Motorway driving in Ireland

dan_d

I drove on Italian and French motorways in recent months.
You drive in the left hand lane. You overtake in the right. The instant you pull into the right hand lane, you must overtake, then pull back in. And if you don't, you can be guaranteed that within seconds there will be something bigger and faster on your back bumper, so close that you can't see it's headlights in the rear view mirror. You pull in, they overtake, and they pull in ahead of you.
It's not the safest way to do things, but it's extremely effective. Everyone drives in the left lane that's where the stream of traffic is. There's no such thing as sitting in the right lane because you're "going" to pass someone out. You pass out, and get back in out of the way.
The thing that absolutely leaves me speechless on Irish motorways is .....merging. My God, we can make an absolute dog's dinner out of merging from a slip road onto a motorway. I've never seen anything like it. Of course the problem lies in the fact that absolutely no aspect of our practical driving test takes place on a motorway, therefore nobody has a notion how to use one properly.
We should probably start with that...

jd

dan_d wrote: »

I drove on Italian and French motorways in recent months.
You drive in the left hand lane. You overtake in the right.

You might want to edit that

tallpaul04

Lanehogging causes that person to close up on your rear bumper drivers should be paying attention to there driving and have pulled over by the time the quicker traveling car has gotten within an unsafe distance to the slower travelling one.

try drivin on the german Autoban and attempt to road hog in the overtaking lane. Driving over there at 120 MPH and cars could still come absolutley flying past. Germany is a great place to learn about safe comlient motorway driving.

sesna

tallpaul04 wrote: »

Lanehogging causes that person to close up on your rear bumper drivers should be paying attention to there driving and have pulled over by the time the quicker traveling car has gotten within an unsafe distance to the slower travelling one.

The following driver should never get within an "unsafe" distance of the vehicle in front, they do not end 2 inches of someones bumper by accident.

You cant whine on about one law of keeping left, while completely disregarding the law on safe driving, keeping a safe distance and the speed-limit. As previously described by another poster, this wreckless tailgating, is far more dangerous than lane-hogging.

I dont condone lane-hogging but attempting to bully another driver off your lane is not justified and far worse.

HydeRoad

sesna wrote: »

The following driver should never get within an "unsafe" distance of the vehicle in front, they do not end 2 inches of someones bumper by accident.

You cant whine on about one law of keeping left, while completely disregarding the law on safe driving, keeping a safe distance and the speed-limit. As previously described by another poster, this wreckless tailgating, is far more dangerous than lane-hogging.

I dont condone lane-hogging but attempting to bully another driver off your lane is not justified and far worse.

You seem to be the one whining, after all the reasonable arguments everybody tries to make as to why there is a 'keep left' recommendation, you keep coming back, like the cat, saying why should I?

There are practical advantages to everyone if you keep left. There are no advantages to anyone, only obstruction, if you refuse to keep left. Do you want to drive keeping out of people's way, keeping the flow for everyone moving as smoothly as possibly, or do you want to deliberately get in people's way and frustrate them, making the whole driving experience for everyone that much harder and more tiresome?

The roads are bad enough, we need more of the former and less of the latter.

HydeRoad

Any driver would ideally drive so that their presence on the road causes nobody else to lose time or space on the road. Congestion occurs so easily, we should all strive to minimise it as much as possible. After all, we all suffer when it does eventually grind things to a slow or stop.

corktina

HydeRoad wrote: »

You seem to be the one whining, after all the reasonable arguments everybody tries to make as to why there is a 'keep left' recommendation, you keep coming back, like the cat, saying why should I?

There are practical advantages to everyone if you keep left. There are no advantages to anyone, only obstruction, if you refuse to keep left. Do you want to drive keeping out of people's way, keeping the flow for everyone moving as smoothly as possibly, or do you want to deliberately get in people's way and frustrate them, making the whole driving experience for everyone that much harder and more tiresome?

The roads are bad enough, we need more of the former and less of the latter.

i bet he has his fog-lights on permanently too....:rolleyes:

sesna

HydeRoad wrote: »

You seem to be the one whining, after all the reasonable arguments everybody tries to make as to why there is a 'keep left' recommendation, you keep coming back, like the cat, saying why should I?

