So........... did you drive to work today?

chris11

Any provisional drivers out there who have ignored the ban?has anyone been pulled?I got stopped at a checkpoint about a week ago and was told I shouldn't be driving on my own,my name was taken but the garda didn't seem to bothered and was asking me how much my insurance was by the end of it.I'm hearing alot of different things from gards,instructors and people in general.

Holsten

Saw a few cars with L plates up and only the driver.

Doubt much if anything will actually be done.

Hairdo

What do ye make of this?

I'm a l-plate driver (hopefully I won't be any longer after this Friday's test!) but I also hear a lot of different stories from people.

My driving instructor showed me this article yesterday:

http://www.independent.ie/national-news/learner-drivers-to-be-spared-new-rules-crackdown-1422902.html

Hanley

There's already a thread about this in learning to drive... I went all the way across the city and back between 8.30am and 11 today, also went from drumcondra to glasnevin and ballymun in the last hour or two. Didn't see any check points along the way.

I didn't see many L plates on hte road. But I did see ALOT of people who looked like they should have them up.

Danbo!

There's been a lot of these threads setup in commuting and transport, and learning to drive forums.

There hasn't been many posts about people being stopped and/or fined. They've all just descended into arguments between learner permit holders and full license holders and people bitching about the new laws.

S.I.R

check points on either end of my road and for once there was no traffic, must of caught about 100 plus either end...


Silly law imho

chris11

I was talking to a random bloke about it the other day in work and he said his cousin was a garda in the traffic division and their department was told to come down on drivers "like a load bricks".

Hanley

chris11 wrote: »

I was talking to a random bloke about it the other day in work and he said his cousin was a garda in the traffic division and their department was told to come down on drivers "like a load bricks".

:eek: sketch!! :eek:

chris11

Hanley wrote: »

:eek: sketch!! :eek:

haha,i'm just sayin what i've heard,i was also told by a gard the other day that prob wouldn't get fined and you deffo wont get fined a grand.

SQ2

A friend of mine is fairly high ranking, he says to plough on with driving, thay haven't been told what to do, and they've enough things to be worried about, so they're not going to bother.
But then again if you act the d*** on the road it's another thing to fling at you..

Hanley

chris11 wrote: »

haha,i'm just sayin what i've heard,i was also told by a gard the other day that prob wouldn't get fined and you deffo wont get fined a grand.

Well in another thread in the learning to drive forum someone said there was a lad in Charleville who was fined €1,000 yesterday. But in the indo article it was expressly stated that there would be NO on the spot fines.

Also in that article there was a mention of how the Gardai weren't planning on impounding cars but apparently there has been a few seizures this morning. That being said, I don't know WHY they were being taken. They coulda been non VRT'd or way out of tax and insurance too....

So tbh, I'm not too sure.

Hanley

How much adiminstration work is involved for a member of the force who decides to appply the letter of the law and bring you to court...?

If there's ALOT of writing to be done I can't see them going mad at every Tom, Dick and Harry....

smash

I know of someone who's been issued with the €1,000.... this was in Wicklow at 8:30am on July 1st!!!

sk8board

Hanley wrote: »

Well in another thread in the learning to drive forum someone said there was a lad in Charleville who was fined €1,000 yesterday. But in the indo article it was expressly stated that there would be NO on the spot fines.

it won't matter a damn; no judge will uphold a €1000 fine on some 19yo girl driving to work in her '95 Micra (you get the picture).
That Cork Hurler got a €750 fine on appeal for Drink Driving and obstructing justice, not giving a urine/blood sample. Irish law is all based on comparison and precedence.

They really should drop the €1000 for €80 and 2 penalty points. After getting stopped a few times the message will sink in.

Hanley wrote: »

Also in that article there was a mention of how the Gardai weren't planning on impounding cars but apparently there has been a few seizures this morning. That being said, I don't know WHY they were being taken. They coulda been non VRT'd or way out of tax and insurance too....

