Have you/Do you call the Gardai?

Mr. Manager

So, tonight I was driving home from work at 10pm along the M50 when I'm coming past junction 12 and I notice a man stumbling along on the over-taking lane drinking a can of beer...

My only thought was to ring the gardai and make them aware and hopefully pick him up as he was otherwise going to get himself killed.

It's not the first time I've phoned them for incidents not directly involving me.

Another time, again on the way home from work, I came across a car that had an apparent drunk driver. So I phoned the gardai to tell them and stayed on the phone the entire time so as they would know where to stop this man.

Just wondering if many, or any, people would do something similar?

Kintarō Hattori

I haven't had cause to yet but if I saw anything that warranted it I certainly wouldn't hesitate to call them.

Incidentally, what phone number did you call?

Saila

hello is that the guards?

no its the gardaí! :mad:

*ingaged tone*

.........right well that the last time I'll do my civic duty then :mad:

hondasam

I would if I though someone was a danger to themselves or others.

Borderfox

On the way into work many moons ago on the N32 head towards coolock and seen three horses rambling down the road. Stopped and rang the Gardai before an accident happens and I was asked what lane are they in !!

Also rang in for a guy hanging out of one of the M50 flyovers (wrong side of the railings) in a horrendous looking jumper

My brother's a Garda. Does that count? :P

m.j.w

I used to live in an apartment in the middle of a small town and on the street below we heard an old enough man crying. Were going to bed an hour or so later and the gf looked out the window and he was still there crying his eyes out and seemed to be in a bad way. This was at 3.30am and someone had jumped in the river the week before so the missus couldnt goto be without ringing the guards to ask them to check him out as she was worried he might kill himself. She did that and they said they would be round, watched him for about 45 mins and no sign of them. She wouldnt goto bed before they came so she rang them again and they said they would be round again. Again no sign, took them about 90 mins to check on him and the guard station is about 3 minutes walk away.

Mr. Manager

Kintarō Hattori wrote: »

I haven't had cause to yet but if I saw anything that warranted it I certainly wouldn't hesitate to call them.

Incidentally, what phone number did you call?

I dialled 911, why do you ask anyways?

CoolHat

well op,
sounds like you are ringing the gardai out of 'the right thing to do'. Like so someone doesnt get killed in those two examples thats decent.

But, generally, when the topic of "do you ring the gardai" is asked. Its genuinely of personal nature (aka involving them). Which one thing has to be mentioned ... alot of people I found hide behind the gardai and law.

hondasam

m.j.w wrote: »

I used to live in an apartment in the middle of a small town and on the street below we heard an old enough man crying. Were going to bed an hour or so later and the gf looked out the window and he was still there crying his eyes out and seemed to be in a bad way. This was at 3.30am and someone had jumped in the river the week before so the missus couldnt goto be without ringing the guards to ask them to check him out as she was worried he might kill himself. She did that and they said they would be round, watched him for about 45 mins and no sign of them. She wouldnt goto bed before they came so she rang them again and they said they would be round again. Again no sign, took them about 90 mins to check on him and the guard station is about 3 minutes walk away.

What was stopping you and the gf going out to check on him?
he was only outside the window.

Kintarō Hattori

Cereal Rapist wrote: »

I dialled 911, why do you ask anyways?

I thought there was a special number for reporting incidents on the road. Wasn't sure which one I should use if/when I come across something. Thanks.

billybudd

im still waiting, three years later.:p

Caraville

Yeah I did once, had to ring to tell them there was an old man driving the wrong way on the motorway. It was actually kinda scary, I could see him up ahead kind of pulled in driving really slowly on the hard shoulder before doing a u-turn and going past me.

I'd say the poor fecker hadn't a clue what he was doing and I didn't want to get him into trouble, but he was putting himself and others in danger.

Mr. Manager

Kintarō Hattori wrote: »

I thought there was a special number for reporting incidents on the road. Wasn't sure which one I should use if/when I come across something. Thanks.

