Weird motorway experience

keithclancy

So was driving back from Berlin yesteday, was on the A110 just outside the City.

Was in the slow lane and in the rear view I see a UK reg Passat driving up behind me at speed, starts flashing his lights (usually this means get out of the way) but I was in the slow lane so didn't know what he was doing.

See that he's signaling to pull over, my immediate thought was there was something wrong with my car.

Pulled into hard shoulder and he pulls in too. Get out and walk back to his car.

Guy comes over (Think he was Turkish) and the conversation goes like this:

Him: You english ?
Me: No
Him: You Dutch (Points at Dutch Reg)
Me: No, I'm Irish.
Him: Ahh you Irish, my Friend, I have big problem with my car, I go to England with my car and I have no money for Fuel, I will give you my Gold for money for fuel.
Me: *silence*
Him: So you give money and I give you gold for security and I will wire you the monies to pay you back.
Me: *silence*
Him: Hang on I get bracelets from car, good quality you will like
Me: *silence* followed by legging it to the drivers seat and tearing off at speed.
I thought about this afterwards and wondered what would make someone in their right mind think and unrestricted Autobahn was a good place to do a Gold for Cash swap/scam.

Anyone else have an experience on the motorway whereby someone wanted you to pull over for some bizarre request ?

In hindsight I was lucky he didn't have a bloody knife or something.

haminka

well, in hindsight, don't stop unless it's the police

Anan1

I'd be glad i'd stopped - it's a good story!

Wexfordian

I had that exact conversation (and result!) with a Turkish (or somewhere close by) guy near Gorey a few years back. Car out of petrol, would give me his gold jewelry for money for petrol etc.

Oral Surgeon

keithclancy wrote: »

Anyone else have an experience on the motorway whereby someone wanted you to pull over for some bizarre request ?

Now that you mention it, one time a guy dressed up in some sore of a village people outfit pulled me over on the motorway. He wanted all my personal details and some money too €80, I told him to P off too.....

Sounds like a lad who hangs around outside a local bank occasionally selling suits and leather jackets. Strange place to ply your trade though, the motorway.

MugMugs

Thats a bit odd......

And would you not prefer to get some plastic gold for a few bob? Could've been a good deal !

dar83

I'll take a bracelet....

CiniO

I read about that cases in Poland, usually done by gypsies community. It never happened to myself, but that's exact scenario. Someone pulls you over in strange way, sometimes they pretend car broke down, sometimes they show you there's something wrong with your car, and they want cash for their fake gold or other stuff. It most likely were them, but operating in Germany.

I wouldn't stop in the first place if some random person was trying to stop me.

PS- They are also known for selling a chainsaws for cheap money.

Big Nasty

There was a thread here a couple of weeks back (maybe it was on AH?) about this happening somewhere around Kilcock. No gold involved - just asking for money for petrol.

fasttalkerchat

CiniO wrote: »

I read about that cases in Poland, usually done by gypsies community. It never happened to myself, but that's exact scenario. Someone pulls you over in strange way, sometimes they pretend car broke down, sometimes they show you there's something wrong with your car, and they want cash for their fake gold or other stuff. It most likely were them, but operating in Germany.

I wouldn't stop in the first place if some random person was trying to stop me.

PS- They are also known for selling a chainsaws for cheap money.

I heard about the scam in Poland too. It's a lot more serious there because if you are near the Ukraine border there is no police to help you. Usually they get you to stop so they can check if you have cigarettes or alcohol in the car.

spiggotpaddy

At least your guy had gold to barter, We were flagged down on sunday on the M7, by similar a type of guy trying to sell chocolate,
Oh boy! was i miffed.But on the other hand the wife said it was a turkish delight.

MugMugs

spiggotpaddy wrote: »

At least your guy had gold to barter, We were flagged down on sunday on the M7, by similar a type of guy trying to sell chocolate,
Oh boy! was i miffed.But on the other hand the wife said it was a turkish delight.

Get back into car, Call Gardai and give details of somebody parked on a motorway trying to sell goods.

CiniO

fasttalkerchat wrote: »

I heard about the scam in Poland too. It's a lot more serious there because if you are near the Ukraine border there is no police to help you. Usually they get you to stop so they can check if you have cigarettes or alcohol in the car.

Why do you think there is no police in Poland?

