Whats the Point Reporting Accident?

average_runner

Thud wrote: »

that wasn't an option as far as i was made aware, it would have to go to court for that

To me that's a waste of resources and court time, as there is a far more serious crimes that need court time.

But I do believe once there is evidence proving the person did the close pass, just give them pts on their license.

But we don't do anything smart in this country.

Thud

average_runner wrote: »

To me that's a waste of resources and court time, as there is a far more serious crimes that need court time.

But I do believe once there is evidence proving the person did the close pass, just give them pts on their license.

But we don't do anything smart in this country.

Agreed.
I was also told it is hard to gauge distances from the camera footage (he/she was still inside white line on narrow road after passing me) so it would be my word versus theirs and the MPD was not law so he/she would have to be prosecuted under another road traffic offence if it came to that(driving with undue caution or dangerous driving)

greenspurs

Eamonnator wrote: »

I was a Garda for 30 years, I'm retired a number of years, I had quite a lot of experience investigating traffic collisions.
I was going to make a few observations in this thread, but then decided, I just couldn't be arsed.

That really helps cyclists opinions of an GS on here !!! :rolleyes:

jjpep

Eamonnator wrote: »

I was a Garda for 30 years, I'm retired a number of years, I had quite a lot of experience investigating traffic collisions.
I was going to make a few observations in this thread, but then decided, I just couldn't be arsed.

So retired cops are about as useful as currently working cops then. What a surprise.

TriFirst

Eamonnator wrote: »

I was a Garda for 30 years, I'm retired a number of years, I had quite a lot of experience investigating traffic collisions.
I was going to make a few observations in this thread, but then decided, I just couldn't be arsed.

Yes that seems to be the motto of the gardai when it comes to reporting of road traffic offences, so your statement is not exceptional.

Certainly it was my own experience when i was the victim of a hit and run on Dame street one lunchtime. I had dozens of witnesses and yet the garda that arrived on scene could not have been more disinterested given that I had only suffered a knock and some bruises. I gave him the reg of the car, the make and model and he told me he would act on it. What followed was farcical in the extreme. I spent several weeks making numerous phone calls trying chasing down the aforementioned garda to find out if they had located the driver. To say he was nonchalant was an exaggeration. You might say he couldnt be arsed. Thankfully I wasnt injured but given that the city centre is covered in cctv cameras its inconceivable to me that the incident wasnt caught on camera or at least the car could have been traced, if the public servant in question had been bothered to actully do his job. I suppose the best way to go is to lawyer up, but is that feasible for every incident when on the bike ?

billyhead

I was hit by a car where the driver drove straight out of a junction without paying heed to me going straight on and I went over the front bonnet as I was traveling at speed. Went to be checked over by the GP and all was fine in terms of no broken bones (only superficial wounds i.e road rash and a busted nose. The women whom hit me drove me to the local doctor and said to me she would wait for me in the waiting room and cover any medical bills. When I was released from the GP she was nowhere to be seen so I ended up having to pay the bill myself. The front wheel on my bike was buckled aswell which added to the cost. I went to report it to the local Gardai and they had no interest whatsoever. I told them everything that happened and due to the shock of the accident and what I thought was genuine remorse by the women for causing it I didn't take the reg plate number thus they didn't want to know. I asked about CCTV on the street and they said they would follow up with it and get back to me however I never heard from then again.:(

koutoubia

I just wanna jump in here and say ,in defence of AGS, that on the two occasions I had to deal with them about a cycling/car incident involving myself they simply couldnt have been better.
One was almost annoyed that I hadnt reported the incident immediatley .
The other went way beyond what I expected to track down a car that they passenger had reached out and punched my arse as it passed.
The garda followed up and then informed me a few weeks later that the driver was receiving penalty points for dangerous driving.
The Garda not being arsed is not my experience ......just to balance the argument.


I am not a member of AGS!

droidus

There are decent Guards who will do a decent, diligent job, in many cases going well above the call of duty to ensure fair treatment of citizens, there's decent Guards who've been ground down by the job and the system and don't see the point of pursuing minor incidents and there's Guards who are complete scumbags and just don't give a f**k.

The problem is that you never know which category you're going to encounter when you make a complaint as systemic problems means there's a lack of accountability & transparency resulting in a lack of consistency with how cases are handled. This is compounded by the general chaos of the criminal justice system and wider attitudes towards cycling and driving in society.

My experience with traffic watch has generally been good, and my advice would be to report. Personally I feel like its an obligation, as the driver who gives you a few cuts and bruises might kill the next cyclist.

What would be useful is a list of stations where these driving complaints are taken more seriously.

