Speeding prosecutions could be in doubt

Our man in Havana

And now it looks as though if I do contend the ticket, the district court judge will have no coice but to follow the precedent of the High Court and dismiss it.

Excatly

Blitzkrieger

My goodness that's a fine big stallion BrianD

I would agree with you when speed limits are resonable. I'd love to see a Garda with a speed gun outside my nephew's school every morning and every evening when there's assholes in vans rushing through at 50mph+. I'd love to kill every Garda I see on the 1/4mile straight of dual-carriageway near my house or on the ballincollig bypass. 60mph is a retarded speed for those roads. Even if it was a motorway it would still be too low.

The AA have done surveys on this in the UK. People won't stick to the speed limit when they believe it is too low unless they fear prosecution. If people don't understand the reasons for limits they won't obey them. We need better driver training so people will slow down when they should.

The number one cause of accidents is poor observation when making a right turn. The second most common cause is failure to yield at traffic lights or stop signs. Inappropriate speed is a distant third. "Speed kills" is the propaganda they feed you to generate revenue while avoiding the real issues. People just don't get enough driver training.

Boggle

I have never read so much rubbish in my life!!! A nothing crime? What on earth are you talking about? Boggle it is your approach to road safety that explains why we have a ridiculously high death and injury rates on our roads. Never mind our massive insurance premiums. The speed limits in Ireland are no different to those set in other countries. The small and unremarkable number of speed limits that could be reviews are insignificant and a red herring perpetuated by those carelessly drive their cars i.e. you.

Ah but your theory is flawed... 8 years of driving 20-odd K a year on bad roads without so much as a scrape or a speeding ticket is proof plenty of that. No offence mate - but dont accuse me of being a dangerous driver without something to back it up with.

Its the likes of you that let this present govt do exactly what they want with motorists by mindlessly swallowing every brick they shovel.

The number one cause of accidents is poor observation when making a right turn. The second most common cause is failure to yield at traffic lights or stop signs. Inappropriate speed is a distant third. "Speed kills" is the propaganda they feed you to generate revenue while avoiding the real issues. People just don't get enough driver training.

Exactly. Do you even read other people's posts BrianD - or do you just dismiss out of hand the facts that you dislike???

BrianD3

Boggle wrote:

I've seen them in Clonmel as well (out by showerings). What you are referring to kbannon is the handheld speed guns which can print out the time and speed you were doing, The tripod things are cameras which will give a photo ... although I've never had to test that theory.

AFAIK, no radar (hairdryer) guns have cameras, therefore if the gardai catch you speeding with one of these they have to intercept you. Also, the majority of laser guns do not have cameras either so the same thing applies. Laser guns are usually mounted on tripods but can also be handheld. Anyway, a small number of these laser guns *do* have cameras fitted. There was a picture of one of these on the old speedtraps.nu website, the camera is quite noticeable as it is a separate device on top of the laser gun.

BrianD3

the evil belly

Blitzkrieger wrote:

I'd love to see a Garda with a speed gun outside my nephew's school every morning and every evening when there's assholes in vans rushing through at 50mph+. I'd love to kill every Garda I see on the 1/4mile straight of dual-carriageway near my house or on the ballincollig bypass. 60mph is a retarded speed for those roads. Even if it was a motorway it would still be too lo

i couldn't agree more. i'm living in ballincollig and i've never seen a speed trap in the village or on the back road yet as soon as the bypass opened there's a speed trap there at least once a week. can anyone figure out why it's not a motorway? look to me like it was built as one and there's several alternate routes too so that can't be the reason

edmund_f

Blitzkrieger wrote:

The number one cause of accidents is poor observation when making a right turn. The second most common cause is failure to yield at traffic lights or stop signs. Inappropriate speed is a distant third. "Speed kills" is the propaganda they feed you to generate revenue while avoiding the real issues. People just don't get enough driver training.

do you have a copy of the source of this research?

