drink driving broad daylight

freebird23

just saw something that has shocked me.:eek: i was talking to a pal outside a shop and close to us were 3 polish chaps. they were all drinking a can of lager each. one of them then went into the offlicence and bought three more cans and they all drank them. two of them got into a car each and the other went off on a moped. i mean F F S how can they get away with that. how much of this is going on. and how much would they normaly drink and think its ok to drive. what are the drinking laws in there home country.

Fajitas!

Did you take the reg's and ring the Gardai?

Is the only thing one can do tbh...

freebird23

no didnt ring them i think i was in shock to see blatent drink driving no regard for irish laws. i belive on the gerry ryan show they were talking about the fact that alot of the cars arre not insured here.

Ri na hEireann

Surprisingly the blood alcohol limit for driving in Poland is lower than in Ireland. It's 0.02% as opposed to 0.05% (0.08% not sure if it's been lowered yet) here. How strictly this limit is enforced in Poland, I couldn't tell you. But generally drinking alcohol is habitual in these countries and I reckon having a few and driving is widely overlooked

However, these men obviously knew what they were doing is wrong and extremely unacceptable in Ireland but I suppose it just shows how easy it is to avoid detection really.

KingLoser

Try not to take it as such a personal attack on "Irish law", stop sounding like there's a bigot just under your skin waiting to break free, and maybe this thread will stay open for a week.

Anybody who drink drives, deserves to drive their car straight into the grave. Pity they have to take others with them.

echosound

KingLoser wrote: »

Try not to take it as such a personal attack on "Irish law", stop sounding like there's a bigot just under your skin waiting to break free, and maybe this thread will stay open for a week.

Anybody who drink drives, deserves to drive their car straight into the grave. Pity they have to take others with them.

Ah in fairness I think the OP was just wondering if there's a different attitude/culture in Poland towards driving with drink taken.

Of course anyone who drink drives like that deserves to have the book thrown at them if they don't manage to wrap themselves round a lamppost/take out some innocent person first.

Cabaal

echosound wrote: »

Of course anyone who drink drives like that deserves to have the book thrown at them if they don't manage to wrap themselves round a lamppost/take out some innocent person first.

Agreed, doesn't matter if there Irish or America or whatever they deserve to be dealt with will the full force of the law

Ri na hEireann

just saw something that has shocked me. i was talking to a pal outside a shop and close to us were 3 polish chaps. they were all drinking a can of lager each. one of them then went into the offlicence and bought three more cans and they all drank them. two of them got into a car each and the other went off on a moped. i mean F F S how can they get away with that. how much of this is going on. and how much would they normaly drink and think its ok to drive. what are the drinking laws in there home country.

I'm looking at this post in a new light... Are you attacking them because they're Polish? If so it's a rather poor analysis of drink driving.

I don't think we should look at it as "them" and "us" ie as Polish and Irish,but rather them=drinkdrivers and us=law abiding drivers.

I can assure you drink driving isn't a phenomenon attached to the immigrant community. I question whether you'd be as pissed off if it was your pal doing the drinking.

freebird23

Ri na hEireann wrote: »

I'm looking at this post in a new light... Are you attacking them because they're Polish? If so it's a rather poor analysis of drink driving.

I don't think we should look at it as "them" and "us" ie as Polish and Irish,but rather them=drinkdrivers and us=law abiding drivers.

I can assure you drink driving isn't a phenomenon attached to the immigrant community. I question whether you'd be as pissed off if it was your pal doing the drinking.

of course id be as pissed off if i thought a mate was doing the same. i wouldnt do it myself. its not an attack on anyone in general. i just wanted to see if this was a common thing, and if anyone else had noticed it thats all. if i had said any natonality would you have picked me up on it. the reson i was concerned is that i live in the area and they work in the same area. weather they were irish or polish i would be concerned.:rolleyes:

Sully

Iv seen something similar before and reported it to the Guards. I honestly think if you see someone take a drink and get into the car - report it. Best be on the safe side, as you never know what could happen around the corner!

