Garda Traffic on Twitter

Atlantic Dawn

Anyone regularly view the Garda Traffic Twitter account? It's frightening looking at some of the crazy people we share the road with, my favourites are...

Cars seized for no insurance, sometimes fancy stuff...



Driving a rather large trailer with no licence at all...





Non secured loads...





Bald tyres, and I mean bald...




Non working headlights...



Blue lights fitted to a car...



Stunts and bumps...



Altered tax disc...









https://twitter.com/GardaTraffic

biko

I don't follow them no, but it's cool that they do tweet about things so us ordinary folk can see what it's like out there on the roads.

quadrifoglio verde

That altered tax disk is brilliant

Yakuza

quadrifoglio verde wrote: »

That altered tax disk is brilliant

They forgot the 2015 at the top, and don't each year's disks have a different colour, to facilitate easy checking from the pre-ANPR days?

These days, in the age of colour laser printers, I'm sure it's fairly easy to crank out fake discs.

I presume (hopefully) that using a fake disk is treated much more harshly than having an out-of-date one. One is a pre-meditated attempt to break the law, the other can be a genuine error / oversight.

NIMAN

Non working headlights, seriously.

I pass about 30 of them every single day. Every day.

Here's an idea for the Guards. Why not fit all cars with dashcams like in the US.
Then when they are out driving around they could review the video and send out a €30 fine to every single registered owner of every car they pass with a headlight out.

It would be like shooting fish in a barrel. Bring in loadsamoney!

frozenfrozen

They should give people 100 lines like in school whenever they're caught with fogs on when it's not foggy

I will not turn my fogs on to look cool

I will not turn my fogs on to look cool

I will not turn my fogs on to look cool

I will not turn my fogs on to look cool

I will not turn my fogs on to look cool

I will not turn my fogs on to look cool

pred racer

NIMAN wrote: »

Non working headlights, seriously.

I pass about 30 of them every single day. Every day.

Here's an idea for the Guards. Why not fit all cars with dashcams like in the US.
Then when they are out driving around they could review the video and send out a €30 fine to every single registered owner of every car they pass with a headlight out.

It would be like shooting fish in a barrel. Bring in loadsamoney!

Yeah, because there is never, ever a time when a headlight blows while you're driving and you got to wait till you get home (or in my case to a garage) to get it changed :rolleyes:

pa990

frozenfrozen wrote: »

They should give people 100 lines like in school whenever they're caught with fogs on when it's not foggy

I will not turn my fogs on to look cool

I will not turn my fogs on to look cool

I will not turn my fogs on to look cool

I will not turn my fogs on to look cool

I will not turn my fogs on to look cool

I will not turn my fogs on to look cool

reported !!

No not really

Fey!

pred racer wrote: »

Yeah, because there is never, ever a time when a headlight blows while you're driving and you got to wait till you get home (or in my case to a garage) to get it changed :rolleyes:

The one in that picture was a taxi, so the duty of care should be higher. However, it's amazing how many cars you see every day with lights gone for months.

lway

frozenfrozen wrote: »

They should give people 100 lines like in school whenever they're caught with fogs on when it's not foggy

I will not turn my fogs on to look cool

Should be 600 lines for those Juke drivers with all their lights on. Seriously, I've seen them with 6 lights on at the front.

millington

frozenfrozen wrote: »

They should give people 100 lines like in school whenever they're caught with fogs on when it's not foggy

I will not turn my fogs on to look cool

I will not turn my fogs on to look cool

I will not turn my fogs on to look cool

I will not turn my fogs on to look cool

I will not turn my fogs on to look cool

I will not turn my fogs on to look cool

Front fogs don't glare at all usually, some modern cars even use them as their DRLs. Really can't see why people on here have such an issue with it. People complain about having a headlight out but also complain about having fogs on, ya can't win over here

NIMAN

pred racer wrote: »

Yeah, because there is never, ever a time when a headlight blows while you're driving and you got to wait till you get home (or in my case to a garage) to get it changed :rolleyes:

Of course that happens, but if you are serious about getting it changed then its very unlikely you will be caught and get a fine. Its rare I pass a Garda car on the road.

But you just know that many people with headlights out, know they are out, and still drive on regardless for days and weeks without bothering their ass to get it fixed. Just as Fey! said above.
You have a duty of care to have your car roadworthy before going out driving, perhaps check your headlights once a day or every other day to make sure they are working? Not as if it would take that long.

hoodie6029

Fogs are for fog and falling snow only. They do glare and and cannot be aligned. In city driving behind you the glare from them makes your side view mirrors useless. But the ****s that drive with fogs on are so unaware of their actions they wouldn't even think of that and would argue with anyone who tells them that they are wrong.

