Orla Barry of Barry Express, Longford. believes there are not
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enough warning signs to alert hauliers to alternative routes beibre they arrive at low bridges.
"If the bridges were signposted properly with details of their height it would cut the problem by half," she says.
"We have a bridge here in Longford and it is hit at least every two weeks. Containers are turned over because there is no sign a half or quarter-of-a-mile before to say that this is a low bridge.
Inadequate warning signs
"Athlone is the same. Numerous trucks are caught on that bridge, but there is no warning to say you are going to approach a bridge of a ▪ certain height. It's a bigger problem with so many foreign drivers they don't know. In Longford drivers don't realise they can go on the bypass to avoid the low bridge."
Barry believes that there are some useful measures in the bill. The impounding of untaxed vehicles and those without insurance or certificates of roadworthiness will help remove the scourge of illegal hauliers who undercut legitimate hauliers.
But she would like to see value for her tax. "We pay taxes for the roads and many of them aren't tit for lorries; we have no choice, we have to use them," she says."If the minister is going to implement this law he should look at the other side of the coin and improve the road infrastructure in Ireland." •