Not The Real Scarecrow

Can't comment on how common it is as I know few Polish or foreign people.But what I can say is that from the immigrants I do know, mainly African and Turkish, they would never drink and drive.However the Polish people I know are the complete opposite, of the dozen I know I am aware of various incidents where the majority of them have drinked and driven. Asking them about it and telling them that such a thing is illegal mattered little to them.The general reply was that they didn't care cause they seemed to be of the opinion that they wouldn't get caught and if they did, nothing would happen.Now, I am in no way saying that all Polish are like this, but from all the different races I know the Polish and Russians seem to be the ones that are or have done it more frequently.And to be fair, I have met plent of Irish who have drunk driven in the past as well at one stage or another.

longshanks

its very easy to bring the racism/xenophobia argument into it every time a particular culture is mentioned. its a fairly weak, and at this stage predictable argument though. critisising or commenting on something should be seen as just that. the original post stated something which a lot of people know goes on (and i'm not claiming it to be exclusively a polish problem) but the usual bullshhit comments about the op being racist are rolled out. it was in no way a racist remark, (eamonn dunphy would call it ethnic critisism). how about discussing what was referred to in the first post instead of baaing like sheep every time polish, nigerians, travellers, or whoever gets a mention.
take it easy kids

KingLoser

longshanks wrote: »

its very easy to bring the racism/xenophobia argument into it every time a particular culture is mentioned. its a fairly weak, and at this stage predictable argument though. critisising or commenting on something should be seen as just that. the original post stated something which a lot of people know goes on (and i'm not claiming it to be exclusively a polish problem) but the usual bullshhit comments about the op being racist are rolled out. it was in no way a racist remark, (eamonn dunphy would call it ethnic critisism). how about discussing what was referred to in the first post instead of baaing like sheep every time polish, nigerians, travellers, or whoever gets a mention.
take it easy kids

Sorry about the long essay you just wrote.......

but.....

I was talking about his second post.

freebird23

KingLoser wrote: »

Sorry about the long essay you just wrote.......

but.....

I was talking about his second post.

what was wrong with my second post??????????????????????????????????????????

KingLoser

Not much.

Just the asumption about the car insurance. I'm not really attacking you dude, but I'm sure you realise that.

teetotaller

Ri na hEireann wrote: »

But generally drinking alcohol is habitual in these countries and I reckon having a few and driving is widely overlooked

Just look at your country ... ok ?

then start talking what is generally happening in other countries ....

Are u any better or what ? just look at thousands of drunk people every single night in city centre, all pubs busy, no place to sit, during the weekend hundreds of thousands drunk people on the streets.....

think - then write !!


I'm usually wondering why there are so many cars owned by Irish drivers outside pubs. It is difficult to find some parking space near the pub.... What for are they all going to pub ? to drink tea and juice?

Chochese

teetotaller wrote: »

I'm usually wondering why there are so many cars owned by Irish drivers outside pubs. It is difficult to find some parking space near the pub.... What for are they all going to pub ? to drink tea and juice?

Yes, if they are acting as designated driver for the possible 4 other people in the car. Also, with the number of pubs located around any town or city, the chances are that you will have cars parked outside. They could be off down the shops or something...

Ilovebeard

Wait there, you said they only had two drinks each? How do you know that put them over the limit - it most certainly didn't.

What is this country's obsession with drink driving, its easy to judge, far more people die from far more sinister crimes and issues yet are often overlooked.
so what if you have a couple of drinks and drive. bad driving causes accidents, sometimes by drunks sometimes not.

BlaasForRafa

Ilovebeard wrote: »

Wait there, you said they only had two drinks each? How do you know that put them over the limit - it most certainly didn't.

What is this country's obsession with drink driving, its easy to judge, far more people die from far more sinister crimes and issues yet are often overlooked.
so what if you have a couple of drinks and drive. bad driving causes accidents, sometimes by drunks sometimes not.

Thats quite possibly the stupidest post I've ever seen on this forum.

Ilovebeard

BlaasForRafa wrote: »

Thats quite possibly the stupidest post I've ever seen on this forum.

What I find stupid is he mentions nothing of the state the lads were in or the quality of their driving.
Yet say anything other than 'drink driving is the worst crime in the world' will have people turn on you. how many times do you see people race about the town everyday, which far more dangerous, yet no post about that.

so what exactly did you find stupid about my post?

peachystarr

Ilovebeard wrote: »

Wait there, you said they only had two drinks each? How do you know that put them over the limit - it most certainly didn't..

How do you know it didnt? Two drinks could put someone over the limit, depending on their body size/weight.

Ilovebeard wrote: »

What is this country's obsession with drink driving, its easy to judge, far more people die from far more sinister crimes and issues yet are often overlooked.

If one life is saved because of this so called "obsession" then isnt it worth it??

Ilovebeard wrote: »

so what if you have a couple of drinks and drive. bad driving causes accidents, sometimes by drunks sometimes not.

This is the WRONG attitude to have, if the accidents caused by these inconsiderate "drunks" were prevented then thats a load more lives saved.
Ireland has a long way to go yet.

