ArtsAutosBooksBusinessEducationEntertainmentFamilyFashionFoodGamesGenderHealthHolidaysHomeHubPagesPersonal FinancePetsPoliticsReligionSportsTechnologyTravel

Driving Rules And Regulations - How I Got Caught Out

Updated on February 5, 2013

“Using the road is the most dangerous thing we do every day. Please take extra care if you are setting foot or wheel on the road and remember the learning never stops

RSA (Road Safety Authority Ireland)

Speed Limits

 Republic of Ireland dual carraigeway speed limit is 100 km/h.
Republic of Ireland dual carraigeway speed limit is 100 km/h. | Source

Rules And Regulations . . . The Law

Love them or hate them, the rules of the road are here to stay. Put in place by the powers that be, with safety for all the main priority and objective. Staying within the driving laws you would think would be easy or adhered to rigorously but yet statistics will constantly prove otherwise. If you drive, it is your responsibility and duty to know what the laws are in the state, province or countries in which you plan on driving as these may and often do vary considerably.

Driving Lanes are necessary

the N7 close to my luv shack in Citywest Co. Dublin.
the N7 close to my luv shack in Citywest Co. Dublin. | Source
rush hour across the pond.
rush hour across the pond. | Source

Little Did I Know

Setting off in my trusty Nissan Micra, my internal radar set, I was on course for joining the N7 dual carriageway, and then head in the direction of Dublin city centre.

My destination was a well known hotel less than 2 miles away, where I was attending a training course, a drive I was very familiar with.


The N7 dual carriageway is well known in Dublin and surrounding counties as a main artery for commuters. At rush hour times it would continually be nose to tail traffic.

This Tuesday morning I joined the masses of commuters and started to crawl at a snail’s pace.

Taking the inside lane I was aware of the bus lane on my left, also legally used by taxi drivers.

Irish Garda Siochana

is that a no parking a sign I see, Mr policeman?
is that a no parking a sign I see, Mr policeman? | Source

Rules Are Not Meant To Be Broken

Impatient drivers will often drive down this bus lane although it is against the law and then look to enter the filter lane. I was familiar with this law as it had been pointed out to me by my experienced partner and driving instructor as a manoeuvre not to do and I never had.

I would be taking a left turn at the first set of traffic lights via a filter lane and as it was getting closer I could not see the road markings indicating the filter lane. With the traffic crawling along and a large Lorry blocking my vision, I made a judgement call that I was about a car length away, I indicated left, checked my mirrors and pulled in. Immediately I could see one of our “boys in blue” otherwise known as The Garda Siochana, with his bright, unmissable, fluorescent uniform, arm raised and stern look upon his face.”Oh bugger” is the polite version of what I thought and as he pointed for me to slow and stop, I knew this was not going to be a good morning! As I approached, he directed me to pull in on the left where a squad car was parked in a goods inwards entrance of a hotel. The same hotel I was travelling to. Mortified does not come close to how I felt!

Caught Out by The Strong Arms of The Law

OK lads, we have a right one here, no mercy is to be shown. I see you have the sick bag ready Paddy so let's get ready to rumble.
OK lads, we have a right one here, no mercy is to be shown. I see you have the sick bag ready Paddy so let's get ready to rumble. | Source

Paying The Price

When he had finished checking my road tax, my insurance, my NCT disc (National Car Safety Test) and driving licence, he told me what I had done was dangerous and that I should have waited for the filter lane road markings to start before moving in.

I apologised and did indicate the reason why I had pulled in early knowing fine well in my own head that this would cut no ice, give no quarter and simply put, do me no good as Mr. Blue Boy had a face on him like a wet weekend. So I took my dressing down, my comeuppance and in short my bollocking and then had to ask politely and whimperishly if he could move his patrol car as he was blocking where I needed to go. You can guess that this went down like a lead balloon and I couldn’t help thinking, if only you had stopped the car in front, instead of me. I’m sure I made his day!

Sent On My Way by The Garda

the long road home
the long road home | Source

Lesson Learnt

After being told to appear in a designated local police station within 10 days with my current NCT disc, (it was in the post, honest!) I was sent on my way. With no mention of a fine, I thought my charm had worked a treat until a week later I receive a fine for €60 euro in the post. Whilst a bitter pill to swallow, I was at fault and in the wrong. I could have been issued penalty points on my licence, which to date is free of such endorsements so at the end of the day I was lucky and learned the hard way.

