Slow drivers.... Slow for a reason...

LRNM

I've encountered this several times while driving the ambulance.


Sometimes what you have in your vehicle dictates your driving style and speed. This goes for every professional driver but also for commuters too which some people often forget and get impatient.


Sometimes I have to drive very slow and steady because I have a sick/injured person in the back and a crew working unseated at times.

There've been times I've been bringing people home to die, in a lot of pain so I will crawl along and scan the road for every pothole to avoid.

Nothing too mad, I'll be doing 60km/h in an 80 zone, sometimes slower if the road is worse.


You get people tailgating, aggressively trying to overtake, flashing their lights. Thankfully its not often but ive had my fair share of road rage inflicted on me due to slow/cautious driving and I'm a very much drive it on ta **** type. Not afraid to put the boot down when needed.
But in other situations people have no consideration.

Blaizes

I did my driving test a long time ago and things like pulling in for an emergency vehicle were barely covered if at all. Being older and wiser now it’s something I do and meet them regularly on my daily commute. It’s basic manners and a realization that a beeping siren could mean a life in danger or something very serious, but maybe some very newly qualified drivers don’t realize this. Very good point to raise.

malinheader

LRNM wrote: »

I've encountered this several times while driving the ambulance.


Sometimes what you have in your vehicle dictates your driving style and speed. This goes for every professional driver but also for commuters too which some people often forget and get impatient.


Sometimes I have to drive very slow and steady because I have a sick/injured person in the back and a crew working unseated at times.

There've been times I've been bringing people home to die, in a lot of pain so I will crawl along and scan the road for every pothole to avoid.

Nothing too mad, I'll be doing 60km/h in an 80 zone, sometimes slower if the road is worse.


You get people tailgating, aggressively trying to overtake, flashing their lights. Thankfully its not often but ive had my fair share of road rage inflicted on me due to slow/cautious driving and I'm a very much drive it on ta **** type. Not afraid to put the boot down when needed.
But in other situations people have no consideration.

Anyone who tailgates or acts aggressively behind an ambulance is a total wakner in my eyes. I will always slow down and pull in if possible to let an ambulance past ,even if they have not got there sirens on.

the_pen_turner

i think this quote is very appropriate
If you run into an asshole in the morning, you ran into an asshole. If you run into assholes all day, you're the asshole.”

yabadabado

the_pen_turner wrote: »

i think this quote is very appropriate
If you run into an asshole in the morning, you ran into an asshole. If you run into assholes all day, you're the asshole.”

Raylan:cool:

Strumms

If you drive well below the speed limit it can just be as dangerous as driving well over it. It is in contravention of the Road Traffic Act. Called ‘failure to make progress’ from memory.

If there is an issue whereby she cannot maintain adequate progress because of a possibility of her encouraging behavior from the child that could impact her safe operation of the vehicle then she needs to think again as to how she transports the child.

It could mean seeking an accompanying adult who is also taking a kid to school to sit in the back with the kid to distract / keep calm and ensure they don’t interfere with the operation of said vehicle. Perhaps another rather generous parent might be willing to share driving responsibilities in alternate vehicles on alternate days.

weldoninhio

Chips Lovell wrote: »

I don't want to single you out, but this is modern Ireland summed up in one post. A woman with an autistic child is trying to do her best for him and she's the one with a sense of entitlement, not the people angry at being held up for a few minutes on the road.

It's a hard gig. Give the poor woman a break.

Boo Hoo! Because this one woman has an issue, everyone should have an issue. She needs to make alternative arrangements.

amcalester

weldoninhio wrote: »

Boo Hoo! Because this one woman has an issue, everyone should have an issue. She needs to make alternative arrangements.

What, maybe take a ****ing helicopter?

It’s not like there’s ASD classes in every primary school!

AH is full of threads about the sense of entitlement that exits among travelers, unemployed etc, well now we should motorists to that list.

Strumms

weldoninhio wrote: »

Boo Hoo! Because this one woman has an issue, everyone should have an issue. She needs to make alternative arrangements.

