Google says it's OK to drive at 100 km/h on Kildare main street

Drivers using the main street in Athy are being told by a Google navigation system that they can drive at 100 km/h.

There has been a call from Kildare County Council to ask Google to review the speed limits provided on their navigation services.

It came from KCC cathaoirleach Tim Durkan, who told a KCC meeting the information is “currently misleading and inaccurate.”

He also claimed that the service indicated the speed limit was 60 km/h on a motorway and in parts of Maynooth the wrong speed limits are provided.

The meeting was told that all providers of these services need to be contacted - and not just Google.

The speed limits are 120kph on motorways, 100kph on national roads, 60kph on local roads, 50kph in built up areas and 30kph in town centres and residential areas - with supplementary bye-laws supporting these core speed limits.

KCC says that while it maintains a speed limit schedule on its pavement management system, physical road signs are the way to determine the correct speed limit for the public because these may sometimes differ from the default speed limits.

KCC also said it does not share information about speed limits with third parties who provide navigational aids.

KCC official Siobhán Scully said in a report: “It appears that they obtain their information from their own sources. The council is not aware of how often the third-party navigation aid providers update their databases; however, they do provide options for members of the public to submit corrections where the information is inaccurate.”