Driving in the bus lane (At Peak Times)

Renegade_Archer

Way home from work on the N3 ths other day, heading into town, massive queues, couple of people zooming up the buslane - get to the roundabout - theres a garda pulling all the queue jumpers in \o/ - I clapped.



Ewan

Pataman

It must be great to be able to pick and choose the laws that suit you. Unfortunately I like most have to obey all of them.

Hobbes

Renegade_Archer wrote:

Way home from work on the N3 ths other day, heading into town, massive queues, couple of people zooming up the buslane - get to the roundabout - theres a garda pulling all the queue jumpers in \o/ - I clapped.

Was that Friday? Saw a whole load of people get caught out that way. One.. I can only assume muppet didn't see the cops there because there was a queue held there and proceeded to honk his horn to get the people in the bus lane to move.

didn't get to see if the garda put him out of his misery or not.

Hobbes

fletch wrote:

Well the sign which indicates the bus lane times does not appear until the final few yards of the bus lane. As a result, I think you are well within your rights to use the bus lane until that sign and then about 100yards just before the bus lane ends, you then have to try merge back into the outer lane...has anybody else noticed this?

As I understood the rules of the road if there is no sign in the bus lane you cannot enter at all or if you don't know what the sign says.

your post reminded me of something though.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gpCnH9jRcdc

Cantab.

I'm self-employed and use the bus lanes all the time. Time is money and the €60 is well worth it.

ballooba

Cantab. wrote:

I'm self-employed and use the bus lanes all the time. Time is money and the €60 is well worth it.

At least one other person is honest.

Princess Consuela Bananahammock

ballooba wrote:

At least one other person is honest.

How is breaking the law honest...?

I notice your signature leads to a thread about registering to vote: what is the point in persuading people to elect lawmakers if you have **** all respect for the law?

ballooba

Ikky Poo2 wrote:

How is breaking the law honest...?

I never said breaking the law was honest. Figure it out. You seem like a smart chap.

Ikky Poo2 wrote:

I notice your signature leads to a thread about registering to vote: what is the point in persuading people to elect lawmakers if you have **** all respect for the law?

I hardly see how the two are related? Especially given that the same could be said of many of our elected representatives.

Besides, I find your assertion that I personally have "****" all respect for the law quite funny. How would you define that? Have you ever broken a law in your life?

Princess Consuela Bananahammock

ballooba wrote:

I never said breaking the law was honest. Figure it out. You seem like a smart chap.



I hardly see how the two are related? Especially given that the same could be said of many of our elected representatives.

Besides, I find your assertion that I personally have "****" all respect for the law quite funny. How would you define that? Have you ever broken a law in your life?

You wrote, at last one OTHER person was honest, implying other than yourself. Therefore, you see yourelf as both an honest person as well as a selfish lawbreaker.

Whether or not I have respect for the law/have ever broken the law is irrelevant - I never started threads trying to justify it or claim breaking that it was justified for selfish gain. Or are you trying to claim you DO respect the law IN THEORY, but feel that it's okay to break a law you don't agree with in the first place...?

giddyup

Interesting thread. I use the bus lanes on the N3 whenever the traffic is bad which is quite regularly. In 7+ years of doing this on a regular basis I've never been stopped or caught. I've no problem with being stopped and fined as my transgressions will have been worth the money.

I can never undertand how people sit in tailbacks day in day out. It is soul destroying. Hopping in the bus lane is expedient and my own personal form of protest at the state of roads / traffic etc.

MrPudding

Cantab. wrote:

I'm self-employed and use the bus lanes all the time. Time is money and the €60 is well worth it.

giddyup wrote:

I
I can never undertand how people sit in tailbacks day in day out. It is soul destroying. Hopping in the bus lane is expedient and my own personal form of protest at the state of roads / traffic etc.

Like many of Ireland's driving problem the key here is enforcement. If you got a fine every single time you used a bus lane would you still do it?

If you want people to not use them then you have to enforce the rules. As several people have said in this thread, the fine comes along so infrequently that it is worthwhile. I don't care how well off you are, but a €60 fine for each bus lane misuse will be a major dis-encentive. If the penalty point were also introduced I think it would be very effective.

Enforcement cameras on the front and rear of busses as well as fixed cameras along the lanes them selves should sort it out.

MrP

Stark

giddyup wrote:

I can never undertand how people sit in tailbacks day in day out. It is soul destroying. Hopping in the bus lane is expedient and my own personal form of protest at the state of roads / traffic etc.

Through your "personal form of protest" you're countermanding attempts to improve the public transport situation.

