Rubbernecking

Trebor176

Is there anything more infuriating than sitting in traffic due to rubberneckers, who have nothing else better to be doing than staring at an accident or breakdown on the opposite site of the road? Like on the M50 north this evening. Lengthy delays due to these morons rubbernecking at an incident on the southbound side, unaware that they too could cause an accident by not paying attention to what's in front of them. I doubt they care at all about the delays behind them, especially those that actually have places to be.

jellybear

Couldn't agree more! Drove northbound this afternoon about 4:40pm and I can't believe the delays are so bad nearly 2 hours later. Guy in front of me even slowed down, stuck his phone out the window and took photos of the crash. The mind boggles!!

Trebor176

Unbelievable! Any such people resorting to that must lead sad lives. I can imagine their excuse, if they themselves caused an accident as a result of such actions.

L1011

Incidents need to be moved ASAP and surrounded by screens ASAP. There is next to no crash management in this country.

Generally crashed vehicles are left in situ for far too long in this country. I don't know the details of what happened today other than the delays it caused which I was luckily able to escape at the N3, so there may have been a reason it couldn't be moved; but in most cases there isn't.

gandalf

Yep I normally go home from Blanch southbound on the M50 and diverted through the Phoenix Park, the Quays home instead today.

People rubbernecking is a real problem on the M50. Years ago I nearly was involved in an accident between Firhouse and the Ballinteer exit because people were looking at an accident on the Northbound side and ended up cause a crash between four cars on the overtaking lane and the middle lane. I was in the middle lane and was lucky that no one was in the inside lane when it happened ahead of me and I was able to avoid it.

People don't know how to drive on motorways here and because they probably take the same route every day get too complacent on the road and don't pay attention to what they should do which is what is going on ahead of them and beside them.

cerastes

i was wondering what it was all about,no sign of the accident when I was going southbound at about 6.30, but the traffic was crazy on both sides for no apparent reason.
That said they shouldscreen off both sides from each other to limit this,

the gardai dont help things, they rarely seem to be visibly present on the M50, so when its not
an emergency and they do pull someone over, they should leave the blue flashing lights off as I've seen people spot the lights and hammer on the brakes from way back.as much as this isn't the fault of the gardai,they don't seem to be aware of the problem it can create.

jobless

absolute disaster this evening, I came off at lucan south bound and went through , , Tallaght clondalkin and rejoined at Tallaght... there were huge tailbacks north bound from there...

why isnt the median higher to stop rubber necking?

Tenzor07

Yesterday was ridiculous, slow/non-moving traffic to the site of the incident on the Southbound side, then 100kph then the moment northbound traffic got just past the crash...

There definitely needs to be something on the M50 to make Rubbernecking harder, plexiglass barriers in the central median on the M50 would work?

Korat

They use portable screens to prevent rubbernecking in some countries, though you still get people slowing down to look at a screen.

jobless

sugarman wrote: »

Too costly.

A few hedges would sort it out tho.

why cant we do the simple things right....another foot on the wall and you couldnt rubber neck.... i dont see a valid reason for the wall being so low...
One crash brings the whole city to a standstill

StreetLight

There's a fine line between the Irish characteristic of being naturally inquisitive and downright damn nosey.

jobless

StreetLight wrote: »

There's a fine line between the Irish characteristic of being naturally inquisitive and downright damn nosey.

same thing happens in every country in the world though..... we just seem to live with it though

cerastes

Putting barrier screens up has its disadvantages i d say, but I suspect it has failings too.
Say I am going in one direction and decide i can or i need to get off at a certain junction, if i can see traffic is or isn't bad on the other side, I can make a decision based on that.

That said rubber neckers are bad and piss me off to no end, I've had passengers in the car say to me when there was a build up on the other side of the motorway,
"What's going on over there" basically my answer is I don't know and I don't give a **** or it will be going on over here too. Unfortunately people are nosey voyeuristic tools and need to stick their beaks into everything, so barriers probably are better.

