Local Roads - New Speed Limits

Well I've heard and read in multiple places that it is only L roads. Unless you can show me a source that says otherwise, that's what I am going to believe.

I gave you the source. Go onto RTE player and the Today FM website if you want to listen back to the morning broadcasts.

If I said I had read it in a newspaper, would you expect me to send you the paper in the post?

Fine but since signs are being replaced why use both signs on rural roads? Was on an L road in Meath today and came across 2 60kph signs on a short stretch of the road. What wasn't the default limit sign used? Was on another Louth rural L road and there proudly stood an 80kph sign. Not confusing in any way

I've seen a post earlier about the newly opened Drogheda port relief road which has that default speed sign at the beginning. Until today this meant an 80kph speed limit but presumably today it means a 60kph limit for what definitely isnt a rural local road

One is a new sign and one an existing sign which reduced the heretofore 80kph limit to 60kph.

Answer no because I prefer the 80kph limit

Is that not the L4013 ?

As a Dub who wouldn’t be local to those rural roads, I often found myself driving around 60kph-70kph anyway. Buying myself time for bends/on coming traffic. Or if dark etc. Personally I find it the hardest type of driving narrow roads, bushes, briars on stone walls.

I think it is a good thing as it does not pressure drivers unsure of roads to drive faster.

When I think of local auld uncle's who used to drive those same roads. I can only laugh as they would go closer to 100kph on such roads. Seemed to view slowing down at all as a sign of weakness!

I doubt locals will pay much heed to these new limits and carry on as normal. They know the roads. That will be the attitude. Great for visitors to rural Ireland though.

A lot of confusion could have been avoided by using the word "lanes"…

Says it all about how actually thick so many folks are that they can't even understand a basic speed limit change on a certain classification of road.

It's been turned into a 'big complicated thing', lol.

And it's our own, the Irish that are the ones confused by it.

I am all for reducing speed where needed . Not blanket statements like speed kills . Educate people not punish them . Reduce the causes of accidents . stop treating the outcome as a cause . Like i said regional roads have the highest death to by far . SO what we should be doing is putting traffic calming measures where its dangerous . Start policing rural roads better by staffing local garda stations again . Speed kills reduce speed is not an answer if there is no one to police it .

AS for fighting against it on an anonymous forum is moot . Need to get the word out because this is not a council initiative . Its a government imposed proposal . Me talking to the only TD in constituency isn't enough make changes . more people need to talk to their TDs . Yes local bye laws prevent councils from imposing speed limits where they like . Had to fight that already . We won . The new laws however have changed things .

Your argument about insurance is probably the biggest fallacy that people are lead to believe mean its law .That is what your assumption is based off .

Lets say a pedestrian doesn't heed the law and runs out In front of my vehicle . i have no time to stop or avoid them . Did i break the law ? No . SO in a court of law i would be found not guilty of a traffic offence . The whole situation would be seen as i was put in an impossible situation with no way to avoid it . However i am liable for their injuries since i did hit them . Their level of negligence reduces their compensation outside medical costs . Children under the age of ten cant be found liable for their actions . In the eyes of insurance ands the eyes of the law . It still doesn't mean i am guilty of breaking a law .

In this hypothetical situation i would try to take solas in the fact that it was unavoidable . Nothing i could have done would change the outcome . Now to be honest if this happened in real life i probably couldnt cope with it .

The law isnt moral . Its about governing with fairness and the upkeep of safety in society . Every law out there isnt moral as it is a restriction on freedom . We allow these restrictions on freedom so everyone is treated fairly and we can be productive and safe. I feel bad for anyone who died on our roads . What i am questioning here and trying to point out is the lack of common sense of the new laws .

Whats going on is pedestrians/cyclist braking their own laws without punishment . We have on the motoring side people driving in excess of their own and the cars capabilities , and Drink/Drug and driving is a huge problem . We have just introduced speed limits that will catch those that stray over the limit by a few miles an hour . Not catching the troublemakers on our roads . We need policing of our roads and traffic calming measures for dangerous junctions . Not a blanket reduction in speed limits with no one to police it .

The changes today were for some L* roads which had a speed limit of 80km/h and are now 60km/h so your question wouldn't be related to today's changes.

That's correct. It was for some L roads, and not all. The L road I live on has an 80km/h limit and 50km/h limit on different parts and these are not changing (though I wish they were). The only roads that are changing as far as I can tell, are the ones with the 4 diagonal black line road sign, which are mostly located on rural cul-de-sacs and extremely narrow boreens.

However, if you were caught speeding in an area that you could prove had an incorrect speed limit sign (and you were travelling under that "limit", then you could plead your case (with supporting evidence) to a judge

I honestly think this situation cannot arise. Any road with a numeric speed limit sign (whether L, R or N) isn't changing unless the sign itself is changing. The media have made a balls of explaining this and it seems to me that there needs to be an information campaign to explain the meaning of this sign with the diagonal lines on it.

As @KrisW1001 points out above, it's a rural road by simple virtue of the fact that it's not an urban road.

The fact that you even asked just proves my point about many people wrongly believing that 'rural road' and 'local road' mean the same thing.

I think it's a stretch to refer to any stretch of motorway as 'a rural road' just because there are fields on both sides. Parts of the M50 meet that criteria and it's by no means a rural road. A motorway is by definition not a rural road.

I posted in support of your other posts. Some people are that stupid and others here just want, or appear to be pedantic.

On a general note, reduced speed limits on any road wont solve the real problem of a total lack of Garda on the roads to address poor driving and speeding (not just bank holiday weekends).

For a so called rich country, the money and resources put into roads policing is a disgrace. People have died on our roads because a culture has developed that you can do what you want and get away with it.

The elephant in the room is poor enforcement of legislation. Just like the much hyped legislation on scooters and bikes has not seen any reduction in the number of illegal scooters or bikes on the road and paths.

Agree 100% . New speed limits are pointless and may as well not exist since they can't be policed . Garda numbers are dropping , empty rural garda stations and no funds for recruiting more . If government wanted to do something useful they could have spent funds elsewhere .

https://www.irishstatutebook.ie/eli/2024/act/10/section/7/enacted/en/html#sec7

It states ALL LOCAL ROADS reduced to 60km . ALL regional roads reduced to 80km . Dont know how in the name of hell they are going to police all those roads .