Queueing / driving in the hard shoulder to skip queues going straight or turning right.

Jeremy Sproket · 10-12-2021 7:42pm #1

What is the legal situation with this as I see it frequently on my commute and regular driving.

Two examples are the M1 near Lissenhall / Swords (junction 4 northbound I think) and the roundabout which leads onto the M1 southbound near swords (also junction 4 I believe).

At the first one, there are two lanes going onto the roundabout, the leftmost lane is leading onto the M1. I queue in the leftmost lane to go onto the M1 northbound but you have cars cutting up the hard shoulder to get onto the lane ahead of people queueing properly, my intuition says it's wrong but you're allowed to overtake queues of slow moving traffic on the left and you can temporarily drive on the hard shoulder of a non-motorway road.

The second one is the R132 here https://goo.gl/maps/d7kwENcCnxLtVNLU7

You have vehicles cutting up the hard shoulder and skipping people queueing to go left towards Donabate.

What if I were to drive up it too at Rush hour and stop my car at the end of the hard shoulder and get out to "fix" my headlight and teach a lesson to people kipping the queues?

Nigzcurran · 10-12-2021 7:57pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058222293/queueing-driving-in-the-hard-shoulder-to-skip-queues-going-straight-or-turning-right

They’ll just go around you and you’ll have wasted your time for no reason. I hate being skipped but Ive also been the skipper so I can’t complain!

bazz26 · 10-12-2021 8:21pm

Is the OP getting paid for starting new threads on boards.ie?

FishOnABike · 10-12-2021 8:23pm

It's illegal.- filtering up the hard shoulder that is. I've seen the roads policing unit waiting at the end of the hard shoulder in similar locations and issuing a ticket to every car that drove up the hard shoulder.

Jeremy Sproket · 10-12-2021 10:06pm

Thanks all. I might cycle my bike or stop my car at the end and force them back into the queue of traffic to teach them a lesson. I shall park at the end of the hard shoulder and "replace" my headlight or washer fluid or inspect my tyre for debris I "drove over".

Nigzcurran · 12-12-2021 12:57am

good for you ye big rebel. I reckon nobody will ever do it again after the lesson you teach them

Del2005 · 13-12-2021 1:15am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118303114#Comment_118303114

RTCs regularly happen to vehicles stopped on the hard shoulder, it's why you are told to get out of your broken down vehicle and away from it.

It's ignorant of the assholes who do this but putting your life/health at risk to "teach" them a lesson is not a good idea especially when they will do it tomorrow, the day after, the day after that ....

Gregor Samsa · 13-12-2021 11:55am

Different scenario to what the OP describes, but before Covid times, there was an electronic sign on the southbound M18 about a kilometer from the Shannon Airport exit, telling people to use the hard shoulder to queue for taking the exit for Shannon. It made sense when traffic was heavy for about a 20 minute period in the morning, as the people exiting left off the motorway would queue in the HS and not block up the driving lane. But the sign was left on all day, so even when there was hardly any traffic on the motorway, you'd have people ripping up the left in the hard shoulder just because the sign said so, which was really dangerous. I brought it up with TII, who said it was nothing to do with them, so I sent it to Clare Co. Council, who also said it was nothing to do with them. The Gardaí weren't interested in it either.

The sign is gone now, because no-one goes to Shannon any more.

OP, if you want to teach people lessons, a read of this would be better than stopping unnecessarily on the hard shoulder.

Wishbone Ash · 13-12-2021 4:56pm

The second one is the R132 here https://goo.gl/maps/d7kwENcCnxLtVNLU7

You have vehicles cutting up the hard shoulder and skipping people queueing to go left towards Donabate.

They are not skipping people queueing to go left towards Donabate. They are skipping law abiding motorists queueing to join the M1. 99% of motorists travelling southbound with the intention of heading to Donabate will use Turvey Avenue as it's shorter, quicker and simpler. You could stand at that junction all day and count on one hand the number of motorists who take a left onto the Hearse Road to access Donabate.

(The other problem there is that motorists queueing in the hard shoulder are impeding access to the subway for cyclists).

Mad_maxx · 13-12-2021 6:17pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118303114#Comment_118303114

be sure to face them and wag your finger for a minute as well , only right and proper

Jeremy Sproket · 16-12-2021 10:50pm

If when the new system of being able to report drivers comes into force, and it cannot come soon enough, then I will spend my weekends recording drivers going up the bus lane, hard shoulder, hatched areas etc.

Queueing / driving in the hard shoulder to skip queues going straight or turning right.

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