Pile ups on the link, how many are we at now

Hogzy · 04-12-2009 11:35AM

lawrenceSummer wrote: »

so because these vehicles are not going fast enough for your liking they should be put out of work......

they are not the problem on the roads, its the people who do not know how to drive properly around them

people who cant change lanes properly, people staying in the outside lane, and then the bigger idiots who undertake
people who dont allow cars change lanes or merge at junctions.

you cant expect a tractor to do 120km, and you cant expect them not to use the roads.

1. There are plenty of other routes for the tractor to take.
2. They are the problem on the road at peak times, when traffic is flowing smoothly all cars must slow down to pass the tractor because they cannot just change lane due to congestion
3.As said above the reason people are in the fast lane in the first place is due to congestion and they are perfectly within the law to be there.
4.Your dam right you cant expect a tractor to do 120kmh and to not use the roads but there are plenty of other routes a tractor can take to avoid the South ring. For heavans sake its in the middle of the city i can think of a thousand different routes to take to avoid it. the N25 South Ring should be given motorway status (i know its impossible due to the douglas flyover not having aservice lane etc). Having tractors on this road will end up ina serious crash someday. Its illegal to go too slow on Irish motorways. It should be the same for the south link IMO.

quietsailor · 04-12-2009 12:24PM

Hogzy wrote: »

1. There are plenty of other routes for the tractor to take.
2. They are the problem on the road at peak times, when traffic is flowing smoothly all cars must slow down to pass the tractor because they cannot just change lane due to congestion
3.As said above the reason people are in the fast lane in the first place is due to congestion and they are perfectly within the law to be there.
4.Your dam right you cant expect a tractor to do 120kmh and to not use the roads but there are plenty of other routes a tractor can take to avoid the South ring. For heavans sake its in the middle of the city i can think of a thousand different routes to take to avoid it. the N25 South Ring should be given motorway status (i know its impossible due to the douglas flyover not having aservice lane etc). Having tractors on this road will end up ina serious crash someday. Its illegal to go too slow on Irish motorways. It should be the same for the south link IMO.

1. There are plenty of other routes for the tractor to take.
Have you ever driven a tractor towing a trailer - seriously now, that's not sarcasm. If you have you'd know just how hard it has and shouldn't be posting comments like that. Take an example of getting from the Waterford(Midleton) road to The Kinsale Road roundabout - where is the tractor going to go?
- into the city, along the quays, past Carey's tool hire and out the Link road, - same roads, just going a longer route
- along the quays, past Carey's tool hire and past the side of the Anglesea street Garda station then out up Infirmary Road then Capwell.
For heavans sake its in the middle of the city i can think of a thousand different routes to take to avoid it.
Really? HTF are you going to get a tractor from anywhere around the city centre out to the ring road with out using the Link - Up barrack street? Up past Finbarrs Cathedral, out past the Lough and on through the estates to get across the ring road. None of those roads are viable for a wide machine. Possibly Western Road to Wilton would do but the tractor is heading East it's not much use is it??? There are no "alternative" routes for a tractor and trailer to take in Cork they have to use the widest streets and roads possible. You complain of congestion yet you want to send tractors loaded with plant machinery along narrow roads. Those areas would be tied up for hours more than they are now. If we had a culture of being able to drive properly, not just legally, in this country there would be no problem overtaking slow moving vehicles. People would start indicating to overtake the tractor 1/2 mile or more back (instead of driving right up to the tailgate and then trying to swerve out) and the people in the outside lane would see the tractor and understand what's happening and let them out. Instead they speed up to force the person in the LH lane to stay in there.

3.As said above the reason people are in the fast lane in the first place is due to congestion and they are perfectly within the law to be there.
No, they're not entitled to be there, you can only be in the RH lane on Irish roads if;
1. Your overtaking - than you must move back into the LH lane
2. Your coming up to a roundabout and need to get into the correct lane (eg any roundabout on the Ring Road around Cork)
3. Your coming up to a junction and want to turn right - eg when the bus turns right on the South Link going to the Park&Ride.

