Gardai checking tax on the M50!

fletch

Did I hear right this evening on DCAL, the Gardai were checking tax on the M50!!? :eek:

copacetic

wherabouts? didn't see them myself anyway and the m50 was flying southbound.

Wishbone Ash

Ideal place to do it as traffic is at a crawl anyway so they are not really delaying anyone!

Seriously though, they sometimes use a tax check as a cover when investigating something of a much more serious nature.

1huge1

Either fletch is in trouble or it really was just routine
did the ask you to open your boot?

fletch

lol I only heard about it, well my Dad heard about it on DCAL and they said that they were causing delays. I just think it's madness that they would be out checking tax on the M50!

GerardKeating

fletch wrote:

Did I hear right this evening on DCAL, the Gardai were checking tax on the M50!!? :eek:

they did a booze patrol on the M50 at christmas, at the toll booths.

Checking tax disks in the queues during rush hour would not delay much.

Chris_533976

Im all for them checking tax etc in queues. Much better way of doing it than blocking a dual carriageway somewhere else.

Fair play to them for using common sense

Capt'n Midnight

I'd love to see them do a check on driving licenses on the M50.

cast_iron

Flying on the M50!! You must have mean that literally:D.

Lorax

Capt'n Midnight wrote:

I'd love to see them do a check on driving licenses on the M50.

Yeah that would be crap, Im on 1st provisional and drive on the m50 nearly every day of the week

Calina

What is it about this country?

Lorax, no it would not be crap. It would be much better for this country if we started enforcing some of the minimal traffic legislation in this city such as

1) are you licensed to drive
2) are you licensed to drive alone
3) are you licensed to drive on this road
4) are you driving too fast
5) are you breaking red lights

just to begin with.

The whole problem with this country is that people think they can break traffic law with impunity. Damn right if you're the one doing the lawbreaking, then it's annoying when they start enforcing it, but since I have to take evasive action to avoid stupid accidents every day, then perhaps a little enforcement might concentrate minds on the matter at hand. Driving with due care and attention and attention to the rules of the road for example.

Chris_533976

If you're on a provisional, get off the M50. Its a MOTORWAY. Simple as that. There are alternative routes, use them. If you want to drive on an M road, get your full licence.

I know in reality, some of these things are not as simple as on paper (a year to sit the test), but obey these common sense laws nonetheless.

BrandonBlock

Chris_533976 wrote:

If you're on a provisional, get off the M50. Its a MOTORWAY. Simple as that. There are alternative routes, use them. If you want to drive on an M road, get your full licence.

I know in reality, some of these things are not as simple as on paper (a year to sit the test), but obey these common sense laws nonetheless.

I do it aswell in fairness now, I am not going to get a date for my driving test until at least January. The alternative to driving on the M50 for me is driving on the finglas backroads, which are so unbelievably dangerous (complete darkness at night, no streetlamps, road too narrow for 2 cars to drive by each other so you have to nearly stop when theres oncoming traffic) I can assure you there's been a LOT more people killed on those backroads than the M50. I'll take my chances on the M50 thanks very much, I know how to use it.

_Kaiser_

Strictly speaking that's not your decision to make. You are not legally allowed to drive on the M50.. simple as that.

I didn't when I had a provisional, and like you I used the Finglas backroads. yes it was a pain - especially when I can now (that I have my full license) do the same journey in 20 mins, but it's not as bad as you're making out. Yes it's narrow and twisty, but as long as you're not doing the (frankly ridiculous) posted 80 km/h, it's fine.

I'm not trying to be nasty but the Rules/Laws aren't a selection box you can pick n choose your favorites from and ignore the rest.

grahamo

Capt'n Midnight wrote:

I'd love to see them do a check on driving licenses on the M50.

There'd be a lot of convictions on that day!

BrandonBlock

Kaiser2000 wrote:

Yes it's narrow and twisty, but as long as you're not doing the (frankly ridiculous) posted 80 km/h, it's fine.

Tbh it's the oncoming traffic doing 80km/h AND HIGHER that really annoys me on those roads, the last time I drove on those roads a huge jeep - think it was a toyota landcruiser came speeding at me forcing me to move over and scrape my passenger mirror off the wall - I had so little space.

