Wrong way on motorway

Diemos

On Sunday morning, I met a car coming the wrong way up the slip road as I tried to join the M50.
There was not very much room, as it's a single lane, so I pulled into the hard shoulder, stopped and put my hazards on.
The driver stared me out of it, like I was in the wrong, I just pointed in the direction he should be going, the driver just swatted his hand in my direction like I was an annoying fly.
Once past me he accelerated again towards the roundabout.

I drive about 12,000km per year which is pretty average, I think and this is the third time I've met cars travelling on the wrong direction on a motorway in the past three years, once on the M1 and once on the N2 Ashbourne bypass.
Just how common is this?

I honestly think if you drive on the wrong way, or reverse on a motorway you should loose your license instantly. You are either too stupid to understand basic rules or your decision making makes you a danger to other road users. Either way you should be off the road in my opinion.

What are your opinions on this?

Supergurrier

Quick way to die alright

Sad thing he was probably trying to avoid a toll or something else stupid.

Diemos

My worry is the innocent poor fookers they crash into.

djimi

Did you pass on their details to the local Gardai? This is one of the most dangerous things that you can do in a car.

wotzgoingon

My father once nearly crashed into a driver on the wrong side of the road. It was early in the morning so wasn't too many on the road. He stopped yer man and said do you realize your on the wrong side of the road. He was American or some other foreign country. He said he forgot and he was so used to driving on that side of the road.

Another time I was in court and one of the cases before me was a foreign driver who drove on the wrong side and crashed into someone.

Another time this car came flying up a one way street towards me. Usually there is a lot of cars parked at the side of the street, but not today so I swerved to advoid them and the didn't even swerve or nothing as if I was in the wrong. I should have really crashed into them as how could I have been in the wrong as it was a one way system.

Diemos

Unfortunately I did not, I had no way of contacting them until half an hour later.

Diemos

wotzgoingon wrote: »

I should have really crashed into them as how could I have been in the wrong as it was a one way system.

Nah, you did the correct thing, just because you are in the right doesn't mean you can't get seriously injured.

ProudDUB

It is a terrible shame that motorway on and off ramps don't have big ass signs on them saying WRONG WAY, that you can only actually see, if you happen to be going the wrong way. It may seem blindingly obvious, but if you are tourist, or a recently qualified driver who is confused about motorways, or elderly, or just knackered tired after a long journey, it could be a relatively easy mistake to make. The signs could make people cop on to what they are doing.

wotzgoingon

ProudDUB wrote: »

It is a terrible shame that motorway on and off ramps don't have big ass signs on them saying WRONG WAY, that you can only actually see, if you happen to be going the wrong way. It may seem blindingly obvious, but if you are tourist, or a recently qualified driver who is confused about motorways, or elderly, or just knackered tired after a long journey, it could be a relatively easy mistake to make. The signs could make people cop on to what they are doing.

I'm pretty sure they do have signs to say wrong way on motorways.

ProudDUB

wotzgoingon wrote: »

I'm pretty sure they do have signs to say wrong way on motorways.

Do they actually say Wrong Way, or are they those new circle symbol signs with the white bar in the middle, that replaced the old arrow sign with the line through it, that told people they were entering a one way street.

I've never driven the wrong way down a motor way, so I don't know.

challengemaster

ProudDUB wrote: »

Do they actually say Wrong Way, or are they those new circle symbol signs with the white bar in the middle, that replaced the old arrow sign with the line through it, that told people they were entering a one way street.

I've never driven the wrong way down a motor way, so I don't know.

https://www.google.com/maps/@53.392572,-7.78188,3a,75y,76.08h,83.24t/data=!3m4!1e1!3m2!1sHJaIiDlbe0Lhls6lGMIN_g!2e0

Sheldons Brain

ProudDUB wrote: »

Do they actually say Wrong Way, or are they those new circle symbol signs with the white bar in the middle, that replaced the old arrow sign with the line through it, that told people they were entering a one way street.

I've never driven the wrong way down a motor way, so I don't know.

Do you mean like this https://www.google.ie/maps/@54.018459,-6.441931,3a,37.5y,90t/data=!3m4!1e1!3m2!1snD_n-cE8rbls3MhGxHAGGQ!2e0

SpaceTime

Good old small text bilingual emergency warning signs.

