Ireland's drivers: their worst habit

impr0v

Select from the above what you think is the worst habit of the drivers you encounter on this country's roads. I think it will be interesting to compare the results to what the government considers to be the two major problems, namely the first and second options above, though obviously their prioritisation of those two particular problems has some statistical basis and is not solely based on opinion.

I've had to combine some options because of the maximum poll options being ten, and there will undoubtedly be some I have missed (perhaps an 'all of the above' option).

unkel

Just voted for general ignorance, but would like to tick a few more

Ba_barbaraAnne

I had to vote for 'general endemic ignorance' cos it covers most of the others in the long run. One other bugbear of mine is people not using dipped headlights in poor visibility. Also those who think parking lights are the same as dipped lights. It drives me crazy!!

byte

Voted for:
General endemic ignorance and a displaying a lack of courtesy for others on the road.

Wish it was multiple choice though as I'd pick a few more!

sceptre

Also voted for general endemic ignorance as most of the other problems stem from Irish motorists in general being dumb as **** with no cop-on whatever or care for others outside their car bubbles while driving.

dahamsta

I wanted to vote for general ignorance, but the dual carriageway thing just drives me mental. I refuse to call them "motorways" by the way. Two lanes = dual carriageway. If you want me to call them motorways, build motorways.

adam

BrianD3

I voted for the endemic ignorance option. Sums up Irish drivers quite nicely.

One annoyance that hasn't been mentioned is farmers in tractors plodding along country road at night with no rear lights on their tractor/trailer. Then you have others who turn on blinding *white* spotlights on the rear of their tractor while driving along. I came across one of these last night and from a distance I couldn't work out what the hell it was - a car parked with lights on, a car coming towards me, light coming from someone's house etc.

Another pet hate of mine that I've mentioned before on this board: trailer stupidity. Every feckin day of the week I see muppets towing trailers that are stupidly overloaded or too heavy for the towing vehicle. Eg last week I saw a Ford Fiesta van towing a double horsebox and a Pajero jeep towing a triple axle trailer with a biggish (~3 tonnes) tractor aboard. I'd say a lot of these drivers don't even have the correct licence for these trailers and are therefore driving unlicenced and uninsured.

BrianD3

Stark

Ooh, can't pick just one

My choices would be

Driving aggressively or with excessive speed.
Not maintaining sufficent safe distance from the car in front.
Incorrect or insufficient signalling, and an Inability to use roundabouts.
Not driving at a reasonable speed and unnecessarily obstructing traffic.
General endemic ignorance and a displaying a lack of courtesy for others on the road.

Saw something that took the biscuit the other day. Was on a kind-of dual carriageway (had two left lanes, two right lanes, but do dividing embankment) and saw a guy with his two kids in a make-shift horse-drawn cart coming towards me. Needless to say the horse was going ape-**** with all the traffic and the guy was having to yank the reigns big time to keep it under control.

jetsonx

The "take off stage" from red lights in Ireland is painfully slow.

Takes the average driver about 15 seconds to realize light has gone green
Another 20 seconds before hand brake is released by the time they fecking leave the traffic lights only 3 or 4 cars have passed the lights.

On the continent esp. in France and Spain...it is refreshing to see that drivers
are alert when it comes to moving off from a set of traffic lights they are quite swift. Not Paddy Unfortunately.

Stark

I haven't noticed that. Any time anyone takes more than about 3 secs, they get beeped out of it.

Illkillya

unnecessarily obstructing traffic, although its also covered by the motorway one... blocking overtaking lanes, driving at same speed or slower than the cars in the inside lane.

Stephen

I hate each and every last one of you foglight dickheads.

robbie1876

Well the poll asks for the 'worst' habit rather than the one that pisses me off the most, so I voted for signalling and roundabout misuse. I'm pretty sure this causes more (minor) accidents on the roads than anything else.

The one that pisses me off the most are the headlights left on, or people who drive with headlights on full on the motorway at all times because it says you should in the rules of the road.

ubu

voted for general ignorance aswell but a multiple ticking would have been prefered,
roundabouts and motorway/dual carriageway driving especially annoy me, id say there is a large percentage of drivers who have never even looked at the rules of the road.

I was out with a friend of mine today in his car, he passed his test first time during the week but the amount of things he was doing wrong amazed me, sitting in overtaking lane, not looking in mirrors on roundabout, not in correct lane approaching roundabout, i was in shock that he actually passed because its clear that he just doesnt have a grasp of the rules of the road or common courtesy on the road

OfflerCrocGod

We're is "Being on the road at the same time as me in the mornings"? Bastards, I want to commute in speed!

mike65

I was tempted to edit the poll so I could select every option but went for General endemic ignorance.

