Little boy racers

Thumpette

I am from Donegal and it has always puzzled me on the logic of little boy racers. I know of countless people who have been injured or killed either as a result of their own crazy driving or at the lands of another lunatic on the road. While this is certainly not an exclusively Donegal problem, it definately seems to be more common.

Even at the weekend I was in an industrial estate in Dublin trying to learn to drive myself and there was about 15 learners cars driving around practicing. All of a sudden a noisy sooped up car starts tearing round the place scaring the life out of everyone in sight. Donegal reg of course!

I would love to know why this selfish self destructive tendancy is so prevelant in Donegal- and more importantly what is needed to see a change in the atitude?

googlehead

i know exactly what you mean, alot of the times when i see cars like that in dublin, I always look for the donegal reg, as there is always a good chance it is.I think its pathetic, they think they are cool when actually people just think they are sad with no style.

muffler

Thumpette wrote: »

All of a sudden a noisy sooped up car starts tearing round the place scaring the life out of everyone in sight. Donegal reg of course!

I would love to know why this selfish self destructive tendancy is so prevelant in Donegal- and more importantly what is needed to see a change in the atitude?

We see different county registrations on cars doing their little wheelies and doughnuts etc so just because it was a Donegal reg doesnt necessarily mean that it was a Donegal driver.

Thumpette wrote: »

I would love to know why this selfish self destructive tendancy is so prevelant in Donegal- and more importantly what is needed to see a change in the atitude?

Maybe a read through the findings of the Morris Tribunal reports would go part of the way in explaining why this activity goes "undetected" in Donegal.

Thumpette

Hey Muffler,

Agree totally that it may not nessesary have been a Donegal driver- though in fairness its reasonably likely. Although it might be denied that this particular car was a Donegaler, I dont theres any denying the trend in general.

As for the comment on the Morris Tribuneral, I think this is a very good point, however it only covers the policing of the issue, not the mentality behind it.

I can see how pwople get away with it, but I cant understand how a person can have such a draw towards this kind of thing. I dont understand how a 17 year year old can go to a funeral of another 17 year old killed from crazy driving and then go out that evening and rally round the place like nothing ever happened.

Is it a 'cool' thing, or a craving for danger and adrenaline- or do they really just never think it will happen to them?

A neighbour of mine died in a horrible crash years ago when he was 17, and 2 nights later his mates were back doing dohnuts outside his house just cos it was a long straight stretch of road. Ill never forget his dad just standing outside watching them helpless. There were also kids in almost every house on the road- how do these people live with themselves if they hit somebody innocent by this crazy behaviour. I really just struggle to understand.

Senna

Young and Dumb is the only answer.
and the mentality 'it i'll never happen to me, i'm a EXCELLENT DRIVER'. I think they just believe that and nothing will change their mind till their in a serious accident themselves.

On a side note, i was in getting new tyres on my car last week. There was an Mitsubishi EVO in front of me, also getting new tyres. I nearly dropped when i seen the owner buying the cheapest (crap) tyres in the place.
This was a car capable of going 170mph and he was buying tyres i wouldn't put on the missus runaround. No wonder we have so many accidents if this the general mentality of boy racers.

jimmycrackcorm

I think that many Donegal Registrations regularly around dublin are older cars that have have been bought cheaply as skangermobiles by the natives.

CtrlSource

OP, it's really is a terrible state of affairs. Those Donegalers are wild outlaws altogether!

Seriously though, it's a bad situation, but certainly not one confined to Donegal.

i have an interest in cars since early childhood, as do many friends and acquaintences. i have known of many illegal "cruises" going on around the country in places like Tramore, Kilkee, Galway and further a field. Closer to me in Dublin, i know lads & lassies who like to head off on these mad jaunts in their 'modded', often barely roadworthy hatches and do doughnuts in church car parks, abandoned industrial estates and beaches. At least these gatherings tend to be reasonably confined by location, but the crazy driving to & from these events is dangerous.

Another event that probably fuelled the OP's post was the killing of a mother & daughter up in Gweedore at the weekend. This kind of incident represents the worst kind of driver - totally reckless thrill-seeker who doesn’t spare a thought for the innocent motorist or pedestrian they encounter on their travels. The young driver in question will have to live with the consequences of his actions for the rest of his life and in a small community like his that will probably be very tough for him. But at least he still has a life.

