PARKING in middle of T junction - Garda said "no traffic flow affected"

This actually goes a long way to explaining some of the bad driving I see every day I'm on the roads.

That someone would actually go around the corner like that, and THEN hammer the horn at the driver going about their business goes a long way to explaining bad drivers - they actually think they are in the right.

OP, even if there wasn't a car parked in the entire estate, I would be down to a crawl going around that corner. With parked cars, I would be stopped. I used to have a similar junction leaving my last house. Even though there was room for 2 cars to pass, despite all the cars parked on the junction, there certainly wasn't room for one to pull out.

Twice in 4 years in that estate, I misjudged (poor view around a Jeep/Van ... poor concetration really) and pulled out a bit only to see a car coming down on the left. I immediately apologised, got a smile and wave on to complete my turn on both occasions.

You see, that's how rational people drive. They approach junctions with parked cars with care. Realistically, you need to yield left and right in these situations. There was never anything even close to an accident on my two slips because:
1. I had actually stopped before moving on both occasions, so I merely edged out <1m
2. The cars coming in the opposite direction understand the hazard and are proceeding with caution

No horns, no confrontation, no hypothetical arguments about "who would have been in the wrong" with the other driver. Me waving an apology for being a douche, them accepting it and appreciating it's a tricky situation.

dantastic wrote: »

/ thread?

Yes.

Can control own behaviour and driving.

Cannot control external influences such as children, parked cars and other peoples behaviour

cpoh1 wrote: »

You're less smart and more smartypants unfortunately Tony :P

No ... Wait ... Wait

Gotta get the last word in.

Watch the video. As the idiot in the SUV OP arrives at the junction, it's easy to see the green road sign on the grass verge opposite. Green road signs are put in place by the council.* So ... therefore this must be an estate that has been taken in hand by the council so is not a private estate.

BOOOOM !!!!!





*This statement may or may not be correct, and may or may not lead to the rest of the comment being untrue.

dantastic wrote: »

Would you care to compile a comprehensive list of laws and regulations it's OK not to follow?

Is it OK to park in the middle of the t junction, how about smack in the middle of the road? Sideways? Sure, what's the harm? If you don't like it don't dive here!

Laws and regulations are really simple, they are black ans white. It doesn't matter what you think is ok.

If you can't fit 1/2/3 or however many cars you need on your own drive way maybe YOU should consider moving somewhere else?

Exactly you can't ignore laws. The OP and the car are both breaking the law. The issue is that the OPs law breaking is the more dangerous as he's aware of the danger yet chooses to ignore it and think that it's perfectly fine to drive at speed into a blind junction. If the illegally parked car wasn't there the OPs driving is still dangerous, as has been pointed out numerous times there are other road users who could be on the section of road the OP is driving into without checking if it's clear and they don't have airbags to protect them.

If the Gardaí arrived at the junction the OP would be getting more tickets than the illegally parked car.

Fred Swanson wrote: »

This post has been deleted.

Since when is pointing out that driving at speed in a housing estate and not stopping, or even slowing down, when going around a blind junction getting on a high horse? If a driver is making a mistake is it better to inform them or allow it to continue, which could lead to serious injuries, in case it offends the driver?

DubTony wrote: »

Something that has been overlooked here is that the OP isn't actually entering another road. The picture he posted at the start of the thread shows that the road he's on, and the road he's going onto are the same. The other road "at the top of the T" is different. So proper road markings would have a yield on that road while a continuous white line would go around the corner, leaving the road the OP is on, and travelling onto, with free flowing traffic. Of course the addition of a continuous white line would make it obvious that the illegally parked car is indeed parked illegally. Assuming that everybody in the area is aware of this it might explain why he comes around the corner in the way that he does.
Not that it changes anything. Still a silly way to enter a junction.

Unless there's markings on the road to signifying that the turn is the major road then you assume that the top of the T is the main road. Even if the OP is on the major road that doesn't remove the fact that they are taking the corner too fast to stop on their own side of the road in the distance they can see is clear. I'm getting tired of pointing out that there's more than cars on the wrong side of the road that the OP is putting at risk by taking the corner, or entering a main road, at the speed posted in both videos.