What is the proper way to drive on the m50?

Pseudorandom · 06-07-2017 12:36AM #1

Ok, so every time anyone posts a topic involving commuting or the M50 in general people often spend a lot of time talking about the correct way to drive on a motorway and how it should be taught in driving lessons. But what is the correct way exactly?

I've seen two main theories put forward:
1. Stay as far left as you can unless you have to overtake. As soon as you can move left again do so.
2. The furthest left lane is the merging lane. Stay in the middle lane as much as you can and treat the farthest right lane as a passing lane only for overtaking and moving back in to the middle as soon as you can. The left lane should be used for merging in or out of the exit lanes.

and of course the third:
3. Screw all other drivers; undertake anyone you deem to be not speeding as much as they should be in the lane left to them and always be swerving, swerving towards victory.

gobo99 · 06-07-2017 12:43AM

Number 1. Free up left lane for merging traffic if required.

Pseudorandom · 06-07-2017 12:48AM

I tend to be driving on the M50 at peak hours anyway so it all becomes quite irrelevant because everyone is bumper to bumper, but it usually does seem like I'll be blocking people merging if I stay in the furthest left lane?

eeguy · 06-07-2017 12:52AM

Pseudorandom wrote: »

I tend to be driving on the M50 at peak hours anyway so it all becomes quite irrelevant because everyone is bumper to bumper, but it usually does seem like I'll be blocking people merging if I stay in the furthest left lane?

I suppose people think it's too much effort to stay left. Just tootle along in the middle for he minimum of fuss.

RayM · 06-07-2017 01:03AM

If traffic is heavy, I usually stick to the fast lane and do whatever speed the cars in front of me are doing. If I get stuck behind a slow one, I'll move over and let someone else bully them out of the way. I tend to avoid the left lane unless the road is quiet, because constant lane-changing is one of the things that causes bottlenecks on the M50.

Hilly Bill · 06-07-2017 02:14AM

Pseudorandom wrote: »

I tend to be driving on the M50 at peak hours anyway so it all becomes quite irrelevant because everyone is bumper to bumper, but it usually does seem like I'll be blocking people merging if I stay in the furthest left lane?

You wont be blocking anyone , if you stay in the furthest lane then you will go straight off at the next exit. If you are in the first lane then you just let cars merge in order.

Cookie_Monster · 06-07-2017 05:25AM

Pseudorandom wrote: »

I've seen two main theories put forward:
1. Stay as far left as you can unless you have to overtake. As soon as you can move left again do so.

In theory this

Pseudorandom wrote: »

3. Screw all other drivers; undertake anyone you deem to be not speeding as much as they should be in the lane left to them and always be swerving, swerving towards victory.

In reality this

The Bishop Basher · 06-07-2017 06:20AM

RayM wrote: »

If traffic is heavy, I usually stick to the fast lane and do whatever speed the cars in front of me are doing. If I get stuck behind a slow one, I'll move over and let someone else bully them out of the way. I tend to avoid the left lane unless the road is quiet, because constant lane-changing is one of the things that causes bottlenecks on the M50.

And you were trying to lecture me on another thread about how to drive on a motorway..

You and people like you are the problem.

The reality is many people end up choosing option 3 because people like RayM decide to sit in the "fast lane".

It only takes a couple of people driving like this to screw it up for everyone else and the problem is we have lots of them.

And not being taught as part of the test is no excuse. None of us were taught as part of the test so we either looked it up or figured it out for ourselves.

dbagman · 06-07-2017 06:28AM

I was cruising down it one day a good few years ago now off peak hours keeping to the middle lane to allow people merge and keeping the outside lane free. Here was me thinking to myself I was being a very considerate driver. I spy in my rear view a Garda bike. He proceeds to overtake and pull in front of me, jam on his brakes and usher me into he left hand lane with his hand. Me thinking sh1t what's this about only for him to then speed off and do the same to other vehicles in front of me. Now when I say he jammed on the brakes I had to hit my own hard enough to stop from rear ending him. Iv no idea what or why as there was nothing behind me and even if there was they could use the outside lane to overtake. To this day I can only assume he was having a ****ty day himself coz there really was no need for it. Suffice to say option 3 in the OP applies those that are meant to know the correct way to drive on it too it would seem. No sooner had he done it and I was back in the middle lane to allow a car merge anyway. Maybe it was his first day......driving.

theteal · 06-07-2017 06:35AM

Keep left unless overtaking. It can't be put more simply than that. Now its been quite a few years since I did the daily m50 commute but back then the left driving lane was always the quickest moving anyway because of....well, Irish drivers!

