It’s been crazy this year. The last few months have been very bad. I drove yesterday for the first time in a year and it was noticeable how shite that standard has gotten. From everyone. Motorists, cyclists, scooter cunts and pedestrians etc.
Do you all think the lack of Guards around the place has something to do with it? I know I am seeing a lot more speeding and crazy driving around where I live… but maybe I am improperly conflating the two things.
drink driving is also gone more commonplace again in rural areas right now, if there is no enforcement people will take the piss
Driving standards have definitely fallen. You’ll see 2-3 cars break the red light well after it’s changed on a consistent basis. I don’t think it was as bad 7 or 8 years ago. That’s just a small example, but maybe it reflects a bigger shift in how people drive. Not sure what has changed.
On the fatalities, I wonder if cars getting bigger has made a difference. Probably not in car on car collisions, but I have seen a bunch of sources saying SUVs and hybrid SUVs are much more likely to be fatal to pedestrians.
No less that three near misses on the school run this morning:
• came around a bend to a group of kids who all just decided to cross the road, don’t worry about crossing on a bend guys, I’m sure ye’ll be fine.
• driver over taking cyclist on the same bend (I was coming back at this stage), they had to swerve in, miracle the cyclist wasn’t ploughed out of it.
and my absolute favourite…….
• van drifting across onto other lane, because the driver is rolling a cigarette.
What the ACTUAL fuck is wrong with people?
Most will not want to admit it but social media and phones are killing attention spans.
And you can be certain that those causing the accidents or near misses are on phones.
Because if they were not, their full attention would be on the roads.
I was in a car recently that practically had a Tv sized monitor where a radio would be and you’d have to wonder are these things excessive.
Last weekend, I saw a couple with their kid in the car in front of me with no seatbelts on. Not even a local journey they were off on an N road somewhere. I was dumbstruck.
If I said to my friends that I had 5 pints and drove they would all rightly give me a bollocking.
If I told them I was going 150 in a 100 nobody would bat an eyelid. Same for If I was texting them while driving.
Speeding and using phones are having a serious detrimental impact on driving
Speeding is the killer to me along with phone use.
What happened in Clonmel and Cashel during the past week was awful but I’m sure that overly excessive speed was the primary cause of both accidents.
I’ve seen 2 young lads this summer spin off at the roundabout near my house, one went into the metal barrier and wrote his car off. Not just the boy racer dickheads, but older fellas in big SUVs thinking they’re James Bond. Very sad.
It’s the same with everything in the country. Wether it’s red lights or anti social behaviour, it’s simply a lack of presence of Guards, and therefore no enforcement. e.g The right turn onto Christy Ring Bridge was removed months ago in Cork. Yet, it’s simply ignored and people proceed as before. Again, no enforcement.
Government solution….NCT every 6 months.
I wonder if getting people to retake their driving test after a certain number of years would help?
After a few years with the license you have a free re test with the examiner and do the test. If you pass great off you go for another few years. If you fail then your license is suspended and you have to do 4/5 lessons again and then re sit the exam at your own cost before you can drive again.
Obviously you’d need a pile more testers and instructors.
The amount of bad habits, lazy and dangerous driving in my town alone is high. Then the traffic flow system has changed in the past few years and some people who would have sat their test years ago haven’t a clue how to use it correctly either.
The amount of people on phones i’ve come across on rural roads is mad. Had one woman on the phone who was coming towards me and turning into the lane i was heading down , use the pinky that was holding the phone pressed to her ear to salute me!
Why can’t we just do what the UK does and have speed cameras fixed on motorways and towns (i’ve come across these in Belgium). I’ve been caught speeding before , i was overtaking a tractor and trailer on a rural road and half way through the maneuover i spotted the speed van. I got caught paid the fine and I stick to the limit now.
What drives me mad is people flashing ahead to warn people about the speed van. Let the fuckers be caught.
Heading for 200 deaths, the last time that happened was 2010 albeit got close a few times since.
Millions of people driving, all taking just a little risk every time, be it too fast for conditions, or distracted, or driving out of habit rather than using active options. I’m guilty of it myself. There’s a tiny chance this risk will have a bad outcome, but multiplied by the millions of journeys every single day, and someone is killed or injured by these every few hours.
