M50 By Day - Skangers Paradise By Night

Undercoverguy

(MENT TO POST IN AFTER HOURS - SORRY)

Guys what I'm about to tell you is just funkin shocking and has terrified me of the M50.

On Friday night i had been working late in and was on my way home to Malahide. It was about 12.30am and the motorway was pretty quite with very little traffic on both sides. I was in the normal lane of traffic and the overtaking lane was empty for as far as i could see both ways.
Just after the Blanch exit i looked in my wing mirror and noticed a old 99D Micra coming up on the inside and flew past me. In the car were two 14-16 year olds with their hoods up and scarfs covering their lower faces and another kid (looked younger) driving and barely able to see over the wheel... also with his hood up. The car had one of those sun visors for the back passenger windows with a pooh-bear on it so there was no doubt in my mind this car was stolen. The car went off into the distance and i though i wouldn't see it again. A bit later coming up to the Finglas exit i pulled into the overtaking lane because the focus in front had slowed down for no apparent reason. I was right beside him when i noticed why. The Micra was just ahead, zig zagging between lanes then slowing down and speeding up every few seconds. Ahead of them was a massive stretch of road with no cars in the distance, behind me was the same.

So me and the other car beside me (the focus) slowed down to let the micra get some distance, ya know thinking safe. Suddenly traveling at about 100km/h the Micra only a hundred foot or so in front done a hand break turn right in the middle of the two lanes! Both me and the focus being so close to the Micra jammed hard on our breaks, the roads being wet i skidded and pulled right towards the central reservation and the focus skidded and pulled left into the hard shoulder. The Micra then wheel-spinned up between me and the focus going the WRONG direction then pulls another 180* hand break turn behind us turn then accelerates hard coming out. Barely in control the driver clips the back bumper of the focus smashing the lights and a massive dent then regains control and speeds down the motorway. By this time cars had stopped in the far distance behind me, i assume because they seen the headlights of the robbed car. Me and the guy in the focus just looked at each other in disbelieve, he looked pretty shaken. I was going to pulls across while it was safe to check if he was okay but he just pulled off, i don't think he realised the micra had hit him so hard. A few seconds later i started my car (it stalled during the hard break) and pulled off. Other traffic followed.

I got off the M50 at my exit and shortly after got pulled aside at a "Super" Garda checkpoint (8 Guards) for having out of date tax... Despite the car having "Courtesy Car" plastered all over it along with the name of the garage. After a 5min debate with the 2 guards on how i cant tax a car that i don't own i told them about what I'd seen on the M50 10min previous, to which the guard replied "We cant be everywhere". :eek:
But surely peoples safety is more important than Tax? Why did 8 guards and 4 cars need to do a checkpoint in a small housing estate night after night? Could one of these car not have patrolled the motorway? After 11pm I've never seen a garda car on the M50 and i drive from one end to the other 6 nights a week and the stuff that goes on sometimes is so dangerous. Yet every night driving through my estate there never fails to be a "Super" Garda Checkpoint..... Madness

This comes only three or four weeks after a friend of mine was passing Dundrum area at about 3am and came to a standstill while two starlets prepared and proceeded to DRAG RACE!!!!

TempestSabre

Yeah they have their priorities don't they...

Padwick

Hopefully he ended up in the river with his mate. Or something even more painful with a bit of luck.

elexes

good to hear your ok . nothing strange to hear guards are acting like muppets

hope you have better experience in future

Big Balls

I would've called 999 on the M50 and told the guards I was going to follow the Micra until they intercepted it in a squad car.

overdriver

This is the problem, isn't it?

It's a pity the Gardai are being utilised as tax collectors for the state when there's real trouble brewing elsewhere.
Ask yourself - what would THEY rather be doing? I'm sure they'd rather be after the skangers.
It must be frustrating for the proper hardworking decent coppers to have their public image and respect chipped away all the time.

Remember this when its election time.

mike65

Gotta be careful about following on behind skangers they might take it personally unless you are in one of these



Mike.

swingking

I have given up on the guards; in fact it doesn't surprise me one bit

they just don't care about the scangers, they go for the easy targets.

Get over it

lostexpectation

Big Balls wrote:

I would've called 999 on the M50 and told the guards I was going to follow the Micra until they intercepted it in a squad car.

you should have sat there and dialled 999 on your mobile.... ya know call the guards...

