Passing Lanes (and insurance)

Silvera

Having driven quite a few kilometers here in New Zealand over the last week , a great idea for Ireland would be the 'passing lanes' in use here.

Basically, every 10k or so, there are passing lanes on one side of the road (or the other) which are signposted well in advance (4k in advance, then 2k, etc), and stop a lot of drivers making silly overtaking manouvers, because they know there will be a 'passing lane' coming up ahead within a few k's !!


Also, regarding insurance -
I'm 31, bought a 1.8 Litre Nissan Bluebird, and got full cover insurance here in NZ for $358 !!! (about 170 Euros !)

........the same-sized car at home would cost me at least 800 Euros to insure !

AND, car insurance in NOT compulsory in New Zealand !
(I don't particularly agree with that, but thats how it is here)

Road Tax (Rego) is $120 for six months (on any size car) and NCT (Warrant of Fitness) tests are due every six months for cars over 4 years old.


Just a few observations from an Irishman abroad.

Regards,
Silvera.

leeroybrown

Passing lanes are a very good idea and are slowly being introduced as part of the NRA's latest road improvement initiative. I think there are some roads with alternating overtaking lanes on them already. Naturally some Irish drivers will insist on using them at exactly 1mph faster than the car inside them in the same way as the overtaking lane is used on dual carriageways.

If you visited a country that gave poorer value for money for insurance than Ireland I'd be very surprised. The first thing a lot of Irish people think of after an accident is that pain in the neck they think they have and how much they can get for it (With the exception of ambulance-chasing-solicitors who think of the other person's pain and how much it can get them).

jay567

Is it just me or has anyone else realised how bad ppl are at sitting in the fast lane over here, you know the story, m50 slow lane empty and 10 cars cruising at 50 in the fast lane! drives me nuts....
Hope ur enjoying ur travels Sil!!

Andrew Duffy

It's because people insist on calling the overtaking lane the "fast" lane and the driving lane the "slow" lane

It's also because you can pass a driving test never having driven on a dual carriageway or any kind, and immediately become entitled to drive on a motorway. Hence the idiots that drive at 30 mph down on-slips and stop at the end, drive in the overtaking lane (luckily, although dangerously, the Gardaí aren't too concerned about undertaking here), and change lanes without looking over their shoulders, or in many cases, in their mirrors.

ChipZilla

The only one's I've seen in Ireland are between Cahir and Watergrasshill. But in the usual Irish half-arsed way of doing things, there are no warning signs to tell you where the passing lane is going to end (or they're right at the end). So you're going up a hill overtaking an artic when it pushes you out into the middle of the road cos the passing lane is finished...:mad: :mad:

PBC_1966

There are some three-lane highways in the States with an "alternating" passing lane for each direction as well. It's a good idea.

There used to be three-lane arrangements in England years ago, but they didn't restrict the center lane to passing in one direction only at any given point. It could be used by traffic passing from either direction at any time, the onus being on the passing driver to see that nothing was already coming at him in the opposite direction. It never struck me as a particular sensible system....:eek:

there are no warning signs to tell you where the passing lane is going to end (or they're right at the end).

There's a stretch of the A47 around Norwich which has similarly bad signage. The road alternates between two-way two-lane and four-lane divided for miles. You'll see "Dual carriageway ahead 2 miles", followed by similar 1 mile, 1/2 mile notices etc., sometimes even in advance of a roundabout where the signs wouldn't even apply to somebody turning off on another road. But the advance warnings for the end of the divided sections are hopelessly lacking. In many places you just get a "Dual carriageway ends 400 yds." and that's it.

How somebody thinks you need 2 miles warning of the start and less than a 1/4-mile warning of the end beats me. But then Norfolk Council are pretty hopeless at everything.

dcGT

Originally posted by jay567
Is it just me or has anyone else realised how bad ppl are at sitting in the fast lane over here, you know the story, m50 slow lane empty and 10 cars cruising at 50 in the fast lane! drives me nuts....
Hope ur enjoying ur travels Sil!!

Yeah that's a big problem. In fact there are many instances where people undertake in the 'slow' lane because it's moving faster than the 'passing' lane. I think the reason so many people stay in the 'passing' lane, is that, sooner or later, you're gonna encounter the arse of a slow moving truck in the 'slow' lane, and because the 'passing' lane is so full, no one will let you in

Also, while we're on the subject, it seems that very few people (on the M50 especially) understands what 'keep your distance' means, even in wet weather. People are constantly up eachother's arses. However, I think there's another reason for that; as soon as you leave even half a car length of space between you and the car in front, about 5 cars will try to pull in to it :mad: Consequently, you get pushed back down the line of traffic :rolleyes:

DC.

seamus

Originally posted by jay567
Is it just me or has anyone else realised how bad ppl are at sitting in the fast lane over here, you know the story, m50 slow lane empty and 10 cars cruising at 50 in the fast lane! drives me nuts....
Hope ur enjoying ur travels Sil!!

