Bizarre/Illegal things on motorways

who_am_I?

I see farmers crossing the motorways in the midlands about 3-4 times a month. I see slightly more pedestrians than tractors on motorways,
The problem is enforcement, there is none.

scully74

liammur wrote: »

These guys shouldn't be allowed on any road imo. Very dangerous and there must be an element of cruelty involved. I'm not sure however if it's a good idea to put his photo up on the internet if you didn't receive permission.

You don't need permission when the photo is taken in a public place

scully74

Seen a car in limerick reverse on a round-a-bout cause they missed their turn off WTF... its round

rameire

Saw two idiots walking in the pitch blackness of the m7 at 9pm
they were walking southbound away from junction 9 ( the ball at Naas)
they were close to junction 9,
they were in jeans and shirts.

rang the gardai at Naas, they said they would send a car straight away.

one death of a ped is enough on that stretch of road.
fingers crossed they were picked up instead of washed off the road.

also see hundreds of people using their mobiles while driving each week.
the reason i see so many is i pass alot of cars as im a motorcyclist.
im in the process of getting a camera and will think of fitting it to the helmet.
if i get video of people using their mobiles can it be used against them if i send it to the gardai.

Fluffybums

Parking bays M9 Kilkenny to Waterford.

Tractors pulling heavily laden trailers, big straw bales - never mind the speed, if one of these bales falls off what sort of a mess is it going to cause.

People stopped on the hard shoulder on the phone.

People pulling out to over take at the last minute - any idea of the stopping distance at 120kph?

No use of indicators

Abandoned cars - regularly seen empty cars on the hard shoulder between Knocktopher and Waterford.

Met a car coming down the off ramp at Danesfort - good job the road was quiet at the time.

My fav. Overtaking a car at 120kph between Mullinavat and Wateford. Red car pulled off on the hard shoulder almost, drivers side wheel was on the carriageway so that there was room to change the wheel. One of the young guys walks into the middle of the lane opens the driver's side door, looks up the carriageway, waves something at his mate on the other side of the car and gets in. All this whilst two vehicles are approaching at 100 to 120 kph taking up the two lanes. Needless to say I had started to slow down and had made room for the car I was overtaking to pull across before we were alongside the plonker's car.

It would appear that too many do not know that the motorway hard should is not like that on R roads and should not be used in the same way.

Stinicker

Fluffybums wrote: »

It would appear that too many do not know that the motorway hard should is not like that on R roads and should not be used in the same way.

I would say about two thirds of Irish drivers treat the motorway system as exactly that. The day I was at the Ploughing Championships a few weeks back the behaviour of drivers on the Motorway was appallingly ignorant. I reckon this winter all it will take is some fog and we will have a few total wipeouts because of the level of stupidity of Irish drivers in relation to Motorway etiquette and rules.

Mc Love

There is a section on the M20 when you pass the first bridge coming from Dublin side where people cross the road, because there is a break in the hedgegrow late at night

(i only know because I did it once too) also my friend has done it a good few times even with a load of drink in him and he managed to slip once on the embankment and slept there for a few hours before carrying on home :eek:

Amtmann

That cyclist was on the M8 again today on the Glanmire Bypass this time. Called him into the Guards again.

angry_fox

Last year i was driving southbound on the carlow bypass when an unmarked squad car going north flashed me. I didint no why until seconds later there was a car coming straight for me, had to swerve to avoid it and i just missed who ever it was. I did not get a reg or type of car. I pulled in for few minutes and called my dad of all people.

-Corkie-

LOL I was going to Dublin one morning and was taking the slip road on to the M7 at portlaoise. Half way down I met an oul boy in a old Astra coming up against me. I blew at him and he started wagging his finger at me...

L1011

Furet wrote: »

That cyclist was on the M8 again today on the Glanmire Bypass this time. Called him into the Guards again.

There's either a club of loners or I've seen the same lad a few times, phoned him in any time he's on the long bit towards Dunkettle with nowhere to get off quickly.