Definition of a Filter Lane:

A lane of traffic reserved for those making a specific turn at the next junction.


Quotes

“Low self-esteem is like driving through life with your hand-break on” Unknown Author

“Have you ever noticed that anybody driving slower than you is an idiot, and anyone going faster than you is a maniac?” - George Carlin

“You know, somebody actually complimented me on my driving today. They left a little note on the windscreen, it said ‘parking fine’” - Tommy Cooper

“If GM had kept up with technology like the computer industry has, we would all be driving $25 cars that got 1000 MPG” - Bill Gates

Author Info ~

For further information on the Author, her bio and full body of works, pleases click here.

Credit to gaanderson ~

Free image use rights granted by http://gaanderson.hubpages.com

working

This website uses cookies

As a user in the EEA, your approval is needed on a few things. To provide a better website experience, hubpages.com uses cookies (and other similar technologies) and may collect, process, and share personal data. Please choose which areas of our service you consent to our doing so.

For more information on managing or withdrawing consents and how we handle data, visit our Privacy Policy at: https://corp.maven.io/privacy-policy

Show Details
Necessary
HubPages Device IDThis is used to identify particular browsers or devices when the access the service, and is used for security reasons.
LoginThis is necessary to sign in to the HubPages Service.
Google RecaptchaThis is used to prevent bots and spam. (Privacy Policy)
AkismetThis is used to detect comment spam. (Privacy Policy)
HubPages Google AnalyticsThis is used to provide data on traffic to our website, all personally identifyable data is anonymized. (Privacy Policy)
HubPages Traffic PixelThis is used to collect data on traffic to articles and other pages on our site. Unless you are signed in to a HubPages account, all personally identifiable information is anonymized.
Amazon Web ServicesThis is a cloud services platform that we used to host our service. (Privacy Policy)
CloudflareThis is a cloud CDN service that we use to efficiently deliver files required for our service to operate such as javascript, cascading style sheets, images, and videos. (Privacy Policy)
Google Hosted LibrariesJavascript software libraries such as jQuery are loaded at endpoints on the googleapis.com or gstatic.com domains, for performance and efficiency reasons. (Privacy Policy)
Features
Google Custom SearchThis is feature allows you to search the site. (Privacy Policy)
Google MapsSome articles have Google Maps embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
Google ChartsThis is used to display charts and graphs on articles and the author center. (Privacy Policy)
Google AdSense Host APIThis service allows you to sign up for or associate a Google AdSense account with HubPages, so that you can earn money from ads on your articles. No data is shared unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
Google YouTubeSome articles have YouTube videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
VimeoSome articles have Vimeo videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
PaypalThis is used for a registered author who enrolls in the HubPages Earnings program and requests to be paid via PayPal. No data is shared with Paypal unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
Facebook LoginYou can use this to streamline signing up for, or signing in to your Hubpages account. No data is shared with Facebook unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
MavenThis supports the Maven widget and search functionality. (Privacy Policy)
Marketing
Google AdSenseThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Google DoubleClickGoogle provides ad serving technology and runs an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Index ExchangeThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
SovrnThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Facebook AdsThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Amazon Unified Ad MarketplaceThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
AppNexusThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
OpenxThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Rubicon ProjectThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
TripleLiftThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Say MediaWe partner with Say Media to deliver ad campaigns on our sites. (Privacy Policy)
Remarketing PixelsWe may use remarketing pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to advertise the HubPages Service to people that have visited our sites.
Conversion Tracking PixelsWe may use conversion tracking pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to identify when an advertisement has successfully resulted in the desired action, such as signing up for the HubPages Service or publishing an article on the HubPages Service.
Statistics
Author Google AnalyticsThis is used to provide traffic data and reports to the authors of articles on the HubPages Service. (Privacy Policy)
ComscoreComScore is a media measurement and analytics company providing marketing data and analytics to enterprises, media and advertising agencies, and publishers. Non-consent will result in ComScore only processing obfuscated personal data. (Privacy Policy)
Amazon Tracking PixelSome articles display amazon products as part of the Amazon Affiliate program, this pixel provides traffic statistics for those products (Privacy Policy)
ClickscoThis is a data management platform studying reader behavior (Privacy Policy)