Bank Holiday Bus Lanes

FX Meister

I never know what the craic is with bus lanes on a bank holiday, do the usual sunday rules apply? Does anyone here have any idea.

Bri

Yeah I'm 99% sure it's sunday rules...although I'm sure you know plenty are now 24-hr. Including southbound from foxrock onwards - Nothing annoys me more than the daily sight of some muppet breaking the rules and thinking they're right because they can't/don't read signs on this particular stretch.

Bus lanes are for smart people who pay attention...and buses/taxis of course

fletch

Yeh I didn't know today either so I jus stayed well clear....it does explicity say Mon-Sat 7-7 so I thought it best to just stay out of them

Bri

I asked a nice guard a while back so...

shoegirl

It depends on the lane.

Standard old fashioned bus lanes are usually 07:00 to 19:00 Monday to Saturday and you can drive on them outside those hours.

There are a handful of 24x7 buslanes in Dublin now.

Where are the 24x7 buses to drive in them? What a waste of road space!

Seth Brundle

The 24/7 lanes are all outside the city centre whilst those close to the city centre or on non-dual carriageways are 12 hour with a break between 10 and 12am [Mon to Sat]).
I don't know what kind of logic was used to decide 24hour lanes but it doesn't really matter as if they were 12hr lanes then by the time traffic could use them the traffic has died down.
I read recently of a man who was fined for driving in a 24hr bus lane about 3am and he was moaning about it. Why was he in it anyway? He was more than likely the only one on the road at the time (apart from the guard)!

BrianD

Nearly all the 24 hour bus lanes are former hard shoulders where you would not drive anyway so there is no loss of roadspace and that arguement is irrelevant. I assume that they make them 24 hours so that outside of bus operation hours then can be used as a hardshoulder for breakdowns etc.

What really annoys me is the use of buslanes on the N11 as unofficial overtaking lanes and fast lanes. Am I correct in saying theat you can not cross a solid white line so therefore if you enter a bus lane that is closed you must stay in it till the line becomes broken.

Seth Brundle

You can cross a solid white line to pass an obstacle. How you (or the garda that may pull you over) defines an obstacle is a different matter!

BrianD

A car driving normally in the slow lane is not an obstacle!

shagman

Yes but these are merely "rules of the road" or "laws of the land" not something to be taken either literally or seriously.

mike65

Moving this now to Transport/commuting.

Mike.

BrianD

Related to the topic, I saw Control Plus attempting to lift cars out of a bus stop on bank holiday monday. They must have been in good humour as each time they went to lift a car the owners would leg it out of the house and move it and they let them off.

Capt'n Midnight

BrianD wrote:

What really annoys me is the use of buslanes on the N11 as unofficial overtaking lanes and fast lanes. Am I correct in saying theat you can not cross a solid white line so therefore if you enter a bus lane that is closed you must stay in it till the line becomes broken.

If you are talking about the lane furtherest from the centre of the road then they are undertaking , which is not allowed except in slow moving traffic or when one of you has already indicated to turn away from the other lane..

Just noticed a typo - but I'll leave it in

HelterSkelter

BrianD wrote:

What really annoys me is the use of buslanes on the N11 as unofficial overtaking lanes and fast lanes. Am I correct in saying theat you can not cross a solid white line so therefore if you enter a bus lane that is closed you must stay in it till the line becomes broken.

I always use the bus lane if I'm on the N11 on a Sunday. It's great. Most people are so used to not driving it during the week that they forget cars can use it on Sunday.

BrianD

I use them myself as well but I don't cut in and out of them to undertake or travel at unsafe speeds.

Dub13

shoegirl wrote:

There are a handful of 24x7 buslanes in Dublin now.

Where are the 24x7 buses to drive in them? What a waste of road space!

In most cases its not a matter of having buses run 24 hours as the bus lane is open 24 hours.There are 24 hour bus lanes were before they would have been a hard shoulder....so if cars were alowed in them it would mean you would have an extra lane of traffic on the old hard shoulder,not a safe idea.