Speeding Rant

BrianD3

What is it with people who are too feckin dumb to be aware of the posted speed limits. Lately, every single time I drive at the limit I get some eejit driving 5 feet from my back bumper who would obviously go faster if I wasn't there. This happens in all speed limit zones but is most obvious in 50 and 60 km/h zones. Even in areas which are well known for speed traps and gatsos (eg N4 near Liffey Valley) probably 9/10 cars break the speed limit.

I don't believe that these people are thinking
"i know the speed limit is 60 km/h, I'll take a chance and do 80 km/h"
I would prefer it if they were as at least it would show they are aware of what they're doing. I am guilty of this myself when overtaking. No excuses - if I'm caught by the Gardai i'll accept my punishment without question.

But I reckon the majority of speeders are simply not concentrating on what they're doing and are completely oblivious to the speed limit. They never check their speedo and drive at whatever speed they feel "comfortable" at or whatever speed the car they're tailgating is travelling at :rolleyes: They'll do more or less the same speed no matter what the speed limit is, they'll dawdle along motorways and N roads at 80 km/h and will barely slow down at all for 50 km/h zones. They'll overtake you when you're doing 50 in a 50, then when you enter a 100 zone, you'll catch up with them as they dawdle along hogging the white line :mad:

Then there are others who have somehow "misread" the signs. I have had people swear to me that the current limit on N roads and dual carriageways is 120 km/h.

So much for "check the signs, check your speed" :rolleyes:

BrianD3

gibo_ie

so let them... If there is only one lane, stick to your guns within the speed limit, they will have to back off, on the other hand if you are in the outside (the passing) lane; get out and let them past, it is up to people themselves and the Gardai to police speeds not you.

The General

i just bump these sort of people off the roads and keep driving and i never get caught, you should try this

BrianD3

I'm not trying to enforce the speed limit and I never hog the overtaking lane on dual carriageways/m-ways. However it makes me MAD to get tailgated on a single carrigeway road just because the moron behind is too thick to notice and obey the posted limit.

Just recently I was driving through some roadworks near Mullingar. Speed limit 60 km/h which I was exceeding slightly according to the speedo. That wasn't good enough for the tosser in the van behind who drove right up my arse and flashed me a few times. In the mirror, I could see him ready to explode in his cab. What did he expect me to do? Speed up? Drive into the cones to move out of his way? C*nts like that deserve a belt across the face with a wheelbrace.

BrianD3

The Bollox

oh man, your rant cracked me up, its so true tho! and the sad fact is that the ppl who do that (speed when they are not supposed to all the time) are rarely caught, but the regular joe like you are me, if we do it once we have a feckin garda on our ass!

prospect

A similar thing happened to my uncle years ago.
He put on his hazards and slowed down gradually to a stop (between cones during road works).
He got out of the car, nice and easy, closed the door, locked it (no zappers back then). Ambled past the asshole, to the third car which was behind the ass (only 3 cars on the road), apologised to that driver for the slight delay. Turned and walked back up to the ass, knocked on the window and politely asked, 'Is there a problem?' and believe it or not, the guy replies 'no' !!!!
Frightened the be-jay-sus out of him

Saruman

Yes i drive at the speed limit as much as i can.. in some cases under. Since i got my current car which is a 1.6 Primera. However i was more likely to break it in my 1.2 clio!! Im just more comfortable. Yes i have had people up the arse but if you want to piss them off more you could (and i dont condone it) put your foot on the break and slow more.. they will hopefully piss themselves if they think they might hit you.. since its THEIR fault!!

declanoneill

This reminds me of something that happened to me the other day, I was in a 50k zone and was doing about 40 because the car in front of me (who was a learner) was doing the same. There was enough space for about a car and a hlaf in front of me. Some fool in a colt comes up behind me going like a bat out of hell, swerves over to the other side of the road to get around me and goes into the gap between myself and the learner, waits for a car to pass in the opposite direction and swerves out again, floors it and forces a car on the other side of the road tight against the kerb to avoid hitting him. The colt then takes off at mach 10. Honestly does he really think it's worth it to save a few minutes?

prospect

Saruman wrote:

put your foot on the break and slow more.. they will hopefully piss themselves if they think they might hit you..

