Right, this is not PC. Having travelled recently on the M1 and other Northern bound roads I was amazed by some of the driving by Northern registered motorists. Cruising along at around 120 KPH I was constantly left sitting by our Northern cousins roaring past. Now I have nothing against a bit of speed now and again, but bloody hell, these guys were absolutely lifting as they past, easily 150 KPH + .And it wan’t just one or 2 either, it was everyone.
Then on the ordinary N routes, I was repeatedly left sitting at 100 Kph by our Northern Cousins. Continous white lines, hatched markings, approaching corners and speed limits are seemingly minor inconvienences to these dudes (or dudettes !!). Later in heavy fog, at night, the only guys roaring past were again, our Northern Cousins. It was dangerous, as you couldn’t see 20 feet in front of you.
A bit of a Garda presence wouldn’t go amiss ; of course it doesn’t matter a jot to Mr Northern Man, as if he is stopped for speeding, he ignores the postal fine and nothing happens, unlike the rest of us who have to take the “hit”. Presumably it’s hard to serve a summons in Belfast !
It’s obvious that there has been little or no traffic enforcement in the North for the last 40 years as a result of the troubles, and thanks to our lax system, they come down here and basically drive in whatever manner they want. Listen lads, if you want to drive like a s#*#e driver, perhaps you do us a favour and do so in your own country and when you come to ours, behave yourselves.
24 Comments
Well said for someone so wrong.
Some northern drivers DO drive too fast/dangerously down here (particularly on the M1), and I’ve said it in interviews with northern newspapers and radio stations, but that certainly doesn’t mean that there’s been “little or no traffic enforcement in the North for the last 40 years as a result of the troubles” - I’m really not sure where you got that from. Let’s not go dragging the “troubles” into this, eh?
They do it because they can get away with it - because there’s no cross-border points system - so, essentially, the gardaà or the PSNI have to stop at, or close enough to, the border - and stay within their own jurisdiction. This is (apparently) due to change at some stage in the future with the introduction of such a cross-border points scheme, and the sooner it comes in, the better in my opinion.
It will also be beneficial to northerners as there are plenty of southern Irish drivers who drive like maniacs in the north because they think/know they’ll get away with it up there (based on feedback from one Belfast-based radio station).
Swings and roundabouts, eh?
Niall
Well maybe you’re right, however, having spent the best part of 40 years in border area’s, including frequent trips to the North on business during the “Troubles” let me tell you that it was rare that you saw Police enforcement of the Traffic Laws - it was simply too dangerous given the times that were in it. At least we had a token effort down south, where it was relatively safe to conduct checkpoints etc. This has changed in the North, but not at the pace that it’s occurring here. So I got my comments regarding traffic enforcement from Personal experience.
Secondly, did you know that if stopped by Police in the North and give an address for which they are unable to serve documents on you, then a power of arrest exists to them. (This includes traffic violations). Whether they exercise the power is another matter. Swings and Roundabouts - I think not.
Keep up the good work.
Poleman, I’m not sure what part of the the North you’re familiar with when you say:
“It’s obvious that there has been little or no traffic enforcement in the North for the last 40 years as a result of the troubles, and thanks to our lax system, they come down here and basically drive in whatever manner they want.”
There is a serious amount of PSNI out on the roads in the North and they do enforce the law, it may just be as Niall said they can get away with it when they are across the border, but you can’t say that bad driving stems from the lack of traffic enforcement?!?!?!?
Most of the small amount of “Bad drivers” up there are little boy racers! That’s it. I actually prefer driving up there to down here because the roads & the standards of driving are actually better in my opinion. As for the lack of enforcing the law I can assure you this is not true. I have lived up there & to be honest you are more likely to be picked up on a driving offence up there because of the higher police presence! They actually get out on the roads! They could teach our police force a lot.
Not the boy racers again!