I know certain branches have seperate numbers for less serious incidents but I wouldn't know them off hand, plus I don't think my one call will clog up the lines :pac:

m.j.w

hondasam wrote: »

What was stopping you and the gf going out to check on him?
he was only outside the window.

why should we go down and check on a possibly drunk man, thats the guards job. we were not to know what state he was in

hondasam

Kintarō Hattori wrote: »

I thought there was a special number for reporting incidents on the road. Wasn't sure which one I should use if/when I come across something. Thanks.

There is the Traffic Watch number if you want to use that.

hondasam

m.j.w wrote: »

why should we go down and check on a possibly drunk man, thats the guards job. we were not to know what state he was in

Though you said the gf was worried about him, can't be to concerned if ye wouldn't go check on him.
If I thought someone was going to kill themselves I would sit with them until help arrived, seem like the right thing to do.

Tordelback

Caraville wrote: »

...I didn't want to get him into trouble...

More trouble than driving the wrong way down the motorway? :eek:

I've called the cops a good few times for similar motorway incidents - kids hanging off flyovers and lads reversing down the hard-shoulder of the M50 'cos they've missed their turn. Situations where someone is likely to die.

Most recently and less urgently I called the station 'cos two lads were stashing a massive flat-screen TV in the bushes opposite my house...

m.j.w

hondasam wrote: »

Though you said the gf was worried about him, can't be to concerned if ye wouldn't go check on him.
If I thought someone was going to kill themselves I would sit with them until help arrived, seem like the right thing to do.

yea my gf was worried, do you suggest that a girl should have went down at 3.30am to confront a stranger. the guards get paid to do these things so thats why she rang them. i would have went to bed no bother

CoolHat

m.j.w wrote: »

why should we go down and check on a possibly drunk man, thats the guards job. we were not to know what state he was in

Hondasam is actually right mate.
You or your GF could of clearly checked on the guy. Being decent like. Now from the sounds of it, your gf was more worried than you (nothing wrong with that, in fact its a heartless world we live in so even if you said you plain didnt care, so be it) ... but she wasnt going to sleep as you say.

You could of easily popped down to see what was up. Nothing wrong with keeping your distance at the same time too. But to say "thats the gardai's job" is such a "i want someone else to deal with it" statment. Anyone but me :rolleyes:

mikom

Cereal Rapist wrote: »

So, tonight I was driving home from work at 10pm along the M50 when I'm coming past junction 12 and I notice a man stumbling along on the over-taking lane drinking a can of beer...

My only thought was to ring the gardai and make them aware and hopefully pick him up as he was otherwise going to get himself killed.

It's not the first time I've phoned them for incidents not directly involving me.

Another time, again on the way home from work, I came across a car that had an apparent drunk driver. So I phoned the gardai to tell them and stayed on the phone the entire time so as they would know where to stop this man.

Just wondering if many, or any, people would do something similar?

Brag?
Yeah, do it all the time.

joke

Kintarō Hattori

m.j.w wrote: »

yea my gf was worried, do you suggest that a girl should have went down at 3.30am to confront a str
anger. the guards get paid to do these things so thats why she rang them. i would have went to bed no bother

m.j.w wrote: »

I used to live in an apartment in the middle of a small town and on the street below we heard an old enough man crying.

You could have went out.

m.j.w

Kintarō Hattori wrote: »

You could have went out.

i didnt really care, not my job to go out onto a street full of drunks.

Mr. Manager

mikom wrote: »

Brag?
Yeah, do it all the time.

joke

Ha! Nah I was just thinking to myself as I was driving past him "Are any of these other drivers ringing them too..."

hondasam

m.j.w wrote: »

yea my gf was worried, do you suggest that a girl should have went down at 3.30am to confront a stranger. the guards get paid to do these things so thats why she rang them. i would have went to bed no bother

Yes the guards get paid, why should you try and help,hopefully the majority of people would think differently. You might need help yourself sometime.

Mr. Manager

m.j.w wrote: »

i didnt really care, not my job to go out onto a street full of drunks.