Dont drink and drive, theres never an excuse, attitudes need to change, its not ok.:mad:

JohnC.

Ilovebeard wrote: »

how many times do you see people race about the town everyday, which far more dangerous, yet no post about that.

There has been in other threads. But this thread was about drink driving. Are we not allowed to discuss drink driving unless we also mention every other law which is broken by other people?

freebird23

Ilovebeard wrote: »

What I find stupid is he mentions nothing of the state the lads were in or the quality of their driving.
Yet say anything other than 'drink driving is the worst crime in the world' will have people turn on you. how many times do you see people race about the town everyday, which far more dangerous, yet no post about that.

ok ok ok. just to clarify, yes the guy on the moped was drunk( in my opinioun) im not an expert but thats how it looked.

teetotaller

freebird23 wrote: »

and close to us were 3 polish chaps. they were all drinking a can of lager each.

Did they tell u Hi mr Irishman we are from Poland , we are fu..in drunk ?

if not - how did you recognize their language?

are u 100% sure that they were Polish ?

Ri na hEireann

teetotaller wrote: »

Just look at your country ... ok ?

then start talking what is generally happening in other countries ....

Are u any better or what ? just look at thousands of drunk people every single night in city centre, all pubs busy, no place to sit, during the weekend hundreds of thousands drunk people on the streets.....

think - then write !!


I'm usually wondering why there are so many cars owned by Irish drivers outside pubs. It is difficult to find some parking space near the pub.... What for are they all going to pub ? to drink tea and juice?

You misinterpreted what I was saying completely. By habitual drinking I didn't mean binge drinking on a Friday or Saturday night. They drink in a different way to Irish people. It's a cultural thing. I've been in Poland and I know they drink vodka in a not so different way to how we drink,say tea or coffee.

I'd also be a bit skeptical of your vision of an Irish city on a Saturday night. As far as I can see, with the economic slow down,pubs generally aren't packed to the rafters like they used to be and people are choosing to saty at home more often than not a drink cheaply, but that's completely off-topic.

Also, I got out every couple of weekends.When I do,I drive and leave my car outside the pub and collect it the next day.Does that mean I was inside drinking tea adn juice? No.

teetotaller

Ri na hEireann wrote: »

I've been in Poland and I know they drink vodka in a not so different way to how we drink,say tea or coffee.

hmm I've been living there for 20few years, but what can I know - yes u are right we drink clear vodka straight from glass( not shots but from tea cup)

you did great research !! bravissimo

eth0_

teetotaller wrote: »

Did they tell u Hi mr Irishman we are from Poland , we are fu..in drunk ?

if not - how did you recognize their language?

are u 100% sure that they were Polish ?

I'd imagine they had their PL licence plates on their cars. Because, you know, paying VRT and changing your plates doesn't apply if you're Polish or Latvian etc...

Yes, I know lots of people from the republic buy cars in the North and take their time re-registering them....but there are far, far too many PL and LV registered cars on the road here to excuse it by saying "Oh they must have just arrived in the country".

As for Polish people being "F..in drunks"...I think Eastern Europeans could drink a lot of Irish people under the table

shockwave

eth0_ wrote: »

I'd imagine they had their PL licence plates on their cars. Because, you know, paying VRT and changing your plates doesn't apply if you're Polish or Latvian etc...

Yes, I know lots of people from the republic buy cars in the North and take their time re-registering them....but there are far, far too many PL and LV registered cars on the road here to excuse it by saying "Oh they must have just arrived in the country".

They're allowed drive here for a year before they have to change to Irish plates.

eth0_

shockwave wrote: »

They're allowed drive here for a year before they have to change to Irish plates.

UNTRUE. While they don't have to pay VRT (if they've owned the car for more than 6 months), they most certainly have to change their plates!

"All new motor vehicles and vehicles brought into Ireland are subject to Vehicle Registration Tax (VRT) and must be registered with the Revenue Commissioners. Every motor vehicle in the State, (with the exception of vehicles brought in temporarily by a visitor), must be registered with the Revenue Commissioners

You must register your car and pay VRT by the end of the next working day following its arrival into Ireland."

shockwave

If you are an Irish resident and you import a foreign car you have to register it within a couple of days.

But if you are a foreign resident and you come to Ireland in your car you can live and work here for a year before having to register.

Gerry Ryan had a man from the VRT office on his show during the week and this came from his mouth.

I might have heard it wrong but im sure im right.

eth0_

shockwave wrote: »

But if you are a foreign resident and you come to Ireland in your car you can live and work here for a year before having to register.
.

It should really state that on the citizensinformation.ie page on VRT then.