So tbh, I'm not too sure.

all those car's are impounded for VRT. Its been going on close-by me here for a few weeks now. A few Guard's pulling every non-irish reg, and one day they even had a Car transporter.

String

From listening to radio talk shows etc it seems people are getting fined! I don't want to risk getting fined 1000e which is like a months work for me :O

Got to hold out and hope I pass my test next month

Hanley

sk8board wrote: »

it won't matter a damn; no judge will uphold a €1000 fine on some 19yo girl driving to work in her '95 Micra (you get the picture).
That Cork Hurler got a €750 fine on appeal for Drink Driving and obstructing justice, not giving a urine/blood sample. Irish law is all based on comparison and precedence.

I'd say Irish more is law based on your standing in the community, who your parents are and who you know

Tbh, I would hope for sensible enforcement. I can see judges quickly becoming tired of hearing these cases.

They really should drop the €1000 for €80 and 2 penalty points. After getting stopped a few times the message will sink in.

You know, I was actually thinking something like the above would be more likely to discourage me than a €1,000 fine!! It would certainly be more realistic when it comes to applying it across the board.



all those car's are impounded for VRT. Its been going on close-by me here for a few weeks now. A few Guard's pulling every non-irish reg, and one day they even had a Car transporter.[/QUOTE]

DrMorphine wrote: »

From listening to radio talk shows etc it seems people are getting fined! I don't want to risk getting fined 1000e which is like a months work for me :O

Got to hold out and hope I pass my test next month

It's my understanding that no-one has been fined yet tho?? From reading the article in the indo it appears it can only be done on the back of a court appearance. Can anyone confirm this?

I get the feeling there's alot of people crying wolf.

Anan1

I was listening to the radio today - some guy rang in to say he had seen Gardai loading cars driven by unaccompanied L drivers onto a transporter.

alo1587

I think its the greatest load of rubbish ever.Imagine if every provisional driver who had to drive to work unaccompanied in the morning obeyed this law, couldn't drive to work so they had to give up their job and draw the dole?! I'm sure the government wouldn't be long doing a u turn..

Anan1

alo1587 wrote: »

I think its the greatest load of rubbish ever.Imagine if every provisional driver who had to drive to work unaccompanied in the morning obeyed this law, couldn't drive to work so they had to give up their job and draw the dole?! I'm sure the government wouldn't be long doing a u turn..

I don't much care how they do or don't get to work, I just don't want to share the road with unaccompanied, unlicensed drivers.:)

Hanley

alo1587 wrote: »

I think its the greatest load of rubbish ever.Imagine if every provisional driver who had to drive to work unaccompanied in the morning obeyed this law, couldn't drive to work so they had to give up their job and draw the dole?! I'm sure the government wouldn't be long doing a u turn..

Never mind that, imagine how much tax revenue the government would lose from people not putting fuel in their cars!

alo1587

Anan1 wrote: »

I don't much care how they do or don't get to work, I just don't want to share the road with unaccompanied, unlicensed drivers.:)

We all drove unaccompanied in the past, Anan, i dont see how its different now!

Anan1

alo1587 wrote: »

We all drove unaccompanied in the past, Anan, i dont see how its different now!

Drink-driving was once commonplace too, as was having unrestrained babies in the car. Do you see how that's different now?

Hanley

Anan1 wrote: »

Drink-driving was once commonplace too, as was having unrestrained babies in the car. Do you see how that's different now?

Both of which pose a SERIOUS threat to innocent parties. A responsible driver with a bit of experience, even if they have a green piece of paper in the glovebox is certainly not equivalent to a drunk loon lashing down a country road!

Marcus.Aurelius

alo1587 wrote: »

We all drove unaccompanied in the past, Anan, i dont see how its different now!

Very true, but, just because it was accepted doesn't make it right. I don't like high-horse "I've got a full license" posts, but the test is very basic, no skill required, I don't see why people skip along and refuse to do it.

To those who are on waiting lists and find it hard to get to work etc., because of the availability of a licensed driver to accompany you, I really do feel sorry for you. It's unfair that it was tolerated in the past, but it had to happen sometime I suppose.

