Report Dangerous Driving

pog it

I had this imbecile pull out in front of me in a white van the other evening, and only for the fact that I couldn't read his registration plate I was calling the local garda station to report him.

There was a time when I saw more 'report dangerous driving' signs with the national phone number to call on them but now I never see a single one, anywhere!!

If someone gets a visit from the guards they are more likely to pull up their socks and cop the feck on.

Does anyone have this national number you can call to report dangerous driving- i.e anyone who puts your life in danger.

Failing that, I will be calling the guards any time this happens again.

zefer

Is this the number you are looking for? 1890205805

pog it

zefer wrote: »

Is this the number you are looking for? 1890205805

Thank you Zefer, that's it. It's the Traffic Watch phone number.

Saving it into my mobile and not letting any dodgy drivers get away with their crap anymore.

bladespin

pog it wrote: »

Thank you Zefer, that's it. It's the Traffic Watch phone number.

Saving it into my mobile and not letting any dodgy drivers get away with their crap anymore.

Make sure you stop first.

pog it

bladespin wrote: »

Make sure you stop first.

Hopefully I'll remember. Road rage caused by drivers like that is another by- product of these idiots' driving.

bladespin

pog it wrote: »

Hopefully I'll remember. Road rage caused by drivers like that is another by- product of these idiots' driving.

Road rage would be far more sinister than careless driving, no excuse for it IMO

pog it

bladespin wrote: »

Road rage would be far more sinister than careless driving, no excuse for it IMO

When someone has nearly killed me, then yeah I'm angry.

My advice to you is to call the TrafficWatch if you see someone driving and using a mobile at the same time. Or worse still dangerous driving.

(I'm not talking about 'careless' driving here- you can start your own thread on that if you want.) I'm talking about dangerous driving in this thread.

foundry

I wouldn't hold your breath with calling that number. One day i was driving along and the car in front of me starts swerving(spelling!) from one side of the road to the other ~ proper lockin hard~ and all i could hear was roars of laughter! This continued for about 5 mins with cars coming towards us beepin and flashing. I noted his reg n rang the number... i was on hold for 30mins plus so gave up. I tried calling it again later but my credit had been eatin up. . . Ridic.

bladespin

pog it wrote: »

When someone has nearly killed me, then yeah I'm angry.

My advice to you is to call the TrafficWatch if you see someone driving and using a mobile at the same time. Or worse still dangerous driving.

(I'm not talking about 'careless' driving here- you can start your own thread on that if you want.) I'm talking about dangerous driving in this thread.

I'm afraid you are describing careless driving; someone pulling out without looking would be regarded as careless driving, dangerous driving would be deliberately putting others at risk through your actions i.e. road rage type driving.

pog it

bladespin wrote: »

I'm afraid you are describing careless driving; someone pulling out without looking would be regarded as careless driving, dangerous driving would be deliberately putting others at risk through your actions i.e. road rage type driving.

Bladespin: The man that pulled out in front of me, forced me to swerve and jam the brakes down! That = dangerous driving.

A collision was not far off happening = dangerous driving.

pog it

foundry wrote: »

I wouldn't hold your breath with calling that number. One day i was driving along and the car in front of me starts swerving(spelling!) from one side of the road to the other ~ proper lockin hard~ and all i could hear was roars of laughter! This continued for about 5 mins with cars coming towards us beepin and flashing. I noted his reg n rang the number... i was on hold for 30mins plus so gave up. I tried calling it again later but my credit had been eatin up. . . Ridic.

God that was a shame Foundry. You can call the local guards and they can find out where the owner of the car lives and their local guards will pay a visit.

I did that a while back with a minibus driver who had a busload of kids, who were standing up, jumping on seats in the bus, while he was breaking speed limits, crossing widely over the white line to speed through bends, and also pulled out directly in front of me with no indication lights and at the very last minute.

I wonder why people drive like this? Is it thickness? Or ignorance? Or arrogance?

bladespin

pog it wrote: »

Bladespin: The man that pulled out in front of me, forced me to swerve and jam the brakes down! That = dangerous driving.

A collision was not far off happening = dangerous driving.

Sorry Pog, I understand you point that it was a dangerous thing to do but in the guards eye that's careless driving.

Anyway,worth reporting, if it makes you feel better, the guards do treat reports seriously, especially if they get more than one about the same incident.
They probably won't go round and arrest the driver but may decide to have a word about their road manner.

pa990

err.. you do realise that the gardai wont call out to that others persons house, without you first making a written statement.
otherwise people could make loads of fictitious calls about their neighbour/enemy etc, and have the gardai calling round to them every second day

the person that answers the traffic watch phone number will take your details, and details of what you're reporting. This information will then be sent to the relevant garda station, who will make contact with the complainant with a view to obtaining a written statement for use in a court case.
As you saw the incident, you will be required to give evidence. All the garda can say is that they took a statement form you and from the other driver.