There may be other reasons for being in the RH lane on a 2 lane road in Ireland but congestion isn't one of them. I

Hogzy · 04-12-2009 07:03PM

Shouldnt you be using a truck for the job your doing so, Tractors shouldnt be on Motorways and fast moving dual carriage ways, Unfortunatly it is only illegal for tractors to be on Motorways. TBH there isnt much difference between the M50 and the south Ring and tractors are exempt from the M50 for good reason, They are a danger and cause traffic delays

Solair · 04-12-2009 08:07PM

Max001 wrote: »

True, the standard of driving here is shocking. Rights of way, red lights, lane discipline, braking distances, pedestrian crossings, all seem to be optional here. Don't get me started on the free for all that are roundabouts.

What really burns my balls is the number of f***wits that drive around with their front foglights on all the time. I even saw a police traffic car doin this last week ffs. If yr car is so sh*t that you think foglights enhance the look, you're just advertising you have a sh*t car and/or yr advertising that yr so shallow/inconsiderate/retarded that this kinda thing matters, maybe cause you have a tiny penis and yr brains in it.

Almost as bad are the f***tards who sit on their brake lights when stopped, or ...

Its enough to make you weep.

Rant over

I'd agree with you on the fog-lights, but it's impossible not to use your footbrake at traffic lights if you're driving an automatic car and there are a lot more of them around than you'd think, particularly with the growing popularity of the Toyota Prius etc.

On another note, I had a flat tyre a few weeks ago and was stuck on the side of the M8 just on the way into the Dunkettle roundabout.

We were pulled over safely, hazards on, Warning Triangle etc but we had no choice except to call out the AA as the nuts would not come off the wheel even when jumping up and down on the wheel brace (the usual user-friendly over-tightened by machine thing).

Anyway, while we were stopped there was a minor accident in the fast lane, nobody was injured but someone lost control and was stuck on the dividing barrier.

The Gardai were on the scene really quickly, like within about 3 mins of the accident happening but, I was really horrified at a few things.

1) The Gardai didn't have the equipment to properly close the fast lane i.e. it needed a few signs put ahead of it for about 1km warning that the lane was closed and then cones. Instead it was just a few of those flashing blue lights they drop on the road.

In my view, that put the Gardai's lives at risk and they really should have the necessary equipment and training to properly close a lane in a situation like that.

2) People were driving WAY WAY WAY too close to each other there were at least 50 near misses as people ploughed into the closed lane at at least 150km/h and the person behind them was ridiculously close.

I was amazed that there wasn't a pile up.

They have to start enforcing rules on tail gating, they are enforced elsewhere. in fact, in parts of France there are cameras on the motorways which register your number plate if you drive too close.

It should carry 3 penalty points if you're caught tail gating. It's more dangerous than speeding on a motorway.

Likewise, driving in the over taking lane should carry penalty points e.g. perhaps 1 or 2 points.

and the Garda Traffic Corps, for the sake of safety on the road and for the sake of their own safety need to be properly equipped and properly trained to deal with motorway incidents.

They can't just do this half-assed approach, someone, most-likely a Garda is going to get killed one of these days.

thorpe · 04-12-2009 08:50PM

This thread has shown me a few things one of them being that there are hell of alot of morans on the road especially here in Cork who have not got a clue of the rules of the road. Its all about me and me alone, two fingures to everyone else on the road.
As it stands in Cork City the only people who are equipped to fend off a lane or close a dual carriage way are the fire service and even then people are giving out about them closing a lane.
Get a grip. If you have to at a place by a certain time leave early enough and with enough time to counter any delays on route.

54kroc · 04-12-2009 09:16PM

thorpe wrote: »

This thread has shown me a few things one of them being that there are hell of alot of morans on the road especially here in Cork who have not got a clue of the rules of the road. Its all about me and me alone, two fingures to everyone else on the road.
As it stands in Cork City the only people who are equipped to fend off a lane or close a dual carriage way are the fire service and even then people are giving out about them closing a lane.
Get a grip. If you have to at a place by a certain time leave early enough and with enough time to counter any delays on route.

Are you drunk? I can't understand your post.
You're calling other people morans , yet you just wrote that post.

thorpe · 04-12-2009 11:11PM

cork45 wrote: »

Are you drunk? I can't understand your post.
You're calling other people morans , yet you just wrote that post.

I did that write that last post and your problem being .............................