If the driver test was reconfigured to teach people how to drive in 21st century Ireland with better manners (i.e. keep left unless overtaking on motorway and pull in for other cars) I would welcome the new system.

In its current guise, it's unfair to both provisional and full license holders.

Anan1

Hanley wrote: »

Both of which pose a SERIOUS threat to innocent parties. A responsible driver with a bit of experience, even if they have a green piece of paper in the glovebox is certainly not equivalent to a drunk loon lashing down a country road!

Thing is, unaccompanied learner drivers have very little experience and have not yet proved themselves either responsible or competent to be in control of a car.

Hanley

One thing I don't understand is why emergency manouvers aren't thought or examined as part of the testing process. Surely emergency stops and the likes are a MUCH more important skill to have on the roads than being able to reverse around a corner....

Anan1

Hanley wrote: »

One thing I don't understand is why emergency manouvers aren't thought or examined as part of the testing process. Surely emergency stops and the likes are a MUCH more important skill to have on the roads than being able to reverse around a corner....

True, the test as it stands is pretty basic. It would also be a good idea to retest everybody every 5 or so years, IMO. (Just so Marcus.Aurelius doesn't think i'm only on my high horse because I hold a full license.;))

green-blood

well you wouldn't need to do so many emergency stops if people knew when to safely and how to reverse around a corner.

Irelnad in the 21st century - about time

Hanley

Anan1 wrote: »

Thing is, unaccompanied learner drivers have very little experience and have not yet proved themselves either responsible or competent to be in control of a car.

I can only speak from my own experience and that of people that I personally know, but I'm on my first provisional and have spent at least 20 hours doing lessons in the past year and I've been in 3 hairy situations in the last 12 months or so, the avoidance measures I had to take had absolutely nothing to do with what is being thought or tested currently.**

Therefore I fail to see how the test makes you a "safe" driver. I suppose it does insofar as having passed it one would assume you're at least compotent enough not to do anything stupid, but when someone else pulls a bonehead manuveour even those with a test are only barely (if any) better qualified than someone who is on their second provisional.


**and before anyone says it, I know you should be anticipating dangerous situations and avoiding them before they happen, but that is not always possible.

Marcus.Aurelius

Anan1 wrote: »

True, the test as it stands is pretty basic. It would also be a good idea to retest everybody every 5 or so years, IMO. (Just so Marcus.Aurelius doesn't think i'm only on my high horse because I hold a full license.;))

Not a full test, it would only add another burden to the provisional drivers on waiting lists.

All it needs is some inspectors from DoT to sit in for 20 minutes with the driver and ask them to drive a particular route (good mix of driving) and decide on their own, without all the ridiculous box ticking nonsense. If they're totally inept, suspend the license and require a full re-test, on a new testing system which teaches proper advanced defensive-driving technique

Anan1

Hanley wrote: »

I can only speak from my own experience and that of people that I personally know, but I'm on my first provisional and have spent at least 20 hours doing lessons in the past year and I've been in 3 hairy situations in the last 12 months or so, the avoidance measures I had to take had absolutely nothing to do with what is being thought or tested currently.**

Therefore I fail to see how the test makes you a "safe" driver. I suppose it does insofar as having passed it one would assume you're at least compotent enough not to do anything stupid, but when someone else pulls a bonehead manuveour even those with a test are only barely (if any) better qualified than someone who is on their second provisional.


**and before anyone says it, I know you should be anticipating dangerous situations and avoiding them before they happen, but that is not always possible.

Don't take this as an insult, but 20 hours of instruction and a year behind the wheel makes you at best a competent beginner.

Marcus.Aurelius wrote: »

Not a full test, it would only add another burden to the provisional drivers on waiting lists.

All it needs is some inspectors from DoT to sit in for 20 minutes with the driver and ask them to drive a particular route (good mix of driving) and decide on their own, without all the ridiculous box ticking nonsense. If they're totally inept, suspend the license and require a full re-test, on a new testing system which teaches proper advanced defensive-driving technique

That'd work.