If you were watching the Irish sign only, you could easily breeze past it.

oak5548

I came across this a few years ago.
Old lady entered the m9 on the wrong side, very busy at the time, drove at about 80km/h the whole way until the next exit, which was about a 10 minute drive.

So many cars were beeping and having to pull in, it was crazy. I'm surprised she didnt kill someone.

Thankfully, many people had called the Gardai, and by the time she got to the next exit the gardai had the motorway blocked off and nicely diverted her off.

Hope she got a right bollocking.


You know what I find crazy though? Is the fact that the "WRONG WAY TURN BACK" signs are always facing towards the motorway on an offramp. So you wouldnt see them until you've already been driving on the motorway for a while.

It would make so much more sense to put them facing the other way so people wouldnt actually enter the motorway in the first place on the wrong side. Typical Irish though, isnt it?

MadYaker

I was driving back from shannon airport once and I met a car on the wrong side of a dual carriageway. It looked like a rental, doing about 30kph in the layby with the hazards on :pac:

slimjimmc

oak5548 wrote: »

I came across this a few years ago.
Old lady entered the m9 on the wrong side, very busy at the time, drove at about 80km/h the whole way until the next exit, which was about a 10 minute drive.

So many cars were beeping and having to pull in, it was crazy. I'm surprised she didnt kill someone.

Thankfully, many people had called the Gardai, and by the time she got to the next exit the gardai had the motorway blocked off and nicely diverted her off.

Hope she got a right bollocking.


You know what I find crazy though? Is the fact that the "WRONG WAY TURN BACK" signs are always facing towards the motorway on an offramp. So you wouldnt see them until you've already been driving on the motorway for a while.

It would make so much more sense to put them facing the other way so people wouldnt actually enter the motorway in the first place on the wrong side. Typical Irish though, isnt it?

You what ??? :eek: I hope that was a (bad) attempt at humour.
Those yellow "WRONG WAY TURN BACK" signs are always facing away from the motorway i.e if you're using an offramp as an onramp. They're always facing before you attempt to enter the motorway on the wrong side! Check the streetview maps linked above.

georgefalls

I was listening to KCLR the other day, when they announced a driver going the wrong way on the M9.
I knew the missus would be on that stretch, so I rang her mobile to tell her.
She said "Everyone is driving the wrong way..!"

Cabaal

oak5548 wrote: »

I came across this a few years ago.
Old lady entered the m9 on the wrong side, very busy at the time, drove at about 80km/h the whole way until the next exit, which was about a 10 minute drive.

So many cars were beeping and having to pull in, it was crazy. I'm surprised she didnt kill someone.

Thankfully, many people had called the Gardai, and by the time she got to the next exit the gardai had the motorway blocked off and nicely diverted her off.

Hope she got a right bollocking.

Just a bollocking?

I hope she was charged with dangerous driving and prosecuted to the fgull extend of the law,

Even if we accept that people make mistake, all she has to do is pull into the hard shoulder and either call a tow truck or wait till the motorway is less busy and turn the car around (perhaps reversing into the grass etc).

But driving to the next exit deserves to get her banned for driving, no if's or but's.

She's a danger to herself and others, as is anyone else who does something so bloody stupid.

No Pants

Cabaal wrote: »

Just a bollocking?

I hope she was charged with dangerous driving and prosecuted to the fgull extend of the law

I agree, but it's Ireland and she's a woman; it is highly unlikely.

Marty McFly

Sadly this is something you see far to often the one I see the most is someone reversing up the hard should because they missed there exit.

Some lunatics out there.

Cantona's Collars

Not sure if it still happens but a while back,trucks that missed the Liffey Valley exit on the M50 Northbound had a habit of reversing back to it.It took a while for people to cop on as to why a road sign just past the bottom of the ramp was bent back towards the flow of traffic until one lorry driver got caught in the act.Somebody reversing had clipped the sign with his trailer.

Alias G

SpaceTime wrote: »

Good old small text bilingual emergency warning signs.

If you were watching the Irish sign only, you could easily breeze past it.

