Michael McAleer answers your queries
From Dennis Croft:
I was interested in your answer on speedometers reading kilometres per hour. We have a 2002 Toyota Yaris Verso. Among all its many innovative features, the speedo calibration can be changed from mph to kph by just touching the button next to the digital display.
The odometer reading stays in miles but the need is only to change to kph to allow you keep to the new kph limits, when they eventually come in.
The changeover is unlikely to be as complicated as some suggest. As you say, most electronic speedometers can change simply from one format to the other.
Some readers have suggested the Government should introduce dual speed limits during the changeover period, but we suggest this would only cause more confusion, leaving people in doubt as to which exact speed limit is applicable.
From Tom O'Donovan:
A picture of road-works signage in Nenagh taken a few days ago showing no overtaking signs in front of a cul-de-sac. The work was going on at the end of a short cul-de-sac.
What message is given by the signs. It is, clearly, that any old sign seems to do, it doesn't matter what's on it.
Signs are no use when people cannot believe them and eventually ignore them. The problem then offers up some obvious consequences in terms of safety and rules of the road.
Last summer I noted that throughout the country after roads had been resurfaced, the appearance of signs saying "No Road Markings".
They remained there for months after the markings were actually in place and disappeared only as the wind caught the signs and blew them into nearby fields.
There are also junctions with both YIELD and STOP signs in place at present. Overall, there is enormous carelessness in road signs and markings.
Yours is yet another example of some of the strange and potentially dangerous signage that appears on Irish roads these days.
One reader has referred us to a case in Tipperary last year where a motorist skidded on oil. She took a case against the local council, which denied responsibility. The Council was able to prove it had put out signs warning of an oil spill and attempted to rectify the problem.
However, the judge dismissed this as a defence. He said that there was a large amount of signage outside his house and work had not taken place at the location for a year. He said that as a result nobody could believe the signs that were put out.
From Alan Connell:
Last week you published a query about whether international stickers were required when driving abroad. The information given to you by the Department of Transport was quite wrong - these stickers are still required. However, around Europe it has become standard for the country ID to appear as part of the numberplate on the car along with the European flag. This format has been legally allowed for about four years now and will continue to grow in popularity with the enlargement of the EU. Many of the new countries already use this convention. This is reason why cars from Switzerland seen on our roads always have the old oval shaped sticker with CH on it - this country is not in the EU.
We have received several letters and emails from readers about this and all seem to suggest that it is still required to carry identity if your car does not have a number plate identifying your home State.
However, the Department is sticking by its guns: as of last year there is no legal obligation to carry a country ID badge.