Are the Gardai above the traffic laws

Randomswinger

Over the last few months I've become increasingly annoyed with the large number of people who pay little or no head to the rules of the road or traffic laws such as

- People breaking redlights is on the increase
- People turning right or left when the filter light clearly says straight on only
- Lack of indication for manovers or at junctions
- Handheld mobile phones

Now I'm of the opinion that the Gardai should at least try to set a good example to other road users. Over the last 5 days I've seen a combination of marked and unmarked cars doing the following

- Driver speaking on handheld mobile phone
- Turning right where right turns are not allowed (they were not a call happily waited at the junction)
- Not using indicators
- Stopping in yellow boxes
- Smoking & driving

If they're driving around like no one else matters on the road how will anyone ever obey a traffic law again?

godtabh

Randomswinger wrote:

- Smoking & driving

Is that against the law?

eve

I saw a ban garda driving a police car last week while texting-she had the phone held up level with the top of he steering wheel.

Also encountered a police car speeding up Talbot St about a month ago with no falshing lights or sirens to warn people.

Slaanesh

Commercial vehicles = no smoking?

jhegarty

kearnsr wrote:

Is that against the law?

yep , its a work place...

Mena

Randomswinger wrote:

- Driver speaking on handheld mobile phone

They're exempt from that rule so this is not, in any way, breaking the law.

Out of your list, the thing that gets me the most, is the "- People turning right or left when the filter light clearly says straight on only". And then they have the nerve to start hooting and yelling at me when I stay put, waiting for the green light/arrow... :mad:

daedalus2097

A Garda car is a place of work, therefore is a no smoking zone. Same as a taxi or delivery van...

whippet

deleted as the point has been well made several times while I was typing !

daedalus2097

whippet wrote:

deleted as the point has been well made several times while I was typing !

Edit: Oops - deleted my clarification

cormie

Slaanesh wrote:

Commercial vehicles = no smoking?

I don't think so, only if there are passengers being carried for reward as far as I can tell from this.

azzeretti

Mena wrote:

They're exempt from that rule so this is not, in any way, breaking the law.

Out of your list, the thing that gets me the most, is the "- People turning right or left when the filter light clearly says straight on only". And then they have the nerve to start hooting and yelling at me when I stay put, waiting for the green light/arrow... :mad:

You see, this really wrecks my pickle. If there is a two way light, one with a light for straight and one with a right turn, and the filter light is NOT on, then you MUST proceed ahead. That is, if the light for straight is green, and there is a filter light, but its not on, or not red, it means you should continue and cross when safe to do so. It wrecks my head when people have a clear road and green light and no filter (i.e not red or not lit) and they sit there waiting for a little green arrow.

You only stop if the light is RED, if the filter light is simply not ON, you can still proceed with caution when the main light is GREEN.

Sorry for hyjacking, but this wrecks my head, Garda doing it, or anyone else.

Owen

I've posted about this before, and been flamed for my opinions, so it's good to see someone else questioning the Gardaí's ability to set an example. In Cork, I see them speeding constantly, on the phone, making illegal turns, driving without seatbelts, etc.

Kinetic^

Seen one one the phone while driving down Clanbrassil street last week.:rolleyes:

Mena

azzeretti wrote:

You see, this really wrecks my pickle. If there is a two way light, one with a light for straight and one with a right turn, and the filter light is NOT on, then you MUST proceed ahead. That is, if the light for straight is green, and there is a filter light, but its not on, or not red, it means you should continue and cross when safe to do so. It wrecks my head when people have a clear road and green light and no filter (i.e not red or not lit) and they sit there waiting for a little green arrow.

You only stop if the light is RED, if the filter light is simply not ON, you can still proceed with caution when the main light is GREEN.

Sorry for hyjacking, but this wrecks my head, Garda doing it, or anyone else.

Hmm, I've seen/heard varying opinions on this, all contradictory. I'll look it up.

cormie

azzeretti wrote:

You see, this really wrecks my pickle. If there is a two way light, one with a light for straight and one with a right turn, and the filter light is NOT on, then you MUST proceed ahead. That is, if the light for straight is green, and there is a filter light, but its not on, or not red, it means you should continue and cross when safe to do so. It wrecks my head when people have a clear road and green light and no filter (i.e not red or not lit) and they sit there waiting for a little green arrow.

