Getting stopped by guards for speeding

heartofwhite

Hey all,

So was in the car with my girlfriend last night heading from Wexford to Gorey, just past the Un Yoke the lights of a garda car came on. Since it was obviously directed at my girlfriend she pulled in. For anybody that does not know that road, it is a good road and has a really long straight, the speed limit is 80, which I think is too low. Anyway turns out she was doing 118 so she got an 80 fine. She held her hands up so no problem.

Now I have two questions....

Firstly as we were coming up that long straight, the guards car was not visible at all. It was pitch black and the garda car had no lights on what so ever. We literally did not even see it as we went by. Is this legal? I thought that they had to be visible in someway?

Secondly, she got the 80 fine but the guard did not mention any penalty points. How do these work? Will she get them or not?

Any help appreciated!

Bonito

heartofwhite wrote: »

Hey all,

So was in the car with my girlfriend last night heading from Wexford to Gorey, just past the Un Yoke the lights of a garda car came on. Since it was obviously directed at my girlfriend she pulled in. For anybody that does not know that road, it is a good road and has a really long straight, the speed limit is 80, which I think is too low. Anyway turns out she was doing 118 so she got an 80 fine. She held her hands up so no problem.

Now I have two questions....

Firstly as we were coming up that long straight, the guards car was not visible at all. It was pitch black and the garda car had no lights on what so ever. We literally did not even see it as we went by. Is this legal? I thought that they had to be visible in someway?

Secondly, she got the 80 fine but the guard did not mention any penalty points. How do these work? Will she get them or not?

Any help appreciated!

Your girlfriend broke the law by speeding and your asking is it illegal for a guarda car not to be visible? That's like sayin unmarked special branch cars are illegal.

What's the point in speeding? We all get there in the end

And most likely she'll now have 2 points on her license aswell if she paid the fine on the spot

this might help a little
http://www.citizensinformation.ie/categories/travel-and-recreation/roads-and-safety/road_traffic_speed_limits_in_ireland

dodzy

Bonito wrote: »

Your girlfriend broke the law by speeding and your asking is it illegal for a guarda car not to be visible? That's like sayin unmarked special branch cars are illegal.
What's the point in speeding? We all get there in the end

And most likely she'll now have 2 points on her license aswell if she paid the fine on the spot

this might help a little
http://www.citizensinformation.ie/categories/travel-and-recreation/roads-and-safety/road_traffic_speed_limits_in_ireland

It reads better without the " It serves you right " comments:rolleyes:

Bonito

dodzy wrote: »

It reads better without the " It serves you right " comments:rolleyes:

your right i apologise im sure the brown pants moment with the guarda was enough to realise "oooopsies"

If he didnt take her license to take her driver number than i can't see her having but points on it,but if he did then she probably has the points,not sure how you find out though sorry

biko

1. The guards don't have to warn you at all.
2. The points will come, they don't have to tell you. It's mandatory.

You can also get nabbed by unmarked cars, helicopters, hidden cameras etc.

spartacus93

She'll get a fine in the post. Once she pays that 2 points will be applied to her licence.

Strange that the Guard didn't mention that, but the points will certainly come.

dodzy

Bonito wrote: »

your right i apologise im sure the brown pants moment with the guarda was enough to realise "oooopsies"

+1

Bonito wrote: »

If he didnt take her license to take her driver number than i can't see her having but points on it,but if he did then she probably has the points,not sure how you find out though sorry "

Almost 40kph over the S.L. I'd say points are imminent. Speed limits are set for a reason ( been debated here many times ) but that does not change the fact that some seem odd to say the least.

BeardyGit

spartacus93 wrote: »

She'll get a fine in the post. Once she pays that 2 points will be applied to her licence.

Strange that the Guard didn't mention that, but the points will certainly come.

I don't think it's strange at all. Standing there explaining things would mean more time visible on the side of the road and less time catching people driving at motorway speeds on a road with an 80KPH limit....at night....in winter.... :rolleyes:

I reckon we should see more of this kind of behaviour by the Gardaí to be honest. I'd rather they were nabbing folks for this kind of speeding rather than doing people for driving at 70kph in a 60 for example.

I guess it could be 'helpful' if the Gardaí had an A5/A4 information sheet to hand to people, just to save them the trouble of having to explain it, and also to put folks minds at rest when they've been pulled....

In any case OP, your girlfriend will have the two points. They'll be added to her license on the licensing system routinely. Pay the fine on time to avoid having those doubled of course.

Gil

PS: RIP the young women who died on our roads last night....my thought are with their family and friends.

Drummerboy08

heartofwhite wrote: »

Hey all,

So was in the car with my girlfriend last night heading from Wexford to Gorey, just past the Un Yoke the lights of a garda car came on. Since it was obviously directed at my girlfriend she pulled in. For anybody that does not know that road, it is a good road and has a really long straight, the speed limit is 80, which I think is too low. Anyway turns out she was doing 118 so she got an 80 fine. She held her hands up so no problem.

Now I have two questions....

Firstly as we were coming up that long straight, the guards car was not visible at all. It was pitch black and the garda car had no lights on what so ever. We literally did not even see it as we went by. Is this legal? I thought that they had to be visible in someway?

Secondly, she got the 80 fine but the guard did not mention any penalty points. How do these work? Will she get them or not?

Any help appreciated!

