Speed Ramps

ergonomics

cyclopath2001 wrote: »

Why not? It's a legal obligation to give way to pedestrians once they have started to cross.

It'd also be a considerate thing to do.

Obviously if they're on the road I'm not just going to barrel past them but if they're standing at the side of the road expecting me to stop it ain't gonna happen cause it's not a pedestrian crossing. It's not my fault they're too stupid to tell the difference.

hallstatt

I think it proper order to have them around schools ect. but jesus its absolutely got out of hand.There shaggin everwhere!!.Im sick to death of them,especially around my neck of the woods its absolutely gone crazy.And some of them are actually dangerous! I was in greystones recently at night and there was one road with ramps which had no lighting and impossible to see to the naked eye untill I smashed over one, smacking the underside of the car and nearly throwing myself thru the window.

parsi

Berty wrote: »

You should have seen Limerick at Christmas so. You would have cried. It was a free for all at the main junction of William Street and O'Connell St at Keanes Jewellers and all the way up William Street.

and along O'Connell St in front of Todds (as was)...

Del2005

cyclopath2001 wrote: »

Why not? It's a legal obligation to give way to pedestrians once they have started to cross.

That's only at a junction where they have taken control of it by stepping onto the road before a car enters the junction. When they step onto the speedbump thinking it's a crossing point they're just stupid and the car already has control of the road, so they have to wait for the car to release control to them to cross.

It'd also be a considerate thing to do.

It's also considerate not too stand in front of large moving objects.

cyclopath2001

Del2005 wrote: »

the car already has control of the road.....so they have to wait for the car to release control to them to cross.

Where exactly does the law say that?

AugustusMaximus

MYOB wrote: »

Kildare County Council are fans of ones which need to be crossed at about 20km/h - which they seem to place exclusively in 50km/h zones. In fact, I've never seen a 30km/h zone in the entire county.

There is a 30kph zone in Ballinacollig out by the Catholic Church. This is the ONLY 30kph I know off.

Funnilly enough there are no speed bumps on this section of road if memory serves.

L1011

AugustusMaximus wrote: »

There is a 30kph zone in Ballinacollig out by the Catholic Church. This is the ONLY 30kph I know off.

Funnilly enough there are no speed bumps on this section of road if memory serves.

Theres many part-time one which use illuminated signage to 'come in to force' so to speak around schools up this end of the country; and theres a few permanently signed ones in Dublin city centre.

Not one in the speedbump riddled hellholes of Straffan, edges of Maynooth, etc. Weird that...

Rovi

While driving an off-road competition vehicle, they're barely noticeable, and are also great for getting rid of tailgaters.





Allegedly...

Del2005

cyclopath2001 wrote: »

Where exactly does the law say that?

Hagar

There's a few multi-syllable words in that, have you nothing simpler? He's a cyclist remember.

cyclopath2001

Del2005 wrote: »

So, all you could find is a childrens's poster? That's not what I asked for.

The reason we have speed-bumps is because so many drivers don't know the law.

L-M

This just reminds me of a funny story. Was in the car with the mother, she was driving along at 60-70kmph and went over a bad speed bump. Car got an awful thump and i looked at her as she just kept driving, didn't even notice. There are two bumps within the space for 500 yards, so i thought she would have learned her lesson for the second one, but no, over again at the same speed.

I looked at her "Do you not slow down for them!?"

To which she replied "Slow down for what?"

:rolleyes:

Speed bumps in general don't slow me down much. There are three types of these bumps.

Speed humps
These are the one's that go up, across for 2 -3 feet and down again. The easier of the three. These are completely pointless as there is no need to slow down.

Small metal bumps
These are the worse of the three. Small little metal lumps in the middle of the road that will eventually damage you, or your car at some point. These have to be taken slow.

Normal bumps
These are in the middle, no too fast, not too slow. Somewhat effective.

I don't care about speed bumps, i don't take much notice of them. I'm sure they slow people down alright, only for them to have to accelarate back up to the speed they were previously at. I'm sure all the braking, gear changing, accelorating and general wear on tear on the car is worth the slowing down for two hundred yards..

