Mad drivers down the country

unkel

Coming back from the midlands yesterday about 6pm going from Ballymahon (Co. Longford) to Mullingar (Co. Westmeath) on the R392. Narrow reasonable quality quiet regional road, no hard shoulder whatsoever, pretty straight but hilly. Max speed 80km/h. I was doing various speeds between 80km/h and 100km/h

Was overtaken 4 times on a stretch of about 25km, twice by a car and twice by a van. The cars and the one van carried on at speeds of about 110-120km/h. The other van carried on at about 130-140km/h :eek:

Subsequently on a stretch of about 60km on the M4, I was doing 130km/h and was not overtaken once

In my 7-series I felt 100km/h was the max I could safely do on the R392 under perfect conditions. In a family hatch, I would not have gone over 80km/h, let alone in a van

I don't spend much time driving on R-roads. Is it your experience there are a lot of people speeding on them?

Edit: And by speeding I mean doing speeds like 140km/h in a van on that type of road. (as opposed to doing 130 on a 120 motorway). Don't get me wrong. I don't condone speeding, even though I was speeding myself

giveth

I notice that aswell....

It seems to me that in this country the worse the road, the faster the people drive.

I'd drive 130kmh or a little more on motorways, 110 - 120 kmp on dual carraigways where I think it is perfectly safe to do this speeds. But on these roads I always seem to be going faster than everyone else.

Then on narrow country roads with no visibility and not enough space for 2 cars to pass I always have people up my ass trying to overtake me. And on these roads I'm regularly almost run off the road by people going too fast and on the wrong side of the road going around corners.

I think it proabably has to do with that fact that your much more likely to get caught speeding on the wide open roads, as this is where all the speed traps are.

Seth Brundle

familiarisation breeds contempt
They are probably used to driving the roads and know the max speeds possible for certain stretches (but don't factor in potential hazards)

gstonesmx5

from living in the country for most of my life there are two answers to this.
1. for some the back road is that and take at leisure or the legal limit.
2. for others its a main road and they treat it like a motorway.

either way i still have to do lots of back rd driving and see both every day
so its a common thing and i think will stay that way.

thats my 2cents anyway.

bennyc

I drive what has to be one of the worst roads in the west every day about 20 miles long.
Its nuts what I get every week, I have to go that route as I have kids to drop off at a certin time and if I go the long way we are talking about 45 mins extra. At leat twice a week (at least twice usually more)I will meet a car / van / bus / lorry / tractor comming head on taking up half the road (my side) and have to swerve to avoid. I have to add that I am not the over cautious driver I sound like but Jesus Christ between the vans with the ni reg heading home in a rush and the boy racers on that road a smash is comming my way. When I get my **** together I will be driving a tank s80 / s60 basically for my protection as this bit of road is getting worse every day.
Mentioned it to a local garda once. reply : sure that road is nuts :eek: :eek: :eek: never once have I seen them on it.

shoegirl

Sorry to say this, but as a Dub who lives in east Cork I regularly see behaviour on the road which simply defies belief. The main problem in rural areas is that a lot of people deliberately go to work at off peak times (often ridiculously early) to avoid traffic so are blissfully unaware of other drivers. Just yesterday I saw a driver overtake a car on the left hand side of a slip road and nearly crashed straight into a car coming down the main road in order to try to "sneak" in front of the car that was waiting to merge onto the main road. He then tailgated the car he nearly crashed into (who had spotted him and roared the horn at him) for the next mile before speeding off in another direction. I spotted him further down - was a guy in his 50s. Absolutely appalling and dangerous driver who simply should be taken off the road. The likes of him are a particular menace to pedestrians and cyclists.

I once was sitting at the front of a bus near Midleton and the drivers used to fly so fast we were literally less than 8 inches once from a head-on collision!

BrianD3

Yes, an awful lot of drivers speed and/or drive dangerously on country roads. Either they ignore the 80 km/h limit or they drive at 80 km/h when the road is clearly not suitable for that speed. One of the biggest dangers on country roads is as already mentioned, drivers coming around bends far too fast with no hope in hell of stopping in the distance they can see to be clear. On R-roads if they come across a pedestrian or tractor on their side of the road they're in trouble. On narrower roads (below R standard) its even worse as all oncoming traffic that they meet is in danger too.

