The stupidest thing I have seen yet on Irish roads!

Nissan doctor

I've seen alot of people do alot of stupid things on the roads in my time, from parking on roundabouts to reversing back up motorways for a missed exit, but yesterday I saw something that actually left me speachless.


I came off the M50 onto the N2/M2 heading north, for those who aren't familiar with it, its a 3 lane carragway with a concrete barrier seperating the north and south lanes, anyway, as I came onto it I spotted a person walking on the opposite side of the concrete barrier, which has no shoulder between it and the overtaking/right hand lane. So he is walking in the lane which has a limit of 100kmh, although most are still doing 120kmh odd. But, this is only the start..

A moment after I see the guy walking, A silver Citroen C4 pulls up and stops....in the outside lane...as traffic is passing and approaching from behind at 100kmh+ and as I look around and then in the mirror, The guy opens the rear door to put is bag or whatever he had in, then walks around the car, and opens the passanger door, which would again be into the passing motorway speed traffic, and gets in!

I thought I was seeing things, the stupidity of some people on the roads knows no bounds!:eek:

jaffa20

Sometimes i wish i was a guard. I would have taken the licence off them on the spot and made sure they were banned from driving for good.

Yakult

Report the driver (Assuming you remember the reg)
That's pretty reckless and stupid.

cadaliac

:eek:
Irish or not?

andyseadog

the mind boggles. how could either person feel safe doing that? surely it must speak volumes for the conscious state they were(n't) in!

stopping your car in the outside lane of a dual carridgeway! the chaos that must have been created behind that car from people swerving and slowing to avoid them

-Corkie-

Oh FFS. It is definitley time for a Roadhawk me thinks..

Thats brutal. I seen a guy stop on the driving lane of the M8 to have a chat to people on the hard shoulder last year but that beats Banner..

TestTransmission

andyseadog wrote: »

the mind boggles. how could either person feel safe doing that? surely it must speak volumes for the conscious state they were(n't) in!

Surely the person walking on the motorway was obviously in some kind of messed up mental state or something,no one is that stupid.

sentient_6

I got an awful fright late one evening rejoining the M6(heading Galway direction) at the last entrance/exit at Athlone before Ballinasloe, just come on the slip lane to see a car coming back down the motorway in the overtaking lane. He wasnt in view intially as a joined the slip & as i was accelerating an artic coming up behing laid on the horn & lights, my reaction being wtf is his problem, thinking it was something to do with me, looked ahead & a car goes flying passed the opposite way. Maniac. Jesus its only 15 minutes to Ballinasloe if you miss athlone, i think id rather be half an hour late than smashed to bits.

Reloc8

^FFS.

That's beyond depressing - your blood would boil.

You're looking at death there.

That character should be jailed.

Daegerty

The stupidest thing I've seen on Irish roads is a REVA G-Wiz

opinion guy

REcently on the M1 I saw an auld lad with a cap and some signs crossing the road barely aware of the cars bearing down on him at 120kph+ to stick signs on the grassy part of the central margin.

Gob****e. I was almost about to call the guards but got distracted by other stuff happening.

Yes there are times I wish I was a guard myself!!

Mimikyu

This post has been deleted.

KamiKazi

Mmm people I hate to contradict you all but the guy wasn't breaking the speed limit so clearly did no wrong.

Berty

LOL.

I drive for a living. I haven't seen it all yet but I have seen enough to make me believe that concentration and cop on prevents accidents as opposed to imposing speed limits, drink driving limits and any other crap the POWERS want to impose.

You cannot stop people from drinking. You can only catch a few.

You cannot stop people from driving on the wrong side of the motorway if they are idiots and do not read signs.

You cannot stop people from speeding because you just cant. You can only catch a handful for it.

Look after yourself on the roads people and other people(i.e me) will look after themselves as well. Idiots will always be idiots.

slimjimmc

KamiKazi wrote: »

Mmm people I hate to contradict you all but the guy wasn't breaking the speed limit so clearly did no wrong.

You forgot to wrap that in sarcasm tags, some folks might have taken you seriously when you posted that.:D

Dartz

opinion guy wrote: »

REcently on the M1 I saw an auld lad with a cap and some signs crossing the road barely aware of the cars bearing down on him at 120kph+ to stick signs on the grassy part of the central margin.