Oh, that reminds me of a neat trick, only works during day time:
When they are just about to climb into your boot, turn on your lights...
This will turn on the back lights aswell, they will 'think' you hit the brakes and have a mild heart attack...
I have done this once or twice, and at the same time accellerated. The combination of me speeding up, and them breaking opens up a big gap fairly quickly and they will get the message.

elexes

break suddenly ..

magpie

Unfortunately the speed limits do not reflect reasonable speeds / stopping distances of modern cars otherwise this would not be an issue.

I usually turn on the hazards if anyone gets too close to me.

BrianD3

I wouldn't be on for brake testing tailgaters, however turning on your lights might be a safe alternative. But what sort of an eejit can't tell the difference between brake lights and tail lights? Answer: a ****ing Irish driver!

One thing I have found that seems to encourage them to pull back is to operate your windscreen washers. Because of the airflow over the car, much of the water will end up on the tailgater's windscreen giving him something to think about for a few seconds.

BrianD3

528i

37mph? I think it's you that wants a welt of that wheelbrace, that's like complying with those laughable 15mph roadworks signs,.. should count yourself lucky you werent dragged outa that car beaten into a pulp by mr.white-van-man.

Ps. anyone who deliberately holds up a line of more than 5-cars should be pucked senseless [male or female] and their car mashed into a 2ft cube by JCB's before being flung into the outreaches of space by a huge catapult.

Big Nelly

Talking about spanner head....now I can say that sometimes I have been know to break the speed limit but was funny last week....

Was heading down the N3 and there is this muppet in front of me in and old heap of s**t Fiesta...now years ago when my car was in garage I was driving one of a similiar model and I know they cant pass out for Sh*t.....anyway he was in front of me for a good few miles and every car he came across he was right up as close as possible half way across the white line trying to pass out....then everytime he passed out the traffic coming towards him had to pull in.....like after about 3-4 times cars flashing and beeping and he still didnt realise he was a clown and his car cant pass out for sh*t

So I had enought.....passed him out just before a straight part in the rd(know the rd like back of my hand for my pains) so anyway he is right on my arse now in his little Fiesta.....so I let him come up really close and see there is a line of cars in other direction.....so I slow right down to 20-30 miles an hour and start waving at him out of the back window...he is losing the plot...so I see that he will be able to pass out and just hit the power(was in a 1.9Tdi) and off down the rd....poor wee Fiesta sitting there and 2-3 cars behind him fly by him.....funny as hell it was!!!

Ahh young fellows! they will never learn!!! all I can remember was an LH reg! navy blue 94 or 96 Fiesta

base2

if 9/10 people in your own estimation are breaking it then your the dickhead. That 36mph limit is ****ing ridiculous. I'd drive right up your hole if I couldnt overtake you just to make sure you knew you were acting the dickhead.

528i

So I had enought.....passed him out just before a straight part in the rd(know the rd like back of my hand for my pains) so anyway he is right on my arse now in his little Fiesta.....so I let him come up really close and see there is a line of cars in other direction.....so I slow right down to 20-30 miles an hour and start waving at him out of the back window...he is losing the plot...so I see that he will be able to pass out and just hit the power(was in a 1.9Tdi) and off down the rd....poor wee Fiesta sitting there and 2-3 cars behind him fly by him.....funny as hell it was!!!

Thats pretty immature, what if it had been an emergency and he was taking his wife to hospital or something ?

he'd probably need his lungs checked out following the pume of smoke from that Tdi aswell :rolleyes:

fletch

BrianD3 wrote:

One thing I have found that seems to encourage them to pull back is to operate your windscreen washers. Because of the airflow over the car, much of the water will end up on the tailgater's windscreen giving him something to think about for a few seconds.

BrianD3

Excellent idea.....thanks for that!

fletch

528i wrote:

Ps. anyone who deliberately holds up a line of more than 5-cars should be pucked senseless [male or female] and their car mashed into a 2ft cube by JCB's before being flung into the outreaches of space by a huge catapult.

I agree strongly with this suggestion. For example there was a car on the M50 this morning sitting in the outside lane from Ballymount all the way past Tallaght. She passed about two cars in that time, the rest of the time, the inside lane was completely empty. She was doing about 50mph with at least 10 cars behind her wanting to go past her....eventually one car undertook her & then the rest followed suit. So by her hogging the outside lane, she encouraged at least 10 other people to break the law in frustration.
Had she actually glanced in her mirror once in that 3 mile distance & noticed the train of cars behind her & moved over, all of those cars would not have been forced to break the law.

