Cullen tells Gardai to take speed checks off good roads????

ToxicPaddy

Thought I was dreaming when I read this, but according to a report in one of the newspapers yesterday, Martin Cullen is supposed to have told gardai to take the speed checks off the motorways and dual carriageways and move them to the more dangerous secondary roads where the majority of accidents happen.

Does this mean, the government are finally starting to see sense??? :eek:

THE END OF THE WORLD IS NIGH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Our man in Havana

I won't believe it till I see it. Sounds like more electioneering tbh.

ToxicPaddy

I cant find a link to it anywhere so I must have been dreaming about that perfect world again

Our man in Havana

It's in this mornings Indo. Your not dreaming it.

Tipsy Mac

Would be much better if the Gardai actually understood the law and didn't ignore it themselves... Yesterday I spotted a Garda Transit van going on their usual food run to Subway just opposite Connolly station at 17.30 or so (I think that is rush hour?) and parking first in the Bus lane and then him having the "decency" to instead park it up on the path leaving little or no space for pedestrians to pass. This happens every single day I pass the place either one of the normal Garda fleet or a branch car park here in this way between the hours of 1700-1800, it's a disgrace that they block traffic and seem to be a pack of idiots who are either thick or above the law, I am tempted to get a camera and record the movements to post up on Youtube for all to see.

ToxicPaddy

Bond-007 wrote:

It's in this mornings Indo. Your not dreaming it.

I shall say it again so..

THE END OF THE WORLD IS NIGH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Stephen

Holy crap. Martin Cullen in good idea shocker. Someone must have put something in his food.

smarty

Tomorrows headline will be that it was a staged press release and it is an extortion attempt by a criminal element.

He would never make a rational comment like this, would he?

Seth Brundle

Bond-007 wrote:

It's in this mornings Indo. Your not dreaming it.

Don't forget that it was the indo that reported i - they may have been dreaming!

speck

Its all true they've even started to implement it already, My husband passed by some on the back roads around kilbride tis morning

mike65

heres the relevant part of the article

GARDAI have been ordered by the Government to stop concentrating speed traps on dual-carriageways and motorways.

Garda Commissioner Noel Conroy has been told the Government wants the speed checks located mainly on the country's back roads, single-lane main roads and other high-risk crash and accident locations.

The move, revealed yesterday, follows sustained criticism of gardai spending too much time on motorways and not putting enough resources to catch speeding drivers on the roads where most of the carnage is occuring.

Transport Minister Martin Cullen revealed he has told Mr Conroy speed checks on motorists must be concentrated on the dangerous blackspots and known high accident stretches.

"I've made it clear to the Garda Commissioner and the National Roads Authority that we want high visibility on the dangerous blackspots," he said.

"It is not good enough to employ all the resources on motorways and on the safer roads."

According to the minister, both the commissioner and the roads authority agreed with him on this.

Research has shown that motorways and modern dual-carriageways, which have no crossing traffic movements, are the safest here and abroad.

Mr Cullen said research here showed that these types of roads accounted for less than 2pc of deaths and injuries arising from crashes.

The minister also hit out at local authorities for not introducing special low-speed limits at vulnerable locations.

Mike.

Thats it they have bought my vote

Stephen

Good plan but those fvcks still aren't getting my vote!

smash

Is it April 1st or what? if they do this I'll cry with happiness.... lol

Seth Brundle

Thinking about it but the gardai tend to ignore the Minister for Justice so why would they listen to the Min. of Transport?

unkel

How many times have officials promised this over the past few years? I lost count. Will believe it when I haven't seen a Gatso van / laser gun on any safe motorway / dual carriageway for 3 months

cormie

So who's going to start "speeding" on these roads now?

Hal1

cormie wrote:

So who's going to start "speeding" on these roads now?

YORE MA!

/me runs...


Yes its a good idea, maybe its only cause they are low on resources and this is there first plan of action on reducing costs.

TimG

I've seen 'em twice on the M50 near sandyford in the last week, they have been shooting fish in a barrel at killmac alot lately also. Still no sign of them on the back roads after boy racers though!

Kashkai

This may be true.

Driving home last night, I didn't see any cop or coppette in the usual locations, i.e. outside Heuston in their white unmarked van, outside the Foxhunter on the Lucan Road or on the M4, but wait for it...............

I passed one standing miserably in the rain on a back road between Maynooth and Prosperous. I was doing 70kph on a 80kph road so I wasn't worried but I've often been passed by guys doing close to a ton on this narrow back road. If this policy remains, then christ almighty, but perhaps common sense has arrived in Ireland.

