Fine for non-working light

rahmalec

Alright so I was driving half way across the country a night a few weeks ago. Stopped by a guard at 1 in the morning. Told one of my lights wasn’t working. I stepped out, saw it wasn’t. Was working perfectly before I had left. Told him I had travelled half way across the country and must have blown on the way somewhere.

Anyway lo and behold, I get a fixed charge notice in the post. I’m just wondering, how was I supposed avoid this? Surely the thing has to be driven before a broken light is noticed, unless it blows while stationary.

tcawley29

rahmalec wrote: »

Alright so I was driving half way across the country a night a few weeks ago. Stopped by a guard at 1 in the morning. Told one of my lights wasn’t working. I stepped out, saw it wasn’t. Was working perfectly before I had left. Told him I had travelled half way across the country and must have blown on the way somewhere.

Anyway lo and behold, I get a fixed charge notice in the post. I’m just wondering, how was I supposed avoid this? Surely the thing has to be driven before a broken light is noticed, unless it blows while stationary.

Carry spares? In some european countries you must carry spares.

Although you may be genuine yourself I really cannot blame the garda. YYou're suffering because of all the other clowns who wait until the NCT is due to get the problem fixed.

corglass

rahmalec wrote: »

Alright so I was driving half way across the country a night a few weeks ago. Stopped by a guard at 1 in the morning. Told one of my lights wasn’t working. I stepped out, saw it wasn’t. Was working perfectly before I had left. Told him I had travelled half way across the country and must have blown on the way somewhere.

Anyway lo and behold, I get a fixed charge notice in the post. I’m just wondering, how was I supposed avoid this? Surely the thing has to be driven before a broken light is noticed, unless it blows while stationary.

Carry a spare bulb in the car. Once one blows, you should notice and replace it if you're able. If not, get it fixed

You're scenario is unfortunate as chances are slim getting caught on same night. Not sure how you didn't notice once it blew?

Also how are you sure it was ok when leaving?

Salary Negotiator

If you didn’t realize it was blown when you were driving how do you know it worked before you set off?

I wish they’d fine more of the one eyed wonders.

Boardnashea

I would be very surprised to get a FCN for a bulb and would consider defending it (if I had the time). Does it come with points?
Which bulb was it? Dipped beam drivers side prob the worst but I'm sure there are many opinions on that.

krissovo

If it was your dipped light then I would have zero sympathy, any other light then its a bit harsh but I would be happy if the guards start clamping down on this.

rahmalec

Salary Negotiator wrote: »

If you didn’t realize it was blown when you were driving how do you know it worked before you set off?

I wish they’d fine more of the one eyed wonders.

Because I had seen it just as I set off. I’m not lying like.

Look I get that they need to be clamping down on people going around with non-working lights. That’s fair enough. I’m just ranting that I was unlucky and got caught right probably right after it blew.

I was the left dipped lights. I did notice the visibility wasn’t as good but it had just started drizzling so put it down to that.

I did have spares actually but didn’t even think of them at the time.

rahmalec

Anyway, I’ll be paying it.
Not arsed defending it and don’t have time either.

XsApollo

Bulbs rarely go when then are already lit up, usually happens after they are turned on or off.

Supposing it did blow as you were driving.
It’s a joke, how are you supposed to change the bulb out in middle of the night?
What do you do , cancel the journey until you get it repaired?
Park up in the hard shoulder on the motorway and start changing out a bulb?
It’s hard enough on some cars now parked up in your driveway,
And it’s not possible on some cars without ripping out the airfilter box or whatever else.

XsApollo

On another note does the fine increase if challenged.
I’d challenge that and explain your logic to a judge can’t imagine the judge disagreeing.
A warning to get it repaired and prove its fixed might be a better system.

LuasSimon

This type of stuff gives guards a bad name .. be more in their line catch a few burglars or drug dealers in the locality !

