Got caught speeding

TwoShedsJackson

Every speeding thread on this forum follows a set path:

1) Thread is posted, OP may or may not admit that he was in fact speeding. There follows an enquiry on whether or not he might be able to weasel out of it on some technicality such as 'the guard didn't haven't his hat on' or 'do lasers work at night'

2) The rest of the thread is divided between the two camps: We Should Be Allowed Do Whatever Speed We Like Whenever We Like & How Dare The Cops Enforce The Law and the You Were Caught Speeding, Take Your Punishment gangs.

3) Thread dies, but is resurrected next week, don't worry.

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

eoin_s wrote:

So, the driver does not end up speeding in the area that the Gardai apparently deemed dangerous. What's the issue again?

This is where all these "speeding threads" get caught in a loop. You are being semantic. Just because a speeding driver slows where he knows a speedtrap to be and then continues like a bat out of hell does not make disclosing the speedtrap location ok. Nothing has been achieved by a speeder slowing for 100m and then speeding for miles on end. So the argument will now go round and round and round...

Steve

Javon Billions Hairbrush wrote:

Nothing has been achieved by a speeder slowing for 100m and then speeding for miles on end.

So a camera outside a school:

Option 1: Car speeds past, child runs out, kills the child

Option 2: He knows there is a camera there, slows down, misses the child, the camera has done it's job and saved a life.

I really can't believe you are campaining for option 1.

mukki

lads stop bickering, your not going to actually change each other opinions

Seth Brundle

Javon Billions Hairbrush wrote:

Sorry for going OT but to reply to an OT above:- Here we go again. Let him know so the site can post a warning to let speeders know where and when to slow down. They can then speed to their little heart's content on the rest of the journey. Very responsible. I thought IST said the purpose was to get speedtraps where they were needed. Obviously legit on that road that night.

Au contraire - if people know that speed checks are operated at night, then they are more likely to drive at a slower speed. AFAIR most fatalities occur at night so anything to reduce this list should be welcomed. In fact, IIRC most fatalities are not speed related despite the shíte announded via the media.
We have a large proportion of fatalities caused by alcohol but have still very few checks for this. We have far too many people involved in incidents whilst using drugs (prescription or otherwise) - we can't/won't really test for these! The 'Speed Kills' line is one thats overused but also misused!

Anyhow, you seem to dislike people announcing speed trap locations by using a service like this. Why then are cameras painted orange in the UK - the country with the lowest fatality rate in Europe? Why then do certain police forces publicise their camera locations online (e.g. www.cambssafetycameras.co.uk)?
Im not saying that its right to speed nor would I encourage others to do so. But I don't swallow the line that you seem to readliy accept that if you speed then you will kill. Speed isn't the danger, inappropriate speed is!

Andrewf20 wrote:

They were on the N3 the other evening as well at 8pm, outside blanchardstown in the 80kmh/hr zone heading towards the M50.

They are often there (on either carriageway). Im not sure what the exact logic is as its a grand clear road (and yes I know the inbound speed limit decreases to suit people who need to merge (but presumably because they learnt to drive in Ireland, can't!)) but a merge lane IMO shouldn't dictate a speed limit

Wossack

OP: if youre thinking of challenging the ticket, you'll be wasting your time, the guns work in most all conditions - the limiting factor is really just the gardai aiming the thing

@stevec, lol, that is one of the best 'think of the children' posts Ive seen

mick.fr

Thanks for all your input guys :-)
I am not going to challenge it, it is not worth it, because it just costed me 80 euro.
But as a normal human being, I sometimes ask some questions to myself.
Such as "Hum what if they actually catched the guy in front of me ?"

I was fast, over 100kmh, but I do not know how fast exactly, maybe 120, 130, 140 I do not know.

Anyway, this is not the first time I have been speeding and this will not be the last time. This is actually very often the only way for me to avoid the dangerous way people are driving here very often.

It took me 5 hours to make 260 km, having to cross X number of towns just to join 2 major cities (Dublin-Cork), I am really asking myself, "WTF the Irish government has been doing with the 55 billion euro given by the EU since the 60ties to build roads and train infrastructure"....building a M50 ?

rediguana

*You missed your chance to sweet-talk your way out of it with the cops on the night.
*There's no getting out of it now.
*You're morally entitled to attempt to squirm out of it but you've no case.