Carawaystick

Putting up screens will not stop all the NB traffic rounding the bend at the jail and seeing a forest of flashing blue lights ahead and not knowing what side of the road they're on from jamming on the breaks.

cerastes

Carawaystick wrote: »

Putting up screens will not stop all the NB traffic rounding the bend at the jail and seeing a forest of flashing blue lights ahead and not knowing what side of the road they're on from jamming on the breaks.

That's why that information should be available through RDS, GPS,

tallaghtfornia

I have the pleasure of traveling this road every day and the things you see are unreal. One thing that bothers me is when you come onto the M50 at a junction the cars should move into the middle lane to let you on, this morning like other mornings I had a car race toward me when he seen me come on and started beeping me for coming onto the motorway!!

Also I think a lot of people don't care anymore as there is no Garda presence on the road and people know they can get away with what they want.

ProudDUB

tallaghtfornia wrote: »

I have the pleasure of traveling this road every day and the things you see are unreal. One thing that bothers me is when you come onto the M50 at a junction the cars should move into the middle lane to let you on, this morning like other mornings I had a car race toward me when he seen me come on and started beeping me for coming onto the motorway!!

Of course he came racing towards you. He was already on the flippin motorway. :rolleyes:

As a merging driver entering the motorway, it is up to you to find a safe slot to merge into, at a safe speed. Drivers already on the motorway do not have to yield to you. Traffic would move permanently at 5 miles per hour if they did. The left lane is the correct driving lane on the motorway, even if other cars are entering the motorway. If the other driver had to sound his horn, you were probably the one that was at fault & not him. Basic knowledge of how motorways work is what causes accidents and delays in the first place imo.

cerastes

ProudDUB wrote: »

Of course he came racing towards you. He was already on the flippin motorway. :rolleyes:

As a merging driver entering the motorway, it is up to you to find a safe slot to merge into, at a safe speed. Drivers already on the motorway do not have to yield to you. Traffic would move permanently at 5 miles per hour if they did. The left lane is the correct driving lane on the motorway, even if other cars are entering the motorway. If the other driver had to sound his horn, you were probably the one that was at fault & not him. Basic knowledge of how motorways work is what causes accidents and delays in the first place imo.

That other poster is right though, just becuase it hasnt been accounted for in a rule here doesnt mean it makes sense or is right, if anything the opposite, if a car is ahead of me that is merging, it is much easier for me to know and see and make an allowance for that than it is for them checking their blind spot, idiots that try barge past you as you are merging force you to take avoiding action or slow down which has an effect back to traffic behind where the motorway speed should be maintained, should not be barrelling up the ass of a car you can see wanting to merge.

Very easy and understandable to expect people merging where there is a lane for that, no need to brake, just ease off on the accelerator and let them in, if you arent passed them by the time they will be merging you should just let them in! If you don't want to let people merge then get out of that lane and start moving faster than traffic in lane 1.its highly inconsiderate to not allow people merge where lanes are there for that purpose, so not sure if my sarcasm detector isn't working that out as despite the rolls eyes the rest of your post says otherwise, the rest of your post is what's wrong with a lot of drivers in this country, mainly being the fcuk everyone else except me attitude, I'm right etc etc, do you also drive in lane 3 at the speed limit and refuse to budge to allow people overtake?

ProudDUB

Wow. You took an awful lot from my post & made stuff up that wasn't even there.

If the motorway powers that be decide to bring in a new motorway rule that the left lane is solely for the use of cars entering and leaving the motorway, great. We can all have a discussion about how wrong people are to be in that lane when new arrivals are trying to merge.

But until that happens, the left lane is still the correct lane to be driving in. Merging drivers should be expecting cars to be in it & should merge in at a safe speed and distance. If you are roaring down the slip road at such a high speed that you are forcing the cars that are already on the motorway to slow down excessively to suit you, then you are in the wrong.

Of course having good manners and letting others cars merge in is great. If the other car was driving at an excessive speed that did not allow cars to merge in safely, that is bad driving too. But cars already on the motorway, do still have the right of way over all. If merging drivers show up expecting and demanding that all other cars already on the motorway, should slow down & move over just to accommodate them, then they are in the wrong.

cerastes

ProudDUB wrote: »

Wow. You took an awful lot of from my post & making stuff up that wasn't even there.

