Roads go metric across country today
Thursday, 20 January 2005 20:39
The National Safety Council has said lives will be saved on Irish roads following the introduction of metric speed limits, which came into effect at midnight.
From now on speed limits will be measured in kilometres per hour rather than miles. There has also been a speed limit decrease on 91% of the country's road network.
Gardaí say they are fully equipped to police the new metric speed limits but there will not be an extra level of enforcement today.
Nearly 60,000 speed signs have been erected across the country.
In cities and towns, 50km/h equals 31mph. On regional and local roads, 80km/h is equivalent to 50mph in the old system.
On national roads, the new speed limit is 100km/h which is 62mph. On motorways, 120 km/h equals 75mph.
Drivers are reminded that speed signs in Northern Ireland remain in miles per hour.
A spokesman for the Garda Traffic Department said there was no leniency being shown in the initial days of the handover.
- News At One: Ciaran Mullooly, Midlands Correspondent, gauges responses to the changes in Borrisokane, Co Tipperary
- News At One: Martina Fitzgerald met motorists in a Dublin hospital carpark who had mixed reactions to the changes
- Morning Ireland: Paul Walsh of Photo Blocker describes the application of his product in duping speed cameras
- Morning Ireland: Dr Ray Fuller of the Psychology Department at TCD and Conor Faughnan of the AA discuss the implications of the changeover
- 6.1 News: Paul Cunningham says that there were few problems with the changeover, but gardaí are giving no leeway for confusion
- 6.1 News: Paul Cunningham, Environment Correspondent, reports that the change does not appear to have restrained speeds
- 1 News: Watch the report
