Pulled In for the First Time

plastic-man

Was driving down a long avenue on Dublin's northside last night. Speed limit is 50kph but the car in front was inconsistently doing 35-40kph which caused cars behind me to start undertaking us. I gave a friendly flash however they remained driving at a weird inconsistent speed. Eventually I went into the bus lane (as it was after 7pm). I did about 52kph and then the sirens came on.

The car who was going slow was an undercover, guy and girl. Asked if car was mine and for license. Asked why I flashed and I said 'I thought you may have been going a bit slow as people were beginning to undertake us'. They said 'you need to take it easy on the roads'. She looked at my license for a while, not sure if she wrote something down. They never got out of car or checked insurance, tax or NCT. I asked if this was penalty points, woman said nothing and guy leaned forward and said "it could be"

What do you guys think, do they usually tell you if you're getting points?

kona

plastic-man wrote: »

Was driving down a long avenue on Dublin's northside last night. Speed limit is 50kph but the car in front was inconsistently doing 35-40kph which caused cars behind me to start undertaking us. I gave a friendly flash however they remained driving at a weird inconsistent speed. Eventually I went into the bus lane (as it was after 7pm). I did about 52kph and then the sirens came on.

The car who was going slow was an undercover, guy and girl. Asked if car was mine and for license. Asked why I flashed and I said 'I thought you may have been going a bit slow as people were beginning to undertake us'. They said 'you need to take it easy on the roads'. She looked at my license for a while, not sure if she wrote something down. They never got out of car or checked insurance, tax or NCT. I asked if this was penalty points, woman said nothing and guy leaned forward and said "it could be"

What do you guys think, do they usually tell you if you're getting points?

Dont worry about it, if you were getting points you would know.

plastic-man

I didn't get any number to ring, wasn't given anything, just a slap on the wrist! I learned my lesson however, don't flash slow drivers, I'm a terrible man for doing that!

Anan1

plastic-man wrote: »

I didn't get any number to ring, wasn't given anything, just a slap on the wrist! I learned my lesson however, don't flash slow drivers, I'm a terrible man for doing that!

The real lesson is to learn to recognize unmarked Garda cars.;)

CaraFawn

Not the first I hear guards doing this kind of things and putting deliberately other passengers in dangerous situations.
Last time they were constantly hitting the brakes at low speed (much lower than legal one on this road) so the guy overtook them, but he got done for dangerous driving or so.

There is nothing illegal, as long as the conditions are met (Speed, not a straight white line etc..), in overtaking, especially if the other car is driven heratically or dangerously.

youllneverknow

never flash mondeo's

CaraFawn

plastic-man wrote: »

I didn't get any number to ring, wasn't given anything, just a slap on the wrist! I learned my lesson however, don't flash slow drivers, I'm a terrible man for doing that!

Period there is nothing legally wrong with that, speed limit is 50 k/hm, not 30.
In other countries, cops would fine you if you drive too slowly.

Anan1

youllneverknow wrote: »

never flash mondeo's

Not all Mondeos are Gardaí, and not all Gardaí drive Mondeos.

MagicSean

CaraFawn wrote: »

Period there is nothing legally wrong with that, speed limit is 50 k/hm, not 30.
In other countries, cops would fine you if you drive too slowly.

50 is the limit, not a target.

MagicMarker

Is that not some form of entrapment?

Shane732

Anan1 wrote: »

The real lesson is to learn to recognize unmarked Garda cars.;)

D reg Mondeo with no hubcabs and two aerials was it?

plastic-man

Vectra If I wasn't a young male driver and a holder of a clean license, I would have challenged them over it. I mean it wasn't just that they were going slow, it was the inconsistency of their speed, I honestly thought it was either a drunk or learner driver, not a Garda!

challengemaster

Some of the newer vectras are actually impossible to spot in fairness.

bazzachazza

The rolling road blocks they do are annoying as well. Seen them drive for dozens of miles on the M6 at 110kph in the overtaking lane not overtaking anything.

challengemaster

challengemaster wrote: »

Some of the newer vectras are actually impossible to spot in fairness.

