Driving in UK

xabi

I had reason recently to drive from London up the M4. It was a great pleasure, no overtaking lane hoggers, everyone moved back into the driving lane after and overtaking manoeuvre.

Then, 1 hour into the journey I spotted someone driving in the overtaking lane and thought maybe they have some morons like we have here, nothing in the driving lane and this muppet sitting doing 70 in the overtaking lane with 3 cars behind flashing, etc. He eventually moved into the driving lane so I went to overtake, and low and behold what was his reg – 06-D-XXXX.

Once the 3 cars and myself overtook and moved back to the driving lane, i checked the mirror and Mr Dub moved back into the overtaking lane. AHHH

X.

unkel

Oh dear. Not a good ambassador for Ireland him...

kluivert

I love it , just goes to show doesn't it.

cujimmy

Yep,
IRL plates really piss me of when I see them driving like this on the M8/77

RobAMerc

To be fair - (And I rarely am) there was 0 number motorways about when I did my test and the govt has done absolutely "F" all about teaching people how to drive on motorways here since. (At least those of us who learned to drive before the motorways were on the curiculum)

There should be at least a TV / Radio adverts not to mention huge signs on the side of the M'way but as usual feck all.

BTW -This is something Mr Faughnan should be banging on about on the radio some folk actually listen to him he has a responsibility to bring attention to these issues.

DukeDredd

Same thing happened last time i was in France. Belting road on the dual cabbageway and came onto a tailback of 12 to 15 cars. Some muppet out on the overtaking lane. When he eventually pulled out of the overtaking lane we passed him. Yip you guessed it - reg number 04-LK-xxxx :rolleyes:

peasant

DukeDredd wrote:

Same thing happened last time i was in France. Belting road on the dual cabbageway and came onto a tailback of 12 to 15 cars. Some muppet out on the overtaking lane. When he eventually pulled out of the overtaking lane we passed him. Yip you guessed it - reg number 04-LK-xxxx :rolleyes:

Yeah, but France is different

He/she was probably giving out stink about the 12 - 15 cars bullying him/her into the overtaking lane only to proceed and "undertake" him/her

kluivert

You are not allowed to drive on the motorways with a provisional license.

The rules to driving on the motorway is in the rules of the road book.

Not being smart but you want to be pretty thick not to know, or you just dont care enough about your own safety to look it up or check it out.

Am use to calling it the fast lane from driving in the UK, and the GF always corrects me its an overtaking lane.

Does this mean that every one over a certain age who didnt do the theory test be made sit it now to ensure that they are up to scratch with those who know the rules of the road from taking their theory test.

lightening

RobAMerc wrote:

To be fair - (And I rarely am) there was 0 number motorways about when I did my test....

That's a good point. People my Dad's age (55 to 60) are aggressive and generaly bad drivers. They really need to sit another test or at least do another course. This of course does not go for all of these drivers.

They cant do roundabouts properly.

They cant merge properly (they drive as close as they can to the car in front of them).

They think anyone trying to merge is "trying to f*cking get in front" of them.

They think the overtaking lane on the motorway is the "fast lane for big saloons"

They think anyone under forty is a boy racer or a whipper snapper.

They think its fine to drive after a few scoops.

They think front fog lights are "spot lights"

They do things they would never dream of doing outside their car (giving the finger....)

They having a terrier on their lap is perfectly safe.

They think all Gards look and should be treated as if they are twelve.

They think driving eight inches behind someone is fine (to stop any f*cker getting in front of them)

They think the no mobile phone law is only for people who are careless and that they would never cause an accident.

They think cyclists are "in the way"

They think women drivers are like chocolate ashtrays.

They think grass verges are nice resting places for their tyres.

hobochris

kluivert wrote:

You are not allowed to drive on the motorways with a provisional license.

The rules to driving on the motorway is in the rules of the road book.

Not being smart but you want to be pretty thick not to know, or you just dont care enough about your own safety to look it up or check it out.

Am use to calling it the fast lane from driving in the UK, and the GF always corrects me its an overtaking lane.

Does this mean that every one over a certain age who didnt do the theory test be made sit it now to ensure that they are up to scratch with those who know the rules of the road from taking their theory test.

