M50 madness. Is this normal?

Gerrup Outta Dat!

I’ve driven on the M50 before as a leisurely driver. The standard was atrocious, especially lane discipline.

But this morning too the piss. I was practising my commute to my new job to see if I can arrive by 8 AM. I live in Fingal and will work somewhere in D22 area.

What I experienced:
Lane hogging. Most cars were in the middle or outside lane.

The inside lane was flowing smoother than the outside.

When I was queueing in the inside driving lane to take the exit/auxiliary lane (or whatever it’s called) most people were driving over the hatch markings making we wonder why I bothered queueing.

When I was using the exit lane if I wasn’t driving “fast enough” (I kept 2 seconds between me and the car on front) people were undertaking me in the hard shoulder.

Is this week just bad because of uncertainty with the rail issue or is the M50 just bad anyway?

What can be done to tackle this?

DrumSteve

Welcome to everyday on the m50.

SeanHarty

Gerrup Outta Dat! wrote: »

I’ve driven on the M50 before as a leisurely driver. The standard was atrocious, especially lane discipline.

But this morning too the piss. I was practising my commute to my new job to see if I can arrive by 8 AM. I live in Fingal and will work somewhere in D22 area.

What I experienced:
Lane hogging. Most cars were in the middle or outside lane.

The inside lane was flowing smoother than the outside.

When I was queueing in the inside driving lane to take the exit/auxiliary lane (or whatever it’s called) most people were driving over the hatch markings making we wonder why I bothered queueing.

When I was using the exit lane if I wasn’t driving “fast enough” (I kept 2 seconds between me and the car on front) people were undertaking me in the hard shoulder.

Is this week just bad because of uncertainty with the rail issue or is the M50 just bad anyway?

What can be done to tackle this?

I've been commuting from Lucan to Balbriggan for the past 6 months, this is pretty standard I'm sad to say, especially on the way home.

Saw a guy driving on the hatch area between a slip road and the M50 yesterday to skip traffic and nearly got squashed by a truck. Mental stuff.

Saw another guy going up the hard shoulder to skip the q at a slip road coming off the M50. Boils my blood. I do ask myself a lot why do I bother to stick to the rules of the road when SO many others don't bother and the guards couldn't give a toss.

Seriously considering a dash cam at this stage.

OldMrBrennan83

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EndaHonesty

That's weird. Every time I have been on the M50 there has been perfect lane discipline and correct speed use, by all drivers.

I'd say it's just you...

AndyBoBandy

I’d love to see a dedicated patrol of 2-3 squad cars solely for the M50 from 6am - 7pm daily, just constantly driving up and down the M50 (perhaps only the 3 lane sections)
Pulling everyone up for all the stuff OP mentions.
Do that for about 6 months and I’d say you’d see a massive improvement in behaviour.

Del2005

I've driven in heavy traffic in several countries and none leave the 2 second gap. They generally do have better lane discipline though, but there are still crazy lane changes.

AndyBoBandy

SeanHarty wrote: »

Seriously considering a dash cam at this stage.

Get one. I use the M50 very infrequently, but usually always catch some ‘madness’, so I can only imagine how much more someone who uses it daily will record.

tedpan

Another M50 thread, old news. Thanks

Grahamer666

AndyBoBandy wrote: »

I’d love to see a dedicated patrol of 2-3 squad cars solely for the M50 from 6am - 7pm daily, just constantly driving up and down the M50 (perhaps only the 3 lane sections)
Pulling everyone up for all the stuff OP mentions.
Do that for about 6 months and I’d say you’d see a massive improvement in behaviour.

All their funding is probably going into the ARU but this is what should be done. Dedicated Motorway Police up and down the motorways stopping idiots who are putting people's lives in danger.

SeanHarty

AndyBoBandy wrote: »

Get one. I use the M50 very infrequently, but usually always catch some ‘madness’, so I can only imagine how much more someone who uses it daily will record.

Ah every single day I see something that's just terrible driving, yesterday took the biscuit, the guy using the hatched area to skip traffic getting tighter and tighter was just madness. He was doing a decent speed as well.

My cars an old banger that's why I haven't bothered, hoping to upgrade to a new car early next year though so I might invest in a good dash cam now and then just move it over when I get the new car.