All I am trying to say is there is a lot of very bad drivers on the road and for some reason a large number are here in Cork. I feel safer driving in Dublin than I do here.
Also, for those who did not understand my first post, the only people who are equipped to fend off or close a carriageway on either the link, the N25 or M8 are either the City or County Fire Services.
Finally, in case I was misunderstood, which seems likely as I made a mistake or two in spelling and grammar in my first post to this thread, I am human and as a result not perfect plus I was under a bit of time pressure as I had my better half waiting for me, but what I was trying to say is if you leave in time, you get there in time and thus hopefully in one piece but don’t bank on it as there is gobsh**es on the roads who think that every time they get into a car it must be drive at 150kph no matter what type of road it is and everyone not doing that speed should not be there, on the same road or on the same planet.
If you could not pick that from my first post then I wont post here again and there is a fat chance of that happening.

54kroc · 04-12-2009 11:59PM

thorpe wrote: »

If you could not pick that from my first post then I wont post here again and there is a fat chance of that happening.

I still don't have a clue....so I guess thats goodbye then.

seclachi · 05-12-2009 12:07AM

thorpe wrote: »

I did that write that last post and your problem being .............................

All I am trying to say is there is a lot of very bad drivers on the road and for some reason a large number are here in Cork. I feel safer driving in Dublin than I do here.
Also, for those who did not understand my first post, the only people who are equipped to fend off or close a carriageway on either the link, the N25 or M8 are either the City or County Fire Services.
Finally, in case I was misunderstood, which seems likely as I made a mistake or two in spelling and grammar in my first post to this thread, I am human and as a result not perfect plus I was under a bit of time pressure as I had my better half waiting for me, but what I was trying to say is if you leave in time, you get there in time and thus hopefully in one piece but don’t bank on it as there is gobsh**es on the roads who think that every time they get into a car it must be drive at 150kph no matter what type of road it is and everyone not doing that speed should not be there, on the same road or on the same planet.
If you could not pick that from my first post then I wont post here again and there is a fat chance of that happening.

Dublins ten times worse, its got all the bad driving of Cork, but there aggressive and sit on your hole all the time. That being said, after driving in other countrys people are just as retarded on the roads, if not more so, our main disadvantage is most of the roads are cack.

BArra · 05-12-2009 12:16AM

is it my wacky thinking or has this thread drawn in the super confident/arrogant/ eejits who think they know it all and own the roads

these people seem to me that THEY are more of a hazzard on the roads with their attitudes

id hate to ever be in front of you and press the brake pedal at mahon point as im in stop start traffic waiting for badly initiated traffic lights, it sounds like you're on the verge of climbing out the window of your car with a big vein bulging on your forehead with a rules of the road handbook in your pocket

brake lights causing eye strain? are you actually for real? sheldon is that you?

54kroc · 05-12-2009 01:53AM

BArra wrote: »

id hate to ever be in front of you and press the brake pedal at mahon point as im in stop start traffic waiting for badly initiated traffic lights, it sounds like you're on the verge of climbing out the window of your car with a big vein bulging on your forehead with a rules of the road handbook in your pocket

brake lights causing eye strain? are you actually for real? sheldon is that you?

BArra I think your quite selfish and self involved,the next time you are in stop start traffic you need to get out your emergency brake light suppressing glasses and give them to the driver behind you.

BArra · 05-12-2009 10:55AM

haha! :pac:

Max001 · 05-12-2009 02:03PM

Solair wrote: »

I'd agree with you on the fog-lights, but it's impossible not to use your footbrake at traffic lights if you're driving an automatic car and there are a lot more of them around than you'd think, particularly with the growing popularity of the Toyota Prius etc.

On another note, I had a flat tyre a few weeks ago and was stuck on the side of the M8 just on the way into the Dunkettle roundabout.

We were pulled over safely, hazards on, Warning Triangle etc but we had no choice except to call out the AA as the nuts would not come off the wheel even when jumping up and down on the wheel brace (the usual user-friendly over-tightened by machine thing).

Anyway, while we were stopped there was a minor accident in the fast lane, nobody was injured but someone lost control and was stuck on the dividing barrier.

The Gardai were on the scene really quickly, like within about 3 mins of the accident happening but, I was really horrified at a few things.

