Overtaking then solid white line

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60watt

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Hi,

My son was driving on an 80 km stretch of road, the car in front was traveling very slow, so my son passed him on a section of road that has a single broken white line, he never went over the 80km limit, however when he was finished overtaking and returning to the left lane there was a single solid white line in the middle of the road. A Garda stopped him and gave him 3 points for overtaking on a solid white line. Does he have any case to argue?
 
I wouldn’t think so. Overtaking is supposed to be done quickly and safely. I’m not suggesting your son didn’t do this but there should be enough visibility ahead on the stretch of road to see when the broken lines end (or not). If the unbroken line is visible and the manoevre can’t be competed in line with the rules of the road the. It shouldn’t be completed.

This may seem unfair and in another situation it may have been overlooked by the garda.
 
I would have always thought that a broken white line means that you can overtake, subject to doing it safely.

Are you supposed to check that the white line is still broken for the next 200m or so it takes to overtake?

I would look ahead to see that I have clear visibility and that nothing is coming. It would not occur to me to check if the line becomes continuos.

Definitely worth checking.

9 Continuous white lines9. An authorised continuous white line along the centre of a roadway shall indicate that traffic must drive to the left of the line, and when on a stretch of roadway on which such a line has been provided a driver shall, save for the purpose of entering or leaving land or premises adjoining the right hand side of that roadway, drive to the left of the line.
10 Broken white lines on centre of roadway10. An authorised broken white line along the centre of a roadway shall indicate that traffic must keep to the left of that broken white line unless it can be crossed without danger to other traffic or pedestrians, and when on a stretch of roadway along the centre of which such a line has been provided, a driver shall, save when he can cross the line without danger to other traffic or pedestrians, drive to the left of the line.
 
Great to see that the Gardai are enforcing the law regarding crossing continuous white lines.

This is probably the most dangerous behaviour on the road, because of the risk of head-on collisions.

Everytime I drive I see numerous examples of this dangerous driving.

The amount of drivers who casually cut through bends across continuous white lines on our roads, because they are basically to lazy to steer through the bends, is appalling..
 
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S class said:
The amount of drivers who casually cut through bends across continuous white lines on our roads, because they are basically to lazy to stear through the bends, is appalling..
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I must look out for it. I have never noticed it.
 
I have never once seen a person do that last part in all my years of driving.

The OP’s son didn’t cross an unbroken white line ‘the wrong way’; he moved back ‘the right way’.

However, reading the rule above, it’s pretty clear that the offence was not driving to the left of an unbroken white line.
 
I think he was just unlucky that the garda was there . Ok he crossed the continuous white line at the end of the overtaking . He was just unlucky and the garda was doing his job to the letter of the law but could have let it go.
 
Hummmm, tricky one.

I have done the advanced driving test with the Institute of Irish Motorists years ago(15plus I think) and I would assume the logic the Garda is applying is that..... the driver didn't read the road far enough to know would he be breaking any rules one the manoeuvre was completed.

Seems in this instance when the move was completed it meant he was crossing the continuous white line. I for one wouldn't overtake a car if I could see the road markings changing ahead from broken to continuous.

What is very slow in this context out of interest? People could drive slow for a multitude of reasons, driver could have had engine light pop up on dash and trying to figure out their next move, we never know what is going on in the car in front.

So out of curiosity I would love to know what is defined as slow and how long did your son allow for the slowness, we all know that patience is severely lacking on the roads these days.
 
Once the continuous white line appeared, he should have slowed and got back into his lane without completing the overtaking, providing it was safe to do so. To be honest, he is lucky he has not been done for dangerous driving since the continuous white line is there for a reason.
 
thedaddyman said:
Once the continuous white line appeared, he should have slowed and got back into his lane without completing the overtaking,
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Interesting.

If they are the only two cars on the road, this would be possible.

But if a car is slow, there are likely to be other cars behind.

Brendan
 
Considering he didn't break the 80 km speed limit while passing then he was going slow enough. If a warning light popped up on a dashboard the obvious thing is to put on the hazard lights if driving slowly for that reason..
 
Brendan Burgess said:
Interesting.

If they are the only two cars on the road, this would be possible.

But if a car is slow, there are likely to be other cars behind.

Brendan
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Again that feeds into anticipation and reading the road, what will the result be if A- I complete the move or B it fails.

Expect the unexpected.....
 
joer said:
Considering he didn't break the 80 km speed limit while passing then he was going slow enough. If a warning light popped up on a dashboard the obvious thing is to put on the hazard lights if driving slowly for that reason..
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Agreed, but as I said I would like some more context in to what speed is defined as slow, and for long it persisted before the move.
The preceding 3/5 minutes is often left out of stories and it's usually the most important information.
 
The bottom line is , I think, just accept the points , as hard as it seems and put it down to it been a harsh and unfortunate lesson ..
 
And to be fair most tractors move over as much as possible to let people pass.
 

In many ways the Garda in question did the OP's son and other road users a big favour if he is more careful in future about how and when he overtakes - so far this year there has been 114 fatalities on Irish roads
 
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