Big Balls

Echo?? Parrot??

Diamondmaker

People really should call the police in these circumstances!

Thay are right they CANT be every where but they COULD have beenthere if they were called.

Why would you not call them, the mind boggles.

As you say the 8 guards further on could have had the call patched through to them and you know they only would have loved to get off tax duty and bust skanger ass!

The public has to chip in themselves too....

Oh PS I am not a Guard.

DublinWriter

Undercoverguy wrote:

On Friday night...
I got off the M50 at my exit and shortly after got pulled aside at a "Super" Garda checkpoint (8 Guards) for having out of date tax...

Yes indeedy. Have a look at your nearest calendar. Get it yet?

Savman

While I understand the OP's point, stuff like this isn't exactly an everday occurance on the M50 for those of us who use it often its fairly quiet at night. I would've thought that stealing a car to joyride down Dublin's only motorway shows complete stupidity. You may not see gardai on the M50 but its reasonable to assume it's well used by unmarked cars and there's also a fair bit of CCTV which might've caught the lunatic.

You can't expect the cops to be there in that exact 60 seconds when some random psycho with a death wish pulls a stunt like that.

For what its worth, that micra probably ended up in a tree somewhere. Only a fool believes he can drive like that and live.

Undercoverguy

DublinWriter wrote:

Yes indeedy. Have a look at your nearest calendar. Get it yet?

No i dont get it yet? If you trying to say i should have had tax then i think you sould read the post again.....

Also the reason i didnt call 999 is because i work for a company that has about 30 branchs of a store in Dublin, and there have been times when people have been injecting themselfs, playing with knifes and steeling handbags and 999 makes no difference. The garda dont have a communication process... its more a "we'll try get the message on" kind of process. I even know one store who got robbed at gunpoint at 11pm and pushed the panic buttons..... half hour later later a guard arrived on a bike. The location of this store was on the malahide road, artane roundabout!
An investigation was carried out by my company to find the delay

11.07pm - Button Oushed
11.07pm - Signal Recieved By Top Security
11.08pm - Garda Informed of Gunpoint Robbery
11.42pm - Garda Arrive At Store

See the breakdown.....

rondeco

Its the guards fault that scrotes were driving like that. Absolutely. And anyway, if the guards caught them they would have just let them go so they could go and batter an innocent girl who was doing meals on wheels or something.

gyppo

rondeco wrote:

Its the guards fault that scrotes were driving like that. Absolutely.

?????

Rudolph Claus

Originally Posted by rondeco
Its the guards fault that scrotes were driving like that. Absolutely.

Obviously its not literally the guards fault. I think hes trying to say the guards didnt exactly do anything o help, did they? No surprise there,,, much easier to be doing road tax checkpoints on decent motorists than doing what they fookin should be doing. When is the public going to stand up and demand a proper garda force that actually do worthwhile prevention rather than doing trivial minor crap. Until an independent garda ombudsman type system is in place i will have no respect for the garda and they`re laziness.

Guy:Incognito

Nuttzy wrote:

Obviously its not literally the guards fault. I think hes trying to say the guards didnt exactly do anything o help, did they? No surprise there,,, much easier to be doing road tax checkpoints on decent motorists than doing what they fookin should be doing. When is the public going to stand up and demand a proper garda force that actually do worthwhile prevention rather than doing trivial minor crap. Until an independent garda ombudsman type system is in place i will have no respect for the garda and they`re laziness.

Decent motorist pay their motor tax.


Plus it's hardly the gards fault if they arrest someone , take them to court only for the judge to warn them and send them on their way. The gard s do not take joy riders out of cars, tell them not to do it again and tell them to go home.

Darando

overdriver wrote:

It's a pity the Gardai are being utilised as tax collectors for the state when there's real trouble brewing elsewhere.

I don't know why we dont bring in a system like they have in the UK. The DVLA automatically issues you a fine when your tax is out of date for a certain period. I know here that you get a final warning about being out of tax with options to send back such as sold/scrapped/not is use etc. otherwise the guards will be informed - informed - why isnt it just saying you will get a fine issued automatically.