Actually you are supposed to take a couple of lessons on a motorway after you pass your test, and your also suppost to wait 1 year before you use motorways...I was told this by my tester when i passed my test...

but most people(including myself) dont bother with this and just learn by experience, as in this country there are few differences between motorways and dual carriage ways anyway... so its pretty easy to adapt to driving on a motorway...

even though i wouldnt be supprised if they brought in how to use the toll bridges in to the theory as despite there purpose being served, i.e. the bridge built and payed for, the government are letting the toll companies continue to double tax the driver...

it should be a case of you pay one tax or the other(either the tax one your car or a tax to use a road)...

Sam Kade

lightening wrote:

That's a good point. People my Dad's age (55 to 60) are aggressive and generaly bad drivers. They really need to sit another test or at least do another course. This of course does not go for all of these drivers.

They cant do roundabouts properly.

They cant merge properly (they drive as close as they can to the car in front of them).

They think anyone trying to merge is "trying to f*cking get in front" of them.

They think the overtaking lane on the motorway is the "fast lane for big saloons"

They think anyone under forty is a boy racer or a whipper snapper.

They think its fine to drive after a few scoops.

They think front fog lights are "spot lights"

They do things they would never dream of doing outside their car (giving the finger....)

They having a terrier on their lap is perfectly safe.

They think all Gards look and should be treated as if they are twelve.

They think driving eight inches behind someone is fine (to stop any f*cker getting in front of them)

They think the no mobile phone law is only for people who are careless and that they would never cause an accident.

They think cyclists are "in the way"

They think women drivers are like chocolate ashtrays.

They think grass verges are nice resting places for their tyres.

Mr perfect you must be the best driver in the world or so you think, you obivously don't consentrate much on your driving if you can see all this happening. Wait till you clock up a few more miles kid then you can blow about your expert driving.

BeardyGit

Sam Kade wrote:

Mr perfect you must be the best driver in the world or so you think, you obivously don't consentrate much on your driving if you can see all this happening. Wait till you clock up a few more miles kid then you can blow about your expert driving.

Touchy touchy Sam Kade. I think Mr. Perfect has a good post there. Did you tick too many of the boxes as you read it?

Seth Brundle

hobochris wrote:

Actually you are supposed to take a couple of lessons on a motorway after you pass your test, and your also suppost to wait 1 year before you use motorways...I was told this by my tester when i passed my test...

but most people(including myself) dont bother with this and just learn by experience, as in this country there are few differences between motorways and dual carriage ways anyway... so its pretty easy to adapt to driving on a motorway...

I have never heard of this before. I believe thats the case in NI (when they are on 'R' plates).

xabi

hobochris wrote:

but most people(including myself) dont bother with this and just learn by experience, ...

There in lies the problem!

X.

lightening

Sam Kade wrote:

Mr perfect you must be the best driver in the world or so you think, you obivously don't consentrate much on your driving if you can see all this happening. Wait till you clock up a few more miles kid then you can blow about your expert driving.

I concentrate a lot, you need to with some of the driving out there. I have been driving for fourteen years. Performance cars and normal cars, I have been in one accident where a German truck driver immediately admitted liability.


Kiddo!!

kluivert

Sam Kade wrote:

Mr perfect you must be the best driver in the world or so you think, you obivously don't consentrate much on your driving if you can see all this happening. Wait till you clock up a few more miles kid then you can blow about your expert driving.

Three posts in and getting touchy.

Woman drove right out infront of me when i was on the roundabout north of Dundalk this morning in a big Range Rover and never even turned her head to look.

She wasnt young by any means around 40 or so. I could see the whites in her eyes she was that close. I thought she was approaching the roundabout at a good speed, good job i anticpated that she wouldnt stop.

What happened to giving way to people on your right.

Now answer me honestly, if i didnt break and she would have hit me, who do you think would have come out the worst, Ranger Rover v Astra.

Am starting to develop road rage these days with people taking unncessary risks on the roads.

If you want to kill yourself, grand do so but dont get me involved.

lightening

Aside from all the other things they do, they get incredibly incensed if you point out their bad driving.

Stark

Sam Kade wrote:

Mr perfect you must be the best driver in the world or so you think, you obivously don't consentrate much on your driving if you can see all this happening. Wait till you clock up a few more miles kid then you can blow about your expert driving.

"You young whippersnapper!"

lightening

Stark wrote:

"You young whippersnapper!"