You're right, ya don't have to but I just started this thread to see what the general public was like in instances like this.

m.j.w

CoolHat wrote: »

Hondasam is actually right mate.
You or your GF could of clearly checked on the guy. Being decent like. Now from the sounds of it, your gf was more worried than you (nothing wrong with that, in fact its a heartless world we live in so even if you said you plain didnt care, so be it) ... but she wasnt going to sleep as you say.

You could of easily popped down to see what was up. Nothing wrong with keeping your distance at the same time too. But to say "thats the gardai's job" is such a "i want someone else to deal with it" statment. Anyone but me :rolleyes:

But it is the guards job. The options were go out to him (which i wasnt gonna do), ring the guards or do nothing. So because I did not go (which is my choice) should I have just done nothing?

Wolfe Tone

Never personally rang them, never will unless I really really have to.

tvnutz

CoolHat wrote: »

Hondasam is actually right mate.
You or your GF could of clearly checked on the guy. Being decent like. Now from the sounds of it, your gf was more worried than you (nothing wrong with that, in fact its a heartless world we live in so even if you said you plain didnt care, so be it) ... but she wasnt going to sleep as you say.

You could of easily popped down to see what was up. Nothing wrong with keeping your distance at the same time too. But to say "thats the gardai's job" is such a "i want someone else to deal with it" statment. Anyone but me :rolleyes:

In fairness to the guy this chap could have been in some metal distress if he was drunk and crying. Even keeping their distance you never know what this chap could do,could have had a weapon on him or anything. They kept an eye on him for a good amount of time and called the gardai,seems like a decent thing to do. A lot of people just would have went to bed and said feck it.

hondasam

m.j.w wrote: »

i didnt really care, not my job to go out onto a street full of drunks.

We have gone from one old man who was crying who ye thought might kill himself to a street full of drunks.
You don't care, well that pretty obvious.

what would you do if you came across a car accident? drive past it.

Nforce

Yep...A few times


Once was when I witnessed a fatal RTA

Once when I tried(and succeeded) in talking a stranger out of committing suicide on a busy road...took me 4 calls before they arrived:rolleyes:

Once when I witnessed a woman have an epileptic fit while she was driving and she veered off the road into a stone wall (also requested an ambulance)

m.j.w

hondasam wrote: »

Yes the guards get paid, why should you try and help,hopefully the majority of people would think differently. You might need help yourself sometime.

She did help by ringing the guards. Alot of people wouldnt have cared less

mikemac

Used to be a hotel night porter, it's an awful job

And scabby management won't give me anyone to work with so all nine and half stone of me was expected to manage a lobby full of drunks after the weddings and functions. I'm weak as a lamb, unable to eject drunks on my own or break up rows

I had the local station on speed-dial
"Ah Mike, tis yourself, what's up tonight" :pac:

I've never called 999 for the gardaí, only the fire service

CoolHat

m.j.w wrote: »

i didnt really care, not my job to go out onto a street full of drunks.

Look mate, I aint judging, because who the f**k am I. Some randomer behind a keyboard.

But theres two ways to handle that. (1,) decent way. To go down and check on him as your gf clearly has compassion for this guy. Or (2,) f**k him. Which if thats what you wanna feel like. So be it (aka, thats life) We dont live in a nice world. But within that attitude why wouldnt you tell your gf "f*ck him hun, go to sleep" - but you dont wanna say that to her because you dont wanna be "the bad guy" right?

So pick a side. As for what side is right or wrong. Down to the individual. But who cares what side you pick. Who cares what others think (rightfully so) but to say "i'll ring the cops" means i dont wanna go down there myself. But i dont want to be honest and openly say "f*ck him" to my gf. I want to officially be seen as having "compassion" while in reality, i just want someone else to sort it out.

m.j.w

hondasam wrote: »

We have gone from one old man who was crying who ye thought might kill himself to a street full of drunks.
You don't care, well that pretty obvious.

what would you do if you came across a car accident? drive past it.

do you know many town centres that arent full of drunks at 4 am at the weekend? do you think because he was the only person i mentoned that he was the only one on the street?

flyaway.

