Irish traffic problems...the solution

corktina

Just back from Bangalore...they have something like ten times the traffic flow we have in the same road space...it works! There is no such thing as "right of way" or queueing, you just go for it, first one into a gap wins. There was loads of hornblowing to warn others of approach but no angry hooting, no road rage and no accidents. It looked chaos, but it really worked.

At one point I watched the traffic on a four lane (2 each way) road. There were three buses alongside each other, two lanes of cars outside them plus another two lanes of motorbikes and auto-rickshaws...leaving just enough room for the opposing traffic to squeeze through. If your lane is full, you just start another one! You have to be able to drive, the average Irish driver's observation skills just wouldn't cut it! (I had a driver btw...) A dented car was very rare, most of them were pristine.
Funnily enough they did stop for red lights (usually) mostly because there was a traffic cop on every major junction in a little box (working the lights as far as I could see). Traffic entering a road simply pulled out into the traffic stream and room was made for them

We should do it in our cities!

(Crossing the road was interesting to say the least, but the knack was to walk confidently and they go round you!)

keith16

corktina wrote: »

There is no such thing as "right of way" or queueing, you just go for it, first one into a gap wins.

We should do it in our cities!

I think we already do this.

corktina

nooo we don't we all just sit in queues like lemons instead of making progress

colm_mcm

Their road fatality rate is 5 times higher than us too

obezyana

No way would it work here, some folks in this country can't even drive properly on a motorway imagine sticking them in the middle of a free for all traffic jam.

corktina

colm_mcm wrote: »

Their road fatality rate is 5 times higher than us too

their population is well over 200 times ours and their proportion of motorbikes is way higher so the comparison is meaningless.

corktina

obezyana wrote: »

No way would it work here, some folks in this country can't even drive properly on a motorway imagine sticking them in the middle of a free for all traffic jam.

well that is my point..."properly" here doesn't work....chaotically there does seem to work. DO we concentrate too much on "proper" driving and not enough on getting the traffic moving?

glued

corktina wrote: »

their population is well over 200 times ours and their proportion of motorbikes is way higher so the comparison is meaningless.

Hence the word 'rate' was used. For every 100,000 people in Ireland there are 4.1 road deaths. For every 100,000 people in India there are 19.9 road deaths

wexie

colm_mcm wrote: »

Their road fatality rate is 5 times higher than us too

corktina wrote: »

their population is well over 200 times ours and their proportion of motorbikes is way higher so the comparison is meaningless.

Which would actually indicate their road fatality rate is significantly lower than ours......*

ah, I see Glued clarified, nevermind so

*unless of course you're talking about a rate expressed in deaths per amount of drivers percentage wise in which case it's a fair comparison. But not if you're talking amounts of deaths on the road.

String

Reminds me of this in Ethiopia:

wexie

corktina wrote: »

well that is my point..."properly" here doesn't work....chaotically there does seem to work. DO we concentrate too much on "proper" driving and not enough on getting the traffic moving?

Would sure as hell make a morning commute on the M50 more interesting, no more getting into work still half sleepy cause the adrenaline would have you wide awake and buzzing.

So could be good for the economy

.....would need to start keeping clean pants in the car though

obezyana

corktina wrote: »

well that is my point..."properly" here doesn't work....chaotically there does seem to work. DO we concentrate too much on "proper" driving and not enough on getting the traffic moving?

Traffic here isn't that bad we don't have cities clogged enough to have major traffic jams. The longest iv been stuck in traffic was for about 20mins that was in Dublin so would I see it as a problem well not really but if we had the situation you suggest I reckon insurance claims and accidents would go through the roof.

It may seem to work in those countries but I'd reckon the amount of unreported accidents is very substantial.

Renegade Mechanic

I love that video!! You can see groups of cars together moving as a unit like a "safety in numbers" kind of job:D

Renegade Mechanic

Also not a snowballs hope in hell would that system work here. We're far far far to ignorant and belligerent. That system works because other drivers are looking out for you and in turn you watch out for others like a reverse "right of way". Very hard to explain and I doubt I can but I watched someone explain it perfectly one night on Top Gear (of all things..)

HurtLocker

A real solution would be make mopeds and motorbikes affordable. I'm "stuck" using a car with a provisional for mopeds and motorbikes going unused. The cost of getting on the road is ridiculous with lessons. I'm going to Spain soon and can rent a moped without any training. I've passed the theory here and still can't get on the road.