You only stop if the light is RED, if the filter light is simply not ON, you can still proceed with caution when the main light is GREEN.

Sorry for hyjacking, but this wrecks my head, Garda doing it, or anyone else.

Never knew that, can you link to where it says it in the rules of the road or the law before I start doing it please?

miles teg

A friend of mine was nearly crashed into on a roundabout by a gard who was using a mobile phone at the time.
He rang the local station to report the incident (without initially mentioning it was a cop car). When he was asked for the license number, he gave it and the gard tooka minute to look it up on the computer... "hang on, that's a garda squad car number you gave me!"
"yeah, it was a gard that nearly crashed into me"
The gard on the phone then made loads of excuses saying he couldn't follow up the complaint... the radio in the car wasn't working properly and they had to use the phones etc.
Perks of the job

JohnCleary

Kenny 5 wrote:

Seen one one the phone while driving down Clanbrassil street last week.:rolleyes:

And your point is....? They're allowed to (Unfortunately)

mcauley

"Are the Gardai above the traffic laws?"

Simply put - Yes.

godtabh

Slaanesh wrote:

Commercial vehicles = no smoking?

Never copped the smoking ban bit. Mind you its done every were. I made a complaint to Dublin Bus about it when a driver was smoking while letting people on and they said they couldnt do anything about it.

As for the left/right turn there is a place in Lucan village were there right turn is banned to the N4 beside the cop shop and I've seen the gardai stand out side and chat to their mates while this goes on and nothing happens

Jack Bauer999

kearnsr wrote:

Never copped the smoking ban bit. Mind you its done every were. I made a complaint to Dublin Bus about it when a driver was smoking while letting people on and they said they couldnt do anything about it.

As for the left/right turn there is a place in Lucan village were there right turn is banned to the N4 beside the cop shop and I've seen the gardai stand out side and chat to their mates while this goes on and nothing happens

was he smoking in the bus or standing outside?

_Kaiser_

azzeretti wrote:

You see, this really wrecks my pickle. If there is a two way light, one with a light for straight and one with a right turn, and the filter light is NOT on, then you MUST proceed ahead. That is, if the light for straight is green, and there is a filter light, but its not on, or not red, it means you should continue and cross when safe to do so. It wrecks my head when people have a clear road and green light and no filter (i.e not red or not lit) and they sit there waiting for a little green arrow.

You only stop if the light is RED, if the filter light is simply not ON, you can still proceed with caution when the main light is GREEN.

Sorry for hyjacking, but this wrecks my head, Garda doing it, or anyone else.

I always assumed it was this way too. Although I've rarely come across people sitting waiting like you describe unless there's an L-plate on the car.

markpb

ned78 wrote:

I've posted about this before, and been flamed for my opinions, so it's good to see someone else questioning the Gardaí's ability to set an example. In Cork, I see them speeding constantly, on the phone, making illegal turns, driving without seatbelts, etc.

I wouldn't normally make excuses for Gardai, they do their fare share of bad driving but nothing you've complained about it surprising or illegal. The second is easily explained because their radios are so useless (in the clear) that they're rarely used, the third is because turn restrictions are to prevent rat running through estates - enforcing that for gardai would be stupid and I'm sure you can see why - and the last isn't illegal at all because they're expected to be able to make a quick exit from their car if something happens.

There's a reason why they're exempt from RTA laws, use your head.

Mitch Connor

Kaiser2000 wrote:

I always assumed it was this way too. Although I've rarely come across people sitting waiting like you describe unless there's an L-plate on the car.

that is how i was taught when learning to drive, as was my brother and my GF (all recent enough learners) If the light is green, proceed with caution - the green arrow going green indicats that you have right of way over oncoming traffic (but should obviously still proceed with caution.)

godtabh

Jack Bauer999 wrote:

was he smoking in the bus or standing outside?

on the bus with people on board

Owen

markpb wrote:

I wouldn't normally make excuses for Gardai, they do their fare share of bad driving but nothing you've complained about it surprising or illegal.

I'll defer to your insight, but in the case of speeding, without any sirens/lights on?

