So many slow dawdlers on the roads

Occidental

Last week, 6:30 in the morning, catching up on an OY reg Passat who was tailgating an artic, despite there being 2 more miles of bends and no hope of overtaking. At the end of the bends there are 2 long straights with a bend in between. On the first straight the Passat does nothing, but is still about a foot from the rear of the artic. On the second straight I indicate and begin to pass, at which stage the Passat swings at me with no notice and no indicators. Suddenly realising that I'm there, he swerves to avoid me, then nearly rear ends the artic, following which he stands on his horn.

A few miles later down the road, doing 60mph on a long straight stretch, the Passat comes from nowhere behing me, at a speed I'd reckon in excess of 100mph. He passes me and vanishes into the distance. A few miles further on and again going through some bends, I again come across the Passat doing about 35, which he proceeds to stick to until I turn off.

cargrouch

Another great type of dawdler is the night-time country road dawdler who refuses to use his main beams and sticks to 35-40 to compensate for the fact that his dims last had a lightbulb change in the mid 90's.

Because his dims have the power of about 5 birthday cake candles, you can never be sure if you can overtake him or not because you can't see how far to the next bend until it's too late.

_Kaiser_

cargrouch wrote:

Another great type of dawdler is the night-time country road dawdler who refuses to use his main beams and sticks to 35-40 to compensate for the fact that his dims last had a lightbulb change in the mid 90's.

Because his dims have the power of about 5 birthday cake candles, you can never be sure if you can overtake him or not because you can't see how far to the next bend until it's too late.

Ah yes, or the huge numbers of cars out there with only one headlight working (properly). Or thise that drive in dark/overcast/rainy conditions with no headlights on. I thought the new raft of penalty points would reduce this sorta thing but apparently not!

Personally I've gotten into the habit of putting the lights on anytime I hit the N3, regardless of the weather. As well as improving your visibility on the road (silver car with the sun behind me for example), I find it makes a difference insofar as you don't see people taking the same stupid chances like oncoming traffic overtaking almost right in front of you, or edging out across the hard shoulder at junctions etc.

But yep, regularly come across the dawdlers, who often - as someone else said - are then speeding through towns/villages :mad: I often think as well that it'd be an idea to ban tractors/construction vehicles/HGV's from the main roads at rush hour, but somehow I don't see it happening.

WizZard

Kaiser2000 wrote:

Ah yes, or the huge numbers of cars out there with only one headlight working (properly). Or thise that drive in dark/overcast/rainy conditions with no headlights on. I thought the new raft of penalty points would reduce this sorta thing but apparently not!

I thought the same.
And I thinkthat if you can't be bothered to maintain your car (esp. lights) then you don't deserve to have one/drive.

SouperComputer

I usually have my headlights on all the time while driving. I find it makes a big difference in town, pedestrians are much more likely to see you in my experience.

I also love the drivers who only have one headlight working, so they leave it on the highbeam setting fulltime!

cargrouch

I've good eyesight, but I've still cursed many grey/silver cars for not lighting up on murky days. I was only just about able to make them out before I went to overtake. someone without 20/20 vision wouldn't find out til they were quite a bit closer!

Now I have a silver car I do leave the dims on a lot. I did the same with a dark green car as I was convinced it was camouflaged against ditches with the amount of people that pulled out in front of me when I didn't leave the dims on.

_Kaiser_

Ah so there are still those of us with sense and courtesy

(Oh, and to stir in some controversy , and I'm a learner and all - though hopefully not for much longer)

mike65

No points for lack of lights as far as I recall.

Mike.

zod

Is it an offence in Ireland not to keep up with traffic?? ie to make "good progress"

according to the English rules of the road :

Make Progress

• Make good progress.
• Keep up with the traffic.
• Do not delay unduly at junctions. Move as soon as safely possible.
• Demonstrate confidence and common sense judgement.

taken from here

cargrouch

zod wrote:

Is it an offence in Ireland not to keep up with traffic?? ie to make "good progress"

If there was, would it be enforced?:( There are so many other things that would need to be enforced first! Not knocking the guards really, I definitely think they're under resourced and over stretched.

It should be an offence to drive the 0.8L Daewoo/Chevrolet Matiz. The worst traffic buildups ever seen on the Cork to Macroom road have been due to these.
Suggested cure for insomnia - watch repeated 0.8L Matiz vs 1L polo drag races.

Savman

prospect wrote:

I am of the opinion that:

If you are not able to drive at the posted limits, then you shouldn't be driving at all.

That's your opinion, however the fact is Speed Limits are not targets. I've seen this argument from both sides, as a Speedy Gonzalez in the TD Mondeo and as a Snail in the Van loaded with stuff. Granted some people just dont know how to drive in National Primary routes, there is a skill to it, but that said you wouldn't catch me going anywhere near 100km/h in a packed van on a bendy road. I just wouldnt be able to control it in the event of a sudden hazard but I would pull left and encourage the tailgating arseholes to get off my anus.

