Unmarked 99D car with siren in bus lane - claiming to be Garda

\m/_(>_<)_\m/

deputydugs wrote:

This I hate the local GARDA becasue he is un cool and I know a guy who knows a guy who knows another guy who herd from his friend that a garda kicked the ****e out of him in a cell is getting a wee bit old.



Either support us or stop ranting. As normal a good question turned into a garda bash by a few.

"I hate the local GARDA becasue he is un cool" what planet are you living on. "un cool" that's the first time i have ever heard that excuse for the untrusted the majority of the public have for the guards.

"I know a guy who knows a guy who knows another guy who herd from his friend that a garda kicked the ****e out of him in a cell" the majority of people aren't that far removed from misconduct from force and OK its nothing to do with kicking a guy in a cell or anything the dramatic but general abuse of power and position.

and to finish you give us a great option...
"Either support us or stop ranting." fantastic diplomacy as only a guard can.

TempestSabre

\m/_(>_<)_\m/ wrote:

...the majority of people aren't that far removed from misconduct from force and OK its nothing to do with kicking a guy in a cell or anything the dramatic but general abuse of power and position. ...

To block a car that may or may not be a Garda car is just dumb. But the Garda do themselves no favours. General abuse of power and position, (and ranting) is exactly how I'd describe 50% of my encounters with them. I wish I had nicer opinion of them.

100gSoma

a garda car was behind me one day on the roads up near johnny foxes way. There was no room to overtake and it was solid white lines. I was driving at the speedlimit. after a few minutes the garda got frustrated and overtook me in a questionable manner on the solid white line.
I looked this up at the time in the road traffic act, and I remember the conclusion I reached was that a garda car must obey all traffic laws unless on official duty, and as such MUST have sirens or flashing lights on.
You cannot break the traffic laws and endanger road users wihtout at least having the sirens on to warn users etc.
thats what I took form it.

event

Steffano2002 wrote:

[RANT]As far as I'm concerned, emergency vehicles should obey official speed limits/the rules of the road unless in the case of an emergency.
I'm fed up seeing Gards doing illegal U-turns, using bus lanes, speeding and driving dangerously, etc without their lights/sirens on! Who the fook do they think they are? They're not above the law!
Do people who work at the tax office not get taxed? Do people who work at the motor taxation office not pay road tax? Do doctors get free healthcare?
Gards should be showing the example when driving yet if you just keep your eyes on a Garda car for 30 seconds it makes so many illegal moves that the Gard driving should have is license revoked! Idiots...[/RANT]

define an emergency then?

jhegarty

event wrote:

define an emergency then?

emergency n.
a serious, unexpected, and potentially dangerous situation requiring immediate action. • [as modifier] arising from or used in an emergency: an emergency exit. • N. Amer. the casualty department in a hospital.

event

but is it a robbery?
is it a domestic?
is it an abusive kid on a bus?
is it someone speeding?

you cant say it should only happen in an emergency, they are defined different by different people. You might consider something an emergency and expect the gardai out straight away. other might not, does that mean they shouldnt use bus lanes?

i dont see what people's problems are with tehm using it, or moving out of their way, how will it affect your life exactly?

\m/_(>_<)_\m/

event wrote:

define an emergency then?

let me give you the garda definition shall i

1. 12:30 and nothing got for lunch.
2. pick the wife up from town and drop her home.
3. stuck in traffic
4. match on tv at the station and still out on patrol
5. 7:10 and knocking off at 8
6. lads down the station want something form "mackers" or KFC
7. hot chick four cars up.

event

\m/_(>_<)_\m/ wrote:

let me give you the garda definition shall i

1. 12:30 and nothing got for lunch.
2. pick the wife up from town and drop her home.
3. stuck in traffic
4. match on tv at the station and still out on patrol
5. 7:10 and knocking off at 8
6. lads down the station want something form "mackers" or KFC
7. hot chick four cars up.

nothing like a sweeping generalisation, is there?