Kurumba

I was sitting at a red light waiting for a green light, or an arrow to go right, plently of people behind me also waiting when a garda car came up on the left handside and took blatently broke a very red light. Again, no flashing lights. I had seen them in the shop a few mins previous buying their breakfast rolls, so were obviously in a hurry to get back to the station!

markpb

ned78 wrote:

I'll defer to your insight, but in the case of speeding, without any sirens/lights on?

I didn't argue with you about that, I'd tend to agree with you. I think some gardai tend to drive fast because they can.

On the other hand, from speaking with some Gardai, the semi-plausible reason given was that people tend to freeze or react terribly badly when a garda car comes up behind them with lights and sirens. Some of them prefer to finesse the situation and try to get past without them.

If you watch the traffic, you'll regularly see people jamming on the brakes when there's oncoming traffic, leaving the Gardai no space to get past. You'll see other people trying to move out of the way and successfully blocking the gardai by accident.

The only time the lights are really needed (and useful) is coming up to a free-flowing junction when the gardai need to pass a red or if they're in an area where jaywalking is common.

daedalus2097

Mena wrote:

Hmm, I've seen/heard varying opinions on this, all contradictory. I'll look it up.

If you're in a straight ahead lane and you have a straight ahead filter you must proceed. If it's just a green light and you're in a lane that allows right turning but the right turn filter is not up, you can still turn right if the way is clear. If it's not though you're perfectly fine to sit there.

daedalus2097

markpb wrote:

The only time the lights are really needed (and useful) is coming up to a free-flowing junction when the gardai need to pass a red or if they're in an area where jaywalking is common.

I think if they're in any unexpected place they should be used. Like speeding down a bus lane when the main carriageway is jammed with traffic. A friend of mine was hit by one in this situation, jaywalking indeed but wouldn't have happened if sirens were being used. I'd agree though that sometimes people panic, drive into any gap they can find across the lanes and as a result cause a mini gridlock for everyone.

MGrah

azzeretti wrote:

You see, this really wrecks my pickle. If there is a two way light, one with a light for straight and one with a right turn, and the filter light is NOT on, then you MUST proceed ahead. That is, if the light for straight is green, and there is a filter light, but its not on, or not red, it means you should continue and cross when safe to do so. It wrecks my head when people have a clear road and green light and no filter (i.e not red or not lit) and they sit there waiting for a little green arrow.

You only stop if the light is RED, if the filter light is simply not ON, you can still proceed with caution when the main light is GREEN.

Sorry for hyjacking, but this wrecks my head, Garda doing it, or anyone else.

There's two different types of junction in question here.

One where a filter light to with a directional arrow to the right is attached to a regular traffic light with no directional arrow, in which case the standard green light means you can go any direction when clear.

The second, less common but on the increase, type has a straight ahead directional arrow next to the turn right directional arrow, in which case the straight ahead does not entitle you to turn right, and you must wait for the turn right arrow. These always have two separate red light, so you would see a straight ahead arrow next to a red light, meaning straight ahead is the only direction you can go. Usually these are located where pedestrian lights are in place accross the junction.

cormie

that's how I understood it too. If there is a normal green light and the filter light isn't green, you can still go, but if that normal green light was a straight only filter light, you have to wait for the right/left filter light to go green before you can go.

Can anyone link to documentation that says if there is no red light above the right/left filter lights and the straight arrow is green, you can still go left/right please?

Seth Brundle

eve wrote:

I saw a ban garda ...

a what?

Kenny 5 wrote:

Seen one one the phone while driving down Clanbrassil street last week.:rolleyes:

so what?

jessie1 wrote:

I was sitting at a red light waiting for a green light, or an arrow to go right, plently of people behind me also waiting when a garda car came up on the left handside and took blatently broke a very red light. Again, no flashing lights. I had seen them in the shop a few mins previous buying their breakfast rolls, so were obviously in a hurry to get back to the station!

...and an emergency call couldn't have come through?


If you see the gardai using their position to break road traffic laws for what appears to be no valid reason, then consider complaining to the garda ombudsman (www.gardaombudsman.ie).
If people are going to start bitching about the gardai then firstly make sure what you bitch about is relevant and/or with some element of foundation. Otherwise I'm just going to start using the delete button!