Overtaking just isn't feasible in some vehicles, yiz shud try bear this in mind folks :rolleyes:

ando

Savman wrote:

I think one thing is clear from this thread, we're all speed freaks :rolleyes:

yes, it does

Our man in Havana

Failure to Progress is only something you can fair your driving test for.

Silvera

BrianD3,

I agree totally!
The amount of dawdlers on the roads is amazing/annoying.

I've often been behind a car (on B roads) which in turn is behind a lorry or tractor and has ample opportunity to overtake - but just sits there!

Likewise on primary roads when a lorry will pull tight to the yellow line leaving enough room to pass without crossing the centre line and the driver in front of me will STILL hesitate!

Several times I have flashed my lights to get them to move on/pass!
(In Europe it is perfectly acceptable to flash you lights to tell another driver that you are there/about to pass)
..........and often when they do eventually overtake they will swing over to the other side to pass when there is enough room to pass without crossing the white line ! :rolleyes:

I often think to myself "What are you waiting for ? A written invitation ? (to pass)"!


For the record, I'm not an agressive driver, always stick close to the speed limit (nobody stays at the limit all the time!) and have only (reluctantly!) flashed my lights on a few occassions to get people to move on (only after sitting behind them for several minutes and it being obvious that they are not going to move) - and most importantly, I don't tailgate others ! .......one of the most annoying habits of Irish drivers!!

BrianD3

Was just thinkin about this again today. I was driving on an M-way followed by an R-road and then went through a few 50 and 60 km/h zones. The M-way traffic was light and weather conditions were good so I was able to travel at the 120 km/h limit no prpblem. I'd say I overtook at least 50 cars who were travelling at around 80-110 km/h. I also wasn't overtaken by a single vehicle.

Then when I exit onto to the R-road some of the drivers that i've just overtaken on the motorway catch up with me and tailgate because they've continued on at exactly the same speed as they were going on the M-way. Same story in the 50 and 60 km/h zones. Got overtaken a few times even though I was at the limit at all times. I've no problem being overtaken but do these people have any concept of what's an appropriate and legal speed on various different classes of road.

I bet the same muppets dawdling on M-ways drive far too fast on narrow country lanes (eg County class roads) which are barely or not wide enough for two cars to pass each other . I often meet these idiots coming around corners way too fast with not a hope of being able to stop in the distance they can see to be clear. They also probably drive at the same speed in a pea souper fog as they do on a nice sunny day :rolleyes:

saobh_ie

I don't do very much long distance stuff in the car so anytime I get stuck behind someone its not for very long and it doesn't really happen that often, I suppose because theres never a long enough stretch to get that stuck behind somebody feeling, I rarely take the car out of Dublin and speed limits are academic.

Cross county stuff I do on the bike and constantly come up behind slow moving people. As already mentioned it really gets me when the cars stack up one behind the other behind a slow moving car and don't plan to over take.

Luckily its easy to get past. Firstly most people when they see the bike they move over straight away into the hardshoulder. Makes things much easier. But even if they don't and its six cars in a row and I have to go, I watch them through the first place where its safe to over take to see if any of them move and then at the next spot I push all the way to the far side of the road, right over beside the yellow line of the hardshoulder for on coming traffic and go as fast as I can to get past quickly, even if that means 160 in a 100, I'm not going to loiter on the wrong side of the road.

If the roads not wide enough for me to survive one of the cars ahead pulling out while I'm overtaking and I decide to go anyway, which I usually wouldn't, I'll lean on the horn.

Which is a general driving thing that gets me, the horns purpose is to alert people to your presence, not to say i'm not a happy bunny. I've only recently started using mine but its great.

Anyway, I prefect encountering dawdlers on the N roads where you can do something about it oncoming traffic allowing rather than on the Motorways where your stuck unless you undertake, if you can.

maidhc

Silvera wrote:

I often think to myself "What are you waiting for ? A written invitation ? (to pass)"!

I often drive a tractor on the roads, and like to make myself as little of a nuisance as possible, but there are certain drivers who will NOT overtake. On a one occasion I indicated, pulled into the verge and stopped to let a car pass. The driver stopped behind me and stayed there for a full minute despite there being a clear road ahead for the whole time and two other cars overtook both me and him in the period.

In the end I moved off again and left him stay there.

ninty9er

I think I might be a plodder. I just try to stay within the speed limits which are ridiculously low.

There are loads of wide roads that I come off of at times which have a 60k limit only to be legally allowed to head down a bog road or similar at 80k.

There's a stretch of the beginning of the Limerick- Shannon Dual Carriageway that's 60k limit whereas the industrial zone off of it has an 80k limit

It's a joke.

I know for a fact that I sometimes that I don't make good progress, but i want to keep my licence clean. I'll only be 20 next year when my insurance is due

Stephen

If you're moving slowly, you should leave enough of a gap between you and the vehicles ahead to allow people to safely overtake you.

leeroybrown

I'm reminded of another funny anecdote:

I remember talking to a couple of former colleagues after a bank holiday weekend. They had both made trips from Galway to Limerick on the Friday evening and were complaining about how much longer than usual it took. They said that they spent most of the trip in a huge line of cars doing 45mph and that it stretched as far as they could see in both directions.

