Sick of the gardai

Lorax

Im 21, male, and drive a 1.4 astra now I know a lot of ppl on their 1st provisional drive without fully licensed drivers in the car a gardai who stopped me before even said to me that he knows its not feasible to always have 1 and personally he thought it was a stupid law anyway they, always pull me in for NO REASON at all and then go on about how its a violation of my license and my insurance etc etc it seems I cant even go out in the car any more without getting pulled in for the only reason I can think of being my car is not a 1 litre like most learners and because of the look of me (I wear hoodies a lot and football jerseys) Sorry about the rant just needed to get it out, thanks for listening!

overdriver

Take the hood down for a start

They may have your reg on some sort of watch-list. Have you been in proper trouble with them?

Lorax

I dont drive with my hood up! Whats this watchlist thing? Ive never been in trouble with the gardai in my life, never even had dealings with them untuil I start driving. Ive only been driving 4 months.

Seth Brundle

I drove (albeit several years ago) on a 1st and 2nd provisional without ever getting stopped. I drive (often at speed) and still don't get stopped. In fact in about 12 or 15 years of driving, I have only been stopped once and it was justified. The garda listened to my excuse, (laughed!) and let me go.

I don't believe that they are pulling you just because you may look young or because you are in a 1.4 astra or because you wear a football jersey. You have to stand out for a stronger reason. Has the car got a kit? A non-standard exhaust? Something?

junkyard

Or the previous owner may have been known to the Gardai so as a result the car gets pull at every opportunity. Do you have your car modified? If so its like a red rag to a bull. Also if you look like a scumbag, no disrespect intended, your asking for trouble.

mloc123

Lorax wrote:

the only reason I can think of being my car is not a 1 litre like most learners

lol, a 1.4 astra is quite a sports car alright. Where abouts are you living? In 5 years of driving I have never been stopped driving in westmeath, kildare, dublin and dublin city frequently. You must have done something to piss them off at some stage, is it always the same local gardai?

vector

A friend of a friend had a similar problem, despite looking respectable and being in his 30s, he found his 3 series was pulled over alot and just looked over, after some enquires with a member it emerged that the vehicles previous owner was "known to the gardai" and was on a "catalog" now I don't think he meant the argos catalog but rather some record attached to the cars registration.

Perhaps your car had a previous owner of ill repute OR it is a mirror image of an existing car that has an owner of ill repute

bazz26

Similar thing happened to someone why father knows. He bought a second hand Merc a couple of years ago and was constantly pulled over by the Garda. They even searched the car inside out a few times. Now this guy never broke the law in his life not to mind be known to the Garda. Anyway he did a bit of inquiring from a friend of a friend who knew a garda and it ended up that the car had been owned by a well known high profile criminal at one stage. He sold the car on quickly.

Tipsy Mac

Usually they stop these cars if they are done up like muppet mobiles, ie tinted windows, lexus lights and go faster plastic tacked on

overdriver

My last car was the same. I was pulled constantly in it. they even followed me home one night.


This may be your problem.

furtzy

Quite simple really. If you're on a 1st, 3rd or subsequent provisional licence you have to be accompanied by a full licence holder....thems the rules like it or lump it. A provisional licence is a learners permit and not a licence as such.

Stephen

I've been driving in one form or another since I was 16 (bikes->cars), and have only EVER been stopped for tax disc checks in 8 years, usually a couple of times each year. You'd think the government would just implement a UK type system where tax defaulters get automatically notified/fined by post, rather than wasting garda time and causing traffic jams with tax checkpoints, but no, this is Ireland where efficiency and government never cross paths.

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

Lorax wrote:

(I wear hoodies a lot and football jerseys)

count your self lucky your not arrested and locked up... ya granny beater.
no need to call in a jury for you. its obvious your a criminal

It BeeMee

Lorax wrote:

Im 21, male, and drive a 1.4 astra now I know a lot of ppl on their 1st provisional drive without fully licensed drivers in the car a gardai who stopped me before even said to me that he knows its not feasible to always have 1 and personally he thought it was a stupid law anyway they, always pull me in for NO REASON at all and then go on about how its a violation of my license and my insurance etc etc it seems I cant even go out in the car any more without getting pulled in for the only reason I can think of being my car is not a 1 litre like most learners and because of the look of me (I wear hoodies a lot and football jerseys) Sorry about the rant just needed to get it out, thanks for listening!

Maybe you failed to bing the car to a ..errr... FULL STOP!
(sorry)

Seriously, there must be something that brings you to the guard's attention.
I take it there's L-Plates on the car?
Maybe the Gardai have finally started to crack down on the whole "need experienced driver" rule?

hi5

You've had four years now to do your driving test

Seth Brundle

hi5 wrote:

You've had four years now to do your driving test

The OP is on his first provisional so has had less than two years to complete a test. The fact that he is 21 is irrelevant.

lau1247

don't think how you dress matters..
No sane person driving at reasonable speed is gonna peek into your window to see what you're wearing..
If there is, god help ya..