That's such a compliment!

good cop...

tabatha

driving in the uk is a pleasure. never mind the fact the roads are much better, the people are far more courtious.

never mind driving on the m50 here, i think the new naas road is worse. its now three lanes and u get muppets sitting in all three lanes side by side. not just middle lane hoggers!

the problems i find driving over here are

1. people hogging outside lanes
2. driving with fog lights on
3. not knowing what lane to be in when approaching a roundabout


among many others, but these are what get me annoyed!

bkehoe

xabi wrote:

I had reason recently to drive from London up the M4. It was a great pleasure, no overtaking lane hoggers, everyone moved back into the driving lane after and overtaking manoeuvre.

Then, 1 hour into the journey I spotted someone driving in the overtaking lane and thought maybe they have some morons like we have here, nothing in the driving lane and this muppet sitting doing 70 in the overtaking lane with 3 cars behind flashing, etc. He eventually moved into the driving lane so I went to overtake, and low and behold what was his reg – 06-D-XXXX.

Once the 3 cars and myself overtook and moved back to the driving lane, i checked the mirror and Mr Dub moved back into the overtaking lane. AHHH

X.

I saw the exact same thing on the M5 near Birmingham last year!

Mc-BigE

Slightly off topic here, but to me the most annoying thing is the 30 or 40 mph car/van driver, driving just left of the centre white line on a wide open straight national road.
And you can’t overtake because there’s too much traffic coming the other direction.

The person doing this should get penalty points,

Why can’t everyone do the same speed at the same time, keep there distance from the car in front on a national road (not motorway or dual carriageway)

Car Mad

Mc-BigE wrote:

Slightly off topic here, but to me the most annoying thing is the 30 or 40 mph car/van driver, driving just left of the centre white line on a wide open straight national road.
And you can’t overtake because there’s too much traffic coming the other direction.

The person doing this should get penalty points,

Why can’t everyone do the same speed at the same time, keep there distance from the car in front on a national road (not motorway or dual carriageway)[/

QUOTE]

exactly pisses me off big time.:mad:
as for the second part (bold) you cant do the same speed because theres always people that will do 65mph 70mph and some even chance 75mph on n roads thats why you cant drive the same speed:eek:

Sam Kade

lightening wrote:

I concentrate a lot, you need to with some of the driving out there. I have been driving for fourteen years. Performance cars and normal cars, I have been in one accident where a German truck driver immediately admitted liability.


Kiddo!!

Of course he was wrong how could Mr Perfect be wrong. You contradicted yourself with your original list of bad driving habits you said that older drivers think anyone under forty are boy racers, isn't that the same as you are doing saying that older drivers should retake the driving test.

Sam Kade

Gil_Dub wrote:

Touchy touchy Sam Kade. I think Mr. Perfect has a good post there. Did you tick too many of the boxes as you read it?

Jayus I didn't know that he was conducting a bleedin survey. He forgot to put in the boxes. By the way we all know how you Dubs drive hogging the outside lanes of motorways in the UK.

lightening

Sam Kade wrote:

isn't that the same as you are doing saying that older drivers should retake the test.

Rea my post fella... I will repeat what I said.

This of course does not go for all of these drivers.

now, enough.

grahamo

QUOTE=xabi]I had reason recently to drive from London up the M4. It was a great pleasure, no overtaking lane hoggers, everyone moved back into the driving lane after and overtaking manoeuvre.

Agreed. Much better road network. The drivers seem to be more patient and considerate. Driving there seems to be less stressful, probably due to LESS traffic jams! But they do have there own muppet drivers.

Alun

grahamo wrote:

Agreed. Much better road network. The drivers seem to be more patient and considerate. Driving there seems to be less stressful, probably due to LESS traffic jams! But they do have there own muppet drivers.

They certainly do, and when you do find one, they display their muppetry in grand style, believe me. You'll also come across crazy idiots on the road in other countries in Europe than the UK too, but there it seems to be the exception, rather than the rule and the general standard of driving is much higher then here.

Now, I can cope with that much easier .. 99.9% of the time you just drive around minding your own business, getting on with life, and every now and then there's the occasional idiot to deal with. Unless you're prone to road rage, you can just shrug it off, and carry on.

Here, on the other hand, it's another story. The general standard of driving is appallingly low, so there's this continuous drip, drip, drip of minor annoyances and irritations, plus the more frequent occurrences of moderately annoying behaviour, that you hardly notice the really bad stuff above the background noise of generally crap driving. Over the long term it can start to wear you down, and frustration and irritation begin to set in.

