Have you ever reported another driver?

Whispered

if you have, what for?

If not, we're you ever tempted?

What's the worst, most dangerous or aggressive driving you've seen?

Personally I haven't reported anyone, but I was very tempted yesterday. My passenger even took his reg.

I was on the m50 and overtaking in the far right lane, a line of trucks in the middle. Now I wasn't sitting there going nowhere. Keeping up with traffic ahead of me and not below the speed limit, actively passing traffic in the middle.

I saw a car coming up behind me at speed, the guy came so close to me from behind that I couldn't see his bumper in the rear view. He was gesturing and waving his arms. I had nowhere to go (string of trucks). He then pulled back, flashed a few times and pulled back behind me again. I put on hazards to let him know I saw him and would pull over as soon as I had finished overtaking.

When I moved over he overtook me, swerved in front of me, causing me to brake hard then he continued to cross the inside lane, which was full with slow moving traffic, to swerve off onto the n3.

Another dangerous thing I saw recently. Driving the athy to Dublin road at about 11:30pm and I came around a bend. On top of a car going half the speed limit with no back lights!!! Got an awful fright.

Jesus.

No. Never would

Interslice

Jesus. wrote: »

No. Never would

I thought the same until i saw some pissed **** narrowly avoid 2 head on collisions and bounce of the kerb beside a pedesrian, all in the space of about 300 m.

Seth Brundle

I've rang trafficwatch several times in the past about seriously dangerous driving.
I also used to see a car each morning with a kid in the launch position. Made a written statement in Lucan garda station (on the advice of the garda). The kid appears to be belted.in since.

Owryan

Reported an idiot on the m9 outside Kilkenny, weaving in and out of traffic, under took me and an articulated truck by going in on the hard shoulder. Then he pulled straight out and barely missed another car.

Gardai took my dash cam footage but dunno whatever came of it

5ub

Reported a stolen car in the past. Dunno if I'd bother reporting a dangerous driver to be honest, never have and it'd probbly take some really spectacular stuff to get me to pick up the phone.

ljpg

yes,once,very very drunk driver from what i witnessed, i was behind the car and watched as it mounted the ditch on a couple of occasions,it veered onto the wrong side of the road a then veered back narrowly missing other traffic,braking sharply etc, i rang the garda and gave number plate,i doubt very much they bothered with it,they seemed uninterested,my conscious was clear

Negative_G

I have, only once.

A large truck was driving straight toward me on the wrong side of the road, occupying most of the left hand lane. I was traveling at about 80 kph but thankfully saw him in time and braked hard. I was very close to mounting a kerb to avoid and he eventually swerved to his own side missing by a couple of feet. He continued on as if nothing had happened

I was quite annoyed so stopped the car and followed him to his where he stopped in an industrial estate nearby.

I challenged him as to what the f**k he was doing but was met with a blank face and 'I didn't do anything wrong'. I had a dash camera in the car luckily, took a picture of his lorry with company details and registration plate and went on my way. No apology was offered.

I called traffic watch and reported the incident. A few days later a local Guard called and discussed the incident. He called back a few days later again saying they had identified the driver and how did I want to proceed, ie; go to court or he advised he could issue a caution.

As happens, I had calmed down in the following days and opted to go with a caution. Whether or not it ever was given I'll never know but hopefully it was and that driver will cop onto himself.

I also considered contacting the company he worked for providing them with the details and video evidence but again decided against it once the fog of war had lifted.

Traffic watch is there to be used and in my one experience it was extremely efficient.

I can't say I understand why some people, as another user has said, would never report someone. If I do something dangerous on the road, deliberate or otherwise, I can have absolutely no qualms about facing the consequences. That applies to everyone on the road.

I would strongly suggest people use the service.

DanWall

I phoned up the transport manager of a company whose name was all over a large 3 ton van, he tailgated me for miles and I am not a slow driver

Seth Brundle

DanWall wrote: »

I phoned up the transport manager of a company whose name was all over a large 3 ton van, he tailgated me for miles and I am not a slow driver

...and what did he say?

Mc Love

Reported a driver on the old Limerick to dublin Road that had no rear lights on their car.
Shades were in waiting further on the road and pulled them in.

Called trafficwatch another time as travellers in high powered cars were racing each other dangerously, got no answer

9935452

Mc Love wrote: »

Reported a driver on the old Limerick to dublin Road that had no rear lights on their car.
Shades were in waiting further on the road and pulled them in.

Called trafficwatch another time as travellers in high powered cars were racing each other dangerously, got no answer

Cars with no lights are an accident waiting to happen. i had a blown taillight there at one stage , thought to myself if the other one blew i would have no lights in the dark, replaced it straight away.

i rang 999 at one stage over dangerous driving, 2 foreign reg jeeps racing, overtaking when there was no space , forcing people off the road on both sides, overtaking on dangerous bends. They were doing in excess 120mph. I caught up with them doing 50mph , there was a traffic core car in front of them. i then overtook them and the traffic core car pulled in to let me by, they followed and started up the same **** again.
Told the guard at the end of the phone this , she said to me dont worry we will get them.
A few miles later a squad car stops the 2nd one and another few miles on an unmarked car had pulled the first one. Driver was out , arms waving frantically , red faced as the guard was taking his details,
The unmarked car had witnessed what they were doing themselves.

Celly Smunt

Once when I was undertaken on the hard shoulder by a transit van which left me sandwiched between some of our finest ethnic minority lunatics and some guy just trying to overtake.

Mister Jingles

Once reported a truck that used to fly up and down my road each morning over the ramps, in the process he would manage to wake the whole road as this would be at 7 in the morning. Apparently I wasn't the only one either. To this day the prick still shoots up and down like a bat out of hell.

bladespin

Yes, once , was behind an 'impaired' driver, couldn't keep the car straight; all over the road (both lanes) and a bit if the verge as well. I feel no guilt, hope they had the book thrown at them.

George Dalton

I reported another driver once, and I was reported once myself. I actually reported a Garda car. He flew through a red light across my path just as I was approaching the green light at an intersection. He was literally one second away from taking me out. It was just getting dark and he hadn't even got his headlights on, let alone his blue lights or siren. I was livid and followed him down the road and got his reg number. Went to the station as it was only around the corner and reported him. Got a phone call with an apology the following day.

Pov06

George Dalton wrote: »

I reported another driver once, and I was reported once myself. I actually reported a Garda car. He flew through a red light across my path just as I was approaching the green light at an intersection. He was literally one second away from taking me out. It was just getting dark and he hadn't even got his headlights on, let alone his blue lights or siren. I was livid and followed him down the road and got his reg number. Went to the station as it was only around the corner and reported him. Got a phone call with an apology the following day.

I'm actually amazed you got a call back.

The amount of times I have seen Gardai drive through red lights is crazy. Never bothered to report it though.

I've also seen defective Garda cars where instead of indicators flashing every bulb in the tail light was flashing. Not sure how it would go down if I got pulled for something like that

Whispered

George what happens when you're reported?

Ken.

Once, A drunk driver hit a roundabout right outside where I was working. Had to go to court. Was his 3rd time in 6 years drunk driving. Judge done him 6 years off the road and a €5000 fine plus €200 for me having to miss a day of work.

Twas weird going to the Garda station to make a statement the next morning. Even though I was helping them out I was bricking it in the interview room speaking to a microphone and writing down the statement also.

CarrickMcJoe

Reported two nordies racing on towns bypass once. Cops responded straight away but only cautioned them.
One Sunday morning was nearly taken out by a drunk driver speeding up a one way st and across the road in front of me. Had no phone to report him...he went on to kill an innocent man near the border, also killed himself. I could have changed that.

Whispered

CarrickMcJoe wrote: »

Had no phone to report him...he went on to kill an innocent man near the border, also killed himself. I could have changed that.

I doubt you could have changed it. It seems to have been something that he regularly did. He's the only one with any responsibility here.

9935452

George Dalton wrote: »

I reported another driver once, and I was reported once myself. I actually reported a Garda car. He flew through a red light across my path just as I was approaching the green light at an intersection. He was literally one second away from taking me out. It was just getting dark and he hadn't even got his headlights on, let alone his blue lights or siren. I was livid and followed him down the road and got his reg number. Went to the station as it was only around the corner and reported him. Got a phone call with an apology the following day.

I was cut off by a car one day speeding , it nearly took the nose off my car , was livid too. Followed the car for a km . Then the blue lights started to flash . he was chasing someone else

kay 9

Reported a dangerous drunken driver with kids in the car on the motorway from Galway to limerick. One and only time I ever did it (with slight guilt attached) but didn't want to hear of a bad accident on the news that I could have prevented.
I wasn't familiar with the section of road to give coordinates but cops were very grateful.

John_Rambo

Jesus. wrote: »

No. Never would

Why not? Would shirk you're civic duty and turn a blind eye to a drunk driver driving on the wrong side of the motorway for a quiet life?

I have. And will do so again if necessary.

1 - Drunk driver on the wrong side of a motorway - result - fast response from the Gardai, driver was caught, disaster avoided.

2 - Dangerous tail gaiter. I was over taking a line of cars in the overtaking lane @ 120kph on a motorway and had some fool decided to drive a few inches away from me sounding his horn and flashing his lights. When I indicated and returned to the driving lane he continued to tailgait, overtake, drove alongside me, pulled in front of me and breaktested me. I had kids in the car and decided he was being unreasonable. Called traffic watch and Gardai followed it up with a home visit and a bollicking.

3 - Family car with kids unbuckled standing and climbing over seats on a national road. Don't know what happened.

4 - Truck with falling debris. Reported to traffic watch, they certainly took it seriously and got a call back from the Gardai for lots of details. They were keen to find out where he was. Not sure what happened but they certainly found him according to the Gard I was dealing with.

OldMrBrennan83

This post has been deleted.

AndyBoBandy

Driving through Mayo last year, I was overtaken by 2 idiots leaving a village while still in a 50 km/h zone, both cars were full of kids, and these guys, for whatever reason were in a hurry and driving like idiots. they had been tailgating me for 6-7 km's prior to entering the village.

I drive at the speed limit mostly (very rarely exceed, unless on motorway, and thats only by 4-5 km/h (GPS)), so I'm not a 60 in an 80/100 zone driver, yet these 2 idiots blew past me while exiting the village.
Called traffic watch, but could only give the location and direction of travel as they overtook me so fast, I didn't have a chance to get their reg numbers (have dash cams now)

I was seriously expecting to find one of them up ahead upside down in a ditch!!

Into The Blue

More for her own safety, but i rang Blanch guards to let them know about a driver changing a tyre in lane 3 of the m50 yesterday morning.

bop1977

I reported a car on a motorway. I was driving about 100-150m behind this car when his bonnet came loose, crashed through his windscreen and then flew about 20 or 30 feet up in the air. Your man drove on as if nothing happened.

I found out a few days later from the gaurds that the driver was a well known drug dealer and did I want to give a statement (and go to court) or have them caution him. I went with the caution.

AndyBoBandy

bop1977 wrote: »

Your man drove on Like a Boss.

Fixed

(Sorry, couldn't resist, I just pictured something like that happening, and someone driving on, not giving a single iota)

YbFocus

Into The Blue wrote: »

More for her own safety, but i rang Blanch guards to let them know about a driver changing a tyre in lane 3 of the m50 yesterday morning.

My god!

On topic, i never have but was close on numerous occasions.
Dash cams now will allow me show proof too.

Pov06

YbFocus wrote: »

My god!

On topic, i never have but was close on numerous occasions.
Dash cams now will allow me show proof too.

Err... https://youtu.be/_U9kINTzg5g?t=32s :pac:

XsApollo

Mister Jingles wrote: »

Once reported a truck that used to fly up and down my road each morning over the ramps, in the process he would manage to wake the whole road as this would be at 7 in the morning. Apparently I wasn't the only one either. To this day the prick still shoots up and down like a bat out of hell.

If he is breaking the law, Get your video camera out and wait for him ;-)

YbFocus

Pov06 wrote: »

Err... https://youtu.be/_U9kINTzg5g?t=32s :pac:

Private driveway i can do as i wish

Pov06

YbFocus wrote: »

Private driveway i can do as i wish

"Filmed in Mexico" :pac:

YbFocus

Pov06 wrote: »

"Filmed in Mexico" :pac:

Sssshh

I forgot to offer you a spin at the meet actually!

