Cop stopping L drivers on M50

HelterSkelter

Passed a motorbike cop today (Sunday) who has an L driver pulled over at Dundrum exit on M-50. I was heading Northbound. A few mins later he sped past me, I was doing 120kmh so he must have been doing at least 150. Caught up with him at Firhouse exit where he had another L driver pulled over. Looks like he was targeting learner drivers on the motorway. I thought the cops turned a blind eye to this so all you learner drivers.

Turner

Cops dont turn a blind eye to it. But would generally only prosecute if there were other offences detected. Like failing to drive on the left, no tax, bald tyres...

Prosecuting a case in court with just one offence for a l driver driving on a motorway would be a waste of time.

Not to mention overtime.

Theres no fixed penalty for driving on a motorway while on provisional licence. Can only be dealt with by summons to a district court.

Bamboozled

They're clamping down big time all over with L drivers.

they're gonna get fed up of stopping L-plated drivers on the M50 though. A lot of fully licensed drivers have L plates on their cars because their kids are on their policy and are on provisional licenses and a lot cant insure their own cars let alone buy one and insure it.

So they might be stopping cars with L plates on them but they'll not necessarily catch them all being driven by provisional licensed drivers.

is_that_so

At the very least it gives the impression heretofore non-existent that maybe you can get caught. This is the main reason given for our apalling statistics and "average" road behaviour. The L Plate system is daft and is a danger to the learners and experienced drivers alike.

commited

Good to see it. There was an L driver doing 40mph on the M1 today looking scared out of her mind. Silly bint. Fair play to the guards

Stark

Bamboozled wrote:

they're gonna get fed up of stopping L-plated drivers on the M50 though. A lot of fully licensed drivers have L plates on their cars because their kids are on their policy and are on provisional licenses and a lot cant insure their own cars let alone buy one and insure it.

Afaik, it's illegal to have L-plates displayed on a car when a fully licenced driver is driving. They sell non-adhesive L-plates for the purpose of taking them on and off when you're switching between provisional/full licence driver.

Bamboozled

Who takes them off? Where'd you find that? I'm nosey and want to check in case a cop stops us.

Lots of drivers that should have them displayed, dont.

It is Ireland.

Töpher

They're stuck on our car, glued to the outside or something! (The way they were designed!) My younger brother is on it as a learner, and neither myself or my folks remove them when driving (all full licences) - mainly, I think, as they won't come off easily! And if they do come off, they won't go back on! We all do a fair whack of motorway driving.

commited

Stark wrote:

Afaik, it's illegal to have L-plates displayed on a car when a fully licenced driver is driving. They sell non-adhesive L-plates for the purpose of taking them on and off when you're switching between provisional/full licence driver.

Yup - thats what we used to do

Our man in Havana

The actual the UK highway code says that L plates must be removed/covered up when not being used by learners.

is_that_so

commited wrote:

Yup - thats what we used to do

And they are not expensive.

optiplexgx270

HelterSkelter wrote:

Passed a motorbike cop today (Sunday) who has an L driver pulled over at Dundrum exit on M-50. I was heading Northbound. A few mins later he sped past me, I was doing 120kmh so he must have been doing at least 150. Caught up with him at Firhouse exit where he had another L driver pulled over. Looks like he was targeting learner drivers on the motorway. I thought the cops turned a blind eye to this so all you learner drivers.

The very reason my L plates are in the boot And my cover story worked in the past when stopped (mom/whoever takes them off when they drive and i "forgot" to stick them back up)

Stark

Reminds me of someone I knew who lived in Carlingford and who used to take down the L-plates when going shopping in Newry

Though I wouldn't have liked to have been him if he was caught considering they're a lot stricter in the UK regarding provisional licence rules.

optiplexgx270

Well im on my third (out of lazyness havent failed a test or anything) waiting on the test since August (not in a bit rush really). I'm a grand driver although i recon i'd fail on minor things like sticking to the speed limits etc i have tried in the past and just find driving @ 50kph on some of the roads a joke and you cause tail backs doing so. And then try and fo 80kph on some of the country lanes and really strugle to hit 70kph without damaging the car madness.

maidhc

Bond-007 wrote:

The actual the UK highway code says that L plates must be removed/covered up when not being used by learners.

I dont think we have anything similar though.

Seth Brundle

Stark wrote:

Reminds me of someone I knew who lived in Carlingford and who used to take down the L-plates when going shopping in Newry

Though I wouldn't have liked to have been him if he was caught considering they're a lot stricter in the UK regarding provisional licence rules.