RacoonQueen

AndyBoBandy wrote: »

I’d love to see a dedicated patrol of 2-3 squad cars solely for the M50 from 6am - 7pm daily, just constantly driving up and down the M50 (perhaps only the 3 lane sections)
Pulling everyone up for all the stuff OP mentions.
Do that for about 6 months and I’d say you’d see a massive improvement in behaviour.

I doubt it would change much unless people went and educated themselves about how to drive on a motorway. Think much of the problem is people don't know how to drive on it (legally)

Wanderer78

Used m50 last week, dangerous road, don't know how you people use it everyday

SeanHarty

tedpan wrote: »

Another M50 thread, old news. Thanks

pretty simple really, don't wanna talk about it then just move along.

AndyBoBandy

RacoonQueen wrote: »

I doubt it would change much unless people went and educated themselves about how to drive on a motorway. Think much of the problem is people don't know how to drive on it (legally)

Very true, it all stems from the lack of any form of motorway testing/training at student level.

Sleeper12

Wait till you see a bad day

johnnyskeleton

Gerrup Outta Dat! wrote: »

What I experienced:
Lane hogging. Most cars were in the middle or outside lane.

The inside lane was flowing smoother than the outside.

There are so many entrance/exit points so close to each other that it makes sense to have lighter traffic on the inside lane. If everyone drove on the inside they would be constantly stopped by merging traffic on the left and people leaving from the right.

Is it technically correct? Probably not. But traffic would be worse IMO if everyone slavishly kept to the left

Gerrup Outta Dat!

RacoonQueen wrote: »

I doubt it would change much unless people went and educated themselves about how to drive on a motorway. Think much of the problem is people don't know how to drive on it (legally)

Well then hopefully all the fools will have accumulated enough points due to their behaviour and this be put off the road.

AndyBoBandy

Gerrup Outta Dat! wrote: »

Well then hopefully all the fools will have accumulated enough points due to their behaviour and this be put off the road.

The lack of policing on the road suggests this will never happen though.

Klopp

The M50 wasn't designed to handle the current volume of traffic. It needs a 4th lane and better lane management for exiting and merging traffic.

EndaHonesty

Klopp wrote: »

The M50 wasn't designed to handle the current volume of traffic. It needs a 4th lane and better lane management for exiting and merging traffic.

The M50 was designed as a bypass for Dublin.

It's now a main commuter route.

Dublin needs a new bypass. The M500.

AndyBoBandy

EndaHonesty wrote: »

Dublin needs a new bypass. The M500.

It does.

But I’d call it the M55 or M70

m5ex9oqjawdg2i

Patww79 wrote: »

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That's pretty dumb advice.

Don't do this people, it's stupid.

will56

Klopp wrote: »

The M50 wasn't designed to handle the current volume of traffic. It needs a 4th lane and better lane management for exiting and merging traffic.

To be far if people could drive at a constant speed without the constant stop start traffic on this and other roads would probably move a lot easier.

I come in the M3/N3 every day and see a lot of the OPs complaints with people coming up the hard shoulder, cutting in etc.

I've noticed backlogs happening for no other reason that cars don't give themselves enough space to slow down when the vehicle in front does so they have to come to a stop and then this builds all the way back.
Seen 10+ cars come to a stop this morning in the time it took the lead car to slow and then move off again.

Madness !!

AndyBoBandy

AndyBoBandy wrote: »

Very true, it all stems from the lack of any form of motorway testing/training at student level.

I always hear that along with Northerners being better on Motorways. The second part certainly doesn't tally with my M1 experiences.

Sleeper12

How many are posting while sitting in traffic on the M50 right now?

OldMrBrennan83

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OldMrBrennan83

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EndaHonesty

AndyBoBandy wrote: »

It does.

But I’d call it the M55 or M70

Which wealthy family should we allow to toll this new road?

They can choose the name too...

kg703

Bahahahahaha

Welcome to your new morning and evening sh*t show. I changed my work hours so I would arrive at 8am and not 9am and somehow the traffic is still the same! I travel from J16 - J6 every day. Costs me a grand a year to sit in traffic for nearly 2 hours per day.

Life eh?