The same people probably dawdle along at 90 km/h on deserted motorways :rolleyes: In fact I have seen this happen. I have been tailgated and overtaken dangerously on R-roads then a few miles down the road when the R-road has led onto a M-way I've caught up with the assholes.

PS a tip for anyone who is worried about being wiped out on a narrow country road. Drive at a speed which allows you to stop in HALF the distance you can see to be clear. That way you have some extra protection if an oncoming car comes around a bend too fast and is taking up more than half the road. At least if there is a crash you'll probably be stationary when it happens.

maidhc

Being a citizen of the coutryside beyond midleton, I dont think things are that bad at all. The roads are good, and while speeds of 60mph are pretty common, people don't do too much more than that.

Having said that I recently met a guy at a blind bend in a Mazda who ended up in the ditch trying to avoid me in a tractor. He totally accepted he was at fault. He didn't do much damage apart from blowing his tyre and scraping his bumper. He was still only doing about 30mph.

kluivert

Country road driving....the joys

You dublin boys give out about driving on the M50 or M1 thats a piece of pee compared to country road driving.

You must give they to oncoming lorries underwise you will end up under neath them.

You must be able to safe the rear end of the car from slipping out from the water grass verge.

You must be able to vision oncoming accidents, ie every car that approaches you in order to avoid it.

You must be able to play chicken with overtaking cars.

You must be able to driving at least a metre from the car in front in order to drive safely.

Country driving is incrediblely dangerous. I was trying to be smart above but its not a joke, Lorries cant take country road corners without crossing the white line. I dont know how many times I have nearly lost the back end of the car from wet grass and leafs on the road. You need to expect the unexpected every minute on the road, because everyday without fail you see the most stupidest things. And tailgating is very common, I still cant understand why people do it.

Overtaking....I only overtake when am on roads that I know, and even then when I overtake I normally have a good run at the car in front so I can get pass them as quick as possible. The road I travel I would have four overtaking spots and dont try to overtake anywhere else as I know its too risky and not worth even the effort or risk

maidhc

kluivert wrote:

Country road driving....the joys

You dublin boys give out about driving on the M50 or M1 thats a piece of pee compared to country road driving.

You must give they to oncoming lorries underwise you will end up under neath them.

You must be able to safe the rear end of the car from slipping out from the water grass verge.

You must be able to vision oncoming accidents, ie every car that approaches you in order to avoid it.

You must be able to play chicken with overtaking cars.

You must be able to driving at least a metre from the car in front in order to drive safely.

Country driving is incrediblely dangerous. I was trying to be smart above but its not a joke, Lorries cant take country road corners without crossing the white line. I dont know how many times I have nearly lost the back end of the car from wet grass and leafs on the road. You need to expect the unexpected every minute on the road, because everyday without fail you see the most stupidest things. And tailgating is very common, I still cant understand why people do it.

Overtaking....I only overtake when am on roads that I know, and even then when I overtake I normally have a good run at the car in front so I can get pass them as quick as possible. The road I travel I would have four overtaking spots and dont try to overtake anywhere else as I know its too risky and not worth even the effort or risk

All the above is pretty much true. Driving in the coutry is much more difficult and tiring that in and around Dublin or anywhere built up. It sure as hell is more enjoyable on a day like today though.

mike65

unkel wrote:

The other van carried on at about 130-140km/h :eek:

I gave you a wave as I passed!

Mike.

Wolverine_1999

I would definately say that country drivers are more skilled than city drivers or people always driving on motorways, i.e Dublin, Cork, Galway...

You see it when people come here from abroad in their Dan Dooley rentals. They are petrified of the narrow roads and waddle along at 50kph. I think the same would apply for some up country people, who are just no way fit for driving on normal Irish country roads. The reason they think everyone is speeding is because they cannot navigate the road at a pace that locally everyone is used to doing.

Having said that, it's no excuse for anyone to speed along at 140kph on a regional road... Depending on the road in question, it's not normally possible to drive faster than 80kph anyway because of the state of the road.

mike65

I like to think I can get along "b-roads" quickly without doing stupid things. Today I went from Cashel to Kilkenny via Fethard and Callan, the road until Callan is a neverending sucession of hairpin bends and corners but I managed the journey in less than 50 mins. Quiet enough road luckily.

