Rathdown Road / Church Lane Near Miss

LifeBeginsAt40

Location: Rathdown Road / Church Road Traffic Lights

Date: 2nd April 2012
Time: Approx 7:30pm

To the person driving the dark coloured family sized car that very nearly had a head on crash with a Ford Focus please be aware that next time I will not brake sharply and swerve to avoid you. Next time you can buy me a new car and pay my hospital bills.

Please take note everyone: (and certainly dark coloured cars!)

When turning right from Rathdown Road into Church Road at the traffic lights be aware that the road you are turning into is a 2-way street, this means that as you turn right you should then KEEP LEFT as you start to go up the hill.

If you turn right at the lights and are lazy/stupid/arrogant/unwise and keep to the right, you will of course find yourself driving on the wrong side of Church Road and you will meet me head-on coming down the hill to turn left into Rathdown Road. Also be aware that when the filter light is green to turn right into Church Road, the left filter light is also green to turn left into Rathdown Road FROM Church Road.

I have no idea of the accident statistics for this junction, but last night was very nearly a head on with combined speeds of 50km/h.

Perhaps those in the highways agency might want to paint some arrows on the junction for the fools that think we live in Spain!

matt-dublin

is this the junction near the esso?

LifeBeginsAt40

matt-dublin wrote: »

is this the junction near the esso?

The 'Y' junction just up the road, that takes you towards Tescos.

I've just added a photo for reference.

Alun

It happens all the time to me when I'm coming from the direction of Tesco's and turning left. People turning right there just cut the corner off without thinking, and I've had to take avoiding action on more than one occasion.

boardie100

obviously a stupid mistake made by that driver but I sincerely doubt many incidents happen there... were they an elderly person perhaps?

LifeBeginsAt40

Alun wrote: »

It happens all the time to me when I'm coming from the direction of Tesco's and turning left. People turning right there just cut the corner off without thinking, and I've had to take avoiding action on more than one occasion.

So it's not just me that has an invisible car then! I'll make sure to have a dashboard camera running next time for the mug shots!!

Cheers.

LifeBeginsAt40

boardie100 wrote: »

obviously a stupid mistake made by that driver but I sincerely doubt many incidents happen there... were they an elderly person perhaps?

See post above, it possibly does happen more than we think!

Alan_P

Isn't that Church Road, not Church Lane ?

LifeBeginsAt40

Alan_P wrote: »

Isn't that Church Road, not Church Lane ?

My apologies...Google got it wrong and indeed it is.

danjo

Near misses are a regular occurrence at this junction. Probably the worst designed junction in Greystones! A solution would be to remove the car park space at Roches Chemist although I am sure it might cause inconvenience to some.

Imhof Tank

Alan_P wrote: »

Isn't that Church Road, not Church Lane ?

Surely its neither - its the road to Delgany - the R7..something - possibly
R761?

LifeBeginsAt40

danjo wrote: »

Near misses are a regular occurrence at this junction. Probably the worst designed junction in Greystones! A solution would be to remove the car park space at Roches Chemist although I am sure it might cause inconvenience to some.

Not as inconvenient as being punched in the face by an airbag and then the remains of the gearbox :eek:

I must admit that when you look at the image I attached you can see how some, let's say less careful / in a hurry drivers would easily cut the corner.

matt-dublin

according to OSI its kindlestown lower (R761) and rathdown road:

LifeBeginsAt40

danjo wrote: »

Near misses are a regular occurrence at this junction. Probably the worst designed junction in Greystones! A solution would be to remove the car park space at Roches Chemist although I am sure it might cause inconvenience to some.

Possibly room for a traffic island, a nice illuminated solid bollard with a decent curb around it.

LifeBeginsAt40

Google thinks it is Church Road.....

LifeBeginsAt40

matt-dublin wrote: »

according to OSI its kindlestown lower (R761) and rathdown road:

Lol, I'll go fire up the Sat-Nav and see what that says!