Yer Da sells Avon

You can very easily apply to the Gardai to have the fine cancelled, citing exceptional circumstances. Potentially, the 'exceptional circumstances' in this case could be that the bulb blew while you were driving, and most modern cars can't have bulbs replaced at the side of the road.

I received an FCN in the post last year for non-display of a valid insurance disc (the car was insured; the new disc was at home in a drawer). I filled out the cancellation form and attached a copy of my insurance cert. The appeal was successful. As supporting evidence, you could (for example) include a letter explaining that the bulb blew while you were driving, and a receipt for a light bulb or a time-stamped photo of the car with functioning lights.

Basically, make the guards think you'd be prepared to go to court over it.

kippy

I'd say the Gardai hear this type of story on a regular basis.

Stovepipe

I had one genius of a Garda, at a tax/insurance checkpoint, insist that I had my fog lights on (Skoda Octavia). I hadn't. Just normal dimmed lights. I said I hadn't, at which point he got rather annoyed, walked around the car, came back to the window and insisted I had them on. I said to him that he should look at the instrument panel if he didnt believe me and I got the Templemore Reply "are you getting smart with me?". No, sez, I, "look for yourself. The fog light symbol is not on". He stuck his head in, made sure he got a good sniff of my breath (no gargle taken) and saw that the fog light symbol was not on, gave a loud "Huh...get away from me" and waved me on. One more Garda off my Christmas card list.

colm_mcm

the brothers Superb uses the fogs as DRLs - Not sure if it’s coded in or that’s the way they should be.

rahmalec

kippy wrote: »

I'd say the Gardai hear this type of story on a regular basis.

Ya hey probably do, but what about when it’s actually a true story?

Cee-Jay-Cee

LuasSimon wrote: »

This type of stuff gives guards a bad name .. be more in their line catch a few burglars or drug dealers in the locality !

There’s always an idiot that comes out with a line like above!

But yes you’re right, guards should ignore everything else except burglars and drug dealers. They should visit every house in their district to ensure they’re not being burgled!

Maybe the guard was actually doing a checkpoint to ensure people out at 1am have a legitimate reason for being out on the road and not on their way to or from committing a crime???

Guy:Incognito

Boardnashea wrote: »

I would be very surprised to get a FCN for a bulb and would consider defending it (if I had the time).

On what grounds? The OP says it was blown.

LuasSimon wrote: »

This type of stuff gives guards a bad name .. be more in their line catch a few burglars or drug dealers in the locality !

Why burglars or drug dealers? Why not put 100% of their time in to rapists and murderers?

Once every murder and rape ever is solved and prevented, they can work down from there.

Midnight_EG

LuasSimon wrote: »

This type of stuff gives guards a bad name .. be more in their line catch a few burglars or drug dealers in the locality !

Except its literally the point of the Roads Policing Unit :rolleyes:

Mervyn Skidmore

Cee-Jay-Cee wrote: »

Maybe the guard was actually doing a checkpoint to ensure people out at 1am have a legitimate reason for being out on the road and not on their way to or from committing a crime???

Never knew you needed to have a legitimate reason to be on the road, maybe in North Korea.

tcawley29

LuasSimon wrote: »

This type of stuff gives guards a bad name .. be more in their line catch a few burglars or drug dealers in the locality !

So you're one of the people who wait until their nct to fix the car.

Your comment is the most braindead one I've read today. Consider a darwin award for yourself

Markcheese

I like the idea that the Garda just gives you a ticket to go have your car inspected at a garda station within a week or something... And not turning up there gets you the fine...

dsmythy

Cee-Jay-Cee wrote: »

There’s always an idiot that comes out with a line like above!

But yes you’re right, guards should ignore everything else except burglars and drug dealers. They should visit every house in their district to ensure they’re not being burgled!

Maybe the guard was actually doing a checkpoint to ensure people out at 1am have a legitimate reason for being out on the road and not on their way to or from committing a crime???

More serious crimes are detected from what started as a light out on a car too.

tcawley29

tcawley29 wrote: »

Carry spares? In some european countries you must carry spares.