I agree. She has an issue, yes, for sure. I don’t envy her I sympathize with her. Because she has an issue though doesn’t give her a green light to disregard the rules of the road, to even slightly or potentially put the health and lives of fellow road users and pedestrians even at risk. She DOES as you say need to make arrangements.

weldoninhio

amcalester wrote: »

What, maybe take a ****ing helicopter?

It’s not like there’s ASD classes in every primary school!

AH is full of threads about the sense of entitlement that exits among travelers, unemployed etc, well now we should motorists to that list.

A bus/taxi/friend who can drive while she looks after the kid during the journey. She is the one with the sense of entitlement. I’ll hold everyone up because of my issue.

screamer

Well I’ll give you the flip side.... was being rushed to hospital by my OH as was suffering a severe allergic reaction and near death, live 40 mins from hospital, and got stuck behind a tractor run. Did they give a f*** that I was dying.... not at all. Why would they, why should they? The road is already too busy to be worrying about what might / could possibly be going on in a car.....

LRNM

malinheader wrote: »

Anyone who tailgates or acts aggressively behind an ambulance is a total wakner in my eyes. I will always slow down and pull in if possible to let an ambulance past ,even if they have not got there sirens on.

It's the same type of people who get irate with L drivers, cyclists, tractors etc. It's this mentality of people in their metal box thinking they're invulnerable and nobody else matters. Coupled with how irate and stressed out people are, people just turn into lunatics.


I'm not immune to this either. Driving is stressful and sometimes outside of work i want to drive the fuk home after a long day and not be stuck behind some ould biddy for 10 minutes.



It's good practice to check yourself. When you find yourself getting frustrated to cop it and take a breather, tell yourself to relax and hold back. Not easy for some!



As for trying to get out of our way? Don't even bother unless we're on lights. It's easier to just flow with the traffic and as I said, I don't need to be driving fast so chances are you'll end up stuck behind me then, as I didn't want to be driving that fast in the first place. (unless it's late and I want to go home! )

firstlight

So many cabbages on the roads these days
Would drive you bonkers
Especially the arch nemesis of the Irish motorist
The roundabout
The amount of clowns that can't just drive through it without stopping when clear is unreal

Like said if your going to drive miss daisy let others pass,now I mean stick to speed limits

In the girls case mentioned a sticker for window would stop 99% of people with a heart beeping

LRNM

firstlight wrote: »

The roundabout
The amount of clowns that can't just drive through it without stopping when clear is unreal

Only last week somebody drove onto the roundabout, saw me coming to yield about 20 meters away going slow, and they stopped halfway out and reversed back into the exit they came from.

Slow alright.

amcalester

weldoninhio wrote: »

A bus/taxi/friend who can drive while she looks after the kid during the journey. She is the one with the sense of entitlement. I’ll hold everyone up because of my issue.

Why would she do that just to appease people who don’t leave enough time to get to work/school/whatever?

Doodah7

amcalester wrote: »

Why would she do that just to appease people who don’t leave enough time to get to work/school/whatever?

Why should ONE person hold up literally hundreds of people trying to go about their daily lives? Pull over out of the way.

cursai

I'm heading to work now.
Can the slow coaches please stay at home for another hour.
Thanks

weldoninhio

amcalester wrote: »

Why would she do that just to appease people who don’t leave enough time to get to work/school/whatever?

Even if you leave enough time to get to work, but then get stuck behind some idiot on a go slow, you are still going to be late because the idiot is holding you up. Not because you didn't leave on time.

bladespin

weldoninhio wrote: »

Even if you leave enough time to get to work, but then get stuck behind some idiot on a go slow, you are still going to be late because the idiot is holding you up. Not because you didn't leave on time.

It's very unlikely they'll cost you more than a few minutes, so it's really down to your own bad planning; not allowing for these possibilities (though impossible to foresee all tbh) so it's either your fault or just one of those thinks, I prefer the latter and just try to get on with life.

galwaytt

Cordell wrote: »

Can she use one of those yellow or orange strobe light? The kind used by slow or stationary vehicles like road maintenance?