Traffic watch will also inform the nearest garda station that there is a report of a dangerous driver etc, and for them to keep an eye out for him/her, but they will only be able to act on that they see personally.

pog it

Well in the case of the mini busdriver the garda I spoke to said they would be calling in to see the driver based on what I had told them over the phone, and they didn't ask me for a written statement.

I don't know your location, but I'm in the country and that's how it seems to be done there anyway.

And Bladespin, what can I say, of course they don't go around to the house to "arrest" the driver- they will have a word with them about their dangerous driving.

The only other country I know to be so laissez faire with their driving is Greece...

pa990

pog it wrote: »

Well in the case of the mini busdriver the garda I spoke to said they would be calling in to see the driver based on what I had told them over the phone, and they didn't ask me for a written statement.

I don't know your location, but I'm in the country and that's how it seems to be done there anyway.

And Bladespin, what can I say, of course they don't go around to the house to "arrest" the driver- they will have a word with them about their dangerous driving.

The only other country I know to be so laissez faire with their driving is Greece...

fair enough if that what your local gardai are doing , but most of the gardai i know, wont be approaching anyone without a written statement, if the complainant only wants the perosn to be cautioned etc, a statement detailing what happened and that they do not wish to pursue the matter any further would suffice for a caution / advice to be administered.

Confronting someone about their driving without any evidence, and without witnessing it yourself would leave the garda open to a complaint of harassment imo .

think about it.. what of a guard called to your house every second week to warn you about your driving, and not a written complaint to be seen anywhere, it would be very easy for someone who has a grudge aganst you to make fake complaints, using a fake name and a ready to go phone number

pog it

I get that logic, there probably are those types out there that might go to those extremes to fulfil a grudge- nothing would surprise me!

But there is also an element of the garda who has answered your call using his/her own discernment- they can probably tell in most cases if it's a genuine case, rather than someone with a grudge making it up. With me, I was furious, and was imagining how I'd like it if my little brother was in that minibus with that lunatic driver.

If it's on the roads, it's personal and we should all be reporting dangerous driving (Im not talking about the careless driver who doesn't indicate coming off a quiet roundabout).

Anyway, safe driving one and all. Slán go fóill.

challengemaster

If you're going to bother reporting dangerous or careless driving, keep it in mind that nothing is going to be done about it unless you're willing to carry it all the way to a court appearance if necessary. Otherwise, you report it, a summons is issued, they turn up, you don't and nothing happens the other person. It just gets thrown out.

Even at that, you really want to have a second witness in the car, otherwise, it's one persons word against another in court, and unless the other person has a previous driving conviction or the judge is having a bad day...it could get thrown out either way.

So, if you're willing to take time off work or whatever, for every time you see someone driving dangerously on the road (and believe me, you might well do every single day) , then fair play to you.

greenie

challengemaster wrote: »

Even at that, you really want to have a second witness in the car, otherwise, it's one persons word against another in court, and unless the other person has a previous driving conviction or the judge is having a bad day...it could get thrown out either way.

So, if you're willing to take time off work or whatever, for every time you see someone driving dangerously on the road (and believe me, you might well do every single day) , then fair play to you.

I was just thinking that...after the process of writing/signing statements/paperwork etc, by the time they visit this dangerous driver it's going to be a while after the incident..there will be denials of course which just leaves your word against theirs resulting in a big waste of time. It's a shame. People say the Irish never complain but when you have to go through such an ordeal (30 mins waiting on the phone is just ridiculous) to get no result at the end, why bother?
I guess it's a very fine line between careless & dangerous driving for the Guards..If someone's carelessness puts my life in danger then I would think that was dangerous driving. If OP failed to slam on his breaks in time & there was a collision followed by severe injuries would the other driver get done for careless driving or dangerous driving?

Chris Peak

greenie wrote: »

If OP failed to slam on his breaks in time & there was a collision followed by severe injuries would the other driver get done for careless driving or dangerous driving?

It may also be tricky proving the other driver pulled out in front of the OP. He could just say he was already driving along that road when the OP ran into the back of him.
I'm seriously considering installing a camera in my car or at least, suction cupping my ordinary camera to the dashboard / windscreen in case of situations like that.

Sorry you got such a fright OP. Try to put it behind you. Good luck