Motoring body the AA has called the setting of speed limits on Irish roads as “shambolic, daft and ludicrous”.
The comments, from the association’s director of policy Conor Faughnan, come after its survey of 20,000 motorists who cited more than 200 instances on Irish roads where speed limits were either too high or too low.
Photographs of erratic speed limit signage submitted by respondents included an 80km/hr limit on a grass-lined boreen in Co Westmeath.
In total, motorists cited 85 instances of roads on which limits were too high and 119 on which they were too low.
The 30km/h speed limits on Dublin’s North and South Quays came in for the most criticism with motorists saying the limit added to congestion and was an “infuriating, money-making scheme.”
Commuters commenting on the route said that the speed limit was “ridiculous for a city centre commuter route” and that it was “unnatural to do 17mph in a modern car”.
Other routes that came under fire were speed limits deemed too low on the M/N4 Lucan Road at Leixlip, the N25 Waterford bypass and the N32 Malahide Road which at 60km/h, motorists said was “extremely dangerous and leads to tailgating”.
On the speed limit on minor roads, Mr Faughnan said that while the national default limit is 80km/h, it was the local authority’s job to assess a road and select an appropriate speed limit rather than applying the national speed limit to minor roads that had not been assessed.
The AA has submitted the results of the survey to the Department of Transport which it says it will be meeting shortly. It says the department has indicated it will be asking local authorities to act on the motorist feedback. JOANNE HUNT