Heard on Radio Four this moring that ROI has now converted all speed limit signs to Km/h. The resulting approximation and rounding from the previous mile/h has lowered speed limits.
Good or bad?
Somebody, I cannot remember who or what he was, complained that motorists would be confused when travelling over the border from Northern Ireland.
He also said that drivers would need to look at the speedometer more often.
Excellent, I say.
-- Amazon: "If you are interested in 'Asimov's I-Robot', you may also be interested in 'Garfield - The Movie'. ... erm, how do they figure that one out?
Heard on Radio Four this moring that ROI has now converted all speed limit signs to Km/h. The resulting approximation and rounding from the previous mile/h has lowered speed limits.
Good or bad?
Bad for motorists who /really need/ to get there a minute or so earlier, good for everyone else. Probably slightly annoying for a few days before you get used to driving at the slightly lower speed.
Be interesting to see what effect the minor drop in speed limits has on KSI figures. Probably be lost in the random noise, but hey ho.
"Richard Bates" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:[email hidden]...
Quoted message said:
Heard on Radio Four this moring that ROI has now converted all speed limit signs to Km/h. The resulting approximation and rounding from the previous mile/h has lowered speed limits.
The speed limits officially change on Wednesday night at midnight.
Not all of the speed limits have been lowered. A few have been raised.
The default speeds for towns and villages etc. will be 50kph (31.1mph) for national roads it will be 100kph (62.1mph) For motorways (and some national dual carriageway roads) 120kph (74.6mph)
Other limits may be reduced On regional and local roads - the default limit will be cut from 60mph to 80kph (49.7mph) current 50mph limits will become 80kph (49.7mph) current 40mph limits will become 60kph (37.3mph)
"Richard Bates" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:[email hidden]...
Quoted message said:
Heard on Radio Four this moring that ROI has now converted all speed limit signs to Km/h. The resulting approximation and rounding from the previous mile/h has *some* lowered speed limits.
My emphasis - IIRC limits on N and R roads have lowered, whilst limits on motorways have been raised.
Quoted message said:
Good or bad?
From what I gather from people's experiences of driving in the ROI, the changes seem reasonable.
Quoted message said:
Somebody, I cannot remember who or what he was, complained that motorists would be confused when travelling over the border from Northern Ireland.
No more so than when crossing any other border - one should be expected to know the laws of the land one is in.
Quoted message said:
He also said that drivers would need to look at the speedometer more often.
Excellent, I say.
TBH, I think you are massively missing the point - from what I gather the ROI change is simply to change speed limits to km/h - and nothing more.
TBH, I think you are massively missing the point - from what I gather the ROI change is simply to change speed limits to km/h - and nothing more.
And another point missed is how good are people at keeping at or below the speed limits anyway? Many people drive at what *feels* like the right speed after a brief glance at their speedo, "Right, I'm going 50 at the moment and it feels like this. I don't need to look at that thing with numbers and that pointy bit again." (not necessarily a conscious decision). Never mind the fact that their speed will often creep upwards fairly rapidly :-/
Heard on Radio Four this moring that ROI has now converted all speed limit signs to Km/h. The resulting approximation and rounding from the previous mile/h has lowered speed limits.
Only one major limit changes down in any substantial way: R-roads (equiv to B-roads) go from 60mph to 80km/h. Urban 30mph actually rises marginally to 50km/h, and motorways rise from 70mph to 120km/h.
Actually happens tomorrow night.
Brendan -- Brendan Halpin, Department of Sociology, University of Limerick, Ireland Tel: w +353-61-213147 f +353-61-202569 h +353-61-338562; Room F2-025 x 3147 [email hidden] http://www.ul.ie/sociology/brendan.halpin.html
Heard on Radio Four this moring that ROI has now converted all speed limit signs to Km/h.
He also said that drivers would need to look at the speedometer more often.
Excellent, I say.
