P plates

suki1964

almillar said:

suki1964 said:

As said above, us here in NI have to use R plates for a year and our speeds are restricted to 45mph and I personally feel that it is a good idea. I passed my test here at a ripe old age and I remember saying I was going to keep them on forever as other drivers do show you more consideration - keeping back and not tailgating. It also gave me the confidence to get out and drive and explore and find my way around by car.

I agree the R plates are a good idea - L and R platers are the only people I think have an excuse for bad driving! I don't like the speed limit though, on motorways. Try to merge onto a busy one at 45, whilst everyone else is doing 70, and you'll see what I mean. The Highway Code says you should match the speed of the traffic, find a gap, and merge. If you're on R plates, stuck at 45, you go against the Highway Code!

Fortunately, other then where the M2, M5 and M3 all merge heading into Belfast, all our motorways are just souped up dual carriageways 

It wasn't long after passing my test I had to drive to City airport, looked up the route, saw it was easy enough, M2 and then M3, and near wet myself when I saw all those lanes of traffic and I had to cross them all to get onto the M3 lol. Yes, driving at 45 on the motorway isn't great, but once again, you have your R's up and other drivers make room for you and you manage to manoeuvre  without killing anyone.