M8 - Cashel to Cullahill

BluntGuy · 11-12-2008 11:18pm

Furet wrote: »

Actually, here's a good example of what we're talking about (video commentary is...cryptic!): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rhp9RlrfAn8

Yes... that sight is rather familiar. I've seen tractors on the M7, M9 and M8 before.

They seem to have this deluded notion that if they drive in the hard shoulder it's acceptable. They need to learn the rules of the road. You CANNOT drive in the hard shoulder on a clearway road. It's simple.

Our man in Havana · 11-12-2008 11:57pm

The Gardaí will do nothing. I have informed them before about tractors on the Cashel bypass and all they said was "Ah sure he must be going to his farm, we have to allow them to do that!" :eek:

Stark · 11-12-2008 11:58pm

Furet wrote: »

Actually, here's a good example of what we're talking about (video commentary is...cryptic!): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rhp9RlrfAn8

"It's a motorway!". "The M1!". Though we could have guessed it was the M1 by the empty left-hand lane and all the cars cruising along in the overtaking lane.

BluntGuy · 12-12-2008 12:04am

Bond-007 wrote: »

The Gardaí will do nothing. I have informed them before about tractors on the Cashel bypass and all they said was "Ah sure he must be going to his farm, we have to allow them to do that!" :eek:

"Ah sure he's only breaking the law, sure what's wrong with that?"

Cool Mo D · 12-12-2008 1:16am

The real problem is that there is no law forbidding tractors from the motorway, as long as they can do 50 km/h, which most modern ones can.

bk · 12-12-2008 1:23am

Here is what needs to happen.

- Law changed so that there is a minimum speed limit of 70km/h
- Tractors/JCB's specifically banned from Motorways.
- A dedicated Garda Motorway division, put in place and given the powers to enforce these laws.

Unregistered. · 12-12-2008 2:15am

bk wrote: »

Here is what needs to happen.

- Law changed so that there is a minimum speed limit of 70km/h

Difficult when there's upper speed limits as low as 80kph on parts of our motorways. :rolleyes:

Irish and Proud · 12-12-2008 12:03pm

Bond-007 wrote: »

The Gardaí will do nothing. I have informed them before about tractors on the Cashel bypass and all they said was "Ah sure he must be going to his farm, we have to allow them to do that!" :eek:

What???

It's a M O T O R W A Y FFS!!! :mad:

Do people, who are supposed to be enforcing our laws, not know what a motorway is??? :mad:

Anyone driving a tractor on such roads should be regarded as a trespasser showing total disregard for safety! :mad:

...or are these farmers THICK, or are they really THICK??? :mad:

Regards!

Zuisse · 12-12-2008 12:07pm

There's no excuse for these slow vehicles using the motorways. The motorways run more or less parallel to the old 'N' roads so they wouldn't by going out of their way when using the N roads.
Agree with amending the minimum speed limit - I'd be in favour of 70-80km/h - if you want to drive less that that speed (or if your vehicle is incapable of reaching this speed), then you should be forced to use the R roads instead.

Rowley Birkin QC · 12-12-2008 12:15pm

Irish and Proud wrote: »

Do people, who are supposed to be enforcing our laws, not know what a motorway is??? :mad:

Quite obviously they know the law as it stands.

Irish and Proud wrote: »

...or are these farmers THICK, or are they really THICK???

Once again, there is no need for this kind of childish bs.

marmurr1916 · 12-12-2008 12:44pm

Here's an RSA report into agricultural and construction vehicles in Ireland.

A high percentage of such vehicles don't meet legal safety standards and many aren't even registered properly, meaning they shouldn't be driven on any public road, let alone a motorway.

http://www.rsa.ie/Home/upload/File/Agri%20Report.pdf

Carawaystick · 12-12-2008 3:32pm

Unregistered. wrote: »

Difficult when there's upper speed limits as low as 80kph on parts of our motorways. :rolleyes:

I got a letter today telling me I'll be getting penalty points in January for exceeding 60kmh on a Motorway.....