Humm, a disaster more likely, looking at a speedo and trying to check the speed against the new limits whilst driving. Driver awareness is bad enough at the best of times, but each look down away from the road is bad enough, let alone trying to work out which point on which scale on a speedo as well, means more time to miss and register someone else on the road.
Heard on Radio Four this moring that ROI has now converted all speed limit signs to Km/h.
He also said that drivers would need to look at the speedometer more often.
Excellent, I say.
Humm, a disaster more likely, looking at a speedo and trying to check the speed against the new limits whilst driving. Driver awareness is bad enough at the best of times, but each look down away from the road is bad enough, let alone trying to work out which point on which scale on a speedo as well, means more time to miss and register someone else on the road.
Humm, a disaster more likely, looking at a speedo and trying to check the speed against the new limits whilst driving.
This wouldn't be a problem if more people didn't regard limits as targets to sit at...
As it is, in the longer term the speeds should (/if/ enforced) come down, plus it possibly brings forward the day when Britain joins the rest of the civilized world in having a single measurement system in use.
Pete. -- Peter Clinch Medical Physics IT Officer Tel 44 1382 660111 ext. 33637 Univ. of Dundee, Ninewells Hospital Fax 44 1382 640177 Dundee DD1 9SY Scotland UK net [email hidden] http://www.dundee.ac.uk/~pjclinch/
Humm, a disaster more likely, looking at a speedo and trying to check the speed against the new limits whilst driving.
This wouldn't be a problem if more people didn't regard limits as targets to sit at...
As it is, in the longer term the speeds should (/if/ enforced) come down, plus it possibly brings forward the day when Britain joins the rest of the civilized world in having a single measurement system in use.
Pete. -- Peter Clinch Medical Physics IT Officer Tel 44 1382 660111 ext. 33637 Univ. of Dundee, Ninewells Hospital Fax 44 1382 640177 Dundee DD1 9SY Scotland UK net [email hidden] http://www.dundee.ac.uk/~pjclinch/
"Simon Brooke" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:[email hidden]...
Quoted message said:
in message <[email hidden]>, Nathaniel Porter
(') said:
TBH, I think you are massively missing the point - from what I gather the ROI change is simply to change speed limits to km/h - and nothing more.
'Tis you who are missing the point: 60mph limits are being converted to 80Km/h limits, a 17% reduction in speed.
And they go up slightly on N roads and motorways, as well as in towns. There is some window dressing regarding the slightly lower limit on R roads the slightly higher limits on motorways, and the provision for new 30km/h areas - but the purpose of the change is simply to change the units used for speed limits, to bring them more into line with Europe, and other signs in Ireland which have used metric since the 1970s.
"Simon Brooke" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:[email hidden]...
Quoted message said:
in message <[email hidden]>, Nathaniel Porter
(') said:
TBH, I think you are massively missing the point - from what I gather the ROI change is simply to change speed limits to km/h - and nothing more.
'Tis you who are missing the point: 60mph limits are being converted to 80Km/h limits, a 17% reduction in speed.
And they go up slightly on N roads and motorways, as well as in towns. There is some window dressing regarding the slightly lower limit on R roads the slightly higher limits on motorways, and the provision for new 30km/h areas - but the purpose of the change is simply to change the units used for speed limits, to bring them more into line with Europe, and other signs in Ireland which have used metric since the 1970s.
Heard on Radio Four this moring that ROI has now converted all speed limit signs to Km/h. He also said that drivers would need to look at the speedometer more often.
Excellent, I say.
Humm, a disaster more likely, looking at a speedo and trying to check the speed against the new limits whilst driving. Driver awareness is bad enough at the best of times, but each look down away from the road is bad enough, let alone trying to work out which point on which scale on a speedo as well, means more time to miss and register someone else on the road.
