Amazing incident N20

corktina

Travelling south on the N20 just north of Rathduff on the 2+1, I was on the single lane section and coming towards me in the overtaking lane was a 4x4 with a seriously large trailer (sheep or cows I guess) and he was attempting to turn RIGHT illegally through a gap in the crash barrier (they used to have bollards but these have mysteriously disappeared) into a farm .

As I and others were coming at him, he couldn't turn and so was stationery in the right hand lane. I flashed up the oncoming traffic which was passing an artic and in the mirror I could see loads of brake lights. It must have been quite a close call for them!

I was quite stunned to see such foolhardiness...just 100m further there is a legal right turn with a turn back loop especially for this situation.

ardmacha

Did you report his reg number to the Gardai?

tin79

ardmacha wrote: »

Did you report his reg number to the Gardai?

As the situation was described I cant see how the OP would have had a good enough view or enough time to get the reg.

corktina

Had there been a Gard in Rathduff I would have stopped....but there wasn't so I left it. Maybe one of those more directly involved did.

slimjimmc

corktina wrote: »

Had there been a Gard in Rathduff I would have stopped....but there wasn't so I left it. Maybe one of those more directly involved did.

Report it the Gardaí anyway so that it's on record, it would help if you can pin-point the exact location. Also report it in writing to the NRA who are in charge of main routes, the RSA and perhaps the local authority. It may be an illegal opening in the barrier and someone from those might eventually get around to pressuring someone to get the cheese wire barrier properly closed.

corktina

i'm not too good at this but I reckon this is the entrance

BillJ

I know the road well, it's absolute lunacy and it's how people are killed.

Deserves some time off from driving if you ask me

corktina

that didn't come out well! maybe someone can improve it?

BillJ

https://maps.google.ie/maps?q=rathduff+cork&ll=52.033223,-8.607646&spn=0.001726,0.003101&hnear=Rathduff,+County+Cork&gl=ie&t=h&z=18&layer=c&cbll=52.033223,-8.607646&panoid=CSIIPTQ4QJw4fAp2hn8ezw&cbp=12,6.42,,0,3.89

Turning right into that farm is it?

corktina

that's it i'd say, drive on to the end of the 2 lane section and you'll see the turnback facility....laziness which could cost a live!

Zoney

That's a dicey piece of road and I don't think the 2+1 has made it safer, quite the reverse, there's a lot of nonsense goes on with those very short overtaking stretches in between so many junctions. I'd almost suggest they remove it all again, except you'd still have a dangerous stretch of road.

thetoffeeman

They'd have laughed at that

corktina

Zoney wrote: »

That's a dicey piece of road and I don't think the 2+1 has made it safer, quite the reverse, there's a lot of nonsense goes on with those very short overtaking stretches in between so many junctions. I'd almost suggest they remove it all again, except you'd still have a dangerous stretch of road.

it has stopped right hand turners getting rear ended, but of course this could have been achieved without a 2+1 simply with white painted reservations at right turns. Dreadful experiment, total failure in my eyes

alias no.9

Report it, it shouldn't be two hard to identify possible offenders with a make and model even if you haven't a reg, turning onto private property and all that. You'll have peace of mind if there's ever a repeat incident with a less fortunate outcome.

Edit: report it via traffic watch 1890 205 805 and force them to document their followup

SleeperService

Im in favour of the 2+1, if the alternative is 3hours stuck in a 5 mile convoy dictated by dawdleballs. Said dawdleballs do seem to be awful intimidated by the single lane sections though, treat them like roadworks or something.

Road is completely unsuited for the volume and type of traffic on it. God help any poor truckers trying to move stuff during normal hours. Or emergency services - saw the whole thing almost come to a halt one day because the dimwit at the top of the convoy thought the siren meant "there's no emergency, I'd like to progress as slowly as possible through this single lane section please"

Buttevant? I'm just embarrassed for the natives. People in war torn areas are having whiparounds for them to repair the utter devastation of buttevants infrastructure.

corktina

2+1 bad, 2+2 good...even in it's simplest form. Buttevant campaigned against a bypass a few years ago.

