Brian Stanley urges traffic calming, 60 km signs and e-bike rules
Brian Stanley addressed the minister on road safety in Arles and surrounding areas, calling for traffic calming measures, pedestrian crossings, footpaths and funding from TII and Leash County Council. He pushed for clearer 60 kilometre signage on local roads and stricter regulation of high-powered e-bikes, and expressed support for legislation on scrambling.
Petition submitted to TII and Leash County Council
The deputy said he has handed a petition to TII (Transport Infrastructure Ireland) and Leash County Council demanding traffic calming measures at each end of the village of Arles. He called for pedestrian crossings, proper footpaths and improved signage, and said Leash County Council had made a submission to TII long ago that has not been funded.
Local roads and 60 kilometre signage
Brian Stanley criticised the current signage used to indicate the reduced 60 kilometre limit on local roads, describing the white sign with lines as ineffective and calling for a clear 60 kilometre sign. He said drivers do not understand the striped white sign, that the reduction to 60 kilometres should be visible, and that local road speeds are dangerously high.
N80, Dryna and Mount Melik traffic calming
He highlighted the need for traffic calming on the N80 at Dryna and Mount Melik where traffic enters Mount Melik town from the west. The deputy urged the department and TII to fund measures to slow traffic coming into those communities.
E-bikes, licensing, taxation and scrambling legislation
While stating he is in favour of e-bikes, Brian Stanley warned some e-bikes are high-powered and can reach speeds of "70 and 80", recounting an incident where one overtook him while he was doing 65. He called for drivers of such e-bikes to be licensed, taxed and insured and to know the rules of the road, and said he supports legislation targeting scrambling.
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Minister, traffic volumes are up, speeds are up and mobile phone use is up and I want to just highlight the innate release. There are safety measures needed in the village of Arles which local councillors and locals have been looking for for years. I have handed in a petition to TII, Transport Infrastructure Ireland and Leash County Council demanding them that traffic calming measures we put at each end of the village, that we've made safer for pedestrians with pedestrian crossing, proper footpaths and improved signage. The Leash County Council had made a submission to TII long ago but it's not being funded and I want you to take note of this Minister, this needs to be funded by the department and by TII. Dryna and Mount Melik on the N80 also need some traffic calming measures where traffic is coming in from the west of Ireland into Mount Melik town. I want to raise the issue of local roads because we reduce the speed limit on local roads. This particular point of contention for me to 60 kilometres an hour and in my naivety I thought we would see signs all over the country removing the 80 kilometre signs and putting up 60 kilometres. But we see all this, a white sign with lines across it and the only person in this room who could probably tell me what that is is the Count Corle because she's a former truck driver. I asked a number of TDs today if they didn't know what that sign meant and none of them knew what it meant. We're the people who met the laws. Those signs are ineffective and need to be changed. We need a 60 kilometre sign. We're asking for common sense here. You know, a line, striped lines across a white with a white backing doesn't tell people anything. Six zero tells them. Maximum. I think people would agree with that. It's a common sense measure and local roads in Leash, the speeds on them are crazy. There's a cohort of drivers driving like lunatics on them and that needs to stop. I want to raise which is, well, the issue of e-bikes. I'm in favour of e-bikes. But now some of them are more high powered than motorbikes. You know, if anyone here ever had a Honda 50, they had to have tax insurance and driver's licence for it or a Honda 100 or wherever else. You can have these e-bikes now that you can do 70 and 80. One passed me the other day, right, and I was doing 65. He passed me, flew past me on this e-bike which hires the width of a good motorbike. And that can't be allowed to continue. We have to regulate them. People who are driving them need to be licensed, taxed and insured, and make sure to have a licence and to know the rules of the road. We cannot continue like this. I support the legislation also on scrambling. Thank you Deputy. Deputy
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