If changing lanes when needed is too much effort for you then you're part of the problem. Driving is supposed to take effort, you're supposed to be alert. Too many people switch their brain off when behind the wheel and this greatly adds to the problems on Irish roads.

theteal · 06-07-2017 06:38AM

By the way, I genuinely can't tell if people are trolling with some of the responses here

The Bishop Basher · 06-07-2017 06:40AM

I'm not condoning his actions but he probably just had a total pain in his arse watching people like you hog the middle lane.

Why do Irish people find the concept of keeping left so incredibly difficult to understand ?

Borderfox · 06-07-2017 06:52AM

Quite a lot of people are too lazy to steer or indicate on the roads.

I work with a guy who's idea of driving on the M50 is to go straight into lane 3 and stay there for the whole trip and then at the last minute to go for the slip road

I drive left and allow merging traffic in and overtake right, its simple and requires effort.

Gaoth Laidir · 06-07-2017 06:54AM

theteal wrote: »

Keep left unless overtaking. It can't be put more simply than that. Now its been quite a few years since I did the daily m50 commute but back then the left driving lane was always the quickest moving anyway because of....well, Irish drivers!

If changing lanes when needed is too much effort for you then you're part of the problem. Driving is supposed to take effort, you're supposed to be alert. Too many people switch their brain when behind the wheel and this greatly adds to the problems on Irish roads.

Completely agree. To those people who advocate sticking to the middle lane "to allow others to merge": nonsense. It's not as if there's a steady stream of merging traffic. There are on and off ramps every couple of kilometres, on average, not every 100 metres, so ffs please keep out of the middle lane and only use it for overtaking.

We drive on the LEFT in Ireland. Links fahren. Conduire à gauche. However, most of the time I see the middle and right lane busier than the left lane, which is opposite to how it should be and is how it is on the continent. I would LOVE to see some of you guys driving in Germany. You would last 2 minutes before you'd be flashed and hooted tf out of the way. That policeman was right.

Gaoth Laidir · 06-07-2017 06:58AM

dbagman wrote: »

I was cruising down it one day a good few years ago now off peak hours keeping to the middle lane to allow people merge and keeping the outside lane free. Here was me thinking to myself I was being a very considerate driver...

You were being an a-hole.

Bushmanpm · 06-07-2017 09:02AM

Keep left in lane one (nearside lane)
Merging traffic are joining YOUR lane, THEY give way to you. They should set their speed appropriate to the lane they are joining. Sometimes if the spacing gets a bit tight, lane one drivers may need to ease off the throttle a little
(not slam on the brakes!) and only in rare cases should a driver in lane one move to lane two.
This is such a basic concept that is unfortunately lost on most drivers. This adds to all the lane changing and general slowing of traffic.
Equally you'll always get a 'turbo nutter b'stard' roaring down the slip road so I always have a check of my nearside door mirror when passing a slip road.

Macy0161 · 06-07-2017 09:13AM

Pseudorandom wrote: »

I've seen two main theories put forward:
1. Stay as far left as you can unless you have to overtake. As soon as you can move left again do so.

It's not a theory, it's the rules of the road. Keep left unless overtaking.

If you can be undertaken, you're in the wrong lane. It's driving lane, and one (or more) over taking lanes. It's not complicated, no matter what convoluted excuses people try to make.

The Bishop Basher · 06-07-2017 09:28AM

Macy0161 wrote: »

If you can be undertaken, you're in the wrong lane.

This sums it up perfectly..

No ifs, buts or ands about it..

