Your pet hate in traffic!!!

koneko

People that don't use their indicators (roundabouts, or anywhere really). They're not for decoration, bloody use them people!!

Oh and when I slow down to let someone out.. flash them.... then if they still don't move I wave at them (beckon) to move, but they're just sort of sitting there talking to their mates. I mean, you're waiting to get out, the least you could do is pay attention so when someone is nice and lets you out, you do it instead of sitting around.

leeroybrown

Probably some repitition here:

Drivers who unnecessarily hog overtaking lanes.
Drivers on roundabouts full stop. I don't really trust the ones who indicate either.
Sunday drivers. Three cars at 45mph happy to tailgate making a 20 mile rolling roadblock.
Drivers who cut in in front of you when you let one car through.
Slow drivers who don't check mirrors and consider other road users. (drivers who feel they're doing a service by making everyone do 50mph).
Drivers who beep, shout, flash lights, wave fists unnecessarily at other drivers. Not only are they distracting themselves from the road but other motorists too.
Fog lights.

You could be here all day ...

fjon

luckat wrote:

The most dangerous people on the road are those who get into a tizzy about others' driving. People make mistakes. Live with it.

Years ago I took a lift with an RTE cameraman driving across the country. As he drove, his van was surrounded by idiots carving him up, tailgating him, swerving across lanes without indicating, beeping rudely, etc, etc.

He just kept calm and kept driving. After a couple of hours I burst out: "Don't you get furious at all the idiots on the road?"

He laughed. Then he said: "When I started in this job they sent me on an advanced driving course. The first thing I was taught was 'defensive driving'. This means treating other road users just the same as you treat other factors on the road - obstacles, traffic lights, road signs and so on. And not getting emotional about it - just keeping your attention both directly in front of you and 100 yards on."

He was the best driver I've ever seen - and the reason was that he was driving his own car, not worrying about what anyone else was doing, except in terms of predicting driver behaviour unemotionally, and driving accordingly.

Nice post. I would like to one day be able to drive like this guy...

Andrew Duffy

neuromancer wrote:

Drivers who blatantly speed down the Lucan bypass, outbound before The Foxhunter at 50/60mph, and me noticing the Gatso on the bridge at 44mph.

Umm... the limit's 50 there - I hope you don't brake heavily from 55 to 40 coming up to the camera like so many others, who appear to have assumed the camera warning signs and hatch markings are there for some other reason than a fixed speed camera.

Edit - just noticed you were talking about the other end (where the limit is 40). I presume it was a manned speed check? If you felt really strongly about it you could have doubled back and asked them why they were ignoring the other direction - although I suppose the answer would have been that they were checking for speeding in an area with lots of side roads and pedestrians rather than speeding approaching a fairly long stretch of grade-seperated road.

Seth Brundle

Andrew Duffy wrote:

I presume it was a manned speed check? If you felt really strongly about it you could have doubled back and asked them why they were ignoring the other direction - although I suppose the answer would have been that they were checking for speeding in an area with lots of side roads and pedestrians rather than speeding approaching a fairly long stretch of grade-seperated road.

On the outbound side, there are sometimes manned checks at the brow of the hill (beside a turn off) and also sometimes past the foxhunter, at the end of a long straight (near junction for Griffen valley or Esker or whatever) but more frequently there are vans parked on the footpath(!) of the flyover bridge for liffey valley. These IIRC are unmanned.
On the inbound side there are sometimes a van or men catching people just at the bridge @ Woodies.

irlirishkev

Anyone working in Eastpoint Business Park will probably know this one...

Drivers turning right onto the Alfie Byrne Road, and then stopping in the middle of the junction. Why do they stop? Because they think the red light (placed there, like in most junctions, for the benefit of those who overshoot the red light on the main road) is there for them. It's not. If it was, then the green light they just followed, would not be green. I honestly believe some people have never seen traffic lights before.

I don't think I explained that very well, but anyone who's seen this happen will know straight away what I mean. Usually ends up with a large queue of cars beeping at one particular moron.. :rolleyes:

K.

therecklessone

leeroybrown wrote:

Drivers on roundabouts full stop. I don't really trust the ones who indicate either.

I'm sorry to say I feel your pain. Its gotten to the stage where I just don't trust drivers on certain roundabouts, the Dublin Airport one being a prime example.

Seth Brundle

it all comes down to the fact that the majority of Irish drivers are crap, having completed either no test or else an inadequate one. Furthermore, the state allows thousands of unqualified drivers to take cars out on a daily basis.
The NCT was introduced (eventually, because of an EU directive) both as an environmental measure and to help reduce accidents caused by faulty cars. However, I remember reading that faulty cars were only responsible for <2% of traffic accidents - the majority of incidents are caused by poor driver control.
However, there should be a mechanism to re-test drivers every two or three years. Driving in this country is regarded as a right and not a privilege (which it should be)!

dcGT

Drivers who proceed to drive like the clappers in the right lane, knowing full well that there is a set of lights up ahead with a right turn queue (they want to go straight on). They will then proceed to force their way back into the left lane at the very last second having passed as many cars as possible....really annoys me. You can always tell what these drivers are up to as you say to yourself, "he's going to cut in now" :mad:

Another pet hate: Taxi drivers, and everything about their driving! :rolleyes:

DC.

