Motorway driving / rules

DerekP11

Wishbone Ash wrote:

Re - 'Slow vehicles' refers to vehicles which cannot exceed 50kph but many modern tractors can easily do 60 or 70kph. That is the crux of the 'tractors on motorway' debate.

I say we move the debate here:D

http://demo.tlisoftware.com/ftmtaforum/

Wishbone Ash

DerekP11 wrote:

I say we move the debate here:D

http://demo.tlisoftware.com/ftmtaforum/

Cheeky!

corktina

wtf? theres 670 members and no posts!....i spose these Auld Farmer types cant use a pc...wont run on their PTO i guess....

DerekP11

corktina wrote:

wtf? theres 670 members and no posts!....i spose these Auld Farmer types cant use a pc...wont run on their PTO i guess....

love it.:D

DerekP11

icdg wrote:

The UK used to use the "Motorway Ahead" sign - and it read pretty identically to the one we use. Here's a picture of the (former) UK version - not that different from ours...

http://bealach-na-ba.fotopic.net/p32086916.html

No mention of agricultural vehicles there either. I presume they would be covered under "Vehicles under 50cc" and "slow vehicles"....

Don't have photo, but up to 7 years ago, the M4 in south Wales had those signs and agricultural vehicles were referred to......honestly. Please believe me.:(

Anyway, we know tractors and the like are banned on the UK system. But do the DOT here, even know the score on this one? Or did we sidetrack it in the 1983 - 1992 motorway legislation?

Personally, I say they're banned on the basis of being too slow. Now I know we've heard about tractors doing 70kph, but in all fairness I wouldn't really notice that. What I notice is the subspeed tractor on a motorway. You know the one Im talking about. Might be the same farmer.:D He crops up on NPRs aswell.

Wishbone Ash

DerekP11 wrote:

I say they're banned on the basis of being too slow. Now I know we've heard about tractors doing 70kph, but in all fairness I wouldn't really notice that

I apologise for labouring the point but double decker buses (and single decker buses with standing passengers) are legally limited to a maximum speed of 64kph on motorways (and any public road) yet we don't hear people complaining about that.

The 'tractor driver' seems to be a soft target!

DerekP11

Wishbone Ash wrote:

I apologise for labouring the point but double decker buses (and single decker buses with standing passengers) are legally limited to a maximum speed of 64kph on motorways (and any public road) yet we don't hear people complaining about that.

The 'tractor driver' seems to be a soft target!

Are you a poor put upon tractor driver?

From my driving perspective, I have come across tractors (some with trailers) and JCBs doing no more than 30kph on motorways. Mainly the M7/9 and the M1 between Dunleer and Dundalk. Don't get me wrong, I dislike HGVs doing 100 kph when they are legally supposed to be doing less. I don't like L-Drivers on motorways, pedestrians on motorways or bad driving full stop. It doesn't matter if Im right, wrong, good bad or indifferent, bottom line is enforcement. Where is it? A gatso van on the N7? A speed camera/garda behind a tree on the longmile road? Thats not enforcement. Its Dick Turpin in uniform. More safety conscious laws are broken on our motorways every day and they go without punishment. I say this on a day when a 60 year old man lost his life on the M7 near Monesterevan. I don't know the cause or who's to blame, but at 2pm on a saturday its not a very busy road. A truck was also involved. Motorways aren't fairytale routes to motoring heaven. Irelands death toll on motorways is creeping up at an alarming rate. Time to wake up to this reality and police them with more venom. Do I need to remind everyone of the Foggy carnage on the M7 last year.

But farmer joe, still must go and bob the builder should take a hike with him. Then HGV man needs a speed check. L-Drivers should get fined to high heaven for motorway driving and pedestrians get fined with them. Only then can we even begin to tackle motorway driving offences. Its seems the only offense our Gardai know of is speeding. Do drivers on the M50 not feel a little cheated when they see Anto waiting on his lift everyday and then get done for doing 70 kph through the road works.

Victor

corktina wrote:

wtf? theres 670 members and no posts!....i spose these Auld Farmer types cant use a pc...wont run on their PTO i guess....

It is possible that all posts are only viewable in logged-in mode or are in members only / private areas. Of course, some boardsies once found a board with one post and by the end of the weekend it had 3,000.

PTO?

Wishbone Ash wrote:

I apologise for labouring the point but double decker buses (and single decker buses with standing passengers) are legally limited to a maximum speed of 64kph on motorways (and any public road) yet we don't hear people complaining about that.

Wasn't that changed to 65km/h

Wishbone Ash

Victor wrote:

PTO?

"Power Take Off" - it's the circular shaft at the rear (and sometimes front) of a tractor which is driven at 540 RPM by the engine via a clutch. It's used to operate machinery via a PTO shaft with universal joints. For safety, the PTO shaft usually has a yellow plastic cover.

tinkerbell

DerekP11 wrote:

4. Its all about enforcement. I would guess that we have a very poor record of enforcing motorway violations. Apart from the pedestrian factor, we have 1000s of L-Drivers on our motorway network. How big an improvement would there be on the M50, if every L-Driver was taken off it. Ive also seen tractors use the M7 on a regular basis and in one instance a police car passing by. No action taken.

I think that's a totally unfair statement - once again, the L drivers are the scapegoat. I drive on the M50 every morning (I have a full license) and the worst drivers on that motorway are middle-aged men in their BMWs / Mercedes who try to run you off the road.

