Polish drivers

purple'n'gold

http://www.rte.ie/aertel/110-01.html

What are the rules and regulations for foreign drivers in Ireland?
Are they allowed to drive on licences issued in their own countries?
Are insurance policies issued in their home countries valid here?

PCros

F**k it, its there own fault, they think they are above the law and drive like idiots until the hit a telephone pole.

purple'n'gold

I have no problem with them killing themselves, but I do have a problem with them being on the road and putting other people in danger.

Mantel

PCros wrote: »

F**k it, its there own fault, they think they are above the law and drive like idiots until the hit a telephone pole.

Other cars and pedestrians are easier to hit than telephone poles.

MrJoeSoap

Having worked next-door to an off-license for three years it definitely isn't a myth. There was a crash a few hundred yards down the road from me that killed a Polish man, the car completely demolished a wall, whilst the passenger that survived got out of the car and lit up a cigarette...

Owen

Another thread on this? :rolleyes:

A minority of 'Polish' (Which seems to be the Irish term for Eastern European people these days) drivers give the majority a bad name, so let's have a knee-jerk piece of legislation run through the Dáil to stop them driving here. Brilliant. Sure that'll fix everything.

togster

ned78 wrote: »

Another thread on this? :rolleyes:

.

Could we not have a thread stickied for the racists etc to post on pleasssssse

mickjohnlong

what happens to the polish or other foreign drivers if they get caught drink driving do they get points on their licence or do they get a ban how is it applied to them

MrJoeSoap

ned78 wrote: »

A minority of 'Polish' (Which seems to be the Irish term for Eastern European people these days)

Is it a minority though? The coroner in the link said he had experienced a disproportionate number of Polish drivers being killed.

so let's have a knee-jerk piece of legislation run through the Dáil to stop them driving here. Brilliant. Sure that'll fix everything.

Who even mentioned legislation, you are the one who is knee-jerking here.

togster

mickjohnlong wrote: »

what happens to the polish or other foreign drivers if they get caught drink driving do they get points on their licence or do they get a ban how is it applied to them

They get away scot free aparently. Because our laws don't apply to them cos they are from eastern europe

MrJoeSoap

togster wrote: »

They get away scot free aparently. Because our laws don't apply to them cos they are from eastern europe

Good input. Thanks for that. Good to see the anti-racism crowd are out early to pre-empt any racism.

Heaven forbid, they might even discuss the issue at hand.

Owen

MrJoeSoap wrote: »

Is it a minority though? The coroner in the link said he had experienced a disproportionate number of Polish drivers being killed.

Yes, it is. I'm directly involved with the Polish community as herself is Polish. Most of the lads are excellently disciplined drivers with observational skills that would put any Irish driver to shame.

MrJoeSoap wrote: »

Who even mentioned legislation, you are the one who is knee-jerking here.

Call it a prediction. Someone'll be on the thread soon asking for it.

connundrum

Feck them all out.

And this probably belongs in the Motors forum.

Mossy Monk

ned78 wrote: »

Another thread on this? :rolleyes:

A minority of 'Polish' (Which seems to be the Irish term for Eastern European people these days) drivers give the majority a bad name, so let's have a knee-jerk piece of legislation run through the Dáil to stop them driving here. Brilliant. Sure that'll fix everything.

It is the coroner who said Polish. Yours is the typical knee jerk response.

matrim

purplengold wrote: »

What are the rules and regulations for foreign drivers in Ireland?

The same rules and regulations that apply for Irish drivers

purplengold wrote: »

Are they allowed to drive on licences issued in their own countries?

Depends on the country. AFAIK, people from all European countries can drive with their license. However some countries cannot, e.g. Americans.

purplengold wrote: »

Are insurance policies issued in their home countries valid here?

The same as here it depends on the insurance policy, some will and some won't.


From what I've been told, the standard of training for getting a license is higher in Poland than Ireland. You have to do 20 odd lessons before you can even sit your test.
However, there are people everywhere that will drink and drive regardless of the standard of training they have. I would assume because they are drunk and driving on the a side of the road they are not used to it would increase the likelihood of an accident.

togster

MrJoeSoap wrote: »

Good input. Thanks for that. Good to see the anti-racism crowd are out early to pre-empt any racism.

Heaven forbid, they might even discuss the issue at hand.

Its called a pre-emptive strike. Its better to attempt to stop it before you crowd start getting illusions of grandeur and start preaching again. Some one needs to stand up for the foreigners don't ya know

Owen

Mossy Monk wrote: »

It is the coroner who said Polish. Yours is the typical knee jerk response.

