Dangerous Garda Speed Check M7 this morning

pistolpetes11

Coming along the inside lane on my way to work this morning from J12 Newbridge to Dublin at about 9.15AM.

Just after J11 I spot a Garda Car (Volvo Estate) parked in the hard shoulder , could not believe my eyes , The Front of his bumper was parked flush to the Yellow hard shoulder line(making a perfect T shape) and I reckon 40-60 Mtrs on from the on ramp at the J11, his driver door was basically facing the oncoming traffic, complete suicide mission if you ask me.

Just as I was about to indicate to pull into the outside lane to allow merging traffic in , the clowns blowing down the outside spot the Garda car and hit the anchors, blocking any path I had to get into the outside lane.

This in turn meant that the traffic looking to join the motorway were now blocked by the cars in the inside lane and were quickly running out of room and heading for the hard shoulder which the garda car was parked in.

This resulted in the car behind me panicing and trying to swerve in to the tightest of spots on the outside lane and nearly taking two cars out of it , and traffic on the on ramp looked like it had come to a stand still and someone sitting on there horn, which I hope was aimed in the direction of the AGS.

Makes a bit of a mockery of the new RSA adds abouts never stopping on a motorway or hard should unless you have not other option, I would not mind but about 5KM down the road there is a raised Garda platform in from the hard shoulder for doing speed checks safely.

giz_a_job

Saw something similar on Sunday morning.

Westbound on the N4, about 2km before the turn off for Kilcock/Enfield, Garda car/jeep parked on left, at right angle to the road, with a speed gun point out his window facing traffic. I'm ok with the speed trap, but his position was stupid.
Nose of the car was very near the yellow shoulder marking, meaning the hard shoulder was blocked by the from 1/2 of his vehicle.
(no sign of them eastbound around 6pm when I saw many dangerously fast speeders!)

As you say, so much for the RSA promoting safe use of the shoulder, when the cops sit there, lead by example ?

BTW - anyone noticed, speed traps on N32, every Sunday morning around 10am, when its really quiet. Seems like easy pickings to get there numbers up to target.

Also - saw a great pic of one of those new GoSafe camera vans - clamped !!

doOh

Yeah i was coming from LIMERICK last night and same story ... damn bastards some1 could crash into them

bazz26

giz_a_job wrote: »

BTW - anyone noticed, speed traps on N32, every Sunday morning around 10am, when its really quiet. Seems like easy pickings to get there numbers up to target.

I'd hazard a guess that they were probably looking to bag drivers who were out on the sauce the night before and still over the legal limit to drive.

stevenmu

I'd suggest that if you see this kind of thing that you ring the Gardaí and complain about a dangerous obstruction on a motorway.

I'd be pretty sure that they would actually respond and sort it out. I've personally seen one Garda chew out another (much more senior) Garda just for using a bus lane

Le King

pistolpetes11 wrote: »

Coming along the inside lane on my way to work this morning from J12 Newbridge to Dublin at about 9.15AM.

Just after J11 I spot a Garda Car (Volvo Estate) parked in the hard shoulder , could not believe my eyes , The Front of his bumper was parked flush to the Yellow hard shoulder line(making a perfect T shape) and I reckon 40-60 Mtrs on from the on ramp at the J11, his driver door was basically facing the oncoming traffic, complete suicide mission if you ask me.

Just as I was about to indicate to pull into the outside lane to allow merging traffic in , the clowns blowing down the outside spot the Garda car and hit the anchors, blocking any path I had to get into the outside lane.

This in turn meant that the traffic looking to join the motorway were now blocked by the cars in the inside lane and were quickly running out of room and heading for the hard shoulder which the garda car was parked in.

This resulted in the car behind me panicing and trying to swerve in to the tightest of spots on the outside lane and nearly taking two cars out of it , and traffic on the on ramp looked like it had come to a stand still and someone sitting on there horn, which I hope was aimed in the direction of the AGS.

Makes a bit of a mockery of the new RSA adds abouts never stopping on a motorway or hard should unless you have not other option, I would not mind but about 5KM down the road there is a raised Garda platform in from the hard shoulder for doing speed checks safely.

I saw that too about 20 past 9 this morning. Couldn't believe it. Why do it there as you said there is the raised platform for the Gardaí to perform the whole operation safely.

Wish I had of taken the reg number. It would be very hard to believe he was sanctioned to do it there.

Paddysnapper

1st rule: If you don't speed there will be no need to panic and you won't get caught. Simple!

Would you like me to repeat it "very slowly":)

trellheim

way to miss the thread title; its not about speeders its about AGS vehicles in dangerous positions.

