Crazy Irish traffic signs

Pedal to the metall

2008-11-10T11:49:00.003Z

Long time no posting - simply because I couldn't get away much all season :-( But here's a good one for you: pedal to the metall on approaching "Kilmartin's roundabout" in Athlone. I seriously hope that you make the exit, buddy :-)

Church fly-by

2008-05-23T14:41:00.002+01:00

Slow down please - and then push down the pedal as you are passing the church: you are allowed doing 100 km/h now. Spotted near Clara on the way to Tullamore.

Fellow bloggers

2008-04-07T12:46:00.005+01:00

Here's one which I found in another blog by pure coincidence:

The comment of the fellow-blogger: "A typical Irish backroad, single-track with a 50 mph speed limit for those metrically challenged and you'd have to be more than metrically challenged to ride that road at 50." And I reckon there's no more I can say :-)

It's not a fake !

2008-03-27T12:57:00.003Z

This one is not a fake, even if you may think so: the two speed limit signs are sitting just outside Athlone's AIT and the back of them looks the very same. I took that picture myself this morning and the signs are sitting there for a long, long time like that.
So would you do max 50 km/h or max 60 km/h when you are flying into this roundabout ?

Another back road

2008-03-26T14:08:00.002Z

Another back road - good enough for 80 km/h ... Found near Bettystown by "meetoo" :-)

Dublin is the centre !

2008-03-25T11:54:00.006Z

Here's the one for all tourists: as well as being a great help when trying to find your way out of Dublin, these signs above are also a clear evidence that Dublin is the centre of the planet and that there is nothing of any importance in the East (or is it that everybody seems to arrive from the East ?). Hey - that wasn't a political statement !
Thanks, Bernd, for the pic taken at Matt Talbot Bridge.

Racesheep ?

2008-03-24T09:55:00.002Z

Here it is - the Irish sheep:
spotted by Bernd close to Curragh Racecourse, Kildare. I wonder whether they are some sort of special sheep, sort of racesheep :-)

Don't take things for granted in Ireland

2008-03-21T20:45:00.007Z

A poster in a public forum brought to my attention, that "...posted speed limit signs are NOT recommended speeds". Jaaayyyzzzusss, if I would have known that earlier ! And there is me trying my damnest to fly around corners matching the announced speeds :-) Good job somebody told me - I could have killed myself in the near future...

Folks - this blog is not to be taken too serious, but it is still also supposed to show that EU-rules for traffic signage don't necessarily match with Irish roads: an Irish "N"-road is a National Road in EU-terms, something like a Bundesstraße in Germany or a Nationalstraße in Switzerland or a route nationale in France or a carretera national in Spain, or, or, or. And there is no problem to get to the speed limit of 100 km/h simply because most of them are much better than any Irish "N"-road. And that is what a lot of drivers expect when they see a 100 km/h sign - never mind the "R"-roads, which typically have an 80 km/h sign in Ireland. But you certainly can't take it for granted that you can do 80km/h on an "R" road in Ireland. Traffic/speed signs are normally used in the EU to announce a change of the general rule or speed, not to show the standard. That can be a dangerous misunderstanding when you are travelling on Irish roads.

So much for the serious side - now where is a sign for sheep-crossing or even deer-crossing (and who is selling deer in Ireland) ?

Forgotten about ?

2008-03-21T20:23:00.002Z

This one must have been forgotten about - it's certainly not a very busy road near Laytown. But maybe it was put there for the chap who comes there with the lawnmower - once a year or so (thanks for the pic, "meetoo")

Race course for tractors

2008-03-19T09:33:00.005Z

Probably this is supposed to be a race course for tractors or a quick shortcut for mommies bringing the kids to school in their fourwheeldrives ... The 80 km/h signs are certainly ridiculous.
This lovely example was spotted enroute to Clifden between Spiddeal and Furbo, close to Padraicins Pub - thanks Harald (and Midori for additional info) !

Ballykeeran Big

2008-03-17T17:53:00.000Z

It didn't take too long to find the first crazy Irish traffic sign: the one above is only a few metres from our house. Trying to do 80 km/h on this single-lane road - pure madness !