Amtmann · 12-12-2008 3:45pm

Whether in some cases it is legal or not, there simply is no reason whatsoever for a tractor to use a motorway. It's the equivalent of a mother pushing a pram on Cork's South Ring Road - technically above board perhaps, but stupid in the extreme nonetheless. The law is an ass. There are excellent alternative routes for tractor drivers to use now - the ultra wide and now empty R639, for example.

I got a reply this morning from Garda HQ. They say they will take the matter seriously, and will contact the Garda chiefs of counties Kilkenny and Tipperary about it.
Time, I suppose, will tell.

johnbk · 12-12-2008 4:43pm

This is one of the issues I can’t stand about all our new motorways. Coming from an Ag background you might think I would have sympathy for tractors on motorways but no, it’s crazy! The argument about most modern tractors doing 50kph is weak at best. Put any sort of a load behind a tractor and it won’t do 50kph. Lorries are over 500hp twice as much power as the largest of tractors just to keep-up their speed with heavy loads. Then there is the issue of brakes, brake away devices weights, licensing, the age of drivers (16 min in a tractor), DOE tests.

The whole area is a minefield which in fairness the RSA is trying to sort out. We probably need information campaigns over the next 2 years to let people know the dos and don’ts of motorway driving and the Guards need to stop tractors on motorways now, not after we have a major accident with people driving into the back of one.

nordydan · 12-12-2008 7:15pm

Stark wrote: »

"It's a motorway!". "The M1!". Though we could have guessed it was the M1 by the empty left-hand lane and all the cars cruising along in the overtaking lane.

All you're missing is a yellow reg doing 140km/h on the inside lane overtaking everyone (e.g. me)...

Chris_533976 · 12-12-2008 7:41pm

Not quite as bad, but I saw a HORSE AND CART pootling along in the hard shoulder of the Cork South Ring the other day. The horse looked terribly depressed.

BluntGuy · 12-12-2008 8:22pm

Furet wrote: »

It's the equivalent of a mother pushing a pram on Cork's South Ring Road - technically above board perhaps, but stupid in the extreme nonetheless.

A great analogy to describe the silliness that is driving a tractor on a motorway.

50 kilometers per hour people is NOT a safe speed to be going on a motorway. It doesn't matter what the law states. If you are going to trundle along at 50 km/h on a motorway then you are selfish and have no regard for other road-user's safety.

There is an empty regional road available, which in many places is of an excellent quality. Why slow-down (and in many cases endanger) long distance traffic? What possible reason? You aren't going to get anywhere any quicker on a motorway than you are on a regional road trundling at 50.

Yes, and I agree with previous posters that there should be a specific ban on tractors on the motorways, and a minimum speed limit raise to at least 70.

And let me repeat the main point again...

50 km/h in 120 km/h traffic is NOT SAFE.

(And no, not even if you drive in the hard shoulder

)

rameire · 12-12-2008 9:34pm

Furet wrote: »

Actually, here's a good example of what we're talking about (video commentary is...cryptic!): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rhp9RlrfAn8

id like to point out the idiot taking the video of the idiot driving the jcb was more than likely breaking the law himself, by holding a mobile device while driving.

BluntGuy · 12-12-2008 9:40pm

rameire wrote: »

id like to point out the idiot taking the video of the idiot driving the jcb was more than likely breaking the law himself, by holding a mobile device while driving.

No, the video refers to a "we", which suggests to me that somebody else is doing the recording (on a camcorder too, that footage looks far too high-quality to be a phone tbh.)

rameire · 12-12-2008 9:42pm

BluntGuy wrote: »

No, the video refers to a "we", which suggests to me that somebody else is doing the recording (on a camcorder too, that footage looks far too high-quality to be a phone tbh.)

doesnt have to be a phone, just a mobile device, also the video was taken from the right hand side of the cab, unless its a left hand drive truck.

murphaph · 12-12-2008 10:47pm

rameire wrote: »

doesnt have to be a phone, just a mobile device, also the video was taken from the right hand side of the cab, unless its a left hand drive truck.

