A turn of phrase Iām very fond of
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Had an interesting one last week.
I was on my bike on a rural Kildare road. Sheep on the road, as is common in the Curragh and surrounding areas. There is a pedestrian coming towards me and also a car a little behind the pedestrian also headed my way. To top it all off I can hear a car coming behind me.
I gestured to the car behind me to slow as it looks like this narrow enough road on an incline will now have sheep, a pedestrian, a cyclist and two cars all within 5-10 meters moving at various speeds.
The shaved neandarthal behind me decides heāll try overtake the lot. Not sure he even saw the car coming against him or the pedestrian. He quickly abandoned that plan and he got it from all sides for the horrific move he tried to pull. Could have been really ugly.
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It has come to the stage where regular testing for update to licensing needs to be applied. Keep failing and youāre off the road, no ifs or buts.
Serious issue with current Licence laws regards Agricultural equipment too.
Too many accidents, Tractors & machinery getting too powerful & big to leave people on the road in them without proper testing imo.
The amount of Farm Machinery related accidents & deaths this year alone points to an urgent need for action.
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I got a shock to see lads I used to coach u12s now bombing around the road pulling big machines. A recipe for disaster.
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Lots of chaps go fucking apeshit in tractors and they do be on the phone a lot too.
Sure half the cunts on the road have already lost their licence or never had one in the first place.
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Yeah, but a big % of those legal on the road are fucking hopeless too.
Seems guards have upped their game during lockdown seizing cars although that as a deterrent is debatable
Sure they only got the license cos the queue for a test was too long.
Iād agree with @carryharry above big time. The difference between the tractors that the current licensing rules were designed for and the monsters on the road now is stark. Theyāre bigger and faster every year. It seems mental that young lads who donāt even have van licenses can take to the road in one of them
Couple of times in the last year Iāve seen tractors on the motorways which is all kinds of wrong
People have completely forgotten how to drive the last few months. They are acting like thereās still no one on the roads
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It is highly illegal tbh as if they canāt sustain a speed of 50km/h even up an incline they have no business on them.
Some Agri style vehicles can go faster than 50km/h but if pulling heavy weight they canāt sustain that speed.
See online the Road Traffic crew caught a chap speeding on M7 last night.
He tested positive for Cocaine & Cannabis. They then found ā¬8k worth of Cannabis in the engine bay of the car.
How the fuck are I supposed to source a bit of smoke with imbeciles like that on the roads?
Saw that here as well. Cunts approaching junctions from minor roads thinking they could go straight through without stopping.
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Young lad in Ballyhale had a close one two weeks back. Narrow road, and tractor coming one way and another behind. He was on his bike so pulled in to let them pass. The one approaching pulled in at his side, as there was more room. When the other tractor went past, not sure what the tractor stopped was doing or if he forgot the young lad was there, but he drove straight over him. Literally. He stopped the tractor and got out, but the trailer wheel was on top of the chap, so had to get back in and drive off him. Young fella is fine, luckily. Broken pelvis and hip and there was trouble with his artery but that was resolved too. Fierce lucky. Unsure as to what the tractor driver was doing or how he managed to drive over a young lad.
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Phone, speed, tired, hungry are all obvious reasons.
When I say speed, there is always pressure ( or worse the competitive edge to be seen as the fastest ) on trailer drivers to be seen to be back to the field ASAP, you donāt keep the harvester idle.
As I said, power of tractors, size of trailers and weights have all increased. Worse still is modern tractors are nowadays comfortable you barely feel ruts in the road.
Itās a receipt for disaster.
Staff in the Contractor game was a issue in years gone by so young lads were the only option.
Low pay is now a factor too. So itās hard to get experienced lads to stay with Contractors.
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Thatās a miracle too might I add how heās alive.
Absolutely. Poor chap has clear memory of it all too. His first thought was as he was sucked under to pull his arms back as he needed them to hurl! And then he pulled his legs in, which is how his midriff took the brunt of the force.
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Lucky chap,our roads/ drivers are lethal,I gave up cycling altogether on the roads, motorcycling finished also,as Iām over 60 I think all drivers need retested yearly from 50 onwards,know my reactions arenāt brilliant at times,and maybe drive too slow
Some suggestions anecdotally that these young lads are taking the occasional upper to keep with the pace on the long days
Anything is possible but I canāt comment tbh, itās been 20 years since I was part of a crew hauling grass. Hunger used to keep me awake. That and the fucking bouncing around in the cab.