Normally i wouldn't condone going beyond the usual charge of dangerous driving causing death which will probably result in a suspended sentence & license. But i think it’s time that an example is made of some of these people... serious jail time and LIFE bans from driving.

Jabby

Thumpette wrote: »

I am from Donegal and it has always puzzled me on the logic of little boy racers. I know of countless people who have been injured or killed either as a result of their own crazy driving or at the lands of another lunatic on the road. While this is certainly not an exclusively Donegal problem, it definately seems to be more common.

Even at the weekend I was in an industrial estate in Dublin trying to learn to drive myself and there was about 15 learners cars driving around practicing. All of a sudden a noisy sooped up car starts tearing round the place scaring the life out of everyone in sight. Donegal reg of course!

I would love to know why this selfish self destructive tendancy is so prevelant in Donegal- and more importantly what is needed to see a change in the atitude?

I pointed this out in a Sligo thread about two months ago but I was laughed out of it. If you drive on the Sligo-Bundoran road each day like I do, That 'road hog' lunatic that you see in your mirror coming closer and closer ....mad to get passed you....for the sake of seconds IS nearly always a DL car. The chances ARE that he IS from County Donegal.
There always has been that Rally mentality up there. Some ,I'm afraid think they're taking part in a rally everyday.

smashey

Jabby wrote: »

I pointed this out in a Sligo thread about two months ago but I was laughed out of it. If you drive on the Sligo-Bundoran road each day like I do, That 'road hog' lunatic that you see in your mirror coming closer and closer ....mad to get passed you....for the sake of seconds IS nearly always a DL car. The chances ARE that he IS from County Donegal.
There always has been that Rally mentality up there. Some ,I'm afraid think they're taking part in a rally everyday.

Eh, I regularly have lunatics hassling me on the roads driving cars from Dublin, Sligo, Galway, (they must be from these counties as the car reg says so) and practically every county. You seem to have some gripe with Donegal. It has already been pointed out to you that it isn't exclusive to here even though they are a crowd of wánkers.

Jabby

smashey wrote: »

Eh, I regularly have lunatics hassling me on the roads driving cars from Dublin, Sligo, Galway, (they must be from these counties as the car reg says so) and practically every county. You seem to have some gripe with Donegal. It has already been pointed out to you that it isn't exclusive to here even though they are a crowd of wánkers.

'Have no gripe with Donegal at all (My father was from Donegal) I and a lot of others from Sligo regularly point out that most of the dreadful driving that is witnessed around town and surrounds involves DL 'drivers'
Oh and by the way, If a driver is driving a DL reg, I'd say that the chances of him born or living in Donegal are quite good.

Senna

I think you could argue all day that this isn't just localized to Donegal, but you cant get away from the facts that this IS a major problem in Donegal.

Thumpette

Normally i wouldn't condone going beyond the usual charge of dangerous driving causing death which will probably result in a suspended sentence & license. But i think it’s time that an example is made of some of these people... serious jail time and LIFE bans from driving.[/QUOTE]

I think its absolutely horrific that someone could kill another innocent person on the roads and ever be allowed to set foot behind the wheel of a car again. In the wrong hands a car is a lethal weapon, I think life bans should be considered for anyone who endangers others either with speed, drink etc...

What sort of message does it send out when there is little or no consequences to taking a life.

CtrlSource

It depends on the circumstances. There are genuine accidents. What happens if a pedestrian runs out in front of you? i wouldn't be in favour of life bans in some cases, but definitely would in others, like when it's as a cause of speed / reckless or drunk driving

blainj2

From driving around the country for the last year for my job i can honestly say that i dont think the problem in donegal is any worst that anywhere else in the country. Now im not saying there isnt a problem just that i dont think it is massively worst in donegal than anywhere else.

A couple of reasons i think that people blame donegal for having boy racers is that alot of cars are taken in from england and the north and re-registered in donegal giving them a dl reg. Alot of these cars are normally just taken in and sold on to people around the country and they are normally boy racer type cars. Id be interested to see the stats for the county council in donegal compared to all the others for numbers of cars cleared each year id say its a good bit more than the others. This could be completly of the mark but just something i always wondered about being from Donegal myself.

But the point that some people are making on here that if you see a boy racer DL car outside of Donegal that it is most likely a Donegal person driving it is wrong imo. This post is too long already so im not gonna explain why unless peole want me to.

