At the bends on the N21 at Barna they have started to concrete in 100mm steel poles, I presume they will be adorned with black and yellow arrows to indicate the bends. This method of erecting poles seems to be almost exclusive to Ireland while in the rest of the civilized world road signs are placed on "Break-Away" supports. The line of thought behind the Irish method seems to be that anyone driving a vehicle into one of these posts will sustain serious injuries or die at least the sign will survive.
It is obvious to anyone, with any common sense, that crash barriers would be more suitable in this location. But I suppose crash barriers break to absorb energy from an impact, thus saving occupants of the vehicle, but they must be repaired after each collision, the cost of such maintenance is surely less than the cost of medical treatment or a funeral. But as anyone who watched the old BBC series "Yes, Minister!" will remember Sir Humphrey's statement, "That would be common sense Minister, and there is no room for common sense in the Civil Service!".
It just seems to be a publicity stunt by either the NRA or Limerick County Council to show that they are doing something about the road due to the public outcry from the 5 deaths on that single stretch of road so far this year. All the while they are wasting Public Money on safety measures that will have no appreciable affect on road safety and may in fact cause more traffic accidents.
I am reminded of the refrain to Pete Seeger's song "Where have all the flowers gone" it goes "When will they ever learn? When will they ever learn?"
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