N7 - Newlands Cross upgrade

tonc76

murpho999 wrote: »

I disagree with this.

It's down to the driving test not meeting modern requirements.
You are not required to drive on a motorway during your test.

As a result people here do not learn how to enter a motorway (at the same speed as the traffic on the motorway, not a leisurely 30-50kph).
No idea about lane discipline, keeping to the left. Still think the lanes are 'fast' and 'slow' lanes.
No idea how to exit a motorway properly either. They need to get into the exit lane at the start not just before the junction.

I was this type of driver, failed test twice but carried on driving. Moved to Netherlands for a few years and did proper driving course there . Being told to speed up to 120km when entering a motorway was a shock and took getting used to but I learnt an awful lot, passed test first time there and was then appalled when I came back here and saw the level of driving.

It's poor education backed up by a poor driving test and low standard driving schools that is the cause,not lack of road signs or 'people trusting their instinct'.

If you don't read the signs though how do you know where to get on or off the motorway?

If you live in the northwest you would need to drive to the M6 or M3 in order to drive on a motorway so that's hardly a solution.

The driving test issue is another ball game altogether but the RSA have run ads over the last number of years advocating lane discipline on motorways. Is there anything in the driver theory test about driving on motorways?

Cookiemunster

Carawaystick wrote: »

None of the issues here on the N7 are on a Motorway...

That's just pedantic TBH. It may not be a motorway, but all his points still apply. We are not taught how to drive on or enter/exit a motorway/dual carriageway correctly and we definitely aren't tested on it.

Chris_5339762

Four crashes on the same bit of road tonight. Brilliant.

KILDARE: There's a multi-vehicle collision blocking the middle lane southbound on the N7 Dublin/ Limerick Rd at J6 Castlewarden.

KILDARE: On the M7 Dublin/ Limerick Rd southbound there's another collision in the middle lane at J8 Johnstown. Gardaí are en route.

KILDARE: The collision on the M7 Dublin/ Limerick Rd southbound at J10 Naas South has been cleared but delays remain for southbound traffic.

KILDARE: Gardaí have cleared a multi vehicle collision on the M7 Limerick/ Dublin Rd northbound after J11 M9.

ukoda

Chris_5339762 wrote: »

Four crashes on the same bit of road tonight. Brilliant.

they aren't 4 separate accidents...

read them again

regedit

I read 4 collisions.
Was driving at around 4.30 on N7-M7 when I came accross the overturned car at junction 10 /Naas South or Newbridge exit. I was exiting there so was patient. I signalled around 300 m before exit still driving on the driving lane on the inside. At least 5-6 vehicles led by a rent a truck came speeding on the hard shoulder. I see that too often. Total red neck attitude. It goes unpunished (as well as use of fog lamps, defective lamps etc) so whats from stopping people to create their own rules.
I have no idea what happened to the overturned car at exit 10 on M7 though. Either driver fell asleep or had to swirve fas when at high speed. Firemen pulling people from car.

The_Pretender

ukoda wrote: »

they aren't 4 separate accidents...

read them again

KILDARE: There's a multi-vehicle collision blocking the middle lane southbound on the N7 Dublin/ Limerick Rd at J6 Castlewarden.

KILDARE: On the M7 Dublin/ Limerick Rd southbound there's another collision in the middle lane at J8 Johnstown. Gardaí are en route.

KILDARE: The collision on the M7 Dublin/ Limerick Rd southbound at J10 Naas South has been cleared but delays remain for southbound traffic.

KILDARE: Gardaí have cleared a multi vehicle collision on the M7 Limerick/ Dublin Rd northbound after J11 M9.

ukoda

The_Pretender wrote: »

KILDARE: There's a multi-vehicle collision blocking the middle lane southbound on the N7 Dublin/ Limerick Rd at J6 Castlewarden.

KILDARE: On the M7 Dublin/ Limerick Rd southbound there's another collision in the middle lane at J8 Johnstown. Gardaí are en route.

KILDARE: The collision on the M7 Dublin/ Limerick Rd southbound at J10 Naas South has been cleared but delays remain for southbound traffic.

KILDARE: Gardaí have cleared a multi vehicle collision on the M7 Limerick/ Dublin Rd northbound after J11 M9.

how is Newlands Cross responsible for an accident NORTHBOUND on the M7 at the M9 junction?

this is still a thread about the Newlands Cross flyover isn't it? or is it now just a bitch about traffic in general thread?

artful_codger

Can we put some traffic lights on the Newlands flyover :-|

The_Pretender

ukoda wrote: »

how is Newlands Cross responsible for an accident NORTHBOUND on the M7 at the M9 junction?

this is still a thread about the Newlands Cross flyover isn't it? or is it now just a bitch about traffic in general thread?

I didn't say Newlands Cross was responsible though. Just pointed out that they were in fact four seperate accidents at different junctions.

ukoda wrote: »

they aren't 4 separate accidents...

ukoda

The_Pretender wrote: »

I didn't say Newlands Cross was responsible though. Just pointed out that they were in fact four seperate accidents at different junctions.