CLADA

\m/_(>_<)_\m/ wrote:

let me give you the garda definition shall i

1. 12:30 and nothing got for lunch.
2. pick the wife up from town and drop her home.
3. stuck in traffic
4. match on tv at the station and still out on patrol
5. 7:10 and knocking off at 8
6. lads down the station want something form "mackers" or KFC
7. hot chick four cars up.

Put us out of our misery and enlighten us as to what grave miscarriage of justice you were subjected to? Speeding, Drunk Driving, no seat belt.
You seem to be a well balanced individual......a chip on both shoulders!

Idleater

event wrote:

nothing like a sweeping generalisation, is there?

No thats right, He clearly is only talking about everyone that is allowed to use the buslanes (during operating hours).

He should have narrowed it down to gardai by including,
fresh cod n chips,
Tea bags,
the paaper.



L.


joke, gardai, like the rest of us must be able to laugh at ourselves once in a while

delly

In relation to the OP, a number of different users can use buslanes such as taxis or guards as well as the buses. Answer me this, would you stop a bus from exiting the buslane, as you have more or less done the same with the unmarked Garda car? If they legally can use the buslane then you have no real right to block any vehicle from exiting the buslane when needed. An ambulance has just as much right as the Camry, but I doubt you would cut an ambulance off.

In relation to the Garda bashing, I am not naive to think that a Garda is in Garda mode for his/her whole shift and may on occassion be on there way to get a bit of lunch. But i'll tell you this, if my house if broken into or a family member is attacked on the streets i'll count on the Guards 100% and trust them to do there best to reach the scene of crime as quick as possible. If anybody was to delay them in reaching such an incident, I would have to take an extreme disdain for said person, regardless of what personal reasons for doing so.

Slinky>

Heres an interesting article about an english police officer speeding when not in an 'emergency' situation,

DOUBLE STANDARDS ON THE ROADS?
Police warned about 124mph dash



A52 this morningAre there double standards on the roads? A police officer who drove at 124mph in a 70mph zone was handed a written warning for his actions. This was just after he'd apprehended a motorist, who had refused a breath test -- and who was in the car at the time, being driven to the police station.

PC Newsome has been given a warning after the Independent Police Complaints Commission investigated a complaint that he drove at 124mph in a 70mph zone without adequate cause (see link below).

Paul Smith, founder of the Safe Speed road safety campaign said: "The public will rightly feel aggrieved that they are not afforded similar degrees of tolerance and discretion when they stray just a few mph over an unnecessary speed limit."

Smith said that cases like this cause the police public relationship to take a beating, not because of concern over the police officer's driving standards, but because:

Many drivers have been convinced that safety can be measured in miles per hour, even though this is without foundation. Five mph in the wrong circumstances is a deadly speed.
Many have been convicted of far smaller offences, and have every reason to expect that the standards applied to police officers should at least be comparable."

Taken from
http://pistonheads.com/speed/default.asp?storyId=14565

TempestSabre

delly wrote:

I...if my house if broken into or a family member is attacked on the streets i'll count on the Guards 100% and trust them to do there best to reach the scene of crime as quick as possible. ...

Based on experience I can't say I share your optimism on the response times.

Too be honest the force is completely neglected. It needs more bodies and more funds. It also needs to improve its public image through better QoS. When we have boom times here, theres no reason why the Garda can't be the best equipped and manned in Europe.

delly

TempestSabre wrote:

Based on experience I can't say I share your optimism on the response times.

Too be honest the force is completely neglected. It needs more bodies and more funds. It also needs to improve its public image through better QoS. When we have boom times here, theres no reason why the Garda can't be the best equipped and manned in Europe.

I do agree that the force is underfunded and needs more numbers, but with that in mind I can't see why Joe public would hold them up at a red light just because they aren't in possesion of the facts of a possible emergency.

Anan1

delly wrote:

I do agree that the force is underfunded and needs more numbers, but with that in mind I can't see why Joe public would hold them up at a red light just because they aren't in possesion of the facts of a possible emergency.

Because they couldn't care less about the welfare of the people the squad car may be on its way to help?

\m/_(>_<)_\m/

Anan1 wrote:

Because they couldn't care less about the welfare of the people the squad car may be on its way to help?

ya mean the superintendent who has the 3oc munchies.

