Honda Civics, big exhausts and the Ongar Road

Finglas Incubus

Firstly, no offence to Civic drivers but I'm getting a pain in me head listening to young fellas flying up and down the Ongar Road / Clonsilla Link Road each evening in their tricked out motors (Civics, more often than not) with big exhausts. The issue is particularly bad between the Blanch Road South and the roundabout beside the Allendale estate. At one point, the guards used to have a presence on the road (Clonsilla end) in terms of speed checks - usually during the day time - but I haven't seen one in recent times. I tried raising awareness of the issue with Blanch Gardaí to no avail.

Police enforcement aside, what are the options? I dislike the idea of speed ramps as a means to put speed controls in place but I see no other alternative....

are you serious

Lads driving around with large/noisy exhausts would be on the lower end of things to clamp down on for the Gardaí in Blanchardstown do you not think?

Finglas Incubus

are you serious wrote: »

Lads driving around with large/noisy exhausts would be on the lower end of things to clamp down on for the Gardaí in Blanchardstown do you not think?

Perhaps, but its an issue nonetheless and deserves attention in my view. The noise is one concern but the issue of road safety is paramount - slowing down boy racer types can only be a good thing for the local area (not to mention the drivers of the cars in question and other road users).

are you serious

Fair enough but its something you have said you have already raised with Blanchardstown Gardaí..

I'm not sure if you are aware but Gardaí have gone through a drastic roster change thus changing all of their hours, maybe there have been checks on the road when you have not been on it?

Almost every time I have been to Blanchardstown over the last few months I have seen the Gatso van on the Blakestown road at the Blakestown shop...

You obviously feel nothing is being done about is so why not just write a simple letter into the Superintendent of the station?

Finglas Incubus

I see where you're coming from but I think you're missing the point which is the issue of cars being driven at speed causing a nuisance and creating road safety issues in the D15 area. If you have to visit Blanch then its unlikely that you live in the area, yes? I'd be interested to hear the views of local residents, particularly those who are directly impacted by the behaviour of a minority few.

are you serious

Sorry my apologies for giving my opinion on a traffic issue in Blanchardstown I only lived there for 26 years and still go there a minimum of 3 times a week using the very road your speaking of........

If your living off the Ongar road I could assume my 26 years living there is a lot longer then you are living there and my experience on how the Gardaí will respond to anything in D.15 will be better than yours, yes?

Writing a letter to the Superintendent is your best chance of getting anything done, if you get no response in writing, ring and request a meeting in person with him!

Finglas Incubus

are you serious wrote: »

If your living off the Ongar road I could assume my 26 years living there is a lot longer then you are living there and my experience on how the Gardaí will respond to anything in D.15 will be better than yours, yes?

No, I'm living in the area 37 years but tenure is immaterial to the case in point.

Zaph

Play nicely please folks.

On 1/4/2010 there were a number of changes made to the NCT, including the following (source)

The vehicle will be required to have a level of noise no greater than 99dB(A) in order to pass the test to ensure that vehicles comply with acceptable noise levels.

I wonder if these guys are changing the exhausts for their NCTs, and then putting the loud ones back afterwards? Can't think of any other way they'd get away with them being so loud.

Finglas Incubus

I'm led to believe that a 'bung' is sometimes used on the exhaust to quieten it down come NCT time - this can take the form of of an in-line valve in the exhaust system that can be partially closed or something more rudimentary like a wad of steel wool stuffed into the backbox. I seem to remember there was talk a couple of years ago of the traffic corps using sound level meters at the side of the road if they suspected a car was above the permitted level, not sure if this is common practice though...

are you serious

Finglas Incubus

Its topics like this that make me just love Boards for being so public and easy to access information/old posts.

You at one point used to own a Mitsubishi FTO(still could)... and also found it hard to get insured on a Mazda MX-3 when you were 24.... and are still involved on the FTO Ireland website...
When you had either of them I would put any amount of money on it that at some point you drove past some random man/woman or their house and they thought to themselves, for god sake do ye hear that eejit in his suped up car and the noise of it!! (even if it wasnt suped up)

Now 10 or so years on your in a new house and your closer to a noisy main road and the shoe is on the other foot. You've gotten older and now have no problem putting the boot into lads/ladies who have a car with albeit an unnecessarily loud exhaust!! Really??? This is not even based on you seeing how they are driving but just the sound their cars are making, give them a break would ya!!!

Zaph

are you serious, I didn't post that request for people to behave for the good of my health. Dragging up stuff from a poster's past posts like that is petty in the extreme. Please don't do it again.

I would probably be considered a boy racer for my age, but don't have a loud exhaust (standard exhaust) on my car.

I think loud exhausts are stupid, they make the car sound ridiculous. They work in some cars, but on civics, they are just plain stupid. Always laugh (and sometimes point) when they drive past me...

puzzle factory

Zaph wrote: »

Play nicely please folks.

On 1/4/2010 there were a number of changes made to the NCT, including the following (source)



I wonder if these guys are changing the exhausts for their NCTs, and then putting the loud ones back afterwards? Can't think of any other way they'd get away with them being so loud.

99db is still fair loud

chucknorris

I think I know the precise care you are talking about folks.

It is a civic alright and it based in the Corduff area. Last night it was zipping all over d15, I could hear it coming back in to the estate almost two minutes before it arrived :eek:

THE F*****G noise off of it is unusual and I've heard a few saying, "where did that come from" :cool:

Larbre34

Heard it from as far as Westmanstown lately, which is impressive

Any good boy racer worth his salt circumvents the NCT by storing the stock exhaust for his car and reattaching it to pass the test, ditto wheels, spoilers etc, so that doesnt weed out the problem

The Ongar Distributor is a busy bus route as well as designated fire and ambulance access so there is no question of ramps being installed.

