly (i.e. punish all who personally insult) or don't moderate at all! Besides it was the funniest thing I've seen all day!!

Boggle

stratos wrote:

The slower driver causing accident's whilst I know it seems a valid point it's not. I have often overtaken people on such roads to find they are behind me 10 miles later at a Q at a cross roads. So there is no point thinking it slows you down it doesn't.

Sorry stratos - have to disagree with you here from experience. This debate dopesn't centre around getting where you'r going faster, its about driving at an appropriate speed. People get very infuriated while driving behind slow moving vehicles and while they may not be losing that much speed, they feel as though they are. I have very rarely seen a near miss that didn't involve a slow driver in one form or another. Generally these come about in 2 forms: Either the driver drives slow and erratic, leaping on the brakes at every corner or when a car comes against them at night causing following cars to nearly get involved in a pile up or it happens when some moron driving on the centre line at 40 or 50 (mph) causes a convoy to build up behind it. Eventually people go nuts with road rage (it's inevitable!) and take chances overtaking on stretches they ordinarily wouldn't even consider....

If you dont believe me - try driving the stretch from limerick to clonmel on any friday night and you'll come across any amount of examples.

MG

I agree that 80kmph is too slow for many excellent R Roads. I also agree that this will inevitably lead to more overtaking which I think is the most dangerous manoeuvre in driving. Speed limits should be all about safety and when the limit is counterproductive and safety is compromised then the speed limit must be changed.

DukeDredd

I think a lot of these roads with the new 80kmph will be changed to 100kmph in the coming months. County councils have been given the power to change speed limits such as these. The new limits must remain in place for 3 months from the date of their introduction but then the councils will be changing these good stretches of roads to 100kmph as they see fit.

uberwolf

so your point is that there are muppets who can't stick to the new limits and are consequently risking their lives and more importantly other peoples lives to get into the next tailback a liitle quicker.

Your title is misleading in this case. It is the dangerous drivers who are gonna create ay more accidents.

Stark

Generally these come about in 2 forms: Either the driver drives slow and erratic, leaping on the brakes at every corner or when a car comes against them at night causing following cars to nearly get involved in a pile up

That's usually the fault of the driver behind for driving too close to the driver in front. I was driving home the other night in the rain at bang on the speed limit (technically I should have driven at slower than the speed limit to allow for bad conditions) and I had a car driving bumper to bumper with me from behind half the way home. (He also had his main headlights on meaning it was very difficult for me to use my main mirror). He was so close I couldn't even do the slowing down/braking trick to give him the hint ,he would have crashed into me in a second had I slowed down the slightest bit. His kind of behaviour is not uncommon on Irish roads.

The point is, there's no call for blaming slow/erratic drivers for pile-ups, you always have to allow safe distance between yourself and the car in front for any eventuality. In fact the driver in front of you may even be driving erratically to piss you off for driving so close to him, I know loads of people who do this.

Calibos

Boggle wrote:

I'm with DukeDread - either moderate fairly (i.e. punish all who personally insult) or don't moderate at all! Besides it was the funniest thing I've seen all day!!

I wonder is post count or amount of time the person has been registered taken into account before a banning or warning. Clearly in this case Rander has been warned previously and was on his final warning so its not unfair to my mind. On the other hand, I was called a puff and a moron by a senior poster (who is named after a rodent ) and while the thread was closed to prevent a flame match and also because it had run its course, the poster in question didn't get as much as a reprimand?

Boggle

so your point is that there are muppets who can't stick to the new limits and are consequently risking their lives and more importantly other peoples lives to get into the next tailback a liitle quicker.

Your title is misleading in this case. It is the dangerous drivers who are gonna create ay more accidents.

No its people who dont want to be stuck behind some prick doin 45mph that will get killed - not necessarily someone who wants to speed.

stark wrote:

The point is, there's no call for blaming slow/erratic drivers for pile-ups, you always have to allow safe distance between yourself and the car in front for any eventuality. In fact the driver in front of you may even be driving erratically to piss you off for driving so close to him, I know loads of people who do this.

??? Not sure to start with this crap. Have you ever driven a non-dual carrageway road at night or are you just talkin to make wind?? Erratic drivers are lethal... You just said that its okay for a car to jump on the brakes at any moment then speed up and then jump on the brakes again!

