Girl from Gort who constantly drives at 50kph

These people shouldn't be on the road

Well if she was doing her best to stop people overtaking her then she should be done for careless driving.

That behaviour wrecks my head. Drive 50kmh all you want but don't attempt to accelerate/block my overtaking just because you don't like it. Same goes for people who flash their lights when they're overtaken.

Page 110 in the rules of the road:

Avoid driving too slowly
In normal road and traffic conditions, safely keep up with the pace of the traffic
flow while obeying the speed limit. While you must keep a safe distance away
from the vehicle in front, you should not drive so slowly that your vehicle
unnecessarily blocks other road users. If you drive too slowly, you risk frustrating
other drivers, which could lead to dangerous overtaking. However, remember:
you must not drive at a speed at which you cannot stop the vehicle within the
distance you can see to be clear ahead.

CelticRambler wrote: »

Ahhhh, the innocence of the Irish! One driver doing 50kph! Here in France, there are thousands of them - all perfectly legal. If you're not fit to have a licence (can't pass driving test, failed too many breathalysers, dodgy eyesight, never learnt to drive anything other than a tractor) you can buy a "sans permis" car and tootle along the highways to your heart's content ... limited to 50kph (though I did tailgate one last week who hit 60kph on a downhill stretch).

Sit back an enjoy the view.

I've seen loads of those little Aixam cars over in France - never knew you could drive them without a license. Seems crazy (but that's the French driving laws in general, like the whole mandatory breathalyser thing).

JC01 wrote: »

How can anything doing 50kph block people overtaking? I don't imagine she's driving a Range Rover or anything halfways big?

It would bring you to tears seeing this everyday though, the best part is she probably thinks she's a great driver and the RSA would no doubt use her as a poster child

She could be one of these drivers who hover the white line making it extremely difficult to overtake but without a dash cam or evidence of it, it's all conjecture.

sullivlo wrote: »

Tractors usually pull in at a safe spot to let traffic pass

No they dont in fairness. Occasionally perhaps, but nothing like usually.

foggy_lad wrote: »

The gardai pulled her over because she was not going as fas as the other traffic which is not an offence in any statute book in the state AFAIK.

Gardai and logic are things that rarely sit well together.

She could be charged with dangerous or any other type of driving but would o my be found guilty with irrefutable proof which a garda can not give.

Perhaps the Gardai just pulled her over to have a chat, knowing that they couldnt actually charge her for anything but that at least pulling her over would relieve the rolling roadblock for a couple of minutes. If they see someone driving excessively slowly then they would have good reason to suspect drunk or otherwise impaired driving in fairness.

foggy_lad wrote: »

The gardai pulled her over because she was not going as fas as the other traffic which is not an offence in any statute book in the state AFAIK.

Gardai and logic are things that rarely sit well together.

She could be charged with dangerous or any other type of driving but would o my be found guilty with irrefutable proof which a garda can not give.

How would careless driving not apply in this case?
Driving too slowly for the road conditions can be just as dangerous as too fast.

Apply the same to a car going 50kmh on a 120kmh motorway, that's careless driving as they are driving considerably slower than other vehicles.

It's up to a prosecutor to use the letter of the law (in this case, "(driving)...without due care and attention, or without reasonable consideration for other persons") and apply it to this person's unwillingness to let others overtake her (if the OP's statement is true) and progress at a reasonable speed on the road in question.

If she really does drive at this speed and has a several mile long tailback then she slowing progress for other (more capable) drivers and is not being considerate of other drivers.

Wouldn't you agree?

Sam Kade wrote: »

People who flash their lights when overtaken do it because the driver overtaking cuts in front of them

Never cut anyone up any of the times it happened to me so please don't accuse me of something I never did.

Caliden wrote: »

How would careless driving not apply in this case?
Driving too slowly for the road conditions can be just as dangerous as too fast.

Apply the same to a car going 50kmh on a 120kmh motorway, that's careless driving as they are driving considerably slower than other vehicles.

