M50 - Negotiating Northern Entrance from Howth

ozmo · 06-05-2015 12:41am #1

How do you guys negotiate entering the M50 at this point

Entering the M50 at the junction Near to the M1 junction after coming under the flyover from Bewleys hotel direction?

https://www.google.ie/maps/@53.410426,-6.227835,3a,75y,317.04h,85.43t/data=!3m4!1e1!3m2!1shR8SFP-nKzoo0_OmKlEpzA!2e0

Dont mind saying it scares the Cr@p out of me every time - a few times I've had people going fast on the right lane only for them to realise it very very quickly merges with the left lane and cutting across me.
And one guy undertaking me when I tried using the right lane.

So what you do to ensure safely crossing this point?

I can see marks on the wall/glass on the road often from others who didn't make it.

Crunch

Interslice · 06-05-2015 12:59am

Through the old pretend hard shoulder, left lane all the way around the roundabout (lift of a bit) and cut the corner a bit tighter than your man with the jeep/trailer. Just keep an eye on your RH mirror and let people go infront into the single lane if its tight.

Guy:Incognito · 06-05-2015 1:02am

It's genuinely worrying that the op and seemingly so many others have such difficulty with a simple maneuver. It's 2 lanes merging in to one , there are hundreds of these on roads all over the country.

Interslice · 06-05-2015 1:19am

Guy:Incognito wrote: »

It's genuinely worrying that the op and seemingly so many others have such difficulty with a simple maneuver. It's 2 lanes merging in to one , there are hundreds of these on roads all over the country.

I think the problem is if you exit the rounabout in the left lane you end up much slower than those exiting from the second lane so you can end up with cars flying up to get into the single lane bit ahead of you. Cut the corner and put the foot down to maintain a spot between two cars solves that, but that's not going to be for every one. M50 is a mad place. Not like any other motorway in the country. It's a compressed mixture of people who think it's the auto bahn, people just tippin along, lots of trucks and idiots.

ozmo · 06-05-2015 2:09am

Interslice wrote: »

I think the problem is if you exit the roundabout in the left lane you end up much slower than those exiting from the second lane so you can end up with cars flying up to get into the single lane bit ahead of you. Cut the corner and put the foot down....

Thats exactly it. And you cannot exit in the right lane or you run the risk of getting undertaken by cars from the m1 etc. You do have to really boot it to get by.
I've driven in NY City and several other major cities around the world and never came across a place that scares me as much due to the mad drivers I keep meeting at this particular junction - just had too many close shaves right there.

Dord · 06-05-2015 8:24am

Usually keep left and then floor it.

Senecio · 06-05-2015 8:44am

I always use the left lane, but for a different reason. The right lane often becomes blocked when the lights for cars entering the M1 north bound turn red.

mackerski · 06-05-2015 8:47am

Interslice wrote: »

Through the old pretend hard shoulder, left lane all the way around the roundabout (lift of a bit) and cut the corner a bit tighter than your man with the jeep/trailer. Just keep an eye on your RH mirror and let people go infront into the single lane if its tight.

That hard shoulder is real. Lane markings and everything.

bucketybuck · 06-05-2015 8:57am

I don't get the problem here?

Get into the correct lane, stay in the lane, drive forward, what exactly is supposed to be confusing about this junction?

Is it just a fear about what other drivers are going to do?

Caliden · 06-05-2015 9:05am

bucketybuck wrote: »

I don't get the problem here?

Get into the correct lane, stay in the lane, drive forward, what exactly is supposed to be confusing about this junction?

Is it just a fear about what other drivers are going to do?

Drive it and find out.

bucketybuck · 06-05-2015 9:36am

Caliden wrote: »

Drive it and find out.

I have driven it. So whats the problem?

TherapyBoy · 06-05-2015 10:38am

The problem is that part of the road is badly designed & laid out. It's like it was planned by someone who has never driven a car.

From the Bewleys roundabout exit towards the M50 you have 2 lanes, which merges to one lane & back to two within about 150 metres. This marked hard shoulder isn't maintained or marked clearly & is treated as 2 lanes by some & 1 lane by others.
Anyways, we're back to 2 lanes onto the M1/M50 roundabout, leftmost lane exit onto M50 is tighter than it should be, with traffic accelerating in anticipation of entering the M50 & often having to brake to stay in lane. Traffic in the righthand lane can enter the M50 while maintaining speed more effectively which generally means more braking when they have to merge into the leftmost lane before joining the rest of the M50/M1 traffic.

It's tricky because people are unfamiliar with the bad layout or aren't paying attention to the road/cars/traffic around them. From the Bewleys roundabout I stay in the left lane all the way until I reach the M50. It's especially important to be aware of the speed & location of traffic around you coming off the second roundabout so everyone can merge without incident.

chewed · 06-05-2015 11:45am

I've had numerous near collisions on this section as well, and I rarely drive on the roundabout.