What part of "I do not condone lane hogging" suggests I am defending it?

Corktina - If having my fog lights on saves me from having to look at your impetuous cork head up close in my rear view mirror, so be it.

corktina

ah...you ARE a troll then....

sesna

corktina wrote: »

ah...you ARE a troll then....

Sure Corktina, whatever you say

stripysocks85

Can I just add, the motorways I drive on are very rarely congested, except for M50, which is in a league of its own and an entire different matter! Therefore, these arguments about lane hoggers causing congestion, and the example given about drivers on French/Italian motorways mean little to me.

sesna

Had a lovely drive this evening cruising down the m50 in lane 3/4 in my continuous overtake maneuver. Also passed a Garda car in lane 2. Very reassuring to see the law giving their tacit approval to my excellent driving.

mackerski

HydeRoad wrote: »

There is no benefit to sitting out in the centre or right lane on a clear road. All it does is enforce in another less educated driver's mind that they too are correct to stay out in the centre lane.

It's not clear to me that it's possible to be much less educated than sesna about how to drive on a public road.

sesna

mackerski wrote: »

It's not clear to me that it's possible to be much less educated than sesna about how to drive on a public road.

*Yawn* This thread is getting boring

dfx-

As a non-driver, I've found this thread superbly entertaining.

Those who insist the law is there and must be adhered to, then admit that the law cannot really be enforced so it's a mute point. Having a law that cannot be enforced is like having a leg that doesn't walk and then there's those who blame the 'slow' driver for someone being 1m bumper-to-bumper and crashing and then there's the mention of not being concerned with other drivers breaking the speed limit, yet are going on painfully about staying in a certain lane by law..amongst others.

No such thing as a perfect driver in any country as far as I can see. Some very sanctimonious posts it seems.

Reminds me why I've declined to take driving lessons and let my Provisional Licence expire unused.:)

BarryM

Contrary to the last post I find this thread profoundly sad..... The usual arguments re-heated. Of course there is the usual trading of insults, nothing new.

One thing, of many, that I missed was actual experience(s). How many of all those who are watching this thread have a) actually been fined/warned/etc., for a motorway offence in the RoI? b) have seen a garda stop anyone on a motorway for an offence (as opposed to at an accident, for example)? c) have seen a Garda car on a mound eyeing the traffic? Then we might have some idea of what is actually heppening as opposed to, for example, anecdotal evidence of lane hogging, which anyone who has ever travelled on a m'way in Ireland, or elsewhere has seen....

I'll kick off, I can honestly answer no to all three questions, although I would say I have little m'way driving done in Ireland.

Bye, Barry

Hobbes

I drive the M50 daily (when not snowing). I try to leave before rush hour due to the number of idiots on the road. The main issues I see everyday.

- Speeding.
- Tailgating.
- Changing lane without indicating.
- Undertaking when it isn't needed.
(since the extra lane little to no driving in the breakdown lane).

Of that tailgating is the worst. Anything happens in front of me, I am going to get a car/lorry crushing my car. So I slow down (as safely as possible). Most of the time then they overtake but a few times they take this as a personal attack on them and proceed to flash lights/high beams, over take and then slam on brakes in front of me.

This sort of stuff defies logic to me.

I have seen the guards routinely pull people over or telling them to GTFO at the next exit. I am guessing they don't do it often during rush hour as any kind of distraction slows traffic down.

Mitch Connor

Hobbes wrote: »

(since the extra lane little to no driving in the breakdown lane).

What is this bit about? What is a breakdown lane and why would people be driving in it?

NFD100

Hobbes wrote: »

I drive the M50 daily (when not snowing). I try to leave before rush hour due to the number of idiots on the road. The main issues I see everyday.

- Speeding.
- Tailgating.
- Changing lane without indicating.
- Undertaking when it isn't needed.
(since the extra lane little to no driving in the breakdown lane).

