Bizarre/Illegal things on motorways

whyulittle

Am just in from that direction and didn't see anything. That said I only thought of it and started looking just outside Athlone.

highdef

A couple of days ago I saw a guy on a racing bike in full cycling attire leisurely cycling along the hard shoulder of the M4 west bound in the pissings of rain. You could barely see him until you were almost next to him because of all the spray. Needless to say, the guards were called immediately. I hope he got his comeuppence!

Iwannahurl

Deleted User wrote: »

"Don't look, but there's a dead monkey on the side of the road!"
Who’s NOT going to look. :rolleyes:

The unspeakable, in pursuit of the uneatable.

Smcgie

This thread reads - busybodies, H&S lovers, wrap everybody up in cotton wool, motorway vigilante, animal spotters.

It a road, your're not supposed to drive on a motorway on a provisional licence yet I Would love to see how many of the ivory tower, perfect law abiding, busybodies actually drove on the motorway with their provisional licence.

This thread is everything wrong with people - crying because people get off a bus to take a piss on the hard shoulder.

Get a hobby

FullBeard

Smcgie wrote: »

This thread reads - busybodies, H&S lovers, wrap everybody up in cotton wool, motorway vigilante, animal spotters.

It a road, your're not supposed to drive on a motorway on a provisional licence yet I Would love to see how many of the ivory tower, perfect law abiding, busybodies actually drove on the motorway with their provisional licence.

This thread is everything wrong with people - crying because people get off a bus to take a piss on the hard shoulder.

Get a hobby

^^ Stupid post. As so often happens, things that seem ok to an unthinking person aren't discovered to be dangerous until a person is killed or maimed, possibly by smashing into a tinker's ass on the M8 for example.

veryangryman

Smcgie wrote: »

This thread reads - busybodies, H&S lovers, wrap everybody up in cotton wool, motorway vigilante, animal spotters.
It a road, your're not supposed to drive on a motorway on a provisional licence yet I Would love to see how many of the ivory tower, perfect law abiding, busybodies actually drove on the motorway with their provisional licence.
This thread is everything wrong with people - crying because people get off a bus to take a piss on the hard shoulder.
Get a hobby

None of us are perfect. It does not take anything from the risk involved in doing dangerous things nor make either act above ok. People have been knocked down on motorways before. And its game over then.

road_high

There's a young girl selling Wexford strawberries/potatoes by the N10 (to M9) link road coming out of Kilkenny with the stall/trailer sticking onto the hard shoulder.
Now, I know it's good wide road and all but it can not be 100%safe to be so close to traffic whizzing by at 100kmh. And it's prob not illegal either but the Gardai must see no problem with it.

Sponge Bob

mfitzy wrote: »

And it's prob not illegal either but the Gardai must see no problem with it.

Dashed yellow line = legit. Were it a continous yellow line then no.

corktina

even if it were not legit, could she get a ticket for a trailer?

corktina

corktina wrote: »

even if it were not legit, could she get a ticket for a trailer?

Unless there are some no parking signs around, there's nothing to prevent you parking up.

corktina

thats not totally true. If a Gard thought it was an obstruction, you could get a ticket, also if there was a solid centre line on the road.

ardmacha

If a Gard thought it was an obstruction, you could get a ticket, also if there was a solid centre line on the road.

If the trailer wasn't on the road, but only the hard shoulder, how was it an obstruction?

road_high

I dunno, maybe I'm being pedantic or "over cautious" but I do myself think it is not a great spot to be in. It's avery busy road and especially in terms of drivers pulling in/out and stopping to buy. Surely it's an unneccessary hazard. The council surely have by laws on this too I would imagine.
I'm sure sales wise it's great though. They used always be on the old N10 out by Lyrath which was the old Dublin/Carlow road.
On the other hand, small businesses are struggling and extra red tape and restrictions is not something I would advocate either.

hi5

I'm not a big fan of strawberries, but I was told they are cheaper in Lidl and tastier too:D

corktina

ardmacha wrote: »

If the trailer wasn't on the road, but only the hard shoulder, how was it an obstruction?

the hard shoulder is part of the road and something parked on it is a potential hazard....thus it could be deemed to be an Obstruction.

ardmacha

the hard shoulder is part of the road and something parked on it is a potential hazard...

