Pulled over for no reason

EazyD

Hi,

I was coming home about an hour ago and entered my estate as normal. There is a series of speed ramps approaching my road, I take them handy as there isn't a lot of clearance on my car (MX5). Noticed that as I was approaching and coming over the ramps, a Mondeo behind me was tailgating but thought nothing of it. As I approached the turn for my road, blue lights came on and I pulled in on the road just outside my house (which is just on the corner of the road).

Rolled down the window as did the undercover, he looks inside my car but doesn't say anything. I ask "Apologies but is there an issue?", he responds "that's not a good way to start this" which leaves me a bit puzzled really as I was being as courteous as one could be in that scenario.

He then asks me for my license and explains that he wanted to make sure I owned the car. Then proceeds to say "you really shouldn't open your mouth like that" after everything checks out. I explained that I have never been pulled over in such circumstances or in fact been pulled over ever. He then leaves without anything further said.

All in all a pretty bad experience when I hadn't done anything wrong. Bad attitude or did he interpret my words as being "smart" (which I really wasn't)? Apologies if it's a stupid question, just wondering if I should say something else in future to avoid a negative experience like that again.

endacl

"Good evening, guard" is always a good start.

ED E

25yo in an MX5? Yeah you're gonna be profiled to all hell.

mickdw

Id say nothing and let them talk and explain why you have been pulled over.
If they say something like you had a faulty tail light when in fact you have not, its likely that they were just on the lookout for someone and they will let you on your way.

mickdw

Id say nothing and let them talk and explain why you have been pulled over.
If they say something like you had a faulty tail light when in fact you have not, its likely that they were just on the lookout for someone and they will let you on your way.

SEPT 23 1989

endacl wrote: »

"Good evening, guard" is always a good start.

Good evening sir would be a more professional introducion by the guard

They should take a few lessons from the UK cops

_Kaiser_

Ignore it.. Another cop who thinks a badge means everyone should treat them like royalty. You had done nothing wrong, all your documents in order, so he had to try and throw his weight around instead.

_Kaiser_

SEPT 23 1989 wrote: »

Good evening sir would be a more professional introducion by the guard

They could take a few lessons from the UK cops

There's a lot of lessons our amateur lot could take from the UK, not just common courtesy either.

And nope, I've no points, no run-ins with them.. I just can't stand the unprofessional attitude from many of our Gardai.

EazyD

_Kaiser_ wrote: »

There's a lot of lessons our amateur lot could take from the UK, not just common courtesy either.

And nope, I've no points, no run-ins with them.. I just can't stand the unprofessional attitude from many of our Gardai.

Likewise I've been driving since 18, no points, never a run in with them. It just took me back a little how confrontational he became with no reason to be that way.

_Kaiser_

EazyD wrote: »

Likewise I've been driving since 18, no points, never a run in with them. It just took me back a little how confrontational he became with no reason to be that way.

Lack of training, lack of effective oversight or accountability, a certain culture within the force, lots of other "well documented" issues with AGS in general.

All of which result in massive differences in dealings with them.

s15r330

EazyD wrote: »

Likewise I've been driving since 18, no points, never a run in with them. It just took me back a little how confrontational he became with no reason to be that way.

I used to be into shall we say stand out cars in my early driving days.
Always had everything in order.
I couldn't count the number of times this happened to me just because of what I was driving.
This along with another couple of things developed in me a strong dislike for guards. Some of them are proper dikheads, seems you bumped into one

BorneTobyWilde

They can't take being wrong. I have no idea why, must be the training as they're all the one.

Autochange

Never back speak the gestapo or look them in the eye. bow your head and obey

wally1990

Personally I'd say nothing and wait to see what they say
However
The guard seems like a fool and what you said shouldn't have been taken with any offence

It's seems like a reasonable question to ask when you are pulled over and stopped

It's not like you disrespected him. Yes he is a member of the law but the question was reasonable given the situation

Del2005

SEPT 23 1989 wrote: »

Good evening sir would be a more professional introducion by the guard

They should take a few lessons from the UK cops

Just because the Gardaí are impolite doesn't excuse the OP being impolite. Better to show you're better than them, then lower yourself to their level.

