Thanks to Obama & the Queen Dublin tightens up

Starting tomorrow Dublin is going into lockdown as the city prepares for the visits of Queen Elizabeth II followed by President Obama over the next ten days. While the heightened security might be necessary, many Dublin residents (and tourists too, I imagine) are wondering if it's worth all the aggravation they have to endure.

Initially the reports of extra security were just shrugged off. It was more a smile than a grimce when we were informed that the gardaí (police) would be examining, and then sealing, all the manholes near where the Queen and President were scheduled to be in order to ensure that nothing (or no one) explosive could erupt from below. It was also reported that end-of-year exams at Trinity College were postponed for next week, but that was either just a rumor or the college changed its call. Students can get access to the college and exams are going ahead.

Trinity is closed, however, if you are not a student. So, no tours of the old campus and no chance to see the Book of Kells.

It's not just Trinity either. You want to visit Guinness's, Croke Park or the Zoo, well that might be a problem too. Better call ahead.

Those traveling by car will face road closures and parking restrictions. Even pedestrians will be affected as the gardaí are planning to erect barriers along some roads to restrict street crossing, something that is a real cramp in the style of jay-walking Dubliners. Oh, and pedestrians will be subject to random searches.

All of this is starting to get to people, some thinking it's excessive. Today there were rumors on Twitter of houses being searched in and around the center of the city, which had some people on edge regardless of whether it was true or not. The latest - and it's not a rumor - is that the gardaí have asked Dublin City Council to restrict the city's bike rental scheme. Why? I have no idea. I can't see what security implication bicycles might have, but there you have it. You shouldn't plan on using the excellent bike rental scheme next week either.

All in all, probably not an ideal week to visit Dublin. Closures and security annoyances probably not ideal for doing touristy things.

Oh yeah, on top of the two state visits, there are two significant soccer games during the period. First up, this Wednesday, Dublin is hosting the final of the Europa League, which features two Portuguese clubs and the following Tuesday the Republic of Ireland v Northern Ireland meet in a Carling Nations Cup game.

Just a few extra security concerns for the gardaí. I'm sure they'll all be on edge until the 25th rolls around, at which point the city and its police force will exhale and get back to the normal easy-going manner Dublin is famous for. Til then, if you're visiting Ireland, maybe stick to other parts of the country.

Driving in Ireland — sometimes you have to make up your own rules

If you've ever driven in Ireland you might well believe that there are no rules of the road only some general guidelines that you can ignore at your pleasure. Well, that's not quite true; there are rules of the road and they're even enforced, sometimes rigidly.

Yet recently the Dun Laoghaire County Council, which is responsible for the roads in the southeast part of County Dublin, created a situation that I don't think is covered by the actual rules of the road. They have established a 4‑Way Stop.

I know Americans (& Canadians too, I believe) are used to the concept of a 4‑Way (or All‑Way in some places), but I've never seen one here before. Generally speaking you will find round‑abouts here. And there. And just about everywhere.

The round‑about is just about ubiquitous. However, the intersection where this new 4‑Way Stop has been set up is, I'm guessing, not wide enough for a roundabout so the County Council just put up stop signs (minus the helpful "4‑Way") on the primary, busier road. They already existed on the smaller road.

However, nobody driving through here now seems to know how to treat the 4‑Way Stop. From what I've seen it's a mixture of (a) people on the bigger road just ignoring the new stop sign and (b) people on the bigger road slowing, sometimes stopping, but always acting like they have the right‑of‑way and blowing through before a car on the smaller road has a chance to move.

For all I know those who stop but act like they have the right‑of‑way could well be right. I could find no mention of 4‑Way Stops in the rules of the road. Still, when I pulled up there over the weekend I came to a stop and waited for the car on my left to go. {Note 'left' - I adjusted my 4‑Way instinct for driving on the left. Clever, no?}

What happened? Well, the driver looked stunned and took a bit of encouragement to go and the people behind me began tooting their horns as if I'd just waited for a pedestrian to cross in front of me as I made a turn off 2nd Avenue in Manhattan.

