Middle lane drivers

R

rob30

Registered User
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Has anyone noticed how we seem to waste the 3 lane roads that we have around Dublin.

It is 14 years since my driving test but I still think overtaking on the inside is still illegal.

It makes my blood boil to see all the people driving in the middle and overtaking lane on the N7, leaving the outer lane a glorified hard shoulder.

I remember the ads years ago that educated people about yelow boxes. Does anyone have suggestions who i could badger about this? I have already annoyed the NRA about the road surfaces in Charleville and Buttevant, Cork, recently and want to leave them alone for a while.
 
Couldn't agree more. I did see ads recently on TV re how to use motorway lanes. This ad should be part of a determined effort to educate drivers in Ireland on the use of motorways.

D
 
rob30 said:
? have already annoyed the NRA about the road surfaces in Charleville and Buttevant, Cork, recently and want to leave them alone for a while.
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I live near buttevant. i drive a convertible and the ONLY time the roof rattles beyond belief is driving through the town!!! Horrendous road surfaces everywhere and we pay road tax!!!!

i like how you say you want to leave them alone "for a while".. kick ass
 
I thought that the middle lane was for people driving at the speed limit who are going straight ahead. The left hand lane for people about to take the next exit or for those coming onto the road and then the right hand lane for those overtaking.

The way you seem to be describing it is that the rightest hand lane is for those people overtaking the overtakers on the middle lane and the leftest lane for the bulk of the traffic slowing down at every exit and entrance.

I'm probably totally wrong and the Irish law probably is for the second scenario, but I belive the first scenario is the most efficient, safest and fastest overall use of three lane roadway.
 
Wrong, wrong, wrong Nicelives! This is exactly the problem. The second scenario is correct. For those leaving the motorway there are well flagged slip roads.

D
 
Damo said:
Wrong, wrong, wrong Nicelives! This is exactly the problem. The second scenario is correct. For those leaving the motorway there are well flagged slip roads.

D
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oops does anyone else know this? it really seems a wierd scenario where the middle alne is sitting at 100kmph and we should be on the left most lane, how fast does the department want people to speed on the national roads?
 
rob30 said:
It is 14 years since my driving test but I still think overtaking on the inside is still illegal.
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I'm with you and your frustrations, but I think that technically you're allowed overtake on the left on motorways in certain situations. Something like making "due progress" on the inside lane if that's not possible because the outside line is full of muppets.
 
I agree, according to the rules of the road you are allowed to overtake on the inside lane if the traffic in the outer lane is moving slower than you.

That is not to take away from all those drivers who overtake at 120-130 kph on the N7 both on the inside and outer lane, they are still breaking the law and deserve points and eventually to be put off the road.
The drivers on the middle lane, inner lane and outer lane who, annoyingly for others, are observing the speed limit are the ones observing the rules of the road.
 
The way a 3 lane motorway works (or for that matter any number of lanes) is as follows:

All drivers should drive in the left lane at all times unless overtaking, at which point they move to the next lane to the right overtake the vehicle and move back into the left lane. If they need to overtake traffic on this overtaking lane the move over to the 3rd lane and again move back once the manouvere is complete.

The bottom line is that you should not be in any lane other than the left lane unless you are overtaking or about to overtake traffic.

It is crazy the number of drivers which sit in the overtaking lane at and not making an effort to overtake the vehicles on the left. In fact there are often cases where there is nobody in the left lane and they still continue to travel in the right lane. This is totally irresponsible, not only are they holding up traffic but they are forcing vehicles to undertake on the left which not only is illegal but quite dangerous.
 
This has come up before here. In practice the idea that the leftmose lane on the 3 lane should be used all the time by evertyone is not practical. I'd imagine that all that lane-changing would be more dangerous.

It seems to me that what often happens in practive is that this innermost lane is used by those driving relatively slowly plus trucks etc. I don't have any problem with people driving along in the middle lane once they are at or around the speed limit. If you are getting frustrated in the middle lane with people driving at the speed limit, then you are driving too fast.
 
gearoidmm said:
This has come up before here. In practice the idea that the leftmose lane on the 3 lane should be used all the time by evertyone is not practical. I'd imagine that all that lane-changing would be more dangerous.
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It seems to work fine in the UK.
 
RainyDay said:
Just drive in the inside line - it's often completely clear!
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Spot on. We were on the N7 southbound last Sunday and by doing precisely the 100km speed limt, sailed by at least fifty cars trundling in the middle lane...
 
I always stick the speed limit on the N7, on it twice a day on average, I find the middle lane is where drivers do a comfortable and legal 100mph, we do overtake slower drivers on the left, and people entering and exiting the roadway at exits. I find that a lot of those who overtake on the outside lane are breaking the legal speed limit, and those who overtake on the left hand lane even more so. I generally meet these same drivers again at the traffic lights at Newlands so their progress is slightly imaginary.
The road signage is bizarre over the N7 if the British rule is operational in Ireland, For those progressing to Dublin they are told to be in either the middle or outer lane about five times after the point of leaving the M7 at the ball, every left hand lane sign has the next exit marked a few km before the exit but it does not specify that you can be in that lane if one is continuing to Dublin.
 
I have been on the N8 and stuck behind many cars doing 80KPH on the middle lane and the left lane being empty. forcing me to use the left lane to overtake them. The Guards have a responbility to police the roads and educate drivers as well and maybe should pull a few of these drivers over and explain the error they made.

As an aside, the dodgy road signage was mentioned: As you come to the end of the new M8 at Fermoy there is a sign that clearly states - Dublin/N8 use both lanes - I stayed on the inside lane, thinking I'd be oK, only to be lead up the exit sliproad for Fermoy! Did I miss something or is this just another example of ill though oput and dangerous signage (dangerous in that if were of a mind, you'd think you were about to head off the road and make a manoueve to get back to where you need to be!)
 

I'd love that to be the written law. Lawyers all over the country fighting over what constitutes a 'muppet'.

I'm convinced the N7 signage is the cause of the middle lane hoggers. If you were to take them at face value the inside lane is only for people wanting to exit the motorway at the next junction. The fact that people don't use common sense and apply the signage to the traffic conditions is testament to the general poor driving in this country.
 
Who do you go too to have a car modified for use by a Muppet?
I suppose there’s a special seat with a hole in it for the arm and a periscope for the puppeteer (or Muppeteer) to see where the road is and some system for the prone entertainer to manipulate the pedals.
Whatever modifications are made I still don’t see how it can be safe for a car to be driven in such a way and therefore am totally against cars being driven by Muppets.
 
Why do everyone call bad drivers muppets? it's another of those really annoying modern slang word's what happened to idiot, morán, ejit?
 
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