Driving on Irish roads, the "hard shoulder"

In Kerry and Cork roads have yellow dashes at edge of
carriageway, outside of this is an area of tarmac from inches to
the width of a lane or more.
"Slow" vehicles often pull on to it to allow faster vehicles to
pass but not so much for "fast" and "faster". We also saw
vehicles parked on it.
Its clearly intended for moving traffic as its sometimes hatched
over in yellow to protect up-coming slip roads.

I would like to know both the official line on its use and the
accepted everyday use.
--
Mike Reid
"Art is the lie that reveals the truth" P.Picasso
Wasdale-Lake district-Thames path-London "http://www.fellwalk.co.uk" -- you can email us@ this site
Eat-walk-Spain "http://www.fell-walker.co.uk" -- dontuse@ all, it's a spamtrap

"Slow" vehicles often pull on to it to allow faster vehicles to
pass but not so much for "fast" and "faster". We also saw
vehicles parked on it.

I understand that such roads are common in Scandanavia, too. My
understanding was that you were permitted to pull onto them to allow
overtaking, but that this was a courtesy and you were under no obligation to
do so and should check that the shoulder is free from roadside debris or
subsidence before doing so. I suspect the Irish situation to be similar, but
don't know for sure. I imagine that if you are going "fast", then you might
not be so inclined to drive on a piece of tarmac that is prone to having
debris that you may not see in time, particularly at night.

Someone who knows specifically about Irish roads will shortly tell you that
all the above in complete ********...

Christian.

Following up to Christian McArdle

Someone who knows specifically about Irish roads will shortly tell you that
all the above in complete ********...

My guess is they wont!
--
Mike Reid
"Art is the lie that reveals the truth" P.Picasso
Wasdale-Lake district-Thames path-London "http://www.fellwalk.co.uk" -- you can email us@ this site
Eat-walk-Spain "http://www.fell-walker.co.uk" -- dontuse@ all, it's a spamtrap

"The Reids" wrote in message
news
In Kerry and Cork roads have yellow dashes at edge of
carriageway, outside of this is an area of tarmac from inches to
the width of a lane or more.
"Slow" vehicles often pull on to it to allow faster vehicles to
pass but not so much for "fast" and "faster". We also saw
vehicles parked on it.
Its clearly intended for moving traffic as its sometimes hatched
over in yellow to protect up-coming slip roads.

I would like to know both the official line on its use and the
accepted everyday use.

The official line according to "Rules of the Road", the Irish Highway code
is that they are treated as hard shoulders. Normally keep to the right of
the yellow lines but move over to let other vehicles pass. I have a copy
somewhere, so can quote it verbatin, if anyone is interested.

The other interesting difference is when you come across an incline and have
a 3 lane road with 2 up and 1 down. Whereas in the UK you keep left except
when overtaking, over there the left lane is designated a "slow lane";
normal traffic keeps right and when the lanes merge into 1, they merge from
the left instead of the right.

It's certainly interesting driving over there. I noticed it more when I
arrived home; it was like driving on velvet compared to Ireland.

"The Reids" wrote in message
news
In Kerry and Cork roads have yellow dashes at edge of
carriageway, outside of this is an area of tarmac from inches to
the width of a lane or more.
"Slow" vehicles often pull on to it to allow faster vehicles to
pass but not so much for "fast" and "faster". We also saw
vehicles parked on it.
Its clearly intended for moving traffic as its sometimes hatched
over in yellow to protect up-coming slip roads.

I would like to know both the official line on its use and the
accepted everyday use.

I know them well from my trip to Eire last year and they are the work of
Satan.

The Reids schrieb:

In Kerry and Cork roads have yellow dashes at edge of
carriageway, outside of this is an area of tarmac from inches to
the width of a lane or more.
"Slow" vehicles often pull on to it to allow faster vehicles to
pass but not so much for "fast" and "faster". We also saw
vehicles parked on it.
Its clearly intended for moving traffic as its sometimes hatched
over in yellow to protect up-coming slip roads.

I would like to know both the official line on its use and the
accepted everyday use.
--
Mike Reid
"Art is the lie that reveals the truth" P.Picasso
Wasdale-Lake district-Thames path-London "http://www.fellwalk.co.uk" -- you can email us@ this site
Eat-walk-Spain "http://www.fell-walker.co.uk" -- dontuse@ all, it's a spamtrap

Last time I visited the Emerald Isle the hard shoulder as you describe
was used by donkey carts.
T.

The Reids schrieb:

In Kerry and Cork roads have yellow dashes at edge of
carriageway, outside of this is an area of tarmac from inches to
the width of a lane or more.
"Slow" vehicles often pull on to it to allow faster vehicles to
pass but not so much for "fast" and "faster". We also saw
vehicles parked on it.
Its clearly intended for moving traffic as its sometimes hatched
over in yellow to protect up-coming slip roads.

I would like to know both the official line on its use and the
accepted everyday use.
--
Mike Reid
"Art is the lie that reveals the truth" P.Picasso
Wasdale-Lake district-Thames path-London "http://www.fellwalk.co.uk" -- you can email us@ this site
Eat-walk-Spain "http://www.fell-walker.co.uk" -- dontuse@ all, it's a spamtrap

Last time I visited the Emerald Isle the hard shoulder as you describe
was used by donkey carts.
T.

In article , says...
The other interesting difference is when you come across an incline and have
a 3 lane road with 2 up and 1 down. Whereas in the UK you keep left except
when overtaking, over there the left lane is designated a "slow lane";
normal traffic keeps right and when the lanes merge into 1, they merge from
the left instead of the right.

Seen that kind of thing once in the UK (just outside Henly/Marlow) going
over a couple of hills.

Seen it a lot in turkey crossing the mountain roads where you get a lot
of Tourist busses and delivery wagons crawling, and local cars flying.
--
The poster formerly known as Skodapilot.
http://www.bouncing-czechs.com

Dan wrote:
On Wed, 14 Jul 2004 15:10:11 +0100, "Christian McArdle"
wrote:

"Slow" vehicles often pull on to it to allow faster vehicles to
pass but not so much for "fast" and "faster". We also saw
vehicles parked on it.

I understand that such roads are common in Scandanavia, too. My
understanding was that you were permitted to pull onto them to allow
overtaking, but that this was a courtesy and you were under no
obligation to do so and should check that the shoulder is free from
roadside debris or subsidence before doing so. I suspect the Irish
situation to be similar, but don't know for sure. I imagine that if
you are going "fast", then you might not be so inclined to drive on
a piece of tarmac that is prone to having debris that you may not
see in time, particularly at night.

My experience of driving in Eire is that it is only really used by
tractors. You'll be waiting a long time if you're stuck behind a slow
moving lorry expecting it to move over onto the shoulder to let you
overtake.

Have to disagree there - it is often used by trucks to pull in for faster
cars and sometimes
(but not as much as one would wish) used by cars to let other vehicles
overtake.

Generally speaking artics tend to pull over for you though pure
generalisation would
suggest that non-Irish artics are slow to pull in...

"Des O'Donoghue" wrote in message
...
Normally - but not always - on the new Youghal bypass the fast lane
(right)
merges into the slow (left lane) even though normally it is the other way
around..

Just to confuse tourists. A bit like having a National Speed Limit of 100
KMH and MPH for signed limits.

And someone should tell whoever it is that paints the roads, than when you
paint a circular sign on it you have to elongate it to correct the
perspective. And another thing.... when you have messages such as "Slow
Down", they should be written from top to bottom. I saw a few that read:

DOWN


SLOW