Rain in Dublin

Big Nelly

Ok can anyone out there please explain what the f**k is the problem with Dublin drivers when it rains??????? everytime there is even a little shower the whole places back up because nobody can drive in the rain! this morning coming into work I left 10 mins earlier than I usually do(thank god office is only 15 mins away normally) but ended up in the office 10 mins later than I usually am....reason???? well the whole of Blanchardstown was back up! God maybe there is an accident I though! nope!! cops out or something stopping car??? nope!!!! well then why!! oh yeah it is raining!!!

I have been driving around Dublin for a while now and sorry but not racist or picking on any county but I have never seen this anywher before in my life in Ireland or any country! as soon as a Dublin driver see's a spot of rain hit the road it is jam on the brakes and not be able to drive at all proper......what I want to know is why? what differnece does a bit of rain do to the road????? dont say that when it is raining you need to drive slower!! I mean the everywhere in Dublin backs up(city centre as well) once it rains....was just laughing as well at FM104 traffic update and I think she on for 2-3 mins naming out every area in Dublin saying the traffic was slow moving......explanations please???????

RuggieBear

rain means more people drive to avoid getting wet.....

miju

the answer is a bit of a no brainer really it's called safe driving

when it is raining you do have to drive slower and/or increase the distance between each car for stopping as your tyres dont have has much traction

rain also decreases visibility as well

sutty

Its not that people drive slower. Its that there are more cars on the roads. Causing traffic to backup and move slower

miju

that too i suppose i was actually thinking that traffic would be bad this morning cos of the rain

but around my area it actually seemed to be better than the last 2 days

AlanD

It happens everywhere. Rain always causes back ups. Even in America, I've been caught up in rain-jams.

It's annoying when it's unexpected, so check out the weather forecast and adjust your departure time accordingly.

The severe lack of a comprehensive public transport system means that every has to drive on the wet days. The cyclists, the walkers, they all jump in to their cars.

Short of building an overnight traffic system, the Government should promote and give tax breaks for those who telework.

Big Nelly

_raptor_ wrote:

the answer is a bit of a no brainer really it's called safe driving

when it is raining you do have to drive slower and/or increase the distance between each car for stopping as your tyres dont have has much traction

rain also decreases visibility as well

Again this is not an excuse! in Dublin City centre its not like your doing 100 up the street! you would still be travelling the same speed!!!

Also more traffic in the road might be an idea but if you seen it this morning you would swear every drive in the country was in the Blanchardstown area! cant be just that the few people that cycle into work drive in because it is raining! there isnt that many on the road every morning I am on the way into work!!

miju

it doesnt matter if your doing 100mph or 30mph nelly you still have to increase your stopping distance

I dont drive that much near Blanche but I've heard that its a nightmare at the best of times particulalrly at the lights by the shopping centre

Big Nelly

_raptor_ wrote:

it doesnt matter if your doing 100mph or 30mph nelly you still have to increase your stopping distance

I dont drive that much near Blanche but I've heard that its a nightmare at the best of times particulalrly at the lights by the shopping centre

I understand this but I have never seen the same problems in any other city when it rains than in Dublin....like even when Im going home at about 3-4 and it is raning will add on an extra 10 mins to my journey and if you seen the way people drive around here it isnt because they are making sure they have extra stopping distance.....half of them dont know what stopping distance is and a roundabout is just a big circle in the road to amuse them when they are bored!! oh yeah and an indicator is only used at Xmas!! thats my favourite around Blanch!!! never ever use your indicator and if you do make sure you use it wrongly!! but have to admit city centre is the same as well!!

miju

I most definitely agree with you Nelly that driving habits in Dublin are woeful (im no angel myself as the odd time I forget to indicate) but the amount of people who dont bother indicating is incredible.

my personal fave is people who move into a lane and then put on their indicator afterwards WTF?????

seamus

_raptor_ wrote:

the answer is a bit of a no brainer really it's called safe driving

I'd have to say that drivers in Dublin become less safe when it starts raining. They'll actually drive faster, closer to the vehicles in front, and turn more sharply.
Probably a combination of depression and frustration.

Especially when it's raining, the bike far outstrips the car for commuting. Give me wet & 25 mins instead of dry & 90mins any day.

stevenmu

Big Nelly wrote:

a roundabout is just a big circle in the road to amuse them when they are bored!! oh yeah and an indicator is only used at Xmas!! thats my favourite around Blanch!!! never ever use your indicator and if you do make sure you use it wrongly!! but have to admit city centre is the same as well!!

That's true, for some reason roundabout driving there seems to be much worse than anywhere else, except maybe the big one just off the N4 at liffey valley, I think they're too complicated for some people and their brains just switch off.

