Stealth Sirens

MadKevo

[first off, don't think this fits in other fora - moderators/admins please move if so, thanks]

Wonder if this is a case of our boys in blue and their barely audible sirens?

http://www.rte.ie/news/2005/0522/rta1.html

Hands up: how many people have had close ones with ambulances or garda cars (marked and unhubcapped) driving with their "sirens" on?

Please note that I except the various fire brigades from this - they are consummate professionals.

/MK

Victor

I'm not sure if a siren helps you avoid stationary objects.

Q102 radio reports two female gardaí were driving.

RuggieBear

Victor wrote:

I'm not sure if a siren helps you avoid stationary objects.

Q102 radio reports two female gardaí were driving.

I was nearly hit the other day on Warrington Place (on the Grand Canal)...near Mount street....by god, do the Gardai like to use the long straight roads and put the foot down...two Women gardai too. Wonder if it was the same pair?

whiskeyman

IMO the training isnt up to international standards.
And they only get a couple of extra quid to be a driver.
I've seen some crazy squad car manoeuvres... and nearly got knocked down by a the presidents cavalcade once. (Bikes screamed up Baggot street with no sirens on ahead of the cars).

Sounds like a freak accident though... I know that stretch of road very well and they must have taken the corner near Ashtons too fast.

Nevyn

They all get the intensive advanced driver training out in Mondeo.
You should not NEED to hear a siren if you are checking all your mirrors every
6 to ten second while driving, as you should be doing.

8bi1ctzegfouva

6 to 10 seconds?? where u pull that figure from?
rear view mirror every 15 seconds, and side mirrors every 30 secs according to the rules of the road.

but i mean who in their right mind checks their mirrors that regularly?? you would be driven crazy doing it.

RuggieBear

Quincy Repulsive Telephone wrote:

6 to 10 seconds?? where u pull that figure from?
rear view mirror every 15 seconds, and side mirrors every 30 secs according to the rules of the road.

but i mean who in their right mind checks their mirrors that regularly?? you would be driven crazy doing it.

perhaps someone driving in a high speed, potentially hazardous situation

Zulu

Thaed wrote:

You should not NEED to hear a siren if you are checking all your mirrors every 6 to ten second while driving, as you should be doing.

I'd say the old lady - who was a pedestrian at a bus stop - mightn't have been checking her mirrors. ...that being said, pedestrian shouldn't NEED mirrors.

Victor

Checking your mirror doesn't stop you from hitting things in front of you.

Pataman

If your driving at high speed, the last thing you want to be doing is looking behind you in a mirror

MrPudding

Victor wrote:

Q102 radio reports two female gardaí were driving.

One on pedals and one on steering and gears?

MrP

Archytas

In all fairness she was crossing the road where she shouldn't have been.... And as usual the garda get slated by all the trash newspapers out there without even printing the eyewitness reports about her being in the middle of the road when they hit her... She wasn't standing at the bus stop... she got thrown threw it...

Now if it turns out that the witnesses were wrong and the woman was standing there then I'll eat my words with my usual graciousness.

Zulu

Archytas wrote:

In all fairness she was crossing the road where she shouldn't have been....

The Guards should have been prepared. It could have been a child. When you drive a car - you are responsible for it. You NEED to be AWARE that pedestrans can be anywhere.

And as usual the garda get slated by all the trash newspapers out there without even printing the eyewitness reports about her being in the middle of the road when they hit her...

They shouldn't have been driving so recklessly.

She wasn't standing at the bus stop... she got thrown threw it...

Oh... right... well, thats ok then. :rolleyes:

Archytas

Zulu wrote:

You NEED to be AWARE that pedestrans can be anywhere.

But you shouldn't be punished if that pedestrian was breaking the law.

Zulu wrote:

They shouldn't have been driving so recklessly.

How do you know they were driving recklessly? What witness said that? The evening herald wasn't exactly there?

Zulu wrote:

Oh... right... well, thats ok then. :rolleyes:

All I was saying was that the evening herald portrayed the lady as standing waiting for a bus and that the car slammed into the bus stop.. hitting her then. Witnesses state that she wasn't at the bus stop.

