Who has the power on the roads?

godtabh

Who has the power on the roads to direct traffic other then the boys in blue?

Was driving through the construction works in Lucan by Woodies. There was a flag man directing traffic and he was making some mess of it and at one stage what he was doing was just dangerous.

He had a bus blocking the slip road off the N4 and cars overtaking the bus in the left hand land (going towards EuroSpar) then heading to Lucan village.

I didnt want to follow his directions cause anything could've happened but I had to in the end.

Wishbone Ash

kearnsr wrote:

Who has the power on the roads to direct traffic other then the boys in blue?

Was driving through the construction works in Lucan by Woodies. There was a flag man directing traffic and he was making some mess of it and at one stage what he was doing was just dangerous.

He had a bus blocking the slip road off the N4 and cars overtaking the bus in the left hand land (going towards EuroSpar) then heading to Lucan village.

I didnt want to follow his directions cause anything could've happened but I had to in the end.

1. Gardai
2. School Traffic Warden.
3. Person in charge of animals.
4. Flagmen (roadworks etc.)

godtabh

Wishbone Ash wrote:

1. Gardai
2. School Traffic Warden.
3. Person in charge of animals.
4. Flagmen (roadworks etc.)

1 and 2 I would have assumed any ways.

3 not so sure.

4 I wouldnt have thought so. They wouldnt have any training and it was clear from what I saw today that the flagman hadnt a clue what he was doing

joe_elway

Wishbone Ash wrote:

1. Gardai
2. School Traffic Warden.
3. Person in charge of animals.
4. Flagmen (roadworks etc.)

- Whitevan man's co-driver while he backs out onto a road
- The idiot wearing a blue jacket who cycled out between two cars from a footpath infront of may car on Burlington Road this evening before weaving right (back into the middle) before turning left along the canal.
- The Moron driving the green 98 MH reg'd japanese car on the N7 this evening who doesn't understand we drive on the left in this country.


AARRRRGGGHHHHHH!!!!! Thank somebody we can't buy guns in this country.

godtabh

Wishbone Ash wrote:

3. Person in charge of animals.
4. Flagmen (roadworks etc.)

IF either of the above are directing traffic and there is an acident as a result of their directions are they liable for it?

Wishbone Ash

kearnsr wrote:

3 not so sure.

Rules of the Road (22nd edition) Page 50

Animal Traffic

"A driver must obey a signal to slow down or stop when given by a person in charge of animals".

godtabh

Wishbone Ash wrote:

Rules of the Road (22nd edition) Page 50

Animal Traffic

"A driver must obey a signal to slow down or stop when given by a person in charge of animals".

And I thought I knew the rules of the roads!

I tought that was just common sense. If you didnt obey this what would happen? If you ignored a Garda or a School Warden you can get peanlty points.

If you ignored a farmer or a flag man legally where would you stand?

saobh_ie

Potentially you might be vunerable to whatever you'd be vunerable to for breaking a red light if you ignored a flag man. Ignoring traffic signals, driving without due care and attention etc.

Unless of course he's doing something dangerous and you have to move to prevent of minimise the effects of an accident that your about to be involved in.

People in control of animals... generally an idea to stop unless you want wild horses dancing across your bonnet, or forty cows rubbing along the sides of your motor.

Hurm... "Dog, Walkies!!!" Later folks, I'm out to play with some traffic... =D

corktina

dont get me started on Flagmen who wave you on with a red flag......:mad:

mike65

I'd sooner a flag man than a set of automatic lights.

Mike.

godtabh

mike65 wrote:

I'd sooner a flag man than a set of automatic lights.

Mike.

Why?

I would've thought automatic lights would be safer.

Bards

ever come accross automatic lights on red and no cars approaching and you wait and wait and wait and no cars come against you.... and after an eternity they change to green...

With a flag man he would have more sense to leave you through than make you wait for the the ghost train that never arrives

godtabh

Bards wrote:

ever come accross automatic lights on red and no cars approaching and you wait and wait and wait and no cars come against you.... and after an eternity they change to green...