EazyD

Del2005 wrote: »

Just because the Gardaí are impolite doesn't excuse the OP being impolite. Better to show you're better than them, then lower yourself to their level.

Is asking "is there an issue Garda" impolite? I mean he might perceive it that way but I said it in a courteous manner after greeting him so it's hard to believe someone could see it that way.

Atlantic Dawn

Del2005 wrote: »

Just because the Gardare impolite doesn't excuse the OP being impolite. Better to show you're better than them, then lower yourself to their level.

I find it far more rewarding to simply get thick with them when they have an attitude on them for no apparent reason, for example if they ask who you're insured with you tell them that there's a paper disc on your windscreen that tells the insurance company if he wants to look at it, if he asks is this your car you say it's what the logbook says, if he asks have you been drinking you say yes you had a cup of tea an hour ago, if he asks where you're going you say towards the way the car is facing etc etc etc.

Victor

EazyD wrote: »

"Apologies"

So, did you have something to apologise for?

EazyD wrote: »

"is there an issue?",

That kinda expects there to have been a pre-existing issue.

freshpopcorn

The Gardai do this all around the country. It could be for a number of reasons.
Somebody might have reported a vehicle similar to yours being driven poorly, a vehicle similar to yours was seen acting suspicious in the area/etc.

beauf

ED E wrote: »

25yo in an MX5? Yeah you're gonna be profiled to all hell.

Especially in a MX5 thats slammed and a loud pipe..

I've only seen one of those around D.15. I'll bet its your car.

dev100

Del2005 wrote:

Just because the Gardaí are impolite doesn't excuse the OP being impolite. Better to show you're better than them, then lower yourself to their level.

Do you consider the OP was being impolite ?

EazyD wrote:

Is asking "is there an issue Garda" impolite? I mean he might perceive it that way but I said it in a courteous manner after greeting him so it's hard to believe someone could see it that way.

Never apologize to a guard. It's implying your in the wrong.

Most guards are normal decent people and will behave in polite fashion when spoken to in a polite fashion . When you encounter clowns who are aggressive just keep quiet say nothing at all . That badge gives them power over you. You ll gain nothing from the encounter only contempt if you argue or back chat .

They want you to get cheeky it just prolongs the encounter to see if you are trouble and worth investigating. Remember you can't argue with a fool ....

Most young lads if they were being tailgated would have put the boot down . I had a similar encounter many moons ago and this car sat glued to my rear end going thru a small village . It's the type thing that drives me nuts but this time I stayed calm and drove like an old Nancy . I hadn't got to the far side of the village and the lights come on me .I pulled over and the subs car pulls up beside . Usual story with questions etc
When they asked where I had come from , the reply was " Ye wouldn't make great detectives as I passed by Ye a few times in aisle ways in Tesco's 15 min ago " the lads were grand after that and said there been reports of car matching my description had been around the area casing houses . We parted ways and there was no hassle

Del2005

dev100 wrote: »

Do you consider the OP was being impolite ?

It could be interpreted as aggressive. A simple "Hi Garda, what's the problem? " would be better.

99nsr125

Typical pig ignorance

Try being a motorcyclist

EazyD wrote: »

Hi,

I was coming home about an hour ago and entered my estate as normal. There is a series of speed ramps approaching my road, I take them handy as there isn't a lot of clearance on my car (MX5). Noticed that as I was approaching and coming over the ramps, a Mondeo behind me was tailgating but thought nothing of it. As I approached the turn for my road, blue lights came on and I pulled in on the road just outside my house (which is just on the corner of the road).

Rolled down the window as did the undercover, he looks inside my car but doesn't say anything. I ask "Apologies but is there an issue?", he responds "that's not a good way to start this" which leaves me a bit puzzled really as I was being as courteous as one could be in that scenario.

He then asks me for my license and explains that he wanted to make sure I owned the car. Then proceeds to say "you really shouldn't open your mouth like that" after everything checks out. I explained that I have never been pulled over in such circumstances or in fact been pulled over ever. He then leaves without anything further said.