Later they were talking to another colleague who was known for being a bit sluggish behind the wheel. When they told him about their traffic ridden journey he commented that it was strange as he had driven down to Limerick at around the same time and thought traffic was extremely light. He had driven most of the way down with a clear road ahead of him.

It's funny how someone can day dream the whole way from Galway to Limerick at 45mph and not realise that they have a couple of miles of cars backed up behind them. Needless to say they were not that impressed with him.

wasabi

Well here's what happened to me yesterday on the way up from Sligo to Dublin. I'm on the dual carriageway that leads onto the M4. I'm in the overtaking lane, passing a car doing about 80K. As I complete the maneuver, I see traffic merging in to the left just ahead and nothing behind me, so obviously I stay in the right hand lane to give space to those merging. I'm doing 105-110K at this point, in a small 1L car with 2 surfboards on the roof.

I pass those who have just merged in and indicate left to get in. At which point the car behind me to the left speeds up until his nose is just past the back of my car. There's not enough of a gap between that car and the car ahead, and I don't want to speed up any more to get past that car. Then a SUV driver comes rocketing out of the distance in the right hand lane and sits right behind me flashing his high beams for the next 2K until the people I'd let merge in leave the road and I can get into the left lane.

That's what I get for being nice, eh? What do ye reckon I could have done in that situation?

Mayshine

wasabi wrote:

Well here's what happened to me yesterday on the way up from Sligo to Dublin. I'm on the dual carriageway that leads onto the M4. I'm in the overtaking lane, passing a car doing about 80K. As I complete the maneuver, I see traffic merging in to the left just ahead and nothing behind me, so obviously I stay in the right hand lane to give space to those merging. I'm doing 105-110K at this point, in a small 1L car with 2 surfboards on the roof.

I pass those who have just merged in and indicate left to get in. At which point the car behind me to the left speeds up until his nose is just past the back of my car. There's not enough of a gap between that car and the car ahead, and I don't want to speed up any more to get past that car. Then a SUV driver comes rocketing out of the distance in the right hand lane and sits right behind me flashing his high beams for the next 2K until the people I'd let merge in leave the road and I can get into the left lane.

That's what I get for being nice, eh? What do ye reckon I could have done in that situation?

The guy on the inside that sped up is a twat, but you should have eased off and pulled in behind him rather than drive along side him for over 2km

Since you no longer can complete your overtaking manouver, then thats the best thing for you.

wasabi

Problem was there was another car close behind him and SUV man tailgating me. Believe me, I didn't want to be where I was

Mc-BigE

I think its time for technology to take over, surely with GPS technology it should be possible to pin point location,speed,direction of every car and in turn the speed limit were the car is located.
So fit a big fog horn in the car and when the car goes 5 Mph below (or above ,must be balanced, sorry) the speed limit, it should go off!!! That will wake up the Sunday drivers, or maybe give them a heart attack, which is a nasty side effect!:eek:

Seriously though, a number of car companies , Volvo, Mercedes are developing adaptive cruise control were the car will follow the speed of the car ahead automatically, and sensors all round the car can detect if the car goes off coarse it will steer it out of trouble for the driver! Or even take evasive action if the sensors detect a crash is about to happen.

Sounds science fiction, but maybe in 10 or 20 years time, you should be able to drive to the pub and your car will drive you home! And all cars will do the speed limit in convoy! sounds boring.:(

AM

Another dawdler story...

Last week I was behind 3 cars on the Cavan by-pass late in the evening.
Front car was crawling along at about 60kph on a 100kph road. As we
reached the point where there is a climbing lane, the 2 cars in front of me
used the right-hand lane to overtake slow guy. Just as I enter this lane
Mr Slow decides to drift into it, still doing 60. Before he could enter the
lane fully I gave him a good blast of the horn (oh how I love righteous
horn blasts ). He pulled in quite quickly and that was that. The road
ahead of him was empty so he had no reason whatsoever to change lane.

What gets me about guys like this is that he hasn't got a clue about the
rules of the road and is oblivious to nearby traffic. I see a lot of arrogance
while driving, which is annoying, but it's ignorance that actually scares me.

unkel

AM wrote:

I see a lot of arrogance
while driving, which is annoying, but it's ignorance that actually scares me.

Well said!

ianobrien

One thing that should be brought in here is min speed limits. They have them in Finland and I was done there last year for driving at 15kph under the speed limit!

Friends of mine were fined in Germany for not pulling over and leaving faster cars pass on a two lane road (much the same road as most of the main roads here)

If the same thing was brought in here,, would it work and would it actually be inforced?

Has anybody noticed that most of the "Safe 40mph" brigade do their 40mph past schools and other area where there are going to be kids?

The best cure for tailgaters, wait for them to be accelerating, and then tip the brake pedal enough to light the brake lights, but not use the brakes. Watch the panic behind. This three or four times works wonders. Ya, I know that it is not right, and can cause a ripple effect down the traffic, but the look on the tailgater's face as he panics is worth it.