Garda Finger Wag - Let Off

Kermitt

Was driving to work this morning. Overtook a lorry between Tullow and Castledermot that was doing 60kph. Got up to about 100 passing him and eased back a bit on pulling back in. (its an 80kph zone). Then out of the ditch steps a Garda putting on the luminous vest, Up goes the hand and he pulled me.
To be fair I was caught, no excuse really. He asked if i knew how fast I was going and I told him 100. He said it was 97kph. gave me a bit of a chat about danger on the roads and told me to slow it down a bit. Then he says drive careful to work now, I'm not going to book you this time. I was very surprised as I expected 2 friendly points. I feel very lucky to still have a clean license, and It did make me slow down.

Clearly all this Bull about Gardaí having to get a certain number of tickets on a shift is nonsense. To be fair it seems they are actually trying to get people to slow down.

Big Nelly

Kermitt wrote:

Clearly all this Bull about Gardaí having to get a certain number of tickets on a shift is nonsense. To be fair it seems they are actually trying to get people to slow down.

Thats only made up with people that get caught and then throw a huff about it as if its not ther fault etc and it was the Garda fault because they caught him, you where lucky thou man!!

So much for all the stories about ignorant Garda and how they are all pi*s etc etc etc that we see here every week. Lovely group of lads in my opinion!

Henry Ford III

Excellent and fair play to the cop too.

m_stan

Like with all professions there are good and bad eggs. Sounds like you got a good one, though it doesnt sound like you were doing anything very dangerous in your overtaking even though you strictly speaking were breaking the limit. It would be worse to be overaking on a blind corner - something I see all the time.

I think in some cases it's better to get a warning then a fine/points. I had a similar warning a few years back when running late for work and weaving in and out of traffic on the N11. Unmarked car pulled me and told me he was going to summons me for dangerous driving. I nearly shat myself at the prospect for weeks and in the end it never happened. But I learnt the lesson.

I also personally don't accept that the Gardai 'have to' ticket a given number of drivers. That would achieve nothing.

Wishbone Ash

He probably gave you a bit of lee-way because you were overtaking. I've always found them to be sound. I think many of the posters with anti-Garda threads are not giving us the full picture. :rolleyes: Great to hear a positive story.

JohnCleary

Same thing happened me before.

Got caught doing 123 in a 100. Bangarda pulled me over, had a chat with me, told me to slow down and sent me on my way. I tell ya, it certainly slowed me down, I was very pleasantly surprised*

* The bangarda was also hot - weird or what!

Wishbone Ash

JohnCleary wrote:

* The bangarda was also hot - weird or what!

John - the term BánGarda went out years ago. They prefer to be called 'Garda'.

maidhc

Yesterday evening I was about to make a wrong turn down a one way street. (Cork and its weird traffic flows)

There was a garda behind me and me blew the horn a few times when he saw me indicating. I cancelled the indicator. He pulled up alongside me and told me to watch out for where I was going.

He could just as easily have let me continue, and fined me,

Wishbone Ash

I (knowingly) made an illegal right turn from Richmond road onto Drumcondra Road recently. A Garda on the beat pulled me over. All I could think of was that I wasn't wearing a seatbelt. He explained that right turns were not permitted at that junction and he explained why. Still no mention of the seatbelt. He apologised profusely for pulling me over and delaying me. He waved goodbye and told me to "Oh - keep the belt on if you can at all". My jaw remained dropped until I got to the M1.

Vegeta

I love to hear these stories because a garda presence on the roads does slow people down

Even if they pull you in and make you sweat but let you go.

smarty

I also had a positive experience with the Gardai a few months ago. I was trying to find a shop in Temple Bar and got completely lost.

A Garda came over to the car and said to me that I looked lost. He told me that I was in a pedestrian zone. I told him where I was trying to get to and he showed me where I had to go. He was very polite and helpful.

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

Big Nelly wrote:

So much for all the stories about ignorant Garda and how they are all pi*s etc etc etc that we see here every week. Lovely group of lads in my opinion!

so this story ( in your opinion ) over rights the dozens and dozens of bad stories we read on here.

that's a very interesting and unbiased view my friend.

Wishbone Ash

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

so this story ( in your opinion ) over rights the dozens and dozens of bad stories we read on here.

that's a very interesting and unbiased view my friend.

Most people only talk about/report negative experiences - that is what is biased but it's human nature. You rarely hear people talking about good service at a shop/restaurant etc. but will always hear about bad service. The OP is just pointing that out. I and many others have never had a negative experience dealing with the Gardaí.

Kermitt

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

so this story ( in your opinion ) over rights the dozens and dozens of bad stories we read on here.

that's a very interesting and unbiased view my friend.

Well tbh I reckon a lot of those bad stories stem from the bad attitude of the driver towards the Gardaí. I've spoken to a Garda I know about this, and he's sais himself that if somebody protests at being pulled he'll be more likely to hit them with points than if they seem like they made an honest error in judgement. Some exaggeration takes place on these 'Harrassed and Abused by unmarked garda' threads. Not saying it doesn't happen, but some people like to ridicule the gardai

Also people are more likely to talk about bad experiences involving the Gardaí than good ones from what I've seen

Edit: Got there before me Wishbone!