All in all a pretty bad experience when I hadn't done anything wrong. Bad attitude or did he interpret my words as being "smart" (which I really wasn't)? Apologies if it's a stupid question, just wondering if I should say something else in future to avoid a negative experience like that again.

99nsr125

Same here
Complete ****in ****
They circulated my number plate and I would get pulled over constantly.

s15r330 wrote: »

I used to be into shall we say stand out cars in my early driving days.
Always had everything in order.
I couldn't count the number of times this happened to me just because of what I was driving.
This along with another couple of things developed in me a strong dislike for guards. Some of them are proper dikheads, seems you bumped into one

DaveyDave

I haven't dealt with the Gardauch, if I was pulled I'd probably start with "Good afternoon" or something brief and let them do the talking and I'd be happy to answer questions of where I'm going, where I'm coming from etc. I went through a checkpoint once and the guy there asked who's car it was (25, driving a 151) and he asked should I not have an accompanying driver with me on N plates. I told him I'm 99% certain I don't and that no instructor or driving examiner had said so and that I'd need to double check it. I knew I didn't, but coming from someone in his position made me think for a moment.

A friend of mine was pulled by an unmarked unit one evening on the way back from the cinema, 4 of us in his 01 A3, none of us look suspicious or anything just going home at about 10pm on a weekday. Said it was mistaken identity and as we were leaving a backup car arrived so they were obviously looking for someone of interest, we're just a bunch of nerds and obviously not like the scroungers from the area they pulled us at.

That said though if they were taking the piss and asking stupid questions I'd eventually get tired of it. I was in town a few years ago with somefriends, standing quietly at Central Bank waiting for more of our group to go get some food. A single Garda came over to us and said to move on even though we weren't doing anything, all dressed respectfully etc. He was getting thick with us so we walked away, as I turned to leave some junkie came up and pushed me saying "yeah fck off" and I turned around to knock him one in the jaw and the Garda was behind me shouting at me to piss off. I shouted back at him, saying I was just assaulted and that he has better things to be doing than pushing us around. He got in his car a few minutes later and stopped to shout at us to leave the area, I told him to piss off. We weren't even the only ones there and he wasn't telling anyone else to leave.

I have little patience for power tripping and someone swearing at me because they want me to move. 6 lads standing quietly, not shouting, clearly sober waiting to go to Pizza Hut at 9pm on a Friday evening is the least of your trouble in Dublin City. He must have had short man syndrome or something.

Ned Led Zeppo

endacl wrote: »

"Good evening, guard" is always a good start.

Did he show ID?

listermint

Young guy driving around after midnight in an mx5 is shocked to be pulled over.


I'd suggest op you'd have a stark different response if your mx5 was taken off your driveway.

There's not enough outrage here to bother starting a thread. You had a verbal fanny with a guard. Whoop...

A thick auld bollocks of a guard, plenty of them out there. If I was you I'd be regretting not being more cheeky!

dense

EazyD wrote: »

Is asking "is there an issue Garda" impolite? I mean he might perceive it that way but I said it in a courteous manner after greeting him so it's hard to believe someone could see it that way.

They would see it as challenging them and their MO.

Most stops are to suss out the situation, asking them straight out why their attention has been drawn to you unnerves them.

There's also a jealousy thing and a chip on the shoulder mentality prevalent in the gardai.
They're good steady boys and drive steady things like corollas off duty and the idea of another boy being lucky enough and bold enough to be driving an mx5 just irks some of them.
(This probably in part stems from their involvement in fatal RTAs and knocking on doors at 3 in the morning.)

Best I find is wind the window down and just ask "Alright" and look straight into their eyes. No squirming and no attitude.

Put it behind you now.
Remember that if some goon had just stolen your car you'd be glad they'd pulled it over.

Falcon L

A chat with the local super should make you feel a bit better. Make an appointment to see him/her. The more that this kind of unprofessional behaviour is let go, the worse it will get.

Brian Scan

dense wrote: »

They would see it as challenging them and their MO.

Most stops are to suss out the situation, asking them straight out why their attention has been drawn to you unnerves them.