Frogger IRL

dr.fuzzenstein

How about the guy I met a few years ago.
Toyota Hiace based mini truck with trailer and small digger loaded in trailer.
At 50 km/h through town the whole setup was shimmying from side to side.
As he got faster (about 60 km/h) out of town, it was swaying wildly.
I just wanted to get past him because it looked dangerous as fook.
He saw me pull out to overtake and floored it.
The trailer with digger on it flipped, turned over and the digger ended up on the road.
I stopped to ask him if he was alright, he just walked past me, got his phone out and made a call while ignoring me.
So I just though "fcuk you then" and drove on.

Nissan doctor

Yakult wrote: »

Report the driver (Assuming you remember the reg)
That's pretty reckless and stupid.

I could only see the top half of the car, couldn't have got a reg:(

cadaliac wrote: »

:eek:
Irish or not?

urm, not sure how I could have figured that out...or its relevance?

cadaliac

Nissan doctor wrote: »

I could only see the top half of the car, couldn't have got a reg:(




urm, not sure how I could have figured that out...or its relevance?

Only if you saw the reg.
If they were from a different country and were used to driving on the other side. It still doesn't excuse the behavior.

Im Only 71Kg

i was disappointed to see a pillion passenger no older than 8 years of age today..she wasn;t even capable of wrapping her arms around the driver (male 40's) i thought he's have more sense..and it was a powerful bike..on the back of the bike was a bag of toys in a large bag..absolute disgrace..im sure there's an age limit for a pillion passenger.

end a eknny

driving on the m1 midday and there was a car stopped in the outside lane a man standing at the back taking out the spare while his son is standing around too you coulnt make this stuff up. have also met cars going round roundabout wrong way.i get passed ou regularily on corners only for the car to be stopped a half a mile up the road. cars stopping in the middle of a country road to take a phone call and most common to come upp behind a slow moving car in overtaking lane on motorway flash the lights and they either brake or pull out of the way and when you look in the mirror they go back into outside lane

galwaytt

Im Only 71Kg wrote: »

i was disappointed to see a pillion passenger no older than 8 years of age today..she wasn;t even capable of wrapping her arms around the driver (male 40's) i thought he's have more sense..and it was a powerful bike..on the back of the bike was a bag of toys in a large bag..absolute disgrace..im sure there's an age limit for a pillion passenger.

Actually there isn't an age limit.

And get off your high horse - I'm an Advanced Rider, have done Bikesafe with the GTC, and am planning on my RoSPA this year..... AND have spoken with officer's on it .........and I've just started bring my 8 year old on the road for the first time.

There again, he's been riding a motorbike since he was 4.........

And your suggestion that a pillion should automatically be holding on to the rider displays an ignorance of the (high) skill of motorcycling - and physics - and that makes me glad you have no place in policing it.

Boskowski

galwaytt wrote: »

Actually there isn't an age limit.

And get off your high horse - I'm an Advanced Rider, have done Bikesafe with the GTC, and am planning on my RoSPA this year..... AND have spoken with officer's on it .........and I've just started bring my 8 year old on the road for the first time.

There again, he's been riding a motorbike since he was 4.........

And your suggestion that a pillion should automatically be holding on to the rider displays an ignorance of the (high) skill of motorcycling - and physics - and that makes me glad you have no place in policing it.

Sorry I ride a bike myself but that post is cr@p from start to finish.
And there should be an age limit it's just that bikes are being totally ignored by Irish traffic laws apparently. And don't tell me how bike savvy YOUR 8 year old is cos laws aren't for individuals but for everyone and the back of a motorbike is no place for an 8 year old I don't care what anyone says.

Dartz

I think the requirement in the UK is that the passenger should be able to put their feet firmly on the footpegs.


And for some reason I went off to google Ogri looking for a specific strip I remembered where a toddler was strapped to the front forks of a bike....

Stinicker

I was out and about today up the M8 via Cork from Kerry.

I encountered cyclists at the Sarsfield road roundabout, they naturally broke the red light and cycled out, a few seconds later I and other cars were forced to swerve lanes due to them cycling three abreast around the roundabout, it could have easily caused an accident that me or some other guy would probably get the rap for. Surely there is a law banning Cyclists from Dual Carriageways?

Later on I encountered more cyclists up the M8 and a tractor in the overtaking lane all between the Jack Lynch Tunnel and the Fermoy toll plaza. Incidently the Jack Lynch tunnel is down to one bore and its a frekkin nightmare, I'd hate to see it Monday morning compared to the relative chaos in light Saturday traffic today, hopefully the maintenance they are doing will be completed over the weekend.