What a legend! Neatly dealt with in three succinct, yet piercingly relevant, points.

milltown

Reminds me of the story of the guy caught speeding in the states...

Cop: You were 20mph over the limit. Buddy (probably).
Guy: I was in a line of about 10 cars all going the same speed. Why did you pull me?
Cop: Have you ever been fishing?
Guy: Huh? Yeah.
Cop: Ever catch all the fish?

Theboinkmaster

mick.fr wrote:

Thanks for all your input guys :-)
I am not going to challenge it, it is not worth it, because it just costed me 80 euro.
But as a normal human being, I sometimes ask some questions to myself.
Such as "Hum what if they actually catched the guy in front of me ?"

I was fast, over 100kmh, but I do not know how fast exactly, maybe 120, 130, 140 I do not know.

Anyway, this is not the first time I have been speeding and this will not be the last time. This is actually very often the only way for me to avoid the dangerous way people are driving here very often.

It took me 5 hours to make 260 km, having to cross X number of towns just to join 2 major cities (Dublin-Cork), I am really asking myself, "WTF the Irish government has been doing with the 55 billion euro given by the EU since the 60ties to build roads and train infrastructure"....building a M50 ?

Normal human being eh :rolleyes:

I.S.T.

milltown wrote:

Reminds me of the story of the guy caught speeding in the states...

Cop: You were 20mph over the limit. Buddy (probably).
Guy: I was in a line of about 10 cars all going the same speed. Why did you pull me?
Cop: Have you ever been fishing?
Guy: Huh? Yeah.
Cop: Ever catch all the fish?

With a fixed Gatso they could have caught all 10 fish in that barrell!

MrPudding

IrishSpeedTraps wrote:

With a fixed Gatso they could have caught all 10 fish in that barrell!

Exactly. And he could have been out catching real criminals.

MrP

_Kaiser_

kbannon wrote:

They are often there (on either carriageway). Im not sure what the exact logic is as its a grand clear road (and yes I know the inbound speed limit decreases to suit people who need to merge (but presumably because they learnt to drive in Ireland, can't!)) but a merge lane IMO shouldn't dictate a speed limit

It's the only place I can think off (offhand) where it happens too. Would be a better idea at the M50/M1 merge which is ridiculously short.


Anyway, I've seen them on the Blanch bypass:

- Outbound, just under the bridge at the Damastown turnoff (presumably in case it starts raining).

- Inbound about 300M before this bridge where there's gaps in the dividing hedge.

- Inbound about 200M before the Blanch exit, just beyond the bend in the road (so you don't spot them till the last minute). In my opinion this is the most dangerous as they're sitting in the grass in the median.

- Inbound on the left just before the Mulhuddart turn off.

- Outbound at the end of the new(ish) buslane, across from the Statoil garage.


Presumably the Blanch gardai haven't been meeting their targets as they seem to be out a lot lately

Stark

Usually see white Gatso van on the inbound carriageway just after the speed limit decreases to 80kph (this one annoys me as the speed signs are partially obscured by hedges so if you didn't know the road, you'd have to slam on the brakes as soon as you saw the signs to avoid being caught).

Then there's the bridge to the shopping centre over the road, where they're either parked under it pulling cars or on the bridge itself with camera/gun pointed at the road.

mick.fr wrote:

I was fast, over 100kmh, but I do not know how fast exactly, maybe 120, 130, 140 I do not know.

Anyway, this is not the first time I have been speeding and this will not be the last time. This is actually very often the only way for me to avoid the dangerous way people are driving here very often.

You mean like the people who drive around half asleep, not really sure what they're doing?

godtabh

Javon Billions Hairbrush wrote:

This is where all these "speeding threads" get caught in a loop. You are being semantic. Just because a speeding driver slows where he knows a speedtrap to be and then continues like a bat out of hell does not make disclosing the speedtrap location ok. Nothing has been achieved by a speeder slowing for 100m and then speeding for miles on end. So the argument will now go round and round and round...