Just in 'best things we've seen on the M50' - I saw someone miss their exit and TURN AROUND. It was a weekend so quieter but nearly killed me and 5 others.

kg703

EndaHonesty wrote: »

Which wealthy family should we allow to toll this new road?

They can choose the name too...

How about the MBono?

Morpheus

On M1 heading north, just outside swords at 1730 last night, some super clown decided to use the hard shoulder, at high speed whilst the rest of us were stuck in that random no-reason-for-it slowdown that happens there every evening.

What he or she doesnt realise is that my HD dash camera footage will be heading to the gardai.

SeanHarty

Morpheus wrote: »

On M1 heading north, just outside swords at 1730 last night, some super clown decided to use the hard shoulder, at high speed whilst the rest of us were stuck in that random no-reason-for-it slowdown that happens there every evening.

What he or she doesnt realise is that my HD dash camera footage will be heading to the gardai.

Your right, I'd chase them up for an answer on what they've done about it as well.

amcalester

Sleeper12 wrote: »

How many are posting while sitting in traffic on the M50 right now?

I saw a women eating a bowl of cereal (or porridge) while driving on the M50 last week.

Right hand holding the bowl and the steering wheel, left hand holding the spoon.

I was so shocked I nearly dropped my phone.

mfceiling

will56 wrote: »

I come in the M3/N3 every day and see a lot of the OPs complaints with people coming up the hard shoulder, cutting in etc.

Problem I have with these pricks is the idiots who let them in. I won't give them an inch...usually point behind me and mouth "get fcuked" at them.

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flaneur

The issue is largely lack of driver education. Unless self educated or learnt by osmosis very few Irish drivers have been told how to use a multi lane road.

Look at the Naas Dual Carriageway in medium traffic. All the cars go into the centre lane and behave like it's a two lane road with a slipway exit along the side instead of lane 1,2 and 3.

The issue on the M50 and actually also identical issues on Cork’s N40 ring which is probably the only other example or an urban ring distributor motorway (even if it’s N classified) is drivers don’t seem to have much lane discipline and get into the wrong positions ahead of junctions.

You can’t really blame signage on either road anymore. It was bad 15 years ago but it’s all very clear gantry signage these days and there’s plenty of notice of junctions and they’re very well marked.

I think in both cases a variable and automatically enforced speed limit would help flow at peak times.

I would drop the speed to about 60 Km/h when they’re jammed. It would remove a lot of the agressive zig-zag overtaking and undertaking that goes on.

I think part of the problem is people assuming “this is Motorway. I can drive fast”. The reality is it’s a busy multilane distributor road.

Off peak in light traffic I would advocate going back to 120km/h and maybe 100 in bad rain or medium traffic.

On lane discipline you need a public information campaign and maybe light enforcement where Garda cars are fitted with LED signage wirh arrows where they can flash up <—\0- use lane 1.

You also have to get over this “the slow lane” and “the fast lane” terminology too. It’s part of the problem.

Also maybe mark the lanes 1, 2, 3 intermittently along the offending rosds : M50, N40, N7 and M1 etc

Keep hammering the message to use lane 1, it slow moving, then lane 2 then lane 3.

Motorway signage saying use lane 1 unless overtaking.

Also "merge like a zip" signage would help too.
You see a lot of combinations of very hesitant drivers who merge at the wrong speed and end up causing a hold up and also very pushy drivers who ignore merging traffic and block slipways. If everyone let in 1 car in traffic it would flow.

My approach would be :

6 months of education and gentle reminders as a learning period.

Then begin enforcement with fines and penalty points.

Clogging these roads unnecessarily is costing everyone a fortune in lost time, it's bad for the environment, it's frustrating and it's also putting unnecessary pressure on state resources to expand roads when they could be used for efficiently.

If necessary spend a few million on this project. It would he as worthwhile as a major road build if it worked.

Isambard

AndyBoBandy wrote: »

Very true, it all stems from the lack of any form of motorway testing/training at student level.

That old chesnut ,noone does this abroad and they seem to manage OK.

Charles Babbage

flaneur wrote: »

The issue is largely lack of driver education. Unless self educated or learnt by osmosis very few Irish drivers have been told how to use a multi lane road.