Big Nelly

528i wrote:

Thats pretty immature, what if it had been an emergency and he was taking his wife to hospital or something ?

he'd probably need his lungs checked out following the pume of smoke from that Tdi aswell :rolleyes:

He was a young fellow in a Fiesta...I was watching him for miles beforehand.....there was no emergency!!! he was just a spanner

Pume of smoke???? you must be getting Tdi mixed up with the Fiesta!! black smoke I call it!!! burning petrol and oil and everything it was!!!

impr0v

Some people consider themselves to be in their own little kingdom once they climb into their car, anybody else on the road isn't another person, it's an obstacle to them. If they have not left enough time to get where they are going, then the obstacles have to be negotiated even quicker, regardless of what type of timescale anyone else is on, or what risks they have to take to do so.

Having said that, It's my opinion that sensible driving should take precedence over limits at times.

Take the roadworks for example, the 60km limit is a temporary limit advertised by the contractors in line with safety recommendations and is undoubtedly necessary at certain parts of the site. However, at other locations, it is obviously eccessive to reduce one's speed to 60kmh, if there is a clear carriageway, good visibility etc. I would be very surprised if the limit has a legal standing as the local bylaws would need to be modified to enact the limit and then modified again once the construction was finished. The limit is advertised to a large extent to defend against potential claims resulting from any damage incurred during the roadworks.

Another example is going a through a village on a National Primary Road early in the morning. It's frustrating to encounter somebody crawling through a deserted village in the dead of night. While they are obeying the law, to the letter, their speed is in my opinion excessively slow. I'm not advocating blazing through the village with the afterburners on, i'm saying it would be more realistic to travel at a speed which still gives you ample opportunity to react to any situation which might arise, but which takes account of the fact that any incident is much less likely to arise at this time of night than it is in the middle of the day.

However, no matter how one employs good judgement, or obeys limits, there will always be someone who wants to go faster and will advertise that fact by being an ignorant and dangerously aggressive driver.

prospect

Lads, the speed limit is the speed limit.

I too think that a ot of limits around the country are far too low, but having said that, i stick to them. I ain't paying €80 and getting penalty points for no-one. So if you are behind me doing 100km/h in a 100km/h zone, and there are no passing oppertunities, then you can get as close as you like, and flash all you want, because i am not risking points pour vous!

(Note, I do always allow faster cars to pass when possible, because if you want to go fast, that is your choice. Reason - an't stand someone doing 80km/h in a 100km/h zone, and running their right wheels on the white line so others can't get past, and therefore i wouldn't do it to someone who wants to break the limit)

the_syco

Remember when someone I knew was being tailgated, so he sped up, turned around, and played a bit of chicken. The other driver stopped & reversed quickly.

green-blood

oh goody rant time

only last week on one of the foggier/drizzly mornings I was on the way into work on the m50 ya know that stupid 100k/62mph section from Firhouse on, anyway I was happily cruising at 65-70 passing 2 artics in the inside lane when I get that uncomfortable feeling, ya know the one that some bloke is standing just too close to you at the bar (yikes) anyway there he was glued to my back bumper flashing..... hmm, I'm over the limit passing 2 trucks, in the wet... was he nuts, yep.

anyway we get past the trucks and there is a micra 100 yards up the road doing 55 in the inside lane, no way am I pulling in for this twat only to get stuck between 2 artics and granny, so I stay where I am. My rather clever new friend decided there was enough space for him to undertake me..... uh uh buddy, I'm not getting undertaken by a 1.4 almera... I soooo love the turbo in my saab. I didnt see him again, I hope he didnt scare the granny in the micra!!

my fav speeding spot is from the redcow to newlands cross, its a stupid 60k limit but hey its signed what more can you do, there are always vans there, so I stick to it "ish" anyway if you fancy turning right at newlands down to Clondalkin you pretty much need to get over to the right most lane asap, but every cork twat thinks you're causing a hld up in the "fast lane bai" ... nutters.

speaking of braketesting, another day same road I indicated before the 300 meter board to leave the m50 at Balinteer down the hill heading for dundrum, anyway another clever chappy on a large offroad bike decided this was a good time to undertake me on the hardshoulder.. wally. Anyway I obviously prevented him getting to the birth of his first child as he went nuts and overtook me down to the roundabout and brake tested me..... again in the wet on his motorcycle... I'm in 2 tonnes of SAAB.... numptie

BrianD3

impr0v wrote:

Take the roadworks for example, the 60km limit is a temporary limit advertised by the contractors in line with safety recommendations and is undoubtedly necessary at certain parts of the site. However, at other locations, it is obviously eccessive to reduce one's speed to 60kmh, if there is a clear carriageway, good visibility etc. I would be very surprised if the limit has a legal standing as the local bylaws would need to be modified to enact the limit and then modified again once the construction was finished. The limit is advertised to a large extent to defend against potential claims resulting from any damage incurred during the roadworks.