I wish....................:eek:

prospect

Stephen wrote:

Holy crap. Martin Cullen in good idea shocker. Someone must have put something in his food.

Yes it was all his idea, thats why he gets about €100K per annum. No one else ever thought of that, and it has not been brought uo time and time again in every road safety discussion throughout the media.....

SouperComputer

/holds breath

billsteersnose

The was a speed check this morning on the N11 just past Ashford. I was definitely doing 110-115 in a 100 zone but I didnt get pulled over. The guard wasnt even looking through the camera (?!). Do you reckon I can still get done for that? Dont they usually pull you over to give you a ticket on the spot?

IrishRover

Stephen wrote:

Holy crap. Martin Cullen in good idea shocker.

Haha
Wow though!

Stephen wrote:

Good plan but those fvcks still aren't getting my vote!

Very much agree here too!

Hehe yeah, Prospect, I suppose that's why they get paid the big bucks what with the amazing insight they have.

KeRbDoG

billsteersnose wrote:

The was a speed check this morning on the N11 just past Ashford. I was definitely doing 110-115 in a 100 zone but I didnt get pulled over. The guard wasnt even looking through the camera (?!). Do you reckon I can still get done for that? Dont they usually pull you over to give you a ticket on the spot?

I could be wrong, but the Guard needs to pull yea over there and then to give yea a ticket.
Try doing 100km or less in a 100km zone.

stratos

That explains the tripod sticking out of my front grill ! thought it was a squirrel.
oh well.

jd

billsteersnose wrote:

The was a speed check this morning on the N11 just past Ashford. I was definitely doing 110-115 in a 100 zone but I didnt get pulled over.

Is this what was indicated on your car's speedo, or did you use gps equipment. Speedos generally overstate your speed by between 5 and 15 %

Victor

Indo wrote:

Mr Cullen said research here showed that these types of roads accounted for less than 2pc of deaths and injuries arising from crashes.

Of course only 3% of speed checks are on these roads.

Speeding on a motorway is just as inappropriate as speeding on any other road.

IrishRover

Victor wrote:

Of course only 3% of speed checks are on these roads.

Don't understand, is this a real figure or are you making a point with sarcasm? Genuinely don't understand btw.

Speeding on a motorway is just as inappropriate as speeding on any other road.

I think most people here would disagree with that. Speaking for myself anyway, I definitely would. Seems like a no brainer for me to argue that doing 140km/h on a clear motorway is of negligible risk when compared to doing 100km/h outside a school at 4pm on a weekday.

dsender

Victor wrote:

Of course only 3% of speed checks are on these roads.

Speeding on a motorway is just as inappropriate as speeding on any other road.

I disagree. Speeding on a back road is far more dangerous than speeding on a motorway.
I think I know the point your making - speeding is still speeding hence it being outlawed and dangerous but there are better places to speed if you choose to do so.

^the word speeding is in there too much

Victor

IrishRover wrote:

Don't understand, is this a real figure or are you making a point with sarcasm? Genuinely don't understand btw.

See quote

http://www.garda.ie/angarda/press.html

Garda enforcement activities are planned and targeted, not only in respect of types of vehicles but also at locations of highest risk / collision occurrence. In that regard some 2% of Garda enforcement activity takes place on motorway or dual-carriageways type roads, which accounts approximately 500 kms. Some 1% of fatalities occur on this type of road.

I think most people here would disagree with that. Speaking for myself anyway, I definitely would. Seems like a no brainer for me to argue that doing 140km/h on a clear motorway is of negligible risk when compared to doing 100km/h outside a school at 4pm on a weekday.

Now lets be fair here, how about comparing:
* 120km/h on a clear motorway (design speed 100km/h)
* 120km/h on a clear road (design speed 100km/h)
* 70km/h on a clear road (design speed 50km/h)
* 70km/h on a clear road (design speed 50km/h) outside a school

I'm not sure if it is appropriate to carry out speed checks as such at a school. However, other measures should be done at schools.

dsender wrote:

I disagree. Speeding on a back road is far more dangerous than speeding on a motorway.

It depends on the relavity of the speeding and the surrounds.

I think I know the point your making - speeding is still speeding hence it being outlawed and dangerous but there are better places to speed if you choose to do so.

Yes, speeding is speeding. Roads have a design speed and you shouldn't exceed it.