Driving Guide
The R132 Multi-Lane Stretches: The Faults That Fail Learners
Essential Driver Training, pretest preparation and beginner-friendly lessons across Dublin.
The R132 around Swords and Airside is where a lot of local tests are quietly lost. Not on one dramatic mistake, but on a handful of small lane faults repeated until they add up. Here are the ones I see most, and how to kill them.
The R132 is the old main road north, and through Swords, past Airside and on up toward Balbriggan it widens into multi-lane sections with real speed on them. The test uses these stretches on purpose, because they show up habits a quiet estate road never will.
Fault one: living in the right lane
The most common by a distance. The driver drifts into the right lane and stays there, left lane empty beside them, because it feels faster or because they will be turning right at some point far ahead. The right lane is for overtaking. Sitting in it is a fault every time, and it is the easiest one to fix. Overtake, then come back left.
Fault two: the late lane change
A sign or an arrow tells the driver they are in the wrong lane, and instead of having sorted it out early, they swerve across the line at the last second, often without a proper look. Read the road far enough ahead that the lane you need is a decision made in comfort, not a panic move at the paint.
Fault three: straddling and drifting
On the wider sections a nervous driver will hug one line or wander between the two, never settling in the middle of the lane. It reads as a driver not looking far enough ahead, and it makes everyone around them uneasy. Lift your eyes, aim for the space well down the road, and the car centres itself.
Fault four: ignoring the hatched markings
Where lanes split or a junction opens, you will meet hatched areas painted on the road, the diagonal or chevron markings that separate streams of traffic. They are not a lane and not a shortcut. You do not drive across them to cut a corner or to jump a queue. Treat the paint as a kerb you can see through and stay out of it.
Every one of these is really the same fault wearing a different coat, a driver deciding too late. Read the road early, choose the lane early, and all four faults lose their grip at once.
Where this fits
None of these are hard to fix once you know the tester is watching for them. They are all lane discipline, the same skill the fast R132 tests over and over. For how these faults fit the whole of lane discipline on the dual carriageway and the motorway, here is the full picture on lane discipline. Fix the small faults and the R132 stops being the stretch that catches you out.