What Username Guidelines

koutoubia wrote: »

I just wanna jump in here and say ,in defence of AGS, that on the two occasions I had to deal with them about a cycling/car incident involving myself they simply couldnt have been better.
One was almost annoyed that I hadnt reported the incident immediatley .
The other went way beyond what I expected to track down a car that they passenger had reached out and punched my arse as it passed.
The garda followed up and then informed me a few weeks later that the driver was receiving penalty points for dangerous driving.
The Garda not being arsed is not my experience ......just to balance the argument.


I am not a member of AGS!

There’s hope! Thanks for that

What Username Guidelines

droidus wrote: »

What would be useful is a list of stations where these driving complaints are taken more seriously.

Unfortunately it goes to the next available Garda at the station which covers the area in which the incident happened. So the list may be only useful to decide where to report this stuff.

It wasn’t about a particular incident, but I had a great chat with a Garda on a bike from Terenure station who seemed like he’d be a good one to get, seemed clued in, experienced and motivated. My own poor experience was with 4 gardai from Rathmines. But neither represent the rest of the station, good or bad. And I’m guessing different areas deal with different levels of crime, so a close pass in an area where f-all else happens might be jumped on, whereas a close pass on halloween night in an area with high levels of antisocial behaviour might get you laughed out of the station.

Mc Love

Similar story on this thread:

https://twitter.com/LucButtons/status/1085487750298697729?s=20

check_six

My last two efforts at reporting anything had odd outcomes. I was driving in both cases.

I saw a fellow in a black golf overtaking by ripping up the hard shoulder of the M50 at about 150kph after the toll bridge. Inevitably, he got stuck in traffic on the off ramp just ahead of me and I took a note of his plate. Thought it might be worth getting on to TrafficWatch as it was a particularly dodgy piece of driving. Turns out the plate belonged to a completely different car. Different colour, different make. So all routes ended there.

Another incident had a fellow run into my car and then try to drive off. I asked him not to, but he just fled the scene. I had a photo of the car, and a photo of the small dent he left. Guards tried to find him as he lived locally, but the address the car was registered to had some kind of typo on the system and they couldn't locate him.

So, in summary, we really need to push for number plates, and motor tax, and insurance, and a man walking in front with a flag for all bikes and cyclists. This will ensure that all future offences will be prosecuted successfully as so ably demonstrated by the two examples above.

Mercian Pro

A few thoughts based on "accidents" and close passes over the years:

Not all injuries show up in x-rays. One snapped tendon only started to hurt two months after a collision and was eventually diagnosed following an MRI. Luckily I hadn't settled with the driver's insurance company as they were still querying the value of my vintage Mercian.

Years later a very sympathetic Garda in Finglas explained her understanding of things when I went to report a bad close pass by a subsequently aggressive van driver. I was given the option of making a formal statement and the Superintendent would then decide whether to prosecute or not. The absence of video or third party evidence would probably result in a negative decision.
The alternative was to give a detailed report of what happened including the reg of the van with a view to calling in the driver. She recorded everything and I signed her notebook. Some months later she rang to tell me the driver accepted he was in the wrong and both he and his boss were highly apologetic. Had he not been, I still had the option of making a statement. When I asked whether there was any record of this she assured me that it had gone on the Pulse system the day I called in and that it would be available to any other Garda investigating any subsequent incident involving the driver. If that incident involved a court case, the record of a previous complaint would be admissible as evidence. She strongly urged me to report any other close passes or collisions.

Hope this helps answer your original question OP.

Shoco83

My dad got knocked of his bike last year and was out cold for a few mins. A witness called for an ambulance, when the guards came they said all the right stuff and we thought it would be looked after.

From then on the guards couldn’t have been more useless, so much so that the guard in charge said there were no witnesses to the accident on his report! It turns out he told her she could leave when the ambulance arrived, she asked if he needed her details and she was told no!

Lucky we were able to track her down and she gave a statement to a solicitor. There was some minor damage to the bike and he had a lot gear cut off him, that’s all he wants to get back. Probably should have contacted his insurance straight away

ED E

McCabe has proven that dysfunctional stations won't fix themselves. IMO that's severe professional misconduct and should be hilighted to GSOC.

tampopo

I was left-hooked by a taxi driver some time ago, knocking me off the bike, with a cut to the leg and some damage to the bike. I was able to get the Taxi number from the roof sign before they drove off without stopping.

Dialled 999 to an incompetent Garda who said they could not identify the driver from the roof sign! Went to local station, where I was fobbed off making a statement there and then as Garda claimed he was the only one in the station. Anyway, eventually I got to make a statement where the driver was identified by the roof sign and went to court.

