ShiteDrivers.com – Bad driving on Irish roads exposed!

First off I want to acknowledge the fact that driving in this country sometimes stinks to high heaven and I often ignore my own advice and break every single guideline laid out here.

This is simply an instrument for coping with the pressure out there.

I watched some programs on road rage and I don’t agree with them on the basis that their message always is “No, everything is fine on the road, YOU have the problem, YOU are the nutcase and YOU need to change”

One just needs to glance over this website to see that is not so. There is an awful lot of shite behaviour out there, it’s just a matter from detaching yourself from it.

It’s an old chestnut, but leaving yourself plenty of time is paramount. I recently spent two hours driving like a man possessed to make a flight (by the skin of my teeth) and by the time I got there I was beyond freaked out.

Prepare for the day ahead the evening before, you get so much better rest when you know you can just get up and go the next morning.

Have some breakfast, it works wonders and in Ireland you never know when you’re going to find some food, since rest stations are non existent and the food offered in petrol stations is mostly lousy and expensive.

Once you’re on the road, work on your karma. (no really, it works)

I used to view other road users simply in terms of what they where going to do to me next, i.e. that truck will pull out and hold me up, that guy doing 30 km/h won’t let me pass, I’ll never get past that yummy mummy in her MPV, that prick in the fast lane doing 80 won’t pull over, etc…

If you say to yourself “I just know it’s going to be awful” it will be.

Just say to yourself “nice day for a drive” and turn the radio on. I personally don’t like to listen to heavily topical shows (Last Word, etc…), too depressing.

Don’t bother too much with the day that lies ahead, just concentrate on the here and now.

Your primary task is getting through the day in one piece.

The amazing thing is that it works.

Traffic seems less heavy, holdups not as long, I let other people out, they in turn are nicer to me and the next person. All that has a knock on effect. The more stress, rage and anger we bring on the road, the more it will be fed back to us via other roadusers.

The opposite is just as true. If you let someone out, they will do the same to the next guy, same for him, it’s like a chain reaction that spreads some much needed goodwill around.

Of course there will be people (arseholes) out there who will behave in any of the ways described on this website. Don’t let them get you. If they get you, you will be more stressed and in less likely to be in a mood to be nice to other people on the road and there’s that negative loop again.

I was driving out of Ennis on a long (too long) 50 km/h zone and the guy in front of me did exactly 43.5 km/h to annoy me. As he approached his exit he moved further right so I couldn’t pass him and slowed down further to hold me up for as long as anyhow possible. This was annoying, but I don’t give in to it now. Once you change your attitude, you will be amazed what a difference it makes. If I even notice it, I will most likely laugh at it.

Let others do what they want, but I thought about the possibility of getting into a stupid incident and running over some innocent bystander.

I simply cannot afford to take that risk.

Don’t worry, I haven’t turned into a wimp, I’m still basically a white van man, I drive fast (within the limits of course), but now I don’t get annoyed at the stupidity of others. It’s not up to me to stop them and give them a ticket, but I still will snap them and plaster them all over shite drivers. And that’s good enough for them. The most underrated slogan is Arrive Alive!