Did keithclancy got any help from police?
All thing takes few minutes, so unless you are lucky enough there is actually a patrol car just by the corner, you won't get any help anywhere.
Beside I never heard they were any dangerous. They just want to trade their fake gold or other stuff. All you need to do is say cheers, and keep going. Or actually just don't stop in the first place.

fasttalkerchat

MugMugs wrote: »

Get back into car, Call Gardai and give details of somebody parked on a motorway trying to sell goods.

Keep the Gardai off the motorways! There's too many police cars on the motorways as it is. Almost zero crime but they roads are full of them.

MugMugs

fasttalkerchat wrote: »

Keep the Gardai off the motorways! There's too many police cars on the motorways as it is. Almost zero crime but they roads are full of them.

Eh, your logic is a bit skewed. Despite the fact that somebody pulling into the hard shoulder of a motorway when it's not an emergency is illegal, it's downright unsafe for every user of the motorway for somebody to be flagging down traffic to sell goods. Keep the Traffic Corps on the motorway. It's where they should be !

fasttalkerchat

MugMugs wrote: »

Eh, your logic is a bit skewed. Despite the fact that somebody pulling into the hard shoulder of a motorway when it's not an emergency is illegal, it's downright unsafe for every user of the motorway for somebody to be flagging down traffic to sell goods. Keep the Traffic Corps on the motorway. It's where they should be !

There should be more police where there is serious crime. Cars stopping on a hard shoulder is dangerous to some extent but I don't think the *tiny effect it has justifies the considerable policing resources wasted on a motorway.



*Maybe there are statistics that can prove me wrong on that but I cant think of an example in recent years when a car parked on a hard shoulder was the cause of a fatal or near fatal collision.

CiniO

fasttalkerchat wrote: »

There should be more police where there is serious crime. Cars stopping on a hard shoulder is dangerous to some extent but I don't think the *tiny effect it has justifies the considerable policing resources wasted on a motorway.



*Maybe there are statistics that can prove me wrong on that but I cant think of an example in recent years when a car parked on a hard shoulder was the cause of a fatal or near fatal collision.

I don't drive a lot on motorways, but whenever I did I never seen a squad car.

L1011

fasttalkerchat wrote: »

There should be more police where there is serious crime. Cars stopping on a hard shoulder is dangerous to some extent but I don't think the *tiny effect it has justifies the considerable policing resources wasted on a motorway.



*Maybe there are statistics that can prove me wrong on that but I cant think of an example in recent years when a car parked on a hard shoulder was the cause of a fatal or near fatal collision.

Cars stopped on a hard shoulder are far more than "dangerous to some extent".

Go to RTE, search for "motorway" in news and about half the results will be RTAs involving death or serious damage and injury caused by a vehicle in the H/S

Francie Barrett

I suggest you keep a magnet with you next time. If there is attraction between the "gold" and magnet, then he's selling worthless gold-plated nickel. If there is no attraction, then you could be onto a bargain.

fasttalkerchat

MYOB wrote: »

Cars stopped on a hard shoulder are far more than "dangerous to some extent".

Go to RTE, search for "motorway" in news and about half the results will be RTAs involving death or serious damage and injury caused by a vehicle in the H/S

All I found was journalists and politicians telling us how dangerous motorways are. In reality there are fewer crashes on motorways per mile travelled than on other roads.

MugMugs

fasttalkerchat wrote: »

There should be more police where there is serious crime. Cars stopping on a hard shoulder is dangerous to some extent but I don't think the *tiny effect it has justifies the considerable policing resources wasted on a motorway.



*Maybe there are statistics that can prove me wrong on that but I cant think of an example in recent years when a car parked on a hard shoulder was the cause of a fatal or near fatal collision.

Define serious crime.

A visible presence of Gardai on a Motorway deterring bad driving and people pulled in on a Hard Shoulder is perfectly acceptable IMO.

Our Traffic Corps are there to keep our roads safe. Let them do that. I'm not saying hammer the Motorways with Garda cars but I am saying they should most certainly patrol them now and again.

fasttalkerchat

MugMugs wrote: »

Define serious crime.

Rape, Murder, Drug trafficking, human trafficking, arms trafficking, child sex offences, armed robbery.
The official definition includes serious tax evasion, fraud etc. but the above will give you an idea to what I was refering to.

MugMugs

fasttalkerchat wrote: »

Rape, Murder, Drug trafficking, human trafficking, arms trafficking, child sex offences, armed robbery.
The official definition includes serious tax evasion, fraud etc. but the above will give you an idea to what I was refering to.

And a patrol car cruising the streets is going to stop The Larry Murphys, Joe o Reillys and Sean Quinns of the country..... ?

fasttalkerchat

MugMugs wrote: »

And a patrol car cruising the streets is going to stop The Larry Murphys, Joe o Reillys and Sean Quinns of the country..... ?

I know that the guards are useless most of the time but the thread isn't about that. My point on the guards on a motorway is that they don't achieve much there... whether they achieve much elsewhere is a thread for a different day.

keithclancy

fasttalkerchat wrote: »

I know that the guards are useless most of the time but the thread isn't about that. My point on the guards on a motorway is that they don't achieve much there... whether they achieve much elsewhere is a thread for a different day.

Put it this way, If some guy drives like a nutter on the Motorway because there isn't any Gardai, then causes an accident, that causes a pile up, that then creates a traffic jam of a few thousand cars.

Your saying that their presence on the motorway is a complete waste ?

MugMugs

fasttalkerchat wrote: »

I know that the guards are useless most of the time but the thread isn't about that. My point on the guards on a motorway is that they don't achieve much there... whether they achieve much elsewhere is a thread for a different day.

If I could link to a Facepalm right now I would however I'll retort with this instead. :rolleyes:

fasttalkerchat

MugMugs wrote: »

If I could link to a Facepalm right now I would however I'll retort with this instead. :rolleyes:

You brought up cases to show that the guards are poor at dealing with serious crime. Your argument was that since they are useless with crime at least let them drive up and down a motorway as a deterrant to poor driving.

I don't get your logic.

johnos1984

Trolls gonna troll folks

Marcusm

Francie Barrett wrote: »

I suggest you keep a magnet with you next time. If there is attraction between the "gold" and magnet, then he's selling worthless gold-plated nickel. If there is no attraction, then you could be onto a bargain.

Nickel isn't magnetic either is it? Surely that only applies to ferrous combos?

fasttalkerchat

keithclancy wrote: »

Your saying that their presence on the motorway is a complete waste ?

Of course not. The problem is that Gardai presence on the motorway far outstretches the crime rates on a motorway. It also is disproportionate to the liklehood of an accident on a motorway. And thirdly they do not have the necessary equipment to detect stolen or uninsured cars (ANPR) so they are less effective than they could be.

astrofool

Francie Barrett wrote: »

I suggest you keep a magnet with you next time. If there is attraction between the "gold" and magnet, then he's selling worthless gold-plated nickel. If there is no attraction, then you could be onto a bargain.

You keep a magnet on hand in case some random person approaches you to buy gold at a price that's too good to be true?

biko

I've heard and read about similar cases over in Europe, they flag people down and "need" money for petrol and will offer yellow metal as security.
Seems to always be Roma gypsies.

Pkiernan

This is precisely why I carry a Bear Grylls machete with me at all times when driving, and brandish it whenever anyone flags me down on the motorway.

Marcusm

Pkiernan wrote: »

This is precisely why I carry a Bear Grylls machete with me at all times when driving, and brandish it whenever anyone flags me down on the motorway.

Is this a pishtake? Carrying that in your car without good reason or lawful authority is an offence. Suggesting that you brandish at other motorists would likely negate any good reason for carrying.

Pkiernan

Marcusm wrote: »

Is this a pishtake? Carrying that in your car without good reason or lawful authority is an offence. Suggesting that you brandish at other motorists would likely negate any good reason for carrying.

I had to carry the machete after the cops took this off me:

Kenny Logins

Pkiernan wrote: »

This is precisely why I carry a Bear Grylls machete with me at all times when driving, and brandish it whenever anyone flags me down on the motorway.

Good thinking.

Don't stop for toilet or coffee breaks either, much too risky, just drink your own piss en route. Sorted.

Marlow

Around Amsterdam, it's not uncommon, that you get offered dope from the dealers in the car besides you at traffic light.

Now, what happened to me was, that on the motorway ringroad around Amsterdam, at 120 km/h, an Audi with massive bling wheels pulled up on my left hand side, realized, I was sitting on the right hand side, slowed down, around behind me, up on my right hand side and wind the window down and shouts over to me, if "I'm good for anything ??".

Now, this is all on the motorway, while doing 120 km/h. Essentially they were trying to sell me speed or whatever at high speed

It's 3 or 4 years back, but I still humourously remember the moment.

/M