You are talking about tailgating - not erratic driving. What I am referring to (and ye all know it:) is the auld bitch driving home in front of you at 50 mph who jumps on the brakes at every hint of a corner or oncoming light slowin to 30 before racin back to 50 - all the while sitting on the white line so you cant overtake... The kind of person who is afraid to drive a car but because you dont have to prove you can drive to get a license is still permitted on the roads...


Besides these new limits are about revenue generation - not about saving lives. If they wanted to save lives there would be more gards checking for speed on the backroads late at night...

John R

Stark wrote:

That's usually the fault of the driver behind for driving too close to the driver in front. I was driving home the other night in the rain at bang on the speed limit (technically I should have driven at slower than the speed limit to allow for bad conditions) and I had a car driving bumper to bumper with me from behind half the way home. (He also had his main headlights on meaning it was very difficult for me to use my main mirror). He was so close I couldn't even do the slowing down/braking trick to give him the hint ,he would have crashed into me in a second had I slowed down the slightest bit. His kind of behaviour is not uncommon on Irish roads.

The point is, there's no call for blaming slow/erratic drivers for pile-ups, you always have to allow safe distance between yourself and the car in front for any eventuality. In fact the driver in front of you may even be driving erratically to piss you off for driving so close to him, I know loads of people who do this.

Here we go again.
Yes, tailgating is wrong and dangerous.
So is driving erratically to piss someone else off.

Why is it so many Irish motorists believe they are members of the traffic police with a duty to correct the faults they see in others by committing equally dangerous manoeuvres?

Stupidly low speed limits on good stretches of road make a mockery out of the whole system, as was already said the chances of getting caught on most R roads is virtually nil anyway so the majority of motorists will just end up routinely ignoring a large amount of speed limits.

stratos

Boggle I agree with what you are saying, what I am getting at is why should it be so. The same people who would probably hold open a door for you, turn into intolerant terminators behind the wheel. Why is this ? For my own part I'm no evangelist, it took me a while to cop on. Hey I'm gettin' older. It still amazes me to this day meeting an overtaking car on the wrong side of the road, he puts the boot down when an abort was so easy. I have had to stop dead in the middle of the road a few times for these people. They go by feeling smug, " I showed him ". They are next months statistics.

stratos

Lol. just to add the only car that ever thanked me with a wave and an embarrassed smile for stopping dead, to allow them to flit back in, on a blind bend was a toyota corrolla police car

BrianD3

A couple of times I've come to a dead stop and pulled into someone's driveway to get out of the way of an overtaking lorry. If I had to do that for a car I'd be ready to explode with rage. But I'm reasonably sympathetic to lorry drivers as I know the speed limiter makes overtaking difficult for them.

BrianD3

CrowdedHouse

Just happened to be up in Monasterevin this morning.....heading back in the Portlaoise direction I decided for a change of scenery to take the 'old' road i.e. the N7...I notice the max speed on it is 80kph....I presume its still the N7 and I thought N roads were supposed to be 100k's......wouldn't mind but I counted 11 vehicles on the road between Monasterevin and New Inn.....could have had a game of football in the middle of the road !..

Andrew Duffy

The National route is now the motorway. The old N7 through Portlaoise, Newbridge and Naas was renamed R445 when those bypasses were built so I'd guess the old road through Kildare and Monasterevin has the same number.

CrowdedHouse

Andrew Duffy wrote:

The National route is now the motorway. The old N7 through Portlaoise, Newbridge and Naas was renamed R445 when those bypasses were built so I'd guess the old road through Kildare and Monasterevin has the same number.

.....Ah......thanks for info.......

ednwireland

whart about leitrim the only n road is the n4 other roads upto manorhamilton for example is a really wide road a lot of it is dead straight and wider than some n roads the 80 kmh limit is really really stupid. brought in by people who don't have to drive in areas with no n roads (or ministerial mercs which seem to be exempt from any speed limits or parking laws)

mackerski

ednwireland wrote:

whart about leitrim the only n road is the n4

That's not quite true - there's the N16 as well (Blacklion-Manorhamilton-Sligo).

Dermot

John R

mackerski wrote:

That's not quite true - there's the N16 as well (Blacklion-Manorhamilton-Sligo).

Dermot

Which is for the most part an awful road, far worse than the R roads from Manorhamilton to Carrick-On-Shannon.
But thanks to the arbitrary rules it now has a much higher speed limit.

stratos

This is what I am getting at why would You "explode with rage". It's just driving you got to make allowances. there are people who drive a lot, and the general driving public. it's up to us the people who drive a lot, to watch out and and make allowances for the the people who potter around a bit.