If the motorway powers that be decide to bring in a new motorway rule that the left lane is solely for the use of cars entering and leaving the motorway, great. We can all have a discussion about how wrong people are to be in that lane when new arrivals are trying to merge.

But until that happens, the left lane is still the correct lane to be driving in. Merging drivers should be expecting cars to be in it and should merge in at a safe speed and distance. If you are roaring down the slip road at such a high speed that you are forcing the cars that are already on the motorway to slow down excessively to suit you, then you are in the wrong. Of course having good manners and letting others cars merge in is great, but if you show up expecting and demanding that all other cars already on the motorway, should slow down & move over just to accommodate you, then you are in the wrong.

The left lane is the correct lane to drive in, congratulations, but you don't own that lane anymore than I do whether I am in the lane or merging, next to a host of other problems, vehicles maintaining speed on the motorway is appropriate, cars should be getting up to that speed so they can merge and drivers in lane 1 should be watching for merging cars, they aren't forcing you to slow down, you can see them if they are ahead of you easier than they can see you, therefore you should not overtake a merging car and simply give up on the stubborn refusal to allow people to merge.
I never said force anyone to slow down, the other poster stated that cars which refuse to allow them to merge, you effectively replied stating they have less right than those non the motorway and as such they should give way, last time I mlooked there were not yield right of way markings or signs on the slipways onto the motorway.

It is you that is forcing people to slow down if you insist on overtaking a merging car, not only that you believe you are right or have the right to occupy and overtake a merging vehicle.
You think there is no onus or responsibility to act appropriately and stated the burden of responsibility lies with the merging vehicle, whereas I have a more reasonable approach, of the vehicle is ahead of me or I can judge it will be at the time of merging, I allow them merge,what you said in your previous post is that the driver on the motorway has the right of way, leads me to conclude you won't give way regardless, the post prior to this changes and suggests merging drivers are forcing cars on the motorway out of the way, anyone who does that is a poorer driver, the onus is on both people to judge what's the best, driving in a way that prevents merging causes uneccesary braking which sends a wave back down the motorway and up the slip roads, easing off on the speed and letting people merge zipper fashion is a more reasonable approach.

Yet you insist you are right after stating who has the right, which you clearly think is you.
Id put money on it, you're the kind of driver that would refuse to allow people merge but you already admitted it.

Your post is there for anyone to see
"Of course he came racing towards you. He was already on the flipping motorway"
You remember typing that? Right?

ProudDUB

Ok, this is getting silly. Cars already on the motorway are traveling at speeds of 100/120 km, sometimes higher. It is not physically possible for all of them to slow down (over a short distance) to 50, 60, 70 kph - the speed that new cars are entering the motorway at - to allow every single new car to merge in ahead of them.

If they did, there would be about 50 accidents every 5 minutes, on every single stretch of the motorway, as every single car slams on its brakes to allow merging cars to go on ahead of them. The traffic on the motorway also would slow down to a snails pace, to allow all this malarkey to go on.

That defeats the whole purpose of a motorway. It may as well be a a road through a small country town, where everyone stops to allow the aul wans cross the road with their shopping & not a stretch of road designed specifically for people to drive at high speeds, so that they can get from Point A to Point B in a short amount of time.

Of course cars already on the motorway should act with consideration towards all other motorway users. But it is not physically possible for all of them to slow down and move over, every single time that a new car enters the motorway. If a new cars shows up with a sense of entitlement that they should & then drives accordingly, that is bad & incorrect driving.

I am done talking about this now, as you don't seem to able to discuss the matter without resorting to personal insults.

cerastes

ProudDUB wrote: »

Ok, this is getting silly. Cars already on the motorway are traveling at speeds of 100/120 km, sometimes higher. It is not physically possible for all of them to slow down (over a short distance) to 50, 60, 70 kph - the speed that new cars are entering the motorway at - to allow every single new car to merge in ahead of them.