When I was a prov licenced driver (for all of 6 months and most of that was because I was too lazy to apply), I drove in NI many times. Stopped most times buy the RUC and army at various checkpoints and even had my car searched by RUC/Army/Customs at Aughnacloy where a sniffer dog and customs officials searched the car from top to bottom.
The RUC knew my car after a while as my girlfriend was living uphill from Strand Rd barracks in Derry.
I never was questioned or commented to about my licence. However these were the days where they had bigger things to worry about up there!

jesus_thats_gre

Yup been driving on a prov for year myself and have been stopped in the north a handful of times with nothing been said. In border towns it is fine but go deeper in to the the north and it is a different story apparently.

sandyg

When i was learning to drive i got the magnetic L driver plates from Atlantic. I see now that boyds are selling them now. They were so handy just stick on and pull off with no damage of sticky tape etc being left on the car. I would recommend them to anyone.

Henry Ford III

I never realised L drivers actually went to the bother of displaying their L plates.

andrew_ireland

From what I remember, there is a one point penalty on driving unaccompanied on a provisional.

Stark

No, there are provisions in road traffic law for making it a penalty point offence, but so far they haven't introduced that.

rick_fantastic

im on a provisional and i drive on the motorway everyday. never put up learner plate and i never will.

ive been stopped a few times and given the garda my provisional license which is my second provisional and they have never said anything to me bout learner plates

Mr. Presentable

rick_fantastic wrote:

im on a provisional and i drive on the motorway everyday. never put up learner plate and i never will.

ive been stopped a few times and given the garda my provisional license which is my second provisional and they have never said anything to me bout learner plates

Have they ever said anything about being unaccompanied by full licenced driver?

Stark

rick_fantastic wrote:

im on a provisional and i drive on the motorway everyday. never put up learner plate and i never will.

ive been stopped a few times and given the garda my provisional license which is my second provisional and they have never said anything to me bout learner plates

I'm a contemptuous person when it comes to rules, but I always wear my L-plates. I don't see the point of not wearing them.

nipplenuts wrote:

Have they ever said anything about being unaccompanied by full licenced driver?

It's perfectly legal to drive unaccompanied on a second provisional.

Kersh

Is it any wonder that the motorway merging/exiting on the sliproads is brutal in this country. L drivers arent allowed on the Mways, so when they pass their test, thay can suddenly drive off down to an mway, and make a complete balls of merging.... not to mention being dangerously slow when they reach the merge line... cos they never got any practice doing it. :rolleyes: :rolleyes:

Stark

Many dual carriageways have sliproads. Unfortunately dual carriageways aren't covered in the driving test. Novice drivers shouldn't be on the motorway but as for experienced L-drivers vs full licence drivers, you can't really bitch about the L-drivers as your full licence says nothing about dual carriageway/motorway driving.

smarty

I like the term "Experienced L Drivers".

Stark wrote:

you can't really bitch about the L-drivers as your full licence says nothing about dual carriageway/motorway driving.

It doesn't say anything about competency, but it does entitles you to drive on motorways.

layke

LOL! I thought you were talking about me, I got pulled on Sunday at the Firhouse exit on the M50. It turned out that the cop didn't want me he was after the guy behind me. Wouldn't mind but i've paid my tax last week but i'm still waiting on my new disk!

The relief was mighty.

rick_fantastic wrote:

im on a provisional and i drive on the motorway everyday. never put up learner plate and i never will.

ive been stopped a few times and given the garda my provisional license which is my second provisional and they have never said anything to me bout learner plates

Ditto, I have been asked if my license was my first or second, when I tell them it's my second they just nod and usually go about their business.

I don't know how that affects anything but apperently it does.

Stark

smarty wrote:

I like the term "Experienced L Drivers".

Brought to you by 14 month waiting lists

smarty wrote:

It doesn't say anything about competency, but it does entitles you to drive on motorways.

Yeah it's a purely legal thing though. You can pass your driving test without ever learning to drive more than 30mph. Which means that from a road safety point of view, noone should be allowed on motorways.

Nuttzz

andrew_ireland wrote:

From what I remember, there is a one point penalty on driving unaccompanied on a provisional.

they wont do that until the clear the testing backlog

Bamboozled

andrew_ireland wrote:

From what I remember, there is a one point penalty on driving unaccompanied on a provisional.

There are no penalty points for driving unaccompanied on a first, third and subsequent provisional license.
It does carry a fine though.

layke wrote:

Ditto, I have been asked if my license was my first or second, when I tell them it's my second they just nod and usually go about their business.

I don't know how that affects anything but apperently it does.

Second licenses allow you to drive unaccompanied. Third or any other you're not allowed so keep telling them its your second

All provisional licenses carry codes on them.
I dont have a provisional license here to look at it, but if you have to wear corrective lenses, your license must carry that code.

Third licenses carry a code to say it is a third (or subsequent i think, not sure) license and that's how the cops can tell the difference between first, second, third licenses if they read the license properly.

Nuttzz wrote:

they wont do that until the clear the testing backlog

they will be clearing the backlog. Outside testers are being allowed.