Metric speed limits, more gardai and yet more regulation. However, writes Michael McAleer, 2005 can still be fun on the road.
Metric speed limits, yet more rules and regulations and tolls aplenty . . . it would make you hark back to the days when driving was fun.
The metric changeover due on January 20th promises to be a true test of the Government's pro-active strategy on policing and creating road policy.
Cynics suggest that the km/h change is driven as much by an industry worried about "grey" imports from Britain as by dedication to the European cause. We hear a constant cry about Vehicle Registration Tax (VRT) from the likes of the Society for the Irish Motor Industry (SIMI), but the industry is decidedly mute on metrication.
It may simply be that it accepts the inevitability of the changeover, required by a 1980 EU directive. However, the new dials will break the back of British imports in one fell swoop. On the bright side, we may see a new import trend from countries like Australia and South Africa, where speedometers are in km/h but where they still drive on the left.
There has also been little comment on the likely impact on used car prices. From January anyone with a mph speedometer is effectively dating their car, and affecting resale value.
The impact on used car prices will probably take two or three years to peak but come it will. It may mimic 1986, when plates changed to reveal the year of purchase - or 2000 when if your car had a '9' on a plate it might as well have been scrapped.
Accompanying the changeover is the long-awaited Road Traffic Act. This legislation has been sliding over well-polished desks of civil servants and politicians for the past two years. If promises were kept, it would have been enacted last spring.
Along with introducing metric limits, the new rules will benefit from the introduction of a beefed-up Garda Traffic branch. It remains to be seen whether we will have checkpoints on country roads. However, bar random breath testing, the scene is set for a showdown between mis-behaving motorists and the long arm of the law. This time next year we shall see if it has had any meaningful impact on our roads.
Penalty points have already lost some of their lustre. Drivers now realise that, even when they've been caught speeding, the mountain of paperwork and dirty camera lenses mean they still have a good chance of getting off. More stringent enforcement may change that.
However, it's not all about enforcement and restriction. Whatever laws are introduced, and whatever gridlock descends upon our cities, the passion for cars will continue unabated. And 2005 promises us some tempting treats.
Of course, we'll all be rushing out to buy the new Bugatti Veyron, the much-hyped and much-postponed 1,000bhp supercar. September has been pencilled in as a launch date, but we wouldn't hold our breath.
Every year a particular segment seems to catch the focus of competition. This year it's been the family hatchbacks, with the arrival of a new VW Golf, Opel Astra and even BMW getting in on the act with its 1-Series.
For 2005 attention will focus on the supermini sector. It's one that has a limited market here, the cars being judged too small for long journeys.
However, as we become more urban and suburban perhaps it has more potential. Three new entrants will take to the roads: Citroën has the C1, Peugeot the 107 and Toyota the Aygo. While they're unlikely to feature in the top selling list here, they will bring competition to a rather staid market segment.
Among small family hatchbacks, Opel's three-door Astra is bound to send some pulses racing in the boy racer brigade. Looking particularly sporting, it should boost sales and help Opel, which has been flagging in recent years.
The year's main focus, however, will be on the executive segment, where sales reps will rejoice at news that a new VW Passat is on the way. Taking its cue from the ill-fated Phaeton, the new version is larger than its predecessor and with more luxury accoutrements.
Another sales rep favourite, the Opel Vectra, gets a little nip and tuck, while the people carrying Zafira gets a new look in the autumn.
At the upper end, a new BMW 3-Series is likely to push the Bavarian marque over the line in the race to top Mercedes sales. BMW has had a very busy year in 2004, but the pressure is not going to lighten up.
Next year sees not only the arrival of the car of choice for the suited young, but also their bosses, with the face-lifted 7-Series on the way. For the real petrolheads, the new M5 and a M6 will whet appetites.
It's not all about power though. The hybrid revolution is continuing apace and next spring sees the arrival of the first hybrid executive model.
The petrol-electric flag has been flown by Toyota and the new Prius has done well, winning the European Car of the Year title. No longer reserved for sandal-wearing tree huggers, its future is secure because of mainstream popularity.
The arrival of the RX400h, a petrol-electric version of Lexus's SUV, now challenges the perceptions that off-roaders are simply gas-guzzling polluters.
If Lexus were in any way nervous about the public reaction to its arrival, it need only look to the U-turn of two of the big car giants, General Motors and DaimlerChrysler. After years of knocking the hybrid principles they are now coming together to develop their own version.
The secret of hybrid success is the US market. Americans have singularly failed to adopt diesel for personal transport, so hybrid is the closest thing they get to economical motoring. Sales in Europe could be regarded as an added bonus.
With over 20 new models on the way, 2005 promises plenty. Whether we have a conducive environment to enjoy our motoring remains to be seen.