Gardai refuse to come out to an accident

screamer

Long story short accident gardai called. Garda asks anyone injured to you need an ambulance? Answer no not bad enough to need ambulance but vehicles totalled. Gard replies then you need to sort it out between yourselves and insurance companies we don't attend thisetkind of accidents anymore. Now I remember years ago a gard told me always call them as they are the only ones who can verify the damage done and who did what in the case of an accident. I was surprised by the refusal to come to the accident is that now the norm?

Kimbot

Im a bit surprised about this TBH, if they are called to an accident then they should be attending it simple as that.

heroics

Just my opinion. But if there is no one hurt and the cars are not causing an obstruction ie on motorway. If both cars are insured then why are they needed. Take pictures and deal with insurance companies.

There are plenty of more important things that I would prefer the Garda to be doing

pippip

screamer wrote: »

Long story short accident gardai called. Garda asks anyone injured to you need an ambulance? Answer no not bad enough to need ambulance but vehicles totalled. Gard replies then you need to sort it out between yourselves and insurance companies we don't attend thisetkind of accidents anymore. Now I remember years ago a gard told me always call them as they are the only ones who can verify the damage done and who did what in the case of an accident. I was surprised by the refusal to come to the accident is that now the norm?

How can they say what happened or otherwise unless they witnessed it?

No, gardai will only come if someone is injured. There is no legal point in them being there. They cannot issue opinion on what happened or damage done. Insurance assessors do this.

All they can do is take note of details which isn't really worth their time is it?

Dr_Bill

I am not surprised by this at all it is the norm for minor incidents.

All you will need to do is report the incident at a Garda Station and get a reference number for the insurance company, would probably need to bring along your driving license and proof of insurance but that's about it. Bit of common sense at the time of the accident to record all the details, take photos and stuff like that and your good to go.

kala85

What about dangerous driving which caused the accident.

Fred Swanson

This post has been deleted.

screamer

heroics wrote: »

Just my opinion. But if there is no one hurt and the cars are not causing an obstruction ie on motorway. If both cars are insured then why are they needed. Take pictures and deal with insurance companies.

There are plenty of more important things that I would prefer the Garda to be doing

Yep and I agree until you have a crash with a messer who admits liability offers to cover the damage and then backs out. In that case only for the fact thrle gard had been out and could verify what happened and give us his insurance details we'd no leg to stand on. It took another month and solicitors letters to get it sorted. He hadnt even called his insurance company and so when I did they told me he was taking a case against someone for the road conditions and we should claim off our own insurance in the meantine and lose our no claims bonus.
I agree gards have lots to do but I can see insurance premia soaring if they are not attending any longer cause you could have a top with someone who had already done damage to their car and find yourself having to stump up for it all......

TallGlass

I can see the headlines now;

'Man dies nine hours later after Garda refuse to come to scene of traffic incident'

markpb

kala85 wrote: »

What about dangerous driving which caused the accident.

How could a Garda arrive on scene some time after it happened and know that there had been dangerous driving?

screamer wrote: »

only for the fact thrle gard had been out and could verify what happened and give us his insurance details we'd no leg to stand on.

How could a Garda arrive on scene some time after it happened and verify what happened? Why could the Garda get his insurance details but you couldn't?

Fred Swanson

This post has been deleted.

listermint

If no one is injured then they Guards will not arrive, this is a fact.

You both take each others details, once done you phone your respective insurance companies , then you both go to your respective gardai stations so the accident is logged in the book.

Everything else outside this is hearsay and opinion, the insurers will decide the fate based on the data they have.

The guards cannot decide or determine anything, its seen as civil matter at that point.

listermint

Fred Swanson wrote: »

This post has been deleted.

You are changing the details of the OPs original post.


Do you want to add in more what ifs and thus change the nature of the entire thread.

There are so many what ifs available that we can spend all day answering them.

Fred Swanson

This post has been deleted.

SBPhoto

kala85 wrote: »

What about dangerous driving which caused the accident.

But the Garda didn't witness that

listermint

Fred Swanson wrote: »

This post has been deleted.

Its an open thread though..

Seth Brundle

screamer wrote: »

Yep and I agree until you have a crash with a messer who admits liability offers to cover the damage and then backs out. In that case only for the fact thrle gard had been out and could verify what happened and give us his insurance details we'd no leg to stand on.