I don't really see why so many people are saying the girlfriend should gone down to check on the stranger. He was crying in the street- obviously mentally unstable. You have no idea in what way he was unstable though. Could have been violent, could have been armed. It is not the job of an untrained citizen to approach an unstable stranger. Ringing the guards and then ringing them again was the only sensible thing to do.

Seachmall

It only takes one phone call to save a life.

Or four if you're calling the Gards.

m.j.w

CoolHat wrote: »

Look mate, I aint judging, because who the f**k am I. Some randomer behind a keyboard.

But theres two ways to handle that. (1,) decent way. To go down and check on him as your gf clearly has compassion for this guy. Or (2,) f**k him. Which if thats what you wanna feel like. So be it (aka, thats life) We dont live in a nice world. But within that attitude why wouldnt you tell your gf "f*ck him hun, go to sleep" - but you dont wanna say that to her because you dont wanna be "the bad guy" right?

So pick a side. As for what side is right or wrong. Down to the individual. But who cares what side you pick. Who cares what others think (rightfully so) but to say "i'll ring the cops" means i dont wanna go down there myself. But i dont want to be honest and openly say "f*ck him" to my gf. I want to officially be seen as having "compassion" while in reality, i just want someone else to sort it out.

i get what ya are saying but she rang them not me so it wasnt a case of me not wanting to be honest and saying "**** him"

m.j.w

flyaway. wrote: »

I don't really see why so many people are saying the girlfriend should gone down to check on the stranger. He was crying in the street- obviously mentally unstable. You have no idea in what way he was unstable though. Could have been violent, could have been armed. It is not the job of an untrained citizen to approach an unstable stranger. Ringing the guards and then ringing them again was the only sensible thing to do.

thats the way i see it

Mr. Manager

flyaway. wrote: »

I don't really see why so many people are saying the girlfriend should gone down to check on the stranger.

No one said she should have gone down..

flyaway. wrote: »

He was crying in the street- obviously mentally unstable.

Yea obviously :rolleyes:

hondasam

flyaway. wrote: »

I don't really see why so many people are saying the girlfriend should gone down to check on the stranger. He was crying in the street- obviously mentally unstable. You have no idea in what way he was unstable though. Could have been violent, could have been armed. It is not the job of an untrained citizen to approach an unstable stranger. Ringing the guards and then ringing them again was the only sensible thing to do.

I think what we were saying is that both of them could have checked on him.
I know if it was me I would.

Seachmall

flyaway. wrote: »

I don't really see why so many people are saying the girlfriend should gone down to check on the stranger. He was crying in the street- obviously mentally unstable. You have no idea in what way he was unstable though. Could have been violent, could have been armed. It is not the job of an untrained citizen to approach an unstable stranger. Ringing the guards and then ringing them again was the only sensible thing to do.

No doubt about it.

They'll call her insensitive for not going down but if she did and got assaulted they'd be saying it was her own fault for going down.

Can't win with some people.

m.j.w

Cereal Rapist wrote: »

No one said she should have gone down..



Yea obviously :rolleyes:

it shouldnt make a difference anyway, either of us could have been attacked so just because im a male doesnt mean that i should have to risk going down. some people will say they would have and fair play to you but the majority of people wouldnt have cared from the start

Mr. Manager

m.j.w wrote: »

it shouldnt make a difference anyway, either of us could have been attacked so just because im a male doesnt mean that i should have to risk going down. some people will say they would have and fair play to you but the majority of people wouldnt have cared from the start

You being one of these people...

Nothing wrong with it, not judging either. As said before, a lot of people wouldn't bother to do anything cos they don't know the person on a personal level.

m.j.w

Cereal Rapist wrote: »

You being one of these people...

Nothing wrong with it, not judging either. As said before, a lot of people wouldn't bother to do anything cos they don't know the person on a personal level.