A fine, with three months to pay, but no points as they pleaded the poor mouth.

ffs

#HitAndRunByAnyDescription

Ultimate Seduction

buffalo wrote: »

I'm in a similar frame of mind. I have four incidents from a two week period in November that I haven't bothered to report to Trafficwatch, because I just don't think there's any point. One was very deliberate (came back to explain why he'd done it), one was aggressive, and the other two were completely reckless.

The effort of the phone call is actually too much for the chance of pay-off with any of those drivers getting an actual punishment.

Four accidents in two months, including two in one week? None your fault?

Eamonnator

Ultimate Seduction wrote: »

Four accidents in two months, including two in one week? None your fault?

He said incidents not accidents.
Edit.
That reminds me of a Paul Simon song.

buffalo

Ultimate Seduction wrote: »

Four accidents in two months, including two in one week? None your fault?

Perhaps you should read the post again, as your understanding of the basic figures involved doesn't seem to be great! :pac:

Anyway, I'm not sure how I can be any way at fault for the behaviour of overtaking drivers? PM me and I'll send you links to the video footage, and you can tell me how I was at fault.

buffalo

Shoco83 wrote: »

My dad got knocked of his bike last year and was out cold for a few mins. A witness called for an ambulance, when the guards came they said all the right stuff and we thought it would be looked after.

From then on the guards couldn’t have been more useless, so much so that the guard in charge said there were no witnesses to the accident on his report! It turns out he told her she could leave when the ambulance arrived, she asked if he needed her details and she was told no!

Lucky we were able to track her down and she gave a statement to a solicitor. There was some minor damage to the bike and he had a lot gear cut off him, that’s all he wants to get back. Probably should have contacted his insurance straight away

I had similar when I was taken away in an ambulance, but without the happy ending. Garda on scene didn't take details of any witnesses, nor the driver I pointed out who caused it. Instead he asked me (while concussed and strapped in a stretcher) what speed I was going, and only took the details of the driver of the car I had hit and damaged (who was a lovely man, but hadn't seen anything).

Afterwards the Garda then lied to me that he had taken the details, but couldn't give them to me, only to a solicitor or my insurance company. GSOC did nothing. My insurance covered the damage to the other car, but I was left out of pocket for everything else.

Ultimate Seduction

buffalo wrote: »

Perhaps you should read the post again, as your understanding of the basic figures involved doesn't seem to be great! :pac:

Anyway, I'm not sure how I can be any way at fault for the behaviour of overtaking drivers? PM me and I'll send you links to the video footage, and you can tell me how I was at fault.

I never said they were your fault? I misread 'incident' for accident anyway, apologies.

Did all these incidents take place in town or on a open road?

buffalo

Ultimate Seduction wrote: »

I never said they were your fault? I misread 'incident' for accident anyway, apologies.

Did all these incidents take place in town or on a open road?

A variety of places - the Greenhills Road in the middle of the day, an empty industrial estate on a Sunday morning, the Phoenix Park at night...

I decided to give TrafficWatch another go and rang them to report three of the above that were outrageous.

I was strongly discouraged from filing any kind of report - that sure the cars might've changed hands in the last two months, and by the time the Gardai got around to it the statute of limitations might be passed. Also, three reports at once? We couldn't handle that - pick your favourite and maybe chat to the Garda who takes the first one about the other two (even though they're in totally different areas).

:rolleyes:

I picked the one that was the most deliberate and unnecessary (driver overtook very closely and then came back to tell me why he did it), and sure we'll see what happens.

a148pro

I was knocked off a bike by a scumbag a few years back. I called it in to garda station because I thought the way he behaved the car was stolen. Garda said to come in and make a formal complaint but I didn't.

Shortly afterwards I read a thread on here about someone getting knocked off their bike and I posted on it that it had convinced me to make a complaint, but in the end I didn't.

By bizarre dublin-is-a-small-place coincidence I learned a year or two later that the car was peripherally involved in a fatal accident a few months down the line. That doesn't make me feel great though my complaining would have been very unlikely to change that.

The point is we should make a complaint because:-

A - its far more likely to improve the drivers behaviour than not making a complaint

B - its far more likely to improve the garda's behaviour than not making a complaint

Interestingly, there's a little utilized power to bring a private prosecution if the garda didn't bother their hole, but not done very often and probably beyond the wherewithal of non lawyers

fat bloke

Eamonnator wrote: »

He said incidents not accidents.
Edit.
That reminds me of a Paul Simon song.

Hints and allegations.