South Meath Driving School

It may seem a simple manoeuvre, turning right at traffic lights, but, only a small minority of drivers do it correctly. The first driver in line, call him ‘A,’ is stopped at a red light which then changes to amber and green, (this is a round green as distinct from a filter, or green arrow.) The line of traffic coming against ‘A’ has right of way as they have the same round green light. ‘A’ should move to the centre of the junction and wait until there is a break in traffic, approximately opposite the centre of the road into which he intends to enter. Sometimes there will be no break in the line of oncoming traffic, so the traffic light changes to amber and red. What then is the correct move for ‘A’ to make?

Simply go; turn right and away. This is one instance when it is legal to drive through a red light because ‘A’ is deemed to be in charge of the junction at that stage. The problem that arises here are twofold. Observing drivers in those situations, ‘A’ more often than not will incorrectly wait back at the Stop Line when the light turns green, thus losing an opportunity to progress if the light changes to red before he gets away. The second error is made by one or more drivers who are stopped behind ‘A.’ When the latter moves to the centre of the junction and yields to oncoming traffic, those behind also move forward so that if the light turns red, they are all deemed to be breaking a red light and most likely obstructing the traffic on their right and left which has commenced to take off having got the green light.

Good driving is not about passing a driving test alone, but this is one area that can so easily go wrong in a test. A little bit of panic sets in, there may be a yellow box or there may not; the manoeuvre is the same, regardless of the yellow box. One of the better drivers I came across in some years was preparing for his test. He was driving so well that I told him quit taking lessons and we’d renew our acquaintance at test time. It’s a little risky declaring such good news to such individual, though I felt obliged. In the pre-test run, he had a clear round, in my estimation. Off he went with the tester in his 5-Series BMW. On his return he delivered the news to me that he had just one ‘X.’ I wasn’t surprised, yet I thought he’d have none. Then he revealed the impossible. It was a grade 3 or, red one  – he had just failed.

He made the cardinal error of following the first driver into the yellow box to turn right. He said that he knew instantly, when he stopped behind the first driver, that he had faltered. Quite a hard lesson learned. In fairness to him, he had a clean sheet at the second attempt.

It’s the little things in life that matter and even though my learner driver could acquit himself with the best, his concentration lapsed. But, no one died, neither was there an injury. Then again, isn’t that all that is required in any little crash or big crash – just a memory lapse.

Only nine people died on our roads during the month of April. That is a record low and the aim of all is to get the annual figure under 200: that’s a long way from the figure closer to 700 in 1978. Then look at the week-end tragedies where two 17 year olds were killed together in their car in the small hours of the morning. Without casting aspersions in the least, haven’t parents such a vital role to play in safeguarding their children, especially when it comes to driving. There’s a lot to be said for the curfew on young fellows especially, whereby they cannot drive between certain hours, like 10pm to 6am, as is the legislation in Canada and Australia. It was mooted here when the RSA were preparing new rules; there were many objectors and reasons not to include. Then, there are so many whereby it should be in force.

Drivers, spare a thought for our hedgehogs, slow down if one is observed crossing the road. I saw three killed on the Newtown Road over this long weekend. This is a 50kph road and it should be simple enough to avoid this beautiful little animal. I had one hibernating in a compost heap in my garden over the last few winters and pray it is not that met such a terrible fate. The humble hedgehog gets rid of garden pests in an ecological manner. Mind him, he’s your friend, whether you’re turning right or left.