Safe Speed Forums

Ok, probably a newbish question for most folk here, but I suddenly find myself in a situation where in a few hours time I'll be on a ferry to the south and driving up to the north. Currently the only advice I've been given is that they all drive like lunatics and that the hard shoulders they have are actually for pulling over into when some nutter wants to overtake.

Clearly I could use some more sensible advice. Bear in mind that this will be my first ever time driving outside of the UK.

So

1) Is the above advice accurate?
2) Will I get in trouble for using my Origin B2 (it's like a Road Angel)
3) I assume that since my numberplate has the euroflag + GB logo that I don't need a GB sticker, is this correct?
4) Is there any additional stuff I'm required to carry that I am not required to carry in the UK, eg. warning triangle hi-vis jacket etc.
5) Do they use MPH or KM/h (yeah, told you it was newbie questions) Edit: Just found out it's KM/h
5a) Will I get in trouble for not having KM/h on my speedo. I will be using the B2 to display my speed in KM/h
6) What is the speed enforcement like over there, and will it affect my UK licence if I screw up?
7) Any other information that I should be aware of.

The roads are barely designed for 40-50mph progress. allow enough time.
Until recently in southern Ireland they made you drive on provisionals but after two years they gave you a licence anyway.

The drive forwards until they have blocked each others progress. The traffic lights have no black panel and reflective band and are easy to miss. There are few roads signs and they are in the wrong place.


I loved it

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Speed limit sign radio interview. TV Snap Unhappy
“It has never been the rule in this country – I hope it never will be - that suspected criminal offences must automatically be the subject of prosecution” He added that there should be a prosecution: “wherever it appears that the offence or the circumstances of its commission is or are of such a character that a prosecution in respect thereof is required in the public interest”
This approach has been endorsed by Attorney General ever since 1951. CPS Code

I believe it's improved a lot recently - they're now building new motorways and dual carriageways a lot quicker than we are in the UK.

All the speed limits were resigned in km/h about three years ago so the signing has greatly improved in that respect.

Offences in RoI can't yet put points on a UK licence, although I believe they're looking at making bans operative in both countries.

A lot of the older main roads have tarmac "shoulders" of varying widths that tractors and trucks can use to allow faster traffic to overtake.

Off the beaten track it can be a very enjoyable country for driving in so long as you don't want to get anywhere quickly

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"Show me someone who says that they have never exceeded a speed limit, and I'll show you a liar, or a menace." (Austin Williams - Director, Transport Research Group)

Any views expressed in this post are personal opinions and may not represent the views of Safe Speed

No GB sticker required if you have the EU (spit!) "Ring of Stars" with GB underneath. You don't need km/h on the speedo as a visitor driving a foreign-plated car (just the same as U.K. registered cars are required to have MPH on the speedo, but visiting cars registered elsewhere do not).

Edge lines on roads wide enough to have shoulders are yellow, not white.

Road signs are a mixture. Some are similar to British/European signs, but warning signs (curve, rail crossing, bridge, side road etc.) use American-style yellow diamonds instead of red-bordered triangles. There are quite a few Irish specialties: The "no entry" sign is similar to a no left/right turn sign but depicts a "straight ahead" arrow crossed through instead of our red disk with white bar. They also use left/right pointing arrows inside a red circle without the diagonal red bar to indicate a mandatory left/right turn (i.e. same as U.K. white arrow on blue disk).

Traffic lights don't generally have the red+amber phase as in the U.K., but just go straight from red to green as in many other countries (I've seen red+amber in the RoI, but only on temporary lights for roadworks and that was near the border -- possibly hired or borrowed from N.I.).

Well, I'm back and it went pretty well, thanks for the advice, even if I did miss some of it due to GPRS conking out on the ferry.

Didn't really have any problems, though I suspect my B2 may not have been legal. Needed it to get a decent KM/h display though.

Only problems I had.

1) They like to put up brown signs saying services next exit, and the next exit takes you to an unlit road with no signs of life for miles and no obvious way back onto the motorway

2) They rip you off on the toll roads if you didn't get Euros. The fee was €1.90, I gave them a £10 and got €8.10 in change meaning the effective toll was more like a fiver!

Despite these problems, I dont think I'll by flying to Ireland again, it's far more civilised on the ferry and I'm allowed to take my knife and toolkit with me. I did get "searched" on the way back (by which I mean they checked my bonnet and empty boot and ignored the bags of stuff on the back seat) but that was mainly because I was early and the guard wanted to know what my car was