One other thing id mention is that i think the problem is getting much better in the last couple or years. I dont know if the statistics reflect this but in the area i live i can definately see a difference in the number of nutcase drivers on the roads!

slickmcvic

Donegal deftinately has higher instances of "crop circles" than the rest of the country.....all round the place,@ main roads busy junctions,......on the end of piers....DIFFIN is the counties national passtime with its biggest annual event coming up in mid june with the rallly........here's a clip think it was shot on the road @ the back of muckish!!!....doubt the road was closed for this event either!!
.....I blame boredom as the main cause,nothin else to do up there really!!

CtrlSource

That looks like a lot of fun! Can't see it being particularly dangerous either.

Tis a pity that these same sort of drivers are probably among those who cause mayhem elsewhere

muffler

Senna wrote: »

I think you could argue all day that this isn't just localized to Donegal, but you cant get away from the facts that this IS a major problem in Donegal.

Agreed.

But its certainly not exclusive to Donegal. Drive round other counties and you will encounter the same problem but its still a worrying feature.

I actually seen a guy spinning his (or someone's) BMW around a street light in the car park in Ballybofey in the middle of the day. I took note of the registration, rang the Gardai only to be told that the patrol car was away somewhere or other (probably a tea break) and by the time they would get there the guy would be long gone.

I even offered to make a statement but they weren't interested.

il gatto

I think there are many reasons for this problem in the country. For one thing, the Gardai don't seem to want to follow up on these people. They'd rather hit the easy targets who will usually take their penalty points/fine/ban with as little hassle to the Gardai as possible. Another problem is the lack of race tracks where these muppets (and others with no muppet tendancies) can get their kicks in a fairly safe, legal environment. The rest of Europe has fairly easy access to all sorts of tracks which hold track days for cars and bikes. In the Republic there's Modello park and err...that's it.
With specific regard to Donegal, there are other issues. The population of Donegal is dispersed. These "boy racers" are used to being able to tool around at 90 everywhere they go, and when they meet an oncoming car unexpectedly at night, they panic, they realise how little "talent" or control they have and hey presto! they've caused a massive collision. Because of the sparse population, the Gardai are thin on the ground too. Allied to all this is the fact that Donegal's mountainous and bog terrain (I know the land around east donegal is second to none, and up around Ramelto and the Finn Valley), means the nature of quite important roads differ alot from the majority of the country. Roads with no hedges and views ahead for large distances give drivers a false sense of security which leads to higher speeds. Unfortunately, the physics of a moving car do not alter according to the drivers perception.
And once the element of modifying cars and driving like a lunatic takes root, it's very hard to get rid of. Teenagers look up to the guy with the fastest, loudest, most souped up car. When they hit 17, they'll follow suit and the whole thing snowballs.
Why anyone would want to spend thousands doing up a car your granny wouldn't want to be seen driving is another thing. I liter Corsas with 3 cylinders with 3-4 thousand spent on them? Come on. If you actually love cars, you'd buy a proper one, or an old classic like a Capri, Mark II, Celica 2000GT, Alfasud Cloverleaf etc. etc. But a Corsa that looks like a space capsule with Playstations and a sub-woofer which eliminates all boot space? With matching seatbelt pads and sparkly lights everywhere. Without any prejudice and homosexuals, how totally gay is that?

ash_18x

my other half has a DL reg car and he is not from Donegal!! the car was imported into Donegal in 1992 from the UK and according to the log book stayed a year in Donegal and then was in and around dublin for the rest of the time. you cant just say that because it has a donegal reg that it is from donegal!

another thing, can anyone tell me how a car does a 'wheelie', if one more person says it to me........ have to say i havent come across many cars yet that can get up on their back wheels

sesswhat

ash_18x wrote: »

my other half has a DL reg car and he is not from Donegal!! the car was imported into Donegal in 1992 from the UK and according to the log book stayed a year in Donegal and then was in and around dublin for the rest of the time. you cant just say that because it has a donegal reg that it is from donegal!

another thing, can anyone tell me how a car does a 'wheelie', if one more person says it to me........ have to say i havent come across many cars yet that can get up on their back wheels

It does take a bit of power.

Quite easy in a tractor though, just a matter of weight distribution.

LoanShark

Jabby wrote: »

'Have no gripe with Donegal at all (My father was from Donegal) I and a lot of others from Sligo regularly point out that most of the dreadful driving that is witnessed around town and surrounds involves DL 'drivers'
Oh and by the way, If a driver is driving a DL reg, I'd say that the chances of him born or living in Donegal are quite good.