Mike.

heggie

Wolverine_1999 wrote:

I would definately say that country drivers are more skilled than city drivers or people always driving on motorways, i.e Dublin, Cork,

absolutely, thats why the vast majority of deaths on our road are rural drivers

they're more skilled to speed on dangerous roads, and theyre even more skilled to drink and drive

:rolleyes:

kluivert

maidhc wrote:

All the above is pretty much true. Driving in the coutry is much more difficult and tiring that in and around Dublin or anywhere built up. It sure as hell is more enjoyable on a day like today though.

Driving home from work windows down sunroof open wind in my air not stucj in traffic free flowing all the way air, priceless

maidhc

heggie wrote:

absolutely, thats why the vast majority of deaths on our road are rural drivers

they're more skilled to speed on dangerous roads, and theyre even more skilled to drink and drive

:rolleyes:

Meh. Its hard to die when you can only do 10mph on the M50.

Munya

I dont drive but usually cause a delay and therefore make the driver speed sorry.

I dont think theres much speeding on my little third class road the cars go by pretty fast but too fast? Not sure

elexes

i fully agree with kluivert about what you have to expect in country roads

lorries crossing the white line ... ive had that problom loads and its bloody scary im just glad that they are widening most roads in ireland now

curiosity

unkel wrote:

In my 7-series I felt 100km/h was the max I could safely do on the R392 under perfect conditions. In a family hatch, I would not have gone over 80km/h, let alone in a van

Curious as to why you hold this opinion. Would you be good enough to elaborate?

mike65

Cos BMWs rule! Maybe something to do with the balance between weight and height (centre of gravity)

Mike.

curiosity

mike65 wrote:

Cos BMWs rule! Maybe something to do with the balance between weight and height (centre of gravity)

Mike.

Naw, if that was the case beemer drivers would need to go slower (higher centre of gravity caused by massive egos;)

Seth Brundle

curiosity wrote:

Naw, if that was the case beemer drivers would need to go slower (higher centre of gravity caused by massive egos

har har
:rolleyes:

mike65 wrote:

Cos BMWs rule! Maybe something to do with the balance between weight and height (centre of gravity)

Mike.

...and that coming from a merc driver!

mike65

Thats what Unkel might say, I would'nt naturally.

Mike.

Rudolph Claus

Curious as to why you hold this opinion. Would you be good enough to elaborate?

He probably cant drive a nail. Obviously others thought a slightly faster speed was safe. And i doublt they were doing above 70mph to be honest. If vans were passing him I suspect he was dwadling along at an annoying 50mph and not the 60mph he says, thinking he was being nice and safe. Most people will sit at 60mph on them roads, even vans so they were passing him for some reason. Do you brake at every slight bend you come to "Unkel"? Does being overtaken get to you, especially by vans? Pity the 7series is wasted on an incompetent driver. Perhaps your female? :rolleyes:

In my 7-series I felt 100km/h was the max I could safely do on the R392 under perfect conditions. In a family hatch, I would not have gone over 80km/h, let alone in a van

Are you incompetent? If you cant do 60mph on them roads you shouldnt be driving. Sure a lot of them roads used be 60mph before being stupidly changed to 50mph.

In a family hatch, I would not have gone over 80km/h, let alone in a van

So you reckon a difference of 10mph is a big factor between a family hatch/van compared to your bmw when we`re talking of small speeds of 50 and 60mph? Why so, or do you even know why you think that. :rolleyes: Thats laughable, such utter bull talk.

I don't spend much time driving on R-roads.

No ****! So you were probably being over-cautious slowing down for every little bend. Maybe the lads that over took you travel the road regularly and know where the safe spots are to over-take nerds.

was the max I could safely do on the R392 under perfect conditions

lol,, anyone that comes out with driving instructor jargon like that statement has to be gay.

