Research into traffic in Dublin shows pedestrians move at 1.5 miles per hour while their London counterparts move at 3.5 miles per hour.
As a result of traffic congestion, both human and motor, Dublin's main thoroughfare is getting a traffic control overhaul. The pace of movement is just too slow.
Crossing the road can on occasion resemble the self-destructive migration of the arctic lemming. Why not stop and have a chat in the middle of the road indeed?
It is hoped that the solution can be found in a modest little computer in the form of a
Dutch electronic brain.
The new technology which Dublin Corporation has installed.cost around £10,000 but it replaces in a working day about 22 Gardaí on traffic duty.
It's programmed to control the traffic flow through the different peak periods and indeed the slacks in mid-afternoon and mid-morning.
Derek Davis jokes that the technology may be hi-tech but says it can't write a parking ticket.
The new system is due to be switched on on 15 January.
An RTÉ News report broadcast on 7 January 1977. The reporter is Derek Davis.