Golfgorfield

pred racer wrote: »

Yeah, because there is never, ever a time when a headlight blows while you're driving and you got to wait till you get home (or in my case to a garage) to get it changed :rolleyes:

I think its Germany where you must have a full set of replacement bulbs in the car, and if stopped you must replace the blown one before being allowed to continue?

I meet the same Toyota Corolla every evening on my way home, outside headlight gone, nigh on 4 months id say now, on we dark evenings its impossible to see its a car until they're right on you.

People are lazy and ignorant in this regard, and unless the gardai get tough on it, nothing will change, i know people who think a 1 year NCT means everything on their car is 100% for another year... jesus christ like.

NIMAN

Thank you, I knew I was right.
Having said that, some bulbs are incredibly hard to change now on some cars, average motorist wouldn't have a clue on some of them.

I would love to see more cars stopped for headlights out. Its my pet hate on the roads, and its highly dangerous.

CiniO

pred racer wrote: »

Yeah, because there is never, ever a time when a headlight blows while you're driving and you got to wait till you get home (or in my case to a garage) to get it changed :rolleyes:

What they should do, is set up a check point by the petrol station or motor factors, etc and stop anyone with broken light, and tell them to fix it on the spot.
If not fixed, car should be towed away.

Atlantic Dawn

Some people only get their lights looked at when the 2nd headlight is gone, they then assume the problem is a big electrical fault as they have no clue as to what lights are ever working on the car or not, that or the NCT "money racket" will spot them :rolleyes:

Kenny Logins

I'd like to see all the French cars get stopped for indicators lighting up when the driver presses the brake pedal.

Boskowski

Lol at the tax disc. Some people are mentally still in primary school while we share the roads with them...

Blut2

That tax disc is mind boggling. How could anyone think they'd get away with it?

- The fact its still quite obviously a 15
- The 15s both above and below it
- That its a different colour to a newer tax disc

I'd love to know the backstory to it. And hear what happened to the owner.

Moneymaker

Blut2 wrote: »

That tax disc is mind boggling. How could anyone think they'd get away with it?

- The fact its still quite obviously a 15
- The 15s both above and below it
- That its a different colour to a newer tax disc

I'd love to know the backstory to it. And hear what happened to the owner.

Hopefully cast out of the gene pool for all of time.

Atlantic Dawn

Fake insurance and tax disc, the next level...

TrailerBob

I love the Garda traffic Twitter feed. Some amazing stuff on there. My personal favourite is the Punto with the Ifor Williams trailer.. what was he planning?

CiniO

TrailerBob wrote: »

I love the Garda traffic Twitter feed. Some amazing stuff on there. My personal favourite is the Punto with the Ifor Williams trailer.. what was he planning?

How much does such trailer weight itself?
If less than 1000kg, there might be a chance it was actually legal, as towing capacity on punto of braked trailer might be around 1000kg.

TrailerBob

Legal?? hmmm..doubtful.. Ridiculous?? Absolutely. Dangerous?? Definitely.. the back suspension is on the road basically as it is, and that's without putting a load in it.. What's legal on paper doesn't translate to being safe in the real world.

Fey!

CiniO wrote: »

What they should do, is set up a check point by the petrol station or motor factors, etc and stop anyone with broken light, and tell them to fix it on the spot.
If not fixed, car should be towed away.

I liked this, but there is a fundamental problem with it; petrol stations here are no longer service stations, and do not carry bulbs (at least in Galway). Motor factors have them, but not all do fitting, and some cars are very difficult to access the bulbs on.

At least Halfords offer a fitting service, even it you do have to pay a couple of quid; if you can't do the job yourself, it'll still be cheaper than going to a garage.

Atlantic Dawn

A lad walking on the M50 with his bike...

CiniO

Fey! wrote: »

I liked this, but there is a fundamental problem with it; petrol stations here are no longer service stations, and do not carry bulbs (at least in Galway). Motor factors have them, but not all do fitting, and some cars are very difficult to access the bulbs on.

At least Halfords offer a fitting service, even it you do have to pay a couple of quid; if you can't do the job yourself, it'll still be cheaper than going to a garage.

Well, then maybe gardai should announce a tender for mobile bulb fitting facility.
They would accompany gardai patrol. Every person pulled in for lack of light, would have a choice to fix it themselves on the spot, or use the service provided (even if it was not the cheapest around).
If they declined, car should be towed, and driver fined for driving unroadworthy vehicle.

Simple as that, and commission from that appointed mobile bulb fitter for the gardai, should cover the cost of patrol doing bulb checkups.