"Speed kills" is true, as the goverment are only interested in 'headline' statistics. i.e. the number of people killed, nothing else.

totally agree with all you say.

lomb

The Clown Man wrote:

No I was translating from kmph to mph cause it sound so much more in kmph!

And BrianD, I do not contend that I was speeding, I was actually suprised I was becasue I am not a fast driver. It's just that I was travelling in front of the flow of traffic (all moving the same speed as me) and there was a guy pulling up to overtake on the right. No doubt I was speeding but it just seems to be one of those places where the natural flow of the road takes you above the limit.

Having said that, apart from asking why I didn't get some sort of a reciept, I was not being contentious at all.

And now it looks as though if I do contend the ticket, the district court judge will have no coice but to follow the precedent of the High Court and dismiss it.

i dont think he will, they changed the law did they not recently meaning they dont need a receipt.

Seth Brundle

On a similar note:-
http://www.nsc.ie/RoadSafety/RoadSafetyIssues/
According to this:-
* driver error accounts for over 80% of all fatal and injury crashes
* Excessive or inappropriate speeding is the cause of a quarter of all fatal crashes each year (it later mentions that 40% of fatal accidents are caused by excessive or inappropriate speed)
* Drink driving is a factor in over one third of all fatal crashes in Ireland
As Im not sure whether speeding accounts for 25% or 40% Im assuming then a figure of midway (a third). Now compare the amount of enforcement of this third of contributory factors against the third caused by drink driving - there is a significant difference. I regularly see speed traps - saw one this morning on the N4 at liffey valley (green van catching outbound vehicles). I do not recall the last time I saw a checkpoint for drink driving!

The site also mentions the main contributoyy factors for 2001
Driver Error - 82%
Pedestrian Error - 11%
Road Factors - 4%
Environmental Factors - 2%
Vehicle Factors - 1%
Total - 100%
Given these stats, it is imperitave that a proper driving test is put in place and that drivers abilities are checked on a regular basis. It is lso imperitave that driving whilst distracted (e.g. using mobile phones) should be properly enforced.

Boggle

i dont think he will, they changed the law did they not recently meaning they dont need a receipt.

According to the news the new legislation is as open to a challenge as the last.

I think it came into effect on the 10th of last month and stated that although a printout is not necessary, they do have to show the driver the readout on the gun. All you have to say is that he didn't.

lomb

Boggle wrote:

According to the news the new legislation is as open to a challenge as the last.

I think it came into effect on the 10th of last month and stated that although a printout is not necessary, they do have to show the driver the readout on the gun. All you have to say is that he didn't.

fair enuf, i didnt get that bit but the garda have been known to 'lie' and if the garda in court said he did then the judge will believe him for sure.

HashSlinging

Lads, I got a ticket a while back and forgot to pay it. I sent in a cheque a few weeks after and it still hasnt been ca$hed, anyone know whats going to happen. The whole thing is going on since october.

Our man in Havana

HashSlinging wrote:

Lads, I got a ticket a while back and forgot to pay it. I sent in a cheque a few weeks after and it still hasnt been ca$hed, anyone know whats going to happen. The whole thing is going on since october.

Most probably a summons is on the way,but it should fail due to the defective legislation.

Seth Brundle

Bond-007 wrote:

Most probably a summons is on the way,but it should fail due to the defective legislation.

what defective legislation?

Our man in Havana

kbannon wrote:

what defective legislation?

Road Traffic 2002. HashSlinging was caught under the old act which has now been proven by the high court as defective. So any summons should fail.

Seth Brundle

I think the loophole under the old legislation was that a permanent record was not kept. Did it in fact go to the HC? I thought it was just the district court., and even then only one or two judges. Furthermore, hasn't HashSlinging admitted his crime by paying (even though it wasn't cashed!)?

Our man in Havana

It was appealed from the district court to the high court. If you send back the money too late they can't accept it so hence a summons.