There's also a jealousy thing and a chip on the shoulder mentality prevalent in the gardai.
They're good steady boys and drive steady things like corollas off duty and the idea of another boy being lucky enough and bold enough to be driving an mx5 just irks some of them.
(This probably in part stems from their involvement in fatal RTAs and knocking on doors at 3 in the morning.)

Best I find is wind the window down and just ask "Alright" and look straight into their eyes. No squirming and no attitude.

Put it behind you now.
Remember that if some goon had just stolen your car you'd be glad they'd pulled it over.

It's an MX-5, not a Bugatti Veyron.

Pkiernan

Brian Scan wrote: »

It's an MX-5, not a Bugatti Veyron.

Exactly...since when did Mazda Miatas become mixed up with desirable cars?

dense

Brian Scan wrote: »

It's an MX-5, not a Bugatti Veyron.

Whooosh.

colm_mcm

Who says "Apologies"?

dense

colm_mcm wrote: »

Who says "Apologies"?

Ryan Tubridy?

EazyD

listermint wrote: »

Young guy driving around after midnight in an mx5 is shocked to be pulled over.


I'd suggest op you'd have a stark different response if your mx5 was taken off your driveway.

There's not enough outrage here to bother starting a thread. You had a verbal fanny with a guard. Whoop...

I've been driving the same route home in the same car for almost 3 years with no such occurences so it was somewhat of a surprise.

Colser

No doubt about but they pick on the youngsters due to their cars and it's very unfair imo.

My kids have had every kind of "boy racer" car going because they genuinely love cars and that's typical of their age group that are car enthusiasts.They've been pulled over numerous times but never been caught for anything and felt that the guards were always looking to provoke a smart answer from them but thankfully they didn't rise to it.

I've seen it myself if I use their cars that they'll follow and pull in somewhere after me then see an "aul wan" driving and they drive off again.

It's always been the way and while there are youngsters up to no good in certain cars I can honestly say that when I see crazy driving/speeding on the road it's very very rarely a twincam or scooby but usually a top of the range (you can guess the car) yourself.

I've no problem with them pulling over any age group but it does bug me when I see the easy target getting pulled again and again.

I'd let it go OP,enjoy your car and as long as you're abiding by the rules you've nothing to worry about,just say nothing and don't get smart with them.

EazyD

Ned Led Zeppo wrote: »

Did he show ID?

No he didn't show ID, I know I could have asked but given the way he was acting I didn't think it would be taken well. I know by law they are required to.

EazyD

Pkiernan wrote: »

Exactly...since when did Mazda Miatas become mixed up with desirable cars?

I guess it depends on what one would consider desirable. As far as relatively inexpensive and reliable RWD roadsters go, there's not a lot else that would take my fancy. If money was no object it would probably be an Elise or something similar. Small roadsters with great handling are my thing I guess.

munster87

endacl wrote: »

"Good evening, guard" is always a good start.

Always? What about in the morning!? Definitely think you're being smart then

Achasanai

DaveyDave wrote: »

I turned around to knock him one in the jaw ... I told him to piss off. We weren't even the only ones there and he wasn't telling anyone else to leave.

I don't know, the guard may have been on to something

DaveyDave wrote: »

He must have had short man syndrome or something.

Pretty sure it wasn't the guard who had short man syndrome in this story.

DaveyDave

Achasanai wrote: »

I don't know, the guard may have been on to something

Pretty sure it wasn't the guard who had short man syndrome in this story.

No, he wasn't on to something he was just being a wanker. You can't just tell people to leave an area for no reason when there's other people around then start swearing and getting aggressive as soon as we ask why because we're confused, he was freaking out because he wasn't getting his own way. I didn't take kindly to his attitude so he got it back. The fact that he left to get into the car then had the driver stop in the middle of the road so he could shout out the window at us is just absurd.

I'm not going to let some short arse with a power trip tell me to move somewhere and start swearing at me the second I show up. Somebody pushes you, then a Garda tells you to piss off you're not going to be mad? Yeah, sure. But of course you'll tell me I'm the bad guy. I MUST have been doing something. There couldn't possibly be a power tripping member of the Gardai there...

Same as the OP, he's just looking for trouble by saying "Apologies but is there an issue?", I guess he's not allowed inquire about being pulled over.

beauf

Pkiernan wrote: »

Exactly...since when did Mazda Miatas become mixed up with desirable cars?