As for wet weather, I've noticed a lot of people will take off much slower, some of the just crawl away at lights. This means the car behind has to take off slower too and it passes back down the line. I've seen lights where normally 10 to 15 cars might get through normally, but only 2 or 3 get through when it's wet, causing huge tailbacks.

eth0_

Safe driving my arse, I would agree with the person who suggested it's more people driving because they don't want to walk to the bus/train in the bad weather.

More drivers increases the amount of fscking IDIOT DRIVERS on the road. This morning some moron pulled out onto the south circular road into the bus lane by driving over the pavement, very nearly causing a crash. Really, some people are just too stupid to drive!!! That wasn't a lack of driving skill, it was pure idiocy!

Ann Elk

I blame the children - none of the little feckers will walk to school if there's even a drip of rain - it would probably wet their i-pods so mammy puts the only child into the Range Rover/Cayenne/Touraeg/X5/Previa/anything else ridiculously too big for a single child family pops the sunglasses on the head (despite the fact that it's raining) and refuses to give an inch to the rest of the people on the road 'cause she's pissed off that her nail appointment is running late and that means that she'll be late for her secret triste with Jorge the pool boy.
When I was young, i i asked my parents for a lift to school, even in the middle of a lightning storm, it was the back of the hand i tell you... eeee by gum....the youth of today.....oooohh! my lumbago is playing up. :mad:

Big Nelly

Ann Elk wrote:

When I was young, i i asked my parents for a lift to school, even in the middle of a lightning storm, it was the back of the hand i tell you... eeee by gum....the youth of today.....oooohh! my lumbago is playing up. :mad:

Even when it is sunny all around Coolmine it is backed up with Mammy picking up/dropping off little Jonny from school and as I mentioned in another thread here mammy manages to park her tank/people carrier(parks like it is a tank and needs the whole road to hold it) in the worst place possible and then heads off for a gossip with mammy 2 while they wait for there 2 little fe*kers to get out from school....mean while every driver on the road is stuck in traffic becasue mammy has blocked up the road

As said above when I was going to secondary school it was a 2 miles on a bike before I got onto a bus to get to school.....and they talk about bus safety these days.....this yoke was shooting out smoke from the front into us sitting in it and if you got the right seat you could sit and watch the road thru the floor!! and that was in the 90's as well!!! now if you ask the little f**ks to get onto a proper coach they are moaning that they dont have a radio or tv to watch on the way!!!! :eek:

Them where the days!!!

Sleipnir

OP: so, you live 10 minutes from where you work, yet you drive.
However, it's all the other drivers who are causing the traffic, not you?

stag39

Ann Elk wrote:

I blame the children - none of the little feckers will walk to school if there's even a drip of rain - it would probably wet their i-pods so mammy puts the only child into the Range Rover/Cayenne/Touraeg/X5/Previa/anything else ridiculously too big for a single child family pops the sunglasses on the head (despite the fact that it's raining) and refuses to give an inch to the rest of the people on the road 'cause she's pissed off that her nail appointment is running late and that means that she'll be late for her secret triste with Jorge the pool boy.
When I was young, i i asked my parents for a lift to school, even in the middle of a lightning storm, it was the back of the hand i tell you... eeee by gum....the youth of today.....oooohh! my lumbago is playing up. :mad:

lol!!! you forgot to add...drinking there mugs of coffee and shouting at the kids with arms flaying like mad... :rolleyes:

Big Nelly

Sleipnir wrote:

OP: so, you live 10 minutes from where you work, yet you drive.
However, it's all the other drivers who are causing the traffic, not you?

I need a car for work!! doesnt matter how far away from office I am cause I need to be mobile during the day!!! cant really start trying to get public transport around customer sites now can I....do you drive into work???? if so do you need your car during the day??

unkel

Big Nelly wrote:

I understand this but I have never seen the same problems in any other city when it rains than in Dublin

You're right. The cause is very simple though. When the weather is normal the city is fully saturated with traffic during rush hour. If only a few % of people that normally take public transport, walk, or cycle decide to drive in the saturation turns into gridlock

Ann Elk wrote:

When I was young, i i asked my parents for a lift to school, even in the middle of a lightning storm, it was the back of the hand i tell you...

I don't think I ever even asked, no point. Primary school 2 miles * 4 times a day. Secondary school 5 miles * 2 times a day. I got the bus twice during 6 years of secondary school iirc

I've never been to any country where kids are driven to school over such small distances... :rolleyes:

fjon

unkel wrote:

I've never been to any country where kids are driven to school over such small distances... :rolleyes:

Try the UK, or some of the US. Although in the US by the time they're 16 they drive them selves to school :rolleyes:

Sleipnir

Big Nelly wrote:

I need a car for work!! doesnt matter how far away from office I am cause I need to be mobile during the day!!! cant really start trying to get public transport around customer sites now can I....do you drive into work???? if so do you need your car during the day??

