Kamikaze driver on the M50 drives right for us in the overtaking lane head on

FAILSAFE 00

This was at 4:46pm today. Myself and my brother were driving home on the M50 coming up to the Ballymun exit in the overtaking lane when we spot lights coming right for us.

Thank god we spotted it quick enough to brake and press hazards. I could hear the vehicle behind us braking hard but they didn't hit us luckily.

My brother/driver got out to assist. A taxi driver had seen what happened and he halted traffic in the middle lane while my brother managed to get traffic to halt on the inside lane and told the driver to do a 3 point turn. It was over crazy quick and thankfully no one was injured.

According to my brother the guy, possibly mid 60s said he got lost looking for Coolock. Seemed 100% alert, no smell of drink. Completed his 3 point turn perfectly but thinking about later he said he seemed way to calm. No signs of shock or pressure which is very odd. From what we can make out the car could have been a 2007 red HYUNDAI ACCENT. Its was definitely a Hyundai hatchback. Difficult to make out. The poor lightening and all the car lights bounced off the reg making it tough to see.

From looking now at the video he was indicating right. I think this insane driver was attempting to drive back and take the Ballymun exit. There was no tailback on the motorway and no noise from drivers beeping so its mad trying to figure out how this came out of the blue.

We reported it to the Gardai and gave as much info as we could. They said they had already received a few calls about it.

Thankfully everyone was on the ball except the driver :rolleyes:
Be safe out there folks. You never know what can come your way.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6814QbMuNR0

https://imgur.com/a/fOVA5

Eric Cartman

automatic 5 year driving ban should be mandatory. There is no excuse for ending up the wrong way on a motorway. Even the most braindead half blind drunk could see the signs on all the ramps.

What a complete idiot, super lucky that they didn't kill a whole family with their stupidity.

Del2005

Eric Cartman wrote: »

automatic 5 year driving ban should be mandatory. There is no excuse for ending up the wrong way on a motorway. Even the most braindead half blind drunk could see the signs on all the ramps.

What a complete idiot, super lucky that they didn't kill a whole family with their stupidity.

Only 2 points and €80, crazy low


http://www.drivingschoolireland.com/penalty_points.html

JimmyMcGill

Did he look like someone on prescribed medication OP?

FAILSAFE 00

JimmyMcGill wrote: »

Did he look like someone on prescribed medication OP?

Not from the bros perspective. He was alert and unusually calm and spook fine.

elperello

Well done OP, brother and taxi driver.
You did well to take charge and sort it out.

dingding

would he have had alzheimer's disease

newmember2

dingding wrote: »

would he have had alzheimer's disease

...if...?

Tenigate

Del2005 wrote: »

Only 2 points and €80, crazy low

Not sure what ur link points to but pretty sure it would be a ban if it went to court

dingding

??

It was a serious suggestion, particularly as the person did not think they had done anything wrong, got lost and no obvious signs of drink / drugs.

They appeared oblivious to the danger / situation they were in.

The persons age profile would suggest this could be a possibility.

OldMrBrennan83

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Del2005

Tenigate wrote: »

Not sure what ur link points to but pretty sure it would be a ban if it went to court

A driving school website as the RSA link is a pdf. It's 5 points in court and that's only if they don't except the 2.

FAILSAFE 00

dingding wrote: »

would he have had alzheimer's disease

I was thinking later when he mentioned how calm the driver was I thought maybe some type of dementia.

Alkers

Surely could be considered dangerous driving?

bear1

Simona1986 wrote: »

Surely could be considered dangerous driving?

Considered? It's ****ing suicidal.
5 year ban my ass, banned for life the dosy ****.
Where the hell would he have joined the motorway from?
Can't tell what kind of car it is at all tbh but I would also be sending that to the guards Twitter page.

Oops!

It's an Hyundai Getz.

punisher5112

I had similar last year on N11 where car came around the bend at new town mt Kennedy.


I was able to take control of both lanes and get traffic to stop as used hazards and rear fogs on off as brake lights then was flashing high beams and got the man stopped.

Was scary as fcuk.

mickdw

punisher5112 wrote: »

I had similar last year on N11 where car came around the bend at new town mt Kennedy.


I was able to take control of both lanes and get traffic to stop as used hazards and rear fogs on off as brake lights then was flashing high beams and got the man stopped.

