Same junction, same family, same accident!!!!!!

Kinetic^

Ok, this is going to sound absolutely mental and unbelieveable but this is true.

Back in 2001 I had an accident on my moped on a junction up in tallaght. What happened was, I was driving along and there was an upcoming left turn. Now I was going straight and not taking this turn. So as I come to the turn a car pulls out right in front of me and I drive into the back wheel and over the top I go. End of that story.

Now earlier today, the exact same thing happened my dad, at the same junction, only thing different was it was a woman driving the car and my dad was on a bicycle. He had lights (non flashing ones at that), a high vis jacket and a helmet on.

Thankfully both of us came away with minor scraps and bruises.

Now when the gardai arrived today, they told my mother who had gone to pick my father up that she should contact a local TD about this and request that lights should be put up.

Is there any point in us doing this or would be wasting our time?

Hotblack Desiato

Kenny 5 wrote:

Now when the gardai arrived today, they told my mother who had gone to pick my father up that she should contact a local TD about this and request that lights should be put up. Is there any point in us doing this or would be wasting our time?

Wasting your time. The drivers who ignore Stop and Yield signs are the same ones who ignore traffic lights not in their favour

You should contact your local TD and get him to ask the local Gardai what they propose to do about enforcing road traffic law in your area... f***ing cheek of them

Kinetic^

Well my dad was asked if he wanted to press charges but he didn't, it was an accident. The lady in question was hysterical and had to be driven home by a garda so I don't think pressing charges would've helped the matter. Upon further inspection of the helmet he was wearing, it was cracked.........had he got no helmet on, I'm not sure he'd be alive.

Following on from your point, surely the gardai should automatically charge someone in this instance with dangerous driving or something along those lines?

Zoney

Kenny 5 wrote:

The lady in question was hysterical and had to be driven home by a garda so I don't think pressing charges would've helped the matter.

Would said person have missed a set of lights also perhaps? Sometimes these accidents happen despite all the precautions. A STOP sign or Yield should of course do the job.

What would help though is ensuring that not only have all the people on our roads passed a driving test, but also that people are retested every 10 years or so, and that the test is far more versatile and all-encompassing.

Current situation in Ireland is absurd, no wonder there are so many accidents with so many driving novices on the roads.

Marksie

I would have thought that the gardai would have automatically prosecuted for driving without undue care and attention.
To be perfectly honest, whether she was hysterical or not is not the point. She will get over her hysteria, but may still run someone else down later.

Kinetic^

marksuttonie wrote:

I would have thought that the gardai would have automatically prosecuted for driving without undue care and attention.
To be perfectly honest, whether she was hysterical or not is not the point. She will get over her hysteria, but may still run someone else down later.

Yeah I agree on both your points. Had my father been in a serious condition I'm sure he would've thought differently and maybe asked to press charges.

@Zoney, I fully agree with your points too. I thought something was going to be done about prov drivers a while back but it was probably shelved knowing our government.

D'Peoples Voice

Kenny 5 wrote:

Now when the gardai arrived today, they told my mother who had gone to pick my father up that she should contact a local TD about this and request that lights should be put up.
Is there any point in us doing this or would be wasting our time?

It depends,
If you want legislation brought in for more lamp posts to be placed closer to junctions nationwide, then contact your TD
but if you are talking about just one junction, in your local constituency, then it has NOTHING to do with your TD. It's a local issue, therefore your local government/authority are responsible for it's upkeep, therefore you should contact your representative/councillor on your local council.

Remember you should only need to contact your TD to change legislation or issues that affect the whole country,
you should contact your local councillor if it affects your constituency only.

Hotblack Desiato

Kenny 5 wrote:

Well my dad was asked if he wanted to press charges but he didn't, it was an accident.

And only by luck is he still around to be able to say that. But he's wrong.
It wasn't an "accident" it was gross negligence, and the only way we're going to get better behaviour from drivers in general is to punish them when they screw up badly.

The lady in question was hysterical

The lady who ran me down was so calm I thought she was chomping buckets of valium, doesn't make a damn bit of difference. TBH I'm sick of those ladies who turn on the hysterics/waterworks whenever it suits them!

so I don't think pressing charges would've helped the matter.

It would make her, and everyone she knows drive more carefully in future, how can that not help?

Upon further inspection of the helmet he was wearing, it was cracked.........had he got no helmet on, I'm not sure he'd be alive.

Shows you how serious this is.

Following on from your point, surely the gardai should automatically charge someone in this instance with dangerous driving or something along those lines?

Not if the principal witness doesn't want to... maybe he'll reconsider. I hope for the sake of everyone who has to share the roads with the likes of her, that he does.

dowlingm

get a digital camera with a decent memory card, park yourself at said junction, catch lots of people breaking law, upload to Youtube and Google Video.

It's the only way to get things done these days.

On a similar note, check out "road bites car" - I think it's in Manchester.

Zoney

Kenny 5 wrote:

@Zoney, I fully agree with your points too. I thought something was going to be done about prov drivers a while back but it was probably shelved knowing our government.

Prov drivers? That's not even all of the problem! What about all the people who got free licences when the testing backlog got too bad in the 1980s? People allowed to drive all classes of vehicles, even artics, despite never sitting a test for even a car!

And you can't say much for those who've passed a test, we don't have mandatory intensive driving lessons, or a broad enough test.

All of this is relevant to the situation described in this thread, because the fact is, the *majority* of Irish road users can't drive properly. Why a driver not looking before pulling out of a side road is childsplay compared to the idiocy performed on our roads; I see it just about every journey I make by road!

A couple of traffic lights, or even the holy grail of more guards and better enforcement won't fix things, good and all as those may be.

daymobrew

so I don't think pressing charges would've helped the matter.

ninja900 wrote:

It would make her, and everyone she knows drive more carefully in future, how can that not help?

I agree. Press charges. She'll tell all her friends and it might change their behaviour too.
I've reported red light breakers to the Gardai even though they haven't been near me.