Posted online: Jun 24th, 2009

By Carmen Bryce
Reporter
THE speed limit on a number of roads in the county have been labelled as “worse than useless” in a recent AA poll.
The poll invited more than 1,000 motorists with membership to AA Ireland to name and shame locations around the country they believed to have badly set speed limits.
AA Director of Policy Conor Faughnan said some of the routes mentioned, which included four “minor roads” in Co Kildare, were “bonkers” while others were “downright dangerous.”
The 80kmph speed limit on the four Kildare locations was considered to be too high by the motorists.
Mr Faughnan said when motorists get penalised for speeding on roads with limits that are too high or too low it feels like “rough justice.”
“Bad speed limits are a blight up and down the country,” said AA Director of Policy Conor Faughnan. “A poorly set speed limit, whether too high or too low, is worse than useless. It brings the system into disrepute, catches ordinary people out and encourages us all to ignore the signs.”
Mr Faughnan said AA would be pressing newly elected council members nationwide to address the issue properly.
Spokesperson for Kildare County Council Charlie Talbot said the poll was a “simplistic interpretation” of speed limits laws.
Mr Talbot said that while he was a “firm believer” in maximum speed limits, the poll was impractical as it failed to take into consideration variable driving conditions and the responsibility of the driver to negotiate a suitable speed on public roads while keeping within the legal speed boundaries
“A maximum limit indicates that a motorist can drive up to that speed. Drivers will know by the nature and condition of the road the speed they should be doing,” he said. “It would be of great cost to the taxpayer to put up varying speed limit signs for every rural or minor road in the county.”