Mad drivers.

Came up the lights at the Kinsale Road roundabout in Cork yest and the lights turned Amber (about 15 yards ahead of me). I breaked and came to a stop and Man in the White Van behind me blows the horn! I look in the rear-view mirror and he's throwing his arms up & down, effing & blinding at me. "Sorry for not breaking the law for you dude"
 
liaconn said:
I think a car speeding up behind you and breaking at the last minute is of a high enough degree of danger to warrant flashing of hazard lights to warn him to back off.
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Not so, they should only be used in case of accident or emergency. Using hazard lights in the circumstances above is misleading to other traffic, and so potentially dangerous. It also won't achieve anything, the idiot behind already knows you're there.... Flashing hazard lights isn't going to make them see the light of day.

Also from smaple theory test questions, if another driver upsets you, you should try not to react.
 
Probably the same white van that went in to rage on the Kinsale roundabout because I followed the dotted line markings to change lane.
 
Leo said:
Not so, they should only be used in case of accident or emergency.
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If someone is dangerously driving up your behind it is an emergency! You use the hazards to say "TOO NEAR BACK OFF!!!". It usually does the trick without upsetting anyone.
 

I was walking to work last week and was waiting to cross a road at lights. Three cars continued through the traffic lights after they had turned red, at that stage the green man had even come up. The fourth car then stopped suddenly, having decided he was pushing it....screech...bang...fifth car into the back of the fourth car!

So, considering the chancers out there, you're lucky you only got beeped!
 

Thank you Kaiser, You've made my day already . . . most Irish drivers know every driving rule in the book, crash every traffic light, could not care a whit about anybody else and lack simple courtesy. Long may they continue swapping paint . . .

Sooner or later they will all learn that driving is not just about breaking the land speed record between red traffic lights.
 

That means the fifth car thought he'd get through too - Merry Christmas to the pair of them
 
The pedestrian lights just outside Oatlands College on the Stillorgan are the worst for the red light crashers. The cars drive down from Mount Merrion and straight through them. I think it is more a case of the drivers not noticing them because the next set of lights are very close and these are usually green when the pedestrian lights are red.
I have noticed as well the side doors of cars being dented/scraped by thoughtless drivers who park their cars in shopping centres.
 

Its got to the stage now, where when crossing the road i don't rely on the green man at all. I just assume that the next car is going to crash the redlight.
 
truthseeker said:
If someone is dangerously driving up your behind it is an emergency! You use the hazards to say "TOO NEAR BACK OFF!!!". It usually does the trick without upsetting anyone.
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It's dangerous driving, not an emergency under any definition of the term, let alone road traffic legislation.
 
truthseeker said:
If someone is dangerously driving up your behind it is an emergency! You use the hazards to say "TOO NEAR BACK OFF!!!". It usually does the trick without upsetting anyone.
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I have a problem with the use of hazard lights in this non standard way.

In a moving situation there are four blinking hazard lights.

What message is on coming traffic getting?

In a situation like this one or other of the hazards may be temporarily obscured. - The flashing hazard now looks like an indicator light. What are other road users to make of that signal?

Some one here suggested tapping the breaks resulting in the break lights flashing. This would have the same effect as above and would be fully compliant with the rules of the road.

Out of interest what do the ROTR have to say about the use of hazard lights in a moving situation?
 
ajapale said:
I have a problem with the use of hazard lights in this non standard way......What message is on coming traffic getting?
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Perhaps you could provide a link to standard use of hazard lights?

Given that the OP described a lane on the M50, I sincerely hope there was no oncoming traffic.

ajapale said:
Some one here suggested tapping the breaks resulting in the break lights flashing. This would have the same effect as above and would be fully compliant with the rules of the road.
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I wouldnt advise tapping brakes while on the M50 in traffic!
 
ajapale said:
Out of interest what do the ROTR have to say about the use of hazard lights in a moving situation?
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I got the line that they 'should only be used in case of accident or emergency' from the ROTR. That was the only reference to their use.
 
I agree, appalling use of hazard lights. Two wrongs never made a right.
 
I agree it's not ideal. But what are the choices? Allow someone to drive dangerously close to you knowing that if you have to stop suddenly they are going to crash into you? Press on the brake suddenly when someone is already practically up your a*se? Seriously, what are the alternatives?
 

In that situation I would either move over to a lane on the left if I were sitting in the middle or rightmost lane without reason. If I were in the leftmost lane I would take my foot off the accelerator, reducing speed and let the driver behind overtake.

Hazard warning lights are not appropriate in that situation.
 

I know it's not easy, it's something that really annoys me too, but the best thing to do is to ignore them, and keep your focus on what's ahead of you. If you hit another car because you are distracted by a lunatic behind, you are 100% responsible.
 
It is impossible to ignore a driver that's right on your tail. You have to be extra alert to them as any sudden stop on your part could cause them to crash into you. This means you have less attention to pay to other things going on. That is far more dangerous than a quick flash of the hazard lights to warn someone to back off (and people usually get the message).

Like I said, not ideal, but I will continue to do it, particularly when I have my young nephews and nieces in the back of the car. There is just no suitable alternative. Obviously if there's a place to move aside and let the idiot pass me out, that's fine. But if you're in the lane of the motorway you need to be in to make your exit, that's not an option.
 
It's never the wrong time to do the right thing per Willie O'Dea. And hope somebody else learns by your example.
 

It's not impossible, I do it regularly, and I'm not going to pretend I have some specialy ability or skill in being able to do so. I don't see how paying attention to someone behind you can do anything other than make you less aware of what's happening in front of you, and therefore more likely to crash into something else. It doesn't matter how alert you are to someone behind you, your stopping distance remains the same. If you focus on what's in front, you are far less likely to need to brake suddenly.
 
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