Most annoying road practices.

Niall1234

There's a lot of things which get on my nerves on the roads, but here's my top few.

1. The car infront accelerates when you go to overtake them. Happened to me a few times now, I had one person who went all the way up to 80 mph. Had to stay behind the car or something might have died.

2. Overtaking lane hoggers. People driving at 80 kph seem to have an obsession to stay in the overtaking lane on the South Ring Road in Cork for some reason.

3. Slow driving. 60 kph on a National Route is completely unacceptable, and in my expierience is just as dangerous as speeding due to creating frustrated drivers.

4. Tail gating.

5. People who cut accross lanes in the middle or signalised and lined roundabouts. Incredible stupid stuff to safe a few seconds on your journey.

digweed

I'm with you on these, particularly No. 3. GGGGGGRRRRRRRR. I have heard of someone prosecuted for this (don't ask me where, it's deep in the foggy recesses of my mind and may even be an urban legend), driving without reasonable consideration. there was something like a half mile of cars behind them and they wouldn't pull in to the hard shoulder.

D.

Kali

My pet hate is fog-lights, everything else I can stand, but my eyes suck at the best of times so they really piss me off. Was on a 3hr drive from Kent to Telford on Mon evening and the only car I came across on the whole drive with fog-lights on was of course, Irish. '06 D golf TDI. I had to laugh though, as it's a national habit at this stage

Henry Ford III

Lane discipline. Particularly at roundabouts. Lack of use of indicators too.

FGR

Individual's parking their cars in dangerous areas only to use their hazard lights as a 'get out of jail free' card.

patrickc

Kali wrote:

My pet hate is fog-lights, everything else I can stand, but my eyes suck at the best of times so they really piss me off. Was on a 3hr drive from Kent to Telford on Mon evening and the only car I came across on the whole drive with fog-lights on was of course, Irish. '06 D golf TDI. I had to laugh though, as it's a national habit at this stage

rear or front fogs?

Curran

patrickc2006 wrote:

rear or front fogs?

Rear id imagine - drives me nuts too - dont mind front fogs as they dont glare as badly - follow someone with a rear fog on, for a few miles and then when you get by or turn, theres a red blur in your vision!!

Drivers that lack of conviction drives me up the wall - say for example: at a roundabout and you are stuck behind a car and there are many opportunites to enter onto the roundabout and they dont budge - so fustrating!!

A few things I've seen lately aound Cork that bug the s**t out of me:
Total lack of lane discipline, especially on the Bandon road roundabout.
Using the mobile while driving-van drivers and 4x4 drivers particularly.
Tailgating, everyone seems to do it now.

Fremen

Cycling in UCD, and having every second car overtake you into oncoming traffic, leaving three inches between your bike and their car...

cyclopath2001

1: Cars entering (or barging) from minor roads, obstructing a cycle track while waiting to join the traffic.

2: Cars overtaking while turning left,then stopping, obstructing the cycle track when they find the left turn is blocked by other cars.

3: Drivers not indicating.

4: Obstructing box junctions.

5: Parking with wing mirrors (or half the car) in a cycle track.

6: Parking on the wrong side of the road (facing oncoming traffic).

7: Cyclists/motorists breaking traffic lights.

8: Cyclists riding the wrong way down cycle tracks.

RobAMerc

I will second the rear fogs - I fookin hate idiots with rear fog lights on - I consider it like a "The driver is a retard" sign on the back.
Its illegal in most countries and I have heard of people being fined for it on the continent - not here though, cops here barely know 30% of traffic laws. :mad:

People who will enter a roundabout without the way being clear therefore blocking the way for users of a different exit off the roundabout. :mad:

Overtaking lane hoggers. :mad:

Of course slow twats on main routes who won't pull in - ever try driving Galway Dublin on a Sunday afternoon ? "Sure we've all had a pint with lunch and no one is in a rush on a Sunday" twats - this is what the cops should be looking out for.:mad: :mad: :mad:

peasant

All of the above and another one:

People approching a roundabout on a dual carriageway at speed.
No other vehicle to be seen anywhere near the roundabout.

