RSA to run awareness campaign on new 60km/h meaning for one of Ireland’s most confusing road signs

— Speed limit changes this Friday are to apply only on minor local rural roads and boreens.
— Regional/national and urban speed limits will not change this week.
— Original reason for using the sign will be diluted on Friday, but the sign’s meaning will change with the new speed limit changes.

From Friday, the ‘Rural Speed Limit Sign’ will change from meaning that the speed limit is 80km/h to showing that the limit is 60km/h. The sign is an “alternative” to the standard 60km/h, which will also be used on some local rural roads..

However, when contacted, the Department of Transport would not explain why the confusing alternative sign would still be used when its original justification will no longer exist.

The change in means for the sign comes as the default speed limit for rural local roads changes from 80km/h to 60km/h. Only a small number of minor rural roads will stay at their existing speed where councils have made exceptions in bylaws approved by councillors.

Some councils have also warned that there might be a delay in posting all of the new signs because of the destructive impact of Storm Éowyn. Enforcement cannot take place where signs have not been changed and enforcement on local rural roads is rare.

Only local rural speed limits to change this week

The changes on Friday only apply to rural local roads. Despite what some media outlets have misreported or implied by using misleading photographs, no speed limit changes will be made on Friday to urban roads or main rural roads such as rural, regional or national roads.

Further changes are planned to reduce the default limit of rural national secondary roads and the default limit for urban roads later this year, but not in the blanket way described by some reports and only after consultation and approval from councillors.

Internationally, the ‘Rural Speed Limit sign’ holds a different meaning

Where the sign is used internationally, it usually means ‘end of all restrictions’, including, for example, any restrictions on overtaking. Regarding speed internationally, the sign seems to generally mean that the limit is now the highest rural speed limit or, in the case of some parts of the autobahn, that no limit applies.

However, starting this Friday, February 7th, 2025, the ‘Rural Speed Limit Sign’ in Ireland will only indicate a speed limit of 60km/h.

The Department of Transport called the sign — legally named ‘RUS 042A’ — an “alternative” sign to the 60km/h. The sign must only be used with the supplementary plate stating ‘slow’ in English and Irish.

But while the Department that the sign is an alternative, at least some councils are using it as their primary sign for showing 60km/h in rural areas.

The Department of Transport’s guidance when the sign was first released said: “This sign can only be used on Local Tertiary roads and selected Local Secondary roads, often referred to as ‘boreens’ and not on Local Primary Roads, Regional Roads or National Roads (Primary or Secondary)” — the different classes of rural roads are mainly used only by councils and other authorities.

Original reason for using the sign in Ireland

Today, a spokesperson for the Department of Transport said: “The Rural Speed Limit Sign was initially introduced in the ‘Guidelines for Setting and Managing Speed Limits in Ireland (March 2015 Edition)’, as an alternative speed limit sign on specific single lane rural roads.”

“The widespread deployment of the 80km/h speed limit sign on regional and local roads gave rise to many roads that are extremely narrow tracks (mainly Local Tertiary Roads), displaying a speed limit of 80km/h where, in a vast number of cases, it is not possible to drive safely at that speed,” the spokesperson explained.

“The purpose of the Rural Speed Limit Sign was therefore to provide an alternative to the 80km/h sign, for the purpose of not displaying a number or visual ‘target’ on these roads,” they continued.

But while the Department of Transport explained the original justification for the sign, the Department did not answer why it did not just include the 60km/h signs as the only option for councils to use.

A key reason for the use of the sign in Ireland was to avoid moving away from a blanket speed limit approach for rural roads where nearly all roads under national roads were 80km/h. But the change on Friday moves away from that approach.

Low awareness to be addressed

When asked if it would accept that there is a low awareness of what the sign means and if it has any plans to address this, a spokesperson for the Department said, “An RSA awareness campaign to promote the change in meaning of the ‘Rural Speed Sign’ will run across video on demand, radio, and social media from February 7th until the end of the month. “

The spokesperson added: “The messaging will be amplified further through social media promotion by key stakeholders, including the LGMA and An Garda Síochána.”

The Department did not directly address how it would communicate the meaning to tourists and other international drivers.

ALSO READ: One sign forward and two signs back? A niche article about Ireland’s most confusing road sign

2 thoughts on “RSA to run awareness campaign on new 60km/h meaning for one of Ireland’s most confusing road signs”

  1. Maybe there’s is a hidden plan to change it’s meaning in the future? Now it’s 60km/h but in a couple of years it can be easily changed to 50, 40, 30… at no cost.

    Reply

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.