Can a guard confiscate your car while not in full uniform

faceoff2k9

On friday 19th of february at 22.50 i got pulled over by gardai , i had no tax so i knew i was in trouble. they were questioning me for speeding but i denied, both gardai checked my cars tax nct insurance and tyres ... they asked me where i was coming and going and was i in a rush, i had no tax i said its been tough times and i had my insurance this week to pay. one of the gardai was not in full uniform and was checking the outside of the car vigorously. the second garda had a full uniform and questioned me what was his job , i was surprised and unaware what to say so i just said prevent crime , then suddenly he said you've a bad attitude and im confiscating your car . at this point i asked my 3 passengers to leave my car which was situated on a dark country road a mile outside the village with no lighting ,.then the garda without full uniform drove off in my car with the other garda following him in the traffic corp jeep .... these gardai never told me there name station or what to do in gettin my car back.. i feel like my car was robbed is this legal

and toady i paid my tax and compound fee to receive my car back

Jip

This doesn't stem from someone telling you the garda should have had his hat on does it ?

Liam Byrne

faceoff2k9 wrote: »

both gardai checked my cars tax nct insurance and tyres......one of the gardai was not in full uniform

What does the thread title have to do with this ?

faceoff2k9 wrote: »

the second garda had a full uniform and questioned me what was his job , i was surprised and unaware what to say so i just said prevent crime , then suddenly he said you've a bad attitude and im confiscating your car

So the one with a full uniform said "I'm confiscating your car" ? He then confiscated your car, and was entitled to do so because you had no tax.

He can then perfectly rightly tell the other garda what to do.

faceoff2k9 wrote: »

then the garda without full uniform drove off in my car with the other garda following him in the traffic corp jeep

Yes, it's annoying, and everyone is strapped for cash these days.

But misleading thread titles don't help your argument.

faceoff2k9

listen im only trying to find out if i can do something about this , me and my passengers were treated like filth

gandalf

Did you get a receipt for the car?

Have you contacted the Gardai to see where the car is?

Did you give the Gardai lip or attitude?

Have long was your tax out? You admit you were breaking the law and driving with no tax. The Gardai were within their rights to seize your car because you haven't paid tax.

faceoff2k9

deadtiger wrote: »

Did you get a receipt for the car?

NO

Have you contacted the Gardai to see where the car is?

Yes i drove to roxboro garda station to find out where it was they were very helpful

Did you give the Gardai lip or attitude?

No not one bit i have 3 witness's to what happened

Have long was your tax out? You admit you were breaking the law and driving with no tax. The Gardai were within their rights to seize your car because you haven't paid tax.

three months no tax

Thanks

nesf

Wrong forum.

Scofflaw

Moved to Legal Discussion.

moderately,
Scofflaw

Hooch

faceoff2k9 wrote: »

listen im only trying to find out if i can do something about this , me and my passengers were treated like filth

With all due respect you can tax your car next time or park it up until its taxed.

You and your passengers were not treated like filth. They were left at the side of the road to walk home after having the vehicle siezed for no tax.

Wait till you get the summons to court........;) then you'll be angry

Locust

+1 perfectly legal and they were doing thier job. They have this power under the road traffic act. Yes your car was 'seized.' What is your question?

I presume you feel you were treated like filth because you were embarrassingly left at the roadside with your passengers? Or because the Gardai were a bit abrupt or not in uniform?
Hard times or not - YOU are the one who decided to drive with your tax out and left it that long.

The car was rightly seized. No point in complaining about the guards taking your car and being a bit abrupt about it - they are very busy people.

sdanseo

Another +1 from me. The rest of us have to pay our car tax, object though we may. Why shouldn't you?

You broke the law, you paid the price. Gardaí don't have to be in uniform either - how on earth do you think undercover/detectives operate if this were the case? Even if they were required to, clutching at a stupid loophole to get out of a situation brought on by your own stupidity would be infantile.

Whichever Garda said your attitude was crap was dead right reading the above. Get over yourself and pay your tax in future, and learn how to punctuate while you're at it. Reading that post was painful.

brayblue24

Yet another +1 here.

Tough. Tax your car.

Viper_JB

Hell of allot of high horses here, honestly dude what I'd look into in this case would be would be more the fact that they left you on a dark country road possibly putting all your lives in danger, the guards are there to protect civilians not to persecute them and place them in danger. That's my pov though and I'd rather not be flamed for it :P.

brayblue24

Viper_JB wrote: »

Hell of allot of high horses here, honestly dude what I'd look into in this case would be would be more the fact that they left you on a dark country road possibly putting all your lives in danger, the guards are there to protect civilians not to persecute them and place them in danger. That's my pov though and I'd rather not be flamed for it :P.

