Need to vent my anger - slow drivers

pepper

cayenne wrote:

I was travelling down from Dublin to Limerick last night, shortly before midnight. A good bit of traffic about, particularly going in the direction of Dublin. Came of the motorway in Portlaoise and there were 3 cars in front of me. All of us were ticking along at 100 km/h with plenty of space between us. However we quickly came across 2 cars travelling, in what appeared to be convoy going at about 70, 80 kph. While the second car could have been tailgating, I got the sense that it was travelling so close to the car in front that they were together. Anyway, as a result myself and the 3 cars in front of me had to slow down. The front 2 failed to move in and the first car tried on numerous occasions to overtake but either thought it was too risky or there was traffic coming in the opposite direction. Given the volume of traffic was heavy enough for that time of night, there wasn't that many opportunities to overtake safely. The lead 2 continued to tootle along, oblivious to the train of cars now behind. This train went on into Mountrath and the first of the 100kph cars eventually overtook, close to Castletown on a continuous white line, through sheer frustration. Everyone else, including myself eventually got by but had to break the limit to overtake on the double. Why o why do people not just move in? It's these drivers who are causing people to overtake in dangerous places as a result of frustration and anger. I know they introduced some law saying it was forbidden to drive in the hard shoulder (I am open to correction) but a simple move to the hard shoulder to allow faster cars by isn't have as dangerous as forcing them to take risky overtaking moves on bends, white lines etc. Am I being unreasonable?

i stopped reading half way through

what id do is BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPP till they hear me---- other wise i would TRY overtake them as much as i culd regardless of incoming cares(not in a danger way as in a "do thay not cop it way"

twits

maybe they had a sick person in the back

just an idea!

GreeBo

peasant wrote:

Playing by ze rulez ...

Wouldn't you be at all (atallatall?) willing to admit that there is an unwritten rule that everybody should try and drive as fast as the limit / the conditions allow?

Pleeeeease?

pretty please?

Limit: the final, utmost, or furthest boundary or point

cyclopath2001

peasant wrote:

Playing by ze rulez ...Wouldn't you be at all (atallatall?) willing to admit that there is an unwritten rule that everybody should try and drive as fast as the limit / the conditions allow? Pleeeeease?pretty please?

You can certainly fail your driving test for not 'maintaining progress'. But in real-world, normal conditions, I think that you'd also need to factor in the ability of the driver and the type of vehicle being driven. For example, a heavily loaded camper van doing the best it can on a narrow road.

Bloody-minded obstruction is certainly not acceptable and there are laws covering that.

ninty9er

cyclopath2001 wrote:

You can certainly fail your driving test for not 'maintaining progress'. But in real-world, normal conditions, I think that you'd also need to factor in the ability of the driver and the type of vehicle being driven. For example, a heavily loaded camper van doing the best it can on a narrow road.

Bloody-minded obstruction is certainly not acceptable and there are laws covering that.

So you agree that a competent driver doing 160 km/h on the M7 in an S-Class is no danger once (s)he observes surroundings, while me in my Corsa would be causing a world of danger because the car is at it's limits.

Very good, we're overcoming the "failure to make progress" people by threatening them with a failed driving test:D

peasant

cyclopath2001 wrote:

But in real-world, normal conditions, I think that you'd also need to factor in... [snip]... the type of vehicle being driven. For example, a heavily loaded camper van doing the best it can on a narrow road.

That would fall into "the conditions" bracket

(unlike a camper or rental car crawling along because somebody wants to admire the scenery and not stop)

Andrewf20

cyclopath2001 wrote:

I'm still waiting for anyone to put forward credible evidence that driving within the speed limit constitutes dangerous driving.