Yeah and I just pointed out one wasn't relevant.
This is a thread for Newlands Cross. My point is one of those accidents had nothing to do with newlands cross. So it's not relevant to be posted here.

ukoda

ukoda wrote: »

Yeah and I just pointed out one wasn't relevant.
This is a thread for Newlands Cross. My point is one of those accidents had nothing to do with newlands cross. So it's not relevant to be posted here.

But The_Pretender wasn't the OP, RE: the crashes..

ukoda

[Deleted User] wrote: »

But The_Pretender wasn't the OP, RE: the crashes..

I know, and I quoted the op when I first made my point that it wasn't 4 accidents that could be related to the topic of this thread. I just quoted The_Pretender as they highlighted the 4 accidents and I wanted to point out again it wasn't 4 related to this. No offence meant

delahuntv

ukoda wrote: »

Yeah and I just pointed out one wasn't relevant.
This is a thread for Newlands Cross. My point is one of those accidents had nothing to do with newlands cross. So it's not relevant to be posted here.

Actually it is relevant - traffic gets though newlands cross a lot quicker, but some motorists expect a totally free dualway / motorway until their destination and go far too fast, tailgate, jump lanes etc because they simply have not learnt that with the higher volumes and the ending of the stop/go at Newlands you will get a slower movement of traffic, but without the stopping.

If the minority of motorists jumping lanes calmed down and accepted a steady 70/80km/hr speed at peak times on N7/M7, everyone would get home safer and quicker.

In London on M25 and parts of M6 in birmingham they apply lower speed limits at busy times - indicated on overhead gantries and policed by average speed cameras over a distance - works well and stops the lunatic fringe causing accidents.

ukoda

delahuntv wrote: »

Actually it is relevant - traffic gets though newlands cross a lot quicker, but some motorists expect a totally free dualway / motorway until their destination and go far too fast, tailgate, jump lanes etc because they simply have not learnt that with the higher volumes and the ending of the stop/go at Newlands you will get a slower movement of traffic, but without the stopping.

If the minority of motorists jumping lanes calmed down and accepted a steady 70/80km/hr speed at peak times on N7/M7, everyone would get home safer and quicker.

In London on M25 and parts of M6 in birmingham they apply lower speed limits at busy times - indicated on overhead gantries and policed by average speed cameras over a distance - works well and stops the lunatic fringe causing accidents.

The one that's not relevant is NORTHBOUND on the M7 these people haven't gone anywhere near newlands yet. Yet alone gone through it.

Sam Russell

delahuntv wrote: »

In London on M25 and parts of M6 in birmingham they apply lower speed limits at busy times - indicated on overhead gantries and policed by average speed cameras over a distance - works well and stops the lunatic fringe causing accidents.

Exactly, and extended over the whole of the M5, and over N7 / M7 as far as M9 turn off.

josip

ukoda wrote: »

The one that's not relevant is NORTHBOUND on the M7 these people haven't gone anywhere near newlands yet. Yet alone gone through it.

Could it have been caused by rubber necking on the other side of the road to the southbound (J10) accident?

KILDARE: The collision on the M7 Dublin/ Limerick Rd southbound at J10 Naas South has been cleared but delays remain for southbound traffic.

KILDARE: Gardaí have cleared a multi vehicle collision on the M7 Limerick/ Dublin Rd northbound after J11 M9.

Dubliner28

delahuntv wrote: »

Actually it is relevant - traffic gets though newlands cross a lot quicker, but some motorists expect a totally free dualway / motorway until their destination and go far too fast, tailgate, jump lanes etc because they simply have not learnt that with the higher volumes and the ending of the stop/go at Newlands you will get a slower movement of traffic, but without the stopping.

If the minority of motorists jumping lanes calmed down and accepted a steady 70/80km/hr speed at peak times on N7/M7, everyone would get home safer and quicker.

In London on M25 and parts of M6 in birmingham they apply lower speed limits at busy times - indicated on overhead gantries and policed by average speed cameras over a distance - works well and stops the lunatic fringe causing accidents.

Great post

delahuntv

ukoda wrote: »

they aren't 4 separate accidents...

read them again

ukoda wrote: »

The one that's not relevant is NORTHBOUND on the M7 these people haven't gone anywhere near newlands yet. Yet alone gone through it.

But you did make the very wrong statement that all four reports were about the one single accident. It was four seperate accidents and three of the four could have been attributed to the new flow of traffic.

Yes the accident northbound has nothing to do with Newlands, but the other three which were over a 10km distance could have been a result of drivers not changing their driving to match the new traffic conditions and all four were completely different and even at different but close times to each other.

ukoda

delahuntv wrote: »

But you did make the very wrong statement that all four reports were about the one single accident. It was four seperate accidents and three of the four could have been attributed to the new flow of traffic.

Yes the accident northbound has nothing to do with Newlands, but the other three which were over a 10km distance could have been a result of drivers not changing their driving to match the new traffic conditions and all four were completely different and even at different but close times to each other.

no i didnt, never said they were all the same accident, where are you getting that from, maybe i should have worded it "these arent 4 related accidents" but at no point did i say they were all the one accident.

delahuntv

ukoda wrote: »

no i didnt, never said they were all the same accident, where are you getting that from, maybe i should have worded it "these arent 4 related accidents" but at no point did i say they were all the one accident.

what part of your quote "they aren't four separate accidents" did I and others mis-understand.