It's up to a prosecutor to use the letter of the law (in this case, "(driving)...without due care and attention, or without reasonable consideration for other persons") and apply it to this person's unwillingness to let others overtake her (if the OP's statement is true) and progress at a reasonable speed on the road in question.

If she really does drive at this speed and has a several mile long tailback then she slowing progress for other (more capable) drivers and is not being considerate of other drivers.

Wouldn't you agree?

It depends on the situation. It might seem like careless or dangerous driving to be going a lot slower than the speed limit, but there are vehicles on the road that will legitimately be going that slowly, and motorists need to be aware of this either way. Its no more dangerous for me to come around a corner and meet a car doing 25mph as it is for me to meet a tractor doing the same speed.

Also if visibility is good then there is no danger whatsoever. It is undoubtedly infuriating to be stuck behind a driver like this, but they are not posing a direct danger.

Caliden wrote: »

Never cut anyone up any of the times it happened to me so please don't accuse me of something I never did.

Hold on a second where did I accuse you of doing anything?

foggy_lad wrote: »

What proof is there that she is or was deliberately blocking other drivers from overtaking?

Here's the posts that complained about the driver in question:

Deleted User wrote: »

A girl driving less than 50kph from Gort to Kilcolgan, 30kph around the bends. Easily two miles of traffic stuck behind her by the time the Gardai pulled her over in Kilcolgan. She hogged the white line the whole way and was nearly responsible for several accidents with people desperate to overtake her.

Deleted User wrote: »

She was early twenties with some other fella in the front. She had 30 minutes to pull over and didn't try once even though the road has a decent hard shoulder. Gardai tailed her for a few minutes and then stopped her.

foggy_lad wrote: »

Gardai and logic are things that rarely sit well together.

She could be charged with dangerous or any other type of driving but would o my be found guilty with irrefutable proof which a garda can not give.

In this case the Gardai seem to have gotten it correct (and perfectly logically too) as her lack of care and consideration for other road users were causing a dangerous situation.

I don't know if the squad cars carry video cameras, but given that the Gardai were behind her for a few minutes they'd easily be able to build a case by observing her behaviour and the number of cars she got queued up behind her.

Whether they'd actually attempt to press charges is another issue, but it should happen far more often.

[="JC01;90271116"]How can anything doing 50kph block people overtaking? I don't imagine she's driving a Range Rover or anything halfways big?]

That road has very limited over taking oppurtunies. It's almost continuous white line and has a lot of bends. I wouldn't fancy driving that road knowing there will be a very slow tail back there!

The way I kinda see it, as annoying as it is, whats the point in getting stressed? You could easily fly past them and by the time you get to the next town, you get a bad change at a few lights, and they are right back behind you. I drive at the speed limit for the most part, and in 99% of the cases I'll catch someone who barrels past me by the next town, toll bridge or slower section. In my own head, and if conditions allow, I keep to the limit and I don't let it slip below 5% of it.

Say you were held up over a 20km (12.5 mile stretch)

At 50km/h, that will take you 24mins.

At 80km/h, that will take you 15mins.

At 100km/h, that will take you 12 mins.

What person here can't afford (Probably at most) 12 mins the rare occasion they get held up? And think about it, 20km is actually a very long way. Its give or take half the length of the M50. I doubt anyone would have that distance to be held up at an average speed of 50km/h and NO opportunity to overtake.

Cool the jets lads. Its infuriating but your saving minutes out of a lifetime. You'll get there!

Sheldons Brain wrote: »

This person might have been a right pain in the butt, but she was not "nearly responsible for several accidents", that responsibility lies squarely with those impatient persons attempting to overtake when unsafe to do so. A distinction has to be made between bad manners (the original driver) and dangerous driving ( the overtakers).

This comes up in these sort of threads a lot. Some will argue until they are blue in the face that it is the slow driver who forces people to overtake them dangerously. The simple fact is that we are all responsible for our own actions, and if you overtake when its not safe to do so, regardless of the situation, then its on you, 100%, if it leads to an incident.