Parking is not generally illegal. Parking off the running lanes on a road especially.

zuroph

*Checks thread title..."motorways".
Ahem...

source

Junction 29, M7 last Thursday morning, woman comes down the slip road joining the southbound carriageway. She pulls out across the hatch markings, then at about 80kph she pulls into the overtaking lane, with nothing ahead of her in the inside lane. Already some pretty shocking driving until I tell you where I was.

I had just overtaken a slow moving truck and saw her moving into the driving lane, so decided to stay in the overtaking lane until I had passed her, queue me hauling on the anchors from 120kph to below 80kph when she pulled into the overtaking lane with about 200m between us.

Now I know she couldn't have missed me, as I always drive with headlights on when on the motorway. She was obviously off in a world of her own and thought nothing of pulling into the overtaking lane of a motorway at over 40kph below the speed limit. :mad:

It's a good thing my brakes and reactions are good, otherwise there would have been some serious damage done.

Irish and Proud

source wrote: »

Junction 29, M7 last Thursday morning, woman comes down the slip road joining the southbound carriageway. She pulls out across the hatch markings, then at about 80kph she pulls into the overtaking lane, with nothing ahead of her in the inside lane. Already some pretty shocking driving until I tell you where I was.

I had just overtaken a slow moving truck and saw her moving into the driving lane, so decided to stay in the overtaking lane until I had passed her, queue me hauling on the anchors from 120kph to below 80kph when she pulled into the overtaking lane with about 200m between us.

Now I know she couldn't have missed me, as I always drive with headlights on when on the motorway. She was obviously off in a world of her own and thought nothing of pulling into the overtaking lane of a motorway at over 40kph below the speed limit. :mad:

It's a good thing my brakes and reactions are good, otherwise there would have been some serious damage done.

She shouldn't be at the wheel of a car - simple as!

Alun

zuroph wrote: »

*Checks thread title..."motorways".
Ahem...

True, but most of the things that are dangerous on motorways are pretty much just as dangerous on dual carriageways, despite what any rules and regulations might say. Just because traffic is (theoretically at least) travelling 20km/h slower makes little difference to whether it's safe to stop (or walk, cycle, sell strawberries etc.) on a hard shoulder IMO.

ardmacha

True, but most of the things that are dangerous on motorways are pretty much just as dangerous on dual carriageways, despite what any rules and regulations might say. Just because traffic is (theoretically at least) travelling 20km/h slower makes little difference to whether it's safe to stop (or walk, cycle, sell strawberries etc.) on a hard shoulder IMO.

Walking or cycling on a dual carriageway with a wide shoulder is not as dangerous as doing so on a S2 with no shoulder. Should these things be prohibited from all roads?

I had just overtaken a slow moving truck and saw her moving into the driving lane, so decided to stay in the overtaking lane until I had passed her, queue me hauling on the anchors from 120kph to below 80kph when she pulled into the overtaking lane with about 200m between us.

A large proportion of dangerous situations in motorways arise at junctions. We've all experienced something like the above or the opposite of sometime travelling in the overtaking lane until the last minute and then cutting across. In my opinion fixed cameras should be placed at these locations and people done for such manoeuvres. It should not be beyond modern technology to record only those likely to be breaking the law.

Alun

ardmacha wrote: »

Walking or cycling on a dual carriageway with a wide shoulder is not as dangerous as doing so on a S2 with no shoulder. Should these things be prohibited from all roads?

Personally in such cases where I feel something is dangerous but still considered legal, I still don't do it regardless, and that would include cycling or walking along an S2 road with no hard shoulder, or even on the hard shoulder of a dual carriageway.

The point I was making was that the legality, or otherwise, of a particular action, doesn't automatically make it safe or dangerous.

source

Alun wrote: »

ardmacha wrote: »

Walking or cycling on a dual carriageway with a wide shoulder is not as dangerous as doing so on a S2 with no shoulder. Should these things be prohibited from all roads?

Personally in such cases where I feel something is dangerous but still considered legal, I still don't do it regardless, and that would include cycling or walking along an S2 road with no hard shoulder, or even on the hard shoulder of a dual carriageway.

The point I was making was that the legality, or otherwise, of a particular action, doesn't automatically make it safe or dangerous.

No it doesn't make it less dangerous, but it makes it off topic for this thread, which is what I think Zuroph was trying to point out.

