Rules on parking of emergency vehicles

Pawwed Rig

This may be more suited to legal or motors but lets try here.

Scenario last Friday morning 8:15 am. A Garda car parked in a loading bay while 2 Gardai in coffee shop eating breakfast. Clampers pull up and clamp all cars in bay other than Garda car. Are Garda cars allowed park at will in loading bays?

I am unaware of the rules around this issue so was hoping someone on this forum would know the legal position.

civdef

http://www.irishstatutebook.ie/eli/1997/si/182/made/en/print

Section 5(2)(c)
5 Non-application of certain Prohibitions and Restrictions

5. (1) These Regulations shall apply save where compliance is not possible as a result of an obstruction to traffic or pedestrians or because of an emergency situation confronting a road user which could not reasonably have been expected or anticipated.

(2) Save where otherwise expressly provided in these Regulations, a prohibition on the entry of a vehicle to a road or an area or the prohibition on the stopping or parking of a vehicle imposed by these Regulations shall not apply to—

( a ) a vehicle used in connection with the removal of an obstruction to traffic;

( b ) a vehicle being used in connection with the carrying out of roadworks;

( c ) a fire brigade, an ambulance, or a vehicle being used by a member of the Garda Síochána in performance of the duties of that member;

( d ) a vehicle which has been damaged or has broken down, during the period necessary to effect repairs to the vehicle or remove it from the location;

( e ) a prohibition on the parking of a vehicle imposed by article 36(2)(a) shall not apply to a vehicle parked while goods are being loaded in or on to it or unloaded from it, for a period not exceeding thirty minutes from the commencement of the parking.

(3) A restriction on the parking of a vehicle imposed by article 37 shall not apply to

( a ) a vehicle to which paragraphs (a),(b),(c) or (d) of sub-article (2) applies;

( b ) a vehicle parked at the edge of a roadway while a passenger is entering or leaving it; or

( c ) a vehicle parked while goods are being loaded in or on to it or unloaded from it, for a period not exceeding thirty minutes from the commencement of the parking.


http://www.irishstatutebook.ie/eli/2015/act/13/enacted/en/pdf
Section 14
Prohibition on clamping and relocating certain vehicles
14. (1) A clamp shall not be fixed—
(a) in a clamping place, to—
(i) an ambulance (provided by a pre-hospital emergency care service provider
recognised by the Pre-Hospital Emergency Care Council),
(ii) a fire brigade vehicle of a fire authority (within the meaning of the Fire
Services Act 1981),
(iii) any vehicle used by a member of the Garda Síochána or the Defence Forces
in the performance of his or her duties, or
(iv) a vehicle used in connection with the operation of electronic or other
apparatus referred to in section 81(1) of the Road Traffic Act 2010 under an
agreement in accordance with subsection (7) of that section and which is at a
location determined by a member of the Garda Síochána not below the rank
of Superintendent,
or
(b) in a statutory clamping place, to a vehicle on which there is displayed a disabled
person’s parking permit, for the time being in force, unless the car park controller
or clamping operator has reasonable grounds for believing that the vehicle is not
parked for the convenience of the person to whom the permit was granted.
(2) A vehicle referred to in subsection (1)(a) shall not be relocated.
(3) In this section “disabled person’s parking permit” means a permit granted under
article 43 (inserted by the Road Traffic (Traffic and Parking) (Amendment)
Regulations 2011 (S.I. No. 239 of 2011)) of the Road Traffic (Traffic and Parking)
Regulations 1997 (S.I. No. 182 of 1997).

punisher5112

Pawwed Rig wrote: »

This may be more suited to legal or motors but lets try here.

Scenario last Friday morning 8:15 am. A Garda car parked in a loading bay while 2 Gardai in coffee shop eating breakfast. Clampers pull up and clamp all cars in bay other than Garda car. Are Garda cars allowed park at will in loading bays?

I am unaware of the rules around this issue so was hoping someone on this forum would know the legal position.

Yes. They can park the car anywhere.

They may have been having a brake but still on duty and on call.

Good they clamped all the illegally parked vehicles.

Pawwed Rig

Interesting. I just happened to be watching a you tube warrior (US of course) harrassing a cop who parked in a emergency lane to go on lunch made me think of this situation. Was wondering if the laws were the same here. Thx guys

punisher5112

Pawwed Rig wrote: »

Interesting. I just happened to be watching a you tube warrior (US of course) harrassing a cop who parked in a emergency lane to go on lunch made me think of this situation. Was wondering if the laws were the same here. Thx guys

They are mad over there.