I dont want to turn this into a problems with the guards thread but surely giving them a proper radio system that cant be scanned should be prioroity. And whats with the testing of stab proof vests. Listen we all know that they should have them and the dont need "testing".

Sizzler

Jesus Ive never seen anything close to that on the M50 I have to say.
Major consequences for a person travelling at the speed limit if they were to stumble upon something like this :eek:

To the OP ...no offence mate but how fast were you travelling / what were you driving that a Micra full of skangers could pass you out on one of the only parts of the M50 that has a hill

rondeco

gyppo wrote:

?????

I should have clarified my point. I was heavily intoxicated with sarcasm.

TempestSabre

Any modern car is capable of doing well over the ton. Micra, Cinq etc.

gyppo

rondeco wrote:

I should have clarified my point. I was heavily intoxicated with sarcasm.

That explains it:D

ninty9er

Undercoverguy wrote:

No i dont get it yet? If you trying to say i should have had tax then i think you sould read the post again.....

Also the reason i didnt call 999 is because i work for a company that has about 30 branchs of a store in Dublin, and there have been times when people have been injecting themselfs, playing with knifes and steeling handbags and 999 makes no difference. The garda dont have a communication process... its more a "we'll try get the message on" kind of process. I even know one store who got robbed at gunpoint at 11pm and pushed the panic buttons..... half hour later later a guard arrived on a bike. The location of this store was on the malahide road, artane roundabout!
An investigation was carried out by my company to find the delay

11.07pm - Button Oushed
11.07pm - Signal Recieved By Top Security
11.08pm - Garda Informed of Gunpoint Robbery
11.42pm - Garda Arrive At Store

See the breakdown.....

4am: Landlord gets call from tenant "there's a guy trying to break in my door"
4:05am: Landlord rings Gardaí and proceeds to scene with his son (a good friend of mine)

4:20:Arrives

4:30: rings Gardaí

5:30: Rings Gardaí

6:30: rings Gardaí

Yo0u get the gist

11am: 2 5' 0" Bangardaí arrive (no disrespect to Bangardaí but it was just a joke) take statement, survey building

11:20: Gardaí leave scene

kona

TempestSabre wrote:

Any modern car is capable of doing well over the ton. Micra, Cinq etc.

micra maybe, but a cinq??? what are they 900cc??

Guy:Incognito

Nissan reckon the new shape micra will do 103. My clio did around 110 once. Most 1.0 - 1.2 cars qill only hit around 100 max. The old shape mirca 1ltr felt horrible at around 80 and topped out around 85 -90.Just checked toyota.ie, 1.0 Yaris will do 93.1.3 will do 106, so most makes are fairly similar.

Rew

I had a 1.2l punto that would do 100-110.

Iv been baited on the M50 by boy racers lookin for a race. Left them off.

TempestSabre

kona wrote:

micra maybe, but a cinq??? what are they 900cc??

900 and 1.1 and I've seen both types pass me at well over the ton on the M50. We have a 1.0 micra and it cruises happily at 65, but will do more if pushed/trashed. I used to have a wheezy Seat Ibiza 1.0 and my cousin managed to get caught speeding in it, 70mph in a 30mph zone. I didn't think it was possible to be honest. No wonder that car was shagged when I got it.

Those are silly speeds in a car like that though. You won't be able to stop in a reasonable distance if you need to for one thing, they are easily caught by the wind and much easier thrown off track by bumps or sudden steering input.

Guy:Incognito

TempestSabre wrote:

900 and 1.1 and I've seen both types pass me at well over the ton on the M50. We have a 1.0 micra and it cruises happily at 65, but will do more if pushed/trashed. I used to have a wheezy Seat Ibiza 1.0 and my cousin managed to get caught speeding in it, 70mph in a 30mph zone. I didn't think it was possible to be honest. No wonder that car was shagged when I got it.

Those are silly speeds in a car like that though. You won't be able to stop in a reasonable distance if you need to for one thing, they are easily caught by the wind and much easier thrown off track by bumps or sudden steering input.

The official spec on the chinq sporting says the 1.1 will top put at 93 and the 900 at 87

TempestSabre

Stekelly wrote:

The official spec on the chinq sporting says the 1.1 will top put at 93 and the 900 at 87

Yes but thats before they've done a "skanger my banger" job on it.