I encountered many weekend drivers merrily puttering along at 70km/h, old man in the red starlet from Lissarda to Dual Carriageway you were a serious pain in the goolies this afternoon.

Yesterday I went to overtake a Mazda estate that was happily doing 60km/h along a regional road (100km/h limit) , I got to spot I regularly overtake cars at and went for it, now the spot is one of few overtaking opportunities along the road and affords plenty opportunity to get around in normal conditions.

By now I had been tailing him for about 4 miles, I got to my spot & committed and went for it...... :mad::mad::mad: The dirty piece of sh1t sank the shoe just as I was committed and it was too late to abort, luckily I drive an Auto and kicked it down & up to 4,500rpm for a surge. He increased his speed likewise and I only barely made it infront of him with about 2-3 secs to spare before losing my view range. I was seriously frazzled by this. Like who the hell increases speed when they are being overtaken? I always slow down a little to let others get by easier if I'm being overtaken. I don't care who goes to overtake me, if they want to get by I'll let them out.

I drive a BMW and have been overtaken by everything from Micras to Maseratis and I don't care who wants to get around, if they want to go I wont stop them, however I think the knob jockey up front decided he'd make the guy behind (me) earn it and was one of these people who get a macabre thrill out of deliberately driving slow to annoy other drivers as if it is up to them to police the roads.

In the last two months I keep a Buddhist CD in my car that I listen to and it has a real calming effect and I just kind of zen out and be happy in my own space and try my best to ignore all other ignoramuses on the road, as driving here is a total endurance test with the obstacles thrown up infront of us everyday.

AugustusMinimus

Was he speeding ?

AugustusMinimus

Stinicker wrote: »

Later on I encountered more cyclists up the M8 and a tractor in the overtaking lane all between the Jack Lynch Tunnel and the Fermoy toll plaza. Incidently the Jack Lynch tunnel is down to one bore and its a frekkin nightmare, I'd hate to see it Monday morning compared to the relative chaos in light Saturday traffic today, hopefully the maintenance they are doing will be completed over the weekend.

There are two cyclists constantly on the M8 on a Saturday morning. I presume it's the same two every week. What time were you on it at ?

Stinicker

AugustusMinimus wrote: »

There are two cyclists constantly on the M8 on a Saturday morning. I presume it's the same two every week. What time were you on it at ?

I encountered them about 12.15 in the afternoon, they were Stephen Roche wannabes I'd say complete with racing bikes, speedos and yellow spandex shirt.

Stinicker

AugustusMinimus wrote: »

Was he speeding ?

Was who speeding?

AugustusMinimus

Stinicker wrote: »

Was who speeding?

The person in the OP. Should have the book thrown at him if he was.

Stinicker

AugustusMinimus wrote: »

The person in the OP. Should have the book thrown at him if he was.

Now the Mazda I went to overtake was doing about 55-60km/h all along. But when I went to overtake he quickly increased his speed as I went overtaking turning a relatively easily feat into some thing far more dangerous for me and anything that could have came into my path as a result of I taking longer to get around due to his increase in speed.

Dartz

Stinicker wrote: »

Yesterday I went to overtake a Mazda estate that was happily doing 60km/h along a regional road (100km/h limit) , I got to spot I regularly overtake cars at and went for it, now the spot is one of few overtaking opportunities along the road and affords plenty opportunity to get around in normal conditions.

By now I had been tailing him for about 4 miles, I got to my spot & committed and went for it...... :mad::mad::mad: The dirty piece of sh1t sank the shoe just as I was committed and it was too late to abort, luckily I drive an Auto and kicked it down & up to 4,500rpm for a surge. He increased his speed likewise and I only barely made it infront of him with about 2-3 secs to spare before losing my view range. I was seriously frazzled by this. Like who the hell increases speed when they are being overtaken?

I hate these ****ers. Came within a gnats fart of a head-on because of one of them leaving me high and dry. I think they do it on purpose, though for reasons I can't possibly comprehend.

Jambo221

The most ridiculous thing I've ever seen was a guy driving a people carrier full of kids on my side of the road, he swerved back into his own lane after overtaking someone around a bend in heavy fog.