There are several little ramps just for AGS on the motorways. No idea why they do not use them ( how often do you see them occupied ? )

voxpop

Paddysnapper wrote: »

1st rule: If you don't speed there will be no need to panic and you won't get caught. Simple!

Would you like me to repeat it "very slowly":)

Jesus :rolleyes:

Well done on missing the point of the whole thread

MIRMIR82

I heard last week (not sure how true it is) that your life expectancy goes down to 50 minutes if you pull over on a motor way:eek:

Gary ITR

Paddysnapper wrote: »

1st rule: If you don't speed there will be no need to panic and you won't get caught. Simple!

Would you like me to repeat it "very slowly":)

This thread has nothing to do with speeding though. It's about a dangerously parked Guard conducting a speed check. Do you need me to repeat that slowly for you?

Atomic Pineapple

Paddysnapper wrote: »

1st rule: If you don't speed there will be no need to panic and you won't get caught. Simple!

Would you like me to repeat it "very slowly":)

jimmycrackcorm

I'm missing something here. Basically a car was parked in the hard shoulder - which they do sometimes so the problem is that because it is a Garda car, people speeding along are hitting the brakes. Presumably they are seeing the Garda car too late.

-Chris-

As I understand it, a Garda car was parked in the hard shoulder, perpendicular to the flow of traffic, with their bumper nearly in line with the yellow dashes dividing the hard shoulder and main carriageway.

i.e. if someone was driving in the hard shoulder or had to swerve into it, they'd hit the Garda car broadside.

mcwhirter

These guards are probably some weather beaten potato head muck savages from the outskirts of any normal civilised town and who have never seen a motorway before nevermind been on one.

Now wheres me tractor for the motorway.

BronsonTB

If anyone come across this with a passenger on board...get them to take pics, put on the web & send to the rsa. This needs to be highlighted so everyone becomes aware of it...Sounds dangerous by all accounts....

Wonder is it some kind of new policy since the camera vans have been deployed?

Esp now we have all those motorway ads been shown on TV at the mo...

-Chris-

mcwhirter wrote: »

These guards are probably some weather beaten potato head muck savages from the outskirts of any normal civilised town and who have never seen a motorway before nevermind been on one.

No more of this.

Cmar-Ireland

Could have parked there because everyone that uses the motorway regularly knows where the raised garda speed check platforms are. So the belt along until they are within range of the platforms and then slow it down to the legal limit. Maybe this guy was trying to catch the platform dodgers?

langdang

-Chris- wrote: »

As I understand it, a Garda car was parked in the hard shoulder, perpendicular to the flow of traffic, with their bumper nearly in line with the yellow dashes dividing the hard shoulder and main carriageway.

and importantly -within 100m of an on ramp - so, given the merging abilities of the average turnip, a very irresponsible place to be.

jjmcclure

Report it to the Garda Ombudsman. Simple.:)

overshoot

Cmar-Ireland wrote: »

Could have parked there because everyone that uses the motorway regularly knows where the raised garda speed check platforms are. So the belt along until they are within range of the platforms and then slow it down to the legal limit. Maybe this guy was trying to catch the platform dodgers?

im sure that is what he was doing but you could argue the garda just as dangerous as anyone speeding.
it could be done safely by a unmarked on the road... although is there any unmarked used for speed checks? never noticed one

user1842

Cmar-Ireland wrote: »

Could have parked there because everyone that uses the motorway regularly knows where the raised garda speed check platforms are. So the belt along until they are within range of the platforms and then slow it down to the legal limit. Maybe this guy was trying to catch the platform dodgers?

The raised garda speed check platforms will never be used with hand-held speed cameras as it requires two garda to use them. One in the driver seat and the other outside with the camera.

The reason why the garda was parked the way he/she was on the motorway was so they could use the speed gun while in the driver seat and easily start up the car and chase the speeder.

alias no.9

overshoot wrote: »

im sure that is what he was doing but you could argue the garda just as dangerous as anyone speeding.
it could be done safely by a unmarked on the road... although is there any unmarked used for speed checks? never noticed one

The ironic thing is that if there was a death as a result of this kind of speed check (heaven forbid), even if there was no speeding involved (even at 20km/h below the limit a side swipe of a stationary 1.5 tonne Volvo will result in carnage), the response would be to target the stretch of road for more speed checks.

Vertakill

I've noticed a crazy number of speed vans and garda on bikes doing speedchecks around the N7/M7 and Newbridge (near Toughers petrol station) in the last month.
Must've seen 6 in that space of time (and the one @ Toughers caught me :mad:).

