How stupid can stupid be?

breakemall

I came across a new level of stupidity going east on the M6 just past junction 8 a couple of days ago. She obviously knew she was going against the traffic, but that did not slow her down and in her mind driving on the hard shoulder made it ok?

Did not note the reg as I thought the dashcam would capture it, but sadly it did not due to the poor light at that time of the morning. Would love to see that moron put off the road before she kills someone!!!!

Rant over...

IrishZeus

I would have been pulling into the outside lane there!

Entitled, and endangering the lives of other motorists.

breakemall

IrishZeus wrote: »

I would have been pulling into the outside lane there!

I was towing a fully loaded horse box so was conscious of my ability to take evasive action and I thought about pulling out to the overtaking lane but by staying where I was I could go left or right if the "moron" changed lane. All split second stuff as you can see from the time stamp, plus she only came into view when she came around the bend and it took a couple of seconds for it to sink in that she was on the wrong side...

Henry Ford III

Wow.

p.s. Must have been foggy or something.

CrankyHaus

So that driver either drove the 3 odd km from the next junction or made a U turn on the Motorway to go back to junction 8?
I suspect the latter, incredible.

coylemj

It looks like she came from the west and missed J8 so did an illegal u-turn and drove back the wrong way. The next exit going east is J7, Moate west/Clonmacnoise which is only 8 kms away so it would only have taken her an additional 10 minutes to go back the legal way.

From the OP's first photo to the J8 exit ramp is only 440m so she didn't have far left to travel but of course she would then have to cross the two oncoming lanes to get off the motorway. Or be a complete pig and drive the wrong way up the on-ramp!

1874

Came across something similar on the N4, well I was taking a slip road onto N4 heading west, she was coming up the slip road, surprised me going around the corner to see a car coming at me, so the only way the driver in my case could have got there was either she did a u-turn and came back, she was on the N4 going west and turned back up the slip road or she was like your example already on the N4 going the wrong way, its impossible to do anything about these morons at the time, hope to avoid them altogether and hope they dont kill someone.
Are there other cameras on that road or at other junctions, I'm reluctant to report much if anything mainly because I know it goes no where other than the bin and I'll get a derisory attitude in response, but in cases like this, these people need to get a serious penalty, if they are so clueless need to be off the road altogether.

FDave

Driving against the flow of traffic on a motorway, 2 penalty points and a 80 euro fine. This despite it being on of the most dangerous things a driver can do.

bear1

Pity the camera isn't clear enough.
Crazy bitch should be off the road

begbysback

Ahh cmon lads can we not take the positives from this, at least she has her lights on, and is on the right side of the road in the wrong direction.

Boom_Bap

begbysback wrote: »

Ahh cmon lads can we not take the positives from this, at least she has her lights on, and is on the right side of the road in the wrong direction.

Are her lights right though, are those not fog lamps that she has on and it doesn't look like thick/dense fog.

mooseknunkle

FDave wrote: »

Driving against the flow of traffic on a motorway, 2 penalty points and a 80 euro fine. This despite it being on of the most dangerous things a driver can do.

Is that all it is?,i was driving on the M9 just outside of Carlow last December at about 5:30pm on a Saturday it was dark,raining,very poor driving conditions and a lot of traffic due to it been close to Christmas people were returning home from Dublin.

I noticed in front of me two cars slowing down and putting on their hazards,then out of nowhere a car comes up the right-hand lane :eek: ,in all my years driving i think its the biggest scare ive had ,i checked the AA's twitter when i got home and there was a crash on that stretch but wasn't serious thankfully,anyone driving the wrong way on a motorway should be banned for life there is no excuse for it.

Seweryn

FDave wrote: »

Driving against the flow of traffic on a motorway, 2 penalty points and a 80 euro fine. This despite it being on of the most dangerous things a driver can do.

Yeah... This is madness. You get more penalty points if you miss the NCT test.

bear1

Boom_Bap wrote: »

Are her lights right though, are those not fog lamps that she has on and it doesn't look like thick/dense fog.

Parking lights and fogs. Thug life.

_Kaiser_

I came across a squad car on the M3 one time doing exactly the same thing as the driver in the OP's pictures not far from Dunshaughlin.