Although you may be genuine yourself I really cannot blame the garda. YYou're suffering because of all the other clowns who wait until the NCT is due to get the problem fixed.

What about the many cars that changing a bulb isn’t a quick 2 minute job on the side of the road or in most cars changing a rear light is not straight forward and involves tools and removing the whole light.

kirving

Equally, it should be law that a bulb can be changed on the roadside, OR that the lower fog/spot light on that side is activated automatically at a lower brightness so that you can be seen but not glare other drivers.

In any case, most forward facing "fog" lights these days are not particularly glaring as they used to be, and in many cases are used for turning or as a styling feature.

DaveyDave

There's a bit of risk involved with bulbs. If they go you can't just say "oh you should carry a spare blah blah blah" cos I'm going to spend half an hour taking out the light while watching a YouTube tutorial while using the tools I don't have.

If one blows and you're a decent person who actually wants to get it fixed, it could be 2-3 days before you could get it fixed.

It's just unfortunate that the OP was caught when there's people driving years like that but for all the Garda knows it's gone months.

bucketybuck

Markcheese wrote: »

I like the idea that the Garda just gives you a ticket to go have your car inspected at a garda station within a week or something... And not turning up there gets you the fine...

The same people would just treat it the same as the NCT, do nothing unless they get stopped.

Face facts, if saying it just happened was good enough to dodge the fine then everybody would just say that it just happened, thats common sense.

To be honest, 1 in the morning and didn't notice that a headlamp bulb had blown at some point in the last hour? Not exactly observant are we.

seagull

My car needs the front bumper removed to change a headlight bulb. Changing the headlight bulb on my wife's car needs to be done via the wheel arch. Hardly something I could do at the side of the road in the middle of the night in either case.
I know they changed the law a few years back to be an instant fine if you have a bulb out. My own thought is a better system is that you're given 1 business day to present the car at a garda station with the bulb replaced.

tcawley29

Ryland Aggressive Stenography wrote: »

What about the many cars that changing a bulb isn’t a quick 2 minute job on the side of the road or in most cars changing a rear light is not straight forward and involves tools and removing the whole light.

A massive assumption on my part but if you show the garda you have a spare but it's impossible to fit at the side of the road you should be let off.

If he gives you a ticket after that scenario I would get a letter off a mechanic/dealer saying it is impossible to change at the side of the road and appeal the fine.

Having said that I've never been in the situation so I have no real experience here.

FishOnABike

An on the spot fine seems harsh given the bulb in many cars headlights can't be changed without tools. Even with the tools needed to hand some are definitely not a side of the road in the dark and pouring rain job.

My current car is reasonably straightforward but even that needs a torx screwdriver to release the headlight mounting and slide it forward to get at the rere of the headlight assembly to change a bulb.

I've had a bulb fail only minutes after the car passing its NCT and didn't have a toolbox in the boot having cleared it for the NCT. Had a spare bulb in the glove compartment but no tools to change it. So it can happen any time.

biko

Spread the word OP
Maybe it'll help make our roads safer when people that keeps putting it off finally fixes their lights.

corks finest

rahmalec wrote:

Alright so I was driving half way across the country a night a few weeks ago. Stopped by a guard at 1 in the morning. Told one of my lights wasn’t working. I stepped out, saw it wasn’t. Was working perfectly before I had left. Told him I had travelled half way across the country and must have blown on the way somewhere.

Half the bloody cars in Cork are on one light,,,,never ever heard of anyone here getting fined/ stopped, unlucky,but fair dues to at least one Garda doing his job

Isambard

i wonder if he'd have booked you still if you'd have believed him it wasn't working. "sorry Gard, I hadn't realised, I'll get it fixed first thing"

Does anyone actually check their lights before a journey?

ba_barabus

Great to hear of a guard doing their job.

