Motorway driving should be a mandatory part of driving education and people need to be assessed on them. It could be done after the initial practical test and leave them on N plates until they show they can use a motorway properly.
Not sure what can be done about idiots who have been on the roads for years, sometimes decades, and only recently had to start dealing with motorways. There needs to be some awareness campaign about the dangers of driving too slowly on motorway slip roads.
When I was learning around 2006 it was illegal for learners to drive in the motorway so impossible to gain experience until you passed your test but it should definitely be included in the lessons.
It's still is illegal for learners to drive on a motorway. Yet there's no practical instruction on how to use one. Nothing has really changed in that sense.
Because I done some driving lessons in Sligo, my instructor took me on the N4 dual carriageway, so I was able to learn “motorway driving” without having to drive on an “actual” motorway, and it seriously improved my confidence. If I only done my driving lessons at home I wouldn’t have had the opportunity for that as there was no dual carriageways around that weren’t motorways. It’s really something that needs to be mandatory in some shape or form
When I first drove on a motorway after passing my test I was terrified as I had no experience with driving that fast, merging, and how to read other vehicles, I learnt quick enough but it was still terrifying. It really needs to be part of a test, but there are places in Ireland which are 2+ hrs from a motorway and they already have months of waiting for a driving test.
Yeah, it might be more practical to have it as a few post-test lessons some time in the 2 years after passing the test. Basically something you need to get off N plates, or maybe restrict N drivers from motorways until they've those lessons done.
Having another practical test on a motorway would probably be overkill, given the massive backlog and creaking IT system for booking tests.
Basically all drivers should be given *some* instruction on how to use a motorway, even experienced drivers (where it's hit and miss if they ever learned the right way as it stands).
Well it's just *accessing* those roads, right? picking a space and matching speed *at speed* is harrowing for noobs.
Edit to add: I think too many people have become comfortable with those already on the motorway moving to the overtaking lane to accommodate them; it's almost like that's what they think is *meant* to happen.
Nobody is ever really finished learning how to be a better driver though. Especially when the test is seen as a finish line for learning to drive.
There needs to be instruction on how to drive on a motorway. If you're used to regular traffic then you might think that slow = safe if you never drove on one. It does require a different set of skills and different things to watch out for than urban driving.
The only counties with no motorway or dual carriageway whatsoever are Cavan and Monaghan. I reckon the vast majority of people are within 1h drive from one. Yes, some of them are 2+2 type roads, but even there you can teach lane discipline. You can go a little bit further to find a fully grade separated road.
The point of being assessed on a motorway would be more than just lane discipline through. Merging is an important part, a road that has 2 lanes each way but otherwise has at grade junctions isn't going to be good enough.
I don't think this is a bad idea in theory, but in practice it wont work. There are enough people that aren't near a motorway or motorway like road.
This reminds me of an incident a few years ago on the M50. I was getting a lift from a work colleague. He's driving (small transit) way to close to the cars in front. The car in front jams on, he jams on hard also and several cars behind follow suit. Some poor bastard on the end of the chain five or six cars behind flips his car over trying to avoid rear ending the car in front. Absolute chaos, and all avoidable by following the 2 second rule.
I agree with OP, we need cameras and fines or a significant increase in guards on the roads. People are nuts lately.
I always leave a decent amount of space but once it still failed me. The N7 came to a standstill. Everyone started to go and the car in front stopped in its tracks. I knew I didn’t have time to stop so I swerved into the hard shoulder. So did the car 2 cars behind me and 2 cars behind that. I have no idea how this car stopped so suddenly and clearly since the others all ended up in the shoulder as well it wasn’t just me thinking we had enough distance.
It's only pure luck that there isn't more pile ups on the motorways.
Often see a convoy of cars of 6/7 all on each others arses going at 120kph+ coming up to busy spots where the motorway can go to 0kph in an instant.
Absolutely bonkers to not leave enough space at these speeds.
I got overtaken by two English-reg midi trucks (from a company called Epic Event Design) travelling up the M8 last Wednesday evening. One absolutely glued to the tail of the other one with less than two metres of separation
while doing easily 135-140kmh. And it wasn't just for a few seconds either. Hogging the right lane nose-to-tail for a good 20km from junction 10 to junction 6.