Freezing conditions at 75mph on the M50, dense fog, scenes of accidents are some examples.

yammagamma

slow drivers are one of the biggest dangers on our roads and which is only going to get worse with our aging population. i am a truck driver and mostly cover the west of ireland from limerick upto mayo. worst roads around.i see it a few times a day and am usually stuck behind them. Driving at 70 km/ph is the usual speed on a 100 km/ph for these Dangerous drivers. and when the speed limit drops to 60 or even 50 most of these drivers continue to drive around 70 . It usually is older drivers.a few points about these drivers..
1. most probally never sat a driving test or ever had a lesson. they do not know the rules of the road. ie MAKING ENOUGH FORWARD PROGRESS. which can fail your driving test as someone already stated above.
2 .there car speedometer dial is still in miles per hour and km/ph is 2 hard to see.all cars by law should have to have km/ph dials inserted in them to pass say the NCT. cheap and easy to do. a good business idea for someone..
3. AGE. the effects of age is the same effects as Alcohol. judgement not as good, reaction time slows, eyesight worsens.hearing loss. Dementia sets in
how many of these drivers are on medication that effects driving ability.
all chemists data bases should be linked to Driving Licence data base so when someone gets a medication that can effect driving it is registered on there licence.
4.Foreign Drivers. im talking about business/tourists here and not from the uk
these drivers should be at least made to do a driver theory test before given the rental car. we have to do it before getting as provisional licence and allowed on the roads. Also these rental cars should display some sticker to warn other road users that the driver is a tourist,much the same as Learner drivers have to do..
... id love to have that twat from the rsa or gaybo with me for a few days and see the **** us professional drivers have to put up with/see all day every day..

back to main point. driving to slow ie not making enough forward progress is a PENALITY POINT OFFENCE. as it is Driving without reasonable consideration ..which is 2 penality points..

minimum/max speed sigh posts are on roads in other countries they need to be on our national roads. ..

Tigger

astraboy wrote:

. It should be a place where people discuss overhead cams and such, you turn it into a mindnumbing political debate over the wording of the law. :

this should be my favorite part of boards but its not 'cause if you mention anything about driving progressivally yer hopped on

tailgating is more dangerous than speeding its the most common issue out there but never policed as its harder than pointing a spped gun

then theres not knowing how to drive and driving too slow

Seth Brundle

yammagamma wrote:

slow drivers are one of the biggest dangers on our roads and which is only going to get worse with our aging population. i am a truck driver and mostly cover the west of ireland from limerick upto mayo. worst roads around.i see it a few times a day and am usually stuck behind them. Driving at 70 km/ph is the usual speed on a 100 km/ph for these Dangerous drivers. and when the speed limit drops to 60 or even 50 most of these drivers continue to drive around 70 . It usually is older drivers.a few points about these drivers..

Lets get one thinbg straight - there is no law stopping one driving at any speed as long as its under the posted limit. We may not like it but thats the reality. If you crash into the back of them then its your fault and nobody elses.

yammagamma wrote:

1. most probally never sat a driving test or ever had a lesson. they do not know the rules of the road. ie MAKING ENOUGH FORWARD PROGRESS. which can fail your driving test as someone already stated above.

You are making assumptions here about their test situation

yammagamma wrote:

2 .there car speedometer dial is still in miles per hour and km/ph is 2 hard to see.all cars by law should have to have km/ph dials inserted in them to pass say the NCT. cheap and easy to do. a good business idea for someone..

Most cars do have km/h on their speedometer. To make it more visible, what minimum font size do you suggest? What colour?
:rolleyes:

yammagamma wrote:

3. AGE. the effects of age is the same effects as Alcohol. judgement not as good, reaction time slows, eyesight worsens.hearing loss. Dementia sets in
how many of these drivers are on medication that effects driving ability.
all chemists data bases should be linked to Driving Licence data base so when someone gets a medication that can effect driving it is registered on there licence.

Dementia? FFS! Are you really serious or just trolling? Prescription drugs addictions are (allegedly) rampant in this country and not just amongst the elderly.

yammagamma wrote:

4.Foreign Drivers. im talking about business/tourists here and not from the uk
these drivers should be at least made to do a driver theory test before given the rental car. we have to do it before getting as provisional licence and allowed on the roads. Also these rental cars should display some sticker to warn other road users that the driver is a tourist,much the same as Learner drivers have to do..