With all due respect, an old boss' partner was a coroner here in Cork. Any time I went to dinner she use to blab on about how many bikers were being wiped out, and how we were like lemmings. And no matter how often we discussed the matter, she could never be wrong. Until I confronted her with the stats. Then she shut up.

So, I wouldn't really have much meas on what a coroner has to say on the matter, and would prefer to see some actual statistics, rather than a personal comment picked up and magnified by the media.

togster

matrim wrote: »

From what I've been told, the standard of training for getting a license is higher in Poland than Ireland. You have to do 20 odd lessons before you can even sit your test.
However, there are people everywhere that will drink and drive regardless of the standard of training they have. I would assume because they are drunk and driving on the a side of the road they are not used to it would increase the likelihood of an accident.

+1 and in most countries in the EU you can drive on the licence you attained in your country of residence.

mct1

I moved back here from the UK 12 years ago, and being a law abiding goody-2-shoes, I tried to do everything properly (including reregistering the cars within a week or so!) The UK car insurance would not be valid if you stay here for longer than a few weeks (the number of days is stated on the policy) so it's compulsary to get re-insured here by then. I think it's legal to drive here with a foreign licence, but I changed mine to an Irish one so I could use it as i.d, and be able to hire a car. My UK licence would obviously be invalid as i.d because I was no longer resident at the address stated on it. I assume people coming to reside here from other countries need to do the same, though I suspect many of them don't bother.

togster

mct1 wrote: »

I assume people coming to reside here from other countries need to do the same, though I suspect many of them don't bother.

You don't need an irish license to get insured here. If you hold a valid licence you can get insurance. What do people suggest that everyone moving here do an irish driving test?

Kintarō Hattori

togster wrote: »

They get away scot free aparently. Because our laws don't apply to them cos they are from eastern europe

Well your just wrong there.

ned78 wrote: »

So, I wouldn't really have much meas on what a coroner has to say on the matter, and would prefer to see some actual statistics, rather than a personal comment picked up and magnified by the media.

I agree with Ned here. Anyone can say what they want and heck alot of people will believe them. But, you can't argue with statistics and that's what I'd like to see.


Same old crap eh Ned?!

togster

eo980 wrote: »

Well your just wrong there.

*whooosh*

Kintarō Hattori

togster wrote: »

*whooosh*

No I know what you meant but so many wouldn't have got it because they'd have been blinded by the chance to come in here and moan about 'them foreigners'.

ejmaztec

It's ironic that a couple of Polish bikers got killed in Kerry by a drunken local driver back in the summer of 2006. He was recently locked up for five years.

With regard to Eastern European drivers in general, a lot of the ones that I see must have their accelerator pedals welded to the floor. I think that this is because of Western technology. The cars in the former Soviet bloc probably only had a top speed of 30 miles an hour, whereas the ropiest piece of scrap in the West could treble that with the handbrake on. Mix this with a dose of alcohol, and it's off to the A&E. When the novelty's worn off they might slow down a bit:D

120_Minutes

matrim wrote: »

Depends on the country. AFAIK, people from all European countries can drive with their license. However some countries cannot, e.g. Americans.

Wrong. An american can drive here for up to 12 months with their US licence.

peasant

...and 400.000 Irish people can drive without having done any test at all :D:D

Pherekydes

purplengold wrote: »

Are they allowed to drive on licences issued in their own countries?

Are WE allowed drive abroad on licences issued in OUR country?

WoollyRedHat

Sure let's blame the polish, why not! Typical Irish thing to do, shift the blame onto another countries people and make it look like it's not really our fault.

When official statistics are shown, as mentioned, maybe it can give us a clearer picture, but such a vague statement that was made by a coroner without any figures to back up his claim and then shown on RTE is stupid.

Terry

Moved from AH.

Gran Hermano

I'm pretty sure I heard in the latest figures that the National Safety Council
released this week detailing the breakdown of penalty points allocated
show that 20% of all penalty point offenders are driving on non-Irish
licenses. Now unless 20% of all motorists in Ireland are driving on foreign
licenses this would indicate to me that those driving on foreign licenses
are more likely to commit break traffic laws.

I am also aware that many Irish people drive on foreign licenses, often as
a means to avoid penalty points. The only way to circumvent this loophole
is to ensure that points earned in Ireland are applied to all foreign licenses.

mox54

I currently drive on a UK liscence and cannot get points and have no intention of changing it, even the Garda are unsure what the story is so every time I'm questioned about it they take any old story from me, as for Polish drivers etc, they are fairly good drivers on the whole (I drive for a living and work with Polish lads) and the general standard is high, the rest of eastern europe is a different story, Latvia etc, I think they're fairly poor by comparison.