Most of the time in Dublin I would see a DL reg as always have a wee look to see the driver.. 80% of the time it is a black man/woman driving, Now unless there has been serious sun in fintown and brockagh for the last 30years.. I dont think your arguement holds up..
There is also a high chance that donegal cars could be sold at auction..

LoanShark

ash_18x wrote: »

my other half has a DL reg car and he is not from Donegal!! the car was imported into Donegal in 1992

What a great Year!

ash_18x

sesswhat wrote: »

It does take a bit of power.

Quite easy in a tractor though, just a matter of weight distribution.

fair enough but there is a bit of a difference between those kind of cars and a normal raod car doing 'wheelies'! i know its just people getting mixed up but if you are going to complain get it right, they are doughnuts!

LoanShark wrote: »

What a great Year!

have i missed something here??

sesswhat

ash_18x wrote: »

have i missed something here??

Think men in tight shorts.

blue shimmering

sesswhat wrote: »

Think men in tight shorts.

Think, SAM!!! Yahoo, it was a brilliant year alright!

ash_18x

sesswhat wrote: »

Think men in tight shorts.

blue shimmering wrote: »

Think, SAM!!! Yahoo, it was a brilliant year alright!

i was ten at the time and have no interest in gaa!!
but i just googled it- the sam maguire cup!

Jabby

ash_18x wrote: »

fair enough but there is a bit of a difference between those kind of cars and a normal raod car doing 'wheelies'! i know its just people getting mixed up but if you are going to complain get it right, they are doughnuts!



have i missed something here??

That Famous 1992 win over Dublin. By 1994 though it was getting tiresome. A couple of months after the game would have been OK, but instead we had to listen all about this great day through almost all of 1993 and even into 1994.
Only for the World Cup that year God knows when they would have stopped going on about it.

Mint Sauce

ash_18x wrote: »

have i missed something here??

ulster and ireland champions

Jabby wrote: »

That Famous 1992 win over Dublin. By 1994 though it was getting tiresome. A couple of months after the game would have been OK, but instead we had to listen all about this great day through almost all of 1993 and even into 1994.
Only for the World Cup that year God knows when they would have stopped going on about it.

hopefully this year will be ours again



getting back to the boy racers, all you got to do is stand in most of the towns on a saturday afternoon, or even the early hours at chucking out town, and you can see the modified corsas or civics 'crusing' around with skirting so low they would have trouble gettingover a speed hump

muffler

irish-stew, with your last paragraph you managed to get this dragged round on topic again.

To everyone else please keep it that way.

blue shimmering

irish-stew wrote: »

ulster and ireland champions



hopefully this year will be ours again



getting back to the boy racers, all you got to do is stand in most of the towns on a saturday afternoon, or even the early hours at chucking out town, and you can see the modified corsas or civics 'crusing' around with skirting so low they would have trouble gettingover a speed hump

Don't think we can ever stop the boy racers - they have been there since the da cars have been invented or near enough! The roads are so busy now that it has become so dangerous for them and also other road users - they definitely don't think about others and seem to think they are invisible until they are gone, at times taking innocent people with them!

The side roads, forests, etc are full of them and also when there is a rally it seems to double in number. I really don't know what can be done about it because our legal system isn't geared toward coping with them and they have nowhere to send them to! From an educational point of view a lot of them probably have dropped out of school early so won't have benefited from anything that would be there either - maybe the one thing that could stop them is the price of PETROL and DIESEL which has sky rocked! Maybe this could be one of the benefits of fuel prices going through the roof?

I also think some of the programmes shown on television that shows stunts and so on don't help to discourage the behaviour either! Some of the films that are in the cinema also seem to encourage this boy racer behaviour - they don't seem to realise that these stunts are done in a controlled environment and that in other situations they are dangerous! I think that older cars should be scrapped properly and their owners being responsible for them, where the person they are sold to are under age - not saying that all boy racers are under age either because a lot of them are well into their twenties!

donegalgirl28

I'm from Donegal and I have a Dublin reg car. When I go up home, I go through the Clady way which brings me out into Castlefinn then onto Ballybofey then to Cloghan then Dungloe. Always when I pass the boarder, cars behind me assume I'm from Dublin then try to overtake me on the roads...(especially after Cloghan, if anyone knows the route from Cloghan to Fintown, it's pretty ****ing dangerous like) I'm going the speed limit which is 80kmh/100kmph, sometimes go over it, and yet people behind me STILL want to overtake me. I end up either being forced to go faster or else stopping. That's partly the reason why I have a Donegal GAA teddy and a mini jersey on my window... to stop Donegal people thinking I'm some sort of tourist and drives like a granny when I clearly don't!