Yet they slam on the brakes at the last minute, coming to a full stop for no reason.

smashey

Idiots using a filter lane to turn left and then at the last minute swing out to the right as if they were driving an artic. Usually they are in a corsa.

PaulKK

The 3 things I find most annoying on the road are:

1. People pulling out of junctions in front of you and then driving slowly down the road, forcing you to brake hard to avoid collision.

2. People driving at less than the speed limit in the overtaking lane of the motorway. (I'm not talking 70mph here, 60mph and below)

3. People not indicating which exit they are taking when you are trying to get on to a roundabout.

I just can't understand why people do these things

C_Breeze

1. People that dont know how indicate correctly on roundabouts. ... Say the are taking the 3rd exit RIGHT - they will enter the roundabout without indicating, turn RIGHT and then idicate LEFT when they are about to exit! :mad: ...anyon else with me on this?

2. Rear Fog-lights ... WHY?? WHY?? WHY? do people do this?

Henry Ford III

cyclopath2001 wrote:

...6: Parking on the wrong side of the road (facing oncoming traffic).

Is this illegal? Not sure it is.

jobonar

PaulKK wrote:

The 3 things I find most annoying on the road are:

1. People pulling out of junctions in front of you and then driving slowly down the road, forcing you to brake hard to avoid collision.

2. People driving at less than the speed limit in the overtaking lane of the motorway. (I'm not talking 70mph here, 60mph and below)

3. People not indicating which exit they are taking when you are trying to get on to a roundabout.

I just can't understand why people do these things

this is exactly what i was going to post... especially number 1, i am getting closer and closer to killing the next gobshíte that does that to me!

has happened to me nearly everyday this week :mad:

is_that_so

Lack of indicators. Capital offence in my book.

The "Three lane crossover", where a car gets up to 130 kph plus in the overtaking lane to get past everyone only to dive across at the very last second to get onto the off ramp. Been close to two collisions recently.

Would love to see this one classified as dangerous driving with a mandatory court visit and five penalty points.

dade

C_Breeze wrote:

1. People that dint know how indicate correctly on roundabouts. ... Say the are taking the 3rd exit RIGHT - they will enter the roundabout without indicating, turn RIGHT and then idicate LEFT when they are about to exit! :mad: ...anyon else with me on this?

personally I'd indicate right when i enter then when i pass the exit before the one i want indicate left, that's how i was shown. and if your taking the third exit on a 2 lane roundabout you use the inside lane.

on the Drinan Interchange between Swords and the M1 theres 2 roundabouts and no one understands that each roundabout has 2 lanes and you can't drive straight from the outside lane entering to the inside lane to the outside lane when exiting. almost daily someone is nearly side swiped on it, same when ya come off the M1 there's a roundabout at the top of the slip road. again it's a 2 lane roundabout and most cars cut directly across both lanes the beep and flip you off for being in the wrong. Idiots

And outside lane hoggers, i hate them. Granted i could be accused of it but only on 1 stretch of road and that's the M1 between swords and the M50 coz you'll always get some cnut that will stay in the inside lane and pull half into a spot on the slip road for the M50 without indicating just coz he didn't want to join the end of the line. been in a fair few near misses over that one and have seen a few also so i tend to stay to the right to be safe. sorry if i P anyone off for it So for that 100-200M i tend to stay in the outside lane and as soon as I'm clear of the M50 slip road i pull in to the left lane once safe to do so.

Oh and cyclist that can't seem to understand that those bright red things on the shiny poles at junctions apply to them too. notice the cycle lane is to the right of the traffic light so it applies to you to.

and pedestriand that walk along and jst step out into the road with checking of anyone is turning that corner and when ya nearly hit them they scream at ya like you're in the wrong.

peasant

dade wrote:

and pedestriand that walk along and jst step out into the road with checking of anyone is turning that corner and when ya nearly hit them they scream at ya like you're in the wrong.

That's because you are!
When turning, you have to give way to pedestrians

(having said that ...that shouldn't prevent pedestrians from looking anyway)

Kali

patrickc2006 wrote:

rear or front fogs?