AMurphy

Boggle wrote:

......

You are talking about tailgating - not erratic driving. What I am referring to (and ye all know it:) is the auld bitch driving home in front of you at 50 mph who jumps on the brakes at every hint of a corner or oncoming light slowin to 30 before racin back to 50 - all the while sitting on the white line so you cant overtake... The kind of person who is afraid to drive a car but because you dont have to prove you can drive to get a license is still permitted on the roads...

.......

This sort of driving behaviour sounds like someone returning from the pub at 2am. And were I a cop that's how I would read it, even at 2pm.

AMurphy

stratos wrote:

......The same people who would probably hold open a door for you, turn into intolerant terminators behind the wheel. Why is this ? ... Hey I'm gettin' older. It still amazes me to this day meeting an overtaking car on the wrong side of the road, he puts the boot down when an abort was so easy. .....

.

Beats me too, but you are correct, hence I figure all driver re-education is better than points and tickets...

However, I am of the opinion that irish drivers tailgate as a practice.... and I know why. If you leave a reasonable gap the muppet behind you will pass and fill that gap, and if you increase the gap again....the next muppet will do the same, so after avout 30 min, you will find yourself last in a 10 car train being led by one overloaded, slurry spewing cattle truck and trailer.
The other reason drivers tailgate, is if they hold back, the power and acceleration of the average 1100cc Escort/Corolla is about ..... nil, so teh possibility of holding back, accelerating and getting past before the next turn is... also nil, thus, hang on the tailgait and "nip and tuck", in the process insuring that oncoming traffic is brought to a halt to save your skin.\

If the VAT/Road Tax/Ins charges were reasonable, people could afford cars suitable for the task and travel in peace and comfort .. just like the ministers in their free MB.

Type 17

AMurphy wrote:

If the VAT/Road Tax/Ins charges were reasonable, people could afford cars suitable for the task and travel in peace and comfort .. just like the ministers in their free MB.

This is a huge issue in Ireland, and is the indirect cause of many deaths, in my IMO. People use cars like Micras, and 106's as family cars, and drive on fast M & N roads in them on a daily basis, where they have no power for error-correction or collision-avoidance, and relatively little crash protection at the typical speeds involved. These type of cars are fine for city driving (which is almost exclusively where you see them in other countries), but were never designed or intended by their manufacturers for regular inter-city driving.

Another issue with all the above taxes is that they are a tax on the ownership, not the use of a car, so when people have spent all that money on owning a car, there is a feeling that "they damn-well better use it", to get their money's worth, which is why all of our cities are jammed with single-occupant cars whose owners will not even consider public transport, because of their huge investment...

PS: AM, would j'ever do that Cambelt!!!!

AMurphy

Type 17 wrote:

........

PS: AM, would j'ever do that Cambelt!!!!

Aha, that name spells familiar.

Yeah, I keep meaning to get to it... when the days get warmer/longer/drier.
Van will roll over the 100K mls mark this weekend I'm sure.

unkel

Type 17 wrote:

issue with all the above taxes is that they are a tax on the ownership, not the use of a car

So true and so unfair. How can we get this into the thick heads of our ministers?

Abolish motortax, increase fuel duty to European average. It's only fair...

MickFarr

Stark wrote:

The point is, there's no call for blaming slow/erratic drivers for pile-ups, you always have to allow safe distance between yourself and the car in front for any eventuality. In fact the driver in front of you may even be driving erratically to piss you off for driving so close to him, I know loads of people who do this.

The problem there is that even at 60mph a lot of drivers would drive to close to the car in front forming rolling road blocks. Now that the speed has been drop to 50mph (80kph) I have noticed that these drivers drive even closer to the car in front because of the lower speed!

Not a day goes by where I don't seen this!

Loco

HerrLipp wrote:

What are you doing driving a tractor at 60mph on a regional road in the first place???

I mean really, it's all moan moan moan with you farmers.

new :rolleyes:

mackerski

stratos wrote:

it's up to us the people who drive a lot, to watch out and and make allowances for the the people who potter around a bit.

I see it differently - I reckon it's the duty of everybody who plans to be in control of a tonne of fast-moving metal to pilot it in a safe and intelligent manner. I have no time for the "I don't drive much, so I can't be arsed doing it well" brigade.