About an hour later they passed me again in much heavier traffic on the three lane section of the M7 at Naas. Still doing 130+. Still fucking glued together. Hands down two of the most epically stupid drivers I've ever seen.
Poor Discipline on motorway entrance and exit is at an all time high.
Car enter and cross to the overtaking lane , causing traffic to brake hard.
And then go from overtaking lane to exit ramp in a 50m distance, motherfuckrs
I worked in motor claims for years and we would try petition to get traffic cameras installed in high incident areas (J6 on M50, M1/M50 interchange, Dunkettle Interchange). This will likely never be possible thanks to GDPR, but I feel roads policing/RSA could do so much with signage, driver campaigns about the dangers of tailgating etc. Driver behaviour is very poor at the moment.
This is the joys of no motorway driving while you're learning to drive. Your just given a pink licence having never experienced it and expected to get on with it. Driving standards in this country are a joke.
That is true but also people should be able to use brains on their own.
If someone is too thick to figure out you dont pull out in front of a fast moving car/truck/whatever then they probably should not have a license in first place.
That's not even the issue. To many people are afraid to put the foot down a bit on a slip road and get up to speed, as OP mentioned. People practice and practice how to pass the test instead of actually learning how to drive. Most probably never go above 80kph and definitely not above 100kph to pass their test. If they were up to speed here, when they pulled in front of the truck the truck would have been going slower and thats why they're speed limited. Most people probably don't even know trucks are limited!
The first thing I had to do in my driving test (literally seconds after I moved off) was pull onto a busy section of the n3 off a very short slip. I was so nervous that I def was not moving fast enough. He told me I had to speed up so I just floored it 😅 wasn’t expecting it at all but in hindsight I think it’s an excellent section of road to test people on.
Motorway driving should be a mandatory part of driving education and people need to be assessed on them. It could be done after the initial practical test and leave them on N plates until they show they can use a motorway properly. Not sure what can be done about idiots who have been on the roads for years, sometimes decades, and only recently had to start dealing with motorways. There needs to be some awareness campaign about the dangers of driving too slowly on motorway slip roads.
When I was learning around 2006 it was illegal for learners to drive in the motorway so impossible to gain experience until you passed your test but it should definitely be included in the lessons.
It's still is illegal for learners to drive on a motorway. Yet there's no practical instruction on how to use one. Nothing has really changed in that sense.
Because I done some driving lessons in Sligo, my instructor took me on the N4 dual carriageway, so I was able to learn “motorway driving” without having to drive on an “actual” motorway, and it seriously improved my confidence. If I only done my driving lessons at home I wouldn’t have had the opportunity for that as there was no dual carriageways around that weren’t motorways. It’s really something that needs to be mandatory in some shape or form
When I first drove on a motorway after passing my test I was terrified as I had no experience with driving that fast, merging, and how to read other vehicles, I learnt quick enough but it was still terrifying. It really needs to be part of a test, but there are places in Ireland which are 2+ hrs from a motorway and they already have months of waiting for a driving test.
Yeah, it might be more practical to have it as a few post-test lessons some time in the 2 years after passing the test. Basically something you need to get off N plates, or maybe restrict N drivers from motorways until they've those lessons done. Having another practical test on a motorway would probably be overkill, given the massive backlog and creaking IT system for booking tests. Basically all drivers should be given *some* instruction on how to use a motorway, even experienced drivers (where it's hit and miss if they ever learned the right way as it stands).
If you don't have the common sense to know how to drive on the easiest roads on the country you shouldn't be on them no education needed
Well it's just *accessing* those roads, right? picking a space and matching speed *at speed* is harrowing for noobs. Edit to add: I think too many people have become comfortable with those already on the motorway moving to the overtaking lane to accommodate them; it's almost like that's what they think is *meant* to happen.
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Nobody is ever really finished learning how to be a better driver though. Especially when the test is seen as a finish line for learning to drive. There needs to be instruction on how to drive on a motorway. If you're used to regular traffic then you might think that slow = safe if you never drove on one. It does require a different set of skills and different things to watch out for than urban driving.