Either way, some man/woman driving up the wrong side of it yesterday evening has got me planning a new car :rolleyes:

pixbyjohn

Google and all the GPS units incorrectly call the R761 "Church Road".
And yes there have been several near misses and quite a few accidents at that junction.
Drivers: when will they ever learn !!

matt-dublin

Currently:


Should be (IMO):


Key:
Purple: Parralell street parking
Red: Road markings and island
green: traffic flow
pink: right turn only
blue: traffic lights

Langerland

Not a bad idea to have a proper island there. It happsnall the time there. Fair play for pointing it out.

LifeBeginsAt40

Langerland wrote: »

Not a bad idea to have a proper island there. It happsnall the time there. Fair play for pointing it out.

Certainly cheaper to the state to pay for a traffic island and not my huge personal injuries claim, plus taking up space in a hospital bed.

Taltos

Same thing happened to me OP around 3 weeks ago - car came from Rathdown road right towards me....

BIG arrows are called for here or a total redesign of the junction.
Wasn't a black car in my case - I was in one though. Was a big SUV with an older gentleman driving it - giving me dagger looks for daring to be in the right lane. I just stopped and let him swerve...

pixbyjohn

Matt-Dublin.
The road layout used to be like what you are proposing or very similar, there was an island and the roads authority in their wisdom changed it. Even the buses and large trucks find it difficult to get around the junction without crossing over to the incorrect side of the road.
Ireland and the UK now seem to make the roads much less user friendly in the past 10 years or so. Traffic calming they call it but it drives most people wild :D

LifeBeginsAt40

pixbyjohn wrote: »

Matt-Dublin.
The road layout used to be like what you are proposing or very similar, there was an island and the roads authority in their wisdom changed it. Even the buses and large trucks find it difficult to get around the junction without crossing over to the incorrect side of the road.
Ireland and the UK now seem to make the roads much less user friendly in the past 10 years or so. Traffic calming they call it but it drives most people wild :D

Yep totally agree, the junction needs a proper redesign before someone is seriously injured. If Lidl sold Marmite I'd never need go up that way again

vinpaul

LifeBeginsAt40 wrote: »

See post above, it possibly does happen more than we think!

You seem to have road names mixed up. Rathdown Road runs from junction referred to towards Filling Station and then becomes Victoria Road.
Church Road runs from Filling Station (Centra Shop) towards Railway Station.
Church Lane connects Church Road with R761 (known locally as Blacklion Road, I think), sometimes called Killincarrig Road or Kilcoole Road. The R761 runs from Southern Cross roundabout at Bray to Rathnew, via Blacklion, Killincarrig, Kilcoole, and on to Newcastle.
I must agree with poster that this can be a tricky junction if one is unfamiliar with it. Care must be taken.

LifeBeginsAt40

vinpaul wrote: »

You seem to have road names mixed up. Rathdown Road runs from junction referred to towards Filling Station and then becomes Victoria Road.
Church Road runs from Filling Station (Centra Shop) towards Railway Station.
Church Lane connects Church Road with R761 (known locally as Blacklion Road, I think), sometimes called Killincarrig Road or Kilcoole Road. The R761 runs from Southern Cross roundabout at Bray to Rathnew, via Blacklion, Killincarrig, Kilcoole, and on to Newcastle.
I must agree with poster that this can be a tricky junction if one is unfamiliar with it. Care must be taken.

Not as confused as the map makers of Ireland and the UK! They all call it something different!

loobylou

While we're redesigning the junction can we speak to the powers that be about changing the timing sequence at those lights.
I'm stopped there unnecessarily every morning (coming from the harbour direction),often for 2-3 minutes as priority is given to traffic coming from said R761.
Fair enough if thats where the main volume of traffic were coming from but that is not the case.

LifeBeginsAt40

loobylou wrote: »

While we're redesigning the junction can we speak to the powers that be about changing the timing sequence at those lights.
I'm stopped there unnecessarily every morning (coming from the harbour direction),often for 2-3 minutes as priority is given to traffic coming from said R761.
Fair enough if thats where the main volume of traffic were coming from but that is not the case.

Yet another sensible suggestion. Easy enough to do as well. The Redford Park/Blacklion Cross traffic lights are a joy, after living for too long in Bray where the sequence depends on the letters of the month and the brightness of the moon!!

Huntthe

Common occurence ,also coming the opposite direction and turning left the camber of the road throws you out. Locals should be aware of the poor road design.