With a flag man he would have more sense to leave you through than make you wait for the the ghost train that never arrives

That just means the lights were programmed wrong.

saobh_ie

Well yes and no. What works for automatic lights at eight in the morning might not work so well at six in the evening or two in the morning. At least a flag man can change what he's doing to suit the traffic as it happens.

godtabh

saobh_ie wrote:

Well yes and no. What works for automatic lights at eight in the morning might not work so well at six in the evening or two in the morning. At least a flag man can change what he's doing to suit the traffic as it happens.

Yeay I know you have different peak demands between the am and pm traffic. But if you set up your lights correctly its seemly a matter of timing.

As I said if its set up correctly there are useful. Most small contractors dont know how to set it up as they dont have the know how to do it

Wishbone Ash

kearnsr wrote:

Yeay I know you have different peak demands between the am and pm traffic. But if you set up your lights correctly its seemly a matter of timing.

I think saobh_ie means that a flagman can constantly decide which direction to give priority to. He can chop and change all day causing minimun delay. This would not be practical with temporary traffic lights as they would have to be constantly re programmed.

Flagmen can also stop traffic in both directions to allow work plant to enter/exit if necessary. Lights would have to be switched off or turned sideways for this.

The reason lights are more popular is purely down to cost. I don't know what the hire rate is but I would imagine that it's nowhere near the cost of employing 2 labourers.

cyclopath2001

kearnsr wrote:

If you ignored a farmer or a flag man legally where would you stand?

You would be liable for the consequences of your actions. It's a the same as ignoring a non-mandatory advisory traffic sign. If there was an accident followed by a court case, it could stand against you.

The rules of the road & the road traffic laws do not absolve you of the fundamental obligation to be mindful of the safety of others at all times.

There's also the matter of courtesy towards others, but that's just a matter for one's conscience.

mike65

People also have a bad habit of ignoring a temp red light

Mike.

Random

Wishbone Ash wrote:

Rules of the Road (22nd edition) Page 50

Animal Traffic

"A driver must obey a signal to slow down or stop when given by a person in charge of animals".

Not being smart ... but can you ask traffic to stop if you're trying to cross the road with 5 or 6 dogs? (say you're a dog walker)

As for the flagman ... my driving instructors all had nothing but bad things to say about them. They said I could legally drive over them, and then blame them for standing in the middle of the road ... (a big severe .. but I think their point was that you don't have to listen to them - shame you're often left with no choice).

godtabh

ciaranfo wrote:

Not being smart ... but can you ask traffic to stop if you're trying to cross the road with 5 or 6 dogs? (say you're a dog walker)

As for the flagman ... my driving instructors all had nothing but bad things to say about them. They said I could legally drive over them, and then blame them for standing in the middle of the road ... (a big severe .. but I think their point was that you don't have to listen to them - shame you're often left with no choice).

Dunno about the dog part but I'll use the flagman excuse next time I run on over. But seriously some of the directions the give would nearly have you run over them.

Wishbone Ash

ciaranfo wrote:

Not being smart ... but can you ask traffic to stop if you're trying to cross the road with 5 or 6 dogs? (say you're a dog walker)

If the dogs are being walked in a public place they must be on a lead and therefore are under direct physical control.

Cattle and sheep, on the other hand, are not required to be on a lead. It's quite uncommon to see (farm) animals on busy roads nowadays anyway. When I was doing it years ago, people used to pull over to the side and switch off their engines. I can't imagine that happening now.

Bogger77

ciaranfo wrote:

As for the flagman ... my driving instructors all had nothing but bad things to say about them. They said I could legally drive over them, and then blame them for standing in the middle of the road ... (a big severe .. but I think their point was that you don't have to listen to them - shame you're often left with no choice).

Just goes to show how well trained some driving instructors are!
primary rule of the road is not to cause injury or harm to another road user, yet you've been advised that Flagmen can be legally be ignored. That's dangerous driving, driving without due care and attention. Ignoring an instruction at road works, from a flagman, would come under driving with due care and attention at minimum. Causing other drivers to take evasive action would be dangerous driving.