Rules of the Road
Rules of the Road is the domain that tests the legal rules for position, priority, signs, road markings and speed on Irish roads, including the extra limits and restrictions that apply to trucks and buses.
Core rules
- Drive on the left. At a roundabout, yield to traffic already circulating and signal left before your exit; keep lane discipline.
- Default limits are 50 km/h in built-up areas, 80 km/h on regional/local roads, 100 km/h on national roads and 120 km/h on motorways, unless signs say otherwise. Your vehicle category may have a lower limit.
- Amber at traffic lights means stop unless it is unsafe to do so. Green does not entitle you to block a junction.
- Do not enter a yellow box unless you can clear it without stopping; the usual exception is a right turn blocked by oncoming traffic.
- Motorways exclude learners, pedestrians, cyclists and vehicles incapable of 50 km/h. Keep left unless overtaking; the hard shoulder is for emergencies.
- Bus lanes are restricted to the classes shown on the sign and at the times shown.
Worked example
You approach a two-lane roundabout and want the second exit. Traffic is already circulating. You slow, check mirrors and blind spot, yield to circulating traffic, enter in the left lane unless markings direct otherwise, and signal left after passing the first exit. Reasoning: priority belongs to traffic already on the roundabout; late signalling misleads following drivers.
Traps
Entering a roundabout because you indicated; treating green as priority over pedestrians already crossing; stopping in a yellow box; using a bus lane when restrictions apply; forgetting a lower vehicle-specific limit.