Can't walk on country roads anymore

elperello · 30-01-2022 10:39pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118556765#Comment_118556765

That's what they have done on some country roads in Jersey.

If we want to make country roads safer here we will have to reclassify minor roads and forget about the one for all 80kph limit.

I can't see 15 mph (24.14 kph) being a runner in many places though.

30-01-2022 10:43pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118555316#Comment_118555316

Out of curiosity , why do you the tractors are uninsured?

No insurance disc displayed ?

Little known fact is agricultural tractors are exempt from having to display an insurance disc .

magicbastarder · 30-01-2022 10:52pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118556653#Comment_118556653

yes, and the death rate on the roads went up IIRC.

magicbastarder · 30-01-2022 10:53pm

https://www.irishexaminer.com/news/arid-40751895.html

Easten · 30-01-2022 11:03pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118556854#Comment_118556854

Maybe the fact that there's a 13 year old driving it or that the tractor is an ancient pos without lights and is in no way roadworthy. Unless I'm mistaken and Insurance companies cover them regardless of who drives or the condition of the vehicle

magicbastarder · 30-01-2022 11:04pm

Can you honestly say you never pulled out onto a road sometime when you shouldn’t, you’ve never passed on a continuous white line, broke the speed limit , took a turn too wide or done anything wrong. I doubt it.

we have all been that idiot driver at some time.

there's a difference between wilfully driving like an idiot:

I used to be mad about cars and motor bikes years ago and drove like an idiot, I crashed a lot of times and luckily came out ok but it was pure luck.

and having done careless or stupid things in a car. i've been involved in two collisions where i was to blame, both times at below 5mph, both over 20 years ago. one involved black ice FWIW.

in the post i was responding to, you mentioned two instances where you thought exposed road users were to blame. there's a whole lot of qualitative and quantitative difference you're missing in what appears to be an attempt to draw some equivalence; an e-scooterist in the middle of the road like that is (apart from being exceptionally rare), also exceptionally unlikely to kill someone else. you suggested cyclists were even worse. there is a single recorded case so far this century where a cyclist has been found to be responsible for the death of another road user.

if you drive on country roads and cannot anticipate that there may be pedestrians on it - even at night - you shouldn't be driving.

straight · 30-01-2022 11:06pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058230518/cant-walk-on-country-roads-anymore

I wouldn't have put you down as one of the middle aged lycra gang. It's all those rat race people rushing home to binge watch Netflix I guess. I'm living on a nice quiet road myself. We were in the city today and you could just feel the tension in the drivers and the horn blowing and just a not so nice vibe all round.

Flinty997 · 30-01-2022 11:20pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118556904#Comment_118556904

What did they notice in the lockdown?

".... increases in speeding and drug driving...."

Easten · 30-01-2022 11:22pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118556969#Comment_118556969

No I'm not one of the lyvra gang. They can be aggressive enough too even to walkers on the road but I know where they are coming from and why they act like that.

My farm is fragmented so I cycle to each of the places to check up on stock as it's the right thing to do and not have another Car or Tractor hogging the narrow road. I'm pissed off now that even a short journey down the road can't be taken walking or cycling as it's no longer safe to do so. It's not the amount of cars but the speed and aggression of drivers. Like a car comes hammering around a blind bend and I have to jump up onto the side or be killed and somehow "I'm at fault for being there"?

That's just not right.

wrangler · 30-01-2022 11:28pm

. Really lucky around here, wide roads , plenty places to walk or cycle.

If the M6 wasn't built we'd be in some mess

ParkRunner · 30-01-2022 11:40pm

Moved down the country two years ago with a bendy road out the front. The locals seem to put the foot down but beep every few seconds as they go. Watch out I’m coming at speed!

magicbastarder · 30-01-2022 11:50pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118557042#Comment_118557042

more dead people, it seems.

Say my name · 31-01-2022 12:36am

Fellow on the Joe Duffy show there last year or before knocked down an elderly man. I think in galway?

The man was wearing black at dusk. He was thrown into a field about 30 feet away. What they found on the road was his Wellington boots.

Definitely not the usual chat on the show.