Was scary as fcuk.

I dont know if id be that willing to stick myself in the centre of such an incident as it would be a pile up waiting to happen.
Id likely quickly get myself as far from his lane as possible to hopefully clear any accident while doing plenty of light flashing etc

JohnBoy26

Oops! wrote: »

It's an Hyundai Getz.

Not that it matters much and I don't mean to be pedantic but it's an accent

Neilw

Twice I’ve met people driving the wrong way down that exact slip road, first woman had luckily stopped and was trying very poorly to turn around.

The second woman I met head on and managed to get her to stop before joining the traffic. She had lost her way to the nct center.
Lucky for her the guards had seen her enter the slip road the wrong way and were there within seconds.
I didn’t wait to see what happened.

I agree it should be an automatic ban, and if I were the OP I’d be giving the footage to the guards.

colm_mcm

At least he had his front fog lights on so you could see him better.

splinter65

As soon as a patient is diagnosed with dementia the GP should be obliged by law to notify RSA irregardless of wether the patient is a driver or not, so that the driving license can be withdrawn immediately.
We had a nightmare trying to get my late uncle off the road. He was absolutely lethal.
My friends mother ended up upside down in a ditch miles away from where she should have been.
The process of getting them off the road needs to be taken away from the family because you will always have one person who disagrees and thinks daddy is well able to drive .

Alanstrainor

How did they even manage to get on the M50, it's always busy on the off ramps?

And well done to all involved, perfect response by everyone.

OldMrBrennan83

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Alanstrainor

Patww79 wrote: »

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Ah yes, he should have used morse code with his headlamps. :rolleyes:

OldMrBrennan83

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colm_mcm

Patww79 wrote: »

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Just got out of yer mans way so he could continue?

OldMrBrennan83

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punisher5112

In my case I read the road and conditions.

I had left a very safe gap between me and cars in front and there was a gap also from cars following me not much but enough.


I was passing the 1st exit for Newtown mt Kennedy and there is a clay bank in the centre between both carriage ways.

I could see lights lighting up the clay/grass bank and thought that's not right as it wouldn't tend to be bright that way round.

I could then see the cars 5 ahead were swerving at speed as they didn't cop the car was coming head on.


The shining of the lights had me take action right away as I mentioned before warning the cars behind getting slowed down and stopped and I got the car stopped by continuously flashing high beams.

I read the situation and had the car in 1st gear ready to floor it if he didn't slow to a stop.

Got the guy turned and reported to the guards and they went to check him at his address which was only close by so should well have known the lay out of the roads.

It was a blue Suzuki 02 if I recall correctly.

check_six

I was trying to work out how this crazy old codger had joined the road in the wrong direction in the first place. I had a look at the M50 junction at Ballymun and when trying to join the northbound lane the wrong way there is a No Left Turn sign, a No Entry line on the road, and a Danger Wrong Way Turn Back sign if you miss all the other indicators.

However, if you join at the M1 M50 roundabout, there is no sign prohibiting the turn, no line on the road, no arrow on the road, and no Wrong Way Turn Back sign. You still have to throw sense out the window and pass the correct exit and make a weird left hairpin turn into what normally would be a steady flow of traffic, but if there was a gap it would not be impossible to make sense in your head that you could turn down that road.

I'm kind of stunned that there is no signage prohibiting entry there, but I had a poke around on Google maps and saw nothing. :eek:

Can anyone confirm this?
(Hopefully not from first hand experience of turning the wrong way down the M50!).

punisher5112

Could well have just done a u turn and had already been on motorway

ABC101

Well done to the OP for helping out at what should have been a major disaster with probable fatalities.

Certainly is a very scary experience. Seems to be happening more frequently too, wasn't there a driver killed on the M8 some time back, farmer I think, going down the motorway (wrong direction).

On another point, I thought the standard of driving was improving in Ireland, however within the last 2 years there seems to be a marked decline in standards, notably using indicators at roundabouts.

In addition, I have noticed that women drivers have become very aggressive, much more so than men.

Guy:Incognito

ABC101 wrote: »

On another point, I thought the standard of driving was improving in Ireland, however within the last 2 years there seems to be a marked decline in standards, notably using indicators at roundabouts.

n.

