It is hanndy to see where people are looking on roundabouts as this is generally a better indication of where they are going than there indication, but the poor level of road knowledge and craft in Ireland compared to our immediate neighbours is shocking.

Country drivers may be faster at pulling out, but there failure to use lanes, junctions and roundabouts is terrible, and often horrific in dublin suburbs, if someone does something really stupid in front of you 95% of the time its a country reg, someone over 60 or a winker in a BMW (ans therefore obviously more imnportant than anybody else). Why do most irish drivers insist on using the handbrake at traffic lights, aarrrggghhhh, hold the bloody thing on the bite and just move as a column when the lights change instead of drip feeding away.

So yes, there are situations where looking at someone’s face might prevent an accident, but it’s just more likely to cause an accident by dividing your attention or distracting someone else. If the entire driving population adopted your tactic, then there would be an increase in the number of accidents.

Tinted windows may well be illegal, but not because they affect the driver’s vision, but because the Gardai want to be able to see who is in a car. The law is very vague on the matter I believe. Supposedly, you can tint side and back windows as much as you like, but the windscreen is only allowed to be tinted to a certain degree. I believe the reason that the Gardai don’t prosecute is because they don’t have the equipment to test the degree of tint and the law is vague, something about “unduly” tinted windows being illegal. At any rate, I don’t remember mentioning tinted windows.

And PLEASE how can you possibly argue that the ability to see if another driver is looking at his CD player instead of at other cars is dangerous?

Oh and the point which you missed is that darkened windows ARE illegal. I forget what the problem about prosecution is again but legally you are not supposed to have them.

“AND this thing on the back, that I suppose is for easing wind resistance? like a wing attached to the boot.”

This sentence makes me doubt your claim to be the world’s greatest driver! The ‘thing’ you’re referring to is a spoiler, and while its function is supposed to be to reduce drag and lift, people put them on cars because they think that they look nice. They’re far from uncommon and you probably don’t notice them on most cars.

And Niall, you are just wrong. There are lots of situations where seeing the driver’s face tells you a lot. You can tell if they are away with the birds, or fiddling with the radio or on the phone and have just NO idea that you are there, if they are looking left and do not see the car approaching from the right. I do try to obey the rules of the road – but to be safe you have to use plenty of other senses and assume that the other guy will NOT do so. I use this all the time to predict driver behaviour and quite frankly it works. Its amazing what other drivers don’t see. When I can tell they can’t see i can get out of their way….

Oh and don’t you remember that ad about experienced drivers where the older guy saw the ball underneath the van and guessed a child would run out and chase after it? That’s not obeying the rules of the road – that’s using experience to observe the environment beyond yourself and your car.

Point of information: I passed my driving test first time all due to the Glasnevin School of Motoring. A guy called Frank, who used to be a garda I think. He was SO strict. For one lesson he jacked up the front of the car in his driveway and made me steer for half an hour. He had a stop watch and I had to full turns, while looking all around me in 7 seconds. For another, I had to drive around an estate close to the kerb and he’d have me stop and I was supposed to be 1ft from the kerb. He said I had terrible judgement to my left, ie couldn’t tell distance and that’s what the exercise was for.

THEN when I did my test, in Rathgar, you know the way the guys say nothing? So when he told me I had passed, he said “you’ve done a lot of country driving”. and I said, YES! I have, how can you tell?” So its called “progress”. The length of time it takes you to move up the gears from a stationary position. Country drivers do it faster (and better) than city drivers cos they are used to pulling onto roads where everyone is driving at 90 Interesting, I thought…

ANYWAY, I have high standards for driving. Its’ my thing. So don’t you tell me about driving Niall! eek, gone overboard…..calm down Sarah, you are an EXCELLENT driver. relax….bla……..

If you disagree with many, nearly all, of Fine Gael’s policies, how to expect people not born into the faith, as you were, to vote for them Sarah? I’m baffled.

Nah, it’s not the boy racers that’s the problem, it’s those people driving around the country living out of caravans. They park them in places they shouldn’t where there’s no proper systems in place to deal with waste or rubbish and that lifestyle harms the environment. The kids make lots of noise. They show every intention of stealing. If you want to camp somewhere, why not go to a caravan park? Why can’t we just take confiscate those caravans from those small brained idiots?

It’s very helpful to make eye contact with drivers – particularly when you are on a bike but also when driving yourself. There is certainly nothing dangerous about it, what makes driving dangerous is sealing yourself off from the world around you with tinted windows and loud music.

The civil liberties argument just doesn’t apply to these morons. Cars are dangerous, damaging to the environment, and damaging to the welfare of the rest of the community. If you want to play at being a rally driver fuck off to a rally circuit and do it, don’t ask for the ‘freedom’ to do it on the public roads.

For what it’s worth I would extend the argument to all cars. Maximum engine size – 1.2 litres would be a good start. Speed limiters on all cars. etc etc.

But when I compose myself again, I think wait a minute, those people have their tastes and I have mine. Live and let live (this is about the ridiculous look, not the speeding!). But there is one aspect of the live and let live which these guys violate: noise. They fit exhausts which are designed to boom out loud noise. I saw an add for these somewhere which said “Do you love the throaty sound of exhaust?Do you wish the neighbours know about your arrival? Then this is the exhaust for you”

Pitifully, unredeemablty sad.