The fake exhaust is worth an extra 5mph at least...

Sizzler

TempestSabre wrote:

Any modern car is capable of doing well over the ton. Micra, Cinq etc.

LOL Yeah I know...BUT they were going up a hill and the car was near full by the sounds of it, I seriously doubt you could get a micra anywhere 75 in those conditions...nevermind a ton !

The Micra is grand at 70, but trust me it roars at anything more than 80 !

If the OP was driving anything bigger than a 1.3 he would have been in a position to drop a gear and get the revs up and these lads would have been looking at his back lights in 10 seconds flat.

TempestSabre

You'd be surprised what you can do. Anyone remember Top Gear Tiff going around the circuit in a Puma with Clarkson and Quentin Willson in it. Clarksons head alone weighs about same as 3 three people. Even a 1.0 in a the hands of a fast driver can be quick.

IrishRover

That is an incredible story! :eek:

Re the Micras and what speed a tiny modern car like this seems capable of these days, I remember I was doing a certain speed one time and not only should the Micra behind me not have been able to do the speed it was doing, it actually managed to accelerate very quickly to way beyond what should have been its top speed and pass me out quite quickly. It just looked like a completely standard car. A young lady driver too.

Still with four up it is incredible how this Micra on the M50 could have been going like that. It is shocking that something like that happened with the sudden stop and turn around he did. It's one thing excessive speeding like that but their attempt to cause a huge accident like that seems like they were deliberately getting their kicks out of terrorising innocent people on the motorway. Sounds like they have gotten the impression they are untouchable. I have noticed the M50 doesn't seem to be patrolled late at night either.

dubstub

Stekelly wrote:

The official spec on the chinq sporting says the 1.1 will top put at 93 and the 900 at 87

The 900 cc cinqucento will top out at 86. The speedometer only goes to 100mph. With a decline and plenty of open road you can get the car up to 94 but brakes and steering don't work too well at that stage.
Best not to ask how I know that; it was a long, long time ago and I'm happy to say I've grown up a lot since then...

ToxicPaddy

This is the time when you'd love the Gardai over here to do what they do in the US, like ya see on Cops.. (yes I know a lot is playing up to the camera!!)..

Some little scumbag steals a car and goes on the rampage.. police arrive on scene, chase him, catch up, spin the car and ram it so the scumbag cant get out.. then rip him out through the broken window and in the process of cuffing him, get to punch, kick, elbow, slap, bite, tickle, etc.. the scumbag into submission.. ya get the idea.. nothing like job satisfaction eh??

Glad to hear the OP got out of that ok btw.. lucky escape..

Tox

Squirrel

A pretty heavily laden 97 Micra 1 litre can do 96. That was 3 people, a lot of gear bags, and a bike rack in the boot.

At least there didn't seem to be too much damage to the Focus and yours was ok.

TempestSabre

I thought you were going to say shoot them and leave a "throw down" gun at the scene. :eek:

breanoh

What if the micra was a 1.3? I have had my old MK1 Micra 1.0 up at 85 with myself and two (hefty) passengers in it, so I would expect that the newer 16v twin cam Micra could do alot better. As for the chinq, the 1.1 can be surprisingly fast! If you thrash a 1.0 it'll move on quite rapidly. I had no problems on the M50 with a full car (me and 4 passengers, all 20somethings lads) cruising at 125 in my 1.0 td charade!
The likes of these scumbags should be put on the curragh camp and made clean horse sh£t for a month, might make them thing again about their responsabilities!

Big Balls

It doesn't really matter what your little A to B car CAN do down a big hill..

It HASN'T got the chassis, brakes, suspension or right size tyres to be doing anything over 100 mph and you're really taking your life and the lives of your passengers into your own hands doing it.

I can't believe there's people here using "1.1L" and "rapid" in the same sentence here.

Darren

If you had wanted a quick response from the guards yuo should ring them and tell them that you were going to stop the car, drag the 3 lads out and beat the ****e out of them. The helicopters and everything would have been out within minutes.

breanoh

You obviously haven't driven a 1.1, They can be very quick! BTW, The latter speed I gave was in km/h, 125km/h = about 80 mph. I haven't pushed any car above 90mph, wouldn't be safe!