I know technically I'm breaking the law but I've been doing this for nearly a year now (taking down the L-plates and driving on the M50), and have never been stopped. I've seen tonnes of garda cars/jeeps/etc and I don't give them any reason to stop me (I'm a safe driver, stick to the limits etc) so they don't. + I'll continue to do it as long as I get away with it.

BrandonBlock

Also another thing I don't get, afaik they don't test you on motorway driving in your driving test so what makes you suddenly automatically qualified to drive on them after you pass? What's so different about driving on the M50 compared to say the N3 dual carriageway (which provisional drivers can drive on) Besides having a 20km/h faster limit? The operation of joining/leaving/overtaking/correct lane usage/etc is all exactly the same.

strassenwolf

Lorax wrote:

Yeah that would be crap, Im on 1st provisional and drive on the m50 nearly every day of the week

If you're in a car, surely the qualified driver who is accompanying you on these journeys would have pointed out that it is illegal for you to drive on the M50. No?

Jip

It's never long before this board is invaded by the hordes riding their high horses on the provisional and motorway issue is it.

Lafortezza

I'd be happy if they did checks to stop people using mobile phones on the M50. I only travel Finglas to Dublin Airport and back each day but every car you look in has someone chatting away on the mobile.

OTK

My wife's car was stopped at a roadblock the other day. She had no tax disc at all (on an old car), a year out of date nct, but valid insurance: the cop waved her on. WTF?

Calina wrote:

The whole problem with this country is that people think they can break traffic law with impunity.

It's not that people think they can break traffic law with impunity - they can! Surely the problem is more that the traffic laws are not enforced? The gardai do not prosecute certain traffic law breaches such as provisional driving unaccompanied. The laws that they do try to enforce, such as driving without insurance, are very haphazardly policed. You can pretty much break any traffic law in Ireland anbd expect to get away with it. If you're caught you can often beg your way out.

Also the gardai openly break many of the traffic laws themselves. This sets a poor example for the rest of us and weakens their ability to insist on compliance.

There seems to be a political acceptance that the gardai are not competent to enforce traffic laws and cannot be made to improve. For example after 7 years of operating speed cameras in Ireland, the cops have 20 cameras, none of which are outside the Dublin region and only 3 of which contain film at any given time. Nearly half the photos taken are unusable and only 1 in 7 of those caught speeding who refuse to pay the fine are punished.

So we will outsource speed checking as we did with parking enforcement and the cops who were pretending to do those jobs can go back to playing starsky and hutch around town.

Bluetonic

Surely it's St Patrick's day coming up and not Groundhog day.

strassenwolf

Jip wrote:

It's never long before this board is invaded by the hordes riding their high horses on the provisional and motorway issue is it.

Interesting comment. A number of people on the board have expressed an opinion that the law should be (i) observed and/or (ii) enforced. It seems you consider these people to be "riding their high horses."

Or have I misunderstood you?

corktina

Calina wrote:

What is it about this country?

Lorax, no it would not be crap. It would be much better for this country if we started enforcing some of the minimal traffic legislation in this city such as

1) are you licensed to drive
2) are you licensed to drive alone
3) are you licensed to drive on this road
4) are you driving too fast
5) are you breaking red lights

just to begin with.

The whole problem with this country is that people think they can break traffic law with impunity. Damn right if you're the one doing the lawbreaking, then it's annoying when they start enforcing it, but since I have to take evasive action to avoid stupid accidents every day, then perhaps a little enforcement might concentrate minds on the matter at hand. Driving with due care and attention and attention to the rules of the road for example.

I agree with Callina. It isnt impossible to get a full license, so why do people drive for years with out one? Cant be bothered or inability to pass a test I guess...

maxheadroom

BrandonBlock wrote:

Also another thing I don't get, afaik they don't test you on motorway driving in your driving test so what makes you suddenly automatically qualified to drive on them after you pass? What's so different about driving on the M50 compared to say the N3 dual carriageway (which provisional drivers can drive on) Besides having a 20km/h faster limit? The operation of joining/leaving/overtaking/correct lane usage/etc is all exactly the same.

The difference is that by passing your test you've proved that you are capable of driving in a safe and controlled manner

Arathorn

I often drive the M7 and I'm on a provisional, often pass the guards with L plates and never been stopped. Its probly the safest part of my journey, used to go the old road and it was fairly bad. Its 48 weeks to sit a test right now. Some of the maniacs I see on the roads put a provisional driver on the motor way low down on the priority list. Plus the M50 is hardly dangerous at rush hour