L1011

Type 1 there are designed like that to let ambulances take them at full speed. However, even a fecking Fiat Panda is wide enough to ride them at full speed and not feel a thing... they appear to be designed to slow down Nissan Micras - like they're not driven slow enough already!

eringobragh

Limerick-man wrote: »

This just reminds me of a funny story. Was in the car with the mother, she was driving along at 60-70kmph and went over a bad speed bump. Car got an awful thump and i looked at her as she just kept driving, didn't even notice. There are two bumps within the space for 500 yards, so i thought she would have learned her lesson for the second one, but no, over again at the same speed.

I looked at her "Do you not slow down for them!?"

To which she replied "Slow down for what?"

:rolleyes:

Speed bumps in general don't slow me down much. There are three types of these bumps.

Speed humps
These are the one's that go up, across for 2 -3 feet and down again. The easier of the three. These are completely pointless as there is no need to slow down.

Small metal bumps
These are the worse of the three. Small little metal lumps in the middle of the road that will eventually damage you, or your car at some point. These have to be taken slow.

Normal bumps
These are in the middle, no too fast, not too slow. Somewhat effective.

I don't care about speed bumps, i don't take much notice of them. I'm sure they slow people down alright, only for them to have to accelarate back up to the speed they were previously at. I'm sure all the braking, gear changing, accelorating and general wear on tear on the car is worth the slowing down for two hundred yards..

Not to forget the ones that are made for paving bricks, hit them over 20k and your minus a tyre/alloy or a big dent of as metal wheel

They used to have thoswe in Drumcondra

cyclopath2001

Limerick-man wrote: »

I don't care about speed bumps, i don't take much notice of them. I'm sure they slow people down alright, only for them to have to accelarate back up to the speed they were previously at. I'm sure all the braking, gear changing, accelorating and general wear on tear on the car is worth the slowing down for two hundred yards..

In my neighbourhood, we've lots of them, I just drive at about 35kph (limit's 40) & keep it steady. Ease off the gas a little on each ramp and ease it back on again afterwards. No need for dramatic braking, acceleration, gear changing & hissy sound effects.

It's just a matter of maintaining a calm, well-considered average. They're not a challenge, we wouldn't need them at all if everyone would just go easy on the gas.

Abraham

The most effective speed bump I know of is the single bump on Tesco's drive-in road at their Clearwater facility just off the Finglas Dual Carriageway, D9. It's an absolute humdinger and defies all known logic for it's existence.

It resembles either a laid flat telephone pole or smallish tree, It's bang on a 90degree corner.........it's beside a flat pancake roundabout..........it's right beside a pedestrian crossing point.....it only goes halfway across the road ( driver shall not kill going in but coming out laden with Tesco goodies is a different matter) and it's positioned so that those drivers going into the petrol pumps don't have to drive over it but all those going into every other business in Clearwater have no option whatsoever but to thump over it.
So as well as the cheapest fuel in the land, garage callers get a dispensation from speed bump travel but no brownie points for ordinary retail shoppers.

Am I right or what ?

L1011

cyclopath2001 wrote: »

In my neighbourhood, we've lots of them, I just drive at about 35kph (limit's 40) & keep it steady. Ease off the gas a little on each ramp and ease it back on again afterwards. No need for dramatic braking, acceleration, gear changing & hissy sound effects.

It's just a matter of maintaining a calm, well-considered average. They're not a challenge, we wouldn't need them at all if everyone would just go easy on the gas.

Where is this legal impossibility of a place you live in?

40km/h is not a valid speed limit in Ireland.

ttm

MYOB wrote: »

Where is this legal impossibility of a place you live in?

40km/h is not a valid speed limit in Ireland.

The "Rules of the road" are on the web...

http://www.rulesoftheroad.ie

And on the speed limit pages http://www.rulesoftheroad.ie/rules-for-driving/speed-limits/speed-limits_on-roads.html you'll find that local authorities can apply any speed limit they like.