I rang Dunshaughlin station to be told that they were pursuing a car doing the same. I certainly didn't see any other cars - but even if there was, why not pursue on the correct side of the road and radio head to have the exits blocked.

Close second for the Darwin award was the cop on the M8 late one night at a slip road directing traffic onto it because of an accident ahead.. Nothing wrong with that - except that there was no advance signage or beacons and he was positioned just after a bend in the road with the car facing oncoming traffic with all the lights on while he stood in front of it.

Cee-Jay-Cee

She's very lucky that she didn't meet people from a certain people connected with the mobile community who would most certainly have drove straight into her and she would have been 100% at fault.

coylemj

Cee-Jay-Cee wrote: »

She's very lucky that she didn't meet people from a certain mobile community who would most certainly have drove straight into her and she would have been 100% at fault.

You're saying that travellers routinely drive on the hard shoulder? I've driven on the M6 hundreds of times and have never seen someone do that.

You'd see the odd idiot in a commercial truck who thinks he's doing people a favour by driving half in the hard shoulder and half in the inside lane but they're thankfully rare enough these days.

Squidgy Black

coylemj wrote: »

You're saying that travellers routinely drive on the hard shoulder? I've driven on the M6 hundreds of times and have never seen someone do that.

You'd see the odd idiot in a commercial truck who thinks he's doing people a favour by driving half in the hard shoulder and half in the inside lane but they're thankfully rare enough these days.

He's more implying that they'd take it as a golden opportunity for an insurance claim.

Cee-Jay-Cee

coylemj wrote: »

You're saying that travellers routinely drive on the hard shoulder? I've driven on the M6 hundreds of times and have never seen someone do that.

You'd see the odd idiot in a commercial truck who thinks he's doing people a favour by driving half in the hard shoulder and half in the inside lane but they're thankfully rare enough these days.

No i'm saying that I have experienced a person who took a wrong turn from a side road onto a dual carriageway and the van travelling in front of me obviously seen them too and drove into the hard shoulder and crashed into the car travelling in the wrong direction. I was a witness to it and summonsed to the high court in their claim for damages/injuries and were successful.

Wildly Boaring

_Kaiser_ wrote: »

I came across a squad car on the M3 one time doing exactly the same thing as the driver in the OP's pictures not far from Dunshaughlin.

I rang Dunshaughlin station to be told that they were pursuing a car doing the same. I certainly didn't see any other cars - but even if there was, why not pursue on the correct side of the road and radio head to have the exits blocked.

Close second for the Darwin award was the cop on the M8 late one night at a slip road directing traffic onto it because of an accident ahead.. Nothing wrong with that - except that there was no advance signage or beacons and he was positioned just after a bend in the road with the car facing oncoming traffic with all the lights on while he stood in front of it.

I was at the scene of a minor tip at urlingford years ago.

Guard drove past. Stopped. U turned and came back to us up the hard shoulder.

I casually suggested he turn on a blue light or two. .... oh yeah, good idea

tcawley29

Cee-Jay-Cee wrote: »

She's very lucky that she didn't meet people from a certain people connected with the mobile community who would most certainly have drove straight into her and she would have been 100% at fault.

It's a pity she didn't. It would have served her right

The Pheasant2

Well I suppose when you think of how dumb the average person is, and then consider that 50% of people on Earth are dumber than that...things like this may not appear as surprising

Effects

Cee-Jay-Cee wrote: »

I was a witness to it and summonsed to the high court in their claim for damages/injuries and were successful.

Link to the case please?

Cee-Jay-Cee

Effects wrote: »

Link to the case please?

I was a witness in the court case, I didn't read it. Not all cases are reported in the papers, It happened in Letterkenny in July 2014, find it yourself if you want.

coylemj

Squidgy Black wrote: »

He's more implying that they'd take it as a golden opportunity for an insurance claim.

A rear-ender at a roundabout is a safer option for a staged accident. A whiplash claims bags you more than the cost of a funeral.

highdef

Boom_Bap wrote: »

Are her lights right though, are those not fog lamps that she has on and it doesn't look like thick/dense fog.