But I do have to admit.. when I'm driving on a road that I know pretty well and know where the next bends are coming up over a hill, I get pretty cheesed off when there's a car in front of me with a different reg and is braking all the time cos they don't know the roads.. not their fault I know!

blue shimmering

donegalgirl28 wrote: »

I'm from Donegal and I have a Dublin reg car. When I go up home, I go through the Clady way which brings me out into Castlefinn then onto Ballybofey then to Cloghan then Dungloe. Always when I pass the boarder, cars behind me assume I'm from Dublin then try to overtake me on the roads...(especially after Cloghan, if anyone knows the route from Cloghan to Fintown, it's pretty ****ing dangerous like) I'm going the speed limit which is 80kmh/100kmph, sometimes go over it, and yet people behind me STILL want to overtake me. I end up either being forced to go faster or else stopping. That's partly the reason why I have a Donegal GAA teddy and a mini jersey on my window... to stop Donegal people thinking I'm some sort of tourist and drives like a granny when I clearly don't!

But I do have to admit.. when I'm driving on a road that I know pretty well and know where the next bends are coming up over a hill, I get pretty cheesed off when there's a car in front of me with a different reg and is braking all the time cos they don't know the roads.. not their fault I know!

I know what you mean about overtaking in dangerous places, you don't have to have another registration for this to happen - one day recently I was at the stretch of road between 'the crossing' and Mill Park Hotel, it was about 10.30 just starting to get dark! I was going into town with my whole family on board, I slowed down and was just about to put my indicator on when I saw this jeep behind me coming up at speed and went to overtake me with a car coming the other way! The reason why I was slowing and going to indicate was because two people where walking on the side of the road, I got such a fright and guess who would have been the worst off if an accident had occurred - the two pedestrians!

People are in such a hurry and have no patience for other road users, I wouldn't try to hold back other drivers - let them go if it is safe to do so but some of them are really ignorant, I don't even know if the jeep driver realised that two people were walking on the side of the road!

I agree it can be annoying when someone in front of you doesn't know the road but at the same time YOU do know why they are taking their time so should make some allowances for them and overtake when it is safe to do so! The problem about knowing the road well is that sometime you take chances that you shouldn't take, bend are so dangerous and you also have to be aware of other drivers making mistakes that could cost YOU your life!

The best advise is SLOW DOWN, WATCH YOUR MIRRORS and generally just be very careful - it is sad all the people in Donegal who have lost their lives in the last week or two which really shouldn't have happened if everyone was taking proper care and paying attention to their driving!

byte

Where's "the crossing"? I'm assuming it's Ballydevitt crossroads?

blue shimmering

byte wrote: »

Where's "the crossing"? I'm assuming it's Ballydevitt crossroads?

No its not ballydevitt crossroads - it is that wide part of the road that is opposite to where the ambulances are parked, just a little bit further up the road from the Mill Park Hotel! It is called the crossing because as far as I am aware the railway used to cross there, although I could be wrong about that, I have always known it as 'the crossing' from when I was young! After there the road gets very narrow until the Mill Park Hotel and that is where it happened, I don't know who it was because all I was interested in was stopping the car and avoiding an accident!

byte

blue shimmering wrote: »

No its not ballydevitt crossroads - it is that wide part of the road that is opposite to where the ambulances are parked, just a little bit further up the road from the Mill Park Hotel! It is called the crossing because as far as I am aware the railway used to cross there, although I could be wrong about that, I have always known it as 'the crossing' from when I was young! After there the road gets very narrow until the Mill Park Hotel and that is where it happened, I don't know who it was because all I was interested in was stopping the car and avoiding an accident!

Jaysus, that stretch of road isn't suitable for overtaking at ANY time, IMO!

Luckily, nothing happened that time.

blue shimmering

byte wrote: »

Jaysus, that stretch of road isn't suitable for overtaking at ANY time, IMO!

Luckily, nothing happened that time.

Your absolutely right, some people just don't have the patience to wait! It was at the twilight time of the evening and the two walking on the road two abreast which made it even worse! Not saying that they don't have the right to walk that way on the road but from a safety point of view if it was me I would be in single file when meeting traffic. There have been more fatalities on our roads again this weekend and the rally has been cancelled because of a road death some time yesterday! I actually noticed a number of cars going at excessive speeds on the back roads yesterday evening and suppose it is all down to the rally - by the way what about all the fuel that is used while partaking in this with there being a scarcity and so on of diesel and petrol?

Senna

blue shimmering wrote: »

by the way what about all the fuel that is used while partaking in this with there being a scarcity and so on of diesel and petrol?

there's no scarcity of petrol or diesel (no more than before), prices have been rising for other reasons, not because of the lack of it.

smashey

I drove over the bridge from Clady tonight and at the junction with the N15, there was a car upside down at the bottom of a tree. :eek:

muffler

smashey wrote: »

I drove over the bridge from Clady tonight and at the junction with the N15, there was a car upside down at the bottom of a tree. :eek:

Maybe that the was the car that was advertising the new car wash facilities over at the filling station.

smashey

muffler wrote: »

Maybe that the was the car that was advertising the new car wash facilities over at the filling station.

Certainly not. The crashed car hadn't got "carwash" painted on it.

EAFC_rdfl

was delighted yesterday, on my way back to galway, just coming to barnesmore gap, before the little bridge where a bad accident happened about a year ago i think, im sure most of you know where i mean, theres a lake on the left. anyway boy racer in his norther reg white suzuki swift ( who had already passed me) decided to overtake his next 2 obstacles. I could see in the distance cars coming but obviously he hadn't. he had also overlooked the two people with high vis gear standing on the hard shoulder up ahead & their high vis motorbike (it was obvious it was the gardai). the bean garda was at the edge of the road waiting for him&pointed him to the hard shoulder. It made my day and I hope he got well and truely scr*wed

blue shimmering

Senna wrote: »

there's no scarcity of petrol or diesel (no more than before), prices have been rising for other reasons, not because of the lack of it.

Your probably right there but I still cannot see what the attraction is of watching cars racing around backroads and so on, it is so dangerous for both the drivers and even more so for the spectators who at times do very silly things like watch too close at a very bad bend! At the same time I do realise there is a very big following of these races and also ones that are not legitimate which obviously are even more dangerous!

Before, during and after these events there are show off's who think they can do these stunts on public roads taking their own and other peoples lives! I have seen it for myself this last few weeks or so on really narrow back roads from about 10pm onwards, there was one Sunday not so long ago that I met one of the unofficial races on returning from visiting family and was told by some of the spectators to get my car in off the road right away because a racer was coming, I just about got in and next thing boom he/she was gone. I heard later that it was a practice run for the real race and the times where taken and only the one's who completed it within a certain time got through to the 'real race'! Other people did seem to know about it and I am not really sure if it was an official race or not but do know that there was no warning as I came along the road. I would have thought that if it was official that there would have been Gardai present and notices put up in advance to let the public know in advance what was happening!

blue shimmering

EAFC_rdfl wrote: »

was delighted yesterday, on my way back to galway, just coming to barnesmore gap, before the little bridge where a bad accident happened about a year ago i think, im sure most of you know where i mean, theres a lake on the left. anyway boy racer in his norther reg white suzuki swift ( who had already passed me) decided to overtake his next 2 obstacles. I could see in the distance cars coming but obviously he hadn't. he had also overlooked the two people with high vis gear standing on the hard shoulder up ahead & their high vis motorbike (it was obvious it was the gardai). the bean garda was at the edge of the road waiting for him&pointed him to the hard shoulder. It made my day and I hope he got well and truely scr*wed

I'm delighted too, thank god they are out there trying to slow these showoff's down, it is always a dangerous time to be on the roads before, after and during these rally's, having said that I do know there are plenty of people who enjoy the rally and drive sanely afterwards. They just go for the day out with their families and usually pick a very safe place to watch from!