Pov06

YbFocus wrote: »

Sssshh

I forgot to offer you a spin at the meet actually!

Ah there's always next time. I need to get a policy with third party extension too :pac:

razorblunt

Twice.

First one was coming back from Galway to Cork on a Bank Holiday weekend, the car in front was veering left and right, almost going into a verge, hitting cones on the right (when around roadworks), reported it to Trafficwatch, full reg details etc. We had just hung up when he pulled into the side of the road. Not sure if he was drunk or tired driving, he was rubbing his face when we passed. Called back and advised he'd pulled in, they replied saying they're in traffic coming the other way but would get to him.

Second time was heading from Wilton to Bishopstown before the flyover, some goods van moved into the overtaking lane without checking and ran us off the road into the verge, lost the wing mirror. He put the boot down as soon as it happened, I was a passenger so advised we go after him for the reg, he kept lane chopping and indicated to pull off into Dunnes at Bishopstown before gunning it forward to Bandon through the Roundabout. Went straight to the Garda station who took full details, took me 30 minutes to get home (it was my sister who was driving), the Gardai had already been onto the company in question, their owner was on the phone, saying he hadn't spoken to the driver yet but "he was his best driver yadda yadda yadda", they were cautioned in the end, owner offered to pay for everything on the original call anyway.

Sunny Dayz

I haven't reported another driver yet but I have been tempted a few times. I think I get such a shock and a fright at what I see happening that it doesn't occur to me to ring the gardai until after. I do sometimes regret not reporting, what if a collision happens further down the road.


My husband on the other hand, regularly reports dangerous driving. He works in car insurance so he sees the direct effect of dangerous driving. We are lucky the gardai in our town know him at this stage and take his reports seriously and take quick action.


We have family all around the country, so we spend may weekends where we are on the road for a couple of hours - the driving we see it just shocking - is it me or is people's driving getting worse - or is it just our luck that we are seeing so many cases of dangerous driving?

thevinylword

Never have but there have been instances where I would have liked to. Agree with Sunny Dayz, standards of driving are poorer I think

Redderneck

Reported a drunk young lad for doing drunk young lad things in his father's Volvo Estate. Ended with him getting a caution.

This morning on the way to work, I was overtakign a van and suffered an excruciating lower back spasm which absolutely shook me. I'd say the van driver must have thought he had an absolute nutcase on his hands. Instead of either ducking back out of the overtake (nothing behind me), or at a pinch, braking & throwing the car over the oncoming lane and into the wide hard shoulder (no oncoming traffic thank God), muppet here drove more or less parallel with the van for FAR too long as I fought the pain, before opting to gun it and compete the manouvre despite by now being way too close to an oncoming bend.

If someone had been coming the other way, there are three vehicles who would have been in a world of hurt. The van driver would have been well within his rights to call it in.

I think I'm a decent enough driver, with nearly 30 years experience and yet I couldn't have made a worse call if I'd tried.

Headed for GP & Physio later. I'll be getting a lift.

JustTheOne

What I want to know is if you cause a multiple vehicle collision like rear ending do you get penalty points for careless driving?

H3llR4iser

Only one, in Italy, somebody was clearly very drunk at the wheel - swerving randomly, bouncing off the armco, the whole lot. A drunk/incapacitated driver is relatively easy to spot.

Anything else, I wouldn't - as simple as it is, I am not trained to dissect on-the-spot another driver's behaviour or dangerousness based on a 5 seconds long observation, either from the side of the road or from another moving vehicle.

I did take action a couple of times - once managed to signal and stop a van that was disseminating its load on the road and another time, well, I essentially stopped a Carabinieri Jeep that was leaking diesel all over the motorway :P

keithclancy

Reported a guy throwing various things out the window while driving

Phone books
Bottles
Kitchenware (pots/pans)
Other random bits of stuff, styrofoam etc.

In fairness the Gardai pulled him over by Mallow Garda station, no idea what happened after that.