If they did, there would be about 50 accidents every 5 minutes, on every single stretch of the motorway, as every single car slams on its brakes to allow merging cars to go on ahead of them. The traffic on the motorway also would slow down to a snails pace, to allow all this malarkey to go on.

That defeats the whole purpose of a motorway. It may as well be a a road through a small country town, where everyone stops to allow the aul wans cross the road with their shopping & not a stretch of road designed specifically for people to drive at high speeds, so that they can get from Point A to Point B in a short amount of time.

Of course cars already on the motorway should act with consideration towards all other motorway users. But it is not physically possible for all of them to slow down and move over, every single time that a new car enters the motorway. If a new cars shows up with a sense of entitlement that they should & then drives accordingly, that is bad & incorrect driving.

I am done talking about this now, as you don't seem to able to discuss the matter without resorting to personal insults.

You're talking nonsense as there aren't so many in accidents with merging vehicles, there isn't a huge disparity in speed between merging vehicles a lot of the time in lane 1 or merging lanes as you suggest or no one would ever be able to merge, mergers are either going as fast, which they should be matching their speed to the motorway and lane 1 isn't necessarily travelling at 100kph or above in lane 1 anyway, while they may be, in my experience people are driving down to 80kph, it can be even a lot slower or even stopped if busy.

All it takes is for any driver to allow one person merge if need be at any slip road, what you are saying is that is not possible, you think people need to slow down so significantly or even move over, when all that is required is to ease off not the accelerator and showmsome consideration and allow other drivers to merge, which you nowmtry and defend as its not possible! Where earlier you clearly stated to the other poster why should they be surprised if a car was racing towards them as that car was already on the motorway, you declined to comment on that?
You already stated your entitlement to refuse access to the motorway as you are already on its how the hell do you get on yourself if people drive up the back end of your vehicle?
And then you back out claiming I'm insulting you.
That's fine, I don't want an back and forth but what you said needed to be taken to task as you still think you are right, then you changed your tune and now are leaving.
I'll have to review where the personal insult was?

tallaghtfornia

cerastes wrote: »

That other poster is right though, just becuase it hasnt been accounted for in a rule here doesnt mean it makes sense or is right, if anything the opposite, if a car is ahead of me that is merging, it is much easier for me to know and see and make an allowance for that than it is for them checking their blind spot, idiots that try barge past you as you are merging force you to take avoiding action or slow down which has an effect back to traffic behind where the motorway speed should be maintained, should not be barrelling up the ass of a car you can see wanting to merge.

Very easy and understandable to expect people merging where there is a lane for that, no need to brake, just ease off on the accelerator and let them in, if you arent passed them by the time they will be merging you should just let them in! If you don't want to let people merge then get out of that lane and start moving faster than traffic in lane 1.its highly inconsiderate to not allow people merge where lanes are there for that purpose, so not sure if my sarcasm detector isn't working that out as despite the rolls eyes the rest of your post says otherwise, the rest of your post is what's wrong with a lot of drivers in this country, mainly being the fcuk everyone else except me attitude, I'm right etc etc, do you also drive in lane 3 at the speed limit and refuse to budge to allow people overtake?

Perhaps I went about explaining it wrong, when I came onto the motorway the car was miles away from me, when he seen me trying to come on he picked up speed so he could intimidate me when I was coming off, all he needed to do was merge into the middle lane if he wanted to pick up speed and let me onto the motorway its common sense, but this type of road incident is not unique to the M50 ignorance is rife on the roads across the country, and as I stated in my previous post there is no deterrent for drivers as there is very little Garda presence on the roads in Ireland.

Carawaystick

cerastes wrote: »

That's why that information should be available through RDS, GPS,

gps is a system ( the "s" in the name) that tells you where you are. I can't see why the us military, who run the system would make information about a crash on a road in Dublin available.