il gatto

Don't know what it was like in Donegal, but "Operation Safeguard" didn't affect me. I was on the road day and night over the weekend in counties Sligo, Leitrim and Roscommon and didn't see any speed checks or a single checkpoint. Only person I know who did see the "crackdown" was my fiance who basically doesn't drink and was stopped at 11.15p.m. at Carraroe Roundabout on the way home from Tesco with her mother. The guards are frequently there at the same time and place. 11.15 doesn't seem like peak time for drink drivers to me. And the fact that they always use the same spots makes them easy to avoid. So no increase in activity to my eyes and a horrible death tolls on our roads again over the weekend. Is the odd random "crackdown" acceptable? Are the Gardai targeting the right people? Were the roads safer over the weekend? No, no and no.

blue shimmering

il gatto wrote: »

Don't know what it was like in Donegal, but "Operation Safeguard" didn't affect me. I was on the road day and night over the weekend in counties Sligo, Leitrim and Roscommon and didn't see any speed checks or a single checkpoint. Only person I know who did see the "crackdown" was my fiance who basically doesn't drink and was stopped at 11.15p.m. at Carraroe Roundabout on the way home from Tesco with her mother. The guards are frequently there at the same time and place. 11.15 doesn't seem like peak time for drink drivers to me. And the fact that they always use the same spots makes them easy to avoid. So no increase in activity to my eyes and a horrible death tolls on our roads again over the weekend. Is the odd random "crackdown" acceptable? Are the Gardai targeting the right people? Were the roads safer over the weekend? No, no and no.

Didn't see any checkpoints in Donegal Town either, although there were a lot on Sunday around the bridge going out towards Mountcharles - there seemed to be an Orange parade with band that went into the Church there at the riverside!

All the accidents that have happened in Donegal the last while have been during the day @4.30pm Ballybofey, 8.30pm down by the Rosses, 8.45pm Letterkenny to Glenties road, 8.30am Sligo to Bundoran road and so on...but really there is no point in having check points in the same place at the same time because people get to know WHERE they are and the TIME they are there and take alternative routes! I think between 8pm and 11pm is a very dangerous time to be driving because it is twilight and much harder to see - especially pedestrians!

Its so sad all these people lost their lives and others are fighting for their's still, they will more than likely bare the scars for the rest of their lives! I don't know if it was boy racers either for the accident up in Letterkenny where the mother and 3 month old baby girl lost their lives - trailers with loads on can be extremely hard to control especially if the driver has to try to stop suddenly!

Senna

blue shimmering wrote: »

I don't know if it was boy racers either for the accident up in Letterkenny where the mother and 3 month old baby girl lost their lives - trailers with loads on can be extremely hard to control especially if the driver has to try to stop suddenly!

Dont know the full story but i thinks its been reported that the driver of the car in which the mother and daughter died was passing out other cars when the accident happened. If this is the case there was probably very little the other driver could do, trailer or not.
My sympathies goes out to the mother and daughters family, but i feel for the driver of the jeep and trailer as much, i dont think i could ever get over something like that happening, even just as an innocent bystander.

blue shimmering wrote: »

Your probably right there but I still cannot see what the attraction is of watching cars racing around backroads and so on, it is so dangerous for both the drivers and even more so for the spectators who at times do very silly things like watch too close at a very bad bend! At the same time I do realise there is a very big following of these races and also ones that are not legitimate which obviously are even more dangerous!

Before, during and after these events there are show off's who think they can do these stunts on public roads taking their own and other peoples lives! I have seen it for myself this last few weeks or so on really narrow back roads from about 10pm onwards, there was one Sunday not so long ago that I met one of the unofficial races on returning from visiting family and was told by some of the spectators to get my car in off the road right away because a racer was coming, I just about got in and next thing boom he/she was gone. I heard later that it was a practice run for the real race and the times where taken and only the one's who completed it within a certain time got through to the 'real race'! Other people did seem to know about it and I am not really sure if it was an official race or not but do know that there was no warning as I came along the road. I would have thought that if it was official that there would have been Gardai present and notices put up in advance to let the public know in advance what was happening!

I agree completely, morons out on the roads just to show off and act like wan&ers.

As for the unofficial race, i'm sure it was about as unofficial as you'll get. They do not have practice runs at high speed or even qualifying. The seasoned drivers will drive each stage in any car and will actually go slower than a normal car as they make adjustments to their pace notes, examining road surfaces, verges and points of reference. This was just a bunch of idiots, although i'm sure they may have been taking part in the rally, this is not the actions of a professional (acting) driver.

donegalman1

There really should be a limit on engine size that rises as you get closer to 25 years old. I doubt if such a measure would be any harder to impose or more unpopular or indeed crate any more difficulty than the new curbs on provisional licenses.