I was unfazed and smiled in the knowledge that I was the only one around who knew how to handle this 4‑Way phenomenon. I may even have shaken my head slightly in the way an adult might when a child has blurted out six or seven wrong answers to a question.

It was later that I started to wonder if I was actually right about how this Irish 4‑Way Stop should be handled. That thought and my fruitless search have wiped that smile right off my face. Still, this is just another one of the fun aspects of life here - getting a chance to make up your own "rule of the road."

Tourists should not be hassled for bridge tolls

Ireland's Minister for Tourism is in America at the moment in an effort to encourage more of you to come on over for a visit. Great stuff. American visitors get a good welcome here and, well, there are many tourism related enterprises that could use the business.

There two things Minister Mary Hanafin should tackle to make the visitor's experience even better. Both relate to driving in Ireland, which can be stressful enough for visitors to this country. I'll deal with one of those two today.

The first issue relates to road tolls and one toll in particular. A few years ago the government eliminated the toll booths on the M50, which is the main highway that runs around Dublin and connects the Belfast road with the roads to the south and west. It's a key road.

When the government got rid of the toll booths they didn't just forgo all that toll money. Oh, no. They installed a license plate scanning system that records each trip on the road as it crosses the River Liffey.

This development freed up the road; no more lengthy back-ups at the toll booths. All car owners can register their car so that the toll is automatically deducted from an account via their credit/debit card. Kind of like the E-Z Pass system only you don't have to slow down. You can zip through at 65MPH. There are no booths at all. No toll booths where tourists and others can pull up and pay the toll.

That's the crux of the problem. For tourists this becomes a real hassle. The car rental companies are at pains to point out to tourists that they must pay these tolls if they use the M50. And, the only way to pay the toll is to find a store that has the facility to let you do so.

There are a couple of stores near where I live that provide this service, but none of them has easy parking, which only increases the hassle. A tourist has to (a) find one of these stores and then (b) find somewhere to park near to the store and go pay the €3 ($3.65). Oh, and they have to know the license plate number when they get to the counter or it's back to the car to check.

I've never had to go looking for one of these pay-points, but it is easy to imagine how frustrating this would be when you've arrived in a strange country and you're just figure out the roads. You just want to get where you're going and begin to relax and enjoy yourself, but no.

Having to remember to pay the toll is bad enough, but then you must hunt down a shop that may or may not exist, in a town you don't know, with no phone and most likely no suitable map. And you have to do that by 8pm the day after you cross the bridge.

And you may not even realize you've even crossed the bridge {photo of bridge's underside above}. I've talked to a couple of Americans who've driven over that bridge without even being aware of it. It's not hard to miss the signs indicating you've crossed the bridge and there's absolutely no indication on the road itself: no change in surface or even paint, no steel structure overhead that is a feature of most bridges, nothing that shouts out, "This is the toll bridge you've heard about."

This is just plain stupid. Tourists should be exempt from this toll or at the very least, paying it should be no hassle. Instead you have visitors coming here whose last experience of Ireland will be a charge on their credit card for a toll they knew nothing about AND a €50 ($60) fine. What sort of lasting impression is that creating?

This isn't rocket science. The government should exempt tourists, but failing that at a minimum they should make it so that rental companies can add these costs (& nothing more) to the rental bill in order to minimize the upset to tourists. It's simple common sense.

Electric cars will be rolling down Ireland's highways by year's end

Have you heard of the Nissan Leaf? I hadn't until a day or two ago, but I'm not what you'd call 'an environmentalist', so maybe those of you who are 'environmentalists' are already familiar with the Leaf.

The Leaf is Nissan's electric car, which is powered by a large battery. Nissan expects to have them on the road in America and Europe sometime around the end of this year.

The Irish government is very keen that people here buy and use electric cars. So keen, in fact, that they are going to give buyers a grant of €5,000 ($6,800) to purchase one AND they will waive the Vehicle Registration Tax (up to 30% extra) on a new car.