Also regarding pedestrians crossing the road as mention earlier in this tread http://www.rulesoftheroad.ie/rules-for-driving/speed-limits/speed-limits_on-roads.html has the info.

L1011

ttm wrote: »

The "Rules of the road" are on the web...

http://www.rulesoftheroad.ie

And on the speed limit pages http://www.rulesoftheroad.ie/rules-for-driving/speed-limits/speed-limits_on-roads.html you'll find that local authorities can apply any speed limit they like.

Also regarding pedestrians crossing the road as mention earlier in this tread http://www.rulesoftheroad.ie/rules-for-driving/speed-limits/speed-limits_on-roads.html has the info.

The ROTR is not the law. It is an interpretation of; and in this case is wrong.

As per the Road Traffic Act 2004 (http://www.oireachtas.ie/documents/bills28/acts/2004/a4404.pdf), the only valid speed limits in Ireland are 30km/h, 50km/h, 60km/h, 80km/h, 100km/h and 120km/h.

Please don't preach without making sure you're correct first.

edit: The ROTR says no such thing as to what you claim it says about speed limits. It specifically shows ALL the valid speed limit signs, which correlate to all the valid limits.

Bobo78

Did anyone of ye ever noticed few of the speed bumps in Limerick in Crescent Shopping Centre just where the cinema is? They are quite thick and long, about two years ago when I drove over them at around 40 kilometres I knocked the back box of my car I noticed it straight away becouse my car sounded like Glanza:o:(

ttm

Being preachy and wrong at least makes people check their facts and quote relevant sources rather than expecting everyone to believe them just because they say so.

So as local authorities are limited to the speeds listed above then perhaps in some areas they try and enforce a speed lower than 30km/h with speed bumps which have to negotiated even slower?

L1011

ttm wrote: »

Being preachy and wrong at least makes people check their facts and quote relevant sources rather than expecting everyone to believe them just because they say so.

So as local authorities are limited to the speeds listed above then perhaps in some areas they try and enforce a speed lower than 30km/h with speed bumps which have to negotiated even slower?

So you make other people 'check their facts' (Which I didn't have to, only had to find a PDF of the correct legislation) rather than spending ten seconds doing it yourself? Smacks of laziness of the highest order. Providing 'sources' and basically lying about them is even worse.

Do you not agree that to 'try and enforce' a lower speed limit than posted is in fact seriously dangerous to drivers and their vehicles? Just as councils shouldn't post country boreens as 80km/h (as they are known to do); they shouldn't be placing things impassable at 30km/h in 30km/h zones.

Or more particularly, they should not be placing things impassable at 30km/h in posted 50km/h zones when it is entirely within their power to reduce the risk by posting it as 30km/h - and placing suitable or no hazards.

Caliden

There's on in Nuig going from the back of the campus into the student accomdation and I'd say its about a foot and a half high. Its some joke.
Whats makes it funnier is that its not even on a long stretch of road. i.e. < 200 yards after a corner

ttm

MYOB wrote: »

Do you not agree that to 'try and enforce' a lower speed limit than posted is in fact seriously dangerous to drivers and their vehicles? Just as councils shouldn't post country boreens as 80km/h (as they are known to do); they shouldn't be placing things impassable at 30km/h in 30km/h zones.

It might be dangerous to drivers who aren't driving with due care and attention but if you hit a speedbump too fast and damage your car it has to be your own fault. I'm not saying its a good idea to enforce lower speed limits with rediculus speed ramps in the wrong place but once they are there they have to be treated sensibly.

I'd agree that you should be driving so as not to impeed the progress of other road users but speed limits don't mean you have to drive at exactly that speed. I'm not going to get preachy or anything (much ) but doesn't it say somewhere in the ROTR that you are supposed to drive according to the road conditions? So a big fat speedbump is part of the road and alters the road condition therefore you have to drive accordingly.

Thats not to say that some speedbumps aren't very badly implemented and are either too high, too long or too steep on and off, in which case they are dangerous but that soon becomes obvious and I've never seen a really stupidly high speed bump last that long before the workmen are back changing it around.