You would want to have the reactions of a Sloth not to realise that the English version is positioned on the other side of the road.

Alias G

SpaceTime wrote: »

Good old small text bilingual emergency warning signs.

If you were watching the Irish sign only, you could easily breeze past it.

You would want to have the reactions of a Sloth not to realise that the English version is positioned on the other side of the road.

Markcheese

I really can't believe that someone would drive the wrong way up a motorway (or ramp) just to save a couole of euro, (I know for trucks it's more but to risk your licence for a few quid ?)
Mind boggles....

dr.fuzzenstein

djimi wrote: »

Did you pass on their details to the local Gardai? This is one of the most dangerous things that you can do in a car.

Actually, not according to the morons in the RSA.
Going the wrong way on a motorway warrants two points, so it's grand, ah sure it's not so bad.
No NCT is the worst offence you could possibly commit, you would have to be drunk, speeding and going the wrong way on a motorway and then you wouldn't even get all the points.
The way penalty points are handled is monumentally stupid and it's no wonder people don't care and take the piss.
And we all know that AGS don't care beyond holding a hairdrier out the window every now and then.

fricatus

oak5548 wrote: »

You know what I find crazy though? Is the fact that the "WRONG WAY TURN BACK" signs are always facing towards the motorway on an offramp. So you wouldnt see them until you've already been driving on the motorway for a while.

It would make so much more sense to put them facing the other way so people wouldnt actually enter the motorway in the first place on the wrong side. Typical Irish though, isnt it?

+500

Never made any sense to me! If you've got that far, you might as well keep going and get back onto the little two-way roads that you're used to!

It's the other ramp they should be on. If you drive the wrong way down it (using the off-ramp as an on-ramp), it's then you should see the signs! :rolleyes:

kefir32

Markcheese wrote: »

I really can't believe that someone would drive the wrong way up a motorway (or ramp) just to save a couole of euro, (I know for trucks it's more but to risk your licence for a few quid ?)
Mind boggles....

Id be thinking driving up the wrong side of motorway and lose life/limb moreso than a few quid

Dacelonid

fricatus wrote: »

+500

Never made any sense to me! If you've got that far, you might as well keep going and get back onto the little two-way roads that you're used to!

It's the other ramp they should be on. If you drive the wrong way down it (using the off-ramp as an on-ramp), it's then you should see the signs! :rolleyes:

It is on the off-ramp that the signs are on
https://www.google.ie/maps/@54.018459,-6.441931,3a,37.5y,90t/data=!3m4!1e1!3m2!1snD_n-cE8rbls3MhGxHAGGQ!2e0

djimi

fricatus wrote: »

+500

Never made any sense to me! If you've got that far, you might as well keep going and get back onto the little two-way roads that you're used to!

It's the other ramp they should be on. If you drive the wrong way down it (using the off-ramp as an on-ramp), it's then you should see the signs! :rolleyes:

Not really. If someone is going the wrong way down a motorway then the best thing for them to do is pull over and stop. If Im going down a slip road I really dont want to meet some prat coming the other way (which has happened to me alarmingly more than I would have thought it would...).

jimgoose

Somewhat tangential but related, I was heading for Shannon airport bright-and-early yesterday morning, on the M7 heading for the Limerick tunnel. I'm galloping along the overtaking lane at about 120km/h past a loose line of traffic to my left going slightly slower, and I see some sort of small white car ahead of me with L-plates on it. I notice a young enough girl in it, on her own. And then I notice she's slowing down. She's slowing down good-oh. She's furken stopping! On the overtaking lane. Of a motorway! So I hit my own anchors - I can't just duck into the lane to the left, because there's cars everywhere in it - and I match my deceleration to hers as close as possible so the chap behind me, who fair play to him appears to know the score, has a chance of not rear-ending me. Obviously she missed an exit and panicked, but this is exactly why they're not supposed to be a) unaccompanied and b) on motorways in the first place! Could have been very nasty. :mad:

SpaceTime

Alias G wrote: »

You would want to have the reactions of a Sloth not to realise that the English version is positioned on the other side of the road.

Many drivers do have the reactions of a sloth.