Suspect Glanmire station is ignoring the calls at this stage - the first Guard I spoke to there said that bit wasn't a motorway!

marmurr1916

MYOB wrote: »

There's either a club of loners or I've seen the same lad a few times, phoned him in any time he's on the long bit towards Dunkettle with nowhere to get off quickly.

Suspect Glanmire station is ignoring the calls at this stage - the first Guard I spoke to there said that bit wasn't a motorway!

If you or furet could get some photos of this guy on the motorway, keep records of calls to the Gardaí, and then pass them on the the Evening Echo, something might be done.

It's a pity that it could take the threat of media exposure to get the gardaí to do their job.

Ireland's fatal accident rates have fallen dramatically in recent years, thanks to better roads, safer cars and improved medical techniques.

If we're serious about getting the rates down even further, driver behaviour and enforcement of the rules need to be prioritised.

Lack of enforcement of the rules of the road it not a trivial matter, as the attitude of many gardaí seems to suggest, in many cases, it's a matter of life and death.

invinciblePRSTV

Cyclists use the South Ring, N20 Blarney DC, Ballincollig BP & N25 DC to Midleton everyday, so i can see why the law & cyclists turn a blind eye when blue signs replace the green signs on a stretch which were in place for 20yrs.

Unless M-way restrictions or restrictions of some sort are slapped across all of Corks DC network then i imagine Furets phone calls will continue to be ignored by all and sundry.

Trick of the Tail

Yesterday I was approaching the roundabout at the southern end of the M9, I was on the N25 going to Waterford so I was turning right at the rbout.

In front of me was a car, also indicating right, in the right lane of the rbout approach.

So far so good.

The car stops, even though there was nothing approaching from the right, then started actually turning right onto the roundabout, to go anticlockwise round it to the 'first' exit!

I sounded my horn, and the car aborted this manoeuver and instead veered left to go the correct way round the rbout.

When the car exited, I pulled into the right lane, looked at the driver, who was a woman, and got the biggest 'if looks could kill' look I've ever got!

Jeez.

A.

BigMoose

invinciblePRSTV wrote:

so i can see why the law & cyclists turn a blind eye when blue signs replace the green signs on a stretch which were in place for 20yrs.

I could never understand why cyclists use the N11 in such numbers at the weekends. From what I can tell they even run organised races on sections between Bray and Rathnew (before green bits turned blue - I'd like to hope that organised races no longer happen on the blue bits!). The road is no different, it's not safe now and it wasn't when the signs were green! Driving at 100/120 onto an off ramp is a nightmare when trying to avoid the extremely slow cyclist making their way cross the bottom of the slip.

NFD100

going back to the original title of the thread: Bizarre/Illegal things on motorways .......... seeing a Garda presence on motorways enforcing the law............................. :rolleyes:

who_am_I?

NFD100 wrote: »

going back to the original title of the thread: Bizarre/Illegal things on motorways .......... seeing a Garda presence on motorways enforcing the law............................. :rolleyes:

I drive over 1000 km a week, mostly on motorways, Cruise control set to 140 kpm all the time, Enforcement is non-existent...

who_am_I?

who_am_I? wrote: »

I drive over 1000 km a week, mostly on motorways, Cruise control set to 140 kpm all the time, Enforcement is non-existent...

140 is borderline imho, I have seen unmarked cars catch speeder (150+) before.

I was doing 130ish and a car overtook me going much faster, followed by another that then turned on the "blues and twos", nicked.

who_am_I?

Deleted User wrote: »

140 is borderline imho, I have seen unmarked cars catch speeder (150+) before.

I was doing 130ish and a car overtook me going much faster, followed by another that then turned on the "blues and twos", nicked.

140kph is defiantly borderline, however If there was any real enforcement I would not do it.
In general I only see one Garda speedtrap on the motorways every 250 KM of travelling. I see more on sunny days less on rainy days.
I only see someone being pulled by the Gardaí, once every 2000 KM.