Seth Brundle

Current favourite pet hate is wánkers who are too impatient to wait in a queue and decide to drive on the hard shoulder to pass everyone out.

Andrew Duffy

This was touched on above, but my only real hate in urban driving is people who don't understand traffic lights, particularly filters. The number of times motorists turn left through a pedestrian crossing ("but theres a green light in that funny forward pointing arrow - it must apply to me") or give themselves anyeurisms berating the driver in front of them obeying the red light is shocking. Just as common, but not as dangerous, is the motorist waiting for a full green light to turn left while a green (or flashing amber) filter is on.
Oh, there's another, but it's solely as a pedestrian - motorists who treat the pedestrian area of a junction (particularly a marked, light controlled one, although I still don't forgive anyone who doesn't respect the fact that the stop line is before the footpath, regardless of where it is actually painted on the road) as a zone to wait in for the junction to clear. They are obviously not moronic enough to block the junction for other traffic, but block it for pedestrians. Even traditionally "good" drivers like truckers, bus drivers and especially bikers are guilty of this.

Victor

kbannon wrote:

Current favourite pet hate is wánkers who are too impatient to wait in a queue and decide to drive on the hard shoulder to pass everyone out.

Yeah, I hate them. They always cut me off when I'm trying to overtake on the left.

Andrew Duffy wrote:

Oh, there's another, but it's solely as a pedestrian - motorists who treat the pedestrian area of a junction (particularly a marked, light controlled one, although I still don't forgive anyone who doesn't respect the fact that the stop line is before the footpath, regardless of where it is actually painted on the road) as a zone to wait in for the junction to clear. They are obviously not moronic enough to block the junction for other traffic, but block it for pedestrians. Even traditionally "good" drivers like truckers, bus drivers and especially bikers are guilty of this.

It's the same where a cycle path goes across a side road. The emerging traffic treats it as a "zone of immunity" that they can obstruct at will, but they daren't take command of the junction.

D!ve^Bomb!

people who don't indicate,

when there are two lanes of traffic turning right onto a main road and the guy/girl in the outside lane cuts you off because they're too stupid to realise that there are other cars turning with them,

people who pull out infront of you at the last minute,

tailgaters!! ****ers, i'm not going any fukn faster and thats final,

people going 25mph in a 50 zone!!

scumbags with huge spoilers and tinted windows - sad bastards and their '92 civics/micras

gold alloys! wtf is that about

most drivers are just awful!!


i've been driving for 1 month and only had 3 lessons and i don't do any of this ****!! im a lot more competent on the roads than most gob****es

Tommy Vercetti

I hate everyone and everything. The end.

leeroybrown

kbannon wrote:

The NCT was introduced (eventually, because of an EU directive) both as an environmental measure and to help reduce accidents caused by faulty cars. However, I remember reading that faulty cars were only responsible for <2% of traffic accidents - the majority of incidents are caused by poor driver control.

True. This reminds me of the standard industry management mentality. If you talk to people who deal with problems first hadn they'll say "fix these two things and we'll save 20%". When you talk to their managers they'll say "and if we fix these 1000 small things we'll save 5%".

kbannon wrote:

However, there should be a mechanism to re-test drivers every two or three years. Driving in this country is regarded as a right and not a privilege (which it should be)!

A re-test would have a 60%+ failure rate and would make the waits at the test centres so long that abolishing the test might start to seem reasonable.

To my mind the problem is that the majority of drivers in this country were never trained to drive properly. Fix this and a lot of problems will rectify themselves down stream.

dcGT

Tommy Vercetti wrote:

I hate everyone and everything. The end.

That just about sums up this thread

DC.

flyz

1. 80% of people on any given roundabout. namely The Kinsale Road Rounabout and The Tunnel Roundabout in Cork.
2. Lack of indicators used, or lack of ability to turn them off after turn is made.
3. Drivers who used the left lane on the Dublin road, which is a left turn only, coming into the Tunnel Roundabout to go straight. I encountered and Artic Lorry doing this one day.
4. As a follow on from the last one, people who use incorrect lanes so not to queue.
5. Rubber Necks
6. People who hog the overtaking lane, and then beep and flash you when you undertake them.

Seth Brundle

Actually I dont think one has been said - front & especially rear fog lights
Turn them off, ya bastards - you reckon fog is so bad the car behind won't see you?

highdef

When turning right from the Howth Road onto Fairview Strand, people who keep to the left but are turning right

Fabritzo

I have one!! I hope it hasn't been said already.