Most of the bad drivers I see are country gombeens in ‘89 1.1 Fiestas towing a very large cattlebox with 3 bullocks in it on their way to the mart. This is not a stereotype, and if it is, it’s accurate because I spend my life behind these old b***tards holding up the county at 40 km/h. Boyracers don’t even feature in my top ten shoot to kill list:
1: As above
2: Nanas in MPV’s with short hair, prats in back and face like bulldog chewing a wasp, mostly parked across main road because, heaven forbid, little Johny should have to walk more than 10 feet!
3: ANY Hyundai, Chevrolet (You know, the fake Korean ones, not the proper ones), Suzuki, Rover or Proton. You know the ones. Sticker on bumper like “I’ve got good brakes, have you got good insurance?” because they’re getting non stop abuse from people who actually bought proper cars.
4: Trucks: on motorway usually going at 140 km/h, on backroad when they know you can’t pass 40 km/h.
5: Taxis: Magic Park Anywhere Lights anyone?
6: Securicor: We’re soooo bloody important we’ve got to block up the whole town for half an hour now. And you’re not going to argue with half a dozen armed soldiers now are you? Wonder what would happen if you ran up to the soldiers, waved your arms in the air like a madman and shouted AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! at them?
7: Bin Truck: Once seen going up Williams Street in Limerick, on the entire street there was only one spot where cars where parked on either side. They could have stopped anywhere, but had to stop in the only 10 meter zone where they could actually block the whole road.
8: Buses: can’t be arsed to pull into bus stop, let’s just park on the main road for half an hour because I’m sooooooooooooo bloody important
9: Mondeo Rep Man: Up your arse at 120 km/h on back road
10: 89 year old American tourists who never drove stick, on the left or left hand drive before.
Boyracers are about nr. 98 on that list.
Poleman,
You sound like you are speaking from personal experience about the speeding fines due to the bitter undertone in your posts here. Have you had to ‘take the hit’ while on occasion while us crazy northern drivers have got away with blue murder while driving down here.
Being from the north and living down in dublin i can tell you the PSNI are out on the roads in a major way for the last few years and can be bothered to actually do something as opposed to our ’southern cousins’. In short you are criticizing your own police force as they have not had the foresight to introduce legislature that gives them power to enforce fines on “us northies” which can hardly be our fault now can it?
I heard a report this morning on TodayFm, which stated that over half of all road accidents in the North (54%, if I remember correctly) are caused by boy racers i.e. young men in the 17-25 age bracket. From the report, speeding, lack of awareness and lack of experiance were the main reasons why the accidents occur.
funkyfresh
Boy racers are not an exclusively northern problem the south has its fair share as well, at least our boy racers are required to have a full license. Were in the world can you fail your driving test and drive home? answers on a postcard please.
If 54% of all accidents are caused by young male and presumably female drivers (not just boyracers, inexperience affecting all of us), who causes the rest? Doped up octogenarians? “careful” drivers (Mr and Mrs 45 km/h while balancing the tip of their nose on the steering wheel), speed and alcohol (you don’t need to be a teenager for that), people walking home from the pub drunk in black clothing and lying down in the middle of the road (Oh yes, this DOES happen) and of course the unfortunate driver who hit them gets blame, Mr “I’ll just pull out 20 meters in front of you while you’re doing 100 km/h” and of course those friendly helpful people who speed up and move into the middle of the road while you’re overtaking them, almost forcing you into the ditch.
It seems that inexperienced young drivers are a problem, but the ultimate problem is lack of education, ongoing training and enforcement.
Everyone who says “it’s dem boyracers, if we had only all dem banged up by the geeaaaaards, everything would be rosy”, I think you’re oversimplifying the problem.
I drive the M1 regularly and I am amazed at the number of drivers who do not appear to know they have side-lights/dipped head-lights/fog-lights; some are Northern, but most are local. I hate the way Northern drivers feel entitled to ignore bus lanes, but once again they are not alone … what particularly annoyed me about ‘Poleman’s’ original complaint was his suggestion that while thay could behave as they liked “in their own country”, they should behave “when they come to our’s”. How can a retard like that expect anyone to take hime seriously?