Ireland is - according to the enthusiasts anyway - ideally suited to lead the way on electric cars. Obviously the country's pretty small, so there are no 1,000 mile journeys. In fact, while people spend a lot of time in their cars, they don't cover the distances Americans do. By the end of 2011 Ireland will be leading the world in the electric car use and infrastructure. That's the plan, anyway.

The cars themselves are pretty small by American standards and even towards the smaller end of the scale by Irish norms. They can get up to a decent speed - over 80 MPH according to Nissan - so that's not an issue and according to Green Party member and Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources Eamon Ryan {photo} these cars will be much cheaper to run than those that run on gasoline.

I'm willing to believe the Minister on this score because the price of gas around here is now around $6.90 per gallon. Even if your car gets 40 mpg, that means the cost in gas alone is about 17¢ per mile. The Minister says the cost of running the Leaf {photo} will be about 2-3¢ per mile.

All of that sounds pretty good. Will it take off? Will Irish people buy electric cars instead of the usual gasoline-powered cars?

Well, maybe. There are still some serious issues with the electric cars. First of all, the cost of the car - even with the incentives noted above - will be comparable to the costs of a bigger, more comfortable car. Also, you don't buy the battery, but – for reasons that escape me – you rent it at an annual rate of €1,200 ($1,640) per year. {Not sure if that's all electric cars or only Renault, who hope to have their electric car on Ireland's roads by the end of 2011.}

The biggest issue however, is the battery's charge. It lasts for about 100 miles. Then you have to recharge. The government-owned Electricity Supply Board is going to roll out a series of charge stations - gas stations for electric cars - around the country to meet the, as yet non-existent, demand for charge. I think there are a few already around, but I haven't seen one yet.

When the Minister was asked about the 100 miles maximum the other day he indicated that if someone was going on a long journey - to Kerry was the question - he said that it was his experience that people generally stopped on long journeys for a cup of coffee or a sandwich or whatever. He said that while the driver was having his coffee the car could be recharging and ready to go again in half-an-hour. Half-an-hour to 'fill up'? Hmm.

ESB is going to set up 30 'fast charge' points around the country that will charge a battery to 80% in 30 minutes, which means you can't go another 100 miles before you have to stop again. A full charge at one of their normal stations will take 90 minutes.

First of all, I don't need either a sandwich or coffee every 100 miles. I can sometimes go three whole hours without food. I'd definitely like my car to do the same. I just can't see using such a car for journeys of any length at all.

But, it might be good for most of the short journeys I make. I would guess that around 90% of the trips I make are less than 50 miles. I could charge the car at home, which will take 8 hours. The Irish Independent says that the government will even pay to have a home charging point installed, although they seem unsure if that's true. Also, I assume that rules out cars that park on the street, unless that on-street space is very near the house.

It's easy to be skeptical, but there's a part of me that says, well, maybe. We have two cars, but we only need one for trips of any length. If the other car can be used for short journeys, can save me money and can be charged up safely - I don't want to be electrocuted hooking up the car in the rain - I could see it. Kind of shocking to me that I even think that.

Automatic instincts compound Toyota problem

I was reading this story about the family in California who were all killed when their Toyota's accelerator got stuck and the thought struck me: why didn't the guy just take the car out of gear? I wasn't being critical so much as wondering why he didn't do that given he had time to make a phone call.

I thought about it a bit more and figured I was thinking like someone who drives a manual transmission car. When you drive an automatic - as most Americans do and as I did before I left - you don't think about gears. The car's always in "drive", even when you're stopped at a traffic light. If you're used to driving a manual transmission you're always shifting up and down and into neutral at lights, etc.

I think this has an impact on a driver's reactions in situations like poor Mark Saylor found himself in. I'm not talking about judgment so much as instinctual reaction. The instincts you acquire when you drive a manual are different.