Leave the car at work so. Then you can walk/cycle/bus to work and your car will be waiting patiently at the office!

If I know I'll need the car on one particular day, I'll drive in to work the day before, leave it there overnight while getting the Luas home and then it's there the next day!

masterK

There are so many nervous drivers out there and inexperienced drivers on provisional licences driving alone. The slightest bit of rain and these people are terrified and drive at 2 miles an hour. It's amazing how much of a tailback a single car can cause in an area where overtaking is not possible. Even where it is possible to overtake it's not always easy if visibility is poor due to the rain thus slowing down traffic even more.

Big Nelly

Sleipnir wrote:

Leave the car at work so. Then you can walk/cycle/bus to work and your car will be waiting patiently at the office!

If I know I'll need the car on one particular day, I'll drive in to work the day before, leave it there overnight while getting the Luas home and then it's there the next day!

That has to be the most stupid thing I have ever heard!! maybe you have all evening to be driving around and dropping off your car and then cycling home so you can get up the next day and cycle back to your car but you know some people actually do something in the evening! we dont all sit around!!!! at the moment I am working 2 jobs so in the evening I get home for about an hour and then off again(yes in car) to second job to work till 10-11......so you going to tell me then at 11 to go back to work and drop off my car....cycle home.......go to bed at maybe 12 and then be up at 6.30 to try and get into work in time for 7.30....... :rolleyes:

Oh yeah and have you seen the public transport around Blanch??? not much of it to be honest going to my offices!!!

AlanD

plus you'd get wet waiting for the bus or walking and have to drive!

mike65

Ann Elk wrote:

I blame the children - none of the little feckers will walk to school if there's even a drip of rain - it would probably wet their i-pods so mammy puts the only child into the Range Rover/Cayenne/Touraeg/X5/Previa/anything else ridiculously too big for a single child family pops the sunglasses on the head (despite the fact that it's raining) and refuses to give an inch to the rest of the people on the road 'cause she's pissed off that her nail appointment is running late and that means that she'll be late for her secret triste with Jorge the pool boy.
When I was young, i i asked my parents for a lift to school, even in the middle of a lightning storm, it was the back of the hand i tell you... eeee by gum....the youth of today.....oooohh! my lumbago is playing up. :mad:

Here here! To all the above.

Its not just Dublin, Waterfords traffic is hellish in the wet and Limerick is beyond words at times. Mix together school-kids, extra taxis, others who normally walk/cycle in thier cars not to mention partially flooded roads due to poor design/maintainence and its no suprise it happens. Its just another reflection on the lack of capacity of our roads and that we don't like getting wet.

Mike.

layke

There are a few reasons.

We have utterly dire roads with very little future planning put in, + most of them have been dug up so many times they are uneaven and patchy. Not to mention the potholes.

The rain brings out the fear in the Irish. Kids get lumped into mommys oversized car bus to be brought/collected from school (i was always turfed out in a raincoat and told to get the bus ). Motorcyclists and pedestrians take the car to avoid being drenched.

And the big one, the Irish suck at driving. Thankfully this is will be bred out with the required theory and new full license tests(I hope). I am confident a vast majority of old dears and aoul' fellas would fail their test if they had to do it again. You only have to look at them go through a reoundabout to see that, blatent disregard for lanes and indication.

Personally i'd like to see it mandatory for people to redo their driveing test every 20 years or so. It would lessen road deaths and increase drivers awareness.

Trampas

Sleipnir wrote:

OP: so, you live 10 minutes from where you work, yet you drive.
However, it's all the other drivers who are causing the traffic, not you?

I agree with you. to many people are driving instead of walking 20 mins. Pure lazy if you ask me.

If people walked that distance all the oil we would save and reduce the price of oil

Big Nelly

Trampas wrote:

I agree with you. to many people are driving instead of walking 20 mins. Pure lazy if you ask me.

If people walked that distance all the oil we would save and reduce the price of oil

Did you read my reply? if no then why posting this!! talk to other people about this.....again do you drive to work? do you need your car during the day at work?

Just another thing on my way home from work yesterday I seen 2 accidents where people had gone straight up the arse of the car in front so for those that where saying the traffic slows down because people are allowing for more braking room are wrong....as suggested here once it rains most people try and drive like lunatics because there is some dope doing 10 miles an hour holding the whole traffic up!!