Patrickheg

corktina wrote: »

2+1 bad, 2+2 good...even in it's simplest form. Buttevant campaigned against a bypass a few years ago.

Obviously a 2&2 is preferred but hard to justify the budget even in the good times.

2&1s work for me and seem to have a positive impact on traffic. A lot less stressful for a truckdriver too. Don't forget they can only do 80 so they don't have to worry about pulling into hard shoulders to let people by as it's very dangerous

Very popular in Europe too

Riva10

Patrickheg wrote: »

Obviously a 2&2 is preferred but hard to justify the budget even in the good times.

2&1s work for me and seem to have a positive impact on traffic. A lot less stressful for a truckdriver too. Don't forget they can only do 80 so they don't have to worry about pulling into hard shoulders to let people by as it's very dangerous

Very popular in Europe too

2+2 Brilliant and safe for all users
2+1 OK but not very safe if you happen to be a motorcyclist who has a puncture and drifts into the wire.

Victor

Patrickheg wrote: »

Obviously a 2&2 is preferred but hard to justify the budget even in the good times.

They mean like this: https://maps.google.ie/maps?q=Dromad&hl=en&ll=53.854552,-7.915649&spn=0.019997,0.061111&sll=53.356699,-6.251907&sspn=0.161875,0.488892&oq=dromad&hnear=Drumod,+County+Leitrim&t=m&z=14&layer=c&cbll=53.858736,-7.906166&panoid=jpLW6aScOuSZGGnomLyKPQ&cbp=12,196.33,,1,4.4

It isn't a whole lot wider than 2 lanes + 2 hard shoulders, so the main costs are the median barrier and junction treatments.

galwaytt

Riva10 wrote: »

2+2 Brilliant and safe for all users
2+1 OK but not very safe if you happen to be a motorcyclist who has a puncture and drifts into the wire.

Indeed- they don't call them cheese wires for nothing. .. They're now banned in some countries for that reason.....

And the vertical posts make a nice job of your leg as well. ...

corktina

for the cost of the 2+1 they could have almost had the 2+2, there is enough land I reckon. As for wire barriers, they are deformable which concrete barriers aren't and Ive yet to see any evidence of being more dangerous to bikers, it's mainly a conceived thing I believe. In any case, there are many miles of 2+1 and 2+2 with no barrier at all...there is even some on that very road...Mallow to Cork

Riva10

corktina wrote: »

for the cost of the 2+1 they could have almost had the 2+2, there is enough land I reckon. As for wire barriers, they are deformable which concrete barriers aren't and Ive yet to see any evidence of being more dangerous to bikers, it's mainly a conceived thing I believe. In any case, there are many miles of 2+1 and 2+2 with no barrier at all...there is even some on that very road...Mallow to Cork

You are obviously not a biker . Just Nice and safe in your metal cage. Ever wonder why they are banned in some countries. Here in our banana republic, we will have to have a number of deaths caused by them to bikers before any moves are made to remove them from our roads.

corktina

Riva10 wrote: »

You are obviously not a biker . Just Nice and safe in your metal cage. Ever wonder why they are banned in some countries. Here in our banana republic, we will have to have a number of deaths caused by them to bikers before any moves are made to remove them from our roads.

No I'm not a biker and I have never heard of an accident involving a biker that has been made worse by these barriers. After all if you hit a concrete barrier with the same force that could cause "cheesewire" injuries, you'd be just as seriously injured I would think. There are three wires and the posts are designed to deform. If you hit one wire, it may be different but I think hitting three simultaneously will cause the barrier to fold up.
Enlighten me with some facts if I am wrong.
(They are much more expensive that the concrete moulding type I'd imagine so I would support them not being used on those grounds)

TBi

I never understood why they can't do a 2+1 without the chicken wire running down the middle. As a biker myself i hate that portion of the road. You might survive a slide across the road but you'd be sliced to pieces by that bloody wire!

Sheldons Brain

I never understood why they can't do a 2+1 without the chicken wire running down the middle. As a biker myself i hate that portion of the road. You might survive a slide across the road but you'd be sliced to pieces by that bloody wire!

