Our motoring editor answers your questions on where the speed limits apply and the reasons for them.
Speed limits are set by the Department of Transport. There are five different types of speed limits that apply to certain types of roads throughout the country. The current speed limits are: motorways (120 kmh), national roads (100 kmh), regional roads (80 kmh), urban areas (50kmh) and then there are special limits sometimes applied in certain urban areas and to schools, for example (30kmh).
What are the speed limits and who sets them?
Under the Road Traffic Act of 2004 default speed limits are applied to different classes or categories of roads. Local authorities are permitted to intervene and set special speed limits, within limitations, on roads in their area.
What are the proposed reduced speed limits?
The government is now set to cut speed limits on a significant number of roads in the hope of reducing the number of deaths and serious injuries. Under the latest proposals, limits will be lowered to 80kmh on national secondary roads, 60kmh on local and rural roads, and 30kmh in towns, cities and residential areas.
There’ll be discretion for local authorities to revise limits upwards on local, rural, and national secondary roads where good design and safety standards exist, according to minister of state for transport Jack Chambers.
What is the impact of reducing speed limits?
Reducing vehicle speeds reduces the likelihood of a crash and it is estimated that across Europe, 2,100 lives could be saved each year if the average speed dropped by only 1kmh on all roads.
Will lower speed limits increase journey times?
In France where they lowered the standard speed limit from 90kmh to 80kmh on some two-lane rural roads there was much opposition for the measure.
However on average the increase in travel time after the implementation of the measure was just one second per km driven. To lose five minutes, one would need to drive 300km.
In general, drivers tend to overestimate the time lost by lower speed limits and the time gained by not respecting the speed limit.
Top tip: The energy of a crash is related to the square of the velocity, so small increases in speed produce major increases in the risk of injury. 90pc of pedestrians hit by a car travelling at 30kmh survive. At 45kmh the survival rate is less than half
Got a question? Email sundaymotors@independent.ie
(Source – Irish Independent – Home / Life / Motoring – Geraldine Herbert – 01/10/2023)