DakarVert

frozenfrozen wrote: »

They should give people 100 lines like in school whenever they're caught with fogs on when it's not foggy

I will not turn my fogs on to look cool

I will not turn my fogs on to look cool

I will not turn my fogs on to look cool

I will not turn my fogs on to look cool

I will not turn my fogs on to look cool

I will not turn my fogs on to look cool

I use my fogs at times. At night on ****ty country roads, Helps to light up potholes so I can avoid them.

Never use them on Main roads or Motorways though.

pred racer

Fey! wrote: »

The one in that picture was a taxi, so the duty of care should be higher. However, it's amazing how many cars you see every day with lights gone for months.

True but a €30 on the spot fine, a bit draconian don't u think.

NIMAN wrote: »

Of course that happens, but if you are serious about getting it changed then its very unlikely you will be caught and get a fine. Its rare I pass a Garda car on the road.

But you just know that many people with headlights out, know they are out, and still drive on regardless for days and weeks without bothering their ass to get it fixed. Just as Fey! said above.
You have a duty of care to have your car roadworthy before going out driving, perhaps check your headlights once a day or every other day to make sure they are working? Not as if it would take that long.

One of mine blew on the way to the NCT centre, I checked them before I left

NIMAN wrote: »

Thank you, I knew I was right.
Having said that, some bulbs are incredibly hard to change now on some cars, average motorist wouldn't have a clue on some of them.

I would love to see more cars stopped for headlights out. Its my pet hate on the roads, and its highly dangerous.

CiniO wrote: »

What they should do, is set up a check point by the petrol station or motor factors, etc and stop anyone with broken light, and tell them to fix it on the spot.
If not fixed, car should be towed away.

Guys one eyed monsters are a pet hate of mine too, especially one dim and one fog working and nothing on the other side :mad:

But ban/fine them all is too much!
And I can't change my passenger side ones, and neither can halfords, so what do you want me to do? Get my car towed to a garage every time I lose a bulb?

For me, any car stopped at a checkpoint with non working lights should get a producer, like with tax/ insurance, with a fine to follow if not adhered to.
A couple of dozen checkpoints and word would get round fairly quickly!

The hack of that micra.

Special Circumstances

pred racer wrote: »

For me, any car stopped at a checkpoint with non working lights should get a producer, like with tax/ insurance, with a fine to follow if not adhered to.
A couple of dozen checkpoints and word would get round fairly quickly!

Sounds reasonable, seeing as the EU won't make manufacturers make it a pretty idiot proof procedure to change bulbs.

Guaranteed there will be a few mangey fvckers looking for a "loaner" bulb to satisfy the producer #facepalm.

Fey!

Fey! wrote: »

I liked this, but there is a fundamental problem with it; petrol stations here are no longer service stations, and do not carry bulbs (at least in Galway). Motor factors have them, but not all do fitting, and some cars are very difficult to access the bulbs on.

At least Halfords offer a fitting service, even it you do have to pay a couple of quid; if you can't do the job yourself, it'll still be cheaper than going to a garage.

I've never been in a petrol station that didn't carry standard bulbs.

In fact I had a (lighthearted) argument with a friend of mine who insisted that he would have to go to Halfords to get a bulb as his local petrol station absolutely didn't carry bulbs. I asked him to stop on the way home and check - and I got a picture sent to me with the biggest rack of bulbs I've actually seen in a petrol station! He stood corrected and changed the blown bulb straight away.

My first bulb went in my MR2 just before Christmas. The absolute effort of changing that, the whole lamp unit has to come out, but if I can change that in the middle of winter in high heels and pencil skirt then there's very little excuse for not changing out blown bulbs in most instances.

StereoSound

The punto looks hilarious I think. You could fit a digger on that trailer.

duffman3833

they should sit on a roundabout for an hour and see how many use an indicator or how many actually know how to drive around a roundabout

Graces7

I look in on that site from time to time; started when the floods were bad as it was a very good guide.. all makes me thankful I am rural..

alchemist33

NIMAN wrote: »

Thank you, I knew I was right.
Having said that, some bulbs are incredibly hard to change now on some cars, average motorist wouldn't have a clue on some of them.

I would love to see more cars stopped for headlights out. Its my pet hate on the roads, and its highly dangerous.

It takes the Halfords lads half an hour to change a bulb on my car, and that's with the bizarre shaped spanners you need!

DakarVert

My headlight has to be removed to change a bulb.
**** doing that at the side of a road and trying to get it lined up properly.

Although, I would replace it ASAP!!

blah

duffman3833 wrote: »

they should sit on a roundabout for an hour and see how many use an indicator or how many actually know how to drive around a roundabout

They did!

JackHeuston

Golfgorfield wrote: »

I think its Germany where you must have a full set of replacement bulbs in the car, and if stopped you must replace the blown one before being allowed to continue?