I’m just stating what I heard. A follow-up piece later on in the day came up with a few suggestions to help ‘beat the phenomenon’ of Young male drivers driving too fast. The suggestions included a automatic speed limiter for inexperianced drivers, and also banning young drivers to drive around at night with other young passengers.
Now, I’m not saying that these suggestions would work. What I am saying is that at least one authourity has recongised the problem of young driver’s skills, and is willing to tackle the problem.
Of course I realise that every country will have some kind of problem with inexperienced drivers. Saying ‘our boy racers are better than yours’ is a bit of a non-starter. With a full license or not, the fact is that young inexperienced drivers are a problem, and in one country at least something is being done to try and beat the problem. Getting a full driving license doesn’t mean that you suddenly gain insight and experience, and turn into a better driver instantly. In fact, I’m sure I remember my driving instructor saying that 80% of all new license holders have some kind of accident in their first year of driving. What was that caused by? Over confidence and inexperence, character trails that young boy racers have a overabundance of, unfortunatly
Yes, other road users are also a problem. And when the Government decides that octagarians, cyclists, white van men, taxis and all the other ones who get our goat are a danger to the road, and should be banned, then I’m sure we’ll all come onto the site and debate the matter then.
FunkyFresh
Banning anything isn’t the answer! God, what is it with the Irish and banning things?
Obviously young and inexperienced drivers are a problem, I used to be no different and had the usual prangs when I didn’t know any better. But at no point in my life was I a boyracer and would have taken great exception at being lumped in with hoodies donuting 14 year old bangers with spoilers stuck onto them in supermarket car parks. As I’m sure genuine modified car enthusiasts are.
But what’s the point ranting, everyone reads these comments and a tiny little 5 watt bulb goes on in their head that says “Oh yeah, dat’s roight, dem boyracers, if only we gets dem all banged up it’s gonna be grand!”
But saying the answer lies in training, education and enforcement is not as sexy as beating your chest and shouting “I’ll have ‘em all banged up and their goolies cut off!”. Loads of noise and no effect, sadly perfect for politicians, who build their careers on that very principle.
Therefore this is the way most problems are adressed in Ireland. Make loads of noise, beat your chest, make a few laws and then forget about it. Much cheaper than actually saying “Hold on, what’s actually the cause of this particular predicament” and then putting an actual plan into action that requires people to do something other than throwing a few token hooligans into jail.
Northern Drivers & Drivers from all other Countries…
Yes… they can be prosecuted for any minor traffic violation here. Their details can be taken, a fine issued. The driver in question then has two options open to him(1) ignore this there is no legal recourse open as it is not possible to serve summonses abroad or (2) pay the fine (ha ha). In both cases no penalty points. There is a rumour going about, about a duplicate licence record being created here and the penalty points being amassed on this and the person then being disqualified here when they hit the magic 12 points. As I said a rumour I heard anyone know anything about this?
Under Road Transport legislation there is a power of arrest open to the Guards in this country where a driver who is unable to give and address within the state where summonses for Road Transport Offences he may be arrested. Again charge them and they get bail and head home.
For very serious offences the person can be arrested and held in custody for a time.
If you use the M1 regularly you may notice it’s not the boy racers who are doing most of the flaking up and down it’s the big company cars driven by the people in the know. Boy Racers are an easy target for the Government, the Guards and the Media to hit and blame for everything that is wrong with drivers here.
I’ll rant about driver error later
Thank you Shane!
well i notice the tone changed from northern drivers to boy racers. but on the orginal topic i would like to say that here in dundalk there are ALOT of nortern reg cars driving around.
many of them are driven by locals who know that they wont be touched by the gardi for driving offences and the gardi will not do anything about the unregistered (in this state) car.
they are not just boy racers they are all ages.
coalie,
The issue of unregistered cars being driven is a matter for Customs and Excise. Remember them when they were active on the border?
The Guards do have a power to deal with them as well.
If the Guards spend their time doing the job that others are paid to do, where should they stop, T.V. licencing, planning permission applications and road construction ?