Warning signs shouldn't ever be verbose or confusing!!!

Symbols are far better like painting arrows on the road facing towards you for example and large no entry and stop signs.

There are too many different versions of these signs in Ireland. They should be BIG, standardised and impossible to miss.

creedp

jimgoose wrote: »

Obviously she missed an exit and panicked, but this is exactly why they're not supposed to be a) unaccompanied and b) on motorways in the first place! Could have been very nasty. :mad:

Do you know this for a fact or are you surmising? If you know her just tell her its much safer to reverse back up the hard shoulder when you miss at exit on the motorway!

jimgoose

creedp wrote: »

Do you know this for a fact or are you surmising? If you know her just tell her its much safer to reverse back up the hard shoulder when you miss at exit on the motorway!

What the deuce are you talking about??

Blazer

jimgoose wrote: »

Somewhat tangential but related, I was heading for Shannon airport bright-and-early yesterday morning, on the M7 heading for the Limerick tunnel. I'm galloping along the overtaking lane at about 120km/h past a loose line of traffic to my left going slightly slower, and I see some sort of small white car ahead of me with L-plates on it. I notice a young enough girl in it, on her own. And then I notice she's slowing down. She's slowing down good-oh. She's furken stopping! On the overtaking lane. Of a motorway! So I hit my own anchors - I can't just duck into the lane to the left, because there's cars everywhere in it - and I match my deceleration to hers as close as possible so the chap behind me, who fair play to him appears to know the score, has a chance of not rear-ending me. Obviously she missed an exit and panicked, but this is exactly why they're not supposed to be a) unaccompanied and b) on motorways in the first place! Could have been very nasty. :mad:

I hope you blared the shít out of her...sometimes it's the only way for them.
I had a similar incident where some 70 year couple was driving their SUV on a motorway on the left lane and I was in the right hand side overtaking. Of course the driver never bothered to look and started to pull out. I had already anticipated but still blared my horn for about 5 seconds so the dumbfrak would learn to look.
Wive started to give out to me but I pointed out that if that car had sideswiped our car we would have been in a major car pileup and did she really want our 1 year son to be a crash?
After that she learned to trust my instinct and that I only use the horn only in dangerous situations.

No Pants

Blazer wrote: »

I hope you blared the shít out of her...sometimes it's the only way for them.
I had a similar incident where some 70 year couple was driving their SUV on a motorway on the left lane and I was in the right hand side overtaking. Of course the driver never bothered to look and started to pull out. I had already anticipated but still blared my horn for about 5 seconds so the dumbfrak would learn to look.
Wive started to give out to me but I pointed out that if that car had sideswiped our car we would have been in a major car pileup and did she really want our 1 year son to be a crash?
After that she learned to trust my instinct and that I only use the horn only in dangerous situations.

Those are completely different situations. If you need to get someone's attention, then the horn and/or the flash of the lights is appropriate. However, if there's a learner in the incorrect lane of the motorway and obviously confused or panicked, then there's nothing to be gained from panicking them further. Far better to slow down, warn others and simply deal with it.

dr.fuzzenstein

Blazer wrote: »

I hope you blared the shít out of her...sometimes it's the only way for them.
I had a similar incident where some 70 year couple was driving their SUV on a motorway on the left lane and I was in the right hand side overtaking. Of course the driver never bothered to look and started to pull out. I had already anticipated but still blared my horn for about 5 seconds so the dumbfrak would learn to look.
Wive started to give out to me but I pointed out that if that car had sideswiped our car we would have been in a major car pileup and did she really want our 1 year son to be a crash?
After that she learned to trust my instinct and that I only use the horn only in dangerous situations.

One of the best ones to me was a white car going Limerick to Shannon in the outside lane at 40 km/h (!) in the dark and during rush hour.
The tailback and chaos was MASSIVE, the car was in the outside lane but was indicating left, so people would slow down to allow him/her to pull over, which they never did!
So they formed a rolling roadblock with a huge tailback and pretty much everyone was forced to pass them out on the inside.
I did give them a courtesy beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeppppppppp!!!!!!!!, purely to alert them to my presence as I safely and legally passed them on the left, because my lane happened to be driving faster than theirs.
I think I saw some doddery old fool hunched over the wheel, holding it with a white-knuckled death-grip and staring straight ahead, almost paralysed with fear and panic.
I see many not so great drivers every day, but that person is on my list of "there is no way on earth they should even be allowed to control a shopping kart, nevermind 2 tons of metal".
But of course they where driving slow, so they fit the RSA definition of a "safe" driver.
I only hope the experience was so traumatic for him ,he never drove again.