As for the type of car and engine size.. seems irrelevant also..
Unless you drive like crazy..
i.e accelerating constantly even on a short stretch of road..
since you've been stopped many time, I can assume you're not speeding


Maybe it's a look you're expressing..
No disrespect but some people just have that kind of vibe..
They are the ones where you have a glance at them and know that you just want to give them a punch in the face even for no apparant reason..

vasch_ro

if your driving unaccompanied when they stop you well then they are doing their job, its as simple as that ......

bo-bo

perhaps its just the gardai doing their job

last_orders

iv been driving for around four months like you lorax, i wear hoodies when driving an drive a pretty beat up polo (looks like it was used as a stunt car its got so many dents an scrapes), the damage is from the previous owner but concidering the appearance it looks like im the one who is the dodgy driver. iv also got learner plates up and i frequently drive solo but iv never been stopped, only the odd quick glance at the tax disc at cheack points. it must be that your car is either a suped up space craft lookalike (finglas, we have a problem) or your driving is dodgy, jus my opinion.

overdriver

last_orders wrote:

(finglas, we have a problem)

unnameduser

furtzy wrote:

Quite simple really. If you're on a 1st, 3rd or subsequent provisional licence you have to be accompanied by a full licence holder....thems the rules like it or lump it. A provisional licence is a learners permit and not a licence as such.

What a comment. The driving licence situation in Ireland is a farce. Yes they are the rules but christ breaking them is unavoidable when waiting for a test. Id hate to be in that situation.

Seth Brundle

Its not unavoidable! L drivers (as do all drivers) choose to drive and not use other means of transport.

Guy:Incognito

unnameduser wrote:

What a comment. The driving licence situation in Ireland is a farce. Yes they are the rules but christ breaking them is unavoidable when waiting for a test. Id hate to be in that situation.

The wait for a test is not excuse. It takes as long to get a licence in Germany , yet they seem to manage ok not driving for a year.

deman

bo-bo wrote:

perhaps its just the gardai doing their job

But they're not doing their job. How many times has the OP got off with just a warning? Yes there's a long queue waiting to do their test but this guy's had 4 years to do his. There's no excuse here. He's breaking the law and should be punished.

byte

But he hasn't had a license for 4 years. So he didn't have 4 years to get a full license.

deman

byte wrote:

But he hasn't had a license for 4 years. So he didn't have 4 years to get a full license.

At 17, knowing about the farce with the driving test, don't you think it would have been a smart to do to start queuing then? I'm not saying he had the licence for 4 years, just that he's had 4 years to see about it.

byte

Yeah, but maybe he had no real intention of driving at 17. Nor maybe had the finances for a motor.

Heck, I didn't get my full license or my first car until I was 26!

Wishbone Ash

The Gardai usually do a reg check via their control to the PULSE system before stopping a motorist. Unfortunately, it's a bit of viscious circle - the more times that one is checked, the more times one is likely to be checked as it records all prevoius enquiries. As has been stated prevoiusly, the former owner (if any) may have had reason to be stopped.

deman wrote:

but this guy's had 4 years to do his.

He's on his 1st provisional. Where are you getting 4 years?

There are 185 people aged 85 and over on a first provisional B licence. Do you think that they have had 68+ years to get their full licence. :rolleyes:

LundiMardi

Wishbone Ash wrote:

He's on his 1st provisional. Where are you getting 4 years?

Probably cos he's 21 and has had 4 years since 17 to get his licence....

I know, i know what you're thinking, and yes it is quite a retarded statement.

Oh well, i'm off to view possible graves for when i die in 60 years or so, oh and i have to pick up the tombstone too, it's just being engraved.:rolleyes:

liamo

OP, You've been driving for FOUR months. You're on your first provisional licence. You're breaking the law by driving unaccompanied by a licenced driver and you have the nerve to post this whingeing, whining post about being pulled over frequently? Might it possibly have something to do with your (probably very obviously) inexperienced driving?

There's a reason that you're supposed to be accompanied by a licenced driver. It's to stop you ending up as another statistic - dead in a ditch or dead wrapped around a tree or dead squashed against a wall at 3am on a dark road - or worse, dead with a few of your friends dead in the back seat.

You've been pulled over loads of times and warned about driving unaccompanied and you're STILL doing it? And now you're complaining about being pulled over? FFS, why don't you go all the way and complain about having to bother getting a licence in the first f***ing place 'cos, obviously, laws that apply to everyone else don't apply to you, right?

Get off the f***ing road, you maniac, before you kill yourself and/or someone else!!