Front of course. Do people actually ever drive with rear fog-lights on as a matter of course... usually they just tend to forget to turn them off after a downpour/foggy patch of road. Whereas front they CHOOSE to drive with them on constantly.

dade

peasant wrote:

When turning, you have to give way to pedestrians

if they are already in teh road way is it not, not ones that are on teh foot path. cos those on teh road have right of way do they not?

it's that they never look to see if someone is turning that gets me. ya can spot them a mile off headphones in gazing at their shoes or sending a text. if they're to stupid to look when crossing the street then the gene pool is better off without them

peasant

dade wrote:

. ya can spot them a mile off

No need to (almost) run them over then, if you can spot them, is there?

GreeBo

- 95% of people on motorway roundabouts
look at the lane markings numbnuts, you cant do what you are doing!
or the other type who refuse to move to the outside lane to exit leaving me to go round and round until either there is a gap or someone who knows how to use a roundabout properly arrives.

- cars turning left across cycle lanes ontop of me
- cyclists ploughing on no matter what when I am trying to turn left across a cycle lane. If the lane is a broken line I cross it and block the cyclypath until I have turned, yet there is always one who will squeeze up the inside "because he has a right to be there"

lightening

I could go on about all the dangerous things, but I will concentrate on the petty things.

People who don't wave after you have let them out in front of you.

Black windows.

Litter throwing from windows.

Baby on board stickers.

Dogs on board stickers.

Cushions on the parcel shelf.

Boxes of tissues on the parcel shelf.

Silly loud exhausts.

Dump valve "sound effect" that isn't a dump valve.

People who call their front fog lights "spot lights"

People who think merging is "that f*cker trying to get in front of me"

Dirty windscreens.

"moms" bringing kids to school in sherman tanks.

Suits hanging in the back seat blocking the window.

Alun

People with masses of crap dangling from their rear view mirrors in their field of vision.

People driving cars with hats on (what's that about?).

Mothers in huge SUV's (usually with L plates!) and hordes of kids running around loose in the back.

GreeBo

Alun wrote:

People driving cars with hats on (what's that about?).

For completeness; People who delay me while they take off their hats to get into their car.

Marcus.Aurelius

When all is said and done, it's really all about attitude.

1. I've paid my car tax, I can drive however I like

2. I'm a selfish git, you cannot overtake me or go faster than me

3. Everyone who drives faster than me is an idiot, anyone going slower is a crawler

mikedragon32

Any or all of the above annoy me, particularly lane discipline on multiple-lane roundabouts.

The most dangerous thing I see (and it seems to occur more often) is kids being allowed to jump around and/or stand on the back seat of a car. It seems to be more prevalent in the type of car you wouldn't want to have a crash in (Micras, for example) and they tend to be driven most irresponsibly too, making the potential for serious injury to the child even more likely. Overcrowding in cars is another pet peeve.

GreeBo

The ones who refuse to shift left after an exit on a roundabout kill me, they really do.

ballooba

cyclopath2001 wrote:

1: Cars entering (or barging) from minor roads, obstructing a cycle track while waiting to join the traffic.

cyclopath2001 wrote:

7: Cyclists/motorists breaking traffic lights.

The only people I ever obstruct by doing number 1 is people trying to do number 7. I have no sympathy for them. The junction I am thinking of is the side road by AIB in Ranelagh.

Mitch Connor

maoleary wrote:

When all is said and done, it's really all about attitude.

1. I've paid my car tax, I can drive however I like

2. I'm a selfish git, you cannot overtake me or go faster than me

3. Everyone who drives faster than me is an idiot, anyone going slower is a crawler

Jeez - i'd hate to be stuck behind you on the road.

RobAMerc

Does anyone else get very nervous in the right hand lane of a two lane dual - carriageway roundabout when going straight on that the person in the left lane is going right around the roundabout ? I am sure its my weariness thats saved me a shunt at least twice that I can think of. I saw a girl in swords the other day stay on the outside lane the whole way round a roundabout cutting off 2 different cars taking their exit :mad:

TwoShedsJackson

People who overtake you only to slow down twenty feet in front of you then indicate and turn left. The indicating part is optional.