Would we have to do the same (given that the majority of Irish can't drive) before we go abroad on holidays?
What proposals have you in place to deal with the job losses because people won't come here because of the stupid tourist licence law?

yammagamma wrote:

back to main point. driving to slow ie not making enough forward progress is a PENALITY POINT OFFENCE. as it is Driving without reasonable consideration ..which is 2 penality points..

minimum/max speed sigh posts are on roads in other countries they need to be on our national roads. ..

Just because people don't overtake does not mean that they are driving without reasonable consideration. I hate when it happens but on many of our roads there simply is FA they can do about it.
Furthermore, as many of our roads are needed by the farming community to collect their children froim school, go to pub, etc. using tractors, minimum speed limits arent feasable.

We have plenty of laws in place - we just need people to know them and heed them and also for more consideration on the roads where possible.

Niall1234

Darragh29 wrote:

I know it's not up to me to enforce a speed limit, but it's equally not open to you to break the speed limit. If you are speeding on the road (which you are clearly doing if you are overtaking someone on a motorway when they are doing 120KPH, regardless of what lane they are in), according to the Road Safety Authority and the Gardai, you are the number one cause of carnage on our roads. I'm not breaking any law doing 120KPH in an overtaking lane, once I am overtaking someone. You on the other hand are breaking the most fundamental law in relatioon the road traffic legislation if you are passing out a car on a motorway that is travelkling at 120KPH. I suppose the Gardai are wrong for telling us to slow down because speeding on roads is causing peple to be killed. The Road Safety Authority are wrong, who are asking us to slow down to UNDER the speed limit because people are getting killed by speeding motorists such as yourself, but you are right because you're in a precious hurry, is that it???

The RSA seems to be completely mixed up in this regard. 40% of accidents are caused by cars being too far out in the middle of the road going around corners causing head ons etc.

According to the RSA's latest statistics, only 13% of crashes are caused by excessive speeding and most would be on Regional roads.

http://www.nra.ie/PublicationsResources/DownloadableDocumentation/RoadSafety/file,1948,en.pdf

Contributory Factors to Road Collisions
The contributory factors listed by members of An Garda Siochana on collision report forms changed little from 2003 (see Table 17 on page 20). Driver error accounted for 88 per cent of all contributory factors identified, while the next most-listed factor, pedestrian error, accounted for 8 per cent. Road Factors accounted for 2 per cent of all listed contributory factors, while the figures for vehicle and environmental factors were 0.2 and 1.3 per cent respectively.
In two vehicle only fatal collisions - see Figure 9 - the most frequently cited contributory factor is ‘went to the wrong side of the road’ (40%), followed in turn by ‘other action’ (26 per cent), ‘exceeded safe speed limit’ (13 per cent), ‘drove through stop / yield’ (12 per cent), ‘improper overtaking’ (9 per cent) and ‘drove through traffic signal’ (1 per cent).

I can't imagine how low a percentage of deaths are being caused by speeding on motorways.

Just look at the Autobahn crash rates. Sections of Autobahn without a speed limit have exactly the same crash rate as sectiosn with a 130 speed limit.

The RSA and the Irish Media seem to be completely hung up on the idea that every single crash is being caused by speeding and if we were to cut out speeding no one would die.


I'm not accusing you of doing it, but driving in the overtaking lane to regulate other peoples speed is the most ridiculous comment I have and always hear. Numerous calls have been made to phone in shows about this and every single time, the guy or girl who rings in is an idiot who doesn't have a clue about the rules of the road.

DrChoda

The easiest thing to do when driving is use the common courtesy rule.
If you would appreciate someone pulling to the side so you can pass safely, then you return the favour.
This is simpley because we all SHARE the roads.
Just because you feel you are doing near the limit and there is no law ruling just how slow you can go doesn't mean its ok to hog the lane. Other might feel more comfortable driving AT the exact limit. Let them through, why not?

Using the horn is obviously the next step.

People shouldn't have to be in a position to choose a dangerous overtake as the only option other than driving slowly behind an uncourteous, slow, unaware and (even more) dangerous driver. Big problem here.