And you're perfectly entitled to it too-same as everyone else here.

Our man in Havana

No one to blame but yourself OP. Fair play to the Gardaí.

Essien

The Guard was perfectly within his rights to do that, leaving you there was a bit out of order though.
Just out of curiosity, did you ask the Guards could they at least drop you into the nearby town? (assuming that was the direction they were going)

tfitzgerald

The car was rightly seized. No point in complaining about the guards taking your car and being a bit abrupt about it - they are very busy people.[/QUOTE]


i have to say i agreed with your post right up until you said they are very busy people i dont think they do a stroke of work for the money they are paid and while they are some good guards they are also a lot of bullys in the uniform

celticbest

Quick answer -YES.

In future you should tax your car, it would have worked out cheaper for you in the long run.

sdanseo

Viper_JB wrote: »

Hell of allot of high horses here, honestly dude what I'd look into in this case would be would be more the fact that they left you on a dark country road possibly putting all your lives in danger, the guards are there to protect civilians not to persecute them and place them in danger. That's my pov though and I'd rather not be flamed for it :P.

That POV depends on the road. If they were left on a country lane with no footpath, no streetlights etc then maybe they should have been offered a lift. In any other situation, WALK.

In this case though there were more of them than there would have been seats spare in a Garda car and I'd be damned if I was a Garda to do two trips to ferry idiots around. Plus, two Gardaí would be nothing short of stupid to let three miscreants in the car with them, it'd seriously undermine their safety especially as Garda cars here dont have safety screens etc like in the US.

Tough luck. There was definately no legal obligation, unless one of them was a total cripple or something - people walk on country lanes all the time!

Our man in Havana

They would have happily gave you the number of the local hackney driver.

Reloc8

Whether a garda is in uniform or not does not affect any of his powers.

A vehicle can indeed be lawfully seized by a garda where road tax has not been paid for 3 months.

Hooch

Reloc8 wrote: »

A vehicle can indeed be lawfully seized by a garda where road tax has not been paid for 3 months.

Two months.....its was reduced in RTA 06 from three.


On the issue of "dropping them home".....Gardaí would not be insured to drop them anywhere. Unless it is on a motorway I wouldnt be dropping anyone anywhere....

Reloc8

^ yep - I was taking a shortcut by not stating the new period was 2 months.

To the OP as it occurs to me (and shortening an answer I gave in what seems to be your other thread).

I know you say you gave the answer 'preventing crime' because you were 'surprised and unaware what to say' but be honest with yourself, you can see how its a smart arse thing to reply with.

I agree, you wern't under an obligation to answer, but think about it. You've no tax and you know it, and then you get pulled by the police. It would have been in your best interests to have put on a better attitude (whether you were obliged to have one or not).

Basically you took a bad situation and made it worse. And yes it was all lawful.

Unless he spoke Irish to you. Nohangonsorrywrongthread.

dermot_sheehan

s. 111 Road Traffic Act

111.—Where, in exercise of any power or the performance of any duty conferred or imposed by or under this Act, any member of the Garda Síochána makes in a public place a request, requirement or demand of, or gives an instruction to, any person, such person shall not be bound to comply with the request, requirement, demand or instruction unless the member either—


( a ) is in uniform, or


( b ) produces, if requested by such person, an official identification card or such other evidence of his identity as may be prescribed.

faceoff2k9

thanks to the people who understand they left me on the side of the road and i have begun taking legal action with a soliciter against the state . those who say pay your tax ive taking two pay cuts for some of the scum drawing the dole who gardai wouldn't dare pull over for having nothing on there window .......................

28064212

Op, for your sake, I hope this is a wind-up. There might (might) be a case for a complaint to the Garda Ombudsman, although it's unlikely. But legal action? On what grounds exactly? Any solicitor you take that to will laugh in your face. Or if they're smart they'll take you on as a client with an up-front fee

ballsymchugh

faceoff2k9 wrote: »

thanks to the people who understand they left me on the side of the road and i have begun taking legal action with a soliciter against the state . those who say pay your tax ive taking two pay cuts for some of the scum drawing the dole who gardai wouldn't dare pull over for having nothing on there window .......................

let us know how you get on. if you win, i'm outta here.
by the way, did the person who told you that your car can't be siezed unless the garda is in full uniform also tell you that a garda that eats custard creams over jersey creams can't arrest bank robbers on tuesdays?:rolleyes:

Liam Byrne

faceoff2k9 wrote: »

thanks to the people who understand they left me on the side of the road and i have begun taking legal action with a soliciter against the state . those who say pay your tax ive taking two pay cuts for some of the scum drawing the dole who gardai wouldn't dare pull over for having nothing on there window .......................