On the flip side,
I see people parked on the hard-shoulder, once every 100km
Talking on the phone, once every 150 km
Pedestrians / cyclists on motorway, once every 1000 km
Tractors, once every 3000 km
Someone passing me at over 160kph, once every 100 km
Undertaking, once every 50 km
Vehicles restricted to 80KPH in the OT lane, once every 50 km

Mc Love

On the M7 last night, a BMW touring car was flashing their lights at everyone before they overtook them, they were doing about 160 and driving in the right hand lane.

Also some muppet on the M50 near the ballymun exit drove right up behind me, practically touching my bumper, after I was overtaking a car to the left of me!! He then turned on his full beams, and undertook me while showing me the finger!

veryangryman

Not Motorway but...

Some plank walking his dog on N6 near Roscommon Eastbound Exit today.

Even crossed iver the central medium

Some mothers do ave em

KevR

veryangryman wrote: »

Not Motorway but...

Some plank walking his dog on N6 near Roscommon Eastbound Exit today.

Even crossed iver the central medium

Some mothers do ave em

I saw an old man walking along in the 1m wide median strip on the Athlone BP last year! Some people drive well in excess of the 100kmh limit and people in the overtaking lane were literally only centimetres from this man!

A pedestrian was killed near the Monksland exit a few months ago also. The Athlone BP and any other similar DCs are not safe places for pedestrians or cyclists.


I saw a car with L plates doing 60kmh on the M6 near Athenry yesterday. Nearly caused a pile up, the M6 was crazy busy at the time because both hurling county semi finals were taking place in Athenry yesterday.

Amtmann

Another pedestrian has been killed on a motorway, this time the M3: http://www.rte.ie/news/2010/1012/rta.html

dubhthach

Furet wrote: »

Another pedestrian has been killed on a motorway, this time the M3: http://www.rte.ie/news/2010/1012/rta.html

We really need an ad campaign on the tv regarding motorway safety. There has been at least 3 deaths of pedestrians over the last 3 months on motorway/dual carriageway. Barring that you would think they get someone like Netwatch to install cameras on Motorway junction and to look out for pedestrians/cyclists entering motorway system there. At least then a Garda car could be dispatched to nab em.

ongarboy

Yes, I think an ad campaign on tv and local press (particularly half or full page ads in local press in areas that have m-ways introduced for the first time such as M3) on motorway rules as I suspect some locals do not know the differences between m-ways and normal roads when it comes to pedestrian/cycling/agricultural transport use.

2 weeks ago, I saw a guy stroll casually across the M18 in Clare and drivers doing 120kph had to slow down abruptly so not to hit him. He seemed to be completely unaware of the risk he was taking. About a mile on, I saw a cyclist on the same m-way. While it's common sense to most of us boardsies and a lot of drivers, there are a lot of non car users who are not au fait with the risks they are taking.

RIP to the poor guy on the M3 and sympathies to his family

Fluffybums

ongarboy wrote: »

RIP to the poor guy on the M3 and sympathies to his family

And sympathies for the poor guy that hit him, he'll have to live with that for the rest of his life.

sesna

Was driving on the M4 last week when I saw one of those road maintenance trucks parked in the hard shoulder. Normally I move into the overtaking lane, but there was some traffic in it so I stayed in driving lane.

Less than 200 meters from the truck, the driver decided to jump out of the trucks cabin, and ended up standing right in the middle of the driving lane with my car approaching him at 120kmp/h. Had to swerve to avoid hitting him. I cant believe this guy works on the roads for a living.

Irish and Proud

Fluffybums wrote: »

And sympathies for the poor guy that hit him, he'll have to live with that for the rest of his life.

+1

Walking on a motorway (other than motorists in emergency situations) should be made a criminal offense - there's absolutely no excuse for this sort of behaviour.

Regards!

Irish and Proud

Irish and Proud wrote: »

+1

Walking on a motorway (other than motorists in emergency situations) should be made a criminal offense - there's absolutely no excuse for this sort of behaviour.

Regards!

I think it already is!

Amtmann

Saw a cyclist and two slow-moving tractors on the M18 today (not to mention an abundance of people parked in the emergency lane)...