Mike.

mackerski

dahamsta wrote:

I wanted to vote for general ignorance, but the dual carriageway thing just drives me mental. I refuse to call them "motorways" by the way. Two lanes = dual carriageway. If you want me to call them motorways, build motorways.

There's nothing in the definition of "Motorway" that says "three lanes plus". A goodish proportion of Europe's motorway network (including the UK) is two-lane - it only rises above that on roads that see far in excess of the kind of throughput most Irish roads will see. There are notable exceptions, of course, like the M50.

Dermot

bp_me

I voted for "Incorrect or insufficient signalling, and an Inability to use roundabouts."

This is one that particularly annoys me, especially when I have to walk to or from college, there are now 3 roundabouts along the route (used to be two but they built a new one outside a new student village), and at each of these roundabouts, about half of the cars intending to go left (through the exit I have to cross) simply don't bother to indicate, so I am never sure if they are going straight on, or taking the first exit. Sometimes can take up to 5 minutes to cross at busy times.

mackerski

robbie1876 wrote:

The one that pisses me off the most are the headlights left on, or people who drive with headlights on full on the motorway at all times because it says you should in the rules of the road.

That can't be true, surely. I don't have a copy to check, because it's been a looong time since my test, but I find it hard to believe that they tell people to drive on high beam all the time.

Dermot

dahamsta

mackerski wrote:

There's nothing in the definition of "Motorway" that says "three lanes plus".

There is in mine. What we have in Ireland are dual carriageways with 70mph speed limits, period. But if you want to call them motorways, off with ya boy. Just get out of my effing way.

Still don't understand the (front) foglight thing. The more I see people getting annoyed about it the more fun it is to leave 'em on.

adam

robbie1876

mackerski wrote:

That can't be true, surely. I don't have a copy to check, because it's been a looong time since my test, but I find it hard to believe that they tell people to drive on high beam all the time.

Dermot

Well it's possible they have changed it now, but when I learned the rules from the book that was one that stuck in my head. It was in a list of 'when should you drive with your full beams on'

Maybe someone with the book would kindly check it out?

robbie1876

dahamsta wrote:

Still don't understand the (front) foglight thing. The more I see people getting annoyed about it the more fun it is to leave 'em on.

adam

The purpose of front foglights is so that cool people can turn their headlights down to the sidelights setting and use the foglights as their dipped headlights. They gain streed cred and it makes their stereo go louder. I used to do this on my Skoda Forman (seriously!).

mackerski

dahamsta wrote:

There is in mine. What we have in Ireland are dual carriageways with 70mph speed limits, period.

Humph - off to the home of the Autobahn with you and do some research. Marvel at the variety in lane-counts. Thrill at the steep gradients, missing hard shoulders and dodgy paving. Gasp at the exit loops that'll have your car over the edge if you didn't brake early enough. Be impressed at how people manage to hurtle down them beliebig schnell without splatting themselves.

When you've done all that, come back and give a fair assessment of our own motorways - to keep the comparison fair, factor in how much more usable they'd be if the state allowed non-lorries and non-grannies to use the left lane, thereby freeing up the inside lane for overtaking as they do in other countries.

The most obvious precedent to follow in deciding how many lanes our motorways might need is Northern Ireland. There, every single kilometer is two-lane except for some notable exceptions, all of which are in and around Belfast. The M2 foreshore stretch, with five lanes each way for most of its length, is the most obvious of these. It could probably survive on fewer, but it's all on reclaimed land and was probably quite cheap to build that way. It also helps give people room to weave between the many different routes that diverge from it. M50 planners take note...

Dermot

mackerski

robbie1876 wrote:

Well it's possible they have changed it now, but when I learned the rules from the book that was one that stuck in my head. It was in a list of 'when should you drive with your full beams on'

Are you convinced that they didn't intend to except the cases when another car was in blinding range? I recall that section - in fact, when I first read it, the Rules didn't even mention motorways. It was pretty clear on when to dip them, though.

Dermot

dahamsta

mackerski wrote:

Humph

See, I stopped reading after that one word, and now all your hard work has gone to waste.

gaui3d0pnbz86o

cant i pick them all except the last one! do people really think its safe to drive 2 meters behind another car?even on a motorway?(last thursday it happened to me!) of const high beams on? or only one headlamp working!(like get it fixed!!! if its just the bulb, then its cheap and easy!) ir drunk drivers, why drink and drive! for the price of two pints most people could get a taxi home! or walk! grrr bad drivers make me not like to drive sometimes, and i feel like im a dying breed of courtious driver.

tom

narommy

I'm went with gerneral ignorance.