The thing about the roadworks I referred to is that the signs which have been installed are "proper" ones, not the usual haphazard signs that you get at roadworks. There are also a lot of the signs - they are installed every few hundred metres or so and there is no doubt as to what the limit is supposed to be. I'm not sure about the legal situation with temp speed limits but I'm not going to take a chance on it just to facilitate the driver behind. The place is an ideal location for a Gatso van or speed trap.

BrianD3

Balfa

green-blood wrote:

I get that uncomfortable feeling, ya know the one that some bloke is standing just too close to you at the bar (yikes) anyway there he was glued to my back bumper flashing

That's funny, because when i'm driving, cars don't just magically appear behind me out of the blue. They approach from distance and I use observation and anticipation to understand the road situation, where everyone will be in the next few moments, and take suitable action. I would've timed my passing of slower traffic so as not to interfere with other drivers who choose to drive faster than me. The fact that you couldn't notice another car right on your bumper AND flashing his lights suggests that you're just plain not a good driver, which might explain why he was irritated with you.

I'm not getting undertaken by a 1.4 almera... I soooo love the turbo in my saab.

Ahhh, i see. So you did actually do what he wanted and speeded up. Maybe you're not so bad after all, allowing him to get through traffic quicker like that. Of course you did choose the most obnoxious and dangerous way to do it, but hey, each to their own.

Ivan E

Where I do echo the sentiments of those saying that there's no way you should have 5 cars behind you, it really depends on the situation and the road. There's nothing worse than being on the M50 and coming across two cars side by side doing the exact same speed. Obviously the driver in the inner lane is correct to drive at whatever speed they desire but the other one quite clearly needs a kick in the head.

I tend to find the N4 coming in by Liffey Valley the most frustrating. At 50kph its far too slow. And you are always going to get drivers passing you as you try and get in the right lane and keep to the limit. The reason it bothers me is that there is always a good chance of a tripod being further up the road waiting to get you. Yet there are always those drivers who seem quite willing to risk it.

One thing that does help me is that I drive a relatively high performance car and that helps in that I tend to get a bit more respect on the road from the normal speedsters and I do actually have the power to pull away and get myself in the right areas of the road that I feel comfortable with. Its amazing the difference the car makes with regards how other drivers will approach you. The faster the car, the more willing a lot of drivers seem to stay in behind you and keep at your pace. Whereas if you are in a smaller car, you tend to be treated a lot worse.

Ivan E

Having said that I would have done exactly the same as green_blood...

Balfa

Ivan E wrote:

Whereas if you are in a smaller car, you tend to be treated a lot worse.

I drove a daihatsu domino in my day, and never had problems with respect Of course I rarely had other cars catching up with me, but when i did, i would do my best to accomodate them, slowing down if necessary, pulling in as tight as i could (using the hard shoulder if available), and letting them pass.

528i

wait a minute, you've got a saab 900 turbo aswell then ? did you get it for free like greenbloods ?

NCT have a lot to answer for with crocks of shyte like that [having to cheek to speed] on our roads I tell ya.. suppose its better than holding up dacent ppl in almeras with a mini 850 all the same dough :cool:

Seth Brundle

the_syco wrote:

Remember when someone I knew was being tailgated, so he sped up, turned around, and played a bit of chicken. The other driver stopped & reversed quickly.

(TED produces a crude drawing of a mans head. On the inside of the head, there is a label "Dreams", on the outside, "Reality". He adresses DOUGAL)
Ted: Have you been studying this chart like I told you?

methinks the_syco is a bit like dougal

Balfa

kbannon wrote:

(TED produces a crude drawing of a mans head. On the inside of the head, there is a label "Dreams", on the outside, "Reality". He adresses DOUGAL)
Ted: Have you been studying this chart like I told you?

methinks the_syco is a bit like dougal

Haha! too true