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Speed Traps
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I dont think you are looking the bigger picture here at all. Most back roads do not have a safe place for a patrol car to park up, the distance required to fix the speed of a car on the radar and no safe place for a car to pull over without putting the lives of the garda, the driver being stopped and other road users at risk. We also must consider volumes of traffic too. In the mornings or evening when people are going to or coming from work we have to think if we do clock a person speeding would we be able to catch that person safely without having to overtake cars wit other cars coming towards us. Stretches of straight road are much safer for all of the above actions that are needed to be done.
Anyway where there are safe places on back roads the speed check is not done all day but rather maybe 15-20 minutes and then we move onto another road in the district. People always say they never see checks on a particular road but tbh honest my district is 50km in circumference.
Yup exactly what i said a good few posts up
Copy cat
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But I assume that your only spending 15 to 20 mins because of the lack of people using the road? If saving lives was a concern then is time not better spent there as speeding on a bad road is far more dangerous. Busy carrageways are checked as the limit is low (compared to the limit on some dangerous back roads), they get alot of users and many break the limit on them. Deaths on carrageways are rare when you consider the amount of cars that use them but they are checked because it's easy to catch people on them
There is little point in doing speed checks on roads that are rarely used as the impact on driver behaviour is extremely limited. I do checks usually 20 minutes long which at first are high visibility to show drivers that I am there and that I will prosecute those who speed excessively. After that first check I would 2-3 covert checks ( where I am not visible on different days ) again to hammer home the speed and safety end of it.
As for motorways or dual carraigeways I cannot really comment because until recently we had a very small part of a motorway in our district but now our district has grown so we will now do checks on that motorway too. The reason I will do a check on this motorway is not because there is a high risk of death as you mentioned but because there is a high risk of injury due to the increased speed. The safety mechanisms of a motorway prevent death to a great extent. I am not interested in catching people going just over the limit but those who massively exceed the limit on a particular road.Why do you not spend more time on dangerous roads (if there is a safe place to set up the equipment), if you go back to the station after catching very few people speeding (or noone) do they feel that your not doing your job right? If you catch one person taking the piss on a bad road thats equivelent to catching 10 people speeding on a motorway imo
Most of my district consists of small back roads that are used by speeders and I rotate my speed checks on these roads as well as the roads we do not have a problem with.
There were many times I went back to my station especially after doing a covert speed check and caught no one. In these cases I would extend my time to 30 minutes and I feel good that I caught no one. At least I know then the roads are a little safer cos the drivers are getting the message. In my district alone we have had 2 fatalities in the last 12 months and in both of these cases there was nothing we could have done to prevent them.
1. cyclist in a road race crashed head first into a parked vehicle and died instantly
2. driver had a heart attack and died
So question is when I approach a driver I have just caught speeding, what am I thinking?
A) Brilliant more money for the government ( *and rubbing my hands in glee *)
or
I hope this driver gets the message not to speed so they are not putting themselves or another in danger.
Answer is B and the reason for that? Cos I was at a particularly bad crash involving a car and a lorry and I saw a woman who had no skin on her arm. I know its not the worst crash scene but it was for me. Now think of the guards, ambulance and fire brigade who attended to a fatal crash or one where kids are screaming in pain or those who are permanently disfigured and disabled. These people live with those injuries for the rest of their lives and carry the pain and suffering. People of the emergency services are not inhuman either and it affects them too but to a smaller degree than the injured.
So in general is speeding acceptable? It never can be cos you may be a competent enough driver to travel at 20-30kph or more over the limit but the next fella may not be. That is why people are being caught speeding and prosecuted for it and I for one will not apologise for it.0 -
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One thing I can never understand is why alot of Gards think they are ok to speed in either A;a police car or B; in their own cause I've a few family members and friends in the poice and they absolutely boot along I mean rocket down the road :mad: .
the other day I was off with my uncle who's a DS and was in his own car and we were tearing along the M50 it's ridiculous at why they do this most say they don't even notice :rolleyes: I'm like how'd you not notice you're car is about to take off
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I've been in a car with another family member who's a Gard and we were pulled over and what a surprise as soon as the fella that stopped us found out my cousin was in the job it was jokes to the hilt and even threw in the comment "don't let me delay you anymore,back to what you were doin" :eek: :rolleyes: .
So when I hear of Gards killing people in crashes etc I always think did they not notice how fast they were going or think that they'd be ok speeding cause they're Gards and makes the outcome that is given from these crashes i.e. "it was an accident" hard to swallow seeing what I see on a regular basis,anyway I just can't understand why they'd do this
maybe it's just me 
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That's just it, it wasn't a drink driving checkpoint.
Even when they stopped me, they didn't bag me. Although I must say their crackdown on drink driving is to be commended.
Now I have 2 more penalty points on my licence just for doing around 55mph on a wide, empty road with nothing in front of me. :mad:
I'm trying to look at the situation objectively here but I don't see how screwing people like that is going to prevent road deaths.
After all that is the garda's objective is isn't - reduce the number of accidents on the road?
Why then don't they target those who cause the majority of serious accidents
Thats ridiculous and a big wind up, the motorest is just a sitting duck for the gaurds to make money, why are they on the big safe roads when all the accidents are on the small roads, they spend millions expanding the m50 to a 3 lane carrigeway and bring the limit down to 100 its crazy:mad:0 -
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One thing I can never understand is why alot of Gards think they are ok to speed in either A;a police car or B; in their own cause I've a few family members and friends in the poice and they absolutely boot along I mean rocket down the road :mad: .
the other day I was off with my uncle who's a DS and was in his own car and we were tearing along the M50 it's ridiculous at why they do this most say they don't even notice :rolleyes: I'm like how'd you not notice you're car is about to take off .
I've been in a car with another family member who's a Gard and we were pulled over and what a surprise as soon as the fella that stopped us found out my cousin was in the job it was jokes to the hilt and even threw in the comment "don't let me delay you anymore,back to what you were doin" :eek: :rolleyes: .
So when I hear of Gards killing people in crashes etc I always think did they not notice how fast they were going or think that they'd be ok speeding cause they're Gards and makes the outcome that is given from these crashes i.e. "it was an accident" hard to swallow seeing what I see on a regular basis,anyway I just can't understand why they'd do this maybe it's just me
A, Because its hard to catch criminals without speeding up and
B, I am not aware of Gardai driving or running around killing people. Can you provide some evidence?
oh and please, if you know so many Gardai or Guards, please ask them how to spell it.Thats ridiculous and a big wind up, the motorest is just a sitting duck for the gaurds to make money, why are they on the big safe roads when all the accidents are on the small roads, they spend millions expanding the m50 to a 3 lane carrigeway and bring the limit down to 100 its crazy:mad:
Another person that doesnt read and seems to believe Gardai actually keep the fines0 -
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