Brian? · 06-07-2017 09:33AM

Macy0161 wrote: »

It's not a theory, it's the rules of the road. Keep left unless overtaking.

If you can be undertaken, you're in the wrong lane. It's driving lane, and one (or more) over taking lanes. It's not complicated, no matter what convoluted excuses people try to make.

100% correct. I overtake people on the left every time I use a 3 lane road in Ireland. I do the speed limit in the left most lane. I'm overtaking slow moving traffic, perfectly legal and safe.

veliktom · 06-07-2017 09:53AM

It's worse on the N7 inbound (Naas dual carriageway). I always go to lane 1 when the motorway ends but lane 1 of the M7 becomes lane 2 of the N7, so most drivers don't bother to change lanes. I'm doing the speed limit in lane 1, undertaking a line of slower moving traffic in lane 2, and the speedsters are whizzing along in lane 3. Completely nuts.

dbagman · 06-07-2017 09:57AM

Swanner wrote:

I'm not condoning his actions but he probably just had a total pain in his arse watching people like you hog the middle lane.

I was approaching a slip road, and as such anticipating merging traffic. Which is exactly what happened. To me that classes as being alert as much as being aware of what's around you. Expect the unexpected and all that. Id hardly class it hogging the middle lane. If my memory serves me right I was approaching the n7 turn off heading north so probably the busiest stretch of it. And the widest.

dbagman · 06-07-2017 09:59AM

Gaoth Laidir wrote:

We drive on the LEFT in Ireland. Links fahren. Conduire Ã gauche. However, most of the time I see the middle and right lane busier than the left lane, which is opposite to how it should be and is how it is on the continent. I would LOVE to see some of you guys driving in Germany. You would last 2 minutes before you'd be flashed and hooted tf out of the way. That policeman was right.

So you condone dangerous driving to prove a point? Yet I'm the a hole. Good lad.

dbagman · 06-07-2017 10:03AM

Bushmanpm wrote:

Keep left in lane one (nearside lane) Merging traffic are joining YOUR lane, THEY give way to you. They should set their speed appropriate to the lane they are joining. Sometimes if the spacing gets a bit tight, lane one drivers may need to ease off the throttle a little (not slam on the brakes!) and only in rare cases should a driver in lane one move to lane two. This is such a basic concept that is unfortunately lost on most drivers. This adds to all the lane changing and general slowing of traffic. Equally you'll always get a 'turbo nutter b'stard' roaring down the slip road so I always have a check of my nearside door mirror when passing a slip road.

To the best of my knowledge that is incorrect. The person merging should match their speed to that of the main road correct, but in most cases they are running out of road. For them to speed up to match the m50 only for some d1ck to cut them off because "they're entering my lane" is an a hole if ever there was one. They have no where to go once the slip ends. Are you suggesting they grind to a halt for fear of upsetting the people in the lane they're trying to join. Common courtesy and good driving to allow them enter and better again to get out of the lane completely so you avoid having to slow down to accommodate them. There in lies the congestion problem.

theteal · 06-07-2017 10:05AM

dbagman wrote: »

I was approaching a slip road, and as such anticipating merging traffic. Which is exactly what happened. To me that classes as being alert as much as being aware of what's around you. Expect the unexpected and all that. Id hardly class it hogging the middle lane. If my memory serves me right I was approaching the n7 turn off heading north so probably the busiest stretch of it. And the widest.

Sorry dude, this doesn't wash. You said it was off peak. The garda had plenty of open road to brake in front of you and usher to the driving lane. It definitely doesn't sound like a busy on-ramp. If he saw you move to accommodate traffic entering the motorway and then move back to the driving lane I dare say his/her intervention wouldn't have happened.

KwackerJack · 06-07-2017 10:07AM

The M50 standard is........In the middle lane, at 80kph and yapping on your phone.

The Driving standard on the M50 is worse than a drunken joyride on GTA5 at half 3 in the morning.

You always get these muppets who when in the right lane holding up traffic flash you as you pass them out in the middle lane??

And don't get me started on merging.......trying to merge onto the M50 is like flying a microlight through the centre of Baghdad dressed as George Bush.

