Meanwhile on the Roads...

1972 was peak, 640 was the number.

Considering the cost of petrol, driving patterns, car ownership numbers it was a really deadly time to use the roads. I think there was 150 pedestrian deaths that year. Life is cheap in poorer less developed economies

https://maps.app.goo.gl/bALCgm8nNr19PvRy8

There's the cross for one pedestrian from that year, who was walking his bike home from the nearby pub.

Myself and my brother gave up doing the grass cutting around it such is the danger, inspection of multiples cones, high vis, flashing light.

There has been 3 fatalities between that cross and the next junction about 1km eastbound since 1972

I was in rural Clare over Christmas and a common consensus was: have the drinks and drive away home because the chances of meeting a squad car were nil. The enforcers have fallen asleep at the wheel and human nature has done what it does. 🙁

It's subjective but I really found the standard of driving particularly in the week before Christmas to be appalling - even by fairly low Irish standards. I aborted a planned spin one morning for a shorter but quieter route as there was all sorts of f**kwitery going on - the usual close, careless passes, MGIF, and overtaking on blind bends into heavy oncoming traffic. And it wasn't all headless chicken private motorists - a lot were "professional" van drivers.

To tie in with all the talk about sorting out and reducing speed limits - while I fully support it (if only for the hope that one or more Realy-Hae might explode from apoplexy) it's all for nothing if not enforced and backed up by sanctions

I would suggest that when a crime is being committed it's more relevant to get details, of where, when, what, first and then check will the person be okay to take this formally.

I think what the poster means is, they would be more concerned about getting the driver off the road ASAP, worry about bring proceedings later, for now, find out where the driver is and the details of the vehicle.

I've done this before, on one occasion the gardai took the details of the car and headed against it, as I saw them going out that direction, I later saw the car parked (badly). I rang the station, they sent someone down and found the driver, it turns out it was an elderly person whose partner had died and they felt they needed to drive to town every day- The only way to prevent an accident was for the driver to be put off the road immediately. The guards asked if I would appear in court, I said I would, but I would prefer for them to explain to the driver that it would be in their interest not to drive. They got back to me a few days later and said that the persons daughter had spoken to them and had explained it to them, so they would no longer be driving.

On another occasion, I was driving behind a driver swerving, I rang the gardai and stayed following the car, I stayed on the phone with them while they directed a traffic corps in my direction, once they were in sight of the car, I peeled off, I did not follow up on what happened, but that was how I expect these things to be handled.

I rang the local Garda station during the summer, while watching a fella doing doughnuts in a BMW at the edge of the village in the middle of the day.

The Garda station is less than half a mile from where it was happening.

Instead of the Garda I spoke to driving out to the scene, he asked me every conceivable question he could, including whether or not I knew the guy driving. Some questions he asked twice.

When I suggested that if he drove out now he'd see it himself, he ignored it. When I told him my wife was currently recording it on her phone, he ignored it.

I had to ask him at the end of the call whether he wanted my name and number.

Miami Vice style!

That might have been on you!

People driving are supposed to slow down approaching zebra crossings. And should let people waiting cross. Stepping on the crossing means they have to stop, but it's not either step on or plough through!

I heard from a Garda who is dealing with some complaints that I submitted via TrafficWatch that progress has been slow, because she needs to find time to travel out to the commuter towns outside Dublin where the drivers in question are based.

When I asked about the possibility of the Garda who are based in those commuter towns making the necessary contacts with the drivers, she said that's not how things are done.

The incidents were in Dublin, so were allocated to a Dublin station. The drivers involved were based in commuter towns, so apparently the Dublin Garda has to go out to the commuter town to land on those driver's front door, rather than getting a local Garda to call to the driver.

haha, sometimes you just feel like doing something a bit different-I never got a call back and to help them in other pursuits though- very disappointing haha

That's strange. We had an incident on a club spin a few years ago involving a very aggressive cattle truck driver on a narrow rural road. I contacted Traffic Watch and they took the details and said it would be assigned to the nearest Garda Station (which was Ashbourne). Several hours later I got a call from a Garda in Ashbourne to tell me that he had located the driver and had words with him.

If the driver is local to the area of the incident, that seems to be how it works.

If the driver isn't local to the area of the incident, it seems that the local guard has to travel out of area to progress the report, which seems crazy.

seriously unlikely

Toerags with money are the worst kind.

This is a big part of the problem. It's just too easy for a Garda to spoof the complainant.

In the UK, they generally issue a written update on the outcome, which would give me a lot more confidence than the usual rushed phone call.

And presumably not a word when drivers block the pedestrian / cycle crossing because they are completely surprised to find that a green light has turned amber/red.