The article in the Dublin paper the Evening Herald says there have been thousands of accidents in America attributed to this problem, but only 26 in Europe. There might be differences in the numbers of cars affected between the two continents, but I can't help wondering if the popularity of manual transmissions in Europe accounts for some of that difference. Around 80% of cars sold in Europe have a manual transmission, which is nearly the complete opposite of America.

I had an 'accelerator issue' myself once. A few years ago my car suddenly seemed to lurch and then push on faster than I wanted (it was a throttle issue). My first reaction was simply to put both feet down: one on the brake, but the other on the clutch. As soon as I hit the clutch the engine disengaged, which was a lot better than hoping the brake could hold back the racing engine. I didn't really think about what I was doing, but just reacted that way. Once I felt I had control again, I worked my way down through the gears til I was comfortable with the car.

Someone driving an automatic could accomplish the same thing by shifting to neutral or downshifting, but that's not an instinctive reaction. When you drive an automatic your only instinct would be to hit the brake, which is not really the best answer to the problem.

Few people who drive automatics have used the gears to slow the car. I would guess that a lot of people who drive automatics don't even know they can do that. {Although I do remember my father telling me to downshift if the brakes ever failed in our family's automatic transmission car.}

Using the gears to control the car is not instinctive for people who drive only automatics. It would be much more of a routine action for anyone who drives a manual transmission, something they would do without thinking. Something they would do on instinct.

Instinct is often the only thing you have time for when something unusual happens on the road or when you're heading towards panic. In the case of the Toyota accelerator problem, those who drive manual transmissions would find that their instincts are a great help.

If you find yourself on the road to Doornik ...

Posted by TheYank at 8/27/2009 5:24 PM EDT

Yes, as you know if you've been reading my twitter posts, I'm back in Flanders again. Two more days. I didn't feel like I'd finished touring the WWI sites back in July so when I saw Ryanair flights were going for very, very little I decided to come again. It amazes me how cheaply I can fly to, travel around & stay (for a night) here.

Late August is not, apparently, an ideal time to visit Flanders. Why? Because it stinks. It's as if every farmer in the region is spreading slurry at this time. Farm smells are one thing, but slurry's another.

Driving in Belgium is an experience. I may have mentioned this after my last visit - can't remember now - but Belgians are nuts behind the wheel. There seem to be no rules of the road. There are speed signs, etc., but everyone ignores them. I'm pretty sure - never 100% certain of anything where all the signs are in Flemish - but I think I drove down a closed road yesterday.

I followed a dozen or more other cars doing the same thing - swinging out around a sign that seemed to me to be saying "local access only." Seeing as the detour signs were so infrequent, I was just as happy to ignore the signs so I could follow my map.

Also, I learned one hard lesson on this trip: when you pass into Flanders the names of cities change. Yup. I was driving south on the highway looking for the road to Tournai, which is how it was spelled on my map and on the signs coming up from the airport. However, in Flanders there were no signs for Tournai. Nor Mons. Fortunately they provide the French spelling for Rijsel (Lille).

It was only after I went wrong a few times and was driving around in circles and finally took the last road that was available to me that I saw a sign that helped: Tournai is Doornik and Mons is Bergen (as in the NJ county) in Flemish. All the signs in the Ieper (Ypres) region use only the Flemish spellings Doornik & Bergen. I saw many, many signs for Doornik, but had no idea that was the same city as Tournai. Other than a local, who would?.

That debacle cost me about 20 minutes when I was trying to find my way back to the airport, which was about 90 miles away. Those 20 minutes weren't crucial, but they were enough to cause me agita. And there's a lesson for Ireland in that.

A couple of years ago the Irish government decided that the town of Dingle should no longer be known as Dingle, but as An Daingean. An Daingean is the old, Irish name for the town; Dingle was a later development.

Some (most, I think) of the locals objected, claiming that tourists would have trouble finding the town because they're looking for Dingle. (I'm sure there were other objections too, but I can't remember them now.) And they have a point based on what I experienced in Flanders. It's one thing to change a town's name, but you'd better be sure to change all the road signs and maps otherwise, yes, tourists are going to get lost. And annoyed.