1) The Gardai didn't have the equipment to properly close the fast lane i.e. it needed a few signs put ahead of it for about 1km warning that the lane was closed and then cones. Instead it was just a few of those flashing blue lights they drop on the road.

In my view, that put the Gardai's lives at risk and they really should have the necessary equipment and training to properly close a lane in a situation like that.

2) People were driving WAY WAY WAY too close to each other there were at least 50 near misses as people ploughed into the closed lane at at least 150km/h and the person behind them was ridiculously close.

I was amazed that there wasn't a pile up.

They have to start enforcing rules on tail gating, they are enforced elsewhere. in fact, in parts of France there are cameras on the motorways which register your number plate if you drive too close.

It should carry 3 penalty points if you're caught tail gating. It's more dangerous than speeding on a motorway.

Likewise, driving in the over taking lane should carry penalty points e.g. perhaps 1 or 2 points.

and the Garda Traffic Corps, for the sake of safety on the road and for the sake of their own safety need to be properly equipped and properly trained to deal with motorway incidents.

They can't just do this half-assed approach, someone, most-likely a Garda is going to get killed one of these days.

Completely agree with you. A few weeks back Gards pulled over a transit on the on-ramp of the south link at the magic roundabout headin for the tunnel, when only 100 yds ahead there is a hard shoulder. Caused a long tail back ONTO the roundabout, rubber neckers driving at walking pace on the on-ramp and lotsa confused and hazardous driving cause one lane was blocked. Bout a week/ten days ago (maybe more) I wasn't surprised when I heard someone had hit a stationary garda car that had pulled over a vehicle on a main road.

Yr right about tail gating....happened to me only last night on the airport road. Concerns me too cause even though I drive a 4x4, because its a 4x4 with ABS etc it'll probably out break most other vehicles.

Long time ago I heard a head of a traffic branch overseas interviewed about every day driving and his advice was and how he drove off duty was 'assuming other drivers are homicidal and bent on killing you'. Graphic perhaps, but no one will persuade me he wasn't right and defensive/progressive driving is the best way to drive, esp in this country.

Whats wrong with having a harmless rant on somewhere like boards?

We're lucky we live in a country where free speech is allowed.

On the subject of break lights when stopped......seems to me the intensity of break lights is not dissimilar to fog lights, yet few drivers seem to think driving with rear fogs on at all times is thoughtful of others, nor are they treated as a fashion accessory.

Disagree with you on using 'park' at red lights. Takes about a second to slip it into park and the same into drive, when the light turns green. Honestly don't see the problem.

thorpe · 05-12-2009 02:11PM

cork45 wrote: »

I still don't have a clue....so I guess thats goodbye then.

You can't get rid of me that easily.
On a serious note though, I was driving back on the link this morning and noticed a lot of water seems to be pooling on the road and not draining to the sides. Any one else notice this??

Solair · 05-12-2009 02:37PM

Max001 wrote: »

Disagree with you on using 'park' at red lights. Takes about a second to slip it into park and the same into drive, when the light turns green. Honestly don't see the problem.

It's actually not practical to do that in certain cars, if you put the Prius into Park for example, it won't come out of Park again unless you press the foot brake and change into drive. If you wait for more the a few moments in park it also sets off an alarm to alert you that the foot-operated hand-brake is not engaged and that the keys are still in the ignition!

Incidentally, it's actually illegal to put your car in park at traffic lights in most of the USA. You are required to show your brake lights when stopped at an obstruction (including a stop sign or traffic signals). Technically speaking, you should keep your foot brake depressed even with the handbrake on in a manual car there too!

I discovered this the hard-way by getting a ticket in NY.
Was taken out of the car, license demanded, guns waved at me etc etc..

The cop's attitude was 'what if a car went into the back of you?!' 'you weren't showing your brake lights to alert on-coming traffic that you were stopped. If you are broken down, you apply your 'blinkers' (hazard warners)'

Such a warm and welcoming country !!

I would be *FAR* more concerned about a car not knowing that I was stopped/stopping because the rear fogs were outshining the brake lights.

Cars should by default, disable fog-lights each time they're started. I think many drivers, particularly in older cars that had switches rather than electronics just don't realise they're on at all.

Then again, some drivers don't even realise that they're driving from what I can see!