Blazer

No Pants wrote: »

Those are completely different situations. If you need to get someone's attention, then the horn and/or the flash of the lights is appropriate. However, if there's a learner in the incorrect lane of the motorway and obviously confused or panicked, then there's nothing to be gained from panicking them further. Far better to slow down, warn others and simply deal with it.

Normally I'd agree but when I was learning to drive I completely misjudged a car behind me who was at least 800 yards back..however I was completely unaware of what speed he was doing and about 5-10 seconds after I looked in my rearview mirror I decided to overtake the car ahead of me without rechecking my rearview mirror.
3 secs later I heard someone blaring the hell out of me and looked back to see that same car about 5 yards from me and rapidly slowing down.
At no point did I think he was being ignorant or in the wrong. I accepted I had made a huge mistake and by blowing me out of it he taught me a valuable lesson...always be more aware of my surroundings.
It made me a better and more careful driver and sometimes people need to be taught this than to say nothing to them and have them learn nothing from their mistakes.

ironclaw

creedp wrote: »

tell her its much safer to reverse back up the hard shoulder when you miss at exit on the motorway!

Are you seriously saying if you miss an exit, you should pull in, reverse back and then take the exit? :eek:

Taylor365

ironclaw wrote: »

Are you seriously saying if you miss an exit, you should pull in, reverse back and then take the exit? :eek:

He is hungry, feed him moar...



In other news,

I've seen 2 motorists driving up the wrong side of the M1 facing away from town when it splits before the port tunnel at coolock.

Literally like watch Car crash TV...you look in disbelief. :eek:

wmpdd3

At least twice a week, I see people reversing back up this slip road to avoid €2 toll.

https://www.google.com/maps/@52.282114,-7.144891,3a,75y,270h,90t/data=!3m4!1e1!3m2!1sacaswA-0drOiQU77LRKmvw!2e0

jimgoose

No Pants wrote: »

...If you need to get someone's attention, then the horn and/or the flash of the lights is appropriate...

I tend to come down on this side of it. A good foghorning is useful for someone who is obviously asleep at the wheel, not so good for a confused and frightened newbie who has just come this close to getting her fool self killed! :pac:

OldNotWIse

If people want to drive stupidly then I have little sympathy for what hapens to them.

The problem is, it's usually the poor fuucker coming towrds them so yes, I think driving the wrong way on a motorway should result in instant disqualification.

Another danger creeping in of late is people breaking red lights. You know how there was a time when one car might go through on the red, now its 3 or 4, and to make it worse, because they know they are going through on the red, they do it at breakneck speed! Many a time I've been waiting to cross and had to wait a few seconds after the green man comes up to let these fuuckers fly by. At least I can see them coming and make that decision, what about a blind person assuming they can go when the pedestrian sound comes on?

Alias G

SpaceTime wrote: »

Many drivers do have the reactions of a sloth.

Warning signs shouldn't ever be verbose or confusing!!!

Symbols are far better like painting arrows on the road facing towards you for example and large no entry and stop signs.

There are too many different versions of these signs in Ireland. They should be BIG, standardised and impossible to miss.

Nobody has the reactions of a sloth. If a driver misses those signs, they simply weren't paying attention or were perhaps driving excessively fast. While I agree with your points on standardisation, there is nothing confusing or verbose about those road signs. They are as plain as day.

wotzgoingon

Cabaal wrote: »

Just a bollocking?

I hope she was charged with dangerous driving and prosecuted to the fgull extend of the law,

Even if we accept that people make mistake, all she has to do is pull into the hard shoulder and either call a tow truck or wait till the motorway is less busy and turn the car around (perhaps reversing into the grass etc).

But driving to the next exit deserves to get her banned for driving, no if's or but's.