Lack of indicators in general, particularly from taxi-men and the majority of people going around roundabouts. Either they don't indicate at all or they do it arseways. People with L plates up are the only ones you can reliably expect to indicate.

Furry dice and other pointless ****e obscuring the drivers vision.

Tailgating.

Moanin

Kali wrote:

Front of course. Do people actually ever drive with rear fog-lights on as a matter of course... usually they just tend to forget to turn them off after a downpour/foggy patch of road. Whereas front they CHOOSE to drive with them on constantly.

Front Fogs will not blind you (Well the factory fitted ones won't anyway).They are designed for oncoming cars to see you and for you to see the road in front of you and not beam staight ahead like main beams.Yes the amount of spas who drive with rear fogs is unbelievable!Do they not look at their sdash occassionally and see oh I've my rear fog light on?

Dun

Moanin wrote:

Front Fogs will not blind you (Well the factory fitted ones won't anyway).They are designed for oncoming cars to see you and for you to see the road in front of you and not beam staight ahead like main beams.Yes the amount of spas who drive with rear fogs is unbelievable!Do they not look at their sdash occassionally and see oh I've my rear fog light on?

They are designed for oncoming cars to see you in times of low visibility. On wet roads they produce a big 'pool of light' in front of the car that does half-blind you. The affect is even worse in rural areas with narrower roads and no street lights. There is never a reason to have them on unless there is low visibility.

lightening

Moanin wrote:

They are designed for oncoming cars to see you and for you to see the road in front of you and not beam staight ahead like main beams.

In good light conditions front fog lights left on can cancel the indicators. The iris reacts to the bright light by closing making it harder for drivers to see indicator lights. That is why it is illegal to have them on in perfect conditions.

TychoCaine

What I hate is people who feel the need to overtake you just because you overtook them. :mad: I was doing 120kmh exactly (cruise control on, and the speed reading from the GPS) on the N7 just before Portlaoise coming home one day last week and pulled out and passed a 3 series that was going ever so slightly slower than me. He immediately sped up and passed me. No harm, no foul, let him off, I thought. He then slowed back to his previous speed, :rolleyes: so 2 minutes later I was back up his arse, so I over took him again. This happened twice more until we came to the end of the motorway, where he nearly killed himself passing me just so he could be in front of me on the crappy road into Mountrath.....

cyclopath2001

Henry Ford III wrote:

Is this illegal? Not sure it is.

My main objection is that it's hazardous.

Unless the car has hover capability, it would be necessary to drive along the right hand side to the road to park and once again to rejoin traffic. That's illegal. Then, at night, the cars reflectors will be facing the wrong way and during manouvres the car's headlamps would be blinding oncoming traffic.

I have not found a specific regulation on this (you'll all be relieved to know), but there is a generic one about not causing an obstruction or hazard.

Andrewf20

lightening wrote:

I could go on about all the dangerous things, but I will concentrate on the petty things.

Yes indeed. Agreed to pretty much all these. Dont forget those with big "Punto" or "Ford" stickers plastered as a huge sticker on the back window, the false exhaust brigade, the 1.9tdi RS4 folks etc etc etc. 1 question....Why?

_Kaiser_

Agree with more or less everything that's been posted so far...

But want to add the bizzare fad in the last few months where people are driving around in the dark with just parking lights switched on - or parking lights with fog lights. :mad:

Michael G

digweed wrote:

I'm with you on these, particularly No. 3. GGGGGGRRRRRRRR. I have heard of someone prosecuted for this (don't ask me where, it's deep in the foggy recesses of my mind and may even be an urban legend), driving without reasonable consideration. there was something like a half mile of cars behind them and they wouldn't pull in to the hard shoulder.D.

It was in England. An elderly woman returning from a day out. She couldn't see very well in the twilight so was driving at 5 mph with, as you say, a couple of dozen cars behind her. I felt sorry for her because she was old and probably at the limits of her ability but there are hundreds who have no such excuses.

