Why are so many non-nationals killed on our roads?

fjon

I was watching the news the other night, and they had a bit about how many people have been killed on Irish roads this January. They published a list of the dead, and I noticed about 10-20% of them were non-nationals. Why is this? Are they not used to Irish roads? Do they drive more recklessly than us?

RobEire

crap drivers is probably the answer. standards for passing drivers tests differ from country to country.

mike65

Most such drivers are in LHD vehicles and no doubt some drink and drive. They proberly drive quite a bit late at night going from where they work to where they live or to visit fellow Poles/Lithuainains etc where there is no doubt some partying going on.

In that list there were 36 named I think, of which 6 (?) were non nationals. At least two were killed in the one crash.

Mike.

stevenmu

I'm sure it's because of a variety of reasons.

One of which is probably that some foreign drivers wouldn't have any understanding of the various systems we have in place on the roads here. I know a girl from Tanzania who drives back home but was terrified in cars here because of the much higher speeds, traffic volumes and not understanding the systems in place to keep cars apart from each other.

Another is probably that many foreign drivers seem to come from places where drinking and driving (even both at the same time) is perfectly acceptable, and they just carry on doing it here.

Downtime

I guess because there has been an vast increase on the amount living here aswell. Having said that 3/4 were killed in the one crash.

I was driving to a rugby game a few weeks ago and as I approched the ground a latvian registered car was driving straight towards me on the wrong side of the road.

Jumpy

One word. Alcohol.

There was an eastern european rep on the radio there the other day. Apparently they have the same, if not harsher penalties for drink driving in most EE countries, but they rarely get caught due to lack of road police (sound familiar?). This breeds the habit of drink driving in the knowledge they wont get caught.
He was quite worried about the possibility of racial stereotyping on EE drivers being drunk and untrained though.

fjon

crap drivers is probably the answer. standards for passing drivers tests differ from country to country.

But they are driving in a country where anyone can get into a car and drive without ever having done a driving test or had a driving lesson...

mike65

Yup! Its a recipe for disaster.

Mike.

fjon

Ok, alcohol seems like a plausible reason.
There are a lot more non-nationals here, but nowhere near 16% of the driving population.

michaelanthony

Bads roads might be the answer. The communists knew how to build proper roads

Mexicola

Some gimp in a Lithuanian registered vehicle tried to kill me yesterday - he had been sitting behind me for a while and I could tell he was getting impatient - up my arse - moving from side to side because he couldnt 'see' round me with his left hand drive - he then tried to overtake me on a central median for turning right only to back off and slip back behind me coz a car pulled out from the junction on the right hand side. We carried on up the road - I slowed down to indicate I was getting píssed off with him. He then attempted one of the most daring and utterly stupid peices of overtaking manouverage I have ever seen - on a blind bend coming into a 50km zone - While he was beside me a car came around the bend, flashed him and I quickly swerved into the hard shoulder (if you could call it that) to allow him to come in beside me and then move ahead. I sat on the horn for about 5 seconds while indicating the number 1 using my middle finger at him. Not even a wave from him. I was fit to kill the bástard. At my turn off, I honked again and he casually drove on.
I felt like following him home and giving him a peice of my mind. That or a good kicking...

Gary ITR

A friend of mine is from Poland. He tlls me that drink dring is acceptable in Poland. Also you can insure any car for around €120 a year, thats why you always see these guys in powerful audi's and bmw's etc. Although he described the driving test to me and it sounds a lot tougher than ours.

luckat

Don't forget long working hours. Young people driving home after working a couple of 14-hour shifts back-to-back with five hours' sleep between...

mike65

Just to add one of the foreign dead was a cylcist run over by a truck in Dublin.

Mike.

Seth Brundle

These foreigners come over here and take our jobs our women and now our apalling accident record. We must put a stop to them now.

Seriously though Noel Conroy the Garda Commissioner recently went on the record saying how foreigners were drinking heavily and then driving and that there was a problem in dealing with non nationals.
http://www.breakingnews.ie/text/story.asp?j=208466280&p=zx8467y43&n=208467223&x=
i would have thought that with decent enforcement then drink driving etc would bre reduced. Maybe someone should suggest that to him!

luckat

The only way to stop drink driving is to make it the law that *no* drink can be taken before driving - and enforce it.

After a couple of drinks, you're neither able to judge clearly whether you're in a fit state to drive, nor in a good mood to decide to stop with just the couple.

But we have our values, and drinking is more important to us than safety, so we prevaricate.

smarty

Downtime wrote:

I was driving to a rugby game a few weeks ago and as I approched the ground a latvian registered car was driving straight towards me on the wrong side of the road.

I dont think it is just foreigners who drive like this. Yesterday at 5pm, I was driving past the IFSC, and a middle aged taxi driver was stopped at the traffic lights on the wrong side of the road facing me! The road has three lanes, the first one is for turning right into the IFSC and the other two are for going towards the customs house. He was in the outside lane, I was in the left lane.