Wossack

could you imagine the maneouver he would have taken to get in that position in the first place?

boggles

dudara

jimmycrackcorm wrote: »

I'm missing something here. Basically a car was parked in the hard shoulder - which they do sometimes so the problem is that because it is a Garda car, people speeding along are hitting the brakes. Presumably they are seeing the Garda car too late.

It's not even people speeding along. Irish people have a terrible tendency to slam on the brakes and slow right down when they see a police car, even if they were on or below the limit to start.

Then you need to add in the fact that a lot of Irish drivers lack the ability to merge at speed or with confidence.

The scenario described by the OP sounds like an accident waiting to happen. I'd definitely make a complaint with the Traffic Corps.

pistolpetes11

jimmycrackcorm wrote: »

I'm missing something here. Basically a car was parked in the hard shoulder - which they do sometimes so the problem is that because it is a Garda car, people speeding along are hitting the brakes. Presumably they are seeing the Garda car too late.

No the problem is the way he was parked to conduct this speed check , His front bumper sitting on the yellow line and way to close to the J11 Ramp to join the motorway .




My paint skills aint the best but I think they show what I was getting at

joegriffinjnr

Just after J11 I spot a Garda Car (Volvo Estate)

AFAIK the Volvo Estate cars belong to the ERU (Armed Gardai). I have yet to see any Volvo Estates (marked) with traffic corps. Are you sure it was a Volvo and not one of the new Toyoya Avensis estates??

guil

joegriffinjnr wrote: »

AFAIK the Volvo Estate cars belong to the ERU (Armed Gardai). I have yet to see any Volvo Estates (marked) with traffic corps. Are you sure it was a Volvo and not one of the new Toyoya Avensis estates??

those volvos are RSU regional support unit

guil

dmclean1842 wrote: »

The raised garda speed check platforms will never be used with hand-held speed cameras as it requires two garda to use them. One in the driver seat and the other outside with the camera.

The reason why the garda was parked the way he/she was on the motorway was so they could use the speed gun while in the driver seat and easily start up the car and chase the speeder.

why have i passed a few along the m7 between monasterevin and portlaoise with the driver holding the gun

user1842

guil wrote: »

why have i passed a few along the m7 between monasterevin and portlaoise with the driver holding the gun

How is he holding the gun? Out the window facing backwards? Fair play to him, bring on Garda neck creek claims in the future

I have never seen one of these platforms used with a hand held device.

Hill St Blue

It is possible that he was parked in the 'fend off' position for a very good reason. This is a parking technique used by lots of emergency service vehicles around the world...basically parked perpendicular to oncoming traffic, exactly as you described op. Just throwing it out there folks...it's not unusual for 'fend off' parking to be seen now and again.

pistolpetes11

Hill St Blue wrote: »

It is possible that he was parked in the 'fend off' position for a very good reason. This is a parking technique used by lots of emergency service vehicles around the world...basically parked perpendicular to oncoming traffic, exactly as you described op. Just throwing it out there folks...it's not unusual for 'fend off' parking to be seen now and again.

Thing is , the AGS would not of had a chance if a car was unable to merge properly and had to use the hard shoulder , car would of driven right into the drivers door.

I am not too up on Tactical positioning for Emergency service vehicles , but this just looked plain stupid.

How many times a week do you see car run into the hard shoulder when merging as it seems the most Irish folk seem to have great difficulty when trying to merge.

I Have no problem what so ever with speeds checks , in fact there should be a hell of a lot more of them on the N7/M7, the last year there has not been as many from what I can see and the road is like a racing track at the best of times.

joegriffinjnr

joegriffinjnr wrote: »

AFAIK the Volvo Estate cars belong to the ERU (Armed Gardai). I have yet to see any Volvo Estates (marked) with traffic corps. Are you sure it was a Volvo and not one of the new Toyoya Avensis estates??

Was going to say that, too.

Was it definitely an RSU Volvo? If so are you certain they were doing speed checking? It's usually the Traffic Corps in their Mondeo/Avensis that will be doing speed checks. Maybe the RSU were doing something a little more serious?

AugustusMinimus

But wait, Gardai are never wrong I thought ?

And all of this just as the RSA are doing that bloody motorway campaign. Maybe the RSA might have a word with trainees in Templemore too.

user1842

guil wrote: »

why have i passed a few along the m7 between monasterevin and portlaoise with the driver holding the gun

This is interesting. I assumed that Garda speed checks are always pointed at the oncoming car. I suppose they could be pointed at the back of the car which would make the above speed check easy to carry out.

I have never seen it though.

AugustusMinimus

pistolpetes11 wrote: »

I Have no problem what so ever with speeds checks , in fact there should be a hell of a lot more of them on the N7/M7, the last year there has not been as many from what I can see and the road is like a racing track at the best of times.