Michael G

Henry Ford III wrote:

Is this illegal? Not sure it is.

Not here. But a friend who lives in Brussels was warned by a friendly policeman, as she was about to park facing oncoming traffic, that he would prosecute her if she did. Probably the same in other countries on the continent.

tuxy

Dun wrote:

They are designed for oncoming cars to see you in times of low visibility. On wet roads they produce a big 'pool of light' in front of the car that does half-blind you. The affect is even worse in rural areas with narrower roads and no street lights. There is never a reason to have them on unless there is low visibility.

One of the things I hate about front fog's is when it's combined with tailgating. As if the tailgating wasn't bad enough, they have to blind you with a combo of front fogs and dipped beams.

Michael G

Kaiser2000 wrote:

the bizarre fad in the last few months where people are driving around in the dark with just parking lights switched on - or parking lights with fog lights. :mad:

Equally the tossers who drive in daytime in fog or heavy rain with just the parking lights on, no doubt smug about their superior skills. Have they any idea how f*cking useless parking lights are for making themselves visible to other drivers?

Someone else mentioned the "Baby on Board" signs in rear windows. I have often thought of designing one in the same format – yellow diamond with black bold upper-case lettering – saying "Who Gives a F*ck?" I'm too lazy to actually do it, but if someone else did I would buy it.

CTU_Agent

muppets that overtake for no reason whatsoever...

e.g ur driving along at the speed limit with a comfortable gap between you and the car in front..

Then some idiot decides to overtake you at speed. Absolutly pointless manoveur because now he sits between me and the car in front, reducing my braking distance.

What is the point? Anyone here that does this? Perhaps you can explain...

Why overtake one car that is driving at the speed limit usually 100kmph on national roads. Should overtaking not accomplish sumting????

grrrr so annoying

samo

My main gripe for the day is with the legion of eejits on the M4 and N7 today who despite driving in unbelievably bad rain ...with visibility so bad you couldnt see more than 2 cars lengths in front of you, still tottered along without their lights on. :eek: :mad:

And dont even get me started on the baffling experience yesterday on the M4 approaching the toll in Enfield of the driving lane being completely empty and approx 20 cars all driving at 90-100 kph in the overtaking lane.

spatchco

gobs****t who sit at a green filter light ,waiting for the filter light to come on when there is no traffic coming towards them,

BrianD3

CTU_Agent wrote:

muppets that overtake for no reason whatsoever...

e.g ur driving along at the speed limit with a comfortable gap between you and the car in front..

Then some idiot decides to overtake you at speed. Absolutly pointless manoveur because now he sits between me and the car in front, reducing my braking distance.

What is the point? Anyone here that does this? Perhaps you can explain...

Why overtake one car that is driving at the speed limit usually 100kmph on national roads. Should overtaking not accomplish sumting????

grrrr so annoying

Pre-emptive overtaking. You might be doing the speed limit but if you come across a slower moving vehicle you may decide not to overtake for some reason even if the way is clear. An awful lot of Irish drivers seem to be unable/unwilling to overtake. If you don't overtake, it makes it harder for the drivers behind to overtake the slow vehicle. Very quickly a big convoy builds up and this can add a lot to journey times.

By overtaking you when he gets the opportunity, the driver behind is trying to reduce the chance of this happening.

Mr. Presentable

samo wrote:

My main gripe for the day is with the legion of eejits on the M4 and N7 today who despite driving in unbelievably bad rain ...with visibility so bad you couldnt see more than 2 cars lengths in front of you, still tottered along without their lights on. :eek: :mad:

And here's the result

http://www.rte.ie/news/2007/0818/rta.html

samo

nipplenuts wrote:

And here's the result

http://www.rte.ie/news/2007/0818/rta.html

Very sad, I have to say....and it has to be one of the scariest days driving I've done in a while, I think only spotted a handful of cars with their lights on having driven on the Naas Road which is terrible in heavy rain at the best of times, really isnt helped though by people not lighting up when visibility is that bad.