Irish Drivers Association

Silvera

Has there ever been a move to set up an Irish Drivers Association ?

With all the 'officialdom' hassle Irish motorist's have to put up with - bad roads, M-50 toll increases, bad signage, stupid speed limits, etc etc etc... isn't it time we had a 'voice' to tackle these issues with the government,councils, etc ???

Even if a website-based association was establised which could supply, for example, information, appropriate emails to send complaints to, etc etc., it would be a good start !
(I have no idea how to set up such a site. I'm sure there are lots of folks here with the required knowledge who could easily set up such a site)

How many motorists are in Ireland ? 300,000 ?
If only a small percentage joined e.g. 10,000 (at say €10 each) we would have a considerable voice with which to challenege government policy !

Pressure groups are the only way to really influence govt policy, look at the success of the Farmers Association for example !

(I believe there are at least two such associations for UK drivers!)

CrowdedHouse

Not 100 % sure but I think PMPA started out like that (Private Motorists Protection Assocation)

John R

Silvera wrote:

I believe there are at least two such associations for UK drivers!

And look at how well they are doing in the UK. 10,000 speed cameras, police chiefs that publicly equate breaking speed limits with murder.

Merrion

There's a Royal Irish Automobile Club - offices are just up Dawson street. Not sure what they do, however...

Our man in Havana

Ei2JC wrote:

Not 100 % sure but I think PMPA started out like that (Private Motorists Protection Assocation)

surely you mean the Private M***ey Pulling Association?

CrowdedHouse

Bond-007 wrote:

surely you mean the Private M***ey Pulling Association?

.......that's why I said 'started out' !!!!

Type 17

Silvera wrote:

Has there ever been a move to set up an Irish Drivers Association ?

With all the 'officialdom' hassle Irish motorist's have to put up with - bad roads, M-50 toll increases, bad signage, stupid speed limits, etc etc etc... isn't it time we had a 'voice' to tackle these issues with the government,councils, etc ???

Even if a website-based association was establised which could supply, for example, information, appropriate emails to send complaints to, etc etc., it would be a good start !
(I have no idea how to set up such a site. I'm sure there are lots of folks here with the required knowledge who could easily set up such a site)

How many motorists are in Ireland ? 300,000 ?
If only a small percentage joined e.g. 10,000 (at say €10 each) we would have a considerable voice with which to challenege government policy !

Pressure groups are the only way to really influence govt policy, look at the success of the Farmers Association for example !

(I believe there are at least two such associations for UK drivers!)

I presume that you're talking about sites such as www.safespeed.org.uk and www.abd.org.uk

Not sure if they would work here (although I wish they would, I'm sick of the cr4p we have to put up with), because I think that there would be an assumption by many potentially interested parties that anyone interested in the aims of these sites is a young male lunatic who drives around the countryside at high speed at night, and that the site would not be something to get involved in... :rolleyes:

This is because we are a long way behind the UK (and most of the EU) in terms of public attitiudes to road safety: many people here actually think that the the speed limits on all roads are correct, and that the "speed kills" mantra is correct (in the real world, only inappropriate speed kills). Also, the poor roads infrastructure, and stupidly high VRT rates mean that most people see driving as a chore to be carried out at a slow speed, in a slow car, and that anyone who says that things should be different is a "boy racer who wants to kill us all".

If you've ever driven abroad on a regular basis, you'd realise that it IS possible to own a sensibly-powered car that can be driven on safely-designed roads at high, but still safe, speeds, driving WITH other educated drivers, with a view to actually getting places, rather than fighting AGAINST them because they are ill-educated (driving-wise), and driving slow, city cars on inadequately-designed inter-city roads which are actually more suited to local traffic.

I think that a group like the Irish Drivers Association would make some inroads but, unfortunately would be seen as a fringe pressure group in most quarters...

Victor

How about the AAAA AAAA?

RainyDay

Silvera wrote:

Has there ever been a move to set up an Irish Drivers Association ?

The problem is that to make this work, it would require a few people prepared to give up substantial amounts of their personal time & energy to get the thing up & running, to drive the media campaign, to meet with politicians etc. Are you volunteering, Silvera?