Nah, that's part of the so-called 'safespeed' perpetual argument against speed cameras, and it's a lot of tosh. As someone else said, the only significant change is the one from 60mph to 80kph. Anyone who is capable of receiving clue should quickly be able to adjust. It shouldn't take more than one or two glances at the speedo at first encounter with the 80kph limit to determine what it 'looks like' as you pass through your surroundings. After that you look at your surroundings and drive by 'feel'. I drove my last car for about three years without any speedo at all as it was broken when I bought it, and never got a ticket, nor held anyone up worrying about whether I might not be going over, including occasionally driving past the inevitable speed cameras. It's not difficult to get a 'feel' for speed and take your clues from the surroundings.
Heard on Radio Four this moring that ROI has now converted all speed limit signs to Km/h. He also said that drivers would need to look at the speedometer more often.
Excellent, I say.
Humm, a disaster more likely, looking at a speedo and trying to check the speed against the new limits whilst driving. Driver awareness is bad enough at the best of times, but each look down away from the road is bad enough, let alone trying to work out which point on which scale on a speedo as well, means more time to miss and register someone else on the road.
Nah, that's part of the so-called 'safespeed' perpetual argument against speed cameras, and it's a lot of tosh. As someone else said, the only significant change is the one from 60mph to 80kph. Anyone who is capable of receiving clue should quickly be able to adjust. It shouldn't take more than one or two glances at the speedo at first encounter with the 80kph limit to determine what it 'looks like' as you pass through your surroundings. After that you look at your surroundings and drive by 'feel'. I drove my last car for about three years without any speedo at all as it was broken when I bought it, and never got a ticket, nor held anyone up worrying about whether I might not be going over, including occasionally driving past the inevitable speed cameras. It's not difficult to get a 'feel' for speed and take your clues from the surroundings.
Heard on Radio Four this moring that ROI has now converted all speed limit signs to Km/h. He also said that drivers would need to look at the speedometer more often.
Excellent, I say.
Humm, a disaster more likely, looking at a speedo and trying to check the speed against the new limits whilst driving. Driver awareness is bad enough at the best of times, but each look down away from the road is bad enough, let alone trying to work out which point on which scale on a speedo as well, means more time to miss and register someone else on the road.
Nah, that's part of the so-called 'safespeed' perpetual argument against speed cameras, and it's a lot of tosh. As someone else said, the only significant change is the one from 60mph to 80kph. Anyone who is capable of receiving clue should quickly be able to adjust. It shouldn't take more than one or two glances at the speedo at first encounter with the 80kph limit to determine what it 'looks like' as you pass through your surroundings. After that you look at your surroundings and drive by 'feel'. I drove my last car for about three years without any speedo at all as it was broken when I bought it, and never got a ticket, nor held anyone up worrying about whether I might not be going over, including occasionally driving past the inevitable speed cameras. It's not difficult to get a 'feel' for speed and take your clues from the surroundings.
Heard on Radio Four this moring that ROI has now converted all speed limit signs to Km/h.
He also said that drivers would need to look at the speedometer more often.
Excellent, I say.
Humm, a disaster more likely, looking at a speedo and trying to check the speed against the new limits whilst driving. Driver awareness is bad enough at the best of times, but each look down away from the road is bad enough, let alone trying to work out which point on which scale on a speedo as well, means more time to miss and register someone else on the road.
Of course, this is in a country were speed cameras are very rare, penalty points less than 2 years old, and you only get two points out of twelve for drink driving.
So there's not a huge worry in drivers about being caught speeding.
Heard on Radio Four this moring that ROI has now converted all speed limit signs to Km/h.
He also said that drivers would need to look at the speedometer more often.
Excellent, I say.
Humm, a disaster more likely, looking at a speedo and trying to check the speed against the new limits whilst driving. Driver awareness is bad enough at the best of times, but each look down away from the road is bad enough, let alone trying to work out which point on which scale on a speedo as well, means more time to miss and register someone else on the road.
Of course, this is in a country were speed cameras are very rare, penalty points less than 2 years old, and you only get two points out of twelve for drink driving.
So there's not a huge worry in drivers about being caught speeding.
