3 weeks out...

theboss80

Heya,

So at the end on November last yr i was driving my van and got randomlly pulled over at checkpoint. My tax had run out at the start of that month and the guard took note of it, i told him i was waiting to get the van retested (as it haad failed the first DOE) and would have it sorted in next week r two. He said he was putting me on the system and if i had gotten stopped again there would be trouble.

So the van has been off the road and never did get it taxed and obviously haveny gotten pulled over again but i had a guard call to the door with 3 summons over that stop, im raging, i know id no tax at the time but wasnt driving it and he still summons me just under 6 months later,

Anybody had this before? I specifically asked him that day was i going 2 get a summons or points and he said no but id be on the system if i did ever get caught in the van again , which i havent.

Divorce Referendum

theboss80 wrote: »

Heya,

So at the end on November last yr i was driving my van and got randomlly pulled over at checkpoint. My tax had run out at the start of that month and the guard took note of it, i told him i was waiting to get the van retested (as it haad failed the first DOE) and would have it sorted in next week r two. He said he was putting me on the system and if i had gotten stopped again there would be trouble.

So the van has been off the road and never did get it taxed and obviously haveny gotten pulled over again but i had a guard call to the door with 3 summons over that stop, im raging, i know id no tax at the time but wasnt driving it and he still summons me just under 6 months later,

Anybody had this before? I specifically asked him that day was i going 2 get a summons or points and he said no but id be on the system if i did ever get caught in the van again , which i havent.

Was the car declared off the road or did you just not drive it?

EDIT Just seen that you said you hadnt retaxed it.

unkel

theboss80 wrote: »

I specifically asked him that day was i going 2 get a summons or points and he said no

I believe ya, others mightn't. If what you're saying is true, it is very wrong for a Garda to give you the impression that if you didn't do it again, you wouldn't get punished. And then prosecute you anyway...

That said, there's a massive culture in this country to dodge your taxes and allsorts and people have got away with it for ever. It's clampdown time now folks...

dekbhoy

SICK OF HEARING THESE sob stories ....... fact is if you keep a motorised vehicle in a public place /road then you must display a valid tax disc , end of! the guard gave you sufficent time to comply with the regulations and you didnt heed his advice so hard luck.....its the likes of me and other law abiding citizens that end up paying for other peoples short comings.:mad:

unkel

dekbhoy wrote: »

SICK OF HEARING THESE sob stories ....... fact is if you keep a motorised vehicle in a public place /road then you must display a valid tax disc , end of! the guard gave you sufficent time to comply with the regulations and you didnt heed his advice so hard luck.....its the likes of me and other law abiding citizens that end up paying for other peoples short comings.:mad:

I hear ya dude and you're right. But it's a bit harsh to come down all heavy /high horse on someone who was told he was just given a warning and not to do it again.

djimi

Im not sure what grounds they had to summons you given that a) you have a months grace period to tax the vehicle once the tax has run out, and b) you couldnt tax it even if you wanted to as it was awaiting a DOE retrial.

Why didnt/dont you just declare the van off the road from the day after you were stopped. Unless the guard can prove that he saw you driving it after that day I dont think there is a whole lot they can do to you (of course I could be wrong about that...)

Guy:Incognito

djimi wrote: »

Im not sure what grounds they had to summons you given that a) you have a months grace period to tax the vehicle once the tax has run out, and b) you couldnt tax it even if you wanted to as it was awaiting a DOE retrial.

Theres no grace period for being on a public road without motor tax.

Plus, it's not the Gards fault the van faield the DOE and the OP decided to drive it anyway.

dekbhoy

unkel wrote: »

I hear ya dude and you're right. But it's a bit harsh to come down all heavy /high horse on someone who was told he was just given a warning and not to do it again.

He was breaking the law for gods sake .nothing about not doing it again , anyway the OP should have got the van taxed in the mean time. I bet the guard asked him to produce a valid disc and he forgot . therefore getting a summons a full 6 months later when the van still hadnt been taxed

unkel

Stekelly is right - there is no grace period. The only benefit you have if you tax it within a month of being out of tax, is that you don't have to pay arrears

And to complicate things, you can be done for:

1. Being without motor tax
2. Failing to display a motor tax disc

I'm in the second category atm. Tax ran out at the end of May and I renewed online, but I haven't received the disc yet. I did print out the online receipt to show I am taxed but it is up to the Garda at the checkpoint to use his / her discretion about not displaying a disc. In all of my dealings with Gardai so far, I have found them to be reasonable and I wouldn't expect to get done for failing to display a disc when I can show them the car is taxed

kasper

almost the exact same thing happened me but it was a car i had just bought , six months later a summons for no tax . i met the same guard in the court before the case and i said were you not a bit harsh ,he told me he checked with motor tax office thee months later and my car wasnt taxed , i showed him it was, he told me i was a mistake in tax office . i was called up, guard must have explained to judge no conviction

djimi

unkel wrote: »