She's a danger to herself and others, as is anyone else who does something so bloody stupid.

On the subject of old woman driving. At my local tesco a old woman drove through the barriers(what ever car she was driving was slim enough to fit inbetween them) and drove straight through the tesco front doors. Luckly nobody was at the door at the time. Her excuse was she pressed the accelorator instead of brakes. If that was me I would be banned for dangerous driving and told to pay for the front door.

oak5548

slimjimmc wrote: »

You what ??? :eek: I hope that was a (bad) attempt at humour.
Those yellow "WRONG WAY TURN BACK" signs are always facing away from the motorway i.e if you're using an offramp as an onramp. They're always facing before you attempt to enter the motorway on the wrong side! Check the streetview maps linked above.

Dacelonid wrote: »

It is on the off-ramp that the signs are on
https://www.google.ie/maps/@54.018459,-6.441931,3a,37.5y,90t/data=!3m4!1e1!3m2!1snD_n-cE8rbls3MhGxHAGGQ!2e0

Well I regularly see them on the other side all over the place. Its only recently that they started putting them on the proper side. It depends where you are, which exit, and which motorway.

It seems to be hit and miss though, some have them, some have none at all.

Some absolute genius came up with putting them on this side, no doubt. :rolleyes:

https://www.google.ie/maps/@52.371166,-7.165928,3a,75y,19.19h,76.43t/data=!3m4!1e1!3m2!1s9_Kb315WpIdNNclvsVrHdA!2e0

legomanx51v

oak5548 wrote: »

Some absolute genius came up with putting them on this side, no doubt. :rolleyes:

https://www.google.ie/maps/@52.371166,-7.165928,3a,75y,19.19h,76.43t/data=!3m4!1e1!3m2!1s9_Kb315WpIdNNclvsVrHdA!2e0

That sign might be useful IF:
-You were driving on the correct side of the motorway (the empty side in the picture)
-missed your exit
-tempted to stop at the pictured on ramp for joining traffic and do a u-turn back off the motorway.
Theres no way you could do it by mistake though! You'd have to do a friggin U-turn. (unless you'd made it from from one exit to the previous going the wrong way for ages)

SpaceTime

Alias G wrote: »

Nobody has the reactions of a sloth. If a driver misses those signs, they simply weren't paying attention or were perhaps driving excessively fast. While I agree with your points on standardisation, there is nothing confusing or verbose about those road signs. They are as plain as day.

Something like that is understandable in ANY language.

If I put up a sign in say Polish explaining that this was the wrong way and you should turn back, you might not have a clue what I was talking about.



The people likely to make these kinds of mistakes include people who may not read English very quickly / easily.

If it's not your native language or you're unfamiliar with it, it can be a little tricky and may not register as quickly.

If you're dyslexic or have some kind of reading difficulties or if you're just in a bit of a daze.

Alias G

SpaceTime wrote: »

Something like that is understandable in ANY language.

If I put up a sign in say Polish explaining that this was the wrong way and you should turn back, you might not have a clue what I was talking about.



The people likely to make these kinds of mistakes include people who may not read English very quickly / easily.

If it's not your native language or you're unfamiliar with it, it can be a little tricky and may not register as quickly.

If you're dyslexic or have some kind of reading difficulties or if you're just in a bit of a daze.

Your points are all well and good and I have nothing against standardised and concise signage but the reality is; we're not in Poland, and this is a majority English speaking country. There is no excuse for finding yourself in a bit of a daze whilst driving. Anyone who drives past signage such as was posted earlier for whatever reason simply doesn't belong on the road.

SpaceTime

Alias G wrote: »

Your points are all well and good and I have nothing against standardised and concise signage but the reality is; we're not in Poland, and this is a majority English speaking country. There is no excuse for finding yourself in a bit of a daze whilst driving. Anyone who drives past signage such as was posted earlier for whatever reason simply doesn't belong on the road.

Actually, we're in the EU and our signage is abysmally bad in terms of its use of non-standard symbols and verbose signage.

I have no idea why Ireland is way off its own when it comes to signage.

514,068 people speak a language other than English or Irish at home and over 6 million tourists visited Ireland in 2013, a large % of whom may not speak good English at all.