When the lights changed he just drove straight along the road on the wrong side for at least another 50 metres. He was completely oblivious to the world around him.

smarty

luckat wrote:

The only way to stop drink driving is to make it the law that *no* drink can be taken before driving - and enforce it.

After a couple of drinks, you're neither able to judge clearly whether you're in a fit state to drive, nor in a good mood to decide to stop with just the couple.

I would like to see a zero tollerance approach to drink driving incorporating a name and shame campaign and a mandatory jail sentence.

Do you think this would act as a deterrent?

murphaph

LHD vehicles definitely have a bearing on things. I saw some attrocious road position from a LV Clio today, going round blind LH bends very wide and forcing other traffic into the ditch. Gimp was doing about 80 in a 50 zone too. Arsewit will kill himself someday, hopefully it'll just be himself involved.

Seth Brundle

I don't think it matters which side of the car the driver is sitting in - it really depends on the driver. That Clio driver would probably have driven like that regardless of the car they were in!

Carb

Does Northern Ireland drivers count as non national drivers. I was passed on the left hand side (hard shoulder) yesterday by a car doing at least 100mph. I'm driving a Honda Accord, and the speed this guy was going at still shook my car. Needless to say it had a yellow number plate.

Driving on a different side of the road no doubt contributes.

Seth Brundle

Carb wrote:

Does Northern Ireland drivers count as non national drivers. I was passed on the left hand side (hard shoulder) yesterday by a car doing at least 100mph. I'm driving a Honda Accord, and the speed this guy was going at still shook my car. Needless to say it had a yellow number plate.

aah here we go with the weekly Norn Iron drivers bash.
Irish drivers are worse then their NI counterparts and for every anecdote of some lunatic NI driver you give me I could give you loads of RoI driver ones!

Talliesin

RobEire wrote:

crap drivers is probably the answer. standards for passing drivers tests differ from country to country.

And in Ireland they are effectively nil, since you can get away with driving without a license. No wonder non-nationals can't cope with it.

MrPudding

stevenmu wrote:

I'm sure it's because of a variety of reasons.

One of which is probably that some foreign drivers wouldn't have any understanding of the various systems we have in place on the roads here.

I'd say this is probably part of it. Most other countries have weird systems like you have to stop at a red light and you are supposed to pass some kind of test of competence before you drive on your own.

It is probably hard to come from that environment to one where the appears to be no law enforcement and an "ah sure it'll be grand" attitude to learning.

MrP

MrPudding

Carb wrote:

Does Northern Ireland drivers count as non national drivers. I was passed on the left hand side (hard shoulder) yesterday by a car doing at least 100mph. I'm driving a Honda Accord, and the speed this guy was going at still shook my car. Needless to say it had a yellow number plate.

Wow. I hate the way they keep coming down here and breaking all the laws. Especially given that the drivers down here never break any traffic laws.:rolleyes:

Are the only traffic offenses you have ever seen committed by drivers from the North?

I have lost count of the number of dodgy overtaking moves I have witnessed by souther drivers, the amount of times I have almost been t-boned by seom [EMAIL="w@nker"]w@nker[/EMAIL] running a red light.

Cop on.

MrP

curieux2

RobEire wrote:

crap drivers is probably the answer. standards for passing drivers tests differ from country to country.

:eek: :eek: :eek: :eek:
I'm gobsmacked :mad:

Automan

I was under the impression that it is illegal to overtake in Ireland in a LHD car.

ds20prefecture

kbannon wrote:

Seriously though Noel Conroy the Garda Commissioner recently went on the record saying how foreigners were drinking heavily and then driving and that there was a problem in dealing with non nationals.

Was this before or after the alcoholic Garda who knocked down 2 girls and then killed a 71 year old while fleeing the scene was jailed for a mere 5 years?

ds20prefecture

Automan wrote:

I was under the impression that it is illegal to overtake in Ireland in a LHD car.

Jesus. H. Christ.

Guy:Incognito

MrPudding wrote:

Wow. I hate the way they keep coming down here and breaking all the laws. Especially given that the drivers down here never break any traffic laws.:rolleyes:

MrP

Thats ok so, as long as they dont go ove rtheir alloted law breaking. What difference does what our own do. There were 50 odd murders here last year, does that entitled 2 northern Irish people to a free murder each?


At the end of the day, unless foreign registered cars are caught doingsomething there is notheing the gards can do. Say a child is knocked down and killed by a latvian reg car, and a witness gets the reg , what can the gards do other than keep an eye out for the car? they have no way of tracing it. A strick enforcement of the import laws should be brought in with any car here longer than the alloted time frame be impounded until the car is re-registered and atx etc payed.

Automan wrote:

I was under the impression that it is illegal to overtake in Ireland in a LHD car.

Seriously, delet ethat before anymore people see it.

Even claiming it was a joke wouldnt save you.