That stretch of road isnt really suitable to be doing 75mph, in the dark, and the rain.... /Steps down off high horse

I know that stretch well, I drive it twice a week. I've only ever seen the Gatso van along that road, up by the Buffers Alley pitch. Never seen a car with the hairdryer, so she was unlucky to be caught.

In saying that, the surface along by the Unyoke isnt great, added to the fact that the road isnt that wide, is why its an 80kmph zone.

blueband

Open to correction here, but I think the Gardai have the authority to pull you for speeding even if they haven't detected with the hairdryer. The word of a Guard in a court of law is sufficient.

If they suspect you are speeding they can follow and maintain a constant distance to give an indication of your speed. It's not that accurate so if you were doing 90 in an 80 they probably would do nothing, but almost 120 in an 80?? They'd nab you in a heartbeat, and to be fair rightly so, no disrespect intended.

I think the visibility is only for cases where they have a fixed checkpoint, such as random breath testing, or stationary with the hairdryers. Having said that I've seen plenty of lurking behind bus shelters, or bushes in my time, and thats even as recent as last week.
Very fond of parking up the Gatso's where you'd never have a chance of realising it's there, and if you're a bit over you're caught.

It's difficult to argue against it as you are breaking the law, however there should be some flexibility with minor amounts over such as 7-8kph over.

It's when they ramble on about "visible deterrent" and "not revenue generation" etc that I get really annoyed because really it's nothing about dettering and all about catching in any way they can to generate money.

I get really angry when I see Gardai ignoring blatant infringements like running red lights at pedestrian crossings, or dangerous manouvres and yet are happy to shoot fish in a barrel on wide straight safe roads with too low limits.

Where are they on dangerous country roads with the radar-guns??

Again, not sure if I'm right about this but I'm pretty sure this is the case

deman

heartofwhite wrote: »

Hey all,

So was in the car with my girlfriend last night heading from Wexford to Gorey, just past the Un Yoke the lights of a garda car came on. Since it was obviously directed at my girlfriend she pulled in. For anybody that does not know that road, it is a good road and has a really long straight, the speed limit is 80, which I think is too low. Anyway turns out she was doing 118 so she got an 80 fine. She held her hands up so no problem.

Maybe we should all drive at what WE think the speed limit should be.

Anan1

deman wrote: »

Maybe we should all drive at what WE think the speed limit should be.

That's what I tend to do.:)

The-Game

Yes OP she will get points, once she pays the fine she will receive a letter in the post informing her 2 points will be added, they arent applied for a further 30 days following the issue of the letter.

alfresco

The-Game wrote: »

Yes OP she will get points, once she pays the fine she will receive a letter in the post informing her 2 points will be added, they arent applied for a further 30 days following the issue of the letter.

Is there a time limit for the letter to be issued?

TwoShedsJackson

alfresco wrote: »

Is there a time limit for the letter to be issued?

Doesn't seem to be, it can vary pretty wildly from what I've seen. Got two letters myself and got one within a week, the other two months later. Have heard everything from three days to eight months.

tuxy

Magnus wrote: »

1. The guards don't have to warn you at all.
2. The points will come, they don't have to tell you. It's mandatory.

You can also get nabbed by unmarked cars, helicopters, hidden cameras etc.

Damn, when were helicopters equipped with the technology that allowed them to issue people with speeding offences. I had no idea the Garda did that. Wouldn't it be very expensive to run that operation?

alfresco

TwoShedsJackson wrote: »

Doesn't seem to be, it can vary pretty wildly from what I've seen. Got two letters myself and got one within a week, the other two months later. Have heard everything from three days to eight months.

I thought a person had to be notified or cautioned within 14 days?

SC024

Originally Posted by Magnus
1. The guards don't have to warn you at all.
2. The points will come, they don't have to tell you. It's mandatory.

You can also get nabbed by unmarked cars, helicopters, hidden cameras etc.


Hidden cameras - Yes, Unmarked cars - yes,

Has anyone actually got caught by a helicoptor for speeding or is it just Magnus scaremongering? Behaving like everyones mother?

Wertz

tuxy wrote: »

Damn, when were helicopters equipped with the technology that allowed them to issue people with speeding offences. I had no idea the Garda did that. Wouldn't it be very expensive to run that operation?

"But if it saves even one life..."

OP, 118 on an 80 stretch is almost 50% over the limit...if you were doing that on a m-way it'd be the equivalent of doing 170+ kph (106 mph)...in a lot of countries that can be enough to lose your licence, nevermind points and a fine.

douglashyde

Magnus wrote: »

1. The guards don't have to warn you at all.
2. The points will come, they don't have to tell you. It's mandatory.

You can also get nabbed by unmarked cars, helicopters, hidden cameras etc.

yeah, i remember this one time in wexford when a garda helicopter pulled me over.

Seth Brundle

Was the garda wearing their hat?

LookBehindYou

The question i have is that if you thought it was safe to speed on that section of road, then why did your girlfriend not observe the garda car, even though it was in darkness ?
I am no saint, i make good progress on the roads myself on my bike, but i scan everywhere for my safety.

The-Game

alfresco wrote: »

Is there a time limit for the letter to be issued?

I have heard it is supposed to be issued within 14 days but it can take longer, getting it late though is not going to be a loophole to get out of it :cool:

CreepingDeath

heartofwhite wrote: »

Anyway turns out she was doing 118 so she got an 80 fine.

I got 2 penalty points for doing 103 in an 80kph road, so yes, she'll get points for sure.

The-Game

Oh its a fact points will be issued even 20kph over the limit would earn you points nevermind the speeds the OP hit!