Road sweepers are usually left hand drive or dual controls. Could be one of them I suppose!

rameire · 12-12-2008 11:01pm

true, scania do do road sweepers.

murphaph · 12-12-2008 11:42pm

The JCB might have been a motorway works vehicle, in which case he'd be permitted to do what he was doing.

G_R · 13-12-2008 12:05am

bigkev49 wrote: »

Quite obviously they know the law as it stands.

not if they think that a tractor is going down the hard shoulder of an M-Way is OK, regardless of speed, you do not drive in the H-Shoulder of and M-Way or anyother road for that matter, simple as that. And plus if the tractor was doing less than 50km/h (and i think someone said that it was traveling at 40) it shouldn't be there.

bigkev49 wrote: »

Once again, there is no need for this kind of childish bs.

its not childish, someone endangering the lives of everyone else on the M-Way is thick, no question, not to mention selfish, I mean how much time is he really saving, he wont be going much faster than he would be going on the R-road.

marmurr1916 · 13-12-2008 2:32pm

Carawaystick wrote: »

I got a letter today telling me I'll be getting penalty points in January for exceeding 60kmh on a Motorway.....

If you were driving through a section where there were roadworks, there might have been a temporary 60 km/h speed limit.

marmurr1916 · 13-12-2008 2:40pm

It might not be a bad idea to put up VMS repeater signs (say every 2km) on motorways with the following messages alternating on a regular basis:

MINIMUM speed limit: 50 km/h.
DO NOT drive on hard shoulder.
DO NOT stop except in case of breakdown/emergency.
KEEP LEFT unless overtaking.
LEAVE motorway at next exit if tired.
SLOW DOWN in poor weather.

Rowley Birkin QC · 13-12-2008 2:42pm

@dannym08; FFS I never said tractors/JCBs/Tractor Lawnmowers driving in the hard shoulder was a good thing or within the law, READ POSTS BEFORE YOU RESPOND :mad::mad:

The point I am making, once again, is that the law currently permits vehicles capable of 50km/h to travel on motorways, I never passed comment on whether or not this was a good thing or a bad thing.

My main bugbear was the frankly ridiculous attitude here regarding farmers. Thick, ignorant, yokel etc. etc. I still want to know how a previous poster managed to accurately measure the speed of the tractor as he overtook.

marmurr1916 · 13-12-2008 2:48pm

bigkev49 wrote: »

My main bugbear was the frankly ridiculous attitude here regarding farmers. Thick, ignorant, yokel etc. etc. I still want to know how a previous poster managed to accurately measure the speed of the tractor as he overtook.

It isn't just about farmers. It's about anybody who drives an unsuitable vehicle illegally on a motorway, especially on the hard shoulder.

Anybody who drives a vehicle unsafely and illegally on a motorway is either ignorant of the law or thick for endangering their safety and the safety of others.

BluntGuy · 13-12-2008 2:50pm

bigkev49 wrote: »

My main bugbear was the frankly ridiculous attitude here regarding farmers. Thick, ignorant, yokel etc. etc. I still want to know how a previous poster managed to accurately measure the speed of the tractor as he overtook.

We all know (or at least hope) that most farmers are sensible enough not to bring their slow agricultural vehicles onto a busy, long-distance, high-speed road.

Anyway, the law needs to be changed. Stop tractors going on the motorway full-stop. It is not a suitable place for them to drive. End of story.

Amtmann · 13-12-2008 6:42pm

More tractors (three) on the M8 between exits 7 and 9 today. This time one was drawing a load of silage bales, again half on the hard shoulder.

And by the way, I'm not some urbanite spouting anti-rural vitriol here: I come from a farming background in south Tipperary. I hail from a few miles outside a small village; I grew up in a wholly rural area; and uncles of mine on both sides of the family are farmers.

They're not yokels though.
It wouldn't cross their minds to drive their tractors on motorways, because they're not thick.

I phoned Cashel Gardai today about it to complain and they admitted that there is a big problem on parts of the M8. They said they'd clamp down on it.

M8 - Cashel to Cullahill

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