The amount of people I see indicating right on busy roundabouts when going straight through is unreal. Waiting to enter a roundabout to go right or straight (where allowed) with some clown to your left indicating right and having no idea what their intention is certainly adds to the tension. Then you've the people that just ignore lanes on them. They went to the bother of painting lanes on the walkinstown roundabout but a huge amount of people follow a straight path from their entrance to exit, like the cars in the lanes they are cutting across will just disappear.

check_six

Guy:Incognito wrote: »

The amount of people I see indicating right on busy roundabouts when going straight through is unreal. Waiting to enter a roundabout to go right or straight (where allowed) with some clown to you're left indicating right and having no idea what their intention is certainly adds to the tension. Then you've the people that just ignore lanes on them. They went to the bother of painting lanes on the walkinstown roundabout but a huge amount of peoplefollow a straight path from their entrance to exit, likethecars in the lanes they are cutting across will just disappear.

Good luck using a self driving car to negotiate any roundabout in the near future. The ai brain will just start breaking down and sobbing.

H3llR4iser

punisher5112 wrote: »

Could well have just done a u turn and had already been on motorway

Considering it's the M50, the time of the day and how busy it is around the area (especially this time of the year), the U-turn seems the most likely scenario to me, TBH.

One interesting thing - regardless of driving side (plenty of episodes involving people driving the wrong way in continental Europe as well), all of them seem to invariably drive in the overtaking lane because from their perspective, they think they're "keeping left" (right in EU) and staying out of the way. Even in the case these people found, somehow, themselves driving the wrong way due to a genuine mistake (e.g. poorly or not marked slip road), the lack of awareness and capability to elaborate the situation is startling.

ironclaw

FAILSAFE 00 wrote: »

Not from the bros perspective. He was alert and unusually calm and spook fine.

At this time of year, single occupant and male, I'd wager a self-harm attempt. It's not an uncommon practice and the calmest people you will meet are those that have committed to it.

I hope they seek help, whatever the reason they ended up on that side of the road.

Del2005

H3llR4iser wrote: »

Considering it's the M50, the time of the day and how busy it is around the area (especially this time of the year), the U-turn seems the most likely scenario to me, TBH.

One interesting thing - regardless of driving side (plenty of episodes involving people driving the wrong way in continental Europe as well), all of them seem to invariably drive in the overtaking lane because from their perspective, they think they're "keeping left" (right in EU) and staying out of the way. Even in the case these people found, somehow, themselves driving the wrong way due to a genuine mistake (e.g. poorly or not marked slip road), the lack of awareness and capability to elaborate the situation is startling.

That logic would apply if Irish people drove in the correct lane. Following the logic they should be in the hard shoulder when driving the wrong direction

gmacww

ironclaw wrote: »

At this time of year, single occupant and male, I'd wager a self-harm attempt. It's not an uncommon practice and the calmest people you will meet are those that have committed to it.

I hope they seek help, whatever the reason they ended up on that side of the road.

That's exactly what I was thinking. Often people who have gone through the pain of depression and reached a point of suicide are euphoric and remarkably calm in the days and hours leading to it.

ABC101

ironclaw wrote: »

At this time of year, single occupant and male, I'd wager a self-harm attempt. It's not an uncommon practice and the calmest people you will meet are those that have committed to it.

I hope they seek help, whatever the reason they ended up on that side of the road.

Interesting comment, can't say I would have thought it myself, but entirely possible etc

ABC101

gmacww wrote: »

That's exactly what I was thinking. Often people who have gone through the pain of depression and reached a point of suicide are euphoric and remarkably calm in the days and hours leading to it.

Yeah I've heard that said before, apparently thats a danger sign others should watch out for. The calm / euphoric / content change is a possible indicator that the depressed person has found / decided on a terminal solution.

Phil.x

Jesus that would put the ****s up yea

MetzgerMeister

JimmyMcGill wrote: »

Did he look like someone on prescribed medication OP?

How do people on prescribed medication look

ABC101

MetzgerMeister wrote: »

How do people on prescribed medication look

You mean to say you have not taken the "How to spot the confused driver on prescribed medication course"????

Dear oh dear.... that's worth a thousand penalty points and a life time ban!!:pac::pac:

ELM327

JohnBoy26 wrote: »

Not that it matters much and I don't mean to be pedantic but it's an accent

Pedantry getz annoying sometimes