Dear Editor,
I write in response to a letter submitted by Mags of Oranmore as published on 14 May. In this letter Mags denounced the behaviour of some other road users toward her as she travelled in the right-hand lane of a dual carriageway on the outskirts of the city.

'Rude and boorish' is the driver who, in Mags' words, 'drives right up behind me, tailgates and proceeds to flash their lights and on occasion point to the left lane', signalling for her to move over. 'Then of course, when I don't, they inevitably go into the inside lane to get by me'.

'Rude and boorish' is in my opinion a fair description of such behaviour. However, I would like to point out to Mags that by driving in the right-hand lane of a dual carriageway in the manner she describes, no matter what her speed, she is in clear breach of the rules of the road and unnecessarily creating a hazard for other motorists.

As is clearly stated on page 105 of the Road Safety Authority's 'Rules of the Road' booklet: 'You MUST normally drive in the left-hand lane of a dual carriageway. You may use the outer lane of a two-lane or three-lane carriageway only for overtaking, or when intending to turn right a short distance ahead.' To my mind a 'short distance ahead' in this context would be no more than 200 to 300 meters.

That Mags is sticking to the speed limit does not in any way exempt her from obeying the rules of safe driving. Stubbornly remaining in the overtaking lane on a long stretch of dual carriageway directly leads to the kind of reckless left-hand side overtaking attempts that Mags describes.

Mags herself states that tailgating and dangerous overtaking are, for her, a weekly occurrence. This presents a dangerous scenario to Mags and to all other road users in the vicinity. Mags' driving may also force emergency response vehicles to slow down while she gets out of their way. It is for these simple reasons that the rule exists, and I would hope that to any experienced driver it represents no more than basic common sense.

While I deplore offensive and dangerous tailgating and overtaking behaviour as described by Mags, I accept the obvious reality that there will always be such people on our roads. It is highly irresponsible of Mags to repeatedly and intentionally place herself and other road users in further peril by creating what is, in effect, a rolling roadblock for speeding vehicles. It is not at all far-fetched to say that through her obstinate refusal to allow others to overtake her safely, Mags may one day indirectly cause the injury or death of others on the road.

Better, Mags, to pay greater attention to obeying the rules of the road yourself, leave the overtaking lane clear for those who are actually overtaking, and leave the enforcement of national speed limits to the Gardai.

Yours sincerely,
Rory of Rahoon

Comments (1) »

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written by Sarah, May 28, 2008

Give that man a medal

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