"L Plates" on Motorways?

oxygen_old

I know its illegal but I'm heading up to Louth this weekend, and wouldn't mind taking the M1 the whole way. Ive taken the M50 to get the Naas Road to Carlow before. How strict are they, will they take me down for being on Motorway. Is the M1 a different ball game than the M50?

Colm R

Its not heavily enforced.

That aside, if you must do it, then don't bring any attention to yourself. Keep to the left lane unless overtaking, keep your distance and don't speed.

Finally, don't hold me resposible if you get caught .

But if you are concerned about it, then whatever about getting caught, your insurance company won't cover you if you get into an accident. Even if the accident is not your fault, the other insurance company might not cover you.

seamus

Colm R wrote: »

But if you are concerned about it, then whatever about getting caught, your insurance company won't cover you if you get into an accident. Even if the accident is not your fault, the other insurance company might not cover you.

Not entirely true, just to expand on it bit more - Your insurance company are required by law to pay out for any claims made against you by a third party, where the accident was your fault and it occured on a public road.
This is provided that you were driving within the terms of your insurance cert - i.e. you hold or held a driving licence (full or provisional), you are driving the vehicle(s) specified on the cert, and you were driving the vehicle under the usage terms stated on the cert (generally personal, not for reward use).

If it turns out that you were driving illegally or otherwise outside of your insurance *contract* (the little booklet you get), then the insurance company still must pay out the third party claims against you, but may chase you in court for breach of contract, and extract the full amount + costs from you.

oxygen_old

Im actually a tad more concerned about the safety aspect, but i suppose as you say, if I keep to the left lane I should be ok

fitzyshea

Make sure you take the L plates down!

darkman2

oxygen wrote: »

I know its illegal but I'm heading up to Louth this weekend, and wouldn't mind taking the M1 the whole way. Ive taken the M50 to get the Naas Road to Carlow before. How strict are they, will they take me down for being on Motorway. Is the M1 a different ball game than the M50?

If you are a learner driver then dont drive on motorways. You put yourself and others at risk through your inexperience.

BostonB

oxygen wrote: »

Im actually a tad more concerned about the safety aspect, but i suppose as you say, if I keep to the left lane I should be ok

Considering no one in Ireland uses it...

BostonB

BostonB wrote: »

Considering no one in Ireland uses it...

I wish I had my camera the other day on the M50, I was in lane one (the left hand running lane, not the slip) completely empty as far as the eye could see!

The other lanes were chock a block... :rolleyes::):rolleyes::rolleyes:

As for "learner" on the motorway, how long have you been driving? if it's years then you are probably as good as most "licensed" drivers.
You're more likely to be stopped to get your tax,insurance & nct checked on the approach to the motorway than for driving on it with "L" plates.

edit: try that in the UK: you'd be lucky to get more than a couple of junctions before being stopped.

Lennoxschips

darkman2 wrote: »

If you are a learner driver then dont drive on motorways. You put yourself and others at risk through your inexperience.

To be honest, I'd rather L drivers didn't drive at all, save for in an approved instruction car.

But the motorway is the safest form of road there is...

L1011

I did a few thousand KM of motorway driving complete with plates when awaiting my test date - never got stopped. Don't drive like an idiot, basically.

Actually, not driving like an idiot might bring attention to yourself on the M1, particularly near the Airport!

oxygen_old

Lennoxschips wrote: »

To be honest, I'd rather L drivers didn't drive at all, save for in an approved instruction car.

But the motorway is the safest form of road there is...

Did you go straight to exp driver from learner driver only in approved instruction cars?

I do agree the system is fairly crap, but Im not going to revolutionize by being the one person who doesn't drive until they past the test. The leniency shown towards L plates is scary considering there were 7 deaths this weekend alone.