As someone above has just asked, I check tyres, lights and fluids once a week or before a long journey with the family on board. But I drive a lot for work and can't afford to be stranded.

ebbsy

Phew. With cops like that we are in safe hands.

TheChizler

tcawley29 wrote: »

A massive assumption on my part but if you show the garda you have a spare but it's impossible to fit at the side of the road you should be let off.

I suppose from a safety point of view there's no difference between the Megane that needs the bumper removed to change the lamp, and the Focus that just needs 20 seconds and a torch. You're equally poorly lit and equally dangerous. Why should you get a free pass just because it's a seriously inconvenient car to maintain?

The argument would be you should either leave the car there until the morning or get it towed if you can't drive in the dark with proper lights, the same as if a crucial component broke and you physically couldn't drive. Just because you can drive doesn't mean you should, as tempting as it might be.

Seriously unlucky for the OP though.

ednwireland

they should send the fine to car manufacturers who make difficult to change headlamps, there should be an EU law that you should be able to change lights without tools.

R.O.R

In the UK you used to get a "producer" - got one when I had my first car, about a month after I'd passed my test. Exhaust was blowing and one of the brake lights (that I'd replaced the day before!) was out, so you got either 7 or 10 days to get them fixed, signed off by an MOT centre to say they'd been done, and then pop to the local cop shop with the paperwork.

Replaced a headlight bulb on the wife's XC60 on Saturday and was very surprised to find I needed a hex driver - replaced many Volvo headlights over the years and they used to be the easiest to do. Remove 2 levers that hold the light unit in place, whole thing slides out then you unclip the bulb holder, but on this one there were 4 hex bolts that needed undoing. Thankfully Halfords had a special offer on a 51 piece screwdriver set so picked that up with the bulb (bought 2 bulbs as the other one will probably go soon).

The last two times my headlamp bulb blew it happened while driving and both cars had a warning system that reported a failure. On the latest case the lamp actually started to work again within the 5 minutes it took me to find a safe spot to change it (the filament must have reattached itself) but on the next trip the bulb went out for good.

In both cars changing the bulb was straight forward on the road side. But not all the cars are equal. Personally I find it quite harsh to get fined from one broken bulb but at the same time as many have said there are lots of single eyed monsters out there and you can just get unlucky with the best intentions. I think it would have showed the best intent if you had been able to present the guard a bag of spare bulbs carried in the car and thanked him and told that you will change the bulb on a next well lit place.

R.O.R

R.O.R wrote: »

Thankfully Halfords had a special offer on a 51 piece screwdriver set so picked that up with the bulb (bought 2 bulbs as the other one will probably go soon).

The bulbs often fail as a pair very close to each other. This makes it even more important to carry a spare with you and be able to change a bulb yourself.

m5ex9oqjawdg2i

LuasSimon wrote: »

This type of stuff gives guards a bad name .. be more in their line catch a few burglars or drug dealers in the locality !

Such a stupid statement.

stoneill

XsApollo wrote: »

Bulbs rarely go when then are already lit up, usually happens after they are turned on or off.

Except that this happened to me right during the NCT test. As the technician moved the headlight alignment measuring box from one headlight to the other the bulb took that exact moment to give up!

ba_barabus

Hayes Loud Biker wrote: »

Such a stupid statement.

Aye, as we all know a blown bulb is like a gateway drug to criminality.

liamog

Really does sound like we need something like a California Fix-It ticket. It could be a nice little side earner for NCT centres. Garda issues fix-it ticket, you have 7 days to prove at an NCT centre that you have corrected the issue along with a small dismissal fee.

Wishbone Ash

Yer Da sells Avon wrote: »

....I received an FCN in the post last year for non-display of a valid insurance disc (the car was insured; the new disc was at home in a drawer). I filled out the cancellation form and attached a copy of my insurance cert. The appeal was successful.....

Strange that it was successful as you said yourself, the disc was not displayed. It would be like the OP claiming he had a spare bulb in the glove box so shouldn't be done for having only one light.