Sesshoumaru

If you break a red light even with the good intentions of helping a gardai car get through quicker you could cause an accident. Who is responsible then? I personally would try to move out of the way, but I understand perfectly why someone would choose to stay where they are and wait for the lights to go green.

Anan1

Sesshoumaru wrote:

If you break a red light even with the good intentions of helping a gardai car get through quicker you could cause an accident. Who is responsible then? I personally would try to move out of the way, but I understand perfectly why someone would choose to stay where they are and wait for the lights to go green.

Would you be as understanding if you were, say, a bank teller with a shotgun in your face, waiting for the Guards to arrive?

\m/_(>_<)_\m/ wrote:

ya mean the superintendent who has the 3oc munchies.

If you have a way of knowing by just looking at a squad car with sirens on where it's going, then please tell us.

rondeco

\m/_(>_<)_\m/ wrote:

ya mean the superintendent who has the 3oc munchies.

That's hardly you criticising the guards again, is it? I never thought I'd see the day....

TempestSabre

delly wrote:

I do agree that the force is underfunded and needs more numbers, but with that in mind I can't see why Joe public would hold them up at a red light just because they aren't in possesion of the facts of a possible emergency.

Lack of respect, basically.

Anan1

TempestSabre wrote:

Lack of respect, basically.

That would explain it if they were just inconveniencing the Guards. It doesn't explain why someone would prevent a Guard from helping someone else, though.

TempestSabre

Anan1 wrote:

That would explain it if they were just inconveniencing the Guards. It doesn't explain why someone would prevent a Guard from helping someone else, though.

They don't believe they are. If you lose respect, people are not going to take you seriously.

Anan1

TempestSabre wrote:

They don't believe they are. If you lose respect, people are not going to take you seriously.

Surely only the profoundly idiotic could look at a Garda car with sirens & lights on and totally discount the possibility that it may be on its way to help somebody?

Sesshoumaru

Anan1 wrote:

Would you be as understanding if you were, say, a bank teller with a shotgun in your face, waiting for the Guards to arrive?

I'm not a bank teller and I don't have a gun to my head. How is that relevant to me? Do I need to explain to you that the roads are dangerous? cars are big lumps of metal and plastic moving at high speed and if you break a red light for any reason you run the increased risk of causing an accident. Telling the judge you were only trying to let a Gardai car past isn't going to help you either.

vector

if you see blue lights in your rear view mirror you might think the gardai are after YOU for some infraction like 54 in a 50 zone, lets be honest everytime you see flashing lights don't you get worried they are after you? (or do I have a guilty conscience) well then the last thing you want to do is break a red light, which would only add to your list of crimes.

Anan1

Sesshoumaru wrote:

I'm not a bank teller and I don't have a gun to my head. How is that relevant to me?

Because somebody somewhere might? The Guards do occasionally attend to that kind of thing, in case you hadn't noticed.

Anan1

vector wrote:

if you see blue lights in your rear view mirror you might think the gardai are after YOU for some infraction like 54 in a 50 zone, lets be honest everytime you see flashing lights don't you get worried they are after you? (or do I have a guilty conscience) well then the last thing you want to do is break a red light, which would only add to your list of crimes.

It's kind of obvious when a Garda car is behind you whether they want to pull you or get past you.

Sesshoumaru

Anan1 wrote:

Because somebody somewhere might? The Guards do occasionally attend to that kind of thing, in case you hadn't noticed.

and I should break a red light and risk injuring myself and others because...... ?

Anan1

Sesshoumaru wrote:

and I should break a red light and risk injuring myself and others because...... ?

Because we all share this earth together and somebody somewhere might be in urgent need of help.

vector

just wait until speed cameras or stop light cameras arrive.

you'll then receive a photo of your car hanging in the middle of some junction.
the squad car you assisted is long gone, you don't know its details, and YOU have to pay the fine and get the points.

you might thinbk surely there will be a photo if th squad car also? well maybe but the driver of that will be grand he can get an official letter cancelling the issue, meanwhile the private sector camera company (a for-profit organisation) still pursues you.