Speed check question

Very interesting thread.

Speed kills... O course it does.. 2 cars traveling in oppesite directions traveling at 100kph each. 1 idiot is texting or drinking a can of coke and crosses the white line SMASH... 2 dead. The speed killed them, thats just physics. But they were not speeding... its bad driving and bad attitude thats killing road users.  We are all responsible. And I think the speed checks will do nothing to kerb the deaths. I am not on a high moral ground as I do speed and every one has at some point, any one who claims different is a lair. I have been infront of the Justice and lost but before points were interjuced. (no points yet, not because I dont speed, just been lucky)

"lets ban smoking.. fullstop and we would save many more lives than if we banned the car"

i better stop now as this topic gets me mad.

Better driving tests and experiance before you take to the road. A 17 year old should not have the god given right to take to the roads in what ever car they can afford, its just stupid.

Mick

[QUOTE=flyingalexf68]@Mick520i 
but don't agree with you about the 17 year old.

I too was 17 and bought my own car and insured it. I drove like I knew it all. I too had driven around fields and private roads froma an early age, but as soon as I got into a car with my mates on a bank holiday weekend I could get to cork in 2 1/2 hours.. driving like a d1ckhead. I accecpt that now but would have told you to feck off when I was 17 if you told me to slow down. And Im not that old now(31). We need better training and enforcemant of the laws not just speeding, from an early age if we are to change the mind set of young and old drivers.

But hey Im sure Gay Byrne will  be able to reach out to the youth of today and convince them to drive safely.

best of luck and safe driving all.

Mick

flyingalexf68 wrote: Well there you go Mick. Thats where you and I differ. I never drove like a d1ckhead. Yes I did mess and have fun but in safe places. I always had FULL knowledge of ALL the rules of the road and respect for them. (speed has a Limit, which can change, so is not a rule). Thats why I don't think painting all 17 year olds with the same brush and having special rules for them is fair. Anyone here done the IAM (Institute of Advanced Motorists) Advanced Driver Training co****? I'd love to do it. Have to get some free time. I did the Hibernian Ignition co**** a few years ago, which is run with the IAM. Learned a couple of things. Don't think the 1 day co**** is enough though.

Sorry mate I wasnt having a go, I just think we must treat all new drivers the same as it would be impossible to tell who will be carefull and who will be irrisponsible behind the wheel. I now feel that I am a good driver but only because of my experiance. (Trucks for 4 years and 40Kmls per year driving company car) Also autotesting teaches you good car control.

Hey we can bash this topic to death all day long and no one will agree.

Mick

Have to say this has turned into a juicy thread.... to throw in my two cents.

Does speed contribute to road death... yes. Naturally... If cars were not moving they wouldn't kill people! Personally I believe there is WHOLE LOT MORE PROBLEMS on the roads other than people doing 5 or 10 miles over the speed limit.

I drive a motor bike in and out of the city centre every day of the week. To be honest I've lost count of the amount of times I've nearly been taken out of it. People pulling out without looking, changing lanes without looking, the last 4 technique for red lights, making u-turns without looking, making a jump for an illegal right turn, etc. etc. The list goes on and one.... the main problem I feel is observation BIG TIME.

There are six times more fatalities off motor bikes than cars and I've seen plenty of crashes where motor bikes have been TAKEN OUT OF IT! by drivers not looking where they are going.

The main flaw with speed limits is they are designed for worst possible conditions when being factored. Is 70mph on the M50 during rushhour safe.... with the way people live on each others bumpers in Ireland HELL NO!!! Is 70 or 80 safe on the M50 on a dry sunny day with very few other cars on the road... YES. You also have to factor in the car itself.... if you're doing 80 mph in a 1980 Fiesta on the M50 at rush hour.... first of all CONGRATULATIONS!!! for getting it to 80 but start saying hail mary's if anything happens. If you've doing 80 on an open road in a performance car you will easily reduce speed, change lane, speed up etc. with little fear of losing control of the car.

I disagree strongly with the way speed limits are policed in Ireland. There are far too many black spots where people aren't checked. I've actually seen a three car pile up on the N4 on a Sunday afternoon because of a speed van. Sitting on a straight stretch of road, 2 lanes and a hard shoulder!! Would that accident have happened if it wasn't there..... definitely not.

I've lost count of the amount of times I've seen speed checks at the end of the quays at Guinness' and slightly further out heading up towards the junction at the end of the Con Colbert Road... the little layby in on the left. The van always parks right in behind the wall.....

This is pure entrapment... rather than the Gardai getting down onto the quays to help the traffic move they wait till people can actually get going and do them for 35mph in a 30 or something crazy like that... thats as fast as you are going to be going there.

All I can say is thank God motor bikes don't have reg plates on the front.... I've gone past that van a few times over the years.

To be honest I would love if the Gardai installed cameras on motor cyclists helmets... the amount of people you would see breaking lights, sitting on the phone in traffic, texting in traffic, changing lanes without looking, etc. Clamping down on THAT would make a difference not doing people for being 5 mph over the limit in a 30 zone where there is nobody else on the road.....

A long winded rant but I've got it off my chest.... probably is a troll but at least I have my point of view aired.