Standard of Irish driving.........is good

mikemac

I see a lot of posters come in here and and rant about others.
"Noone can use roundabouts" "Irish think hazards allow them to park anywhere" "drivers hogging the overtaking lane", etc.
Page 2 of
this thread is a good example. A good topic by the OP and it descended into posters giving out about others

I'd agree that you can see examples of poor driving everywhere but a large proportion of threads are little more than rants.

I have used the M7 & N7 (Dublin to Nenagh) once last month and I just want to post that the standard of driving was excellent.
Nobody stayed in the overtaking lane and blocked other drivers.
Most (80% plus) drivers indicated when changing lanes
Nobody tailgated me and I'm on a 125cc motorcylcle so I can only do 110km/ph. They overtook me properly.
Very few fog lights in actions

In fact the only poor driving I saw was someone hogging the middle lane of the Naas Road so some people undertook them on the left lane.

I know posters will say I'm blind and I must be oblivious to what what was going around me but I don't do many long journeys and I was expecting madness going by the threads I see here. Maybe you need to relax a bit.
I was impressed!

Alun

No, you're definitely blind ... get thee to an opticians at once ...that can't possibly have been the M7 you were on

kona

probably true, but i think our problem is a lack of manners to be honest. city driving is where you see a lackof this, motorway driving is fairly straight forward, and at 120kmph its in your interest to use mirrors and to use your indicators.

Sully

I see awful driving on a daily basis where I live. Only a week or so ago I was with my brother who was approaching a roundabout. Driver in front indicated right and switched to the right hand lane. We were going to the second exit so stayed on the left lane and continued on. Casually the driver in front decided to take the second exit without any warning. Just cut straight in front of us. Passenger just stared at us as if it was our fault.

I see that on all roundabouts - minor to large. People indicate one way and turn another. Wrong lanes. Tailgatting. Fog Lamps (dont affect me much, some do). Car behind me has is full lights on, car in front driving with rear fog light on.

I think in Dublin most people dont have a choice but to drive properly, as if you dont your going to cause an accident or get so many horns beeping you will learn the hard way. Plus, your at greater risk of being caught for driving dangerous.

DonJose

Should've gone to specsavers I've driven in Ireland, UK, France, Germany, Spain, Italy, Sweden, US, Mexico and Guatemala and the Irish standard of driving only beats Guatemala and ties with Italy

Wishbone Ash

In my experience, the standard of driving in Dublin is much better than in other counties and drivers in Dublin tend to be more law abiding.

I rarely see anyone in Dublin driving without a seatbelt or with unrestrained children whereas, this appears to be commonplace in other areas.

Wait patiently behind a yellow box in any provincial town and you'll be blown out of it by the motorists behind! :rolleyes:

Sully

Wishbone Ash wrote: »

Wait patiently behind a yellow box in any provincial town and you'll be blown out of it by the motorists behind! :rolleyes:

I just ignore them. Happened outside the college a while ago, I just ignored the old fella beeping from behind.

tossy

Is this a wind up?? the standard of driving in this country is ridiculously poor,i could list examples that i see daily but this thread would end up bigger than the "here's what i saw today thread"

mikemac

Alun wrote: »

No, you're definitely blind ... get thee to an opticians at once ...;)

DonJose wrote: »

Should've gone to specsavers

My optician tells me I am better than 20:20 and in the top 3% of the population

A windup? Not at all. Too many negative threads here and when I noticed good driving so why not post about it.
Whereas most people (like Sully above) rant on about bad experiences that have nothing to do with this thread.

Is is so hard to believe that someone can drive for hours can see only considerate and safe behaviour? I was impressed and seeing as I'm on a motorcycle I'd be a hell of lot more vunerable to bad drivers than most.

As expected, this thread has been taken over by a cyncial bunch of drivers than never, ever, ever, see good driving anywhere:(

Sully

micmclo wrote: »

Whereas most people (like Sully above) rant on about bad experiences that have nothing to do with this thread.

This thread is on Standard of Irish Driving and is it good.

I answered that question based on past experiences - which are many.

I stated that im sure Dublin is better, but outside it - standard slips.

Please, how am I not on topic?

pow wow

You're describing proper driving, i.e. how everyone should act. Why would that warrant a commentary? People are supposed to drive like that, but the fact is that often they don't (and no-one said it was every single time they went out on the roads) hence the 'you'll never believe what this eejit did!!!!' threads.

I am glad you observed some proper driving - congratulations.

The fact it 'impressed' you suggests that maybe you've met a few of these eejits in your time too, like the rest of us.

mayordenis

i would say on my daily drive to and from work on average i see 5-15 incidents of bad driving 1/2 dangerous driving, and on average 1 pile of scrap metal that was a car once or so every 2 weeks, and nobody can use roundabouts.

Alun

mayordenis wrote: »

i would say on my daily drive to and from work on average i see 5-15 incidents of bad driving 1/2 dangerous driving, and on average 1 pile of scrap metal that was a car once or so every 2 weeks, and nobody can use roundabouts.

Exactly ... even just popping round to the shops for a carton of milk I'd be pretty much guaranteed to see something worthy of comment, let alone on a long-distance journey when I'd see enough to fill up every court in the land for a week solid if every case was brought to court.

Orange69

Wishbone Ash wrote: »

Wait patiently behind a yellow box in any provincial town and you'll be blown out of it by the motorists behind! :rolleyes:

I have never experienced this in my years of driving in Ireland..

L1011

Its a lot better than it used to be but yes, nobody can use roundabouts.

UrbanFox

I have been driving in Dublin for twenty years.

The standard of driving is utterly atrocious. It is bad on main roads like the N11 and is pretty bad on minor roads. More worringly , I am seeing the standard dropping constantly.

This is not a rant or the venting of a prejudice but based on everyday observation as a driver, a cyclist and a pedestrian, the latter two now constituting an increasingly endangered species thanks to our wonderful drivers.

The standard of driving is good ? It is in it's exhaust pipe .........

L1011

Wishbone Ash wrote: »

Wait patiently behind a yellow box in any provincial town and you'll be blown out of it by the motorists behind! :rolleyes:

I once had someone undertake me in the buslane on the Belgard Road to go in to the yellow box I was leaving clear... for the fire station! So its not just a provincial thing...

Andrewf20

I have to say I do get infuriated alot on Irish roads, 50% due to incompetent drivers and 50% due to not being able to make progress due to traffic, hardly getting any opportunities to overtake etc. Ive driven in France, Canada and the USA and we seem to have the worst driving in my experience.

mayordenis

actually the amount of people who sit in yellow boxes is the most most appauling