Stekelly is right - there is no grace period. The only benefit you have if you tax it within a month of being out of tax, is that you don't have to pay arrears

And to complicate things, you can be done for:

1. Being without motor tax
2. Failing to display a motor tax disc

In my ten years of driving Ive often been in a situation whereby I have to wait until into the next month to renew my tax, and in all the times Ive been stopped at tax/insurance checkpoints Ive never once been told anything more than my tax is up for renewal. Ive never been fined or cautioned for not having tax or failing to display a tax disc, and Ive never even been asked to produce one at my local garda station. Maybe Im just lucky but considering I tend to drive cars the guards dont tend to like, I really doubt it.

Im not sure if its an official grace period or not, but from my experience anyway (and I thought this was the way it was for everyone) you have one month after the disc expires to renew.

dirtydiesel

dekbhoy wrote: »

SICK OF HEARING THESE sob stories ....... fact is if you keep a motorised vehicle in a public place /road then you must display a valid tax disc , end of! the guard gave you sufficent time to comply with the regulations and you didnt heed his advice so hard luck.....its the likes of me and other law abiding citizens that end up paying for other peoples short comings.:mad:

Bit harsh saying the op is not law abiding, its not a criminal offence not to have road tax.

theboss80

unkel wrote: »

I believe ya, others mightn't. If what you're saying is true, it is very wrong for a Garda to give you the impression that if you didn't do it again, you wouldn't get punished. And then prosecute you anyway...

That said, there's a massive culture in this country to dodge your taxes and allsorts and people have got away with it for ever. It's clampdown time now folks...

Well believe it, thats what was said. This same guard has the nickname of Robocop, maybe that gives some insight to the type we are dealing with. And im not the dodging tax type.

Zubeneschamali

theboss80 wrote: »

I specifically asked him that day was i going 2 get a summons or points and he said no but id be on the system if i did ever get caught in the van again , which i havent.

You also told him you'd have it sorted within a week, 6 months ago.

Tefral

I actually believe the Op's story, the guards in Limerick have done the exact same to people i know.

Anytime im stopped now i always have my insurance cert etc on me, and if im asked to produce i get them to stamp the back of my insurance cert to prove i was there, as many people i know have ended up in court because they produced and the guards never wrote it on the system..

Op, back tax your van, and it will be thrown out of court..

Gophur

theboss80 wrote: »

Heya,

So at the end on November last yr i was driving my van and got randomlly pulled over at checkpoint............................

theboss80 wrote: »

............... i know id no tax at the time but wasnt driving it and he still summons me just under 6 months later,
.....................

Hard to feel sorry. You were given a chance to tax the vehicle and you didn't.
Now you're looking for sympathy?

Garda gives you a chance to make things good, and you declined. You deserve the summons.

theboss80

dekbhoy wrote: »

SICK OF HEARING THESE sob stories ....... fact is if you keep a motorised vehicle in a public place /road then you must display a valid tax disc , end of! the guard gave you sufficent time to comply with the regulations and you didnt heed his advice so hard luck.....its the likes of me and other law abiding citizens that end up paying for other peoples short comings.:mad:

How did i NOT heed his advice? the van wasnt on the road anymore, i wasnt told to call into the station with new tax , just told not to get caught again or i would be in trouble. And get down off your high horse there YOU are paying f**k all for anything got to do with me. For your information this is the first time i have Ever been in any trouble with the guards.

dekbhoy wrote: »

He was breaking the law for gods sake .nothing about not doing it again , anyway the OP should have got the van taxed in the mean time. I bet the guard asked him to produce a valid disc and he forgot . therefore getting a summons a full 6 months later when the van still hadnt been taxed

Why should i have gotten the van taxed in the mean time? it was off the road. And once again you are wrong as the guard DID NOT ask me to produce a valid disc.

If you have nothing constructive to add to the conversation then dont bother replying to the thread.

theboss80

Gophur wrote: »

Hard to feel sorry. You were given a chance to tax the vehicle and you didn't.
Now you're looking for sympathy?

Garda gives you a chance to make things good, and you declined. You deserve the summons.

Not looking for sympathy at all. Its not against the law for not taxing a vehicle that is not being used and isnt on display in a public area.

theboss80

Zubeneschamali wrote: »

You also told him you'd have it sorted within a week, 6 months ago.

So? i wasnt required to produce a valid disc at the station and it hasnt been on the road.

Gophur

theboss80 wrote: »

Not looking for sympathy at all. Its not against the law for not taxing a vehicle that is not being used and isnt on display in a public area.

You need to get real. You are being prosecuted for using the vehicle in a public place without tax. It doesn't matter what you did subsequently, you were given a chance to cover your tracks and declined.