MajorMax

I know this is an old post but I had to comment, every time i'm passed by a gards car with it's blues and twos on I always comment that there chips must be getting cold or they're on the way to the chinese.
I've lost count of the amount of times I've been overtaken at speed by the guards
and 10 mins later pass the same car or bike parked outside a takeaway
bunch of wasters

Bendihorse

I know of a Garda whos 19year old daughter is driving around for the past 3 months on UK plates.

This REALLY bugs me as Garda B (from same station) is activly stopping and siezing cars on everyone he finds on a uk plate thats not legit - and imploys zero tolerance, but Garda A's daughter gets away scot free with it?
Garda A actually stopped me during a routine check and noted that i had imported my car and cleared it. He dropped into the converstaion that 'he had imported numerous cars from the UK', i felt like saying to him 'oh ya thats your daughter i see driving around on a UK plate all the time' but i didn't want to draw his wrath on myself so i kept my trap shut...

Is there anything can be done about this?

Anan1

Bendihorse wrote: »

Is there anything can be done about this?

Call customs with the details?

Bendihorse

Its not worth implicating myself over. If there was an anonymous way of drawing their attention to it id consider it but im not going to go out on a limb. Im sure customs would have to refer back to the garda station in question on the matter anyway so it wouldn't go very far.

Seth Brundle

Customs have more powers than the gardai. If they say jump, the gardai say how high. Anyhow, you don't need to provide details to them, just provide the garda's daughters details!

Victor

markpb wrote: »

There's a reason why they're exempt from RTA laws, use your head.

Indeed, the only sections that apply to a garda are the ones about driving while intoxicated. the only legitimate compaint I've seen here is the smoking one.

As to those outside chippers, how do you think prisoners are fed?

D_murph

i reckon they at least think theyre above the law.

i have seen one guard come out of a local shop one morning and get into his squad car in no rush. he turned out onto the main road 50km/h limit and with no lights flashing whatsoever drove at 75km/h all the way till i turned off into my estate after pacing him all the way. this is a highly populated area with 5 estates and a lot of private houses also and he was doing 50% more than the speed limit at his leisure but if i did that........

i also love how if they come to a red light in town they just throw on the blue lights momentarily to break through and then switch them off after doing so.

i really must get blue strobes for my car if theyre a passport for running red lights safely .

great example to follow :rolleyes:

LuckyStar

MGrah wrote: »

There's two different types of junction in question here.

One where a filter light to with a directional arrow to the right is attached to a regular traffic light with no directional arrow, in which case the standard green light means you can go any direction when clear.

The second, less common but on the increase, type has a straight ahead directional arrow next to the turn right directional arrow, in which case the straight ahead does not entitle you to turn right, and you must wait for the turn right arrow. These always have two separate red light, so you would see a straight ahead arrow next to a red light, meaning straight ahead is the only direction you can go. Usually these are located where pedestrian lights are in place accross the junction.

Thanks a million for clearing this up for me, I was at traffic lights last week, I could see there was a green right arrow light but it wasnt lit up, only the main green light was. I was turning right and thought I had to wait til the green right arrow came up for me until the people behind me started beeping, so I went on because there were no cars coming in any other direction.

I was confused because earlier I had been at a different junction and I was turning right, there was still oncoming traffic so I didn't go and then the green right arrow came up and all the other traffic stopped. So I thought when I came to the junction I mentioned above, that I had to wait til the arrow came up.

LuckyStar

also how do you spot an unmarked car?

IncredibleHulk

LuckyStar wrote: »

also how do you spot an unmarked car?

Dublin reg and more ariels than mt Leinster?

sdanseo

IncredibleHulk wrote: »

Dublin reg

Well that would narrow it down a lot :rolleyes:

Half the time the unmarked cars heave uniformed Gardaí inside, if you're able to spot them there's the giveaway.

heffomike54

the gardai are legally exempt from certain traffic laws,not sure of the whole list but i know for definte that they are exempt from the following:

Driving while using a mobile phone (this is because they need to use mobile phones for work, by the way the new garda radios looking like mobile phones),
Speeding (they need to get places in a hurry),
Wearing a seatbelt ( quick entry & exit from the vehicles).