The best way to complain is to the local Ward Councillors. Fingal CoCo has a Joint Policing Committee so find out which of the Mulhuddart Ward crowd is on it and write or email them about it and the local Station and Traffic Supers will get to hear about it. A bit of a blitz might sort it out.

Tell the Councillor youre hanging your 'Yes' vote on the outcome and you might do even better........

Finglas Incubus

@Larbre34 - I wasn't aware of the existence of the Fingal joint policing committee, thanks for the heads up.

I can't help but think that the structure of the boundary worsens the noise issue on the Ongar Road in particular i.e. walls both sides - tunnel effect. I know that efforts were taken in the construction of the road to create a low noise surface to reduce the permeation of road noise into adjoining estates, cold comfort in this case, however.

spooky donkey

just a point to note lads...
my brother drives am old sports type car with a loud exhuast, in his youth he was a boy racer all right but now he is older he has more sense.
He is a car nut and while he wont break the speed limit any more he can still get a lot of noise out of his car at slow speeds.
Its well possiable for these civics as they are noise feckers to make noise with out breaking the law, and many do... going from 0 to 50k as fast as you can produces a lot of noise.....

Justin10

They are louder at low speeds high revs

Polar101

Based on what I've seen on the Ongar road, it's safe to say they do indeed break the speed limit.

I also see the guards stop speeding cars very often, so I wouldn't say the guards are neglecting that particular road.

fletch

Yeh I would never speed on the Ongar Road. Cruise Control set to 60kph every time as I always see speed checks on it.

oblivious

spooky donkey wrote: »

Its well possiable for these civics as they are noise feckers to make noise with out breaking the law, and many do... going from 0 to 50k as fast as you can produces a lot of noise.....

Well not speed laws but @NCT "The vehicle will be required to have a level of noise no greater than 99dB(A) in order to pass the test to ensure that vehicles comply with acceptable noise levels. "

The changing/adding of a component to a car that would normally fail an NCT could possibly make the current NCT cert void.

chucknorris

oblivious wrote: »

Well not speed laws but @NCT "The vehicle will be required to have a level of noise no greater than 99dB(A) in order to pass the test to ensure that vehicles comply with acceptable noise levels. "

The changing/adding of a component to a car that would normally fail an NCT could possibly make the current NCT cert void.

Most definitely would

not yet

are you serious wrote: »

Lads driving around with large/noisy exhausts would be on the lower end of things to clamp down on for the Gardaí in Blanchardstown do you not think?

Really ? law enforcement is law enforcement. ever heard of broken window syndrome

are you serious

not yet wrote: »

Really ? law enforcement is law enforcement. ever heard of broken window syndrome

What????

oblivious

are you serious wrote: »

What????

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Broken_windows_theory

daymobrew

not yet wrote: »

Really ? law enforcement is law enforcement. ever heard of broken window syndrome

In my experience FCC and the Gardai haven't heard of it.

not yet

are you serious wrote: »

What????

Sorry, come again I didn't catch that..........

not yet

daymobrew wrote: »

In my experience FCC and the Gardai haven't heard of it.

I'd agree, but even to try implement it on local scale may help, I'm well aware of resources being tight but something needs to to change.

are you serious

Just had a read of that Wiki link, cheers oblivious.

Not yet- that theory is fine in a country where they can create an additional police department (or change the priority of one) which can then specifically target one thing, then having another police force to police the rest of crime.

In Ireland its different (some may say not as good) because we have just one police force for the entire country who are expected to be everywhere all of the time to deal with all crimes. (yes I realise this is just a blanchardstown issue)

You could argue that Blanchardstown Garda station could send their community policing unit down there more. Fair enough, they could target it more.

Look the way it is, if people are that concerned why not go to meetings in the area and bring up these issues instead of bringing it up on boards, because having your say here will achieve absolutely nothing!

Here is a link for you OP why not approach the Gardaí and have your opinion heard http://saferblanchardstown.com

dodzy

are you serious wrote: »

Almost every time I have been to Blanchardstown over the last few months I have seen the Gatso van on the Blakestown road at the Blakestown shop...

It is the worst location of a gatso van ever. You have a speed ramp right on the bend, its at a bloody main junction, and you would be doing damage to your vehicle to reach the speed limit. That van placement has an ulterior motive IMO. Probably watching goings-on in an adjacent house.

chucknorris

dodzy wrote: »

It is the worst location of a gatso van ever. You have a speed ramp right on the bend, its at a bloody main junction, and you would be doing damage to your vehicle to reach the speed limit. That van placement has an ulterior motive IMO. Probably watching goings-on in an adjacent house.

Don't forget folks, three people died in a car accident at that same spot when the car came around that bend and smashed in to a front garden.

Larbre34

As I discovered a few years back after an incident, quite a bit of Clonsilla and the area bounding Ongar Road comes under the Lucan Garda station patrol area, which is completely daft and probably contributes to the lack of presence of Gardaí generally.

If theres any public reps lurking on the forum, how about petitioning to extend the Blanch Garda coverage to everything up to the Meath border and Westmanstown, and give them the resources to police it (I know Im being a touch naive there)

ongarboy

I know we got a letter from one of the councillors a couple of years back advising that Ongar now came under the Garda jursidiction of Blanch having previously been under Lucan. It was considered a welcome change due to better proximity etc. Not sure it the jurisdiction covers Clonsilla.

Kev.

chucknorris wrote: »

Don't forget folks, three people died in a car accident at that same spot when the car came around that bend and smashed in to a front garden.

Yep,they sure did,but after that the speed ramps went in..

Honestly its probably the worst place in Blanch to put a van,it would be better suited on the Ongar road...