speed checks at mid night

--amadeus--

I always figured that the point of speed traps should be to deter those who routinely use inapropriate speed, with inapropriate being too fast for teh conditions.

Now since it seems most accidents take place on minor roads at night I'm delighted to see that they have started to put checks there. I don't agree with them checking on duel carriageways or motorways but if they are on a backroad between midnight and 6am then they might catch some of teh real dangers on the road.

javaboy

astraboy wrote: »

I like that going 5kph over the speed limit, which may be stupidly low and does not take into account changing road conditions, makes you a "common criminal" in your books. Most speeders don't hurt anyone, its general bad driving that does(and that includes inappropriate speed too, not 'speeding'!). A common criminal is a scumbag that robs cars and steals. But these people don't face justice until they have done it many many times, speeders get done on the spot and are often hard-done by. Don't oversimplify by saying your a common criminal for breaking the speed limit.

Once again. Breaking the speed limit is a crime. It is common. People who break the speed limit are perpetrating a common crime. That makes them common criminals.

I know a lot of places where the speed limit is too low but you need to nag your local authorities etc. about things like that.

Criminals stealing cars are obviously a lot worse than speeders and I won't argue that they're getting off lightly. In fact I agree that more effort should be put into catching them than into the fish in a barrel speeders. But that still doesn't justify breaking the law. The reason many joyriders etc. don't face justice until they are caught many times is often because of an inept court/justice system. I know a lot of Gardai and they hate nothing more than putting all the legwork into catching a scumbag only for the judge to give them a suspended sentence or similar.

And anyone who is worried about revenue generation, stop speeding and the revenue will dry up. Then they might direct their efforts more towards the 'serious' crimes.

Steve

javaboy wrote: »

Correct me if I'm wrong but is speeding not a crime? And one of the most common? In my book that makes you a common criminal.

Once again. Breaking the speed limit is a crime. It is common. People who break the speed limit are perpetrating a common crime. That makes them common criminals.

Sorry for being pedantic but,

technically it's not a crime, it's a civil offence. As is illegal parking, littering etc..

Burglary, trug trafficking and murder are criminal offences and you get a criminal record when convicted - you don't for speeding.

astraboy

stevec wrote: »

Sorry for being pedantic but,

technically it's not a crime, it's a civil offence. As is illegal parking, littering etc..

Burglary, trug trafficking and murder are criminal offences and you get a criminal record when convicted - you don't for speeding.

Exactly, speeding is a civil offense, not a crime. If you think they are going to let the revenue "Dry up" your wrong, they will just implement more cameras on flat straight stretches of road.
However I agree with Javaboy, judges need to be harsher on real criminals.

javaboy

astraboy wrote: »

Exactly, speeding is a civil offense, not a crime. If you think they are going to let the revenue "Dry up" your wrong, they will just implement more cameras on flat straight stretches of road.
However I agree with Javaboy, judges need to be harsher on real criminals.

Fair enough I stand corrected on the common criminal one. It's an offense. How about habitual offender?

Seriously though I'm not trying to wind anyone up on this and I don't consider (m)any of the people who routinely break the speed limit to be on a par with your average Joe Scumbag. I know that most of the people on here that admit to 'speeding' probably only break the speed limit when they deem it safe etc. and I know that those people should be fairly low on the priorities of the Gardai. But I'm sure the Gardai get a lot of political pressure put on them re speeding. I'm not suggesting they are given targets or anything but you would wonder..... personally I can see the logic to the argument that the person they catch speeding on the M50 is likely to be the same person that speeds on a dodgy backroad, it's just easier to catch a lot of them on the M50.


Anyway....... after all that blathering...... what I meant when I said the revenue would dry up was that if people stopped speeding altogether including the flat straights, then there would be less speed checks/revenue. Obviously that's not gonna happen in a million years and especially while the limits on some stretches are so inappropriately low.

Steve

javaboy wrote: »

...... personally I can see the logic to the argument that the person they catch speeding on the M50 is likely to be the same person that speeds on a dodgy backroad, it's just easier to catch a lot of them on the M50.

you could also say that the person they catch driving dangerously / stupidly / on the phone / kids unrestrained on the M50 is likely to be the same person that drives dangerously / stupidly / on the phone / kids unrestrained on a dodgy backroad.
Yet they dont even seem to try.

Speed checks don't catch these muppets as they aren't speeding, yet they are 10 times more likely to add to road death statistics.

The amount of times I wish I had a set of blue lights :mad::mad:

javaboy

stevec wrote: »

you could also say that the person they catch driving dangerously / stupidly / on the phone / kids unrestrained on the M50 is likely to be the same person that drives dangerously / stupidly / on the phone / kids unrestrained on a dodgy backroad.
Yet they dont even seem to try.

Speed checks don't catch these muppets as they aren't speeding, yet they are 10 times more likely to add to road death statistics.

The amount of times I wish I had a set of blue lights :mad::mad:

Agreed