ItHurtsWhenIP

yer man! wrote: »

I didn't know guards could pull people over on the motorway, was driving down the M18 a few weeks ago at 120km/h and a guard was standing in the middle of my lane, had to move to the overtaking lane to avoid him, he was waving in the car behind me. I just thought is was very dangerous.

OT I know, but this reminds me of the before time in the long long ago (when the M7 Nass Bypass was IT as far as motorway was concerned there was bugger all else in the country) ... early 90's.

This stretch of the N18 was pretty notorious for the Gardai to be trapping on.

Usually the patrol car would be hidden off the hard shoulder at the start of the tree line on the left here or off the mainline at the exit.

The median in the Google street view has a very low cut central divide - it used to be a much thicker and higher hedge. This was the perfect nesting place for that rare species, Dare Devil Guard. I've seen them pop out of the hedge :eek: and flag an offender down directing them to the hard shoulder, from the median, then crossing safely and doing their thing. This was nothing surprising in the day.:p Oh and these were the days when hi-viz was not part of their plummage.

However ONE DAY ...

1. Lane 1 had a fairly steady line of traffic doing 60-ish (MPH - none of that new fangled speed thing :rolleyes:), myself included.
2. Perp tearing along the overtaking lane at 75-80.
3. Dare Devil Guard erupts from the hedge and races out ... into the overtaking lane with his hand raised ... at a stupid distance from the Perp ... couldn't have been more than a 100m.
4. Perp soils himself (probably) - slaps on the brakes - can't go left (my line of traffic) if he keeps going, he'll "Darwin award" the guard, so he skids it into the median and doesn't stop until well past where the Guard was.

Now the perp was totally in the wrong here (not driving with due care and attention). BUT I heard that he lodged a major complaint with Dare Devil Guard's Superintendent.

Since that incident, there was never a sighting again on this stretch, for I believe it was migrated towards the border region.:p

niloc1951

[QUOTE=Alun;80078356............................. but most of the things that are dangerous on motorways are pretty much just as dangerous on dual carriageways, despite what any rules and regulations might say
True

Just because traffic is (theoretically at least) travelling 20km/h slower
Not True
.......................[/QUOTE]

Minister Veradkars predecessor increased the speed limit on a lot of dual carriageways to 120kph.
We now have some120kph limit roads without the limitations (no L drivers, pedestrians, cyclists, horse riders, slow tractors, JCB's, etc etc,) accepted as being a requirement on others:eek:

So this thread should rightly include comment on dual carriageways as many have the same speed limit as motorways and in reality more dangerous due to the aforementioned types sharing the space.

source

niloc1951 wrote: »

[QUOTE=Alun;80078356............................. but most of the things that are dangerous on motorways are pretty much just as dangerous on dual carriageways, despite what any rules and regulations might say
True

Just because traffic is (theoretically at least) travelling 20km/h slower
Not True
.......................

Minister Veradkars predecessor increased the speed limit on a lot of dual carriageways to 120kph.
We now have some120kph limit roads without the limitations (no L drivers, pedestrians, cyclists, horse riders, slow tractors, JCB's, etc etc,) accepted as being a requirement on others:eek:

So this thread should rightly include comment on dual carriageways as many have the same speed limit as motorways and in reality more dangerous due to the aforementioned types sharing the space.[/Quote]

Am, any road that was increased to 120kph first had to be designated a motorway in order for it to legally carry a limit of 120kph.

Chris_5339762

Sorry but thats untrue. Parts of the N2 and N25 are 120kmh. Both non motorway. It comes under a "special speed limit".

Now, they should be motorway for sanity reasons, but thats another argument!

jd

source wrote: »

Am, any road that was increased to 120kph first had to be designated a motorway in order for it to legally carry a limit of 120kph.

Nope
Here is the N2 with 120 km/hr limit
https://www.google.com/maps?ll=53.420752,-6.326554&spn=60.02209,173.144531&t=v&z=3&layer=c&panoid=gBy7E7B5R3hyceiKk7vKPw&cbll=53.420752,-6.326554&cbp=13,-75.58409656760155,,0,0.91164837991046

L1011

Sections of the N1, N2, N8, N25 were all 120km/h dual carriageways; N1 and N25 ones are still DC not M.

Redsoxfan

Conor Mortimer just posted this on twitter. As far as I can see, it's taken from the drivers seat while sitting in the overtaking lane on the M50.

https://twitter.com/Conmort/status/234284762792067072/photo/1