He was lucky I was well below the speed limit, any closer and it'd have been a head-on collision :mad: Hope someone caught his reg number.

overshoot

Dartz wrote: »

I hate these ****ers. Came within a gnats fart of a head-on because of one of them leaving me high and dry. I think they do it on purpose, though for reasons I can't possibly comprehend.

they drive me insane, i remember being behind a mini on a R road, he crawled through the corners and went quick enough on the straights. i got the jump on him thanks to some local knowledge but the move took forever, cleared him just before the road narrowed for a bridge. im pretty sure he backed out of it, but i was well ahead at that stage. the lad wasnt even in my mirrors after 2 corners

In the last two months I keep a Buddhist CD in my car that I listen to and it has a real calming effect and I just kind of zen out and be happy in my own space and try my best to ignore all other ignoramuses on the road, as driving here is a total endurance test with the obstacles thrown up infront of us everyday.

i recommend the red hot chili peppers, some of their songs have a great calming effect

Reloc8

The M1 yesterday was full of people pootling along at 100 kph who put the foot down when being overtaken - is this just pure a$$holery or is it that they were daydreaming and just woke up to find that they had a bit of leeway to go faster ?

Secondly is this just me or do people with cruise control need to cop on and use it properly (I have it myself). I mean the people who have it set almost exactly to whatever the car in front is doing (in my case I'll set it to 120kph on a motorway), but ever so slightly higher. They then move into the overtaking lane and take a half an hour to inch ahead.

As much as I enjoy a blast on Test Drive 2 Unlimited as much as the next man I'm not into real life wheel to wheel - they should either put the foot down and complete their overtaking swiftly to clear the car being overtaken at the earliest safe opportunity, or knock the cruise down a notch and tuck in behind, presumably being happy enough to plough on at more or less exactly the speed they had chosen to travel at.

There's also the fact that when you come up to a genuinely slower moving vehicle yourself you have 'Oi'm not speedin' so dey can do nuthin to me' hanging off your rear/front quarter or directly to your driver side.

opinion guy

Reloc8 wrote: »

The M1 yesterday was full of people pootling along at 100 kph who put the foot down when being overtaken - is this just pure a$$holery or is it that they were daydreaming and just woke up to find that they had a bit of leeway to go faster ?

Secondly is this just me or do people with cruise control need to cop on and use it properly (I have it myself). I mean the people who have it set almost exactly to whatever the car in front is doing (in my case I'll set it to 120kph on a motorway), but ever so slightly higher. They then move into the overtaking lane and take a half an hour to inch ahead.

There is error in different cars speedometer relative to each other. When I set my car to 120kph its approx 5kph faster than my dad's car's version of 120kph. We know this from travelling in convoy with both set to 120kph - mine was consistently faster

MadsL

Spotted a woman last year driving in the middle lane of the M50, I was just about to turn off when she went past me and I spotted that she was driving with a baby in her arms!! :eek: :eek: :eek: No-one elese in the car. I followed her got the reg and rang the guards - they asked if I wanted them to press charges, I said a stern talking to would probably be in order, I just she wasn't actually thinking about the potential consequences.

As to the poster waffling about an 8 year on a motorbike, cop on will ya. Nothing wrong with a sensible 8 year old riding pillion with a competant motorcyclist.

Owen

Posted this here before, but the worst I saw was a woman in front of me in a beat up old starlet driving slowly in traffic, but very erratically. The car would start to veer left, and then she'd jerk it back again. Kids were walking freely left to right on the back seat and jumping about. She kept getting worse until I decided to overtake her when she'd stopped and didn't notice the cars in front had moved and that's when I saw .... she was eating her lunch off a plate in her lap, using cutlery.

ninty9er

I can't find it on YouTube, but the OP demands that clip from Fr. Ted where they find out Chris the sheep has been poisoned.

Madness.

@ The pillion and bike comment. It's not too long ago that bikes were the main mode of transport in this country. I really don't see a problem here with having a juvenile pillion.

I don't see anyone suggesting that there should be an age limit on passengers on an Evo or Veyron, so power of the bike has f%^& all to do with it.

I'm no fan of bikes, and never intend to get on one, but many people can't afford cars and have no other option. If they can and choose a bike, what's the difference?

Stinicker

^^ If a person gets angst about pillion passengers on bikes they probably better not take a trip to SE Asia, what you see up on scooters there is amazing, husband wife, two or three kids including baby and all the shopping, it really is a skill of balance.