Dermot

stratos

Mack, I know I am on to hiding to nowhere here. But again you say " they can't be a r se d" You see it as a personal thing, i.e. they can't be bothered to drive carefully. These people just lack practise or skills ( I know not all of them). The thing is not to get wound up. I know it's hard. It took me ages. When someone does something really stoopid in front of you, congratulate yourself you anticipated it and avoided all that chaos. It's incredible I did a 40 mile journey tonite. Unbeleivably 2 people pulled out in front of me and did 3 point turns on back roads ( I had to stop dead both times). Finally a guy pulled out of a side road in front of me and then jammed on. I lit it up and smoked him out, I,m not proud. So what do I know.

mackerski

stratos wrote:

Mack, I know I am on to hiding to nowhere here. But again you say " they can't be a r se d" You see it as a personal thing, i.e. they can't be bothered to drive carefully. These people just lack practise or skills ( I know not all of them). The thing is not to get wound up.

I think I may have picked you up wrongly - if, by "make allowances", you mean that we should remember that there will be poor driving out there, then yes, totally, part of all good driving is anticipating problems. However, I don't think we should excuse laziness. And yes, a cool head is your best weapon on the road.

Dermot

Stark

I don't really mind the new 80kph (50mph) limit, it takes a bit for my car to accelerate to 62mph (100kph) anyway. The new 60kph(37mph) in place of 40mph limit is a joke though, it's not much of a difference from the 50kph limit. 70kph (43mph) would have been more appropiate.

rander00

I don't really mind the new 80kph (50mph) limit, it takes a bit for my car to accelerate to 62mph (100kph) anyway.

Yeah,,, well we dont all drive pieces of ****e. When i started this thread, i was aiming at the general public in 1.4`s 1.6`s and 1.9`s,,, ect... Not little city runaround yokes. (Hence, regional roads).

It has already being pointed out that them city cars are best left in inner city Scrublin, (i mean Dublin) and not out on Regional roads holding up us and causing accidients.

Seth Brundle

rander00 wrote:

It has already being pointed out that them city cars are best left in inner city Scrublin, (i mean Dublin) and not out on Regional roads holding up us and causing accidients.

Just to be pedantic, these city cars or indeed any other small car doesn't cause accidents (AFAIK very few cars actually cause accidents). It is usually the impatient driver behind them that causes them!
If you are caught behind a slow driver then you have 3 options as far as I can see:-
1. pass them and increase your risk of an incident.
2. Slow down (or stop) until they have long gone and then continue
3. take a different route.
I dislike slow drivers. However, I do not own the road and am not going to do something stupid to make it look like I do.

Stark

rander00 wrote:

Yeah,,, well we dont all drive pieces of ****e. When i started this thread, i was aiming at the general public in 1.4`s 1.6`s and 1.9`s,,, ect... Not little city runaround yokes. (Hence, regional roads).

Well my car is a 1.4 Renault Megane(hardly a city car) so there

Calibos

Will probably be posted be Rander00

Please don't stick your tongue out at me you ****.

:D

And he's only back from his ban. Don't do it Rander!!

rander00

Lol,,, Must Resist Must Resist

Hey Mods, there trying to lure me into a banning !

Renegade_Archer

Ive also seen this before, yer doing your duty, at the speed limit(even on a N road, doing 60), leaving a reasonable gap, and there is always some knob who feels the need to slot in in front of you. GAH.


Did these people ever stop for a second to wonder *why* the gap is there? For them, personally?

John R

Renegade_Archer wrote:

Ive also seen this before, yer doing your duty, at the speed limit(even on a N road, doing 60), leaving a reasonable gap, and there is always some knob who feels the need to slot in in front of you. GAH.


Did these people ever stop for a second to wonder *why* the gap is there? For them, personally?

What is the problem FFS.

Is nobody supposed to overtake YOU?

Our man in Havana

John R wrote:

What is the problem FFS.

Is nobody supposed to overtake YOU?

If you are doing 100km/h then they have no business overtaking you.

Renegade_Archer

John R wrote:

What is the problem FFS.

Is nobody supposed to overtake YOU?

Perhaps I should have made myself clearer.. Im referring to situations where I have left perhaps 1.5 car lengths in front of me in order to allow myself a chance of survival should the car in front of me come to a sudden halt; standard safe driving, at least I hope so. What annoys me is someone who overtakes me, and squeezes into the "safety space" in front of me, forcing me to pull back, in order to re-establish safe distance.


I have no problems with someone who overtakes me, but I do maintain reasonable progress and do the speed limit(on occasion more) in most cases.



Regards


Ewan