Bizarre/Illegal things on motorways

Aidan1

you do not expect a car to pull out on you while travelling at high speeds in the overtaking lane.

If you are travelling at speeds well in excess of the legal limit people won't expect closing speeds to be as high as they are - they may have anticipated that people will obey the law and judged their overtaking manouver on that basis.

In short, while they may need to check their mirrors more regularly to determine closing speed, they can hardly be blamed if you're driving like an idiot.

Cookiemunster

hawkwind23 wrote: »

go learn how to drive!
you do not expect a car to pull out on you while travelling at high speeds in the overtaking lane.
i think some lessons are required for your level of road awareness.
seriously, your a hazard to yourself and more importantly other road users.
i suggest you edit your post to delete comments about purposely slowing down in the overtaking lane its a terrible attitude and highly dangerous.

You may want to read my post correctly before you start ranting about me being a dangerous driver. I said that if someone pulled out in front of me I would slow down and wait for them to pull back in before accelerating again.

However your attitude to other road users does come into question.

I also notice you didn't address my first query about your opinion of drivers from the South.

Frank Black

hawkwind23 wrote: »

Going 140 on the motorway isn't that dangerous, the halfwits pulling out and doing all sorts of crazy stuff is!

Sounds like we've got a Nordie motorway speedster who likes being able to break the speed limit with impunity but doesn't like other road users using the overtaking lane when doing 120kph if he's in the vicinity.

Jawgap

My own experience of cycling and driving is that 'up north' northern registered cars are well behaved and courteous.

But down here northern reg vehicles tear it up.

I drive the M1 quite regularly and if a car comes zooming up the overtaking lane and under my boot while I'm overtaking someone, it's invariably a northern reg car.

The M1 is rotten with this type of driver on most days and on Sundays when a northern team is in Croker - but the real silly stuff can be found on the N2, especially when an Ulster team is playing in Croker!

I also come across a lot of the same idiots toll dodging through Julianstown and driving like tossers.

I know this is the roads forum but last week I was on the old N1 south of Julianstown cycling on the hard shoulder when I was overtaken by Citroen - who very courteously went wide to give me plenty of space. My first reaction was "thanks" - my second was "thanks, but I didn't think I needed that much room!!"......

my third was "where the f.... did that van come from?!?!?!" A northern reg van went between me and the overtaking car scaring the sh1t out of both of us. After that he pulled into the petrol station!

hawkwind23

ok i give up.
its turned into the northerners vs south.
dont be so defensive!

source

hawkwind23 wrote: »

ok i give up.
its turned into the northerners vs south.
dont be so defensive!

You started the north v south bit.

L1011

NI has some of the worst driving I have ever seen in my life:

People who think its acceptable to drive at 40mph on an empty, decent standard road whilst half the county ends up behind them. Someone else who thinks that the next bend is a good place to try overtake them in their heavily, badly modified VW. People on R plates who are actually sticking to their speed limit while trying to overtake on a motorway - was in a queue caused by this for EIGHT MILES on the NI M1 once.

Extremely poorly planned overtaking is rife all across NI and the deterioration of the road network up there as limited funding was diverted to the A4 etc has made it even worse.

Redsoxfan

Reports of 'young people' fecking about on both the M4 and the M7 today. On the M4, at the resevoir. Not sure what was going on on the M7 (may even have been the N7).

niloc1951

What gets me going and it's an Irish thing is motorists travelling in an outer lane seem to delight in boxing in slower drivers trying to pull out and overtake even slower vehicles.

My experience elsewhere is generally a driver in an outer lane will either move over another one or ease off the gas for a few moments to let a vehicle in an inner lane overtake slower traffic.

L1011

niloc1951 wrote: »

My experience elsewhere is generally a driver in an outer lane will either move over another one or ease off the gas for a few moments to let a vehicle in an inner lane overtake slower traffic.

This is definitely the case in most continental countries I've driven in. Put on the indicators and someone will back off to let you out - but you do need to get out as quick as possible!