Also many drivers who do use the bus lanes are in fact idiotic. I regularly see cars fill up the bus lane just before the turn off from the Finglas Road to the Old Finglas road. They're just queuing in an illegal lane as opposed to a legal lane. I wait in the correct lane, merge after the bus lane turns into the left turn lane and it takes me the same time as the fools and I'm not risking a fine or holding up the people in the buses that come down that way regularly.

Big Nelly

People who use the bus lane should be dragged from there car and beaten within a inch of there life. Then sent on there way:p

Hate people who do this. Was a traffic jam in Dunshaughlin last friday nite(some gobsh*t in a lorry broke down in middle of village) was stuck in it for about 30 mins and then this soccer mum comes flying down the new bus lane there. Pissed me off rightly. Anyway about 10 mins later I was coming down past where the bus lanes merges back in, she was still stuck in bus lane cause nobody wud let her out. I drove on past making sure she hadnt a hope of getting out and everyone behind me followed suit. Cud see driver in car behind in tears laughing. Well done any driver on N3 going into Dunshauglin!!!!!!!!

Big Nelly

Cantab. wrote:

I'm self-employed and use the bus lanes all the time. Time is money and the €60 is well worth it.

Never heard such a pile of crap in my life. Hope you get banned off the road and then we will see how "self-employed" you are on the dole queue!!!!!

overdriver

123456789 wrote:

Come come my pretty said the spiider to the fly,

Plesae do keepdriving in the bus lanesa it makes free flow days so much more exciting, can nearly pretend to be crouching tiger hidden GA**A,

Gotta love thye excuses ah Ga**a thought the bus lane finished @ half * in the mornin or I didnt see the great big F**** BUS LANE written on the road.

Must go for a walk down Amien St tomorrow

Your English is atrocious and it makes reading your post extremely difficult.
Why do you *** out the word "Garda"? I don't understand that at all.

ballooba

Ikky Poo2 wrote:

You wrote, at last one OTHER person was honest, implying other than yourself.

Ok, you still seem to be missing the point. So I'll spell it out for you. I was refferring to someone else owning up to using bus lanes. Not the fact that they use the bus lanes.

Is that clear enough for you or would you like me to draw a picture?

Ikky Poo2 wrote:

Therefore, you see yourelf as both an honest person as well as a selfish lawbreaker.

Now your just being silly. Where did I give the impression that I see myself as being selfish?

Ikky Poo2 wrote:

Whether or not I have respect for the law/have ever broken the law is irrelevant - I never started threads trying to justify it or claim breaking that it was justified for selfish gain.

Look again, I didn't start the thread.

Ikky Poo2 wrote:

Or are you trying to claim you DO respect the law IN THEORY, but feel that it's okay to break a law you don't agree with in the first place...?

I don't always respect this particular law. I think it is completely relevant whether you personally 100% per cent respect every law. He without sin cast the first stone etc.

ballooba

MrPudding wrote:

Like many of Ireland's driving problem the key here is enforcement. If you got a fine every single time you used a bus lane would you still do it?

Exactly.

Don't forget enforcement of the other rules that are causing congestion in the normal lanes. Illegal turns, U-turns, dangerous lane changes, people incapable of sticking between the lines of their own lane, driving far too slow, talking on mobiles, the list goes on.

ballooba

Big Nelly wrote:

Never heard such a pile of crap in my life. Hope you get banned off the road and then we will see how "self-employed" you are on the dole queue!!!!!

You can't get banned off the road for driving in Bus Lanes. It's a €60 fine. Did you read the thread.

Stark

ballooba wrote:

Exactly. Don't forget enforcement of the other rules that are causing congestion in the normal lanes. Illegal turns, U-turns, dangerous lane changes, people incapable of sticking between the lines of their own lane, driving far too slow, talking on mobiles, the list goes on.

So just because other people break laws, it's okay for you to break the law? You can be as honest as you like about your behaviour, but you're not going to justify it or get people to agree with you that it's okay for you to do so.

I'm sure those people doing those other things that you complain about have their reasons/pseudo-justifications for doing so too. Probably not too dissimilar to yours.

bullpost

As has already been pointed out a €60 fine is not a deterrent. A more appropriate punishment would be a short driving ban - say two weeks - this will likely force the driver to use the bus lane more frequently - as a bus passenger :-)

Princess Consuela Bananahammock

ballooba wrote:

Ok, you still seem to be missing the point. So I'll spell it out for you. I was refferring to someone else owning up to using bus lanes. Not the fact that they use the bus lanes.

Is that clear enough for you or would you like me to draw a picture?

Wood for the trees, my good man: I know exactly what you meant, my point being he who breaks the law is not honest. Regardless of whether he owns up to it or not. I simply pointed out the double standards.

ballooba wrote:

Now your just being silly. Where did I give the impression that I see myself as being selfish?

ballooba in post #49 wrote:

I didn't moan about the selfish part. Just the idiot part.

ballooba wrote:

Look again, I didn't start the thread.