No need for speed checks on motorways IMO. WOuld be much better if Gardai would actually enforce the rest of the rules of the road on motorways.

Hill St Blue

pistolpetes11 wrote: »

Thing is , the AGS would not of had a chance if a car was unable to merge properly and had to use the hard shoulder , car would of driven right into the drivers door.

I am not too up on Tactical positioning for Emergency service vehicles , but this just looked plain stupid.

How many times a week do you see car run into the hard shoulder when merging as it seems the most Irish folk seem to have great difficulty when trying to merge.

I Have no problem what so ever with speeds checks , in fact there should be a hell of a lot more of them on the N7/M7, the last year there has not been as many from what I can see and the road is like a racing track at the best of times.

Ah yeah, in fairness, you saw the set up, so only you know how dangerous it was! I only threw out the 'fend off' issue to inform other posters that it is a legitimate parking technique for emergency services vehicles, and does'nt automatically mean that the Gardai are doing something wrong!

Solair

It's blatantly clear that the Gardai are not getting proper training for motorway patrols. That's both lethally dangerous for members of the public and for members of the Garda Siochana too.

There are well-documented, tried, trusted and long-established methodologies for doing just about any kind of speed trap, stop, etc on the motorway and there's really no excuse for the Gardai not being trained correctly.

For example, could the Gardai not be sent to Britain to train for motorway and general traffic patrol duties until enough officers here are trained-up to implement the programme here?

We could easily have a single training programme for both Garda and PSNI officers in Ireland there would be enough officers between the two forces to have a joint programme to ensure best practice.

guil

dmclean1842 wrote: »

This is interesting. I assumed that Garda speed checks are always pointed at the oncoming car. I suppose they could be pointed at the back of the car which would make the above speed check easy to carry out.

I have never seen it though.

they are regularly on the on ramp at monasterevin heading north bound

guil

dmclean1842 wrote: »

How is he holding the gun? Out the window facing backwards? Fair play to him, bring on Garda neck creek claims in the future

I have never seen one of these platforms used with a hand held device.

the car was perpindicular to the road, theres a big area at the top of those ramps to turn the car

shogunpower

the volvos have a little led display on the flashing lights on the roof, as far as i know they can switch the writing to "TRAFFIC CORPS" when they are doing the likes of a speed check.

joegriffinjnr

So armed Gardai are doing speed checks now? Ide say it was either an Avensis or Mondeo estate that he saw. If it was a Volvo it was not doing speedchecks.

van der vart

BronsonTB wrote: »

If anyone come across this with a passenger on board...get them to take pics, put on the web & send to the rsa. This needs to be highlighted so everyone becomes aware of it...Sounds dangerous by all accounts....

Wonder is it some kind of new policy since the camera vans have been deployed?

Esp now we have all those motorway ads been shown on TV at the mo...

Yeah, if your doing 120 ( legal ) tell passenger to get a pic.
Just slam on the brakes reverse back and drive by again

pistolpetes11

joegriffinjnr wrote: »

So armed Gardai are doing speed checks now? Ide say it was either an Avensis or Mondeo estate that he saw. If it was a Volvo it was not doing speedchecks.

Could of been a Avensis Estate , think some one else said that they noticed it there this morning too , that may be able to shed more light on the make of the car.

The RSU vehicle is always about Newbridge , I dont think it was that , as that has the Red LED Garda sign between the lights and the sticker on the side of the door , even when taken off, the outline can still be seen, must just be a magnetic strip sticker.

Any way the lad was doing a speed check for sure , had the gun hanging out window.

guil

was it silver by any chance, the traffic corp in naas have a silver avensis estate now

van der vart

thought those speed guns had to identify the car, as in speed, reg etc.
how can they do this if the slow lane is blocking their vision

Paddysnapper

For God's sake get a life and some sense....:(

end a eknny

why does everybody seem suprised by the gardai doing something stupid

Heroditas

giz_a_job wrote: »

Saw something similar on Sunday morning.

Westbound on the N4, about 2km before the turn off for Kilcock/Enfield, Garda car/jeep parked on left, at right angle to the road, with a speed gun point out his window facing traffic. I'm ok with the speed trap, but his position was stupid.
Nose of the car was very near the yellow shoulder marking, meaning the hard shoulder was blocked by the from 1/2 of his vehicle.
(no sign of them eastbound around 6pm when I saw many dangerously fast speeders!)

There was one in the same spot yesterday evening.

Just for clarification, Avensis Estate;

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=71777743&postcount=901


RSU Volvo

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3639/3469446684_8aa3655bd1.jpg


I really don't think the RSU would be doing speed checks?!