I meet the same Toyota Corolla every evening on my way home, outside headlight gone, nigh on 4 months id say now, on we dark evenings its impossible to see its a car until they're right on you.

People are lazy and ignorant in this regard, and unless the gardai get tough on it, nothing will change, i know people who think a 1 year NCT means everything on their car is 100% for another year... jesus christ like.

I thought this was common sense. Same thing happens in Italy. You're actually supposed to get a ticket regardless of you having a spare bulb in the car and can replace it on the spot. Thing is, if you have a spare one and you can install it on the side of the road when pulled over, the cop will usually let you go without a ticket.

I'm carrying a full set of spare bulbs in the boot at all times. I really can't imagine driving with a broken headlight or indicator light for days.

Re the car with blue leds in the OP, I see tons of them around Blanchardstown at night, and Garda seem to ignore them quite regularly, I was surprised a picture like that was on their Twitter.

NIMAN

People always on to give the really rare exceptions as examples.

Most people with bulbs out know, and don't bother getting them sorted for ages. Maybe made worse by the fact that they aren't easily changed on some cars these days, so it would involved a cost to get it sorted.

The chances of a bulb blowing on the way to the NCT is incredibly low.
If you know your bulb is out, then you should replace it as soon as possible. Driving with a headlight out is very dangerous, especially rurally.

Bruthal

Yakuza wrote: »

They forgot the 2015 at the top, and don't each year's disks have a different colour, to facilitate easy checking from the pre-ANPR days?

Blut2 wrote: »

That tax disc is mind boggling. How could anyone think they'd get away with it?

- The fact its still quite obviously a 15
- The 15s both above and below it
- That its a different colour to a newer tax disc

The 2015 at the top is the year of issue.

the_syco

pred racer wrote: »

Yeah, because there is never, ever a time when a headlight blows while you're driving and you got to wait till you get home (or in my case to a garage) to get it changed :rolleyes:

Can't see someone's dims and parking lights both failing at the same time, tbh.

pred racer

the_syco wrote: »

Can't see someone's dims and parking lights both failing at the same time, tbh.

I wish I was making it up

esforum

NIMAN wrote: »

Non working headlights, seriously.

I pass about 30 of them every single day. Every day.

Here's an idea for the Guards. Why not fit all cars with dashcams like in the US.
Then when they are out driving around they could review the video and send out a €30 fine to every single registered owner of every car they pass with a headlight out.

It would be like shooting fish in a barrel. Bring in loadsamoney!

how much time does it take to review 10 hours of cctv footage and then obtain a reg number? CCTV isnt very effective at moving numbers

ironclaw

esforum wrote: »

how much time does it take to review 10 hours of cctv footage and then obtain a reg number? CCTV isnt very effective at moving numbers

Actually, programming ANPR to highlight or detect lighting issues would be fairly trivial. Would drastically reduce your time spent checking hours of footage. Wouldn't be 100%, but could easily be added to the static speed cameras pictures workload (Yes, every last photo is manually reviewed before a fine is issued)

ncmc

The tyre one is scary. Whatever about a bulb blowing and you not realising, that tire is months overdue being changed and you couldn't help but notice it. I couldn't believe it a few months ago when I noticed my (well to do) neighbour with tyres balder than the one pictured. Hers were like F1 tyres. She has two kids that she ferries around in that car. How irresponsible can you get.

Terrontress

ironclaw wrote: »

Actually, programming ANPR to highlight or detect lighting issues would be fairly trivial. Would drastically reduce your time spent checking hours of footage. Wouldn't be 100%, but could easily be added to the static speed cameras pictures workload (Yes, every last photo is manually reviewed before a fine is issued)

There should be a side light as well as the headlight so someone who has one light completely dark has allowed two bulbs to fail without replacing them. Throw the book at them.

Shannon757

TrailerBob wrote: »

I love the Garda traffic Twitter feed. Some amazing stuff on there. My personal favourite is the Punto with the Ifor Williams trailer.. what was he planning?

CiniO wrote: »

How much does such trailer weight itself?
If less than 1000kg, there might be a chance it was actually legal, as towing capacity on punto of braked trailer might be around 1000kg.

TrailerBob wrote: »

Legal?? hmmm..doubtful.. Ridiculous?? Absolutely. Dangerous?? Definitely.. the back suspension is on the road basically as it is, and that's without putting a load in it.. What's legal on paper doesn't translate to being safe in the real world.

StereoSound wrote: »

The punto looks hilarious I think. You could fit a digger on that trailer.

You could probably fit the Punto on the trailer

Shannon757

I'm sure they could get another series of Traffic Blues (I think that's what it was called) with the frequency they update that account.

bazz26

More:


168 in a 120 zone, -2c and icy.



Like honestly, what mongoid drives on a public road with tyres like this?