2stageturbo

mcauley wrote: »

"Are the Gardai above the traffic laws?"

Simply put - Yes.

+1. No point getting upset about it. Life goes on.
All i can say is get over it;)

TheNog

Gardai are exempt from pretty much all the traffic laws as are the fire and ambulance service but whatever move they do on the road must have the safety of other road users in mind. If however given all the circumstances you do see an unsafe maneourve (could never spell that bloody word)that could endanger other users report it to the local station and make sure you have witnesses to back you up.

Bear in mind that Gardai do respond to emergency situations every day but must do with caution to road users. So if making a complaint make sure to use your common sense i.e. I was overtaken on a continuous white line or they sped past me (on a straight road)

If you see blue lights and hear sirens behind you, DO NOT PANIC. Just indicate left, pull over to the left as far as you can go and slow down, the emergency service behind you will do the work to get around you!!!!!!!!!!

niceirishfella

Randomswinger wrote: »

Over the last few months I've become increasingly annoyed with the large number of people who pay little or no head to the rules of the road or traffic laws such as

- People breaking redlights is on the increase
- People turning right or left when the filter light clearly says straight on only
- Lack of indication for manovers or at junctions
- Handheld mobile phones

Now I'm of the opinion that the Gardai should at least try to set a good example to other road users. Over the last 5 days I've seen a combination of marked and unmarked cars doing the following

- Driver speaking on handheld mobile phone
- Turning right where right turns are not allowed (they were not a call happily waited at the junction)
- Not using indicators
- Stopping in yellow boxes
- Smoking & driving

If they're driving around like no one else matters on the road how will anyone ever obey a traffic law again?

This is an excellent post and lets be honest here. We've all seen this carry on by our police force. They know full well that they are not being policed.

like, when do you hear of Garda member being caught for drinking and driving? Only once or twice have i ever heard of it and that was only when they mowed someone down or a journo sprung them in the paper maybe. My mate is a garda and he has told me stories like you would'nt believe..........:mad:

TheNog

niceirishfella wrote: »

This is an excellent post and lets be honest here. We've all seen this carry on by our police force. They know full well that they are not being policed.

like, when do you hear of Garda member being caught for drinking and driving? Only once or twice have i ever heard of it and that was only when they mowed someone down or a journo sprung them in the paper maybe. My mate is a garda and he has told me stories like you would'nt believe..........:mad:

i bet if you asked your garda mate how long does it take to process a drunk driver he/she will tell you that it takes the time the guard travels to the station with the prisoner, plus putting him/her in the custody record - a couple of minutes, plus 20mins observation time, plus 10-15mins at the breathilyiser machine,plus waiting for the incident to be reviewed on pulse- usually 5-15 minutes and then charging them which is another 5 minutes at least ,that's if the prisoner is not misbehaving in anyway. That's approx 1 hour taken which usually means a patrol car taken off the streets, which usually means the one and only car for an entire district. Say for instance that drunk driver causes problems at the intoxilyser machine and then needs to be processed via the doctor on call for a blood or urine sample it can take up to 2 hrs.The latter essentially means that a patrol car is off the streets for 2hrs or more.

The common misconception is that the longer a drunk driver puts off the test the lower the reading will be. This is not true!!! If the driver is put through the intoxiliyser machine the machine will take the average of both samples of breadth and deduct a further 17% from the total reading, whereas the blood or urine sample will only only give the true reading in each case.

Bottom line: if you are arrested on suspicion of drunk driving, go for the breathilyisir as it will give 17% discount on your reading. If you fail you can put your hands up and say okay i was wrong to drive and put other people's lives at risk. If you opt for the blood or urine then the true reading of alcohol will be taken therefore it could mean and usually will mean a higher fine and a higher disqualification

As for doing gardai who are drunk behind the wheel, there is a growing a culture in the gardai where they are willing to prosecute their own. A precedent was set with the arrest of the superintendent in Galway last year and rightfully so. Every Garda who prosecute a drunk driver knows the particular driving involved and how dangerous it can be. Tbh I couldn't imagine a garda who could see a drunk driver pass 4-5 cars on a road and say, " a child could have been in one of those cars" and still let the drunk driver away with it.