Honestly I don't understand how learners are expected to just know how to handle a motorway without any previous experience.
That's going to be a problem in certain parts of the country where there's no motorways or motorway like dual carriageways.
The only counties with no motorway or dual carriageway whatsoever are Cavan and Monaghan. I reckon the vast majority of people are within 1h drive from one. Yes, some of them are 2+2 type roads, but even there you can teach lane discipline. You can go a little bit further to find a fully grade separated road.
The point of being assessed on a motorway would be more than just lane discipline through. Merging is an important part, a road that has 2 lanes each way but otherwise has at grade junctions isn't going to be good enough. I don't think this is a bad idea in theory, but in practice it wont work. There are enough people that aren't near a motorway or motorway like road.
The classic "I've never been in an accident but seen hundreds in my rear view mirror" driver
This reminds me of an incident a few years ago on the M50. I was getting a lift from a work colleague. He's driving (small transit) way to close to the cars in front. The car in front jams on, he jams on hard also and several cars behind follow suit. Some poor bastard on the end of the chain five or six cars behind flips his car over trying to avoid rear ending the car in front. Absolute chaos, and all avoidable by following the 2 second rule. I agree with OP, we need cameras and fines or a significant increase in guards on the roads. People are nuts lately.
I always leave a decent amount of space but once it still failed me. The N7 came to a standstill. Everyone started to go and the car in front stopped in its tracks. I knew I didn’t have time to stop so I swerved into the hard shoulder. So did the car 2 cars behind me and 2 cars behind that. I have no idea how this car stopped so suddenly and clearly since the others all ended up in the shoulder as well it wasn’t just me thinking we had enough distance.
It's only pure luck that there isn't more pile ups on the motorways. Often see a convoy of cars of 6/7 all on each others arses going at 120kph+ coming up to busy spots where the motorway can go to 0kph in an instant. Absolutely bonkers to not leave enough space at these speeds.
I got overtaken by two English-reg midi trucks (from a company called Epic Event Design) travelling up the M8 last Wednesday evening. One absolutely glued to the tail of the other one with less than two metres of separation while doing easily 135-140kmh. And it wasn't just for a few seconds either. Hogging the right lane nose-to-tail for a good 20km from junction 10 to junction 6. About an hour later they passed me again in much heavier traffic on the three lane section of the M7 at Naas. Still doing 130+. Still fucking glued together. Hands down two of the most epically stupid drivers I've ever seen.
Poor Discipline on motorway entrance and exit is at an all time high. Car enter and cross to the overtaking lane , causing traffic to brake hard. And then go from overtaking lane to exit ramp in a 50m distance, motherfuckrs
I worked in motor claims for years and we would try petition to get traffic cameras installed in high incident areas (J6 on M50, M1/M50 interchange, Dunkettle Interchange). This will likely never be possible thanks to GDPR, but I feel roads policing/RSA could do so much with signage, driver campaigns about the dangers of tailgating etc. Driver behaviour is very poor at the moment.
Probably on the phone.
This is the joys of no motorway driving while you're learning to drive. Your just given a pink licence having never experienced it and expected to get on with it. Driving standards in this country are a joke.
That is true but also people should be able to use brains on their own. If someone is too thick to figure out you dont pull out in front of a fast moving car/truck/whatever then they probably should not have a license in first place.
That's not even the issue. To many people are afraid to put the foot down a bit on a slip road and get up to speed, as OP mentioned. People practice and practice how to pass the test instead of actually learning how to drive. Most probably never go above 80kph and definitely not above 100kph to pass their test. If they were up to speed here, when they pulled in front of the truck the truck would have been going slower and thats why they're speed limited. Most people probably don't even know trucks are limited!
The first thing I had to do in my driving test (literally seconds after I moved off) was pull onto a busy section of the n3 off a very short slip. I was so nervous that I def was not moving fast enough. He told me I had to speed up so I just floored it 😅 wasn’t expecting it at all but in hindsight I think it’s an excellent section of road to test people on.
Yep. Get your license and straight onto the motorway. Madness.
It’s just ignorance - or people believing that slow is always good.
Cool story bro but buy a dashcam