As well as having fog lights on when it's not foggy (and those particular Focus's have high beam like light coming from them), the driver has no dipped headlights on despite it being obviously quite dark and misty.

Driver is stupid is multiple ways!

pcardin

The Pheasant2 wrote: »

Well I suppose when you think of how dumb the average person is, and then consider that 50% of people on Earth are dumber than that...things like this may not appear as surprising

Indeed. Besides, every motorway in Ireland provides a daily showcase of driving retardness. Every single one of them. Every day.

creedp

highdef wrote: »

As well as having fog lights on when it's not foggy (and those particular Focus's have high beam like light coming from them), the driver has no dipped headlights on despite it being obviously quite dark and misty.

Driver is stupid is multiple ways!

That particular issue would put the driver in the average Irish driver category! Although a more common occurrence these days are guys and girls driving along in the dark with only their DRL's on. Is bound to contribute to an increased rate of rear enders in the future whether intentional or otherwise

AugustusMinimus

Was she speeding?

GrumpyMe

pcardin wrote: »

Indeed. Besides, every motorway in Ireland provides a daily showcase of driving retardness. Every single one of them. Every day.

Motorway use should be part of driver training and testing.

corks finest

breakemall wrote: »

I came across a new level of stupidity going east on the M6 just past junction 8 a couple of days ago. She obviously knew she was going against the traffic, but that did not slow her down and in her mind driving on the hard shoulder made it ok?

Did not note the reg as I thought the dashcam would capture it, but sadly it did not due to the poor light at that time of the morning. Would love to see that moron put off the road before she kills someone!!!!

Rant over...

God almighty

ted1

FDave wrote: »

Driving against the flow of traffic on a motorway, 2 penalty points and a 80 euro fine. This despite it being on of the most dangerous things a driver can do.

The offence is dangerous driving and a day in court.

corks finest

coylemj wrote: »

Squidgy Black wrote: »

He's more implying that they'd take it as a golden opportunity for an insurance claim.

A rear-ender at a roundabout is a safer option for a staged accident. A whiplash claims bags you more than the cost of a funeral.

Saw a lady going around the wilton / cuh roundabout the wrong way ,15 plus years ago,, unreal,but think she wasn't in the right frame of mind,also happened upon an old dear in altnagelvin roundabout Derry 30years ago in the rain/ darkness doing the same

FDave

ted1 wrote: »

The offence is dangerous driving and a day in court.

While i agree it should be, there are specific penality points for this offence. That would be like doing someone for dangerous driving while driving on their phone. The list of offences are set out in the road traffic act.

keyboard_cat

Are you able to even get a partial registration from the video? Might be worth uploading it someone might be able to get bits of numberplate in different frames?
I recall seeing something similar on the motorway a few years back. car must have missed it’s turnoff pulled into the hard shoulder and started reversing back.

mistress_gi

I have a question, if one enters the motorway the wrong way, what is the best course of action?

SCOOP 64

Leave car on hard shoulder with hazards on, then get out and run and report car stolen.

Wildly Boaring

Hand in your licence

Samuel T. Cogley

mistress_gi wrote: »

I have a question, if one enters the motorway the wrong way, what is the best course of action?

I would have thought you'd have to call the guards and have them help you right yourself.

breakemall

AugustusMinimus wrote: »

Was she speeding?

She was not doing over 120KPH, but then again what is the speed limit for driving on the hard shoulder against the flow of traffic on a motorway?

Having said that, she was coming at a good rate of knots if you note the distance she covered in only a few seconds.

The dashcam makes it look a lot brighter than it was, and at circa 7.40am on a dark early March morning headlights were certainly needed. It was not foggy so there was no need for the dazzling fog lights which as you can see in the snaps, were a lot brighter than she was! I suppose they made up for her otherwise using the parking lights?