MX5 has always been desirable for people interested in driving.

http://www.evo.co.uk/mazda/mx-5/19798/mazda-will-now-restore-your-mk1-mx-5-in-japan


Being stopped is nothing to do with that. Its about either driving badly or being a profile of a car owner that are often in trouble. Which is usually cheaper sports cars, or boy racers etc. Back in the day I had a CRX, got stopped a lot in that. Always by a cop with attitude.

Oh course there also the issue if you live somewhere where there is an increased garda presence due to a high profile person, like a politician....

boardsuser1

If being stopped at 25 in an MX-5 is a problem, then you have no idea of the hassle i went through at 21 in a Honda civic, bright red with a dohc engine, i was being stopped so much i got rid of the car, it was a bloody magnet.

Anything sporty or unusual will attract them, the MX-5 falling into the former.

Was that your Ford pickup that's posted on the @gardatraffic page :pac:

theoneeyedman

_Kaiser_ wrote: »

Ignore it.. Another cop who thinks a badge means everyone should treat them like royalty. You had done nothing wrong, all your documents in order, so he had to try and throw his weight around instead.

This.

There are a lot of decent Garda, but also a lot of **** in uniform who like to throw their weight around.

Was out for a drive with the young lad last week. He's recently started his lessons, hence L plates on the car. Came onto a checkpoint with only one Garda, every car waved on, sees us with the L plates, and suddenly perked up, started looking at lights, turn on this light turn off that light, step on the breaks etc, checking tires, then the who are you where are you going etc. When he saw I had a full licence, you could see the light draining from his eyes in disappointment.... Wanker. I let it go as I didn't want to get the young lad into the habit of picking rows with guards, but I could see this lad playing hell of he stopped a young lad who was a bit green.

storker

EazyD wrote: »

"Apologies but is there an issue?"

I'd say it's the wording he took exception to. "Hello Guard" would have done fine. If a guard has an issue he'll state it pretty quickly anyway. He probably thought you were trying to sound more intelligent than him and it got his back up. That's not to say that he was right, of course, but communication can be a minefield, and it's usually best when dealing with an authority figure to use the same sort of words they do.

MysticMonk

I had a Lancer for a while and I got pulled over four times in a few months..each time the guard asked for my name then told me they thought I was somebody else...obviously somebody known to them who drove a similar car.

Henry Ford III

You got off on the wrong foot with that garda OP. Choice of words was all wrong. Having said that he sounds a bit overly assertive.

dense

EazyD wrote: »

Small roadsters with great handling are my thing I guess.

Maybe they witnessed some of your car's great handling.

beauf

Henry Ford III wrote: »

You got off on the wrong foot with that garda OP. Choice of words was all wrong. Having said that he sounds a bit overly assertive.

... Stooory bud.... Better?

.. Or I didn't do nuttin'..

_Kaiser_

I said earlier I'd never had a run in with them.. thinking bout it that's not quite true..

A while back I was on my way to work which involves the usual spin on the motorway. All was grand until I hit traffic and this unmarked i40 comes tearing up behind me and sitting on my bumper. Anyway, as both lanes were congested and there was nowhere to go (plus no blue lights) I ignored it and yer man starts weaving aggressively in-lane behind me.

Eventually the blues come on for a min so I let him by when a gap opens up and he proceeds to do the same carry-on to the car ahead. I pulls back in behind him and note the reg. After a few calls I've tracked it down to a station down the country and get his Sergeant who says he shouldn't be in any rush and (to his credit) takes my point about yer man's driving in busy morning traffic and promises to call him. By this stage we're in Dublin and a few minutes later he calls me back saying he's spoken to him and asked him to pull in for a chat but if I've any bother to call him back (in other words - the way the Gardai should be IMO)

Anyway, pulls in behind yer man at a garage.. he wasn't best pleased initially but after a chat for a few minutes he accepted the point, apologised, and we went on our way.

I wasn't trying to be smart, but I've very little tolerance for muppetry on the motorway, especially from someone who should know better and if ye don't follow up on these things nothing ever changes.