N7

Whispered

Hey Guys,

I was driving down the N7 today towards Dublin and a driver was coming down the fast lane on the wrong side. ie he was driving towards me, in my fast lane if you know what I mean.

I'm hoping nobody was hurt including the driver. I understand you can't say much but just wondering if anyone knows if he managed to get off the road with no incidents.

Shield

Wow.

If he hit someone at 120kmph and they are travelling at the same speed in the opposite direction, you'd be looking at instant fatalities for him and the other unfortunate road user.

I hope we're not reading about this in the news tomorrow.

Delancey

Lets hope it wasn't the esteemed former Government Minister Jim McDaid !

shakin

delancey42 wrote: »

Lets hope it wasn't the esteemed former Government Minister Jim McDaid !

ah now delance, hardly fair the man made one mistake, more than him drove the wrong way up a motorway im sure,not fair to single him out even if he is an ff pr*ick

civdef

This happens fairly regularly, with at least one fatal accident this year near Portlaoise caused by it.

http://www.leinsterexpress.ie/news/Fatal-accident-in-39horrendous39-driving.6097830.jp

da__flash

shakin wrote: »

hardly fair the man made one mistake, more than him drove the wrong way up a motorway

clearly he just took one wrong turn in life :pac::cool:

KevR

OP, can you remember where this incident took place (i.e. - junction numbers or a specific section of the N7)? Junction design sometimes be a factor in incidents like these but it's still no excuse for people missing the big "Wrong Way - Turn Back" signs!

Whispered

When we met him he was near the Kill exit. I can't remember exactly where.

He had managed to get into the outside lane and he knew he shouldn't have been there as he was flashing people himself!! I can't understand the thinking, I know nobody wants to be stopped in the fast lane but it's safer than driving against traffic in the fast lane! I can understand him in a way ending up on the wrong side, but surely you'd stop and try get to the hard shoulder, not tear up the wrong way flashing people to move. :eek:

It's really silly but I was driving it again yesterday and every time I met a car on their own side, ie other side of the barrier, I'd be trying to ensure they were where they were supposed to be lol.

MagicSean

Whispered wrote: »

When we met him he was near the Kill exit. I can't remember exactly where.

He had managed to get into the outside lane and he knew he shouldn't have been there as he was flashing people himself!! I can't understand the thinking, I know nobody wants to be stopped in the fast lane but it's safer than driving against traffic in the fast lane! I can understand him in a way ending up on the wrong side, but surely you'd stop and try get to the hard shoulder, not tear up the wrong way flashing people to move. :eek:

It's really silly but I was driving it again yesterday and every time I met a car on their own side, ie other side of the barrier, I'd be trying to ensure they were where they were supposed to be lol.

Id say he came on at the big roundabout in naas. I cant understand it myself. Turning around is the simple solution but for some reason people drive on tothe next ramp and use it instead.

KevR

Whispered wrote: »

When we met him he was near the Kill exit. I can't remember exactly where.

It looks like he came on using the LILO-type junction so. LILO junctions probably result in more cases of people going the wrong way on a Motorway or DC than any other type of junctions; although it is still quite rare.

Rear-facing LILOs are the worst, because they are anti-intuitive. J5 on the N7 is half rear-facing (i.e. - when trying to get on the N7 towards Dublin, the link road brings you in the opposite direction to the direction you know you should be going before bending back around and joining the N7; J5 is forward-facing if you want to join going towards Limerick)

Whispered

k_mac wrote: »

Id say he came on at the big roundabout in naas. I cant understand it myself. Turning around is the simple solution but for some reason people drive on tothe next ramp and use it instead.

No he was coming from Dublin, towards the "black ball".

Nobody hear about this and if he and other drivers were ok (although I'm sure if anything really happened it's be on the news by now?)

Random

you did call the gardai op, right?

Whispered

Of course!

Well I called emergency 999 as I had no credit. Lucky I wasn't dying or in a lot of trouble, it took me 5 mins to get through.

Prenderb

Whispered wrote: »

Of course!