I couldn't do it. And for that Garda who did prosecute the superindentent in Galway, I say "Fair play to him for having some balls, may there be many more like you". Personally I don't like drunk drivers and not only do i always report them but i follow them so the nearest station car can collar them.

Having said all that any garda who drinks and drives should be ashamed of themselves. We all know of the garda who drove over the lad in lucan, kildare but in fairness the procedure set out to ensure impartiality the breathiyliser had to be done outside his own district and I believe he was acquitted of any wrongdoing. Although he had alcolohol i his breadth he still passed. There was one incident which comes to my mind in south Dublin where a member mowed down two people, killing one person and if I am not mistaken he was prosecuted and rightfully so.

For those of you who follow a driver you suspect of drink driving or speeding, get their reg.no.if possible if not: Keep following them, only is safe to do so and report them. The Gardai may not be with you directly but they need your help. Nine times out ten you may get get it wrong but so do the gardai, but it is the one driver that you may safe a live! Saving a life is priceless!!


In essence, I think it is socially unacceptable for people of any profession to speed or drink drive and I will always be a fighting against those people.

So beware anyone drink driving or speeding, the driver behind you may calling the gurds on you.

Seth Brundle

TheNog wrote: »

If however given all the circumstances you do see an unsafe maneourve (could never spell that bloody word)that could endanger other users report it to the local station and make sure you have witnesses to back you up.

In fairness, of what I see, it tends to be the unmarked cars that are spotted performing dangerous manouvres. Now, if I were to report the red mondeo that circulates around the N4/M50 or indeed any other unmarked car, do you really think something will be done?

Turner

kbannon wrote: »

In fairness, of what I see, it tends to be the unmarked cars that are spotted performing dangerous manouvres. Now, if I were to report the red mondeo that circulates around the N4/M50 or indeed any other unmarked car, do you really think something will be done?

If you are willing to make a statement something will be done. You would be required to act as a witness in court for the DPP.

The most any driver or garda driver will get in court for pulling a "dangerous manouvre" is the probation act and or fine (normally 20euro-> couple of hundered euro). Which is like getting a chance and no conviction at all.

If however you just want to vent your anger ring traffic watch and fcuk them outta it or call in and give out to some young ban gard in a station miles away from the n4 or m50.

Im sure traffic watch or the ban gard would only be delighted to listen to your whining.

Sully

azzeretti wrote: »

You see, this really wrecks my pickle. If there is a two way light, one with a light for straight and one with a right turn, and the filter light is NOT on, then you MUST proceed ahead. That is, if the light for straight is green, and there is a filter light, but its not on, or not red, it means you should continue and cross when safe to do so. It wrecks my head when people have a clear road and green light and no filter (i.e not red or not lit) and they sit there waiting for a little green arrow.

You only stop if the light is RED, if the filter light is simply not ON, you can still proceed with caution when the main light is GREEN.

Sorry for hyjacking, but this wrecks my head, Garda doing it, or anyone else.

That's exactly the way I learned to drive.

markpb wrote: »

I didn't argue with you about that, I'd tend to agree with you. I think some gardai tend to drive fast because they can.

On the other hand, from speaking with some Gardai, the semi-plausible reason given was that people tend to freeze or react terribly badly when a garda car comes up behind them with lights and sirens. Some of them prefer to finesse the situation and try to get past without them.

If you watch the traffic, you'll regularly see people jamming on the brakes when there's oncoming traffic, leaving the Gardai no space to get past. You'll see other people trying to move out of the way and successfully blocking the gardai by accident.

The only time the lights are really needed (and useful) is coming up to a free-flowing junction when the gardai need to pass a red or if they're in an area where jaywalking is common.

Well, I can agree with the above statement. I don't think there allowed to, but they do it anyway.

kbannon wrote: »

a what?

The posted doesnt realise that a female guard is now just a guard. There is no distinction between the two - and why should there be.

IncredibleHulk wrote: »

Dublin reg and more ariels than mt Leinster?

Most are Fords, the odd Toyota. Plus most are no longer unmarked - they have the blue lights attached to the side.

Saying that, there using more cars - and not always D reg with two or more aerials.