JupiterKid

IMO Northern drivers know how to drive better on motorways and Duallers because they had these types of roads long before the Republic and so had much more time to get used to them.

However, it is also my experience that Northern drivers tend to speed and drive poorly on roads in the Republic, motorways included.

endacl

JupiterKid wrote: »

However, it is also my experience that Northern drivers tend to speed and drive poorly on roads in the Republic, motorways included.

Or you just notice them doing it? How many yellow reg plates come to your attention for driving perfectly normally?

wexie

MYOB wrote: »

This is definitely the case in most continental countries I've driven in. Put on the indicators and someone will back off to let you out - but you do need to get out as quick as possible!

Drives me ****ing nuts, slowing down a bit to let someone out only to have them sit there with a blank look on their face waiting for the written invitation.


I'm happy enough to take my foot off the accelerator to let you out but I ain't braking. If you can't move then you can sit behind the truck/tractor etc.

niloc1951

wexie wrote: »

Drives me ****ing nuts, slowing down a bit to let someone out only to have them sit there with a blank look on their face waiting for the written invitation.


I'm happy enough to take my foot off the accelerator to let you out but I ain't braking. If you can't move then you can sit behind the truck/tractor etc.

We are such a rare breed the average Joe/Josephine often doesn't get/understand the message :rolleyes:

John_Rambo

hawkwind23 wrote: »

ok i give up

Your drivers licence?

You've seen sense, good man.

JupiterKid

I was a passenger in a friend's car driving Northbound along the M9 between the Balitore/Athy and Kilcullen junctions this evening when a maniac in a black Volvo coupe overtook us IN THE HARD SHOULDER doing about 110/120 mph - our car literally shook as it passed us, we didnt see it approach from behind such was the speed it was doing and he very nearly clipped/hit us. :-o

Needless to say, I rang the Gardai in Naas and they told me they already had reports of this car - the occupant(s) must have been criminals in some sort of getaway or joyriding. Unbelievably dangerous driving!

Still a bit shaken by it TBH. :-(

Victor

Aidan1 wrote: »

In short, while they may need to check their mirrors more regularly to determine closing speed, they can hardly be blamed if you're driving like an idiot.

Can we ease off on comments like this?

Moderator

nordydan

endacl wrote: »

Or you just notice them doing it? How many yellow reg plates come to your attention for driving perfectly normally?

I drove up to Newry and back yesterday and a Dublin reg car was doing about 180km/hr past me it crossed the border and didn't break stride.

That being said yes (as a northerner) that northern reg's do break the speed limit more (probably because of less likelihood of prosecution)

_Kaiser_

niloc1951 wrote: »

What gets me going and it's an Irish thing is motorists travelling in an outer lane seem to delight in boxing in slower drivers trying to pull out and overtake even slower vehicles.

My experience elsewhere is generally a driver in an outer lane will either move over another one or ease off the gas for a few moments to let a vehicle in an inner lane overtake slower traffic.

What annoys me no end is the type that will drive up the arse of some truck and quite happily sit there until you approach and pull out to overtake both of them.. and THEN they decide they're going to overtake as well - at the same slower speed they were travelling so they inch past the truck! :mad: At least you can usually identify them first though as they start drifting right first even though they can see you coming.

I do a lot of motorway driving and a few things I saw only last weekend include..
- idiot driving with earphones in
- old 3-series doing about 80 km/h in the outer lane
- several unaccompanied learners (of course!)
- aforementioned eejits pulling out in front of me as I'm about to pass them
- plenty of movements without indicating

Now I drive one of the aforementioned V6 cars and I'm not shy of making decent progress on an empty/quiet motorway (as many of them are these days) but I always look over my shoulder and check my mirrors before I manoeuvre (and as I'm driving along), always indicate (even if there's no one around) and always have the dipped lights on.