Well I called emergency 999 as I had no credit. Lucky I wasn't dying or in a lot of trouble, it took me 5 mins to get through.

Wow, really?

Also, KevR - what do you mean by a LILO junction?

I'd imagine that if you were the kind of driver to find yourself the wrong way on a motorway you might almost be paralysed by fear and not have a clue what to do....

Or it could have been a tourist from a "drive on the right" country who thought s/he was in the right. It would have seemed natural for them, in the wrong direction in the overtaking lane...

Delancey

Whispered wrote: »

Of course!

Well I called emergency 999 as I had no credit. Lucky I wasn't dying or in a lot of trouble, it took me 5 mins to get through.

Well , the Government did recently privatise the 999/112 call answering service....

KevR

Prenderb wrote: »

Also, KevR - what do you mean by a LILO junction?

LILO means Left In Left Out. Here's Junction 5 on the N7 which is a LILO. If you pan just a tiny bit North you will see how this junction is anti-intuitive for people who want to get on the N7 going towards Dublin (i.e. - the link road brings you in the opposite direction to the direction you know you should be going before bending back around and joining the N7).

In comparison, Junction 7 is a 'dumbell' junction which is a lot more intuitive and results in less cases of people travelling in the wrong direction on the DC.

dublincelt

Craziest peice of driving I have ever seen in my life. Only just seen this thread as I went on my stag on Friday and so wasnt online over the weekend. How in the name of God do you just keep driving against oncoming traffic??!! I went by him aswell, my Dad was driving, we were in the slow lane behind an artic. The artic began to slow down, my Dad was about to overtake the truck buy I noticed yer man coming straight towards us. I also noticed a Garda car with blue lights flashing on the other side obviously waiting/hoping the chap made it to the proper side to give him a bollocking/make an arrest. Well he only just managed to get to a space in the middle of the two sections before a bend in the road. If there was no way in there he would have killed himself and someone else as cars would not have seen him. What a complete an utter idiot. We all make mistakes but this was unforgivable imo.

bazzachazza

People keep trying to get on to the N3 at the Coldwinters exit just north of the M50 twice I have had to block them from turning down the off ramp whilst shouting a gesticulating wildly at them to not turn there. Both cases they were members of the Mature population.;)

dublincelt

bazzachazza wrote: »

People keep trying to get on to the N3 at the Coldwinters exit just north of the M50 twice I have had to block them from turning down the off ramp whilst shouting a gesticulating wildly at them to not turn there. Both cases they were members of the Mature population.;)

Surprise surprise this "person" was no spring chicken either. Insurance probably cost him just a few quid aswell...

Whispered

dublincelt wrote: »

Craziest peice of driving I have ever seen in my life. Only just seen this thread as I went on my stag on Friday and so wasnt online over the weekend. How in the name of God do you just keep driving against oncoming traffic??!! I went by him aswell, my Dad was driving, we were in the slow lane behind an artic. The artic began to slow down, my Dad was about to overtake the truck buy I noticed yer man coming straight towards us. I also noticed a Garda car with blue lights flashing on the other side obviously waiting/hoping the chap made it to the proper side to give him a bollocking/make an arrest. Well he only just managed to get to a space in the middle of the two sections before a bend in the road. If there was no way in there he would have killed himself and someone else as cars would not have seen him. What a complete an utter idiot. We all make mistakes but this was unforgivable imo.

Where did you meet him dublincelt?

It was luck that we didn't pull out to OT the guy in front of us when he slowed down. I would have usually zipped out. I'd say it would have been interesting to be in the fast lane on the other side, driving alongside him. It was thanks to them we knew to slow down, flashing and beeping etc.

I'm bloody nervous driving now! making me contemplate things, you just can't allow for everything and you can follow every rule on the road and still be involved in a nasty accident. :mad:

My OH got a better look than I did and said he wasn't a young person either, he also said he didn't look drunk and didn't look "foreign" :rolleyes: (as if you can tell).

EDIT: Sorry am I reading correctly, you saw him pull off safely?