Of that tailgating is the worst. Anything happens in front of me, I am going to get a car/lorry crushing my car. So I slow down (as safely as possible). Most of the time then they overtake but a few times they take this as a personal attack on them and proceed to flash lights/high beams, over take and then slam on brakes in front of me.

This sort of stuff defies logic to me.

I have seen the guards routinely pull people over or telling them to GTFO at the next exit. I am guessing they don't do it often during rush hour as any kind of distraction slows traffic down.

I am at a loss... I don't understand a word of this. Have you passed a test??

Do you know what each lane of a motorway is for and what lane you should be driving in?

The first lane, that is the driving lane. The middle lane is for overtaking slow traffic in the left lane. The right lane is for ovetaking slower traffic in the middle lane. Once no longer overtaking you pull back into the left lane. Then you do not hog and you will never be tail gated. Simple! Lane discipline frees up the motorway.

You should never undertake.

The leftest lane of all is the hard shoulder. This is for breakdowns and emergencies only. You should never stop on a motorway, save in an absolute emergency and in the hard shoulder with your hazards on. Then you must get out of your vehicle on the passengers side and behind the barrier and wait for help.

I think you need to read the rules of the road.

I do wish the NRA and M50 concessions people would get the message out there. The standard of driving on the M50 is shocking. I have never seen anything like it in Britain. Somebody is going to be killed by pure ignorance.

Stark

NFD100 wrote: »

I am at a loss... I don't understand a word of this. Have you passed a test??

To those of us who passed English, his post was perfectly clear.

veryangryman

Stark wrote: »

To those of us who passed English, his post was perfectly clear.

Banned.


Is what i would say if i was a mod and you werent. That sounds like a personal insult in my book. Play the ball and not the man as they say

slimjimmc

Mitch Connor wrote: »

What is this bit about? What is a breakdown lane and why would people be driving in it?

I think he was referring to the hard shoulder and that some people illegally used as a means to get to an off-ramp by bypassing slow traffic queues in the driving lane. This practice seems to have died out since the additional lanes were built between junctions.

slimjimmc

NFD100 wrote: »

I am at a loss... I don't understand a word of this. Have you passed a test??
:::
Do you know what each lane of a motorway is for and what lane you should be driving in?
:::
I think you need to read the rules of the road.

You seem to have misread his post, he wasn't advocating bad driving he was giving examples of the sh%t that goes on every day. He comes across as more aware and considerate of the driving lanes and the Rules of the Road than many of those committing the offenses around him.

sesna

NFD100 wrote: »

The middle lane is for overtaking slow traffic in the left lane. The right lane is for ovetaking slower traffic in the middle lane. Once no longer overtaking you pull back into the left lane. Then you do not hog and you will never be tail gated. Simple! Lane discipline frees up the motorway.

From rules of the road -


On a two-lane motorway, use this for overtaking only and move back into lane 1 when you have finished. You may also use this lane to accommodate traffic merging from the left.
On a three-lane motorway, you may stay in this centre lane while there is slower moving traffic in lane 1.

superhooper

sesna wrote: »

From rules of the road -

On a three-lane motorway, you may stay in this centre lane while there is slower moving traffic in lane 1.

Should you stay in the centre lane indefinitely?

corktina

no he shouldnt...:)

biffoman

superhooper wrote: »

Should you stay in the centre lane indefinitely?

pass on the right ,move to the left.Wheather or not a d3 or d2.if people keep this in mind ....

corktina

simples! trouble is Irish drivers in the main are half trained or worse and arent competant to change lanes so they sit there and cling on for dear life and argue black is white on forums like this that what they are doing is OK. It isnt OK lads, if you cant drive properley with courtesy and the conveniance of EVERYONE on the roads in mind, you shouldnt be out there.

baalthor

Mitch Connor wrote: »

What is this bit about? What is a breakdown lane and why would people be driving in it?

I think this is referring to the hard shoulder. The "extra lane(s)" are the local access lanes (linking the junctions) recently added to the M50?

Amtmann

No 'hard shoulder' on a motorway. It's the emergency lane.