Big Balls

breanoh wrote:

You obviously haven't driven a 1.1, They can be very quick!

PMSL.

No, I've only driven a 346bhp BMW M3. I have NO idea what quick is.

I must take my girlfriend's Pug 206 out for a spin when I get home from work, that has a 1.1 litre engine, I can't believe I've had the chance to drive such a powerful car for so long and never took it out.

gyppo

breanoh wrote:

If you thrash a 1.0 it'll move on quite rapidly. I had no problems on the M50 with a full car (me and 4 passengers, all 20somethings lads) cruising at 125 in my 1.0 td charade!

:eek: You need locking up.

zilog_jones

People like those sh1ts deserve to die.

Undercoverguy: You could have at least *attempted* to inform the guards about
this incident. At least if they did nothing afterwards you'd have a reason to complain how they're useless.

And yeah breanoh, FFS the old Daihatsu Charade was a fookin death trap!

Savman

Big Balls wrote:

346bhp

Must be dream in traffic gridlock alright...:D:D

TempestSabre

Big Balls wrote:

....No, I've only driven a 346bhp BMW M3. I have NO idea what quick is.

I must take my girlfriend's Pug 206 out for a spin when I get home from work, that has a 1.1 litre engine, I can't believe I've had the chance to drive such a powerful car for so long and never took it out.

Yeah being condescending and snobbish is a good way to debate the point. :rolleyes:

Driving a small city car, especially something with a nippy free reving engine, light clutch and steering is a much nicer experience in some conditions, heavy slow moving congested traffic for example then a bigger more powerful car. I often choose our 1.0 when I'm tired of hauling the 2L saloon around town.

The point is these cars can be made to shift with the right driver. Even on the open road if you know the road, you can keep up a decent pace. On one occasion I was going over the Wicklow mountains (which I know well) and a TT was ahead of me and I eventually caught him and past him. Which was very amusing. I know he was trying hard to get away from his hard braking, and accelerating. He was obviously a bad driver who didn't know the road. Still fun though.

Obviously driving a car beyond its sensible limits is insane. Regardless of the car.

ciarsd

which M3 has 346BHP anyway?? It aint an E30, E36 nor E46

breanoh

Charade=deathtrap? lol! have had 3 of them, all nippy, comfortable and safe. Don't know where you get that from. big balls, I'm not suggesting getting out of the bmw, just realise that smaller cars with small engines can be quick too! I remember the 4L my dad had, now that was nippy, and the R6 that left some poor boy racer in his civic with a red face because he couldn't keep up! You don;t have to have a big engine to have fun! or a new car for that!

Gerry

breanoh wrote:

Charade=deathtrap? lol! have had 3 of them, all nippy, comfortable and safe. Don't know where you get that from. big balls, I'm not suggesting getting out of the bmw, just realise that smaller cars with small engines can be quick too! I remember the 4L my dad had, now that was nippy, and the R6 that left some poor boy racer in his civic with a red face because he couldn't keep up! You don;t have to have a big engine to have fun! or a new car for that!

Apparently your charade does 80mph, and probably with only one passenger also. Why do you bother saying stuff like 125? Unless you meant km/h.

http://www.carfolio.com/specifications/models/car/?car=22979&Daihatsu

All these people going on about how quick 1 litre cars are need to drive a car with a decent size engine. Yes, small cars with 1 litre engines can be very nippy at low speeds. Once the weight advantage fades away though, the acceleration tends to be useless.

TempestSabre

Gerry wrote:

Apparently your charade does 80mph, and probably with only one passenger also. Why do you bother saying stuff like 125? Unless you meant km/h.

http://www.carfolio.com/specifications/models/car/?car=22979&Daihatsu

All these people going on about how quick 1 litre cars are need to drive a car with a decent size engine. Yes, small cars with 1 litre engines can be very nippy at low speeds. Once the weight advantage fades away though, the acceleration tends to be useless.

1.) The official specs are not always accurate.

2.) I've driven/owned loads of fast-ish cars. Whats that got to do with begin nippy. How does weight "fade" away?

mloc123

lol @ a 1 litre being quick. Whats all the talk about town driving? The original subject was the m50....I'd like to see a 1litre keep up with anything on it...not during rush hour of course