If the information was to be made available on rds, who would make the info available? the aa roadwatch eejits? The nra? who as I've posted before have wrong and misleading information up on the overhead signage regularly?

cerastes

tallaghtfornia wrote: »

Perhaps I went about explaining it wrong, when I came onto the motorway the car was miles away from me, when he seen me trying to come on he picked up speed so he could intimidate me when I was coming off, all he needed to do was merge into the middle lane if he wanted to pick up speed and let me onto the motorway its common sense, but this type of road incident is not unique to the M50 ignorance is rife on the roads across the country, and as I stated in my previous post there is no deterrent for drivers as there is very little Garda presence on the roads in Ireland.

I agree on what you are saying and I think it was perfectly clear anyway, but even when traffic is closer together people will need to merge into traffic, id even say it's more especially important when traffic is heavier as other traffic still needs to merge and there is more reason to be careful and considerate, yet you will simply get some people who refuse to allow others to merge or cross lanes when its obvious what the road layout is.

You are right that its down to ignorance, sometimes a stubborn refusal to allow someone in, other times its a form of lack of understanding how to drive around other traffic and yet others a complete oblivion as to what's going on around them.

Carawaystick wrote: »

gps is a system ( the "s" in the name) that tells you where you are. I can't see why the us military, who run the system would make information about a crash on a road in Dublin available.

If the information was to be made available on rds, who would make the info available? the aa roadwatch eejits? The nra? who as I've posted before have wrong and misleading information up on the overhead signage regularly?

I meant as in via GPS systems either by standalone GPS units or in smart phones, both GPS standalone devices I own have the ability to connect into an FM system/aerial i believe (its some kind of additional comonent)so in reality its probably an RDS type system, as for the US military, well they leave the "system" on and i think the reasons for that are obvious. Garmin and TomTom and others avail of it, I would never completely rely on any one system, but obviously I won't be able to use it if it is turned off over ireland but if that is the case then we have bigger problems than commuting traffic.

I understand such systems are in use in the UK via radio frequencies/channel network, so no reason why such systems could not be made available here. As to whom would provide it, well both those organisations would seem to be viable options, I think the NRA should do it but as you say, they can't seem to get right information on the signs,so I think the AA road watch or someone should be tasked with it. Possibly given a tender to run it. Though it would cost, it would be useful in reducing traffic delays and other costs and accidents following an initial incident if people knew in advance of turning a bend in the road that there was a huge traffic jam on the m50 or whatever road, as it is that seems to be when people find out, ie right at the last minute. Its when I am made aware, only ever as I come upon such a scene, which turns a problem or incident such as occurred the other evening on the m50 into a ridiculous farce and huge delays and costs incurred.thankfully I was on the bike or I'd have been held up more.

jackofalltrades

tallaghtfornia wrote: »

Perhaps I went about explaining it wrong, when I came onto the motorway the car was miles away from me, when he seen me trying to come on he picked up speed so he could intimidate me when I was coming off, all he needed to do was merge into the middle lane if he wanted to pick up speed and let me onto the motorway its common sense, but this type of road incident is not unique to the M50 ignorance is rife on the roads across the country, and as I stated in my previous post there is no deterrent for drivers as there is very little Garda presence on the roads in Ireland.

Speeding up to block someone merging is pretty ignorant.

They're are plenty of drivers who work on the mistaken idea that there's an onus on cars driving in Lane 1 to move over.
So coming onto a forum an saying that people should move over is going to get peoples backs up.

easygoing1982

ProudDUB wrote: »

If you are roaring down the slip road at such a high speed that you are forcing the cars that are already on the motorway to slow down excessively to suit you, then you are in the wrong.

If you are roaring (as you put it) down the slip at a high speed why should the car behind you slow down.

doesnt make sense to me

MayoSalmon

ProudDUB wrote: »

Ok, this is getting silly. Cars already on the motorway are traveling at speeds of 100/120 km, sometimes higher. It is not physically possible for all of them to slow down (over a short distance) to 50, 60, 70 kph - the speed that new cars are entering the motorway at - to allow every single new car to merge in ahead of them.

I have never once seen anybody driving this fast in the left lane on the M50:pac::pac: