Saw a Drunk driver on the road today.

LiffeyValleyB

DanWall wrote: »

If you ring the guards you will get done for using your phone while driving

That's 100% bullsh1t. I was actually pulled in for using my mobile to call the gardai (reporting a dog running around on a 120km/h motorway) they had received the report from the station and let me off actually thanking me for reporting it.

Edit - afaik you can be legally be on the mobile phone to any AGS/ambulance/fire brigade/etc while driving.

Fighting Irish

Our man in Havana wrote: »

And it is no wonder the country is in the mess it is in with an attitude like that.

lol get a sense of humour

Our man in Havana

no

MikeD22

Anytime i have ever had to call the gardai i used the 112 number on my mobile. when i ask for the gardai they ask do i want to be connected to Kilkenny garda station,where i'm from,.....now how did they know i was there even though i never gave them that information? Can they track the call to a general location?

I once followed a drunk driver, at least seemed drunk from his driving, and i reported it. This was in Athy, 20 mins away from where i was going. the man nearly hit a number of cars. He turned of in Athy up some street i didn't know the name of, but the garda i spoke to knew the area and thanked me for the info. Good deed done for that day.

Another incident in Kilkenny was with a taxi driver, same story swerving around road. i also reported it. i actually had to break the speed limit in the city to keep up with him but i'm glad i reported it. the Gardai can't stop crime if no one tells them it's going on.

All well and good complaining on here about things like this but you didn't try and put a stop to it. i don't know if either of the above drivers were caught but that's not my thing to worry about, they certainly wouldn't have been caught had i not reported them. i could have just let them away while shaking my fist at them with a dissaproving look on my face...

Ghost Train

He was swerving all over the road and really really off his head

what a Turkey

When I was younger, I used to be a competitive cyclist and every Sunday morning we'd have training along country roads. The biggest concern that we had was that there might be people out driving, still drunk from the previous night.

Two nights ago a guy in Galway got his legs seriously injured by an apparent drunk driver (choosing my words carefully as I'm not 100% sure about the details).

This country seriously needs to readjust its views towards drink driving, especially in the countryside.

Fighting Irish

Our man in Havana wrote: »

no

:rolleyes:

Max Power

Fighting Irish wrote: »

lol get a sense of humour

Some people were just born without one.

SuperGrover

The car was too far ahead for you to see the reg but you were all shouting at it from inside your car?

Quite often the drivers who are "chancing it" are easier to spot than those who are really drunk and don't care any more.

I was working one new years day a couple of years ago and the number of drivers I saw "driving to rule" was quite worrying, sticking to the speed limit, early indicating etc, just like they would drive for the test!

Driver sticking to the rules on a near empty road are sitting ducks for any cop who wants to "pull" a few!

DanWall

They will stop me then because I am taking no chances since getting 2 points for going slightly over the speed limit

saiint

so
you could see how many people where in the car
but couldnt read the licence plate?

you have a special type of vision :L
cause i find it harder to tell how many people are in a car then read a plate

Biggins

Tom_Cruise wrote: »

Its Christmas day, give the drink drivers a break.

To be fair - we can give drivers a break - but the drunk ones? No.
Many lives have been lost around Christmas times because of them, causing further pain for years to come to family/friends with every next Christmas time.

Drivers in Ireland DO deserve a break for many reasons, be it tax, insurance, etc - but as regards drunk ones behind a wheel?
They deserve to be at least off the road while intoxicated.

Dartz

Our man in Havana wrote: »

And it is no wonder the country is in the mess it is in

A minor digression.

But I am so sick of seeing this phrase used right now that I think it should be a corollary to Godwins Law or something.

Accuse someone of being the reason the country's in the mess it's, loose the argument immediately.

Dartz

Dartz wrote: »

A minor digression.

But I am so sick of seeing this phrase used right now that I think it should be a corollary to Godwins Law or something.

Accuse someone of being the reason the country's in the mess it's, loose the argument immediately.

+1

The attitude of a minority towards the law is hard coded into some people, regardless of the "new normal" or otherwise. They would most likely have had the same attitudes during the Celtic Tiger bubble years.

Slim_Bob

The Jammy dodger wrote: »

He was swerving all over the road and really really off his head. There were two of them in the car. In my car was my mam, dad, wife and baby son.

My dad stayed well behind but we were all shouting for him to pull in. Car was too far away to catch its licence plate and I could not figure out what type of car it was. It pulled off into some place I don't know the name of. All this irritated me to no end not knowing any of this info because I really wanted to ring the guards.

After all the warnings. After all the television adverts and bad examples of driving we have been shown. After seeing all those families lives ruined and destroyed over the years, we STILL have MUPPETS like this on the road.

And all of it happened at 2pm much when people are travelling to other peoples houses to celebrate the Christmas dinner.

Shocking and disturbing.

Suspect is hatless, repeat, hatless.

OldmanMondeo

The Jammy dodger wrote: »

Yeah my dad stayed far behind him. I was thinking of asking him to move forward to get the reg like you did, but I have a little 20month old baby in the car and I couldn't do that. I mean this car was unpredictable and seriously bad.

Anyway in future I will ring no matter what small info I have.

My wife was pregnant in the car, that's why I caught up and then pulled back ASAP.

McCrack

OP you saw a drunk driver on Christmas Day and you found it "shocking and disturbing".

Really now there are far more "shocking and disturbing" things that happen around the place and the world. I really wouldn't consider a pissed driver to be in any way shocking.

M cebee

mikemac1 wrote: »

Probably the local postman

It's one of his only days off and according to the tipping thread in After Hours they get a years supply of spirits this time of year

This also explains how he knows the back roads OP!

our local postmen don't need any drink to drive like that
-pure headers on the road

Son Of A Vidic

seven_eleven wrote: »

and you didnt ring the guards?

I wouldn't worry about the OP not ringing the guards. Since in all likelihood the alleged incident probably never happened. I'm also getting a strong sense of Deja Vu about this thread.

Is anyone ever stopped for drunk driving these days, or are they all stopped at checkpoints?

TheNog

dolanbaker wrote: »

Is anyone ever stopped for drunk driving these days, or are they all stopped at checkpoints?

Plenty of people caught while driving and at checkpoints.

I have found there are less people reporting drunk drivers these days than say 3 yrs ago. I hope its down to a reduction in the number of 49ers

Mr. Incognito

OP Makes reasonable complaint.

AH Pillors OP

Just another day on Boards.

cazzzzz

Was there a real need to post this when nothing was done about it?

It's remarkable the amount of people I've encountered that seem to be ok about drink driving. Someone I know actually used it as an excuse 'Well we couldn't get a taxi so...'. I've heard stories about taxi drivers (where I live) driving drunk and the passengers actually being aware of this and accepting it. Why would people ever put themselves into that situation?

I'm sure someone else did something about it; you can't have been the only person who noticed this. Saying that, aspects of what you've said don't add up (as other people have also mentioned) 'There were two people in the car... I couldn't see the reg'- this makes absolutely NO sense. It's absolute madness that people can do this and put their life and other people lives at risk. They just shouldn't have a licence at all.

LiffeyValleyB

cazzzzz wrote: »

Was there a real need to post this when nothing was done about it?

It's remarkable the amount of people I've encountered that seem to be ok about drink driving. Someone I know actually used it as an excuse 'Well we couldn't get a taxi so...'. I've heard stories about taxi drivers (where I live) driving drunk and the passengers actually being aware of this and accepting it. Why would people ever put themselves into that situation?

I'm sure someone else did something about it; you can't have been the only person who noticed this. Saying that, aspects of what you've said don't add up (as other people have also mentioned) 'There were two people in the car... I couldn't see the reg'- this makes absolutely NO sense. It's absolute madness that people can do this and put their life and other people lives at risk. They just shouldn't have a licence at all.

<Controversial opinion> Maybe because it's not actually as dangerous as the media frenzy would have you believe... </Controversial opinion>

cazzzzz

LiffeyValleyB wrote: »

<Controversial opinion> Maybe because it's not actually as dangerous as the media frenzy would have you believe... </Controversial opinion>

It affects your ability to drive? But, yeah you're right I'm sure they are exaggerating it purely for the bant!