Seth Brundle

@ Nuttzy - how long have you been driving? You really do sound like a snotty teenager who knows it all and think they are better than Schumacher.
Knowing a road does not make it safe to overtake! Simple fact!
Just because a road has a limit of whatever, does not mean that it automatically can take that speed. Anyone who is familiar with our roads would know that. In saying that many roads could cater for higher speed limits but like it or not they still have a speed limit. [I do like to occasionally put the foot down but I know what Im doing and will accept any consequences]
Lastly, I don't think you really know what being gay is if you think there is a connection with being a driving instructor. Maybe type 'gay' into google and see what you get - you might even like it.

edit: upon re-reading your post, I see another reference to being less of a man if you can't drive. I strongly suspect that you are in denial about your sexuality.

maidhc

I thought Nuttzy was being sarcastic!

Lots of vulgar abuse and weird driving observations for one post.

6ix

kbannon wrote:

familiarisation breeds contempt
They are probably used to driving the roads and know the max speeds possible for certain stretches (but don't factor in potential hazards)

I would agree with this. When you're used to driving the same road every day, you know the best overtaking spots, the max speeds etc. If the drivers who overtook the OP were overtaking in dangerous places, that's obviously reckless - a different matter. One can only assume they knew the road better than he did, and believed that they could get their their destination quicker by overtaking.

Everyone here has been on a road they know well, caught behind a slow-joe of some sort, dying to get past. It's quite frustrating.

Hagar

The trouble is that there is always the guy coming in the the other direction who thinks he knows the road too: result, serious injuries and deaths.

oleras

You know, i hate to make generalisations, but here goes..... if one was to take the pro overtaking average age and marital status against the anti overtaking average age and marital status i am sure it would be black and white...... country roads are not made for overtaking, but unfortunatly so many drivers assume they are on the circut of ireland rally and can drive doing 80-100kmh on these roads......how can one compare an old type N (now R in a lot of places with the introduction of bypasses) to a road where you HAVE to pull in to let a tractor, milk lorry pass you,and assume you can do the same speed because the limits are the same... you cannot drive fast on these things, 3 weeks ago i was heading to work on a country road, from my house, but unfortunatly it is also a rat run from one main road to another, the amount of cars that fly around the corners is scary....case in point, some guy came around a bend, not even a tight bend in his BMW and hit me nearly head on, only the fact i swerved i managed to reduce the colission to him hitting me on the drivers light side, still managed to write off both cars, but thankfully noone was severly hurt, or even killed.... the limit on the road was 50kmh as it was aproaching the main road but this guy was easilly doing 80 or 90....way too fast, and he could not control the car. Driving is dangerous enough, and everyone will agree there are ejits on our roads, but it does not make you a better or smarter driver to be able to rally the country roads of ireland... maybe if some of these drivers had families, either at home or in the car with them they might slow it down a bit.... and if you are stuck behind someone who is not comfortable with tearing around crap roads....sit back, pull in for a few mins..... dont go up their ass and pressure them into hugging the ditch, thats road rage in my openion...... the statistics speak for themselfs....young single males......and i know they are only statistics, but sometimes you have to stand back and look at it from someone elses point of view, they dont rally home because they might have a wife and children waiting for them..... just something to mull over.........and i would ask, before anyone flames me..... reread my post again, it might make more sense on the second read........and also, just my openion, but im sure it is shared with a lot of other drivers out there.....

maidhc

oleras wrote:

reread my post again, it might make more sense on the second read........

That would be a more attractive proposition if you used paragraphs!

I think the "mad drivers" on rural roads are invariably locals, who have neither the time nor inclination to pull over and wait a few minutes. I know my dad drives just as fast, if not faster on such roads as I do - which while much faster than a non-native would drive isn't particuarly dangerous... e.g. you dont come into an unexpected bend too fast!

Big Nelly

haha Dublin drivers saying country ones are worse....lmao, I learned to drive in the country and for the last 7-8 years have been driving in Dublin, every morning into city centre!!

I travel alot on the N3 and this is the usual that happens, get to first set of Traffic lights on the Dublin side of Navan, go green and every D reg car floors it, once it gets to the dual lane they are busting from one lane to the other nearly causing accidents to try and get in front of the car in front, finally get past as many cars in the Navan town because they have broke speed limits, nearly caused accidents, broke every green light etc

get outside of Navan on Cavan side and all the D reg cars are moving along at anywhere between 60-80kmph. Holding up all the traffic. This is the guy that nearly caused an accident in the town to try and get past these cars

Yeah Dublin drivers are great:rolleyes: