Bad Driver Advice

Blue75

Hi everyone. Just wanted to get some advice. A guy who lives round the corner from me has started to drive in the last couple weeks. Nothing wrong with that I hear you say but here is my problem. This guy (looks about 50ish) has never been behind the wheel before. It started with him driving around our small housing estate. He cannot control the car whatsoever. Our front gardens are open plan and he just drives all over them because he can't keep the car on the road or turn when he gets to the end. He can't even stop the car before he gets to the end of the road which has a 8ft wall at both ends. There is a bit of a kerb at the bottom of the wall and every time he hops the car (Nissan Micra) off it because he can't stop. Then he's stuck in the middle of the road as he can't turn the car. My Husband told him to keep the car off the road until he had lessons as he narrowly avoided smashing into our & neighbours cars and all our front gardens have big deep tyre tracks all over them right up to the front windows which is about 15 feet from kerb. He said he never drove before and my husband told him he had to have a learners licence and have professional lessons before he could go on the road. He said he would teach himself. My husband told him to go again as he was a danger and he was too close to damaging our cars and had already damaged 4 gardens. He just laughed and said he will keep driving. It took him twenty minutes to start the car again and turn it 180°. Every day he is doing this while we are at work and several times I've come home and can't get round the corner to my house as he is sitting there stuck in the middle of the road.
Last Friday coming home (we live in the center of a very busy town) the traffic came to and abrupt halt in front of me. I couldn't understand what was causing this as the traffic lights further on were green. Then I saw the reason - it was himself driving towards me. He couldn't keep the car straight and was weaving from one side of the road to the next. He was only doing about 10mph but all the other cars in both directions stopped as they were afraid to get near him. I made my right turn onto our road and waited at a safe distance to see how he would get around the corner (a left turn for him). He came around the corner hopping the kerb and missing the building by millimetres.

Two days ago I saw the car back in the driveway with the passenger front side destroyed - another left turn gone bad! He has no licence, tax or insurance.

Sorry for being so long winded but my question is should I report this guy before he does some serious damage to something or god forbid someone. My Son has just turned 17 & I travel 100 miles to an off road driving school so he can get used to driving before he goes on the road.

Thanks for any advice you may have. Sorry for bad typing/spelling.

spurious

Absolutely report him. If he is unable to stop the car he will hit a child.

SureYWouldntYa

Definatly report him, or at the very least have a word with him

He should get lessons if he wants to learn to drive, a lot of instructors cars have dual control so he can drive without fear of anything happening

my3cents

Sounds like a candidate for an "Only in Ireland" thread.

tbh I can't believe from what the OP has said that the "learner" driver hasn't been reported already.

gbob

You might feel a bit guilty reporting him, but imagine how guilty you'd feel if he kills somebody and you could have prevented it.

Craftylee

Might be worth doing some recording too - just in-case

K.Flyer

If you don't report him and have him stopped, you cannot complain about any damage he causes. Don't leave it to someone else or until someone is seriously injured.

TOEJOE

After he damaged his car he may not drive again. I would agree with the other posters report him could kill someone.

Mars Bar

Jesus Christ. What a selfish prick he is. Report him!

Sam Kade

Is the car taxed and insured? Didn't have time to read your full post.

greasepalm

omg micra that has power steering more likely,most deffo lack of cordination there somewhere not knowing when to turn or stop,maybe he has a physical imperment so not to drive would be best bet.can see tragedy ahead if he still drives.

Blue75

Ok so its been a week and he is still out on the road every day. The car has insurance & tax disc on windscreen but they are from the previous owner so thats a no. He is still driving every day despite the car damage. My husband told thus guy in no uncertain terms to keep off the road and get proper lessons but he just laughed and sat there stuck in the middle of the road. He looks at least 50 years of age and is bangladeshi nationality so he is using different cultures as an excuse not to obey the law.

challengemaster

Blue75 wrote: »

Ok so its been a week and he is still out on the road every day.

Why haven't you reported it to the Gardaí?

If anything does happen, you are every bit as much to blame as he is for allowing it to carry on.

Report him again for no insurance or tax AND the rest of it

And stop this "told him in no uncertain terms" sh!te. Report him.

jimgoose

Guards. Now.

evolving_doors

jimgoose wrote: »

Guards. Now.

guards now definitely... go down have a chat, then if anything does happen itll be on their consciences...

Would it be against the law to prevent a crime by letting the air out of his tyres before he kills/injures someone

parttime

Why have'nt you told the Guards yet?
Have to agree that you would feel at least semi-responsible when somebody gets hurt.

K.Flyer

Blue75 wrote: »

Ok so its been a week and he is still out on the road every day....
he is using different cultures as an excuse not to obey the law.

Are you and your neighbourhood afraid of him?
Get out there and get video evidence of him and get the Gardai involved.
If this lunatic was on our road his car would have dissappeared by now.

happywithlife

This man is a serious danger on the roads. Report him. Now. You live in a busy town you said. There should be a local Garda station so. Ring up / pop in. It'll take all if 5mins
I did it recently where i came across a parked car on a very rural road. Your man was sleeping off the effects of something (drink/drugs/combo?) at 3pm. His speech was slurred. His eyes unfocused and he gave me a c & b story about why he was parked in such a rural spot. I was straight onto the guards - they'd been looking for him as he'd left home earlier that day drunk off his head and after arguing with the gf. I felt a bit of a nosey auld biddy going in but the guard I met was just thankful they knew where to find him and that he hadn't caused a crash.
Can you live with yourself if he killed your 17 yo son, knowing that you knew he was a danger but didn't do anything to stop him? That's harsh yes, but it's only when it hits home / affects us directly that we take action.

Here's a link to the phone number for The various stations. Ring now.

http://www.garda.ie/stations/default.aspx

TheChizler

Armelodie wrote: »

guards now definitely... go down have a chat, then if anything does happen itll be on their consciences...

Would it be against the law to prevent a crime by letting the air out of his tyres before he kills/injures someone

By the sounds of it he'll just keep driving anyway, with dangerous tyres...

?Cee?view

Will you just stop pussyfooting and call the guards. Do it before someone dies or is maimed.

greasepalm

nein nein nein call them

Blue75

I have reported him to the guards. They couldn't have been less interested. I got a very weak "we'll look into it". I had to push him to take car reg and address. This is nothing new in our town. Guards will never come out of the barracks - only to go to subway. A year ago the house across the street from us was rented out to travellers. They tricked the landlord into believing the woman was single with no kids -so why would she want a 5 bedroom house. He evicted them when their lease was up and they came one night and set the house on fire. The two fellas going this were seen by the house behind and that man called guards and fire brigade. The fure truck arrived but no guards. The firemen tried to hold the two fellas and fight the fire at the same time. The two fellas just walked away. Firemen called the guards again and they showed up an hour later when it was all over.

Now before you say you have to speak up - I'm sick of speaking up. Every time it kicks off I call the guards but the never come. They are terrified of the ones around here. Suppose you can't really blame them when they have to go basically defenseless into a situation where these people are armed to the teeth.

Gone off point here but just wanted to show how reporting to gardaí is non effective.

They care about no tax or insurance I would say
ring another station so

Peter Anthony

Blue75 wrote: »

I have reported him to the guards. They couldn't have been less interested. I got a very weak "we'll look into it". I had to push him to take car reg and address. This is nothing new in our town. Guards will never come out of the barracks - only to go to subway. A year ago the house across the street from us was rented out to travellers. They tricked the landlord into believing the woman was single with no kids -so why would she want a 5 bedroom house. He evicted them when their lease was up and they came one night and set the house on fire. The two fellas going this were seen by the house behind and that man called guards and fire brigade. The fure truck arrived but no guards. The firemen tried to hold the two fellas and fight the fire at the same time. The two fellas just walked away. Firemen called the guards again and they showed up an hour later when it was all over.

Now before you say you have to speak up - I'm sick of speaking up. Every time it kicks off I call the guards but the never come. They are terrified of the ones around here. Suppose you can't really blame them when they have to go basically defenseless into a situation where these people are armed to the teeth.

Gone off point here but just wanted to show how reporting to gardaí is non effective.

I've no time for the guards because of **** like this. They pick and chose what crimes to look into mainly on the area its in and the people involved. Its no surprise they've been shown up for the corrupt half wits they are in recent years.

Theres not much more you can do. Its no wonder much of the general public have no trust in the police anymore, they are more like a government private security firm than a police force.

Sheldons Brain

Call Traffic Watch lo-call number 1890 205 805.
Or get someone else to do it to create a second report.

happywithlife

Would you post on the Garda twitter or Facebook page? If it's a public complaint they might act on it