Introduce the average speed system like in England and that wont be a problem and the lop is broken

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

kearnsr wrote:

Introduce the average speed system like in England and that wont be a problem and the lop is broken

Well said. Tha's exactly what is needed. It seems to work very well just north of Newry.

godtabh

mick.fr wrote:

I was fast, over 100kmh, but I do not know how fast exactly, maybe 120, 130, 140 I do not know.

Anyway, this is not the first time I have been speeding and this will not be the last time. This is actually very often the only way for me to avoid the dangerous way people are driving here very often.

You cant not be serious? Just because there is a muppet on the road you act like a bigger muppet putting other peoples lives at risk (couldnt care less about yours with that attitude).

Golferx

Javon Billions Hairbrush wrote:

Well said. Tha's exactly what is needed. It seems to work very well just north of Newry.

How, exactly, does it "seem to work" ?

The OP was exceeding the speed limit, from what I can read. There's absolutely no evidence of him driving, in any way, dangerously.

Steve

Javon Billions Hairbrush wrote:

Well said. Tha's exactly what is needed. It seems to work very well just north of Newry.

Better watch out for that one - thanks for the tip-off:D

Stark

It's actually well marked.

MrPudding

Stark wrote:

It's actually well marked.

And therefore causes people to slow down to the speed limit? Wow. Who would have thunk it?

MrP

godtabh

Golferx wrote:

How, exactly, does it "seem to work" ?

The OP was exceeding the speed limit, from what I can read. There's absolutely no evidence of him driving, in any way, dangerously.

he was talking about the speed cameras preventing people slowing down at the cameras and speeding ever were else. the average speed detection system would prevent this

godtabh

MrPudding wrote:

And therefore causes people to slow down to the speed limit? Wow. Who would have thunk it?

MrP

But they have to slow down over a longer stretch therefore is safter.

event

mick.fr wrote:

.

Anyway, this is not the first time I have been speeding and this will not be the last time. This is actually very often the only way for me to avoid the dangerous way people are driving here very often.

so the only way for you to avoid the bad drivers here is by speeding?

Stark

Sure that way, they'll always be behind you, don't you know. You'll never get them pulling out of a side road or doing anything else in front of you, no siree. Not if you drive fast enough. Similarly, you'll leave any pedestrians or animals crossing the road in your wake.

smashey

Jaysus, it's not the end of the world. I also got caught recently at 11.15pm and guess what? I was speeding and i'm gonna pay the fine.

MrPudding

kearnsr wrote:

But they have to slow down over a longer stretch therefore is safter.

I am not denying that, never have. My point is that when drivers know there is a camera they slow down. How effective would average speed check cameras be if they were hidden?

MrP

ambro25

kearnsr wrote:

Introduce the average speed system like in England and that wont be a problem and the lop is broken

[joke]
It already exists over here, albeit under a different name: rubbernecking.

...so don't change anything, muppets writing themselves off on the side of the road already act as self-enforcing average speed cameras
[/joke]

I'm quick to add rubbernecking is not an Irish exclusive

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

MrPudding wrote:

And therefore causes people to slow down to the speed limit? Wow. Who would have thunk it?

MrP

At least they would slow down over a distance of many miles rather than for a number of yards as we have with our fixed cameras or mobile units. That's the whole point! Slowing down for a single camera location achieves nothing if the driver puts the boot down for the remainder of the journey. With mobile unadvertised speedchecks there is, if nothing else a deterrent, in that you don't know where you may get caught. Average speed monitoring is certainly the way to go.

MrPudding

Javon Billions Hairbrush wrote:

Slowing down for a single camera location achieves nothing if the driver puts the boot down for the remainder of the journey.

Christ on a stick, once more of the cheap seats. It does acheive something, it slows drivers down in the area where it is located. If this location is section of road that is particularly dangerous, and no I don't mean a nice straight bit on the M1, then driver will negotiate that section at a safe speed and potentially avoid an accident.

I think saving the odd life is a great acheivement myself.

How effective would covert average speed cameras be?

MrP