Bleedin' motorhomes, they should be banned off the roads.

Ya right, that thread title got your attention.

Seriously though, I was stuck behind a fellow motorhomer tootling along the R586 for about ten miles earlier today. I was just one of about 20 cars in the queue as it meandered along at about 60km/h behind 'our friend' as he passed plenty of places to pull in for a minute or less to let the queue go by.
So come on, have a look in the mirror from time to time, and if you see a queue of vehicles behind let them get by.
It's nice to tootle along admiring the scenery but spare a thought for those trying to make a delivery schedule or arrive at an appointment on time.
Don't reinforce the bad opinions some hold about us.

It is very tricky and this has happened to me as well where I let people pass by moving to the hard shoulder and then I'm not allowed to move back out, can get pretty dangerous to be honest.

It's indeed illegal to drive in the hard shoulder but I'm pretty sure that a copper will look the other way if you're letting traffic pass on a straight where you can see well ahead.

Having said that, while it is a nice touch we are not forced to do it at all... we have to remember that max speed is not mandatory speed, is just that... the MAX. No one can argue with you if you're doing 70 on a 80 zone and specially in this country where you'll come across tractors doing 30 and taking 2 lanes, don't think us going a bit slower than the max speed is going to be any issues.


Bottom line (for me) is: if it's 100% safe to move out, I'll absolutely do it. It's the nice thing to do, but we don't have to.


Cheers
Rami

It is legal to use the hard shoulder to allow traffic to overtake SEE HERE
There are also opportunities to let other vehicles overtake by keeping well in to the left at wide bits of the road.

Once the queue has passed it's usually easy to pull back out by indicating and smartly moving back onto the correct position, particularly if you haven't come to a complete stop.
Of course if you are in a queue caused by a vehicle up ahead why would you pull in, I'm only talking about the situation where you/we are the cause of the queue.

I know the speed limit is a limit not a target but creating a queue by driving at 60km/h in a 100km/h zone and ignoring opportunities to let it pass is taking the pi$$ in my book.

That quote is from the Theory Test, it's the RSA's version or "interpretation" or vision of how they would like to see us drive. It's not always backed up by written statute.

However there is an offense of "Driving without reasonable consideration for other road users" Section 51 RTA 1961 (ROI) which could cover a driver who drives without due care and attention, or without reasonable consideration for other persons using the place.

Don't see much wrong with moving over onto the hard shoulder as long as it's clear and safe to do so.

When I drove a trucks for a living and before that did breakdowns with a jeep and car transport trailer ,I always kept an eye on the traffic behind and indicated left and pulled in tight to give them a chance to pass , the if I was running out of space , indicate right and pull back out. I still do the same when towing or in the van. in the car I am usually the one trying to drive at the posted limit.

Well, I think we kind of all agree that if there's room and if it's safe to do so, we'll move to let others pass.

It is absolutely the nice thing to do and it's about courtesy. But then again, in my opinion you can't force anyone to do what you want even if it's expected or you think that they should do something, courtesy can't be forced, and if whoever is in front of you doesn't move for whatever reason, the best thing to do is to take a step back, allow safe distance and pass whenever safe/possible.

Road rage is a very dangerous thing and possibly one of the main things that will cause an accident.

I, as a MH and motorbike user live with the two spectrum of speed capable vehicles. Love it when people move and allow a little bit extra room to let me pass on the bike but I will never force it, nor push to a unsafe situation. They don't have to move, but it's nice when they do.

I apply the same courtesy when on the MH, although she's actually pretty good at keeping speed limits (expect on inclines, of course), and even when traveling at speed limit, I'll move if I have the room because I know people get frustrated anyways about the idea of traveling behind a big vehicle (don't know exactly what it is), even when they pass you to later on go slower. But as I said above, I will not let anyone to force me to move when it is not safe, in the MH we have a far better vision ahead of any car and our 3 tons or more vehicles don't have the same response as cars, so we need to plan ahead appropriately.

And again... if you go at 80 or 120, you'll only be saving a few minutes, hardly anything above single digits.... so what's the rush?

Live and let iive as the song says...

Cheers,
Rami

It is nice, kind and decent to pull over and release traffic but too often I see it happening that the passing car goes too soon before a proper gap has opened up. I will never criticise a slow moving driver be it a tractor, car, bus ,motorhome, or whatever.
What gets on my goat ,is the aggressive nature of some drivers, who think that driving with one headlight on the white line is acceptable.
As someone who over the last 20 years has completed driving tests up to the artic, a big part of driving training for hgv is reading the traffic ahead and managing the traffic behind as well. There are a number of techniques taught that are extremely useful in motorhome driving .
Alot of drivers can't cope been behind a large vehicle because firstly they are driving too close and secondly they feel blinded because they can't see too far ahead. This reaction leds them to crazy passing and putting everyone at risk.
Last Sunday we were on a L road with the MH, and a fool decided to pass us on a bend but because I was watching him on our rear camera, I was able to give him room to go. 2 miles up the road and I am the one in convoy behind him with another crazy fool behind me.
My last point on this thread is, the latest camera package fitted to trucks now consists of 6 cameras wired to the monitor and uploaded to satalite recording. There is one on each corner rear facing, one dash cam and lastly one mounted over the load body. The insurance companies are using these images for accident investigation.

Hi RobandSue,

Stereotypes are wonderful things. A bit like the motorhomer who parks badly and gets us all tarred with the same label. However I can only make observations on my experiences, and for whatever reason Dublin registrations seem to have come to the fore. The reference to the Jackeens is a gentle wind up, again there are many definitions on the meaning and origin of the word.

Davy

Another observation!!

I generally 'flash' articulated lorrys and buses when they have overtaken me on dual carriageways and motorways, indicating that they are clear ahead of me and can move into my lane safely. The vast majority of them will acknowledge the courtesy by flicking their indicators. The one set of drivers who consistently do not make any recognition are Ulsterbus drivers. I have never had a single one flick an indicator. I have stopped flashing them in. It is almost like they are told/trained not to acknowledge the flash.

On a tangent I read that continental truckers do not use this signal and that flashing them in is not common. It is I think used more in its proper interpretation that it is a warning to others to alert them of your presence.

Davy

actually, mine is galway reg

Could be worse I suppose. We could be slagging off Dublin registered BMWs or Audis!

Can't find them smiley faces in case anybody takes the rust!

Davy

They all have rear view camera's, they don't need you to flash so probably are not looking in their mirrors to notice it.

no, they are fair game. Bunch of muppets , every one of them