Actually I drove to Killarney and back over the weekend, and in the country, people seem to be much more clued in and watching on dual carriageways than in Dublin. Anyone I was travelling faster than got out of my way, and similarly, when I pulled in after completing my overtake, people behind travelling the same speed as me followed suit! I was gobsmacked. Here us Dubliners slag country people about knowing nothing about driving on big roads, when in fact everyone drove at a reasonable distance from eachother, and used the overtaking lane correctly.
On the M50, it could be two in the morning, and there are only two cars in front of you, but both will be doign 60mph side-by-side and won't move when you flash them. Half the time they'll give you the finger.

Furp

That close driving drives me crazy on the M50 its unbleivable how close some people get, I know that if i needed to stop quickly i could do it, but the person behind you ahve to trust them that they can stop just as quickly, its scary.

Especially in the wet, i cannot belive it when its lashing down rain, i'm doing 50-60 in the rain in teh slow lane (probably still too fast) is bouncing off the road and the windscren the wipers are on full speed, and you get some d**k driving 6 feet behind you, or you see loads of cars up front driving on top of on another.

I'm not saying that im an angel but i firmly believe in the two second rule for normal conditions and in the wet i really like the car in front to be at a distance of 8-10 seconds.

The most annoying thin as dcGt says though is as soon as you leave any sort of safe gap between you adn the car infront, you get these people pulling in, in front of you therefore you keep dropping back.

I use the toll bridge eveyday so i have an easypass which i love as all those a****les that overtake stupidly drive 90 mph or cut in, in front of you, sit in a queue in front of you waiting to pay the toll, while I sail up the the gate and without even stopping the barrier opens adn im through.

On the N3 just before the dual carragway ends there is one stretch of road that when it rains there is like a little river of rain about 10ft wide crossing teh road, i always slow right down at this, as as soon as you hit it you can feel the whoel car lighten up, the other day i saw a guy doing at least 80 throught this in a truck.

end rant

:rolleyes:

Silvera

Cheers jay567 !


Other interesting road features I have noticed on my travels -

- In Melbourne, many four lane roads have overhead arrows, which light up, to show you if the lane is open in your direction, i.e. more lanes can be opened INTO the city during morning rush hour, and vice-versa during the evening rush hour.

- On the highway to Auckland Harbour bridge, there is a concrete divider along the centre of the road. This concrete divider is MOVED (!!!) each morning/evening with a special machine known as 'the caterpiller' in order to have more lanes available in either direction at peak periods !

- EVERY road has it's name displayed, even side roads in the countryside - and all bridges have their road name displayed on the side of the bridge.

- There are 'repeater' speed limit signs through buit up areas (every few k), and all road works speed limits have "temporary" displayed on the signs - and a 'thank you' at the end of EVERY road works site !

Silvera

Oh, and personalised plates are available in both Oz and NZ - people even have the option of ordering their personal reg on Euro plates !

(In New Zealand - 'NZ' where 'IRL' would be on the plate, and the southern cross where the EU stars would be..........with a blue stripe on the other end of the plate also incorporating the 'silver fern' symbol - NZ's national symbol.)

PBC_1966

Originally posted by Silvera
- In Melbourne, many four lane roads have overhead arrows, which light up, to show you if the lane is open in your direction, i.e. more lanes can be opened INTO the city during morning rush hour, and vice-versa during the evening rush hour.

Common in large cities in the U.S., and also found in some larger British towns. There is certainly a three-lane road in Lincoln which is changed to allow two-lanes into the city during morning rush-hour and two lanes out during the evening rush-hour.

- EVERY road has it's name displayed, even side roads in the countryside - and all bridges have their road name displayed on the side of the bridge.

Again, something where Britain (and in my experience of Irish travel, Ireland too) could learn from the U.S., where street names arfe placed in sensible, visible locations, not hidden low-down where vehicles obscure them, or absent entirely.

sceptre

Originally posted by seamus
when I pulled in after completing my overtake, people behind travelling the same speed as me followed suit! I was gobsmacked.

I'm going to generalise a little but they're far more likely to do this when they see someone with copon in front of them doing it. As you say though, it's more common in the sticks, I tend to blame the likes of the Dublin end of the N7 when it's chocabloc in both lanes for this.

People who saunter along in the overtaking lane get on my wick. I pretty much refuse to undertake as it's dangerous as bedamned so it's annoying to be stuck behind these idiots when the left lane is completely empty. I flick back into the left lane at the earliest opportunity but then I tend to indicate when hitting a junction on a housing estate at 4am as well. I'm not saying I'm anywhere near a perfect driver incidentally, far from it.