Do they have an insurance disc ?
Number plate surrounds ?
No extra lights anywhere that can be seen from the outside when not illuminated ?
No dash mounted stuff ?

rubberdiddies

plastic-man wrote: »

The car who was going slow was an undercover, guy and girl. Asked if car was mine and for license.

They never got out of car or checked insurance, tax or NCT. I asked if this was penalty points, woman said nothing and guy leaned forward and said "it could be"

may be a very silly question but did they produce any ID?
just seems a bit strange that they didnt really tell you why they were stopping you.

johnos1984

I got brake tested by a Garda car outside Dundalk before when I was going up north. It was late at night on the motorway, I wasn't even speeding. He came down the off ramp into the slow lane and as i approached in the overtaking lane he swerved and and hit the brakes. I just held back and very slow as I hadn't a clue what the problem was.

Cut me up twice as well.

Luckily I wasn't pulled over as I was VERY pissed off and may of let them know.

EDIT: I've had very good experiences with The traffic Corp just this one was a nut job

bad2dabone

k_mac wrote: »

50 is the limit, not a target.

I just puked a little in my mouth when I read this garbage post.

Lando Griffin

Any sign of a Garage sticker in the back window of around the number plate?

Lando Griffin

Any sign of a Garage sticker on the back window or around the number plate?

sean1141

i had an unmarked drive up my ar$e one night coming out of town. i was doing the limit but this car was really close behind me. could hardly see the lights! so i lightly pressed the brake a few times. still glued to my bumper. gave the indicator a few flashes to say the road was clear ahead and to go ahead and pass. stayed where he was. just going past a gate i gave the break a quick jab. next thing blue lights came on. i pulled in he got out of the car and asked me for licence etc. asked me why i breaked so suddenly. i said a cat ran out of the gate in front of me. he says you cant break suddenly like that. i nearly ran into the back of you! like WTF!! so i said if a young child ran out in front of me i'm ment to drive over them and not even try break if there is a car behind me. anyway do ye not have an add on the tv that only a fool breakes the two second rule? (that add with them and the rsa was all over tv at the time) with that he handed me my licence jumped into the unmarked and tore off!! guess he thought i was going to drive faster when he was so close to me and would do me for speeding...... have to say he was a twat. i have great respect for the garda but fools like him give the good ones a bad name.

thebullkf

bad2dabone wrote: »

I just puked a little in my mouth when I read this garbage post.

thebullkf

johnos1984 wrote: »

I got brake tested by a Garda car outside Dundalk before when I was going up north. It was late at night on the motorway, I wasn't even speeding. He came down the off ramp into the slow lane and as i approached in the overtaking lane he swerved and and hit the brakes. I just held back and very slow as I hadn't a clue what the problem was.

Cut me up twice as well.

Luckily I wasn't pulled over as I was VERY pissed off and may of let them know.

EDIT: I've had very good experiences with The traffic Corp just this one was a nut job

CNUT!:mad::mad::mad:

DJ Hafez

RoverJames wrote: »

Do they have an insurance disc ?

I must work on my insurance disc viewing skills when i'm behind a car so :P

ironclaw

Do they have an insurance disc ?

I've seen decoy disc's in place on some cars especially drug units

Number plate surrounds?

Good one, never thought of that. But again, I remove mine as do many motorists.

No extra lights anywhere that can be seen from the outside when not illuminated ?

Had the pleasure of seeing a BMW unit. Full lights all around the car. But you can't see any of them. They are mainly hidden in headlights, brake lights and indicators. Its the norm now and they are getting better. Gone are the days of the "strobe bubbles" on the sides

No dash mounted stuff?

Most Tetra gear is being located low on the handbrake or in the glove box. The dash units are also being moved down on some cars. I've also seen units up in near the rear view mirror beside the front interior lights.

Also, they have moved away from Mondeo's. To my spots to date:

Vauxhall Astra (The new one in blue)
BWM - 5 Series (Black)
Ford Mondeo
Alfa Romeo - Unsure of the model

And an unconfirmed VW Touareg in gunmetal silver.