I drove from Kerry to Kildare last nite

I came across 5 incidents of people hogging the outside lane (Including a cattle lorry with a trailer :mad: )

At several cases of driving at a less than achievable speed and then speeding up when people are trying to overtake.

Then the idiots who don't leave adequate space in front. Are up your tail while you are doing 60. Then you slow down to let them pass and they don't. I'm sorry but then it is rear fog light time

What is an appropriate reaction to outside lane hoggers?

QC

Passed that really bad accident on the M1 yesterday (Sun 8) -- three cars, one went over the median and hit the other two. The traffic was badly slowed down on the northbound lane when I passed, ~ 20 min delay, the southbound was closed. What got me though were the ***kheads who decided that any delay was too much and had to drive as fast and dangerously as the could the second they passed the accident site.

alias no.9

dahamsta wrote:

I wanted to vote for general ignorance, but the dual carriageway thing just drives me mental. I refuse to call them "motorways" by the way. Two lanes = dual carriageway. If you want me to call them motorways, build motorways.

adam

Dual carriage way refers to the segregation of the streams of traffic going in opposite directions by a median. It does not refer to the count of lanes. All motorways are in effect, dual carriageways, all dual carriageways are not motorways. Motorways are designed to allow traffic move at a faster speed, safely. This is achieved by eliminating obstacles in the path of the motorway such as junctions, traffic lights, prohibition of vehicles <50cc and incapable of >30mph, prohibition of stopping, no hard shoulder, etc... You join and leave motorways using a slip road on the left hand side (except where a national primary route flows into a motorway or vice versa). Ordinary dual carriageways can have traffic lights, junctions, roundabouts, zebra crossings, cycle lanes and any number of other things that could lead to serious safety hazards for fast moving traffic. If you can't understand the difference between dual carriageways and motorways, this is more of a reflection on you than the design of what motorways we do have, which with the exception of some capacity constraints (particularly on the M50) and a lack of a central barrier on some stretches, are of a very high standard.

magpie

Obviously multiple entries on that poll would need to be ticked for an accurate picture, so general endemic ignorance it is.

The foglights thing is a pet hate of mine, but every 3rd car seems to have their 'cool lights' turned on at any given time. Ditto for people with no headlights if there is even the faintest suggestion of dying light left in the evening.

Dare I suggest a new category though? People who can't apply 'L' plates correctly to their car. These fall into 3 categories:

A) People who cut out the red 'L' from the white background and then apply it in order to make it less conspicuous.
People who put the 'L' the wrong way around, or upside down. Surely anyone displaying this level of stupidity should receive an automatic lifetime ban from driving?
C) People who are both special needs, and anxious to conceal their learner status, who combine A and B above.

Unfortunately, as with most things in Ireland, our driving suffers from a general disregard for law, order, or 'the right way to do things'.

"Sure, one headlight is grand."

fletch

jetsonx wrote:

The "take off stage" from red lights in Ireland is painfully slow.

Takes the average driver about 15 seconds

Agreed...I always stare at the other lights to watch for them turning red so I am ready 2 go as soon as my lights turn green

cujimmy

jetsonx wrote:

The "take off stage" from red lights in Ireland is painfully slow.

Takes the average driver about 15 seconds to realize light has gone green
Another 20 seconds before hand brake is released by the time they fecking leave the traffic lights only 3 or 4 cars have passed the lights.

On the continent esp. in France and Spain...it is refreshing to see that drivers
are alert when it comes to moving off from a set of traffic lights they are quite swift. Not Paddy Unfortunately.

Over here in Scotland the lights go from red to amber to green so there no delays

Alun

The "take off stage" from red lights in Ireland is painfully slow.

Takes the average driver about 15 seconds

I notice that too. I'm no boy racer, but I like to keep an eye on the other traffic lights and pedestrian signals so that I'm ready for the off when they eventually change to green. Quite often when I'm a few hundred metres down the road I'll look in my mirror and see that they still haven't moved!

In fact any kind of acceleration at all seems totally foreign to some drivers here. Take coming off the Loughlinstown roundabout heading south onto the M11 for example. OK, I know there are speed limits due to roadworks at the moment, but under normal circumstances it's quite common to get stuck behind people who take an incredible amount of time to get up to anything like a reasonable speed. It's as if they go round the roundabout in 5th gear or something and then just try and get back up to speed without dropping a cog or two.

