Up to Speed

Drivers road test new speed limits....

Drivers road test new speed limits....

Mr Owen Stafford, Ballyfermot, Dublin 10

Dublin taxi-driver Mr Owen Stafford said some of the limits were "absolutely ridiculous. Why is there a limit of 30 m.p.h. on John's Road when there is only one little gate on to a yard at Heuston Station opening on to the road?" he asked. When it was suggested that these were problems with limits rather than metrication, Mr Stafford replied: "You tell me why it is 31 m.p.h. on the Lucan bypass. Part of that road went from 50 m.p.h. to 50km/h. Why did they do that?" Asked if he did a lot of mileage "or kilometrage", Mr Stafford said "sometimes" but declined to estimate the amount.

Mr Noel Murphy, Galway

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Mr Noel Murphy from Galway said he "would be concerned that I know when I am on a national road or a regional road. One is now 80km/h and the other is 100 . But sometimes you wouldn't know which one you were on. A road in Galway might have a limit of 50 m.p.h [ 80km/h] but you couldn't do more than 20 down it.

"The road from Ballinasloe to Galway is a national road but it is terrible. Some regional roads are better but the speed limit is lower on them. I would be concerned about speed limits on regional roads in places like Athenry." Also the m.p.h. numerals on my speedometer are much bigger than the km/h," he said.

Ms Sheila Murphy, Leixlip, Co Kildare

"I think it's great!"said Ms Sheila Murphy, who drives regularly between Limerick and Leixlip in Co Kildare.

The new signs would represent "no problem as the road speeds were much the same before and after the changeover. You just drop off a zero and multiply by six. It is not complicated.You would want to be thick not to know" she said.

"I live in Leixlip and go down to Limerick - I am originally from Limerick - about once a month to see my family. But I can't see any problems."

Ms Bernadette McCaul, Avoca, Co Wicklow

Ms Bernadette McCaul said she drives to Donnybrook in south Dublin each day from Avoca, Co Wicklow, a journey which she said was "not bad".

"It used to be worse, it was much slower when they were doing the Glen o' the Downs roadworks but it is okay now," she added.

Regarding the changeover, Ms McCaul said new signs would create little difficulty as "it's just a name change" and the speeds were largely the same as they were before the change.

"I've been driving to Avoca since 2004 and I don't mind the change-over in the least."

Ms Maxine Dixon, Glasnevin, Dublin 9

Ms Maxine Dixon from Glasnevin, north Dublin, said: "I was driving along the north road in Finglas where the speed limit is really slow - it's 40 m.p.h. - and I saw that it had been increased to 60, so I was tempted to put the foot down. Then I realised it was kilometres.

"I drive the back roads to the airport where I work and the speed limits don't bother me."

Would she know what the speed limit was on the back roads?

"No."

Was that "no" in miles per hour or "no" in kilometres?

No," she laughed.