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

Wishbone Ash wrote:

Most people only talk about/report negative experiences - that is what is biased but it's human nature. You rarely hear people talking about good service at a shop/restaurant etc. but will always hear about bad service. The OP is just pointing that out. I and many others have never had a negative experience dealing with the Gardaí.

jezzzzzzus.... maybe in your circle of friends and does it ever sound like all they do is moan... never a good word to say about anything. interesting friends

but in my circle of friends, if someone provides a good service or good food we normally spread it around so others can experience the good service. in fact business's and other services depend on this word of mouth for good advertising.

looking at it from your point of view, i suppose your better off not telling people of the good shops or nice restaurants... that way you'll always get a booking.

back to the post... its great to see that we still have a human element to the guards,

IrishRover

So what is the lesson you have learnt? Will you now be watching your speedo to make sure you don't go over 50mph when overtaking trucks on this road again?

You are all saying fair play to the cop for not giving him a fine and points, but I would say he went too far pulling him over for "speeding". I'll admit I'd have been going a lot faster when overtaking, to minimise the time spent on the wrong side of the road you see

stevejazzx

Kermitt wrote:

Clearly all this Bull about Gardaí having to get a certain number of tickets on a shift is nonsense. To be fair it seems they are actually trying to get people to slow down.

Actually it's cool you got off but people have been done for less, i.e doing 70 in a 60 zone which really should be a 80 zone and i think that the random fining of people that undoubtedly goes on in certain areas at certain times is an accepted fact, the fact is also that the gardai should not be selctive in who they fine but clearly are as your example illustrates.

It takes a complete re eduacation of driver mentality to do anything about raod saftey, this would involve a serious financial and logistical dedication from government, committed 24 hr task forces would have to be set up and a consistant garda traffic core would have to be present and visible at all times, add to this massive investment in poor infastructure especially in country areas like cavan etc. and the development of new heavily regulated government bodies dedicated to overseeing road saftey and we might see results.

But the clogs of the system turn too slow and nothing radical is really happening to end or curb road fatalities.
So while the government procrastinates and debates, and gardai infrequently carry out road checks and inconsistently hand out fines, the carnage will continue.

Thank you, goodnight

magpie

Got pulled over by the rozzers yesterday, coming through a small country town I evidently didn't hit the brakes fast enough to come down from 100 km/ph to 60 km/ph to 50 km/ph. First I knew about it was 5 minutes later when a silver mondeo comes bombing up behind me flashing lights.

Apparently I was doing 70 km/ph coming into the 60 zone. Copper was fairly apologetic about having to issue me a fine and 2 penalty points making comments like "Bad Luck" and "Just not your day" etc. Certainly no finger wagging involved - they were very pleasant really.

This all leads me to believe that quota may have been involved - especially as its the start of the month.

unkel

@OP, did the Garda see you overtaking or did you explain that to him?

If he did see you overtaking and slowing down after you returned to your lane, I'm surprised you got pulled over at all tbh even though momentarily you were over the speed limit

I'm with IrishRover. On a single carriageway, I generally overtake as fast as I can, because it is the safest way to overtake. If that means going over the speed limit, being pulled by a guard and given a fine and / or penalty points, so be it.

Kermitt

I reckon he did see the overtake as its a pretty straight stretch for half a mile or so. As well as that there was a black starlet turbo licking the paint on my back bumper, so i guess he thought it would have been illogical to book me when the guy behind was most likely driving in a more dangerous fashion. But the rule is first in the line gets pulled. I think it also helps that I'm not a boy racer type, and the car looks very respectable. I'd say they'd be more likely to book someone with bodykit, sounds etc. . Not saying its right, but probably accurate

magpie

I think it also helps that I'm not a boy racer type, and the car looks very respectable. I'd say they'd be more likely to book someone with bodykit, sounds etc. . Not saying its right, but probably accurate

No, bull****. See my post above - I got a ticket while in an 05 (unmodified!)Saloon Car wearing a shirt and tie, I was also very polite to the cops but still got a ticket.

Kermitt

Hey I'm not saying it's cut and dried either way, but if I were driving a 'boy racer' car in my situation it may have been more likely that i'd get booked. I don't know what your situation is - For all I know you might have been well over speed limit. - Not saying you were, but every situation is different. Some situations they'd book the pope if he did it.

maidhc

magpie wrote:

No, bull****.

There are definately cars though which draw the Gardaí upon you.

Kermitt

Also they're called An Garda Síochána - or the Gardaí - Not theRozzers

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

magpie wrote:

No, bull****. See my post above - I got a ticket while in an 05 (unmodified!)Saloon Car wearing a shirt and tie, I was also very polite to the cops but still got a ticket.

don't care... it must of been your fault, did you forget to call him sir, did you make eye contact... you must never make eye contact with a guard always look down. How was you tie tied, it must be a windsor knot otherwise your screwed. was it a Thursday, no white shirts on a Thursday. how did you open your window...don't tell me you didn't open it fully...oh that's a prison offence...

i don't know what you did, but you must of said or done something to piss him off, otherwise he would of let you off...

they are always polite and courteous.... until we piss them off.

its not their fault they have to deal with us. its ours....right

magpie

Also they're called An Garda Síochána - or the Gardaí - Not theRozzers

That must be where I made my mistake!

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

Kermitt wrote:

Also they're called An Garda Síochána - or the Gardaí - Not theRozzers

maybe you call them that, but ask the rest of the population what they call them.

Seth Brundle

I gall them the gardai.
I never hear 'the Rozzers', pigs, etc. Maybe its the folk you hang around with!

maidhc

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

maybe you call them that, but ask the rest of the population what they call them.

Gardaí too, or the Guards...

Never in my life heard of "Rozzers"

magpie

That's because you're from the bogs, whence the filth emanate from.

Kermitt

I'm beggining to think your attitude may have been a part of the reason you got points. _ Let me see - from Dublin - Anti-Cultchie, calls Gardaí by strange names I've only ever heard on 3rd rate British Tv shows. All adds up to a poor attitude towards our law enforcement. Shame.....