No, she can't. Construction & Use Regs apply.

Wailin

weldoninhio wrote: »

A bus/taxi/friend who can drive while she looks after the kid during the journey. She is the one with the sense of entitlement. I’ll hold everyone up because of my issue.

Only one who seems to have a sense of entitlement is you lad. The roads are full of all sorts, slow drivers, fast drivers and pricks. Wonder what category you fit into?

weldoninhio

Wailin wrote: »

Only one who seems to have a sense of entitlement is you lad. The roads are full of all sorts, slow drivers, fast drivers and pricks. Wonder what category you fit into?

Public transport user

odyssey06

If they are driving along at 20-30 kmh under the limit (presumably in an 80) and moving over, then it is the other drivers who need to look at their behaviour.
If they are driving along at 20 kmh and not moving over to allow overtaking, then they need to look at their driving.

stop animal cruelty

Pretzill wrote: »

Another thing to consider re: OP sometimes people have to drive faster for a reason too. We never know what pressure driver is under - all we can hope for is that everyone is careful, paying attention and obeying the speed of the road.

Yes very true. I would have F and blinded if I thought someone was driving too fast or driving right up behind me. But like that they could be rushing to their dying mother in hospital... Or just a idiot. We don't know.

I started this thread because it was just to bring the attention that maybe the person your beeping and cursing off the road at, has to drive slow for the reason given.

I reckon it's made more than 1 or 2 drivers more aware (plus me) and cautious in cases like this lady and her sons.

Antares35

Batrachotox wrote: »

Cannot abide excessively slow drivers. Fair enough in this woman's case but when some people just decide they'd rather drive at 55 when the limit is 80 my blood begins to boil - they've taken it upon themselves to waste some of my life/time because they don't feel comfortable at that speed or whatever in which case they simply shouldn't be on the roads.

Even worse are their superior attitudes born out of a belief that they're "safer" drivers, when really they just cause frustation in other road users leading to rash decision making and even more accidents.

Yes! It is usually the snail drivers who come to a complete stop before executing a turn with their stupid big car bum still sticking out and only think to put their indicator on after this. Sure the indicator is only a f*cking token gesture at this stage.

BarryD2

Seems to be a few people here suffering a delusion that if the speed limit is 80kph or whatever, then people should drive at or near that speed. Maybe they need to go back and do a driving test? All for making reasonable progress on the road, but you must always adjust your speed according to the local conditions, with the limit intended to be a max.

Cee-Jay-Cee

I didn't hear the interview so have to base my opinion on the OP's story.

I have every sympathy for the woman and her child and can only imagine how hard and heart-breaking it is to have a child with such a condition however it appears that her efforts to prevent the child from becoming stressed or upset are failing because of her driving slow, so why not try and drive a little faster? No one is suggesting driving flat out but driving at 80/90kmph on a main road is not excessive and so long as the road is in good condition, it shouldn't cause too much distress to the child.

If any sort of speed does cause distress than she needs to be aware of a build up of traffic behind her and pull in every so often to allow it to pass, that way preventing drivers from getting annoyed and blowing the horn at her.

From the OP, it appears that she wants everyone else to be more considerate while having no consideration for the fact that other people are being held up by her driving (and are completely unaware why she has to drive slow)

realdanbreen

99% of the clowns who honk and flash the lights would run a mile if you got out and challenged them Anytime they beep me I move to the centre of the road and slow to a crawl.

Rodin

Most drivers well under the speedlimit that I come across are elderly.

Their brains and bodies cannot cope with the speeds required.
Many have never even sat a driving test.
Many would fail one now were they to sit out.

A driving licence for life based on one test is a joke.

tuxy

Rodin wrote: »

Most drivers well under the speedlimit that I come across are elderly.

They should use the extensive reliable public transport network we have, it's free for the elderly. Especially in rural areas, it would be much safer.