Sleipnir

Big Nelly wrote:

That has to be the most stupid thing I have ever heard!! maybe you have all evening to be driving around and dropping off your car and then cycling home so you can get up the next day and cycle back to your car but you know some people actually do something in the evening! we dont all sit around!!!! at the moment I am working 2 jobs so in the evening I get home for about an hour and then off again(yes in car) to second job to work till 10-11......so you going to tell me then at 11 to go back to work and drop off my car....cycle home.......go to bed at maybe 12 and then be up at 6.30 to try and get into work in time for 7.30....... :rolleyes:

Oh yeah and have you seen the public transport around Blanch??? not much of it to be honest going to my offices!!!

No, you just asked me what I did so I told you. I didn't say the same thing would work for everyone did i?
I also didn't know you worked two jobs did I? Sorry, your life isn't on T.V. yet.

Big Nelly

Sleipnir wrote:

No, you just asked me what I did so I told you. I didn't say the same thing would work for everyone did i?
I also didn't know you worked two jobs did I? Sorry, your life isn't on T.V. yet.

Read your thread again! you told me to take my car into work....wasnt a suggestion.....anyway getting off the point here.....I need my car everyday in work.....if I didnt would prob get public transport......for 2-3 years I used to get bus into work or get a lift from a mate and I would give a lift the next day so it not only saved on petrol but on cars on road!!!

Changed departments so need car to go to customer sites!! simply as that!!

Anyway back to original point is it just that there is so many learner drivers on the road because of the econmy at the moment? I have seen alot of new 05(usually those sh*t looking Micra's) on the road with about 3-4 L plates plastered all over them and these are the people usually casuing the problems......also funny to see alot of these cars seem to be able to use M50 no problem.....

now dont say that it could be a full licensed driver in the car because isnt it an offensive to drive while having a full license with L plates on?

Sleipnir

Well, really it was a suggestion as I can't actually force you to take the bus, I can only do things like "suggest"

It's an offence for a learner driver to drive without an accompanying fully licensed driver (unless you are on your second provisional license)

There are lots of learners because it takes so long to get a test these days.

Rovi

layke wrote:

Personally i'd like to see it mandatory for people to redo their driveing test every 20 years or so. It would lessen road deaths and increase drivers awareness.

Ah ha! My favourite hobby horse.

I'd go further, and make a full driving test mandatory for renewing a licence or getting it back after a ban.

I reckon that'd do wonders for the standard of driving on Irish roads.

.

Big Nelly

Sleipnir wrote:

There are lots of learners because it takes so long to get a test these days.

Dont agree with this.....I did my test a few years back(must be about 3 now) and it was supposed to be terrible then....if you listened to everything it was 6-9 months before you got a test....now I sent my application throught and got a date in Dublin for 2 months times....doe to hols I couldnt accept it so went to Cavan and asked there......got date for 2 weeks times and passed on first time

now my girlfriend tried abotu 6-9 months later for a test and again within 2 months got her test, she failed because a traffic light was out and she didnt do the right thing which I though was BS.....anyway applied again and again she got in 2 months....done test and passed......

Now everyone I have talked to have got test within 2 months and if it was longer just applied in Navan or somewhere just outside the city and got there test in no time.....shouldnt be a problem gettign to Navan/whereever because they are already driving......

Anyway I know a bloke who is on his first prov license....never drove in his life till he got his car abotu 6 months ago....done 2 lessons and has been driving around since by himself....doesnt use M50 alright but ever other road.....now thats the problem in this country....someone buys a car.....has never drove before....get a prov license and goes off no bother driving around but hasnt a clue of the rules on the road, how to use indicators, how to actually drive as a railing found out one day along the road!!! :rolleyes:

Silvera

Also re Rain......

I've lost count of the amount of (simpleton!) drivers who refuse to turn on their dipped headlights when it's raining ! :mad:

As I often say - "It cost's nothing, and could save your (or somebody elses!) life !"

Silvera

Big Nelly wrote:

.....now thats the problem in this country....someone buys a car.....has never drove before....get a prov license and goes off no bother driving around but hasnt a clue of the rules on the road, how to use indicators, how to actually drive as a railing found out one day along the road!!! :rolleyes:

I agree !

Case in point, I was recently asked by a girl to turn her car for her because she had only bought it that day and she and her two friends had decided to go for a long drive ?!!

I thought to myself as I turned the car around "WTF is she doin on the road with so little experience?!"

stag39

Big nelly why don't you just save up for ages and buy a wee helicoptor....there'd one less on the roads then!!! why not get a super moped!!!!

Big Nelly

stag39 wrote:

Big nelly why don't you just save up for ages and buy a wee helicoptor....there'd one less on the roads then!!! why not get a super moped!!!!

No heli pad at the office