It isn't exactly rocket science. Drive on the left, overtake on the right, indicate and get into lane in good time. One short sentence describes the whole thing. If the problem is ignorance, it is ignorance of civilised behaviour.

.

My approach would be :

6 months of education and gentle reminders as a learning period.

Then begin enforcement with fines and penalty points.

I'd skip step 1 and go straight to step 2.

ezra_

kg703 wrote: »

Just in 'best things we've seen on the M50' - I saw someone miss their exit and TURN AROUND. It was a weekend so quieter but nearly killed me and 5 others.

Eh , wha?

They went the wrong way down the motorway?!

arleitiss

1st Lane - Everybody undertaking and going fast.
2nd Lane - Lorries and Truck camp spot.
3rd Lane - Lane Hoggers.

I think we need to switch to right-side driving but even then people will **** it up.

Dravokivich

ezra_ wrote: »

Eh , wha?

They went the wrong way down the motorway?!

You'd get people who'll even reverse.

ezra_

Dravokivich wrote: »

You'd get people who'll even reverse.

You can't be serious.

My M50 driving is peak time and only for about 4k so not too bad. Have only had to call traffic corp once.

I've never seen anything like that

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fancy pigeon

ezra_ wrote: »

Eh , wha?

They went the wrong way down the motorway?!

Reversing/driving down the off ramp I've seen. Rarely, thankfully

Once I was almost sideswiped by a car and when I got by I saw the driver was reading what looked like a kindle/Tab. It should have been taken off them and smashed across their head

Other stuff I've seen on the M50 you might also see include:

• Eating cereal
• Shaving (cream and all)
• Putting on a shirt and tie
• Applying lipstick
• Reading the paper
• Driving with no trousers and what I hope was pissing

Not necessarily while stopped in traffic either

Klopp

With the M50 now the main route for a majority of commuters and no longer just a bypass, has Shane Ross made any comment or said anything at all about any future plans for the M50, like another upgrade, a traffic management system?

vicwatson

AndyBoBandy wrote: »

I’d love to see a dedicated patrol of 2-3 squad cars solely for the M50 from 6am - 7pm daily, just constantly driving up and down the M50 (perhaps only the 3 lane sections)
Pulling everyone up for all the stuff OP mentions.
Do that for about 6 months and I’d say you’d see a massive improvement in behaviour.

Unmarked cars of course

monkeyslayer

I don't have to commute on it thankfully, but a frequent user. I've often wondered why the M50 doesn't have its own dedicated Garda traffic unit considering the volumes of traffic that use it and its importance to the city and the country

seagull

Isambard wrote: »

That old chesnut ,noone does this abroad and they seem to manage OK.

I guess I must have imagined the motorway sessions I did when I was learning to drive.

Motorway driving is a learned skill. It helps to have someone competent take you out for your first few trips and explain what you should be doing.

deathtocaptcha

The problem with the inside lane, even without much traffic, is that when you're approaching a vehicle in front and there's also a vehicle approaching from behind in the middle lane (but the distance between yourself and the car in front is closing more rapidly than the distance between you and the car in the middle lane), they won't move over to the outside lane and acknowledge that you need to overtake as you're travelling faster than the car ahead.

The options are to slow down (breaking momentum to let middle lane hogger past) or that middle lane hogger anticipates and reads the situation, moving to the outside lane so you can overtake without breaking momentum.

If you extrapolate this example in to heavier traffic and it's 10 times worse... hence the reason why so many just stay in the middle lane even if they know its wrong. Because it's likely you'll end up stuck in the inside lane forever, not being able to move.

Inside lane with adaptive cruise control and classical music is the solution, switching to middle lane coming up to the notorious blackspots / junctions likely to be clogged mainly as a result of people not queuing and using the inside lane as an overtaking lane to get to their exit, which of course results in the inside lane grinding to a halt / becoming dangerous because traffic can come to a stop quickly.

AhHaor

But the unaccompanied L drivers!!!!

To be fair, apart from boards.ie I wouldn't really know you've to hog the left lane. It's not addressed in driving test nor is any education given, so how are people to know.

We've so many electronic boards on the roads and they're all useless, the one on the N4 just off the M50 tells me every day two places are always the same time away. 56 and 114 minutes!! Why can't they inform drivers on staying left etc.