I stay in the left lane unless passing a car/line of cars and even allow people to move in and out without sitting on their bumper too, but in my experience the worst stretch is probably the N/M7 between Naas and the Portlaoise toll - an otherwise quiet, uneventful spin is usually ruined by some of the above muppetry. :mad:

L1011

Cyclist on the m11 yesterday, too close to the end to justify sending bray gardai on an idiot chase

ItHurtsWhenIP

Wednesday afternoon about 4:15pm, some knob strolling along the hard-shoulder M7 eastbound approaching J26 Nenagh-South.

I suppose he was at least covered in Hi-Viz, but there were no works trucks or anything like that to show he might have been a motorway maintenance dude.

JupiterKid

Numerous cars pulled in on the hard shoulder on the M7 between Portlaoise and Nenagh this afternoon.

niloc1951

JupiterKid wrote: »

Numerous cars pulled in on the hard shoulder on the M7 between Portlaoise and Nenagh this afternoon.

Any of them look like

ezra_pound

Kaiser2000 wrote: »

What annoys me no end is the type that will drive up the arse of some truck and quite happily sit there until you approach and pull out to overtake both of them.. and THEN they decide they're going to overtake as well - at the same slower speed they were travelling so they inch past the truck! :mad: At least you can usually identify them first though as they start drifting right first even though they can see you coming.

I do a lot of motorway driving and a few things I saw only last weekend include..
- idiot driving with earphones in
- old 3-series doing about 80 km/h in the outer lane
- several unaccompanied learners (of course!)
- aforementioned eejits pulling out in front of me as I'm about to pass them
- plenty of movements without indicating

Now I drive one of the aforementioned V6 cars and I'm not shy of making decent progress on an empty/quiet motorway (as many of them are these days) but I always look over my shoulder and check my mirrors before I manoeuvre (and as I'm driving along), always indicate (even if there's no one around) and always have the dipped lights on.

I stay in the left lane unless passing a car/line of cars and even allow people to move in and out without sitting on their bumper too, but in my experience the worst stretch is probably the N/M7 between Naas and the Portlaoise toll - an otherwise quiet, uneventful spin is usually ruined by some of the above muppetry. :mad:

How do you know that the unaccompanidrivers were learners? are you obi wan?

Quickelles

ezra_pound wrote: »

How do you know that the unaccompanidrivers were learners? are you obi wan?

An L-plate maybe?

(If you are not a learner you are supposed to remove it from the car while you are driving)

Cookiemunster

Quickelles wrote: »

An L-plate maybe?

(If you are not a learner you are supposed to remove it from the car while you are driving)

Show me where it says this in the rules of the road. Nobody who shares a car with a learner removes the plates every time they use the car.

foggy_lad

MYOB wrote: »

Cyclist on the m11 yesterday, too close to the end to justify sending bray gardai on an idiot chase

Saw a cyclist stopped on the hard shoulder of the M11 last week getting an earful and having his details noted down by a Garda, great to see this happening.

wil

Cookiemunster wrote: »

Show me where it says this in the rules of the road. Nobody who shares a car with a learner removes the plates every time they use the car.

Perhaps not, but it is common sense to do so and laziness not to. Magnetic plates are easy to remove and you could oblige the learner to remove them after finishing their learning/practise so you don't have to if you didn't want to.

Otherwise what is the significance of L plates, we may as well all display them.

wil

Bizarre thing on the M8 is the Parking - bizarre thing to have on any motorway. An Irish answer to "where are the toilets" and "where can I stretch my legs" without any toilets and not much safety.

Illegal has got to be those Petrol station signs somebody puts on the hard shoulder I think around Johnstown/Urlingford exit, Northbound, could be on Southbound too, cant recall. I'm sure that's both a legal and planning permission issue.

Quickelles

Cookiemunster wrote: »

Show me where it says this in the rules of the road. Nobody who shares a car with a learner removes the plates every time they use the car.

If you are a veteran driver can you just put L-plates? I used to put a "CD" tag on my numberplate and though it is nowhere mentioned on the "Rules of the Road" the Gardai told me in no uncertain to remove it or be prosecuted.

They didn't specify precisely under what law (and I didn't ask!)

But you can bet your bippy there are numerous laws that can nail you if you wear an L-plate while having a full licence.