That's my take on the situation anyway, having lived in the UK, Germany and Holland for many years, and only recently moving here to Ireland. Maybe if you've lived here and driven here all your life it may all appear 'normal', but believe me, it isn't. Once upon a time I remember actually enjoying driving .. not any more, except when I travel abroad on holiday.

blastman

Of course, along with the "minor" annoyances, you get the get the occasional full-blown crazy borderline-suicidal-and-I'm-taking-as-many-of-you-with-me-as-I-can moron, like the one I met the other day on the slip road from the M50 to the M1. He/she/it was REVERSING back toward the M50 where the slip road bends around. Luckily I saw them in time and was able to change lanes. Blew them out of it as I past, but they continued on their merry way.

Now there's something you don't see every day. Thankfully.

Sam Kade

lightening wrote:

Rea my post fella... I will repeat what I said.

This of course does not go for all of these drivers.

now, enough.

I just rea oop's read your post and of course not all drivers are perfect everybody makes mistakes even you my friend in your fourteen years of driving. If you can make a mistake typing then I am sure you make mistakes driving.

lightening

Sam Kade wrote:

even you my friend in your fourteen years of driving. If you can make a mistake typing then I am sure you make mistakes driving.

Ok, this is getting immature, your down to correcting my spelling now even though yours is as bad. I do make mistakes but misspelling something has different consequences than making mistakes behind the wheel at 120 kilometres an hour.

Now please, let this go.

commited

RobAMerc wrote:

To be fair - (And I rarely am) there was 0 number motorways about when I did my test and the govt has done absolutely "F" all about teaching people how to drive on motorways here since. (At least those of us who learned to drive before the motorways were on the curiculum)

There should be at least a TV / Radio adverts not to mention huge signs on the side of the M'way but as usual feck all.

I agree. I was going to say that you do learn about this when you learn how to drive, but so few people over here have a full license I'd be wasting my breath

Sam Kade

Whats the big deal about driving on motorways the few that are in Ireland are so short by the time you get up to 70mph you would be a the end of them. Does everyone that done their driving test over the last few years be taken on to a motorway? the answer to that is no because L drivers can't drive on the motorway so to be able to drive on a motorway you must first pass your test.:rolleyes:

Stark

It takes your car an hour to get up to 70mph? Wow, I thought mine was crap.

BeardyGit

Well, if you're driving a Model T or a rusty old Austin 7 like oul' Sam there, you might take an hour before you reach 70mph. How does the overcomb hold up at that sort of pace Sam?

Sam Kade

Gil_Dub wrote:

Well, if you're driving a Model T or a rusty old Austin 7 like oul' Sam there, you might take an hour before you reach 70mph. How does the overcomb hold up at that sort of pace Sam?

: Hey there Baldy Dub thats very funny

DeBeere

So far Sam you have contributed nothing worthwhile to the thread, just pointed out little flaws in peoples posts or joked about their locality.
Getting fairly annoying and is dragging a good convo into the dirt.

Anyway, I have never driven in the UK but from what I've heard from this thread its pretty pleasurable!
I have had experiences driving in Espana, no slow drivers, but many drivers who think honking the horn every 5 mins and tailgating right up your ass is normal.

Thanks,
Adam

Capt'n Midnight

hobochris wrote:

Actually you are supposed to take a couple of lessons on a motorway after you pass your test, and your also suppost to wait 1 year before you use motorways...I was told this by my tester when i passed my test....

Yip that's up north. Should be down here too IMHO as well as the speed limits on them etc.

Sam Kade

xabi wrote:

I had reason recently to drive from London up the M4. It was a great pleasure, no overtaking lane hoggers, everyone moved back into the driving lane after and overtaking manoeuvre.

Then, 1 hour into the journey I spotted someone driving in the overtaking lane and thought maybe they have some morons like we have here, nothing in the driving lane and this muppet sitting doing 70 in the overtaking lane with 3 cars behind flashing, etc. He eventually moved into the driving lane so I went to overtake, and low and behold what was his reg – 06-D-XXXX.

Once the 3 cars and myself overtook and moved back to the driving lane, i checked the mirror and Mr Dub moved back into the overtaking lane. AHHH

X.