Does it matter??

I don't always respect this particular law. I think it is completely relevant whether you personally 100% per cent respect every law. He without sin cast the first stone etc

When you find a thread where I'm admitted breaking the law and then said I was dead right because the law is wrong and I'm seperate from other people, I will put my stones down. (This is not to saw I haven't, I just haven't tried to condone it when I did)

ballooba

Well, Ikky Poo2. I fail to see your logic on a lot of points. In fact I doubt there is any.

I break this particular law quite regularly. I'd reckon the vast majority of people in this country break laws on a regular basis. I'm sure most of them would also offer justification for their actions.

I don't however think that they should be denied the right to vote, or for that matter to be a public representative, or should be called dishonest or selfish.

A discussion started here about driving in the bus lane. I came on put my hands up and said I do it, I explained why I feel justifiied in doing so.

Plenty of people have come on and made arguments, some of them good and some of them pretty poor to be honest , against driving in bus lanes.

You can come on here and rant all you want at people for driving in bus lanes, driving unaccompanied, drink driving, speeding whatever you want. The fact of the matter is it doesn't really make a difference.

The only thing that makes a difference is enforcement. If there are loop holes in the system then I will use them.

I drove unaccompanied on my provisional, because I could.
I skipped the driving test queue, twice, because I could.
I drive in Bus Lanes, because I can.

Nothing you or anyone else are going to say is going to change that. That's what our government, our courts and our police force are there for.

I think all of the goodness is gone out of this thread so I'll leave it there. Perhaps someone else would like to play devil's advocate?

Calina

So, effectively, you're not going to be responsible for your own actions and will do anything you like provided no one stops you.

That's one of the big problems in this country - no one takes responsibility for their own actions and expects someone to stop them from breaking driving legislation such as speeding/buslanes/indicators.

Sunshine - grow up. Enforcement is only required because there is such a vast number of people in this country incapable of behaving in a remotely responsible manner. Admittedly it's laughable - but regardless, if people like you had the guts to behave responsibly on the road, then we wouldn't have to listen to half the whinging about the standard of driving in this country.

There are rules. Regardless of whether there's a garda wandering around to prevent you from using the bus lane, to prevent you from driving too fast, to prevent you from drinking too much, the fact remains that if you require the intervention of a third party to make you adhere to the law, then you're a lousy bad driver and you're part of the problem. Driving is not just car control, handling and all that ****e, you know. There are laws too.

MrPudding

bullpost wrote:

As has already been pointed out a €60 fine is not a deterrent.

I disagree, let me explain.

We have MrSelfish Tosser. He thinks he is very important and his time is more valuable than everyone elses so he uses the bus lanes to and from work.

To keep things simple let us say his journey, each way, has one bus lane which he uses. Lets also say that everytime you illegally use a bus lane you get fined. This would mean that MrSelfish would be paying €120 PER DAY for the honor of using the bus lanes. How long do you think he would keep that up for.

Imagine then someone that uses a couple of different buslanes in their journey. They could rack up several €60 fines each way each day. How long do you think they would keep it up for?

It does not matter how severe the punishment is, (up to a point)people will weigh up the potential punishment and take into the consideration the chance of getting caught.

€60 is not a deterrent if you reckon you will not have to pay it. If you had to pay it every day I think you will find it deterrs most people.

MrP

Princess Consuela Bananahammock

ballooba wrote:

Well, Ikky Poo2. I fail to see your logic on a lot of points. In fact I doubt there is any.

I break this particular law quite regularly. I'd reckon the vast majority of people in this country break laws on a regular basis. I'm sure most of them would also offer justification for their actions.

I don't however think that they should be denied the right to vote, or for that matter to be a public representative, or should be called dishonest or selfish.

A discussion started here about driving in the bus lane. I came on put my hands up and said I do it, I explained why I feel justifiied in doing so.

Plenty of people have come on and made arguments, some of them good and some of them pretty poor to be honest , against driving in bus lanes.

You can come on here and rant all you want at people for driving in bus lanes, driving unaccompanied, drink driving, speeding whatever you want. The fact of the matter is it doesn't really make a difference.

The only thing that makes a difference is enforcement. If there are loop holes in the system then I will use them.

I drove unaccompanied on my provisional, because I could.
I skipped the driving test queue, twice, because I could.
I drive in Bus Lanes, because I can.

Nothing you or anyone else are going to say is going to change that. That's what our government, our courts and our police force are there for.