I'll post a picture of the Tetra car aerial when I find it in my archive. Its really the only 100% way of knowing. For best coverage they will have to continuing mounting it on the roof so it should be a good indicator for the moment.

johnos1984

Add to that BMW 3 series in gun metal

They'll never be impossible to spot

Armin_Tamzarian

johnos1984 wrote: »

Add to that BMW 3 series in gun metal

I was speeding on the M50 a few weeks back.
Blue lights came on in the grill of a debadged 5 series that was behind me.
He came alongside and motioned to me to slow down.
I gave him the thumbs up and he fcuked off.
Never would have clocked it as an unmarked in a million years.
Even the plates didn't look Garda.
Presume it was an escort vehicle.

cianclarke

plastic-man wrote: »

Vectra If I wasn't a young male driver and a holder of a clean license, I would have challenged them over it. I mean it wasn't just that they were going slow, it was the inconsistency of their speed, I honestly thought it was either a drunk or learner driver, not a Garda!

It's possible they were looking out for somebody in the area, hence the change in speed all the time?

Gary ITR

I hear they sit on the outside lane of the M8 quite a bit and pull people for undertaking

PrettyBoy

plastic-man wrote: »

I asked if this was penalty points, woman said nothing and guy leaned forward and said "it could be"

What do you guys think, do they usually tell you if you're getting points?

Mate, don't worry about it for a second. You're not getting points or anything like it, sounds like you just came across an insecure prat.

Kxiii

Onkle wrote: »

I hear they sit on the outside lane of the M8 quite a bit and pull people for undertaking

I thought it said in the rules of the road that you could pass on the left if the right lane is moving slower. Surely having a car in the right lane doing 10/15kph slower than the left lane would justify ''undertaking''.

PrettyBoy

k_mac wrote: »

50 is the limit, not a target.

cormie

They should have been in the bus lane themselves if it was open, should have called traffic watch on them :P (using a handsfree of course!). Should have said you flashed them to get them to wake up and move to the driving lane and stop hogging the overtaking lane.

KamiKazi

Onkle wrote: »

I hear they sit on the outside lane of the M8 quite a bit and pull people for undertaking

w4nkers :mad:

L-M

RoverJames wrote: »

Do they have an insurance disc ?
Number plate surrounds ?
No extra lights anywhere that can be seen from the outside when not illuminated ?
No dash mounted stuff ?

Is the car white?
Does it have reflect strips on it?
Sirens on the roof?
Garda written on it?
:p

It's getting harder and harder to tell, but you can still tell

Edit: How I didn't see the second and third pages of posts is beyond me, way too early.

h3000

k_mac wrote: »

50 is the limit, not a target.

Many moons ago when I did my driving test I would have failed if I did not "make progress". Which if I recall correctly involved:

1. Getting up to speed promptly
2. Driving at a consistent speed
3. Driving at an *appropriate speed for the road conditions

*I was told to drive about 2mph below the speed limit, where appropiate.

Raiser

plastic-man wrote: »

I asked if this was penalty points, woman said nothing and guy leaned forward and said "it could be"

Oooh! Good Cop, Bad Cop!!!!

- You rarely see it these days as there's a marked shortage of one of the categories.........

L-M

A Young woman was pulled over for speeding. A Traffic Corps Garda walked to her car window, flipping open his ticket book, she said, 'I bet you are going to sell me a ticket to the Garda Traffic Department Ball.'

He replied, 'The Garda Traffic Department don't have balls.....' There was a moment of silence. He then closed his book, got back in his patrol car and left.

Gary ITR

KamiKazi wrote: »

w4nkers :mad:

While we all might enjoy the odd tom hank every now and then it's not right to come on here and call our gardai ****, so quit it

thirtythirty

Onkle wrote: »

While we all might enjoy the odd tom hank every now and then it's not right to come on here and call our gardai ****, so quit it

I disagree. Just like any other group in society, you can't paint them all with the same brush. So you can't say "you can't call 'them' <that word>". I've utmost respect for Gardai, EXCEPT for traffic Gards and their so called safety strategies:

"Let's setup a hidden speed check on the perfectly safe Dual Carriage way or Rock Road and catch people 10km/h over the speed limit, while knowingly ignoring all the rat runs that intoxicated drivers use to avoid us. Let's also ignore all the bangers and piece of sh1/t taxis that somehow slip by the NCT and probably have no grip on their tyres, and stay inside on wet days allowing these people to speed around the place. We'll catch the good driver in the good car tomorrow when its sunny again".