In Bangkok they even have scooter taxis where you jump up behind and he'll whizz off weaving through traffic, breaking every conceivable law and you on behind with no safety gear or head helmet, its great to beat traffic if your in a hurry and I only done it twice but after the second time I decided not to tempt fate anymore!

Reloc8

opinion guy wrote: »

There is error in different cars speedometer relative to each other. When I set my car to 120kph its approx 5kph faster than my dad's car's version of 120kph. We know this from travelling in convoy with both set to 120kph - mine was consistently faster

Sure - what I'm getting at is that if you're going to overtake do it safely - which does not mean inch by inch over a protracted period where the two cars involved end up wheel to wheel etc. Much safer to increase speed and overtake briskly. Of course they don't want to do this because that would involve breaking the speed limit.

Ironically they're exposing me and them to much more danger by doing what they're doing. My/their tyre could blow, I could encounter a problem ahead of me in my lane and I have no where to go for as long as they're alongside.

When I get someone like this on my rear quarter I actually ease off my own speed to get them clear of me.

MadsL wrote: »

...
As to the poster waffling about an 8 year on a motorbike, cop on will ya. Nothing wrong with a sensible 8 year old riding pillion with a competant motorcyclist.

There are such things ?

Traumadoc

Im Only 71Kg wrote: »

i was disappointed to see a pillion passenger no older than 8 years of age today..she wasn;t even capable of wrapping her arms around the driver (male 40's) i thought he's have more sense..and it was a powerful bike..on the back of the bike was a bag of toys in a large bag..absolute disgrace..im sure there's an age limit for a pillion passenger.

I see younger kids on the back of pushbikes all the time, being brought to school by parents.

I have never heard of a child been injured as a pillion passenger on a motor bike.
but I have treated plenty of kids who have been passengers in cars.

Eric Cartman

1. A woman in a ford focus sitting in the hard shoulder northbound on the m50 at the n4 junction, she obviously realised she had gone too far and was trying to reverse back to get up the sliproad

2. A woman in a punto going the wrong way down the up-ramp on the maynooth exit on the m4

3. A woman reversing down pound lane in maynooth thinking the no entry and one way signs didnt apply if she was reversing

4. A woman going through a no entry sign to get on to waterloo lane then 5 meters into it beeping and shouting and expecting myself and 3 other cars to reverse all the way down the crowded lane to let her through instead of turning into an open driveway or reversing

mb1725

Eric Cartman wrote: »

A woman reversing down pound lane in maynooth thinking the no entry and one way signs didnt apply if she was reversing

I always like that one when I see it!

Voodoomelon

Saw a woman last week stopped on a roundabout letting her young fella out to go to the gym, blew her out of out.

barbs84

is stopping on the fast lane of a motor way not illegal,that is what the hard shoulder is there for, you should of taken hes reg and reported him to the guards, he could of ended up killing people

Voodoomelon

Stopping on a motoway anywhere is illegal, even in the hard shoulder. It is there for emergencies only. And its the overtaking lane.

Reloc8

Man who stopped his wagon on the M1 hard shoulder to let a small child go for an unsupervised wander down it and have a whizz please note this ^

end a eknny

just going to throw this out to see what people think but when i see dangerous driving particularily overtaking on a country road it is more often than not a volkswagon and more so a passat or caddy

KamiKazi

ninty9er wrote: »

I'm no fan of bikes, and never intend to get on one, but many people can't afford cars and have no other option. If they can and choose a bike, what's the difference?

Bikes are generally more expensive to run than cars, especially the high powered ones.

eljono

This day last week I came across one of the most dangerous encounters I have had on the roads in 12 years of driving.

Heading down the M8 from Thurles to Cork and around the Cashel exit, I noticed a car a good bit ahead of me swerve from the overtaking lane to the driving lane and brake as he was coming up to a sweeping right-hand bend. Next thing, I see a car bearing down in the wrong direction in the overtaking lane with his right indicator flashing.
I slowed right down, flashed my lights repeatedly and blew the horn as he was approaching. It was a guy around 60 I'd guess and he actually saluted me as he drove past as if nothing was wrong. I couldn't believe it. I could see in my mirror approaching cars also flashing him and then he pulled across the driving lane and took the Cashel exit which would be quite an acute bend when you're coming from the wrong direction. Unbelievable.

Gave me a right shock, I was thinking that if I had been pushing on and overtaking coming up to the sweeping right-hand bend, it could very well have been game over.