Any head on crash is at twice the velocity and so this is why there are barriers.
The 2+1 model was introduced in Sweden, a country with an excellent road safety record, to reduce fatalities.

corktina

but on that same road there are 2+1 sections with no barriers

Sheldons Brain

corktina wrote: »

but on that same road there are 2+1 sections with no barriers

Road design progresses.

I agree that 2+2 is better, but it might not stop some lube trying to turn through a gap in the fence.

TBi

Sheldons Brain wrote: »

Any head on crash is at twice the velocity and so this is why there are barriers.
The 2+1 model was introduced in Sweden, a country with an excellent road safety record, to reduce fatalities.

That can happen on any road. No difference with the 2+1 plus there are, as others pointed out, overtaking sections on the road which don't have the chicken wire.

Also you won't find that chicken wire used in Sweden (on a 2+1).

Apparently you can. Bloody hell. Whoever designed this is definitely not a biker and possibly hates bikers.

Sheldons Brain

TBi wrote: »

Also you won't find that chicken wire used in Sweden (on a 2+1).

Really?

TBi

Sheldons Brain wrote: »

Really?

I thought only the Irish were that stupid. Sorry. My mistake.

micraX

I'm sure he's been turning in that gate lone before any 2+1+2+cheesewire was there now to be fair.

corktina

micraX wrote: »

I'm sure he's been turning in that gate lone before any 2+1+2+cheesewire was there now to be fair.

To be fair? Would it be fair on some poor soul killed by this irresponsibility?



no, he couldn't access there before the bollards were removed...see the pictures

Truckermal

I travel that road daily in a truck and the amount of clowns that pass you on the 2 lane bit and then jump on the brakes slowing me down, it's bloody annoying.

@Corktina that guy in the jeep actually drove straight out of that very farm yard a few month's ago and trundled up the road happy out at 50KPH.

micraX

corktina wrote: »

To be fair? Would it be fair on some poor soul killed by this irresponsibility?



no, he couldn't access there before the bollards were removed...see the pictures

I ment before the bollards were there too.....

farna_boy

I drive that road every weekend at the very least and to say it is infuriating is putting it mildly. For a start, I still find it unbelievable that there is a road between two cities in Ireland that isn't, at the very least dual carriage way, never mind glorified country roads for much of it.

The 2+1 is another disaster. On the "1" stretches you have people barely doing 50 kph but then when they reach the two are suddenly more than happy to speed up to 110 kph before slowing down again.

Outside of that you have people starting to overtake with 200m to go, it's just asking for trouble. As for Buttevant, I don't think I have ever seen a worse road ever as I have going through that village. I know country roads with grass in the middle that are smoother some of the coastal roads after the storm are still better than it.

Out of all the roads that need to be upgraded in the country, I still maintain both the Cork to Limerick road and Gort to Galway roads should be the main priorities.

AugustusMinimus

Cork to Limerick is without doubt the most infuriating, stress inducing drive in Ireland.

Its absolutely beyond believe that, that Clown Varadkar has shelved the M20. It is badly needed. I won't name the projects but it is needed a hell of a lot more than a number of other ongoing projects and ones which have been given the go ahead.

Absolutely crazy that the 2nd and 3rd cities in Ireland aren't linked by motorway.

TBi

farna_boy wrote: »

The 2+1 is another disaster. On the "1" stretches you have people barely doing 50 kph but then when they reach the two are suddenly more than happy to speed up to 110 kph before slowing down again.

What's even more annoying to me is EVERYONE moves into the overtaking lane to overtake, but the slow coach has sped up as you said, and no one actually overtakes anyone! You get back to the "1" stretch with the slowcoach still at the front and slowed back down to 50! ARGH!

AugustusMinimus wrote: »

Cork to Limerick is without doubt the most infuriating, stress inducing drive in Ireland.

I drive it every day. I've given up on overtaking or going fast. I try my best not to get stressed. Just put on cruise control and hope the tractor drivers are still in bed. I get more stressed on the Cork-Mallow part these days for the reason farna_boy mentioned.