A Few Things

narommy · 17-09-2006 8:10am #1

A little rant:

I remenber a while back there as an announcment that Gardai were ordered by the Minister for transport to focus speed checks on minor roads and specifically ease off on the national roads.

(1) has anyone noticed that there are more checks on minor roads. I havent
(2) has anyone noticed less checks on national roads.

I ask because there is a guard on the new three land N7 to Naas all the time, not on one of the speed checking ramps but a little further on at the Castlewarden Jct. Has anybody been stopped by him. He is always there at rush hour. I have seen somebody stoped at the Naas slip at Johnston last week.

I don't speed excessively 110-120 in a 100 zone (I expect that I will be covered by leaniency and the margin for error on the speedos, as do most people. My point is the Garda will be hard pressed to pick one punter from 50 doing the same speed and ticket him............ he also has the option of taking out the leader in the batch release from Newlands?

My point being is it a visibility thing

It just generates resentment to wards the Gardai among the public, who have had a hard commute into work, a long hard day at work and a long wait to get past Newlands with a long trek home, with little chance of making a significant safety improvements

A Related Rant

Moving on, if Gardai wanted to make another positive contribution to society I have two suggestions

(1) Putting up flashing sign on motorways and dual carriagewage and ads in the papers telling people to keep left. Then after a week of so send some biker gardai up and down the N7 to Naas and similar dual carriageways and direct middle laners into the left, or even stopping and cautioning some of them. (The N7 is a joke these days I'd say you could nearly do 130kph down the left lane from newlands to naas only having to slow down and overtake a couple of times.........ok a slight exageration)

(2) Any idea how much our boys in blue cost us a hour? Say €20-30
So say 4 Gardai for three hours is costing €500
So say 20,000 commuter pass through major inbound junctions on the M50, and it is accepted that gardai direct traffic better than traffic lights, and could save 10 minutes per commuter that's 3300 hours even at a rate of €10per hour it cost the tax paying workers €33,000 per day because the government wont spend €500 per day

Ps The Gardai are doinga great job of managing the mess that is Sandyford industrial estate and are there most days in varying numbers

cor · 17-09-2006 9:03am

The only speed check I've come across recently was at the start of the Mullingar by-pass going back to Dublin one Sunday evening in mid-August. The Garda was sitting in his jeep with the camera held out the driver's window.

Vorsprung · 17-09-2006 11:09am

I saw a Guard pulling over cars and motorbikes for breath checks at about 9.30 am on a weekday, just across the road from the old USIT office beside O'Connell Bridge in Dublin. Someone filling in their quota sheet late methinks! :rolleyes:

dl · 17-09-2006 11:38am

You are right big jim it appears to be all about quota's, stat-sheets & revenue and where better to target than the city and catch a guy who did the right thing and went out by taxi the night before and had a few pints only to be nailed the next morning or the other innocent guy who is doing 70kph in one of our many 60kph speed limit dual carraigeways... another joke!

There is a regular speed trap under the bridge in Finglas, again it is a 60kph dual carraigeway and not only has most of the traffic come off the M50 where they were doing 120khp it is downhill and your momentum will carry you over the speed limit... I regulary have to brake while free-wheeling to stay under the speed limit!

Btw they do everyone at these checkpoints whether you are a little old dear or a pretty young woman so what hope have us men got!

Thats my rant over... enjoy the points not the pint!

Capt'n Midnight · 17-09-2006 12:38pm

Keep Left
They have widened many roads around SDCC, but since people don't keep left there wasn't much point. With the roads widened by a single lane it's still a single lane in each direction, overtaking is impossible, even though the road could easily fit 4 cars side to side because drivers hog the middle of road.
The only benefit is easier passage for ambulances, but since they have to wait until drivers move to the edge of the road it would have been far cheaper to just put 3m grass margins on the road.

And yes I've seen lots more Guards around on the regional roads in SDCC area, mainly tax and insurance.

As for pulling people in the morning, a few hours sleep does not magically remove all the alcohol after a session the night before. If you drive with a hangover you are drunk.

green_onions · 17-09-2006 2:00pm

They had a checkpoint on the N11 outbound just before White's Cross last Sunday night at about 12am and they had another on the N11 outbound between Cornelscourt and Cabinteely on Wednesday night at about 1am. I'd say they picked the N11 just to get more people, because on both nights they had at least 2 cars pulled over being checked when I went by

Turner · 17-09-2006 7:17pm

Lads a few points id like to highlight about the naas rd.

The gardai patrol the roads that are in their district only and do not cross districts, with the exception of Traffic Corps gardai who are divisional. The Naas road is covered by Naas Traffic Corps.

At any one time there may only be 5 or 6 Traffic Corps members working in a division. Should the n7 being such a busy road that it is not be policed at all?

While most people travel the roadway at 100-120km/hr which is fine you will get people travelling at 60km/hr in the right hand lane and obviously people who will travel the road at 200km/hr and even 240km/hr quite regularly.

Alot of the time you will see traffic corps cars parked up with a camera device resting on a half open drivers window. This is a number plate scanner (Automatic Number Plate Recognition) hooked up to the pulse system which reads numberplates and relays details of tax/ins and stolen cars to the cars occupants.

Many people mistake this for a speed check.

Lennoxschips · 17-09-2006 8:25pm

You are right big jim it appears to be all about quota's, stat-sheets & revenue and where better to target than the city and catch a guy who did the right thing and went out by taxi the night before and had a few pints only to be nailed the next morning

if you are still over the limit in the morning then you are unfit to drive.

SeanW · 17-09-2006 9:39pm

my thoughts too.

Ham'nd'egger · 17-09-2006 10:42pm

dl wrote:

There is a regular speed trap under the bridge in Finglas, again it is a 60kph dual carraigeway and not only has most of the traffic come off the M50 where they were doing 120khp it is downhill and your momentum will carry you over the speed limit... I regulary have to brake while free-wheeling to stay under the speed limit!
!

Not being cynical here, but try your brake pedal to slow down, it's located beside the clutch and accelerator

spank_inferno · 18-09-2006 7:23pm

There does seem to be more on the N11 lately, on the M11 past bray and glen o'downs too.

And your also right, you never.... ever see them on rural roads, heaven forbid they might be somewhere dangerous.

riddle me this: Why arent the guards waiting outside the pub carparks just waiting for guys to turn the ignition??

Capt'n Midnight · 18-09-2006 7:31pm

Hamndegger wrote:

Not being cynical here, but try your brake pedal to slow down, it's located beside the clutch and accelerator

on my car it's between them

A Few Things

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