Today on The Last Word (I have GOT to stop listening to that program) some pea brained idiot (whose name I don’t deem important enough to remember) suggested that foreigners should be restricted to 80 km/h.
Yeah.
My case is that, not only is this rubbish, but I should be allowed to drive faster than the Irish.
When I did my licence in Germany, first I had to pass a theory test, know about some basic technical aspects of the car (lights, oil, coolant, check and change tyres, etc…) and also complete a compulsory first aid test.
After that I was allowed to sit in the car for my first time (no provisional licences there, you either got one, or you’re not driving sunshine) and after making sure I understood all the controls came a few weeks of constant lessons. That’s right, weeks.
We have a minimum set number of lessons which you must complete, regardless of how good you are. And these lessons include driving by night, in adverse weather and on the motorway. Time and time again my instructor would berate me for not going fast enough. I was encouraged to stick to the limit as closely as possible, taking road conditions into account. On the motorway (or Autobahn) he pushed me until I was comfortable doing 160 km/h cruising speed. This is not an unusual speed by any means and I have, over the years, reached speeds of up to 220 km/h, without any trouble whatsoever.
The missing element here is obeying the speed limit and reading the road ahead, since most Irish never seem to think past their bumpers they should restricted to 80.
So, since I hold a proper licence and not something that some people here got from a cereal box, I should be allowed to drive faster.
So there…
And an add on:
What really gets me about this item on the Last Word is that it is another one in a long line of increasingly deranged fascist bullyboys (and girls) who seem to have taken to spouting ever more bizarre nonsense about banning this, forcing us to do that, outlawing something or other.
They must know they are talking utter rubbish and I can only hope for the sake of the Irish that they can see through rubbish like that.
What worries me is the fact that there seems to be an audience for this claptrap, but as Germany has illustrated all those years ago, if someone just shouts loud enough and waves his arms about and bangs the podium and promises to “deal with the problem once and for all”, people will fall for it.
And before you know it the lunatics are running the asylum.
Anyone who spouts this kind of rubbish must know that his party is in very deep trouble, only hanging on by one finger and has to turn to the politics of desperation in order to hold on by any means.
Dustin for Taoiseach I say, better him than those muppets.
6 Comments
The person who suggested these practically utterly impossible to police regulations was Senator Donie Cassidy. He also put forward the suggestion that we should consider switching to driving on the right like our European and American friends.
Frankly I can see the merits of switching to driving on the right although that should probably have happened decades ago (for it to happen now would cause utter uproar, not only with the changes required on motorway junctions, etc. but with the education factor too), but his suggestion about restricting foreigners to 80 km/h is so ridiculous, it's laughable. There's absolutely no possible way for the Gardaí to enforce it, as far as I can see.
80km/hr
you joking me?
Are we turning the roads political or what?!
not to mention who would even obey that law in the first place; and not to mention on motorways where 120km/hr limit is observed - a bunch of foreign drivers capped at 80km/hr would just cause traffic havoc!!
Also, some people are talking about banning left hand drive cars, what would happen if we switched, but we'd still drive right hand drive cars?
In a few years there'd be a 50-50 ratio of left and right hand drive cars, now THAT would cause accidents on an untold scale.
Should we outlaw right hand drive cars then maybe?
I drove over 500 miles in germany last september and I have to say that the standard of driving was so much better. People actually only use the overtaking lane on the Autobahn while overtaking! Trucks obey the no overtaking signs and people actually let you in to lanes, incredibly simple little things like that made driving at speeds well in excess of any Irish speed limit, both a pleasure and safer than venturing out on to any irish road at any speed. Although being overtaken on an unrestricted stretch of Autobahn while at 120 mph by a ford fiesta did surprise me
If Gaybo and the RSA really want to make Irish roads safer I can think of no better place to start looking than at the german system, just spending a few days driving there improved my driving and my awareness of others around me immensly
Did yous effers ever drive in the North of Ireland? Try getting into Belfast from County Derry on the M2! Not the roadworks to widen the thing after Sandyknowes, but the shite drivers who slow down well before the works and sit in the outside lane, self righteous and redolent in their grey haired wisdom as they strut their stuff on one of the busiest roads in Ireland. You know…I think that I'll buy a massive 4X4 with full body armour to disperse these fools from the highway. Anyone for Euthanasia?
Pile a shite…you people enjoy some new roads with geeks who don't know what the hell they are and we in the dark North have to put up with the evils of the retired ancients who block the outside lanes of the motorway/carriageway, their slack jaws agape at the wonder of the outside lane oblivious to the flashing lights in their rear view mirror…and then you give them a dirty look as you drive by and all they do is don't look at you at all! Pile a shite…give me a gun!