Max001 · 05-12-2009 03:01PM

Solair wrote: »

It's actually not practical to do that in certain cars, if you put the Prius into Park for example, it won't come out of Park again unless you press the foot brake and change into drive. If you wait for more the a few moments in park it also sets off an alarm to alert you that the foot-operated hand-brake is not engaged and that the keys are still in the ignition!

Incidentally, it's actually illegal to put your car in park at traffic lights in most of the USA. You are required to show your brake lights when stopped at an obstruction (including a stop sign or traffic signals). Technically speaking, you should keep your foot brake depressed even with the handbrake on in a manual car there too!

I discovered this the hard-way by getting a ticket in NY.
Was taken out of the car, license demanded, guns waved at me etc etc..

The cop's attitude was 'what if a car went into the back of you?!' 'you weren't showing your brake lights to alert on-coming traffic that you were stopped. If you are broken down, you apply your 'blinkers' (hazard warners)'

Such a warm and welcoming country !!

I would be *FAR* more concerned about a car not knowing that I was stopped/stopping because the rear fogs were outshining the brake lights.

Cars should by default, disable fog-lights each time they're started. I think many drivers, particularly in older cars that had switches rather than electronics just don't realise they're on at all.

Then again, some drivers don't even realise that they're driving from what I can see!

Lord! Never knew that about driving in the U.S and I used to live there!

Yeh, get your point about having to depress the footbrake to switch from Park. Every auto I've driven going back 25 yrs has that feature and so has my Jeep, but to my mind, depressing the brake pedal, instead of a clutch pedal to select Drive, takes only fractionally longer than staying in Neutral or Drive with yr foot on the brake. Personally I'd choose not to dazzle the driver behind me, but maybe I'm too soft

seclachi · 05-12-2009 03:12PM

Drains are probably blocked, theres been another flood warning issued for this weekend.:(

It's actually not practical to do that in certain cars, if you put the Prius into Park for example, it won't come out of Park again unless you press the foot brake and change into drive. If you wait for more the a few moments in park it also sets off an alarm to alert you that the foot-operated hand-brake is not engaged and that the keys are still in the ignition!

Incidentally, it's actually illegal to put your car in park at traffic lights in most of the USA. You are required to show your brake lights when stopped at an obstruction (including a stop sign or traffic signals). Technically speaking, you should keep your foot brake depressed even with the handbrake on in a manual car there too!

I discovered this the hard-way by getting a ticket in NY.
Was taken out of the car, license demanded, guns waved at me etc etc..

The cop's attitude was 'what if a car went into the back of you?!' 'you weren't showing your brake lights to alert on-coming traffic that you were stopped. If you are broken down, you apply your 'blinkers' (hazard warners)'

Such a warm and welcoming country !!

I would be *FAR* more concerned about a car not knowing that I was stopped/stopping because the rear fogs were outshining the brake lights.

Cars should by default, disable fog-lights each time they're started. I think many drivers, particularly in older cars that had switches rather than electronics just don't realise they're on at all.

Then again, some drivers don't even realise that they're driving from what I can see!

When you think about it, its correct too, in poor conditions it can be hard to determine if something is moving sometimes, thats what brake lights are for as well as indicating your slowing down.

Solair · 05-12-2009 03:33PM

Actually, a friend of mine had a car go into the back of her at speed in Limerick a few years ago. She had the handbrake on fairly loosely and her car jolted forward and into the car ahead of her.

The woman in the car ahead of her sued her for whiplash as she didn't have the foot brake pressed and won the case!

So perhaps it applies in Ireland too?!

Maybe people should just accept that brake-lights are just part of driver signaling.

I absolutely hate when a driver slows dramatically on the road using their gears, and does not show brake lights. It's quite scary at speed but, can be even more annoying at slow speeds when you're driving quite close in traffic as you don't really notice that the car's just slowed to a near stop.

I've also had a few cases in Ireland of idiots beeping at me because I touched the brakes in an automatic! There is NO OTHER WAY of slowing.