I think all of the goodness is gone out of this thread so I'll leave it there. Perhaps someone else would like to play devil's advocate?

The reason you don;t see the logic is becaues you fail to see anyone else's point of view. You break the law because "you can"? What of we all took that attitude?

Rest of what I fell has been perfectly summed up by Calina.

FX Meister

So have we come to a decision about whether or not you get points? A woman that works for my mother received notification of points for driving in the bus lane. FACT

Wishbone Ash

FX Meister wrote:

So have we come to a decision about whether or not you get points?

There was never any doubt.

FX Meister wrote:

A woman that works for my mother received notification of points for driving in the bus lane.

She could have been driving in a contra-flow lane and received points for driving the wrong way. She may have been speeding or not wearing a seatbelt while driving in a standard bus lane. Driving in a bus lane is not a specific peanalty point offence.

FX Meister wrote:

FACT

:rolleyes: Yea, we believe you. :rolleyes:

FX Meister

There was doubt, it's been argued here. FACT
What you meant to say was "There was never any doubt in my mind" FACT
Nah, she was just driving in the bus lane to save time. No other offences. FACT

cast_iron

ballooba wrote:

Well, Ikky Poo2. I fail to see your logic on a lot of points. In fact I doubt there is any.

I break this particular law quite regularly. I'd reckon the vast majority of people in this country break laws on a regular basis. I'm sure most of them would also offer justification for their actions.
.
.
I explained why I feel justifiied in doing so.

Lets look at the logic here: You seem to be implying that because you can, you will break the law and that that is justification for it.
It appears you have no grasp of reality. I can knife someone to death, and would probably get away with it. Now these are very different offences, but you are using the exact same logic to justify your act. (PS. You may want to look up logic on www.dictionary.com, as I doubt you own a dictionary)

ballooba wrote:

Plenty of people have come on and made arguments, some of them good and some of them pretty poor to be honest , against driving in bus lanes.

In case you are confused, you are in the latter.

ballooba wrote:

You can come on here and rant all you want at people for driving in bus lanes, driving unaccompanied, drink driving, speeding whatever you want. The fact of the matter is it doesn't really make a difference.

The only thing that makes a difference is enforcement. If there are loop holes in the system then I will use them.

So it's okay to drink drive if you don't get caught.....right:rolleyes: .
Another misconception of yours - not getting caught is NOT a loophole. God, you're ignorant.

ballooba wrote:

I drove unaccompanied on my provisional, because I could.
I skipped the driving test queue, twice, because I could.
I drive in Bus Lanes, because I can.

Nothing you or anyone else are going to say is going to change that. That's what our government, our courts and our police force are there for.

You really sound like a nice guy, don't you?
Good riddance.

Wishbone Ash

FX Meister wrote:

There was doubt, it's been argued here. FACT
What you meant to say was "There was never any doubt in my mind" FACT
Nah, she was just driving in the bus lane to save time. No other offences. FACT

These are the 35 penalty point offences from the official Depart of Transport website. Perhaps you could find the one relating to driving in a buslane?


Dangerous overtaking
Failure to act in accordance with a Garda signal
Failure to stop a vehicle before stop sign/ stop line
Failure to yield right of way at a yield sign/ yield line
Crossing continuous white line
Entry by driver into hatched marked area of roadway, e.g. carriageway reduction lane
Failure to obey traffic lights
Failure obey traffic rules at railway level crossing
Driving a vehicle on a motorway against the flow of traffic
Driving on the hard shoulder on a motorway
Driving a HGV or bus on the outside lane on a motorway
Failure to drive on the left hand side of the road
Failure to obey requirements at junctions, e.g. not being in the correct lane when turning onto another road
Failure to obey requirements regarding reversing of vehicles, e.g. reversing from minor road onto main road
Driving on a footpath
Driving on a cycle track
Failure to turn left when entering a roundabout
Driving on a median strip, e.g. boundary between two carriageways
Failure to stop for school warden sign
Failure to stop when so required by a member of the Garda Siochana
Failure to leave appropriate distance between you and the vehicle in front
Failure to yield
Driving without reasonable consideration
Failure to comply with mandatory traffic signs at junctions
Failure to comply with prohibitory traffic signs
Failure to comply with keep left/keep right signs
Failure to comply with traffic lane markings
Illegal entry onto a one-way street
Driving a vehicle when unfit
Parking a vehicle in a dangerous position
Breach of duties at an accident
Speeding (introduced 31 Oct 2002)
Driving without Insurance (introduced 1 June 2003)
Failure by Driver to comply with front seat belt requirements
Failure by Driver to comply with rear seat belt requirements for passengers (introduced 25 August 2003)
Driver found to be driving carelessly (introduced 4 June 2004)