When you try to merge every driver speeds up so they can get ahead of you resulting in you slowing down and entering the motorway at a ridiculously slow speed.

Senna · 06-07-2017 10:11AM

dbagman wrote: »

I was cruising down it one day a good few years ago now off peak hours keeping to the middle lane to allow people merge and keeping the outside lane free. Here was me thinking to myself I was being a very considerate driver. I spy in my rear view a Garda bike. He proceeds to overtake and pull in front of me, jam on his brakes and usher me into he left hand lane with his hand. Me thinking sh1t what's this about only for him to then speed off and do the same to other vehicles in front of me. Now when I say he jammed on the brakes I had to hit my own hard enough to stop from rear ending him. Iv no idea what or why as there was nothing behind me and even if there was they could use the outside lane to overtake. To this day I can only assume he was having a ****ty day himself coz there really was no need for it. Suffice to say option 3 in the OP applies those that are meant to know the correct way to drive on it too it would seem. No sooner had he done it and I was back in the middle lane to allow a car merge anyway. Maybe it was his first day......driving.

So the guard is trying to teach you how to drive on a motorway correctly, yet it must be his/her first day or maybe hes in a bad mood!!
Classic example of Irish driving, even when a trained member of the garda is showing you the correct way, you don't believe him and go straight back to driving in the wrong lane.

The Bishop Basher · 06-07-2017 10:14AM

dbagman wrote: »

I was approaching a slip road, and as such anticipating merging traffic.

It's up to the merging traffic to anticipate you. Not the other way round..

dbagman wrote: »

Id hardly class it hogging the middle lane.

Let me remind you what you posted...

dbagman wrote: »

I was cruising down it one day a good few years ago now off peak hours keeping to the middle lane to allow people merge and keeping the outside lane free.

So you were most definitely hogging the middle lane.

It's worrying how many people are posting in these threads, describing the manner in which they hog the middle and outside lanes while convinced they are in the right. It's no wonder the M50 is the mess it is..

We need a massive education campaign backed up with proper enforcement but this being Ireland of course we'll do absolutely nothing.

mojesius · 06-07-2017 10:20AM

Stay left, unless you're overtaking. Move back to the left lane when you're finished overtaking. Unfortunately, because of so many 90kmph middle-lane hoggers, this sounds easy in theory but difficult in practice, so I tend to just stay in the left lane, which is often completely clear as many drivers think of it as a merging lane or a 'slow lane for HGVs'. I really dislike undertaking but I'm not going to slow down to 80kph just because John and Mary are too busy floating along in the middle lane, oblivious to anything going on around them.

I often have to drive the M50 off-peak joining at N3 junction and take the city centre ramp, moving into middle lane when the sign appears to do so. The amount of sitting lane-hoggers in the middle lane or 'fast lane' who complete dangerous last-minute swerves way after the signs to the left lanes towards M1/airport is unreal.

First Up · 06-07-2017 10:23AM

Swanner wrote:

We need a massive education campaign backed up with proper enforcement but this being Ireland of course we'll do absolutely nothing.

Reading this (and other) threads, the scale of the education campaign that is needed comes into clear focus.

Daunting, but I can't imagine what other priority should rank higher with the RSA and traffic police.

xabi · 06-07-2017 10:30AM

dbagman wrote: »

To the best of my knowledge that is incorrect. The person merging should match their speed to that of the main road correct, but in most cases they are running out of road. For them to speed up to match the m50 only for some d1ck to cut them off because "they're entering my lane" is an a hole if ever there was one. They have no where to go once the slip ends. Are you suggesting they grind to a halt for fear of upsetting the people in the lane they're trying to join. Common courtesy and good driving to allow them enter and better again to get out of the lane completely so you avoid having to slow down to accommodate them. There in lies the congestion problem.

Nonsense

Fieldsman · 06-07-2017 10:30AM

I can't understand Dbabman's amazement at the garda's gesture to get over in the left lane. It's drivers like him that cause a lot of the tailbacks.

What is the proper way to drive on the m50?

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