Not all english drivers are perfect, I have seen plenty UK reg cars here doing some bad driving: driving out in front of oncomming traffic at juctions, overtaking over unbroken white lines, overtaking comming into a bend etc.

Hotblack Desiato

Sam Kade wrote:

I have seen plenty UK reg cars here doing some bad driving

Probably Irish drivers dodging VRT!

hobochris

Capt'n Midnight wrote:

Yip that's up north. Should be down here too IMHO as well as the speed limits on them etc.

As i just said there, apperently it is down here, just not done or enforced... The speed limits for the motorway seem fine down here...

What they should do to solve the ignorant driver problem is retest drivers every few years(5 or 10 years), meaning that any older drivers or other drivers mentioned in this thread who are oblivious to the rules of the road or who choose to ignore them must learn them or get off the road!!!

Capt'n Midnight

hobochris wrote:

What they should do to solve the ignorant driver problem is retest drivers every few years(5 or 10 years),!

Or maybe even test them once before they are allowed out on their own.

Sam Kade

hobochris wrote:

As i just said there, apperently it is down here, just not done or enforced... The speed limits for the motorway seem fine down here...

What they should do to solve the ignorant driver problem is retest drivers every few years(5 or 10 years), meaning that any older drivers or other drivers mentioned in this thread who are oblivious to the rules of the road or who choose to ignore them must learn them or get off the road!!!

You better apply for your test Hobochris

ambro25

Sam Kade =

Please stop feeding him.

UK roads are at time just as congested as anywhere around Dublin. Drivers are however generally much more aware of their surroundings and courteous.

I've lost track of how many times a junction/sliproad/wherever in/around Dublin has been blocked for ages because not one single moron stops to let a car out or the like - people around here just seem hell-bent on dying with their right of way, rather than be civil and help along (and be helped themselves). And yet when you do let people out, never a thanks either :mad: Totally the opposite anywhere I've ever driven in the UK, incl. London, Manchester, Leeds, Scotland etc.

Over here, it does at time (thankfully very rarely) get to the point where I just don't care anymore, exactly as described by Alun above, e.g. I know my car has more dents and scrapes than the eejit next door in his 06 or 07-D Merc trying to ingress in front of me from the wrong lane (having just undertaken 20-odd cars incl. me :mad:), and I just plod on forward blindly and look forward to the sweet sound of crunching metal... never happens, funily enough

BostonB

ambro25 wrote:

Sam Kade =

Please stop feeding him.

UK roads are at time just as congested as anywhere around Dublin. Drivers are however generally much more aware of their surroundings and courteous.

I've lost track of how many times a junction/sliproad/wherever in/around Dublin has been blocked for ages because not one single moron stops to let a car out or the like - people around here just seem hell-bent on dying with their right of way, rather than be civil and help along (and be helped themselves). And yet when you do let people out, never a thanks either :mad: Totally the opposite anywhere I've ever driven in the UK, incl. London, Manchester, Leeds, Scotland etc.

Over here, it does at time (thankfully very rarely) get to the point where I just don't care anymore, exactly as described by Alun above, e.g. I know my car has more dents and scrapes than the eejit next door in his 06 or 07-D Merc trying to ingress in front of me from the wrong lane (having just undertaken 20-odd cars incl. me :mad:), and I just plod on forward blindly and look forward to the sweet sound of crunching metal... never happens, funily enough

Couldn't agree more. Even driving in Spain, it seems a lot friendlier. Though they go nuts if you hold them up.

Sam Kade

All Irish drivers should be put off the road give them donkey's and cart's instead. Irish drivers are the worst drivers in the world.

Hotblack Desiato

hobochris wrote:

What they should do to solve the ignorant driver problem is retest drivers every few years(5 or 10 years)

But the government can't even get their act together about getting people through ONE test in a reasonable time. I agree that the idea of testing cars every 2 years but testing drivers once per lifetime (assuming they pass) is ludicrous, drivers cause a hell of a lot more accidents than mechanical faults. But it would take a hell of a lot of investment and organisation to put a system of periodic driver retesting in place, and let's be honest, this government isn't interested in road safety as long as they can make it look like they're doing something about it - 400,000 voters with provisional licences means that real change will be very slow to happen.

Seth Brundle

Sam Kade - stop trolling or else!!!!!!!!!