16 comments
It’s been crazy this year. The last few months have been very bad. I drove yesterday for the first time in a year and it was noticeable how shite that standard has gotten. From everyone. Motorists, cyclists, scooter cunts and pedestrians etc.
Do you all think the lack of Guards around the place has something to do with it? I know I am seeing a lot more speeding and crazy driving around where I live… but maybe I am improperly conflating the two things.
drink driving is also gone more commonplace again in rural areas right now, if there is no enforcement people will take the piss
Driving standards have definitely fallen. You’ll see 2-3 cars break the red light well after it’s changed on a consistent basis. I don’t think it was as bad 7 or 8 years ago. That’s just a small example, but maybe it reflects a bigger shift in how people drive. Not sure what has changed.
On the fatalities, I wonder if cars getting bigger has made a difference. Probably not in car on car collisions, but I have seen a bunch of sources saying SUVs and hybrid SUVs are much more likely to be fatal to pedestrians.
No less that three near misses on the school run this morning:
• came around a bend to a group of kids who all just decided to cross the road, don’t worry about crossing on a bend guys, I’m sure ye’ll be fine.
• driver over taking cyclist on the same bend (I was coming back at this stage), they had to swerve in, miracle the cyclist wasn’t ploughed out of it.
and my absolute favourite…….
• van drifting across onto other lane, because the driver is rolling a cigarette.
What the ACTUAL fuck is wrong with people?
Most will not want to admit it but social media and phones are killing attention spans.
And you can be certain that those causing the accidents or near misses are on phones.
Because if they were not, their full attention would be on the roads.
I was in a car recently that practically had a Tv sized monitor where a radio would be and you’d have to wonder are these things excessive.
Last weekend, I saw a couple with their kid in the car in front of me with no seatbelts on. Not even a local journey they were off on an N road somewhere. I was dumbstruck.
If I said to my friends that I had 5 pints and drove they would all rightly give me a bollocking.
If I told them I was going 150 in a 100 nobody would bat an eyelid. Same for If I was texting them while driving.
Speeding and using phones are having a serious detrimental impact on driving
Speeding is the killer to me along with phone use.
What happened in Clonmel and Cashel during the past week was awful but I’m sure that overly excessive speed was the primary cause of both accidents.
I’ve seen 2 young lads this summer spin off at the roundabout near my house, one went into the metal barrier and wrote his car off. Not just the boy racer dickheads, but older fellas in big SUVs thinking they’re James Bond. Very sad.
It’s the same with everything in the country. Wether it’s red lights or anti social behaviour, it’s simply a lack of presence of Guards, and therefore no enforcement. e.g The right turn onto Christy Ring Bridge was removed months ago in Cork. Yet, it’s simply ignored and people proceed as before. Again, no enforcement.
Government solution….NCT every 6 months.
I wonder if getting people to retake their driving test after a certain number of years would help?
After a few years with the license you have a free re test with the examiner and do the test. If you pass great off you go for another few years. If you fail then your license is suspended and you have to do 4/5 lessons again and then re sit the exam at your own cost before you can drive again.
Obviously you’d need a pile more testers and instructors.
The amount of bad habits, lazy and dangerous driving in my town alone is high. Then the traffic flow system has changed in the past few years and some people who would have sat their test years ago haven’t a clue how to use it correctly either.
The amount of people on phones i’ve come across on rural roads is mad. Had one woman on the phone who was coming towards me and turning into the lane i was heading down , use the pinky that was holding the phone pressed to her ear to salute me!
Why can’t we just do what the UK does and have speed cameras fixed on motorways and towns (i’ve come across these in Belgium). I’ve been caught speeding before , i was overtaking a tractor and trailer on a rural road and half way through the maneuover i spotted the speed van. I got caught paid the fine and I stick to the limit now.
What drives me mad is people flashing ahead to warn people about the speed van. Let the fuckers be caught.
Heading for 200 deaths, the last time that happened was 2010 albeit got close a few times since.
Millions of people driving, all taking just a little risk every time, be it too fast for conditions, or distracted, or driving out of habit rather than using active options. I’m guilty of it myself. There’s a tiny chance this risk will have a bad outcome, but multiplied by the millions of journeys every single day, and someone is killed or injured by these every few hours.