At last!!!!

Deleted User wrote: »

Fair enough. I was picturing a scenario where the left lane is almost full and going slowly with everyone staying there obeying the rules. Surely in any sort of traffic it becomes a free-for-all?

No, simply because someone will always want to go faster and they will move right. The issue arises when those that move right, don't move left again. The M50 could easily manage as a dual lane road if people drove properly.

Panrich wrote: »

The M50 has become a sick joke of a road lately. Hoggers in the outside lane, undertaking, lane hopping, last minute exit scrambles and the obligatory bikers using the dotted line as an extra lane.

Thought it was just me, but I was out of the country for the last part of 2014, and came back to what I swore was a bigger mess than I left. I drive the M50 every day and it is, at least to me, getting worse. Having experienced Beijing and Mexico City traffic, really we ain't all that far off it.

A clamp down and education round are sorely needed.

BMJD wrote: »

I think I witnessed AGS attempting to pull over someone doing this on the M50 last night. The middle lane moron came to a stop - in the middle lane. I will post the dashcam footage later on. Most of the other cars around had the usual blue-light-panic-attack too!

Volthar wrote: »

I hope next lesson will be how to deal with roundabouts. Coolock roundabout is full of eejets.

there is a bigger problem than roundabouts (although I agree it's a massive problem too) and that is a national sport or tradition of braking red lights. If every traffic light could document every driver that brakes lights, this country would be super rich. :pac:

Dial Hard wrote: »

And it's nearly always southbound in the morning and northbound in the evening. What's that about? Just volumes, or something else?

Volume and you can go from 60kmh to a dead stop for no apparent reason other than someone up ahead applied their brakes too much.

Jesus. wrote: »

Why such a haughty attitude? With the dozens of likes that received its regrettable such a bitter streak exists on this Board.

Ah sure it wouldn't be like you to go against the grain

Danjamin1 wrote: »

It's a particularly annoying problem on Irish roads, I actually explained the lane dynamic of a three lane motorway to someone a few weeks back and they genuinely didn't know they were supposed to keep to the left lane when driving. This person has been driving roughly 10 years so I was shocked they didn't know this, not only that but they disputed it! I picked up an RSA booklet on motorway driving from a local Garda station to show them & only then was it accepted.

Anyway, it's good to see some enforcement & hopefully there's plenty more if it to come. I'm sick of seeing people hogging the middle lane on the M50 when lane 1 is almost completely empty.

...I've flashed the headlights at people (politely) only to end up overtaking in Lane 3 anyway, to be given looks of confusion and hysterical anger. The most annoying part of the problem is people not understanding what they're doing wrong (and more importantly, not understanding the consequences it has to traffic flow on the M50 - I'm convinced it's a primary reason that it becomes a car park at times).

I mailed the NRA a year or so back about putting "keep left unless overtaking" on the VMS. It seems red tape is at play - that would have to be "part of an agreed national campaign" between RSA/AGS/NRA.

Daaryl wrote: »

Why did that person just stop in the focus? Could of caused a unnecessary crash!

Stupidity, and a lack of driving knowledge contributed to by no motorway or dual carriageway training whatsoever as a mandatory part of driving instruction.

Sometimes I want to go out and buy a huge-ass LCD message board and chuck it in the back window.

Finally is right. Saw the cops flash the blues and twos at an elderly man crawling along at 85-90 in the 3rd lane of the m50. Man didn't pull over for a good mile or two. When he eventually moved over to lane 2 the cops just took off. Surely they should have pulled him and told him to stick to lane 1 if he's going to be doing speeds like that.

Autosport wrote: »

On the M9 this morning and the Gardai had an L driver pulled over, do some Learner drivers not know that they're not supposed to be on the motorway

Just cause it had L plates doesn't mean the driver was the learner. Might have been doing something else to cause getting pulled over.

Truckermal wrote: »

Fair play AGS!

Fair play for finally starting to do their job? o.O

It's good they're doing it, but they should have been all along.

pippip wrote: »

Just cause it had L plates doesn't mean the driver was the learner. Might have been doing something else to cause getting pulled over.

If L plates are up, the driver should be a learner. I remember seeing one of the UK police shows a few years ago. The police pulled in a car with L plates. They were going to do the learner driver for driving on the motorway. Upon speaking to the driver, he was not a learner at all and had a full licence. So instead he was done for wasting police time.

Seriously, I sometimes think all you who give out about these "middle lane hoggers" never drive on 3-lane roads like the M50, because if ye did you'd understand how this is a minor consequence of much larger issues...


- People who can't merge properly.. either ridiculously slowly or even stopping dead at the end of the slip road - or the other sort who jump out over the hatch markings directly into the path of oncoming traffic in Lane 1

- People in Lane 1 who won't move over to accommodate merging when safe to do so - if even out of courtesy and common sense/personal safety!

- Dawdlers in Lane 1/2 doing 20 km/h+ lower than the limit for no good reason (no, saving fuel doesn't count, nor does the whole "it's a limit not a target" shyte.. it's a motorway not a country lane. Drive the f*ck on!)

- poor junction design like the Ballymount N merge leading directly onto one of the busiest exits in the country (the Naas Road/N7) or the Stillorgan/J14S exit beyond which the M50 becomes 2 lanes so you get a stream of cars trying to exit at the same time as trucks and others lumber across into the middle-but-soon-to-be-left lane

- Idiots undertaking (because even here there's lots of people who think it's perfectly fine!) or aggressively lane-hopping to get a few car lengths ahead

- People leaving it to the last minute to get across for their exit, or who'll even slow dramatically/stop until someone lets them across

- People changing lanes without indicating, or even looking!, or who think they can force their way over regardless. This is worse again when it's a 40 foot truck overtaking another, AKA elephant racing

- Tailgating asshats .. admittedly partly to dissuade the group above I suppose

- Honorable mention too to the eejits driving in the dark/rain (particularly with the poor drainage on the M50) with no/minimal lights.. these become practically invisible which just adds to the chaos


The M50 is impossible to use in the same manner as a "normal" motorway as a result.. mostly because of the above but also the volume of traffic and number of exits/merges that are placed over a few km (particularly the busiest stretch.. Tallaght to Blanch) but for "fun" I tried to rigidly follow the "rules" on the 3-lane stretch of the N7 recently and between all of the above carry on it was an incredibly stressful and indeed dangerous idea.

So I'll stick to my normal practise thanks.. drive at the limit/traffic flow if safe to do so and in a defensive manner, and seeing as that normally means moving faster than anything to the left I usually find myself in lane 3, while constantly overtaking a line of slower traffic beside me... but for the pedants, this is not the same as "holding up" other traffic - as above it seems that most can't even keep up with traffic nevermind overtake it.


When AGS start addressing the above (and I wouldn't be surprised if the only reason those guys on the Twitter feed were pulled was because the Gardai were speeding along in the outside lane behind them themselves) then maybe "middle lane hogging" will be a valid complaint