Michael McAleer answers your queries
From Louise:
I would be very grateful if you could clarify the position with respect to children travelling in cars. A friend of mine recently drove over for a visit - she had her eight-year-old in the front seat of the car with just the normal safety belt on, and the same for her four-year-old in the back seat.
Not a child-seat or booster-seat in sight! Are eight-year-olds allowed in the front of a car? What is the legal position with regard to children in cars and are there any penalty points implications for breaching the rules?
At present there are no penalty points for the non-wearing of seatbelts, but offenders will be fined.
As for your query regarding eight-year-olds, they are allowed in the front, provided they are properly restrained.
The rules here refer to appropriate child restraints for children over four-years-old in the front, and make reference to child seats and child restraints, though it is unclear if it is an offence to use simply a seatbelt. I guess the argument would be over the term "appropriate".
In the back seat there is a similar rule about "appropriate child restraints". There are exceptions where all child seats are being used, or there are more children in the back seat than there are appropriate restraints (within the legal limits for the number of passengers of course). As for who is responsible for all this belting up and buckling, every person in the car is legally obliged to wear a seatbelt, but the driver bears responsibility for ensuring that those under 17 are properly belted up.
From Peter Hanly, Chicago:
My family and I are planning to tour Ireland at the end of July and we were wondering if there are any good information sources for traffic updates. Is there a dedicated traffic radio channel available?
While there are no dedicated traffic radio channels here, there are regular updates on all the national radio stations on the traffic flows.
The best way, if you happen to bring your laptop with you on holiday, is to go online to www.aaroadwatch.ie each morning and check for any major delays on your route. The site is updated very regularly throughout the day and so it's well worth checking out each day, if you can.
Otherwise stay tuned to the national radio channels. Overall our traffic information is on a par with the best of our European colleagues, so you should not be too disappointed with the services on offer.
According to the AA's Conor Faughnan, on recent visits to the continent to meet with European colleagues, the Irish system - where information is gathered from Garda, public transport sources and the general public - is as good as the best in Europe. Surprisingly, Conor says that the German system, which is broken down into regions, is actually judged to be less reliable than ours.
So, in summary, stay tuned, don't forget to buy a good road map and never place your trust in road signs. One final note, if as I suspect, you are renting a car when you come over here: shop around.
From Bob:
I've followed with interest the advice to those asking about car purchase/ownership in France. Although I agree with some of what has been said, my personal experience was quite different. I lived there 1992-96, bought a new car there and am back in Ireland.
Buying a car in France is not as simple as it sounds, due to the paperwork necessary after purchase. It took me more than six months to get the paperwork issues resolved. When a car is bought, the new owner is issued with a temporary registration plate (plaque d'immatriculation) and temporary ownership document (carte grise) to allow time for completion of the formalities.
Legally, any EU citizen has the right to reside and work in another member state. However, this does not appear to be accepted by the Prefectures of many Departements in France, where a residence permit "carte de sejour" is often demanded and necessary to complete official documents. This requires about a dozen documents, translated into French by an official translator - a very costly business, and usually very difficult for a new immigrant to supply. To insure a car in France the owner must have a "certificat d'immatriculation" (logbook). Some Prefectures will not issue these if the new owner does not produce a carte de sejour along with the carte grise.
Driving on the right is less nerve racking than it sounds, the big difference is the speed at which many French drivers travel and their total disregard for weather conditions and braking distances.
Most French people hate driving in Paris and I would concur. Having driven in countries all over the world including a 5 year stint in Manhattan, I regard the rudeness of Parisian drivers to be out on its own and ahead of the cabbies in NYC.
Send your queries to
• Motors Help Desk, The Irish Times, Fleet Street, Dublin 2 - or e-mail them to motorshelp@irish-times.ie