Yea i agree as i have said i would be classed as one of these people but I dont see why we should have to go down. As far as I see it we done the sensible thing. Ring the guards who are trained to deal with these situations

hondasam

m.j.w wrote: »

it shouldnt make a difference anyway, either of us could have been attacked so just because im a male doesnt mean that i should have to risk going down. some people will say they would have and fair play to you but the majority of people wouldnt have cared from the start

I'm sorry it seems like I'm having a go at you but there is still lots of people who would care enough to help a stranger in distress.
you have your reasons and that's fine but don't try to justify them by saying the guards get paid to do, it's their job.

Seachmall

Cereal Rapist wrote: »

You being one of these people...

That's straight up BS.

she was worried he might kill himself. She did that and they said they would be round, watched him for about 45 mins and no sign of them. She wouldnt goto bed before they came so she rang them again and they said they would be round again. Again no sign, took them about 90 mins to check on him and the guard station is about 3 minutes walk away.

That is more than most would do. If he had gone down he could have been assaulted or worse.

Calling the police was the most responsible thing to do in that situation.

hondasam wrote:

I'm sorry it seems like I'm having a go at you but there is still lots of people who would care enough to help a stranger in distress.

Everybody thinks they'll become Bruce Lee when they see someone being attacked and Mother Teresa when they see someone in distress, but they don't. Maybe 1% or 2% do but they're the exceptions. In the real world people are far more cautious than they are in their head. Nobody here can say what they'd do because nobody here was there except the poster and he did more than what most would.

When was the last time you bought a sandwich for a homeless person or intervened in a fight?

CoolHat

m.j.w wrote: »

i get what ya are saying but she rang them not me so it wasnt a case of me not wanting to be honest and saying "**** him"

I see what you mean. You were probably better off telling her to goto bed and ignore him tho. Even in a round about way.

m.j.w wrote: »

it shouldnt make a difference anyway, either of us could have been attacked so just because im a male doesnt mean that i should have to risk going down. some people will say they would have and fair play to you but the majority of people wouldnt have cared from the start

Im not being a rude di*khead. Just calling it the way I see it....
You didnt care (fair enough) and truth be known your GF didnt care enough that much to go down and check on him (fair enough) ... so what was all of it? false compassion? .. like my point is pick a side. you know what I mean.

By the dont mention thing likes "i'm a male" + "i could of been attacked" - you're a bloke man. Have a bit of readyness about you. Dont use words like that. Doesnt make you come off in a good light.

m.j.w

hondasam wrote: »

I'm sorry it seems like I'm having a go at you but there is still lots of people who would care enough to help a stranger in distress.
you have your reasons and that's fine but don't try to justify them by saying the guards get paid to do, it's their job.

To be fair you were having a go, fair play to ya if you would have went. Everyone deals with things differently. the guards are paid to do it and they are also trained for such situations so imo its better having them deal with it than a member of the public. I dont think I have to justify myself considering I openly admitted I didnt really care

m.j.w

CoolHat wrote: »

I see what you mean. You were probably better off telling her to goto bed and ignore him tho. Even in a round about way.



Im not being a rude di*khead. Just calling it the way I see it....
You didnt care (fair enough) and truth be known your GF didnt care enough that much to go down and check on him (fair enough) ... so what was all of it? false compassion? .. like my point is pick a side. you know what I mean.

By the dont mention thing likes "i'm a male" + "i could of been attacked" - you're a bloke man. Have a bit of readyness about you. Dont use words like that. Doesnt make you come off in a good light.

lol i dont know what way you are looking at this. your saying we would have been better ignoring him than ringing than guards? also my gf did care considering she sat up wacthing the man in the middle of the night. just because she didnt go out does not make it false compassion. If we went down and found out the man was homeless and we didnt take him in does that mean we cared enough to go down but not enough to take him into out own house so would that be false compassion

hondasam

m.j.w wrote: »

To be fair you were having a go, fair play to ya if you would have went. Everyone deals with things differently. the guards are paid to do it and they are also trained for such situations so imo its better having them deal with it than a member of the public. I dont think I have to justify myself considering I openly admitted I didnt really care

I know I was having a go and I'm sorry but I'm one of these people who acts first and thinks later.
I would not approach the situation on my own but neither would I leave him alone.
The guards are not social workers or doctors, they would just arrest him and take him back to the station.