I could go on. And no, before you ask I have no points, nor have I had any run-ins with traffic gards. I just can't stand their attitude or enforcement procedures.

delly

There's a distinct difference between 'unmarked' units and 'undercover' units, with the later not really giving a crap about minor traffic infringements while also being very hard to spot. The picture below shows how most car looks at the moment while also including the TETRA aerial that ironclaw had mentioned above.

Armin_Tamzarian

Onkle wrote: »

I hear they sit on the outside lane of the M8 quite a bit and pull people for undertaking

If that's true then it's totally ridiculous, entrapment of sorts.
I've got not problem passing car on the inside lane if they're going slow in the overtaking lane.
I'll give them a chance to move of their own accord, then I'll give them a flash of the headlights.
If they still don't move then I'll pass them on the inner lane no problem.

Did it once coming into Mitchelstown.
Some old biddy sat in the outside lande doing about 45MPH.
Got fed up after a few miles and passed on the inside.
As I was driving through the centre of Mitchelstown a Garda was standing in the middle of the road waiting for me.
Auld bltch had rang the Gardai on me.
I told him what had happened, he just shrugged said "ah sure I know" and sent me on my way.

Swarlez

theres a unmarked red octavia in cork that usually spends a lot of time on the south ring and theres a silver astra thats from ballyvourney

ironclaw

delly wrote: »

Yeap, that's it. Probably the only sure way to spot.

Tefral

Limerick man wrote: »

A Young woman was pulled over for speeding. A Traffic Corps Garda walked to her car window, flipping open his ticket book, she said, 'I bet you are going to sell me a ticket to the Garda Traffic Department Ball.'

He replied, 'The Garda Traffic Department don't have balls.....' There was a moment of silence. He then closed his book, got back in his patrol car and left.

Talking to a detective who is related to my GF there recently, he was saying they all call the Traffic Corps "The Black Death"..

I feel sorry for Nice guy always on here ha ha

MagicSean

bad2dabone wrote: »

I just puked a little in my mouth when I read this garbage post.

You should get that checked. Could be something serious.

cianclarke wrote: »

It's possible they were looking out for somebody in the area, hence the change in speed all the time?

It's probably what they were doing. Gardaí in unmrked cars have other things to do than try and bait people into undertaking so they can give them a ticket.

NickDrake

plastic-man wrote: »

Was driving down a long avenue on Dublin's northside last night. Speed limit is 50kph but the car in front was inconsistently doing 35-40kph which caused cars behind me to start undertaking us. I gave a friendly flash however they remained driving at a weird inconsistent speed. Eventually I went into the bus lane (as it was after 7pm). I did about 52kph and then the sirens came on.

The car who was going slow was an undercover, guy and girl. Asked if car was mine and for license. Asked why I flashed and I said 'I thought you may have been going a bit slow as people were beginning to undertake us'. They said 'you need to take it easy on the roads'. She looked at my license for a while, not sure if she wrote something down. They never got out of car or checked insurance, tax or NCT. I asked if this was penalty points, woman said nothing and guy leaned forward and said "it could be"

What do you guys think, do they usually tell you if you're getting points?

Saying it "could be" is insuffiecnt. A member of the Gardai must inform you if they are issuing you with points. This is a legal requirement. However its hard to prove in court when it is your word against theirs.

Armin_Tamzarian

cronin_j wrote: »

Talking to a detective who is related to my GF there recently, he was saying they all call the Traffic Corps "The Black Death"..

I feel sorry for Nice guy always on here ha ha

Heh-heh, ever watched 'Traffic Blues' on youtube?
Soooo bad.

Heroditas

ironclaw wrote: »

Vauxhall Astra (The new one in blue)
BWM - 5 Series (Black)
Ford Mondeo
Alfa Romeo - Unsure of the model

And an unconfirmed VW Touareg in gunmetal silver.

Add a blue Opel Corsa and a blue Renault Clio to that list!

Anan1

k_mac wrote: »

Gardaí in unmrked cars have other things to do than try and bait people into undertaking so they can give them a ticket.

I've a lot of respect for the Gardaí in general, but I have seen unmarked cars tailgating speeders for 1-2kms before pulling them.