I think it was an 04 but having replayed the footage every way I can, the remainder of the reg is sadly a blur. :mad:

Still boils my pee to think that someone this moronic is on the road though...

coylemj

corks finest wrote: »

Saw a lady going around the wilton / cuh roundabout the wrong way ,15 plus years ago,, unreal,but think she wasn't in the right frame of mind,also happened upon an old dear in altnagelvin roundabout Derry 30years ago in the rain/ darkness doing the same

An old geezer did that to me on the coast road in Sandymount a few months ago. I was heading towards Ringsend, he was coming towards me and turning right but he took a short cut around the roundabout and almost collided with me. I shouted a few greetings to him and went on my way but it occurred to me afterwards that the blank look on his face probably meant he shouldn't have been driving in the first place.

d9oiu2wk07blr5

corks finest wrote: »

Saw a lady going around the wilton / cuh roundabout the wrong way ,15 plus years ago,, unreal,but think she wasn't in the right frame of mind,also happened upon an old dear in altnagelvin roundabout Derry 30years ago in the rain/ darkness doing the same

Came across a driver doing the exact same on the upper Kilmacud Road Roundabout to Sandyford one night.

hi5

breakemall wrote: »

She was not doing over 120KPH, but then again what is the speed limit for driving on the hard shoulder against the flow of traffic on a motorway?

Having said that, she was coming at a good rate of knots if you note the distance she covered in only a few seconds.

The dashcam makes it look a lot brighter than it was, and at circa 7.40am on a dark early March morning headlights were certainly needed. It was not foggy so there was no need for the dazzling fog lights which as you can see in the snaps, were a lot brighter than she was! I suppose they made up for her otherwise using the parking lights?

I think it was an 04 but having replayed the footage every way I can, the remainder of the reg is sadly a blur. :mad:

Still boils my pee to think that someone this moronic is on the road though...

If she had her headlights on it would have been more dazzling as she is on the opposite side approaching you and her lights will be aimed to her left.

highdef

hi5 wrote: »

If she had her headlights on it would have been more dazzling as she is on the opposite side approaching you and her lights will be aimed to her left.

I could bet a whack of money that this is not something that she consciously thought about and acted upon. If she had been that courteous and thoughtful, she would also have switched her fog lights off when she left the area of fog that she must have driven though beforehand

stefanovich

FDave wrote: »

Driving against the flow of traffic on a motorway, 2 penalty points and a 80 euro fine. This despite it being on of the most dangerous things a driver can do.

Surely she would be prosecuted by the gardai for dangerous driving.

stefanovich

GrumpyMe wrote: »

Motorway use should be part of driver training and testing.

She should get a 10 year ban.

GrumpyMe

stefanovich wrote: »

She should get a 10 year ban.

While that may possibly be effective in curbing her excesses it will do little to educate the masses currently awaiting driving tests. She is likely to be replaced with like minded clones on a daily basis.

cgc5483

Had an incident probably on that same section of the M6 several years ago. A Friday evening driving West about 10 pm. A car in front of me was coming up behind an artic truck. All of us were in the left lane. The car in front indicates and is about to move into right lane when the artic suddenly starts to sway towards the right hand lane and block off the car. The car remains in the left lane and 2 or 3 seconds later another car passes going the wrong direction in the right hand lane. Had the truck driver not done what he did would have been a head on collision.

Dravokivich

mistress_gi wrote: »

I have a question, if one enters the motorway the wrong way, what is the best course of action?

Apart from pulling into hard shoulder and calling a recovery.

You have to acknowledge It's not a simple mistake to make.

1874

Quote:
Originally Posted by mistress_gi
I have a question, if one enters the motorway the wrong way, what is the best course of action?

Dravokivich wrote: »

Apart from pulling into hard shoulder and calling a recovery.
You have to acknowledge It's not a simple mistake to make.

I think the best thing is, not do it in the first place, that said, errors happen, in which case, dont persist and forge on.
I'll accept people can make mistakes, but the really significant problem is they cannot extricate themselves or are too fearful to stop, reassess and correct the situation.


If as mistress_gi asks, this occurs, and a person realises it, then they should stop moving against the flow of traffic/in the wrong direction, regardless of their being other vehicles there or not, put the hazards on, not blind traffic moving in the correct direction, (when I say that, I mean they should never have made it off the sliproad or onto the motorway.
Find a suitable time and turn around, if a person has to call for a rescue to get out of that they should not be on the road.


IMO its the blatant persistence/stupidity that makes this worse, they are utterly clueless how to rectify the situation.