HELPDESK

Answering all your motoring queries

The law and bikers who use bus lanes

From DV: Just who is allowed to use bus lanes? Your supplement reported (Motors, July 23rd) that motorcyclists are banned from using bus lanes.

I received a costly lesson that cars aren't allowed in bus lanes, even if they are turning left 100 metres up the road. What annoys me is that, despite the comments in the article from the Road Safety Authority (RSA) that the ban "will remain due to safety issues and evidence from a report commissioned by them", there is no real-life evidence of the rule being enforced.

When was the last time you witnessed a motorcyclist being pulled aside for using the bus lane? I've seen gardaí hide in driveways waiting to catch car drivers using empty stretches of bus lane, but ignoring the motorbikes that pass by.

Is this another example of Irish law being honoured more in the breach than the observance?

The rules are clear: motorcyclists are forbidden from using active bus lanes, just the same as other motorists. The findings of the Transport Research Laboratory (TRL) report commissioned by the RSA came as a disappointment to the biking community, but for the foreseeable future the ban will stay in place. We have personally come across incidents where motorcyclists were not stopped for using bus lanes, but that falls into the larger issue of whether we wish to have gardaí apply rigorous enforcement of traffic laws, or use their discretion in deciding when to penalise a motorist and when to give them a warning.

For now we know that the TRL report found no compelling case from a safety point of view for allowing motorbikes to use bus lanes and had concerns about motorcycles "mingling" with buses, cyclists and pedestrians in the bus lanes.

From Bernadette Gill: Could you help our family to buy a new car? We generally keep a car for about nine years, getting it regularly serviced. Our criteria are: large estate (plenty of bootspace); diesel; comfortable; reliable.

At present we have a Volkswagen Passat 1.8-litre, using it mainly for family holidays in the west of Ireland and weekends in the west over the winter. That's why we thought diesel might be better as our main journeys are long.

You don't mention a price range, but I guess if you are in the market for a similar model to the one you have, then I guess the budget would be in the region of €35,000.

You are buying at a good time, for estate cars are starting to outsell saloons in many continental markets, so that designers and engineers are spending more time getting the estates right.

In several instances, such as the new Mazda6, the estate actually looks better than the saloon.That car would be one of our first recommendations, offering a good specification, a strong diesel engine, and a brand noted for its long-term reliability. The boot is also more than adequate, offering 519 litres with the rear seats up, to a maximum of 1,751 litres up to the back of the front seats.

Our second recommendation, and arguably the best at present, is the new Ford Mondeo estate. For €36,050 you can get a Zetec specification and the powerful 2.2-litre 175bhp diesel engine. Its boot is bigger than the Passat's, but also offers 542 litres of rear space even with the rear seats up.

Those would be our two top choices at present. However, there are three new arrivals for January. The first is the new Opel Insignia estate. It's a vast improvement on the outgoing Vectra and - if reliability holds up - then it would be a good option.

The other alternatives will be the new Toyota Avensis estate, due next year, and an all-new estate version of the Skoda Superb. Given the impressive space inside the newly launched Superb, an estate version is probably going to rival delivery trucks for its load-carrying ability. For now, my advice would be to test drive the Mondeo and Mazda6 estate diesels and try out the latest Passat as well.