I've seen this happen on at least 3 occasions, it's people reversing up the hard shoulder of motorways because they've just missed their exit. Crazy mofo **** if you ask me.

pyxxel

...drives me up the wall!

I know a lot of driver behaviour on the road is unexcusable, but th state of the road contributes to the attitude "ah sure it doesn't matter anyway"... Some road markings are totally rubbed off and invisible, others are plain idiotic. On the huge roundabout near Castleknock where the N3 crosses the M50, there's one spot where two lanes end and three lanes start suddenly, with NO warning, just like this:

____________________________________________

.................................

---

---

.................................

---

____________________________________________

(hope this turns out right!! )

No-one knows what to do at this point. After over 10 years of going through this point, it still puzzles me (and everybody else). No wonder everyone decides to do as they bloody well please!

And bad (rudimentary) signposting is just adding to everyone's confusion. No-one knows where you have to go, so anything goes. Oh, and have you seen these stupid signs, black writing on orange background, with half a bleedin' novel on them:

"From 11.8.2004 12 pm until 19.10.2004 12 pm Knockmaroon Hill will be closed due to blah-di-blah-di-blah" -- the rest usually blurs from view as you go past. Jeez, I nearly crash every time, fishing out me calender to check the dates, then the road map to check the street names.....! Insane!!!!

BrianD3

Here's one: you stop at a zebra crossing to let some pedestrians cross the road. You move off when the way is clear and then 20 yards further down the road you have to stop again as some lazy slob walks out in front of you and makes you wait while they amble across the road. All because they're too damn lazy to walk 20 yards up the road and cross at the designated crossing :mad:

I agree that the road markings on the M50/N3 roundabout are awful. If you're heading east along the N3 and want to get onto the southbound M50 it's very unclear where you should position your car as you go around the roundabout. Also, if you're heading north along the M50, take the N3 exit and want to head west (1st exit at the roundabout) logic would dictate that you stay in the leftmost lane as you come up to the roundabout. But no! Choose this lane and you'll find that it almost immediately becomes a left turn only lane for the next set of traffic lights after the roundabout. So you're forced to make a lane change maneouvre if you want to go straight. The trick is to use the middle lane of the roundabout to take the first exit, that way you don't have to do any merging and have a straight run. Stupid stupid stupid.

BrianD3

Tommy Vercetti

ntl Technical wrote:

When turning right from the Howth Road onto Fairview Strand, people who keep to the left but are turning right

I think that road was originally marked so that both lanes could turn right but the arrows wore off.

D!ve^Bomb!

BrianD3 wrote:

Also, if you're heading north along the M50, take the N3 exit and want to head west (1st exit at the roundabout) logic would dictate that you stay in the leftmost lane as you come up to the roundabout. But no! Choose this lane and you'll find that it almost immediately becomes a left turn only lane for the next set of traffic lights after the roundabout. So you're forced to make a lane change maneouvre if you want to go straight.

BrianD3

I only learned about this tonight, thank you mr nice van driver for letting me in to the correct lane

HashSlinging

people who try and block you getting into a lane and after you do get in beep at you...WTF??

cormie

people who can't wait 2 seconds for you to let somebody you pick up along the way to work get into the car.

The fact that I've been driving only since March and I can point out so many f**kin idiots on our roads.

People who don't respons when you flash at them to let them out.

Small headed hard men in their toy puntos who in slow traffic will wait for the car in front to go ahead a good few metres and then they will rev their engine and go really fast to catch up and then have to jam on the breaks!

Good looking women on footpaths etc. I'll eventually crash!

Whoever that biatch was who hit the back of my car whilst approaching a roundabout and I was going to first left and she went off around and into the distance.

ando

Does anyone notice how bad people's driving gets after about 9ish pm... in Dublin? I drive a company van during the day and even though I do come across some idiots, it’s a different ballgame at night. Over the last few days I've come across drivers going the wrong way down amien street, taxi drivers jumping about 10cars going on the wrong way down the street to get ahead of everyone at the traffic lights…. There is no speed limit at night for some reason and staying at 35 in a 30 zone is unforgivabley slow and if caught traveling at that speed, you deserve to get flashed at


oh, I almost forgot about this one... women never thank you when letting them into your lane of traffic NEVER

Selik

My pet hate in traffic?

The bloody traffic itself!

Victor

I was walking home last night and theres two young lads taking a slash at the side of the road. Socially unacceptable, but I wasn't quite ready to phone the cops about it.

They get back into their car (red, old model BMW, probably flash (!) once, but probably now being used because it's cheap). Radio is blaring and engine is running. They drive off. I yell at them and then the driver turns on his heads lights.

Now either he was driving around for hours without headlights and needed to sotp to take said slash, or he leaves his engine running 24/7.

flyz

HashSlinging wrote:

people who try and block you getting into a lane and after you do get in beep at you...WTF??

Agreed! but also people who try and edge their way into your lane without indicating!
Especially when it's in open road