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Drive to Survive in Ireland
Britons driving in Ireland need to be aware of Irish driving habits if they are to survive. The standard of driving in Ireland is appalling to anyone used to driving on crowded British roads. Many Irish drivers have never taken a driving test. It used to be optional and there was an amnesty 20 years ago so that anyone who had had a provisional licence for five years was excused the need to take a test to get a full licence. Learner drivers can drive unaccompanied if it is their second, fourth or sixth provisional licence. This law is supposed to be changing this year, 2008. The effect of this law is that all learner drivers drive on their own from the day they get their provisional licence! The basic rule of survival in Ireland is to expect the unexpected. Roundabouts cause major problems in all Irish cities, so much that they all have names so that the radio presenters can tell listeners exactly which roundabout is blocked this evening. Expect drivers to go all round a roundabout in the outside lane, causing chaos as they cut across everyone who is in the correct lane. Expect drivers to cut in on you at any moment, usually without indicating. Expect aggression. Give way at all times. Whoever is coming at you and wants to hit your vehicle, just stop and let them go by. Getting angry just raises your own blood pressure. Traffic lights have a different sequence to British lights. There is no Red AND Amber together. Irish traffic lights just go directly from Red to Green. That is the only difference in theory. Stopping at Amber, (on the way to Red) will cause total chaos and rear end shunts in some cities, Cork for example. In Cork everyone drives through Amber and even Red lights if they have been red less than three seconds. Expect drivers to come through on Red and always check, even if you have a Green light. Expect drivers to take up to four seconds to start moving away when a Green light shows. Indicators are only for foreigners, like English drivers. Many Irish drivers rarely use indicators to show a change of lane or direction. Beware though, just because a driver is signalling Left does not mean he or she will not be turning Right. Handbrakes are only for driving tests. Everyone stands on their brake at traffic lights, dazzling the driver behind. This may be why they are so slow at getting away from traffic lights. Overtaking is another danger area. Just because you are doing the speed limit or faster in the right hand lane does not mean that some other driver will not overtake you on the inside and cut you up. Overtaking on the left is illegal, but that stops nobody. Changing lanes is next to impossible, because Irish drivers NEVER give way. If you are in the wrong lane for where you want to be that is your problem, not theirs. Irish drivers turning Right will get in the Right Hand lane two miles ahead of the junction and will stay there. Expect problems when changing lanes. Plan your lane change much earlier than you would on British roads, indicate and STILL expect some fool to accelerate to stop you getting in front of them. Night driving presents more problems. All of the above apply, but most roads, even trunk roads and motorways have no lighting and no cats' eye reflectors. Many drivers have their headlights as high as possible to see further ahead, blinding oncoming drivers. The use of fog lights when it is not foggy is widespread, again making things very difficult for other drivers. Every other driver drives with a mobile phone in one hand, veering left and right and slowing down as the conversation runs. Driving while using a phone can get you penalty points in Ireland, but expect Irish drivers to do it anyway. Speed limits are in Kilometres per hour. 50 Km/H is 31 MPH, used in towns. 60 Km/H is 37MPH, used as you approach towns and on some villages on trunk roads. 80Km/H is 50 MPH, applies on all R roads, unless a lower limit is set. 100Km/H is 62 MPH, applies on all N roads unless a lower limit is set. 120 Km/H is 74 MPH, applies only on M roads, unless a lower limit is set. Speed limits are enforced by the Gardai. They use unmarked and marked vehicles to pull you over for speeding. Static speed traps are very common. Gardai will hide behind pillars, behind lorries and under bushes with speed cameras and leap out once they have caught you speeding on camera. Favourite spots are just around bends in 60Km/H speed limit zones.
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