Fog light abusers however, ought to be pulled over.

quietsailor · 05-12-2009 05:45PM

Hogzy wrote: »

Shouldnt you be using a truck for the job your doing so, Tractors shouldnt be on Motorways and fast moving dual carriage ways, Unfortunatly it is only illegal for tractors to be on Motorways. TBH there isnt much difference between the M50 and the south Ring and tractors are exempt from the M50 for good reason, They are a danger and cause traffic delays

Shouldnt you be using a truck for the job your doing so,
Take earth removal - Have you ever seen a truck trying to pull itself out of 6 inches of mud and soft soil - it's not designed to do that so why would you use it? It'll only get stuck - usually as it's just coming out of the site (murphy's law) and then it'll really block off the roads and cause congestion. There are some timesyou can use trucks - eg to move a metal tracked excavator over a very long distance but again if that excavator is in at the back of a wet, muddy site the tractor & trailer has to be used to get it out to the road.

TBH there isnt much difference between the M50 and the south Ring and tractors are exempt from the M50 for good reason
There is one major difference between the M50 and the ring road - there are proper full sized roads as an alternative to the M50, there isn't any proper alternative to the ring road. So we come right back to your original complaint of "congestion" and "holding traffic up" - you can't take the tractors off the ring road because they have nowhere to go.

They are a danger and cause traffic delays
Lad you must be one of these people that can't judge traffic speed and drive right up to the tailgate of the tractor and then suddenly realise you need to slam on the brakes, that's not sarcasm. I simply can't understand why you can't start to prepare to pull out a mile back when you see a tractor/JCB/slow moving vehicle in fast moving traffic and then move back into the lane again after you pass them? Why do people in Ireland find this so hard? I'm not the best driver on boards by a long shot yet I rarely get caught behind a tractor on the link/ring road. Just look ahead on the road rather than just at the car immediately ahead of you???

seclachi · 05-12-2009 06:14PM

quietsailor wrote: »

Shouldnt you be using a truck for the job your doing so,
Take earth removal - Have you ever seen a truck trying to pull itself out of 6 inches of mud and soft soil - it's not designed to do that so why would you use it? It'll only get stuck - usually as it's just coming out of the site (murphy's law) and then it'll really block off the roads and cause congestion. There are some timesyou can use trucks - eg to move a metal tracked excavator over a very long distance but again if that excavator is in at the back of a wet, muddy site the tractor & trailer has to be used to get it out to the road.

TBH there isnt much difference between the M50 and the south Ring and tractors are exempt from the M50 for good reason
There is one major difference between the M50 and the ring road - there are proper full sized roads as an alternative to the M50, there isn't any proper alternative to the ring road. So we come right back to your original complaint of "congestion" and "holding traffic up" - you can't take the tractors off the ring road because they have nowhere to go.

They are a danger and cause traffic delays
Lad you must be one of these people that can't judge traffic speed and drive right up to the tailgate of the tractor and then suddenly realise you need to slam on the brakes, that's not sarcasm. I simply can't understand why you can't start to prepare to pull out a mile back when you see a tractor/JCB/slow moving vehicle in fast moving traffic and then move back into the lane again after you pass them? Why do people in Ireland find this so hard? I'm not the best driver on boards by a long shot yet I rarely get caught behind a tractor on the link/ring road. Just look ahead on the road rather than just at the car immediately ahead of you???

I agree, tractors arent a huge problem, farmers need to use the road from time to time too, and I doubt they relish the idea of having a trail of angry motorists behind them. Almost every fella I have been behind pulls in after a while to let people off, there almost always decent

Jumpy · 05-12-2009 06:25PM

cork45 wrote: »

I think your right about keeping it in drive when stationary but I believe your supposed to put it in to park instead of neutral with the handbrake on.

No, then you have to cycle back past reverse. Your reverse lights then come on for second.

BArra · 05-12-2009 06:52PM

road heading to dunkettle roundabout earlier was a swimming pool, the rain poured down around 1 or 2pm, had the council there with cones

a fair amount of water built up, even the spray off the rear wheels of the car in front of you produced a serious hazardous haze of water, was def a time to slow down to suit the road conditions

wudnt surprise me if there was accidents though

54kroc · 05-12-2009 09:42PM

Jumpy wrote: »

No, then you have to cycle back past reverse. Your reverse lights then come on for second.

I realize that Jumpy but the point I'm making is that if you have a look at the handbook for an automatic car it says if your stopped over a certain time the car should be in park and not neutral. To be honest I never change out of drive at lights I just keep my foot on the brake.

Pile ups on the link, how many are we at now

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