Are you seriously claiming because you subsequently took the vehicle off the road (and didn't declare it off road), you should not be prosecuted for something you did?

Gophur

theboss80 wrote: »

So? i wasnt required to produce a valid disc at the station and it hasnt been on the road.

You were required to tax your vehicle.

As for not being on the road? Who's expected to believe that?

gooch2k9

Robocop is as awkward as you'll get!

theboss80

Gophur wrote: »

You need to get real. You are being prosecuted for using the vehicle in a public place without tax. It doesn't matter what you did subsequently, you were given a chance to cover your tracks and declined.

Are you seriously claiming because you subsequently took the vehicle off the road (and didn't declare it off road), you should not be prosecuted for something you did?

You are totally missing the point here. I know i what im being prosecuted for, i know i was required to have tax and at the time i got stopped it had run out 3 weeks previous. I started this thread to ask if anybody here had been told before that they were not going to be summonsed on the condition of not being stopped again and they actually were summonsed sublequently.

L-M

theboss80 wrote: »

So? i wasnt required to produce a valid disc at the station and it hasnt been on the road.

You were driving the vehicle on Irish roads for three weeks without tax and you were caught. You're excuse at the time was the doe was out and you'd get it sorted in the next week or two (ie. owning at least a months tax), you didn't pay the months tax that you owed so you were pulled for it...

That's fair in my opinion.

Edit:

they were not going to be summonsed on the condition of not being stopped again and they actually were
summonsed sublequently.

Edit: I assume if you'd taxed the vehicle as you said you would, you wouldn't of been summonsed.

R.O.R

theboss80 wrote: »

Why should i have gotten the van taxed in the mean time?

Because at the time it was in use, it didn't have a valid tax disc. Even if you were taking it off the road, you should still have back taxed the vehicle to the expiry date of the previous disc (or declared off road until the day you used it).

theboss80

Gophur wrote: »

You were required to tax your vehicle.

As for not being on the road? Who's expected to believe that?

Im not too bothered whether you believe the van was on the road or not. The fact is that is wasnt.

Gophur

theboss80 wrote: »

Im not too bothered whether you believe the van was on the road or not. ..............

Whether the van was used subsequently is irrelevant.

theboss80 wrote: »

............ The fact is that is wasnt.

The only relevant fact is you were driving an untaxed vehicle. Tell your sob story to the Judge.

theboss80

Gophur wrote: »

Whether the van was used subsequently is irrelevant.





The only relevant fact is you were driving an untaxed vehicle. Tell your sob story to the Judge.

Great input.

Gophur

theboss80 wrote: »

Great input.

What do you want?

Sympathy?

People to tell you how hard done you were?


You got caught, end of story. Now face the consequences.

theboss80

Gophur wrote: »

What do you want?

Sympathy?

People to tell you how hard done you were?


You got caught, end of story. Now face the consequences.

Try re-read the first post. Or dont bother repeating all your previous posts again and again. Not here for sympathy.

Gophur

Sounds like you misinterpreted the Garda, and now face the consequences.

blastman

Gophur wrote: »

(and didn't declare it off road)

Where do you get a form for that?

cadaliac

I think the OP gets the message.
Anyway, looks like all you can do now is reduce the fine when you go to court.
Get the van back taxed to the end of the month that you were stopped. i.e. if you were stopped on the 3rd of April, back tax it until the end of April.
Next, go down to your local police station and get your tax form for the van stamped stating that it is off the road. If it was genuinely off the road, this won't be a problem.
If you are not genuine about the statement that you declare to the gardaí, and/or they have seen you in the van during that time, you are entering a world of shít with the gardaí, and you will deserve it.
If, however, your story checks out, you shouldn't have a problem.
Now, go to court, explain what happened, show that you sorted out the tax on the van, explain that it is off the road and show the form. You will still probably get fined but at least the judge will se that you made an effort to correct your "misinterpretation" of the guard.

TJJP

One presumes that paying six-months back tax on a van (commercial rate) of €159 and contacting the Garda concerned might go easier than a day in court.

R.O.R

TJJP wrote: »

One presumes that paying six-months back tax on a van (commercial rate) of €159 and contacting the Garda concerned might go easier than a day in court.

Will also have to get the vehicle through a DOE test before it can be taxed, which might not be quite as easy or cost effective......

L-M

R.O.R wrote: »

Will also have to get the vehicle through a DOE test before it can be taxed, which might not be quite as easy or cost effective......

And then get caught for no tax on the way to the test centre, lmao

Zubeneschamali

theboss80 wrote: »

So?

I'd guess that he went back to do a bunch of paperwork, you were "in the system" (he told you you would be) and he forgot what he'd told you at the stop. If that's the case, you'd have been summonsed whether you sorted your tax or not.

Of course, if you'd taxed your van for November, you could contact him and show that you straightened it all out and he'd drop it. But you didn't, and he now has no reason to cut you any slack.