Ginger83 · 31-01-2022 1:00am

We are lucky here on a narrow country road. Quiet enough with the odd tractor and only an occasional gobshite. We love the peace. Wouldn't have the time for busy towns with people rushing nowhere. Passed through Virginia today and it reminded me of Moate years ago, just gridlock. I don't know where everyone is going nowadays but we are all rich again seemingly.

Havenowt · 31-01-2022 1:42am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118554948#Comment_118554948

so everyone who drives aggressively must be on drugs???

id say there are more people driving who have a drink taken than than on drugs

Flinty997 · 31-01-2022 1:49am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118557575#Comment_118557575

The Garda say otherwise. I was bit surprised myself.

rte.ie/news/ireland/2021/0602/1225636-road-safety-appeal/

Thargor · 31-01-2022 6:01am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118556329#Comment_118556329

Strange then that you devote so much of your life to the active travel threads calling people who try to improve the situation in this country communists or fascists or Pol-Pot and all your other hysterical shrieking...

31-01-2022 10:25am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118557774#Comment_118557774

Dear oh dear. My ire is only directed toward those who seek to ban cars because they dislike them. They're insincere and your criticism is misplaced. There is a world of a difference between people who want to make a change for the better and those who are looking for pretext to blame cars. Cars are certainly needed in rural locations as public transport, feet and bikes do not do the job.

Since I already mentioned trying to engage with the local engineers on improving the situation I myself would be among the group you would claim have been abused by me. Now, have you anything on topic to contribute?

magicbastarder · 31-01-2022 10:33am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118557379#Comment_118557379

i would be curious how fast you'd have to be driving to throw someone 30 feet. and whether the lights were working correctly in the car, whether the driver was driving to the conditions, etc. etc.

i.e. even if the pedestrian was wearing black, what were the conditions that the lights of the car did not pick him out?

31-01-2022 10:39am

If it was Galway safe to assume it was raining and a wet dark night will soak up any light thrown from the best of headlights and reflect nothing back. D4 and the wild west are completely different environments.

Quitelife · 31-01-2022 10:45am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118557575#Comment_118557575

Definitely twenty/thirty years ago it was mostly drink driving and i could name plenty that used drink and drive but many of the pubs are closed and their clientele are dead or just stay at home now theres so few others in the remaining pub.

Meanwhile cocaine is everywhere these days and a huge amount of young people are hooked on it and driving round as normal ( but their driving isnt normal!). Throw in the dealers themselves flying round delivering drugs and youve a lot of drivers making the roads dangerous.

31-01-2022 10:49am

Our area has a number of sand and gravel pits. The operators would be quite happy to sell gravel to the County Council to resurface the roads but don't contribute to the cost of repair of damage to the road surface caused by their lorries rolling from morning until evening. It is probably part of the reason why the Co.Co. hasn't resurfaced during my lifetime since the lorries will just undo the resurfacing works.

Cars have next to no impact on road surface. It is the lorries that do the damage and is visible as the side of the road to the Works from the Sand and Gravel pits are in poorer state than the side leading to the gravel pits. The extra weight does all the damage.

Interesting fact: roads coming out of dublin wear faster than roads leading to dublin as the goods vehicles are heavier.

mayota · 31-01-2022 11:02am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118558201#Comment_118558201

It was Frenchpark,Co Roscommon. Driver was blameless. Deceased was thrown over a wall into a garden. No speed involved. Forget exact details but probably oncoming traffic and rain combined.

magicbastarder · 31-01-2022 11:26am

i remember a case which was a pedestrian fatality on an N road, where the driver told the gardai he'd been doing about 90km/h and the gardai said no, based on the forensics, you were doing 45-50kmh. i wonder if this is that case.