Wishbone Ash

Victor wrote:

Wasn't that changed to 65km/h

Yes, you are correct Victor. It was initially 64kph AFAIK when we went metric and must have been ammended to round it off.

(It doesn't really alter the point I was making though! )

Wishbone Ash

tinkerbell wrote:

I think that's a totally unfair statement - once again, the L drivers are the scapegoat. I drive on the M50 every morning (I have a full license) and the worst drivers on that motorway are middle-aged men in their BMWs / Mercedes who try to run you off the road.

Now tinkerbell, it's a bit silly to censure a poster for generalising when you go and do the same thing yourself in relation to BMW/Merc drivers!

Guy:Incognito

tinkerbell wrote:

I think that's a totally unfair statement - once again, the L drivers are the scapegoat. I drive on the M50 every morning (I have a full license) and the worst drivers on that motorway are middle-aged men in their BMWs / Mercedes who try to run you off the road.

How do you know how many, if any of them have sat a test?

corktina

damn...im banning myslef from this board for having shown myself to know just a little too much about tractors...oh the disgrace....

before i go...i'd like to ask if anyone saw a Gatso van lately ...i didnt and im wondering if they are stood down until these wretched parking ramps are built for them...(H&S issue again im guessing)

Wishbone Ash

corktina wrote:

i'd like to ask if anyone saw a Gatso van lately ...i didnt and im wondering if they are stood down until these wretched parking ramps are built for them...

Now that you mention it.............

corktina

corktina wrote:

damn...im banning myslef from this board for having shown myself to know just a little too much about tractors...oh the disgrace....

before i go...i'd like to ask if anyone saw a Gatso van lately ...i didnt and im wondering if they are stood down until these wretched parking ramps are built for them...(H&S issue again im guessing)

They probably failled the NCT

Davidth88

I saw a Gatso van about 3 weeks ago in the usual spot on the N4 near Liffey Valley, but haven't seen one since .

Coming to work this morning I saw the following.

a) HGV pull over on M4 to pick up passenger
b) The usual people waiting under the Liexlip junction for their lifts ( yes this is still motorway at that point )

I see this EVERY morning , the same people are picked up .

Yesterday I saw a guy walking along the motorway

As for the M7 , I see there was a nasty crash there over the weekend in the roadworks section( not the fatal one but another one thankfully not fatal ).
The markings in that section are an accident waiting to happen , as for the builder's holidays , wasn't that 2 weeks ago, and anyway you can't stop work on one of the main artirial roads like that !

Alun

Saw a woman with two small kids (and I mean small) running loose standing on the hard shoulder of the M11 yesterday as we were heading towards the M50 northbound from Bray. The missus phoned Bray Gardai station and told them about it. They didn't sounds at all concerned tbh, a kind of "what do want us to do about it" attitude, but said they'd look into it. About an hour later when we were coming back they were still there!! God knows what she was doing there, but there wasn't a car to be seen anywhere near her, so she hadn't broken down or anything. She wouldn't have lasted 5 minutes on a motorway anywhere else before being reported and moved on.

jrar

The monitoring and policing/law enforcement on our nascent motorway network is laughable !

Whilst I've no desire to see us become an observed state through over-use of CCTV etc. (as has happened in the UK), a little bit of mornitring on our busier roads wouldn't go amiss.

I recall back in 1991 heading north on the M1 in England near Hatfield/Luton when I had a blowout in the overtaking lane ! Managed to control the car and make it safely over to the h/s. Within 3/4 mins., a police patrol car pulled up behind me, saw that my driver-side front wheel was flat, and promptly positioned their patrol car to warn oncoming traffic / push inside lane traffic slightly out, so that I could safely change the tyre whilst HGVs thundered by. Ten minutes later, job done, they wished me well and went on their way - the speed of their reaction to the situation, and their professional approach to dealing with same was light years from the "is this your ve-hick-ul ?" approach of Templemore's finest !

cast_iron

Davidth88 wrote:

I see this EVERY morning , the same people are picked up .

And do you perform your civic duty and cal the Gardai to try to put a stop to this?

Davidth88

Good Call .... I did phone the police when I saw the naked guys jumping off the bridge into the river , but haven't for the guys being picked up

I will from now on .

But the point remains , are the motorways actually patrolled , and if so what do they look for ?

The hard shoulder of the motorway had to be one of the most dangerous places around

DerekP11

tinkerbell wrote:

I think that's a totally unfair statement - once again, the L drivers are the scapegoat. I drive on the M50 every morning (I have a full license) and the worst drivers on that motorway are middle-aged men in their BMWs / Mercedes who try to run you off the road.

My statement is in no way unfair. But I'll clarify it. Take L-Drivers off the M50 and we might reduce the amount of traffic on it.

MDTyKe

Wishbone Ash wrote:

I always presumed that they were those little sit-on electric buggies that some older people use.

Oh man. I can just picture Granny Jones scooting down the fast lane on her buggy, with a tailback of 100km.


Matt

jrar

I thought I'd seen it all on Irish motorways (combine harvesters and tractors, people walking or waiting for lifts etc.) but today I saw the sight to top all others..................a cyclist pedalling along nonchalantly in the h/s going southbound on the M50 between junctions 12 & 13 !! Unbelievable !

Wishbone Ash

jrar wrote:

today I saw the sight to top all others..................a cyclist pedalling along nonchalantly in the h/s going southbound on the M50 between junctions 12 & 13 !! Unbelievable !

They can be sighted occasionally on the stretch of the M1 between the Donabate interchange and the airport! (There was also a jogger on the same stretch last week!):eek:.