They WERE four separate accidents. - Your statement was 100% wrong - couldn't have been more wrong.

ukoda

delahuntv wrote: »

what part of your quote "they aren't four separate accidents" did I and others mis-understand.

They WERE four separate accidents. - Your statement was 100% wrong - couldn't have been more wrong.

I already explained what i meant, sorry if i wasnt clear. is your sole contribution to this thread to argue with me or have you anything to say about Newlands Cross?

Congratulations you won an internet arguement, and got an apology from me, you're a big man now, you can stride around for the day all proud, maybe tell your mates, you legend!

Tragedy

Three years ago I posted:

The more I drive the N7>N9>Kilcullen, the more I think fixing Newlands X without running three lanes to the N9 turnoff is essentially pointless and will help alleviate peak traffic not a jot. The N7 before and after Naas is just a complete mess from 4:30pm until around 6:30pm.

Here we are three years later, a fantastic Newlands Cross that is easing congestion from the Long Mile to Citywest and alleviating the dangerous tailbacks that had been a fixture of J9 M50 for so long.

However, because nothing was done with the M7 between Naas North and the M9 split, the rest of the N/M7 seems to be even worse than before because traffic is arriving faster and more clumped (as well as the addon effect of more people using the N7 because of NX).

So, was I wrong? Will we really see the true improvement of NX before the M7 is widened to three lanes?

Dubliner28

Speaking of the M7/M9 road. How long are these road works going on? Are they nearly finished? Seems like its down to 1 lane forever? Not that it would help with the traffic on the M7

Pablod

Dubliner28 wrote: »

Speaking of the M7/M9 road. How long are these road works going on? Are they nearly finished? Seems like its down to 1 lane forever? Not that it would help with the traffic on the M7

Two lanes of the M9 were open yesterday evening on the way home and it didn't make a bit of difference to traffic,
still the mass volume from Newlands, idiotic drivers (who look like they have never driven on a motorway before) lane-hopping and braking every 2 feet causing the tailbacks

nlgbbbblth

"J11 M9 delays" sign just past the Green Isle seems to a permanent message

NSAman

It is amazing that getting home now takes longer even though there are less traffic lights to deal with. yesterday was a disaster. Normally it takes about 1 hour 15-20 minutes, yesterday was 2 hours 10 minutes, this evening it took 1 hour 30 minutes. I fail to see why N7 /M7 stops as it has done for years in the same places... just past Naas it always stops then starts again.. then stops after the exit for Newbridge.. they Have to do something about this.

the driving for the past few days has been so damned dangerous. I hate to say it, but what I have seen are C, TS, LK and other cars speeding on the inside lanes and then cutting in causing people to brake sharply. Instead of going at a steady pace, they think they are going to gain time.. stupid and dangerous in the extreme

Victor

ukoda wrote: »

I already explained what i meant, sorry if i wasnt clear. is your sole contribution to this thread to argue with me or have you anything to say about Newlands Cross?

Congratulations you won an internet arguement, and got an apology from me, you're a big man now, you can stride around for the day all proud, maybe tell your mates, you legend!

Knock it off folks. Constructive posts only please.

Moderator

Conba

I found some solace in a really fascinating talk by Tony Seba (on YouTube) where he presented a number of eye-popping stats. Because we're such bad drivers - "At best 95% of highway surface is not being used at any given time".

And, "If all cars had Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC) we would have 40% more highway capacity"

"If all cars had ACC and inter-vehicle communication we would have 273% greater capacity on highways"

"Fully autonomous vehicles could end congestion by increasing highway capacity by > 3.7 times"

BUT (it gets better)....

"Cars are parked 96% of the time"

"With all Car As A Service (Uber et al), on demand mobility, we'll pay 10 x less. Self Driving Car cost per mile ~ 80-90% less. Assuming a Share-to-own ratio of 5 (Zipcar has 15) we would need 80% fewer cars. => 80% fewer parking spaces required."

That's my kind of future.

ebbsy

delahuntv wrote: »

what part of your quote "they aren't four separate accidents" did I and others mis-understand.

They WERE four separate accidents. - Your statement was 100% wrong - couldn't have been more wrong.

+1

The last two weeks has been a farce going home on the N7 to Kildare, mostly all in the fast lane as well. Can people not drive in a straight line ?

They should take the bus.

Deedsie

An Garda Síochána needs a much larger and more active traffic corp to deal with some of the BS people witness on this road everyday.

Malfunctioning lights, those stupid LED dazzling bastardised lights, fog lights etc etc is just one of the smaller things that never gets policed to the appropriate level by the Gardaí.

I know this thread is about a roadway and the Garda have a tough job but one of the reasons this road doesn't function properly is driver behaviour. A 6 month spell of Gardaí blitzing this stretch could solve a lot of problems.