Given the stress surrounding an incident, anything said at the scene would easily be dismissed.
A garda can only account for any facts that they see and make educated guesses. Unless they do a proper survey, they cannot (and AFAIK, will not) verify what happened!

screamer wrote: »

I agree gards have lots to do but I can see insurance premia soaring if they are not attending any longer cause you could have a top with someone who had already done damage to their car and find yourself having to stump up for it all......

They haven't been attending for quite some time now!

dbit

I had a young lad dangerous driving back in august , he even got out of his car when traffic was calmed to offer me some of his bodily fluids right down my face. ( HE was bheind me the whole way flashing and fist pumping like a nutter) .

He then took off , I called the gaurds , they attended scene but in the end have done SFA about it . No impact occured and left me feeling fairly angry over the whole thing . What have I done to balance out the lack of ability from the gaurds - I bought a dash cam . Catch it on video next time , and im hoping there isint one .

( Still have the top i was wearing unwashed with that fella syliva still in the fibers , only cops wont test it as no one was killed or injured , i argue its a section 2 assault , they dont give a toss)

heroics

Fred Swanson wrote: »

This post has been deleted.

If they wont or can't give insurance details then call the guards.

Skatedude

If nobody was hurt then it's not a garda matter, they will most likley give out or even ticket you for wasting garda time.
Simply move the vechicles to the side of the road or a safe area and exchange details.
Cant understand the idiots that simply leave their vehicle in the middle of the road after a minor accident, you are not supposed to.
Mabey just take some photos first then move them out of the way.

The garda consider it a civil matter unless it was blatent dangerous driving, but they tend not to care unless they witness it themselves or have video footage. I was hit while waiting to turn right in a yellow box. a car coming the other way mounted the pavement to drive around 2 cars stopped at a red light and hit me and a traffic island cone. The Garda gave me a bollicking for even calling them even though there were multiple witnesses.

Suffice to say, i now always have a dash cam fitted.

laoisfan

markpb wrote: »

How could a Garda arrive on scene some time after it happened and know that there had been dangerous driving?



How could a Garda arrive on scene some time after it happened and verify what happened? Why could the Garda get his insurance details but you couldn't?

Are you for real? Stop and think about it....slowly!

9935452

markpb wrote: »

How could a Garda arrive on scene some time after it happened and know that there had been dangerous driving?

Id class drink driving as dangerous driving .
If you were hit and in shock , you probably wouldnt notice the other driver was drinking but a guard would

evolutionqy7

As much as a waste of time it is for Garda, I think they should attend, if not insurance companies should be forced to come out and take details.

My mother was driven into by a lorry driver many years ago.

Officer took down statement and notes of it.

Lorry driver admitted full liability at the scene of accident but then denied it at a later point with his insurance company.

Pictures I took of the car location after crash and the statement of the officer that Lorry driver admitted guilt were the only things that stood and won us over in the long end.

If we didn't have the statement I'd say insurance company would not have paid out for car repair.

Seth Brundle

evolutionqy7 wrote: »

As much as a waste of time it is for Garda, I think they should attend, if not insurance companies should be forced to come out and take details.

You even admit that it's a waste of garda time.
People moaning that the gardai don't do enough, etc. etc. and yet we want them to go to situations where it's deemed a waste of time?

evolutionqy7

kbannon wrote: »

You even admit that it's a waste of garda time.
People moaning that the gardai don't do enough, etc. etc. and yet we want them to go to situations where it's deemed a waste of time?

And yet you ignored my comment why I would...

Skatedude

I would still report an accident to my local station even if the guards were not called to the scene, That way there will be a record just in case.

If you know my post about when i was rear ended last jan, I was a bit sore but ok, however the next day my neck and shoulder was not and needed doctors and hospital visits. But i refused to go after any injury claim as thats just not in my nature as i had health insurance that covered it.

Obviously a different matter if there were serious injuries involved.

Seth Brundle

evolutionqy7 wrote: »

And yet you ignored my comment why I would...

Yeah, pretty much.
I don't see why the limited resources of the garda should be used at incident scenes purely to in the occasional chance they resolve an insurance dispute.

bpmurray

I've been driving for around 40 years and have had 4 accidents - pretty minor. These were in different countries and a couple were my fault. The reality is that all I've ever done is exchange details and fill in the insurance forms. There's no need to call the guards, and there's no need to register in the station. Unless, of course, you want to press charges for dangerous driving - I wanted to for one of mine, where the other party exited a roundabout from the right-hand lane into the side of me. However, the guards (who were very nice about it) said it was my word against his, so that was that.