It has since emerged he was doing around half the speed limit when he hit the elderly farmer who was dressed in dark clothing.

https://www.irishexaminer.com/news/arid-30803678.html

magicbastarder · 31-01-2022 11:33am

it might not be the same case, of course, but in the case i do remember, it's kinda laughable for gardai to claim a motorist was driving on an N road at less than half the speed limit, especially when that is contradicted by the driver's own testimony.

wrangler · 31-01-2022 11:37am

A neighbour lost his two legs after being hit with a car on a narrow road at night, dressed n dark clothing. Anyone that passed him that night said he was looking to get himself killed. He could've walked on a new wide road the same night that was paralell to the road he walked on. Terrible for the person that eventually hit him

31-01-2022 11:39am

I walk the rural roads in my area every day without any problems. I walk in the middle of the road, wear a hi vis vest and never have headphones on. I can hear any vehicle coming and will move to the safest side of the road. Most people using this road know that it’s popular with walkers. If anyone has any problems with dangerous driving, take note of car reg and report it. If possible take a photo. #walkersoftheworldunite

Manach · 31-01-2022 11:45am

A parallel development is the increased amount of rubbish being deposited both by and on the roads. The latter devopment, domestic waste liberally spread across rural roads, reflects a mindset I really cannot fathom.

Dinzee Conlee · 31-01-2022 11:47am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118558201#Comment_118558201

I don't know Magic, it can be near impossible to see someone in black at times. I passed a lad over Christmas, and he was all in black/grey - and I was on top of him before I saw him.

Now, I wasn't going that fast cos it wasn't a main road, but if he wasn't standing in, I could easily have hit him to be honest...

Ubbquittious · 31-01-2022 11:49am

To be honest country roads were never great for walking on in this country. Lots of places the roads are simply too narrow & windy with nowhere to keep in if there's traffic coming. I dont believe the drivers have got significantly worse since covid. Nearly all the regional roads are just where the ass & trap used to go before cars were invented

31-01-2022 11:49am

Yes, pedestrians are stupid but none of these roads have been improved over many, many decades. It is reasonable to expect that they would have been resurfaced and pavements provided.

Hurrache · 31-01-2022 12:02pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118556578#Comment_118556578

Not in my experience. If anything, it's the opposite, my local school discourages it.

The reason they say is the roads around the school are too dangerous. Gets my goat that they don't stop and think as to what may make them dangerous as school time, it's the bloody parents going back and forth from the school. No mention of that in their weekly newsletters.

Hurrache · 31-01-2022 12:07pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118558517#Comment_118558517

So lots of people did in fact see him, as you say, so couldn't have been that hard to spot based on all those people who saw him.

And whatever about doing so in darkness, the cries for people to wear high vis in daylight is ridiculous, there's no evidence it makes you stand out any better. In certain lighting conditions you're going to blend into the hedges and fields and ironically stand out better in dark clothing.

Easten · 31-01-2022 12:12pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118558666#Comment_118558666

Hard to blame the parents when it's another thing the Government doesn't provide anymore is proper School Bus runs. Bus Eireann are not providing new bus routes and barely service the old routes. Its a disgrace how they've gotten away with this.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118558698#Comment_118558698

A dark Silhouette easier to see in direct Sunlight in the evening time. A Hi-viz vest become invisible against the Sun

Thelonious Monk · 31-01-2022 12:13pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118558517#Comment_118558517

Spare a thought for the guy who lost his legs too!

31-01-2022 12:13pm

That is not my experience of the boreens around my way. A Hi-vis vest or sash always helps to stand out especially now that cars have DRLs. At night a torch is advisable to prevent you from stumbling in the many potholes or over a sod of turf or sugarbeet falling off the back of a trailer.

John_Rambo · 31-01-2022 12:16pm

Sugarbeet in Ireland post 2006?

magicbastarder · 31-01-2022 12:25pm

funny enough, i reckon i saw one sitting at the side of the road at the weekend...

cnocbui · 31-01-2022 12:28pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118557197#Comment_118557197

Yep, absolute carnage, dead bodies everywhere. Stepping over them has become a chore.

"2021 Records Lowest Number of Road Fatalities Since Recording Began in 1959

Research 01.01.2022

7% drop in road deaths in 2021 compared to 2020

19 pedestrian deaths in 2021 the lowest figure since records began"

I haven't noticed any speed increase on the roads near where I live. Personally I find enormous trucks navigating roads that are 1.8 trucks in width, more of a safety problem than cars speeding. The size and instability of logging trucks on rural roads is insane. I suppose they do save councils and landowners from trimming overhanging trees, though.

magicbastarder · 31-01-2022 12:37pm

you may have missed the context. the context was that road deaths went up in 2020 during lockdown, despite the volume of traffic falling significantly; what happened in 2021 is separate to that.

cnocbui · 31-01-2022 12:43pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118558853#Comment_118558853

There were no lockdowns in 2021, that's great news.

magicbastarder · 31-01-2022 12:44pm

you're arguing against a point i'm not making.