If they spend all their time doing others work (as full time nannies), who will you get to deal with all the other stuff that ONLY THE GUARDS are empowered to deal with ? When your car is hit by Shite Driver, are you going to call a Customs Officer or a Social Worker to deal with the offender ?
It appears that the more problems relating to drivers and driving are highlighted here, solutions that are available ARE IGNORED.
Is it really true that Guards are the ONLY persons in Ireland who can encourage persons to drive safely ?
WE all decide what sort of a society we choose to live in. If we all are not an ACTIVE part of the solution, then there is a strong possibility that we are the problem or are part of the problem.
It is looking like WE ARE ALL DOOMED !
Poleman i have to agree with you. I often drive on the new part of the road between Dundalk and Newry. Just this Saturday as i was driving in the fast lane trying to overtake someone a woman (on the phone) in one of those fancy black what i call space buses that fits 7 kids in the back actually under took me and i had to slam on the brakes to avoid hitting her when she cut me up. I obviously was not going fast enough for her in my wee southern reg ford fiesta. there is no excuse for speeding at anytime and for all the spots on that stretch of road for the gardi/psni to wait at (not sure what the techinical name for them is but you know the bits i mean) i have never once seen a car waiting to catch anyone there.
I hate to brust your bubble lads but i have notice a lot of northern reg cars on the road BUT it is NOT northern people driving them. Out of every 10 cars with northern reg that i meet driving on the road at least 5 to 6 are drivers from down here.
As a driver who used to live in Dundalk can I say that we were plagued by Northern Ba*****s driving like pratts. They thought that the rules of the road did not apply to them. County Louth had one of the largest body counts from bad driving and so our insurance rates were put up but when an analysis was done of the accidents most were found to have been caused by Northern drivers in high power cars with little or no driving talent. How many County Louth families have lost loved ones because of little arrogant Northern F**%ers.
not to change the subject or anything, but if your domain is actually shitedrivers.com, and the image at the top of the blog is shitedrivers.com in big shiny letters, how come you feel obliged to encrypt the word 'shite' behind #s and *s?
4wheel,
I'm a northern b*****d. I live on the Derry-Donegal border, in fact 2 yards from the border on the Derry side. My parents live a few miles inside the border. Don't sound like such an ignorant F***r. Its speed and inconsiderate driving that kills, not Northern drivers or Southern drivers.
Perhaps your apparent anger at others on the road should be expressed to your local TD. Its more a need to look inward at our own driving ability and start there. I start work at 7 am and work to five. I leave for work 20 minutes before I am due to start to allow for traffic so I don't have to speed, my journey time is 5 minutes. So I can have a cup of tea before I start. Planning has a lot to do with a journey long or short. Now I cannot comment on the driver who drives at 50 kmh in zone where he can do 100 kmh. I get overtaken on a regular basis, cos I drive at the speed limit. Not over, rarely under, I drive to the conditions. Garda and PSNI are stretched at the best of times by more serious crime. It is good to see the expansion of the Garda Traffic branch. Hopefully they can help to tackle bad driving from all road users. If you feel the need to voice an opinion then make it a pointed one in the right direction. The dab drivers you refer to will hardly read this blog.
Drive safely.
Shane,Re.licence rumour,there is a scam going and you dont even have to be a foreigner.Im not going to detail it here,dont want to give anyone ideas,lets just say like all good ideas,its delightfully simple.Also Rosemary is right,almost.I'd say 99% of northern and english cars on the road are driven by locals.This is just my experience,but working in the motor trade I see lots of cars.
4wheel,
Perhaps you should start looking at the bigger picture here. I don't think it matters a jot where your from. If your a knuckle head, then your a knuckle head. Speed kills…final. It doesn't mean that you can all northern drivers b####ds. Its a bit unfair. I know and have seen it in action.
Have you ever driven over the limit, even once. Then your guilty too. I suggest you go see your local TD and ask that the matter be raised at the next Dail session. More money for Garda Traffic branch please. Then with the resources on the roads ALL knuckle heads can be stopped.