I also believe that the Gardai should clamp down heavily on people who hog main roads at 30/40mph on the white line keeping everyone back resulting in others taking chances they shouldn't. Anyone who's got that tunnel vision or are that nervous about driving should get a copy of the bus timetable not even the rules of the road.

blue shimmering

donegalman1 wrote: »

There really should be a limit on engine size that rises as you get closer to 25 years old. I doubt if such a measure would be any harder to impose or more unpopular or indeed crate any more difficulty than the new curbs on provisional licenses.

I also believe that the Gardai should clamp down heavily on people who hog main roads at 30/40mph on the white line keeping everyone back resulting in others taking chances they shouldn't. Anyone who's got that tunnel vision or are that nervous about driving should get a copy of the bus timetable not even the rules of the road.

In fairness most people who drive slow do stay in on the left to let other traffic go, I do agree to a certain extent that people who are nervous shouldn't be on the roads because at the moment it is nerve racking enough trying to drive with out being nervous along with it! If I had a choice of having a slow driver in front of me hogging the centre line of the road or a maniac who is driving erratically and overtaking in dangerous places - I would prefer the slow driver any day!

We have to slow down and make allowances for other drivers on the road - I was at the courthouse junction yesterday trying to turn right and this car coming from Mountcharles direction let me out in front of him! The car on the other side of the road beeped and the male (not so young) driver put his fist up to me....I knew he was there but at the same time he was right to warn me that he had the right of the road but not to put his fist up at me - as far as I am concerned you are then going into road rage territory! By the way at that stage I had given way to him, because obviously he did have the right of way but if it had been me in his situation I would have let a car out from a side road!

Ave Sodalis

donegalman1 wrote: »

I also believe that the Gardai should clamp down heavily on people who hog main roads at 30/40mph on the white line keeping everyone back resulting in others taking chances they shouldn't. Anyone who's got that tunnel vision or are that nervous about driving should get a copy of the bus timetable not even the rules of the road.

i agree 100% with ya on the slow drivers in the middle of the road that refuse to let ya past and maybe the tunnel vision but the nervous drivers have to learn sometime.

if there was a minimal speed limit on the main road then we have less of a reason to get angry at slowdrivers then speed up to over take them and then have to continue at a fast speed to make up the time we lost even if you dont stay speeding intentionally!

donegallass

Hi.

I have read this thread with interest, and, for the most part, agreed with the sentiments expressed.

I was surprised, however, that little mention was made of the very variable road standards in Donegal. True, some seriously overdue upgrading has been done to the roads network in the last couple of years, nevertheless, the overall standard of the roads network in Donegal is well below acceptable standards.

In particular, I would like to draw attention to the area where the poor mother and 15 year-old died - R.I.P.
I should also state that I have no connection whatsoever to either the victims, or the car driver. Nor can I offer any insight as to exactly how the accident occurred.

I have, however, had occasion to pass by the spot where this accident occurred, recently. It is a road that literally meanders along the banks of a river - twists and turns galore. The spot where the victims died is directly between two blind corners, and the road is narrow by EU standards. Any driver driving at the 100K speed limit, meeting an oncoming car, would be forced to choose between hitting the pedestrians crossing the road, or swerving to the other side of the road, and hitting any oncom
ing vehicle.
I see neither to blame the deceased, nor defend the driver. I truthfully do not know what speed the car was being driven at, nor what, if any, evasive action was attempted by the driver. Neither do I understand how anyone not familiar with the scene of the accident could conclude that it was automatically a "boy racers'" fault. I merely wish to make the point that many accidents could be avoided if the roads were of a better standard.
Another point I seldom hear mentioned is the behaviour of tourists here. Again, I do not seek to judge this specific accident. Countless times, however, I have seen tourists, either drivers or pedestrians, put other road users at risk (parking on blind corners to take pictures, crossing the road on corners, cycling 2-3 abreast etc.) - because they assume there is little or no traffic here. Some of them can be a bigger hazard than any boy racer. Lastly, according to Garda statistics, the most common factor in causing accidents is - Drink driving!

Boy racers are a hazard on the roads - but let's not make them the sole scapegoats!

Donegallass

muffler

I would rather we didn't dwell on one extremely sad specific event but perhaps debate the wider implications of the thread title.