Fail the test and drive home afterwards....
An Irish answer to an Irish problem is an understatement.

crapmanjoe

I drove from dublin to galway last week (m50 and m4)

Took down the L-plates, kept in the left lane and kept the speed limit

Not a bother, and as some one above said (even though im not sure was he/she being sarcastic) they should be the safest roads in ireland.

and before any 1 has a go, im not eligible to sit the driving test for another 2 months

stupid minimum 6 months rule, 2 different driving instructors have said i should pass so its the stupid/pointless legislation that is holding me back

Chris_533976

I know its not peoples fault that they cant take the test when they want due to the backlog but I still wish people would obey the flipping law and stay off the M roads if they are learner drivers. Its not hard.

BostonB

In the UK you wouldn't get away with it. In Ireland though...

Evenescent

No L drivers allowed on the Motorway - 'Tis a pain in the behind alrite. However there is a Driving TEST for a reason BUT 'tis the fault of those in control - the waiting list is crazy. i was waiting for feckin' ages for mine. i drove on the motorway when I was a learner - would be a shame if you got caught though! worth the risk?

SeanW

darkman2 wrote: »

If you are a learner driver then dont drive on motorways. You put yourself and others at risk through your inexperience.

Most of the crap driving I see involves cars (and lorries) with no L-Plates. Signalling going around a bend on the course of the road, speeding, going too slow, dodgy cutoffs, lorries with no tail lights, muppets driving SUVs while blabbing into a mobile phone ... the list just goes on and on.

I'm not going to judge the OP as a driver because "passing the test" and "driving" are, as far as I'm concerned, two completely different things.

I would concur with some of the above advice - there is a slight risk involved with breaking any permitholder laws - but if you absolutely must, then do it as inconspicuously as possible.

Hotblack Desiato

crapmanjoe wrote: »

I drove from dublin to galway last week (m50 and m4)

Took down the L-plates, kept in the left lane and kept the speed limit

Not a bother, and as some one above said (even though im not sure was he/she being sarcastic) they should be the safest roads in ireland.

and before any 1 has a go, im not eligible to sit the driving test for another 2 months

So you're on a first learner permit, which you only obtained within the last four months, and are driving all over the country unaccompanied, and see nothing wrong with this?

Unbelieveable.

stupid minimum 6 months rule, 2 different driving instructors have said i should pass so its the stupid/pointless legislation that is holding me back

So what, proper regulation of driving instructors is still only being phased in, in other words there are plenty of unqualified eejits in the industry, and anyway it doesn't matter what they say it's what the tester says.

From July 1 the laws on unaccompanied learners are (supposed to be) going to be enforced, so you won't be able to drive at all without a fully licensed driver.

Proper order, and many many years overdue.

Hotblack Desiato

SeanW wrote: »

Most of the crap driving I see involves cars (and lorries) with no L-Plates.

so L-drivers should basically be left to their own devices and 'learn' by osmosis and just copy the bad habits of others?

If we are going to improve driving standards, the cause of 90+% of injuries and fatalities, we have to start somewhere and the logical place to start is start regulating how new drivers get onto the roads and how they're taught and tested.

Ideally we would then move on to periodically re-test everyone else on the roads :eek: but you can imagine the political implications of that!

The Irish see passing ONE driving test in a lifetime an unreasonable restriction! ffs.

I'm not going to judge the OP as a driver because "passing the test" and "driving" are, as far as I'm concerned, two completely different things.

Largely because people are not trained how to drive properly. They 'teach themselves' or get the very basics off a friend/relative and just use a proper instructor for a pre-test or two. So when they take the test, if they pass, they will just revert to their bad ingrained habits straight away.

I would concur with some of the above advice - if you absolutely must break the provisional licenseholder/permit holder laws, then do it as inconspicuously as possible.

Far better not to do it at all and imho advising people how to break the law is irresponsible. It would not be tolerated in several boards forums I can think of e.g. satellite tv or software, etc. but it's not the profits of large corporations at stake here, it's human life :mad:

Calina

We're not in the business of advising people on how to break the law, sorry. Also, this thread probably belongs in learning to drive, but I'm not sure it would bring anything. So I'm going to lock it instead.

Victor

Please stay within the law.

Other people, please don't coach people on how to break the law.