Sure even if there was an issue anyone could say broken down waiting for recovery.

Pawwed Rig

Been watching various clips on US cops over the last couple of years. They seem to be really poorly trained in comparison to the UK or Irish police. In particular I am talking about how they handle conflict. There seems to be no de-escalation methods and the guns and cuffs come out for some very minor incidents. But that's another thread.

ED E

Gardai regularly stop in the bollard protected cycle lane/bus corridor on O'Connell to use the ATM. IMO this should be against internal policies at least and appropriately disciplined.

I would imagine they can do what they want, regardless of whether they're 'working' or not, as they're considered to be always on duty.

There's two ways to look at it I suppose, on one hand, I do think there's an element of 'lead by example' and that a bit of cop on would tell them to park their vehicles properly so, if nothing else, they're not drawing attention to themselves (this thread being a good example).

On the other hand, they might be having a relaxing break, but could get a call that there's someone getting a beating down the road, and their breakfast roll has to wait. In which case if they're scrambling to get to a scene, it probably makes sense to have their mode of transport as close as possible.

Pawwed Rig

It was in a pretty bad area so it is probably not advisable that they park the marked car out of their line of sight (Talbot Street across from Connolly for context which has a fair problem with grey tracksuit types openly drug dealing).

IrelandDylan

This lad isnt too fond of it anyways

guil

What an absolute bellend.

irishrgr

Same over here, we can legally park anywhere we like, however you'd get a right bollocking from your SGT if you parked in a no parking area while having lunch. It's bad PR and pisses the civilians off, we have enough agro with the public without antagonizing them more. I won't say it never happens, but it's highly discouraged and not worth the hassle. That guy seems to follow Gardaí around and try and bait them, I've seen his stuff on YouTube before, agree, a bell-end.
I also don't agree with the poster who says US police are badly trained compared to the IRL & the UK. Different culture, laws, expectations....it's another thread. I'll happily answer questions if ya have them, but don't just throw out blanket statements like that.

Victor

Pawwed Rig wrote: »

It was in a pretty bad area so it is probably not advisable that they park the marked car out of their line of sight (Talbot Street across from Connolly for context which has a fair problem with grey tracksuit types openly drug dealing).

They have their own car park on Talbot Place.

Victor

civdef wrote: »

http://www.irishstatutebook.ie/eli/1997/si/182/made/en/print

Section 5(2)(c)
5 Non-application of certain Prohibitions and Restrictions


(2) Save where otherwise expressly provided in these Regulations, a prohibition on the entry of a vehicle to a road or an area or the prohibition on the stopping or parking of a vehicle imposed by these Regulations shall not apply to—

( c ) a fire brigade, an ambulance, or a vehicle being used by a member of the Garda Síochána in performance of the duties of that member;


http://www.irishstatutebook.ie/eli/2015/act/13/enacted/en/pdf
Section 14
Prohibition on clamping and relocating certain vehicles
14. (1) A clamp shall not be fixed—
(a) in a clamping place, to—
(iii) any vehicle used by a member of the Garda Síochána or the Defence Forces
in the performance of his or her duties, or

What duty is being performed in "2 Gardai in coffee shop eating breakfast."?

punisher5112

Victor wrote: »

What duty is being performed in "2 Gardai in coffee shop eating breakfast."?

They are on duty and in uniform so no issue.

They can park anywhere.

Plenty worse things going on then a cop car parked in loading bay or double yellows.

Pawwed Rig

Victor wrote: »

They have their own car park on Talbot Place.

Yes but to be fair, this is one of the worst parts of the city. Parking a marked car outside of direct line of sight is inviting trouble.

Victor

punisher5112 wrote: »

Plenty worse things going on then a cop car parked in loading bay or double yellows.

You mean like lashed up on the footpath at a bus stop making an elderly woman board the bus in the middle of the road while two gardaí order pizza ... 10 metres from the Garda station car park?

davo2001

IrelandDylan wrote: »

Pretty sure the gob****e filiming this isn't Irish despite the video title. The ****e that the Gaurds have to put up with is ridiculous.

Pawwed Rig

Victor wrote: »

You mean like lashed up on the footpath at a bus stop making an elderly woman board the bus in the middle of the road while two gardaí order pizza ... 10 metres from the Garda station car park?

Have to say the footpath parking up at Harcourt Street has always annoyed me.

punisher5112

Victor wrote: »

You mean like lashed up on the footpath at a bus stop making an elderly woman board the bus in the middle of the road while two gardaí order pizza ... 10 metres from the Garda station car park?

Now that I would have issue with and do come across it but mainly taxis and other motorists.