Funny that you say all that in relation to "people who understand", and yet that post doesn't once contain any reference to the question in the thread title.

I already said that I have sympathy re the tax, so I certainly didn't throw in a dismissive "pay your tax".

But if you don't "pay your tax", then don't drive the car.

Those are the only 2 options.

sdanseo

faceoff2k9 wrote: »

thanks to the people who understand they left me on the side of the road and i have begun taking legal action with a soliciter against the state . those who say pay your tax ive taking two pay cuts for some of the scum drawing the dole who gardai wouldn't dare pull over for having nothing on there window .......................

Dear god, can someone ban this tit? We've all taken pay cuts, that doesnt preclude you from the law!!

jhegarty

faceoff2k9 wrote: »

thanks to the people who understand they left me on the side of the road and i have begun taking legal action with a soliciter against the state . those who say pay your tax ive taking two pay cuts for some of the scum drawing the dole who gardai wouldn't dare pull over for having nothing on there window .......................

Under what grounds are you taking this case ?

DanielI

It is unlawful to drive a car without tax.

But I cannot help but wonder why the Garda, asked OP what was his (Garda's) job? To intimidate? To show off? How can this help the situation? Any answer is the wrong answer IMO.

I remember whem I got pulled over by Police in an Easter European Country (no I'm not Irish), the first thing I was asked was "Do you know what you did?" Yes, I made a mistake; Just give me the ticket and let me be! Thanks to the technology, I can tape such conversations and make them public.

m5ex9oqjawdg2i

nice guy always wrote: »

Two months.....its was reduced in RTA 06 from three.


On the issue of "dropping them home".....Gardaí would not be insured to drop them anywhere. Unless it is on a motorway I wouldnt be dropping anyone anywhere....

My tax has been out since the start of February, I always pay my insurance, tax and the car always has the correct documentation, can they still take the car off me?

Shield

faceoff2k9 wrote: »

i have begun taking legal action with a soliciter against the state .

What action have you instructed your solicitor to take? And why against the state? Why not against the Garda Commissioner?

tracekins

Orion Unsightly Yarn wrote: »

My tax has been out since the start of February, I always pay my insurance, tax and the car always has the correct documentation, can they still take the car off me?

No for tax, you have two months grace. So you would have till the end of april to renew it. So in answer to your question the gardai cannot seize your car till after this time

Hooch

Orion Unsightly Yarn wrote: »

My tax has been out since the start of February, I always pay my insurance, tax and the car always has the correct documentation, can they still take the car off me?

No your Tax must be out for Two months for the vehicle to be siezed, however read my reply to below....

tracekins wrote: »

No for tax, you have two months grace. So you would have till the end of april to renew it. So in answer to your question the gardai cannot seize your car till after this time

You do not have until the end of April to renew it. You can receive a Fixed Charge Notice the day after your disc expires for non display of a valid tax disc. You can also be summonsed to court for No tax.

Micky Dolenz

nice guy always wrote: »

On the issue of "dropping them home".....Gardaí would not be insured to drop them anywhere. Unless it is on a motorway I wouldnt be dropping anyone anywhere....

Is this true? A squad car is not insured to carry civilian passageners that aren't arrestees?

L5

Micky Dolenz wrote: »

Is this true? A squad car is not insured to carry civilian passageners that aren't arrestees?

of course its true. Only time ive seen it used like that is for injured parties to be driven around an area to see if they can spot the s/o

Gary ITR

Micky Dolenz wrote: »

Is this true? A squad car is not insured to carry civilian passageners that aren't arrestees?

I would imagine they are only covered to carry passengers if necessitated by the course of their duties

Micky Dolenz

L5 wrote: »

of course its true. Only time ive seen it used like that is for injured parties to be driven around an area to see if they can spot the s/o

Onkle wrote: »

I would imagine they are only covered to carry passengers if necessitated by the course of their duties

Wow, I did not know that.

It makes sense though, Good rule, and it would be up to the officer involved to determine what is the course of their duty.

dats_right

Garda vehicles are not insured per se, rather the State through the Minister for Finance pays up when Garda vehicles are liable for road traffic accidents.

Therefore if a non-member suffered injury or loss whilst a passenger in a Garda vehicle as a result of the negligence/breach of duty by AGS that person would be covered regardless of the reason why they were in the vehicle. On the other hand, it may well be directions from senior management in AGS or even the Department not to provide lifts to members of the public in such circumstances, and that would make sense on policy grounds to limit potential claims; nevertheless the fact remains that the injured party would actually be covered for their injury/loss by the State. So whilst the State may discourage AGS from taking passengers unnecessarily the fact remains these passengers are covered by the State and not through a policy of insurance.