And don't get me started on those who don't accelerate on the on-ramps of motorways and dual carriageways and try and merge with 60mph traffic at 20mph ...

dahamsta

cujimmy wrote:

Over here in Scotland the lights go from red to amber to green so there no delays

I go to London about once a year and I always come back wondering why we don't have that here.

adam

Jefferson Darcy

Interesting thread.

I'm pretty shocked at the fact that people continue to slaughter themselves on Irish roads at an alarming rate and yet the government continues to target speed as the main cause of accidents. I suppose it certainly brings in more revenue...

The foglight thing is hilarious, there's definitely a 'look-at-me' factor involved here whether its the scrote in his 50cc Nissan Moicra with 500 kilograms of tupperware bodykit or the twit who spent a small fortune on a puny, four cylinder, bottom of the range 'executive car'. Fogs are highly desirable on the options list whenever I chat to someone about the new car they're buying. But to me anyone car running fogs with the parklights = instant idiot.

Then there are those who are completely clueless about operating a car and will simply flip on any switch that looks like it has anything to do with headlights. Hence the prevalence of switched on rear fogs in clear weather. Or those driving around in a daze with their brights on.

On the upside, loads of people seem to use their headlights in poor weather these days. This hasn't always been the case.

Incorrect use of roundabouts has been mentioned, its seems most who do use their indicators use them incorrectly - for instance just flicking them to the right and not bothering to indicate left prior to taking their exit.

Even worse though, and this especially common on large, double-lane roundabouts like the M50 onramp at Balinteer, is people taking the 'racing' line. Just because there are two lanes doesn't mean you can take big sweeping turns without bothering to check your mirrors.

Its not surprising that so many accidents happen - learner drivers, people who don't have a clue about the controls, people overtaking on blind corners, people who don't realise the need for decent following distance, aquaplaning on poorly drained roads, people writing SMS on cellphones while driving (!)...

Driver training and better policing is the answer - not handing out points in 'fish in a barrel' locations.

sceptre

cujimmy wrote:

Over here in Scotland the lights go from red to amber to green so there no delays

Same up in nornie oirland. Good system. Part of me reckons there are plenty of idiots on our roads who would see any flash of amber as a big green though. Still, if they take 15 seconds to shoot off who cares.

mike65

AFAIK the reason we dont use amber before green is due to the Amber Gambler syndrome. I thinks its proberly safer as things are, all thats needed from dopey drivers is for them to pay attention to the sequence.

I know, I'm asking alot!

Mike.

Shilo

dahamsta wrote:

Still don't understand the (front) foglight thing. The more I see people getting annoyed about it the more fun it is to leave 'em on

Please allow me to explain then. I was driving the old man to work last night in a mild kind of drizzle at about 10pm. Some f*ckwit decides he's going to drive behind me with full beams and I can't see a damn thing because I'm being dazzled. Of course, that might just be because I'm daft enough to use my rear and side view mirrors so I can see what's behind me.... I forget they're really just for decoration and/or checking one's makeup.

And I think at this stage there should be a whole section of the driving test teaching people to indicate... It's not that hard surely??

BrianD

Is there an all of the above category?

dahamsta

Shilo wrote:

Please allow me to explain then. I was driving the old man to work last night in a mild kind of drizzle at about 10pm. Some f*ckwit decides he's going to drive behind me with full beams...

Full beams == foglights?

Shilo

Sorry Dahamsta - I was being inaccurate, he actually had both on. Full beam healights (bad enough) and then foglights on top (or rather underneath) just in case he wasn't blinding me enough!! Sorry, I know I've been told I have a tendency to overreact to full beams but that's because they're so rarely necessary and so many people use them ALL the time...

dahamsta

I don't know why you were quoting me then, I was talking specifically about foglights. Foglights that dazzle you from behind are incorrectly configured - extremely so in fact - which is a completely different issue.

adam

mike65

I'm playing my



card before someone throws thier toys out of the pram!

Proper front fogs will cast thier beam no more than about 10 metres ahead, they won't cause dazzle unless they are pointing at the tree tops which being Ireland is entirely possible!

Mike.

Sha

BrianD3 wrote:

I voted for the endemic ignorance option. Sums up Irish drivers quite nicely.

One annoyance that hasn't been mentioned is farmers in tractors plodding along country road at night with no rear lights on their tractor/trailer. Then you have others who turn on blinding *white* spotlights on the rear of their tractor while driving along. I came across one of these last night and from a distance I couldn't work out what the hell it was - a car parked with lights on, a car coming towards me, light coming from someone's house etc.