The problem unfortunalty is that people just don't keep under the speed limit so if the limit is 30km/h for some special reason I'd doubt many people would drive that slow so in go the speed bumps.

Abraham

I try to ensure I'm not a slouch on the roads and I have two penalty points that show that on at least one occasion I wasn't.
But answer me this if you will.....why is it that drivers in a rush have an expectation that those occupying the road space in front of them should instantly take on all the stresses and life pressures of the ones behind ?

Quint

As for pedestrians crossing:
http://www.rulesoftheroad.ie/rules-for-pedestrians-cyclists-motorcyclists/pedestrians/pedestrians_crossing-the-road.html

Do let any traffic coming in either direction pass, then look right and left again.

Johnny Utah

I hate them and I go out of my way to avoid them. Speed ramps should be banned!

They are utterly pointless and serve no purpose other than making work for friends of councillers, sorry contractors, and damaging the underneath of cars.

Most people don't slow down for them, and those that do are probably careful drivers in any event. I have a car which is low to the ground, so I always approach speed ramps very carefully, usually in second gear. For the worst speed ramps (usually in car-parks), I will stop and go over them in first gear.

Some of the speed ramps found in private car-parks are ridiculous. For example, the speed ramps in Carlisle gym in Kimmage are way too steep and there are marks on these ramps where they have scratched, and most likely caused damage to, the underneath of cars.

Recenty, a bracket on the underbody of my car was damaged beyond repair and it cost just over €100 to replace. This was obviously caused by a speed ramp, despite the fact that I always take great care when going over these stupid ramps.:mad:

FloorBoard

Johnny Utah wrote: »

I hate them and I go out of my way to avoid them. Speed ramps should be banned!

They are utterly pointless and serve no purpose other than making work for friends of councillers, sorry contractors, and damaging the underneath of cars.

Most people don't slow down for them, and those that do are probably careful drivers in any event. I have a car which is low to the ground, so I always approach speed ramps very carefully, usually in second gear. For the worst speed ramps (usually in car-parks), I will stop and go over them in first gear.

Some of the speed ramps found in private car-parks are ridiculous. For example, the speed ramps in Carlisle gym in Kimmage are way too steep and there are marks on these ramps where they have scratched, and most likely caused damage to, the underneath of cars.

Recenty, a bracket on the underbody of my car was damaged beyond repair and it cost just over €100 to replace. This was obviously caused by a speed ramp, despite the fact that I always take great care when going over these stupid ramps.:mad:

A lot of good points there.

P.C.

My mother got stuck on top of a 'speed ramp' in a shopping centre car park, and had to get a few strong men to lift the car off.


But, to reply to the question as to why there are so many:

The govenrmnet got a special price if they placed an order for X amount, to be built over Y years. They took the deal, and now they have to put these things somewhere, as they have now run out of roads going past schools, etc. *

So, there will be a speed ramp comming to a road near you sooner than you think.*






* may not be true, due to me just making this up.

thebman

Johnny Utah wrote: »

I hate them and I go out of my way to avoid them. Speed ramps should be banned!

They are utterly pointless and serve no purpose other than making work for friends of councillers, sorry contractors, and damaging the underneath of cars.

Most people don't slow down for them, and those that do are probably careful drivers in any event. I have a car which is low to the ground, so I always approach speed ramps very carefully, usually in second gear. For the worst speed ramps (usually in car-parks), I will stop and go over them in first gear.

Some of the speed ramps found in private car-parks are ridiculous. For example, the speed ramps in Carlisle gym in Kimmage are way too steep and there are marks on these ramps where they have scratched, and most likely caused damage to, the underneath of cars.

Recenty, a bracket on the underbody of my car was damaged beyond repair and it cost just over €100 to replace. This was obviously caused by a speed ramp, despite the fact that I always take great care when going over these stupid ramps.:mad:

A lot of private car parks have ramps that are way too high. In Tullamore, my brother can't drive his car into one because its too low to the ground. The car hasn't been modified or anything, it just a road legal sports car that can't be driven into the shopping centre car park.

These and the ones that are black with no markings are the ones I'm really against.