31-01-2022 12:44pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118558747#Comment_118558747

Not for sugar factory. Yes, still a menace on the roads.

Biscuitus · 31-01-2022 12:47pm

Country roads by me aren't safe for driving let alone walking or cycling because of:

Driving in the centre of the road around bends.

Driving in the centre of the road on straights and only pulling in last second when they realise there isn't enough room for two cars

Speeding around blind bends

Aggressively tail gating tractors and other heavy machinery

On the phone

Huge trucks taking short cuts from busier but better roads

The amount of times I have to come to a complete stop on a road when I'm in the tractor to let people by. I make sure I'm always keeping an eye out anyone walking or cycling but that is getting rare these days.

31-01-2022 1:01pm

These roads exist to join villages. They are just not fit for purpose. Maybe the speed limit should be 80, maybe 100 but they should exist. Lack of investment in secondary roads which makes them safe for all road users is the issue.

Because the County Councils have been ignoring the problem for so long they would not even know where to start. Should they upgrade the road known to me or one of the hundreds of others in the County. While some N roads are still below standard they'll always legitimately complain that R roads are not a priority.

Perhaps the billions of euro in motor tax and fuel levies should be ringfenced for road improvement(will never happen).

cnocbui · 31-01-2022 1:11pm

The only meaningful way to make country roads safer would be to widen them. As that isn't likely affordable or practical, banning inappropriately large vehicles from them might be next best.

Hurrache · 31-01-2022 1:13pm

It's the L and small R roads that seem to be the topic of people's ire, not so much 'main' roads that join towns and villages. These roads are too narrow to widen, few have space to add footpaths to even one side. To widen them you'd be taken people's land which not only would be a financial cost, but more devastating would be the destruction of hedgerows and ditches.

The problem is people, and the never ending clamour to blame anything but themselves. The RSA and the Gardai are at fault for a lot of this, their de-facto nonsense is "wear high-viz", which has trickled down everywhere from media, schools and more dangerously, a lot of drivers.

magicbastarder · 31-01-2022 1:13pm

one road i'm regularly on which is carrying way too much heavy traffic is a road where two logistics/truck depots have been allowed open (one is a large fruit'n'veg distributor). they grew organically (boom boom) but their location is stupid. they're not waay out in the sticks - it's north county dublin - but ideally they should be in an industrial estate or somewhere similar.

31-01-2022 1:22pm

The road I'm familiar with had very few houses when I was growing up as a child and now has mcmansions all along the way.

I don't like them but based on planning their boundaries are set back from the road so there is room to widen the road surface without widening the roads. It has just never been done. Zero investment on provision of infrastructure inspite of development charges for new builds.

Where I am now there are no hedgerows facing out on to roads and roads are elevated with proper camber to allow drainage.

The roads at home are more like a hollow in which dirt and water collect.

Hedgerows elsewhere can be kept. They're not appropriate for boundaries facing out on to roads.

Hedgerows are over two metres wide and the hedgecutter on the back of the tractor struggles to reach them. Farmers would not lose productive land. habitat is lost but I am not arguing to remove other hedgerows on land boundaries.

Gile_na_gile · 31-01-2022 1:45pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118559093#Comment_118559093

Those McMansions and their more humble bungalow couisins are the cause of nearly all this greater rural traffic on lanes designed for horses and carts and bicycles. New builds should be in villages and towns only, or on serviced sites near settlements, with the exception of people who derive most of their income from the land (not hobby farmers, and farmer's children who are commuting away etc.). Farmers themselves are now objecting to one-offs after they get stuck on these roads due to parents driving their kids around (each of which will aspire to their own McMcMansion etc.).

Can't walk on country roads anymore

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