Another pet hate of mine that I've mentioned before on this board: trailer stupidity. Every feckin day of the week I see muppets towing trailers that are stupidly overloaded or too heavy for the towing vehicle. Eg last week I saw a Ford Fiesta van towing a double horsebox and a Pajero jeep towing a triple axle trailer with a biggish (~3 tonnes) tractor aboard. I'd say a lot of these drivers don't even have the correct licence for these trailers and are therefore driving unlicenced and uninsured.

Dont you hate Sunday Drivers usually old biddies on the way home from Mass.... What a ****in Nightmare Like !!!!

jd

Sha wrote:

BrianD3 wrote:

I voted for the endemic ignorance option.

Reported one feking lorry driver asshole last week heading down the beaumont road with a stack of wrecked cars at the back. It was obviously unstable- I cringed watching him take a corner. Another guy in work who lives near me mentioned it to me as he was coming in to work the same time, so I wasn't over-reacting.

Oh and could someone do something about the junction of the Swords road with Coolock lane, The only way to have a clear run straight on is to get into the bus lane-grr
jd

Sha

Stephen wrote:

I hate each and every last one of you foglight dickheads.

You need to get over the foglights thing , whats the big ****in deal they look Cool !!! Wear a pair of sunglasses if you dont like it .... Cos i aint turnin off my spots for no-one !!!

Unless your a fit guard thats stops me, then ill do whatever you like "officer" :cool:

Johnny Storm

How about "all of the above" ?

I would also include :-
>"drivers" who decline to pull into a climbing lane when people behind them clearly want to overtake and
> people who wear hats or caps INSIDE their cars. I mean - wtf ?


Edit: Sorry to resurect this old thread. I came across it in a search and then replied before I noticed how old it was.

bang_bang_rosie

i voted for duelcarriageways/motorways.
I travel the M1 and the M7 regularly, do people not understand that the right lane is the overtaking lane ONLY! people decide to cruise along it at 60/70 miles an hour without a thought of moving back into the left hand lane when they can. Some drivers don't seem to realise that people might want to overtake them!
oh and another thing, men with flash cars who will do anything and any speed to overtake you back because a girl in a little peugot overtook them, what's the point? they were obviously happy with the speed they were already doing!

AMurphy

Sha wrote:

BrianD3 wrote:

I voted for the endemic ignorance option. Sums up Irish drivers quite nicely.

One annoyance that hasn't been mentioned is farmers in tractors plodding along country road at night with no rear lights on their tractor/trailer. Then you have others who turn on blinding *white* spotlights on the rear of their tractor while driving along. ......

.... Eg last week I saw a Ford Fiesta van towing a double horsebox and a Pajero jeep towing a triple axle trailer with a biggish (~3 tonnes) tractor aboard. ......!!!!

Pretty good summary.
However, jic you thought otherwise. The law is on the side of this stupidity, as some time back (about 18 mo.) I read of a case where someone had stopped a car with mains on, on the wrong (opposite) side of the road. An oncoming car drove between the lights and the ditch.
However the car with the lights on on the wrong side of the road was deemed not at fault by the Gown and Wig class.

It might be possible to reduce a lot of this overloading if the cost of vehicles, (VRT, Tax, Ins) were such that one could afford to have a vehicle for each purpose. Then you could have or rent a vehicle suitable for the task on hand without having to take out a 2nd mortgage.
The only thing worse than something small towing something bigger,is doing it in the lane at 40mph. Use the shoulder and do it at 25, if you must. Else do it properly.

As for night towing of Ag. implements. I'd not outlaw the rear facing lamps, immediately, though I might encourage toning it down a bit. I remember years ago at night. A Van coming towards me at about 45mph.... no big deal until it was going past... The edge of a baler being towed behind stuck outside the line of the van by about 18~24". No illumination whatsoever.
Sheer luck, whomever, whatever was looking out for me that evening.

To solve that problem, I fitted forward facing indicators and park/side lights on the horse box + a small brake relay lamp. ie a little, forward facing, lamp that illuminates with the brake lights. The driver can see it in the mirror.
I also put reversing lamps and beeper on it.

Of course this does not help one iota if the driver fails to plug the in trailer lights.... You cannot protect adults from themselves.

AMurphy

Sha wrote:

You need to get over the foglights thing , whats the big ****in deal they look Cool !!! Wear a pair of sunglasses if you dont like it .... Cos i aint turnin off my spots for no-one !!!

..... :cool:

I have not found a problem with fogs, IF and it's a big IF.... if they are of normal (55w) and well aimed/behaved. Typically, well aimed focused beams tend to be well behaved.

But if you drive with lit fogs, do drive against them on in a while, see if they are well focused/aimed.

Imposter

Where is the "driving in the first place" option?