The main issue I have is that people merge into the left lane before the "Merge Left" arrows ahead, which resulted in me beeping and swerving into the hard shoulder to avoid being hit and then getting the middle finger from the offending driver! I don't mind letting cars in front merge but when exiting a roundabout you should always stick to your lane!

deandean · 06-05-2015 4:16pm

I take that route regularly. I find that it is best to stick in the left lane starting at the Clare Hall junction a mile or two beforehand.. Yes I overtake on the left but not at speed. Also stay in the left lane approaching the M50 roundabout, I do not treat it as a 'hard shoulder'. and finally, stay in the left lane as you join the start of the m50. very occasionally I get a car trying to squeeze between me and the concrete wall on the right. But those black marks on the wall are all caused by squeezer-inners, they take the risk they pay the price. honestly I am not freaked out in the least by this junction & merge.

DvB · 06-05-2015 4:45pm

deandean wrote: »

I take that route regularly. I find that it is best to stick in the left lane starting at the Clare Hall junction a mile or two beforehand.. Yes I overtake on the left but not at speed. Also stay in the left lane approaching the M50 roundabout, I do not treat it as a 'hard shoulder'. and finally, stay in the left lane as you join the start of the m50. very occasionally I get a car trying to squeeze between me and the concrete wall on the right. But those black marks on the wall are all caused by squeezer-inners, they take the risk they pay the price. honestly I am not freaked out in the least by this junction & merge.

Agree with this, mainly because I do the exact same. Closest I've ever come to a collision in over 20 years of driving was at this very junction however, was in the left lane, exited & some loon tried to overtake/merge at the last second & decided he wasn't going into the wall so we ended up side by side with a very quick game of chicken occurring, I decided to brake hard to let him in as I had my kids in the car with me & their safety was the overriding factor, but beeped quickly to let him know what he did was very risky, I in response got the obligatory finger.

The thing is the having driven it many many times since the markings clearly show the right lane having to merge into the left one, so on that basis, does the left lane technically have right of way?

kona · 07-05-2015 11:42am

If people understood the term merge then you wouldn't be playing chicken!

DvB · 07-05-2015 11:47am

kona wrote: »

If people understood the term merge then you wouldn't be playing chicken!

Absolutely.
He was essentially overtaking me in an ever reducing width of road... he could easily have slipped in behind me (a much easier manoeuvre) & simply moved past me when I changed lane up ahead at the earliest available opportunity,

I dunno, maybe he felt his AUDI A6 was superior to our car (which it is to be fair:D) & didn't deserve to be ahead of him on the road....

chewed · 07-05-2015 12:03pm

kona wrote: »

If people understood the term merge then you wouldn't be playing chicken!

yes, but should they be merging into the left lane before the merge arrows? As I mentioned this is what happens to me all the time! I'm in the left lane and the driver in the right lane drives across in front of me, causing me to swing into the hard shoulder. If they stuck in the right lane I'd have no problem in letting them merge further on.

ozmo · 07-05-2015 12:20pm

kona wrote: »

If people understood the term merge then you wouldn't be playing chicken!

Agreed - but the question was how to get by this junction safely - ie. without anyone hitting you - defensive driving.

Its worse when there is very light traffic.

Problem is that coming off the large roundabout, it looks like the start of a two lane motorway - so I see cars fly off this roundabout and straight into the "fast" lane (that isnt) overtaking the cars in the left lane (who have the right of way) and cutting in in front of them.

Twice I've been forced into the hardshoulder at that point or I would have been hit from cars to my right coming at speed from behind.

mackerski · 07-05-2015 4:13pm

kona wrote: »

If people understood the term merge then you wouldn't be playing chicken!

Or if they understood the term "hard shoulder".

kona · 07-05-2015 6:26pm

mackerski wrote: »

Or if they understood the term "hard shoulder".

The "hard shoulder" is not near the junction where two lanes merge into one?

I'm not too sure if that hard shoulder is even active, the bus lane on the n32 isn't active but still lane marked but no sign saying buslane.

mackerski · 08-05-2015 6:01am

kona wrote: »

The "hard shoulder" is not near the junction where two lanes merge into one?

I'm not too sure if that hard shoulder is even active, the bus lane on the n32 isn't active but still lane marked but no sign saying buslane.

Hard shoulders don't need sign plates. Just road markings.

ardmacha · 08-05-2015 6:05am

A sign showing that the lanes merge wouldn't so any harm here.
It might actually be better to make the merge shorter so people can see the end of it and don't build up a huge speed.

kona · 08-05-2015 10:50am

mackerski wrote: »

Hard shoulders don't need sign plates. Just road markings.

Well it's a pretty stupid one then because your forcing two lanes off A roundabout into one then going back to two a few meters after, then onto another lucky dip of a junction.

deandean · 08-05-2015 5:20pm

What about a bit of plain English signage?

Alas there'll always be those who reckon that signs don't apply to them:

merge-like-a-zip-chch-style_1226307320.jpg?w=584&h=328

merge-like-a-zip-chch-style_1226307320.jpg?w=584&h=328

mackerski · 11-05-2015 10:32am

kona wrote: »

Well it's a pretty stupid one then because your forcing two lanes off A roundabout into one then going back to two a few meters after, then onto another lucky dip of a junction.

That's a separate issue, and I agree with you. But if some cars obey the markings and others don't, the result is accidents. Being able to predict how others will drive is important, and randomly ignoring road markings because you think they are stupid makes it impossible.

M50 - Negotiating Northern Entrance from Howth

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