Ireland's a major driving holiday destination and we really should be using very symbol-heavy, easy to understand signs that are not relying on people reading things in English (or Irish.. even more likely to be misunderstood)

If you want to have English / Irish AS WELL as the sign, fine. But, we should not have warning signs of any type that are written only.

No entry signage on motorways should be 100% standardised and totally comprehensible whether you speak English, Irish or Japanese.

European signage in general has moved towards this kind of concept where you can understand the symbols without necessarily understanding the local language. That's part of the thrust of European freedom of movement and we have just totally ignored it.

We still have signs that mean the exact opposite to the European standards i.e. symbols in red circles meaning that something's advised / should be done. Our parking sign for example means No Parking to most people in Europe.

Alias G

SpaceTime wrote: »

Actually, we're in the EU and our signage is abysmally bad in terms of its use of non-standard symbols and verbose signage.

I have no idea why Ireland is way off its own when it comes to signage.

514,068 people speak a language other than English or Irish at home and over 6 million tourists visited Ireland in 2013, a large % of whom may not speak good English at all.

Ireland's a major driving holiday destination and we really should be using very symbol-heavy, easy to understand signs that are not relying on people reading things in English (or Irish.. even more likely to be misunderstood)

If you want to have English / Irish AS WELL as the sign, fine. But, we should not have warning signs of any type that are written only.

No entry signage on motorways should be 100% standardised and totally comprehensible whether you speak English, Irish or Japanese.

European signage in general has moved towards this kind of concept where you can understand the symbols without necessarily understanding the local language. That's part of the thrust of European freedom of movement and we have just totally ignored it.

We still have signs that mean the exact opposite to the European standards i.e. symbols in red circles meaning that something's advised / should be done. Our parking sign for example means No Parking to most people in Europe.

I haven't argued against a single one of the points you are making regarding standardised road signage so I don't know why you are still harping on about it. However missing a road sign be it in the current format or an improved standardized format due to inattentive driving is inexcusable in either case. Irish roads aren't littered with people who can't decipher the word danger. Tourists or otherwise.

SpaceTime

Alias G wrote: »

I haven't argued against a single one of the points you are making regarding standardised road signage so I don't know why you are still harping on about it. However missing a road sign be it in the current format or an improved standardized format due to inattentive driving is inexcusable in either case. Irish roads aren't littered with people who can't decipher the word danger. Tourists or otherwise.

They clearly are, otherwise these wrong-way incidents wouldn't be happening and some of them seem to happen in repeatedly on specific stretches of road.

What you're arguing is that people can always read text-based signs and that everyone speaks and reads English who is on an Irish road. That's not the case.

1) Language issues.
2) Your brain registers a symbol instantly, where as it has to read and interpret text. If you're expected to see and understand something, it shouldn't be a long phrase in text.

You realise that a significant % of the population don't necessarily interpret text as quickly as you do?

Some people will see letters on a sign and not see words, some people will have to read or re-read them. Some people even misinterpret stuff entirely.

For example, using negations i.e. Do not .. Don't .. or No ... is a BAD idea because you can have a situation where someone only reads the positive command.

There's a lot of psychology to this kind of stuff and I really don't think that the authorities here are paying enough heed to it. This isn't new and we should be looking at best practice elsewhere and not reinventing the wheel.

We already have a situation where we drive on the opposite side of the road to everyone else in Europe and to the US so, at the very least we should be going out of our way to ensure that there's a lot more warning at motorway / DC exits and also other junctions.

I can't see what the big deal would be about painting arrows on the roads for example so that you'll be faced with arrows on the road surface pointing towards you.

Large no entry signs and large stop signs.

A yellow warning with "Wrong Way Turn Back" isn't sufficient and you're just arguing it's not a problem.

Driving up the wrong side of a motorway is pretty stupid, but as a driver on the road I want to make sure that the junction design and warning markings are so damn obvious that you cannot miss them so that I'm not driven into by someone who misses a sign.

I don't think that's unreasonable and I don't appreciate being told I'm 'harping on about it' either!!!

Perhaps I should just not bother contributing to this forum at all in future as I'm clearly unwelcome.