Now before this gets out of hand, I'm not saying that the gardai aren't at blame. I dunno. I wasn't there. But there's no point jumping down their throats until we know more. And if they are to blame then, they deserve more than just a slap on the wrist.

Zulu

Archytas wrote:

But you shouldn't be punished if that pedestrian was breaking the law.

Yes you should. You are supposed to drive carefully. Bottom line is: the pedestrian ALWAYS has right of way. If you drive according to the letter of the law. If you drive cautiously, you'll be prepared for sure circumstances, and be able to react accordingly.

How do you know they were driving recklessly? What witness said that? The evening herald wasn't exactly there?

Are you suggesting they were driving carefully? :eek: They were just lucky there wasn't a crowd waiting for the bus.

Now before this gets out of hand, I'm not saying that the gardai aren't at blame. I dunno. I wasn't there. But there's no point jumping down their throats until we know more. And if they are to blame then, they deserve more than just a slap on the wrist.

But thats the point - they ARE TO BLAME. The pedestrian ALWAYS has right of way.

Archytas

I'm not getting into an argument here but the emergency services have the right-of-way in ALL situations. If they don't have that then they cant do their job. Thats why they don't have to wear seatbelts, can use mobile phones while driving and get the right of way at junctions/traffic lights.

And they only hit the busstop after swerving after hitting the woman.

Now I'm as anti-driver as they come. I'd like to see the introduction of harsher(lose your licence on 4 points, type thing) penalties for bad drivers. But I cant abide by bad pedestrians either? What wrong with waiting 30sec for the lights to change? And walking out in front of a luas? you deserve to be run over.

tabatha

i have to agree about how bad pedestrians are. I am sick of driving along having idiots walking out in front of me when driving. Or how about he woman pushing the baby in the pram. she stands at the side of the road to cross, not at a pedestrian crossing i might add and has the buggy on the road rather than on the path. this really get me. Some old people can be notorious for crossing the road. i once had an old man walk out in front of me a put his hand up so he could cross the road! the traffice lights were about 50ft away! on saying this i do know that no one in this county has the right to break traffic lights or speed (except for the army) but on saying this if u are in need of an ambulance or fire brigade or garda u wont care how they get there are long are its fast!

flogen

While Emergancy services are above the rules of the road in some respects (and rightly so) that doesn't mean they can just drive recklessly, they must ensure that they are prepared for all situations, be it a pedestrian j-walking or a car infront of them doing something stupid.
I'm not sure if they hit the bus stop because they swerved after hitting the woman, it doesn't seem to make sense that they'd hit someone and then follow her in the same direction, but when it's a spur of the moment occourance you can never tell.

Zulu

Archytas wrote:

I'm not getting into an argument here but the emergency services have the right-of-way in ALL situations. If they don't have that then they cant do their job. Thats why they don't have to wear seatbelts, can use mobile phones while driving and get the right of way at junctions/traffic lights.

Look this isn't an argument. I'm stating facts.
FACT: The emergency services are subject to the same laws as everybody else.
Now, due to the nature of the work they do, speeding etc. is overlooked - because it works in everyone's benefit. BUT LEGALLY THEY are not allowed to break the law. If they are speeding/breaking lights etc. they are supposed to do so with extreme care. Naturally people don't expect cars to be hurtling down the wrong side of the road. Naturally people don't expect cars to crash the lights - so the onus/responsibility is on the driver to be CAREFUL when stepping outside the law in such cases.

And Tabatha, although I dread to refute you, I would suggest that if the general driver in this country was of even poor quality, we'd all be better off. Some of the driving "stunts" I see in this country are truly amazing.

tabatha

well to be honest i think the problem with drivers in this county is the fact that they can drive on a provisional licence. i know that there might be many drivers out there on provisional licences who think that they are "competent" but the fact remains that they are "unqualified". I dont think that there is any other country that i know where you can do that. Anyway, I know that this is nothing to do with the emergency services but i suppose if you have drivers who cant really drive along with pedestrians who dont know how to cross roads along with speeding garda there are bound to be accidents.

How many accidents do you hear of that involve the emergency services that were cause by them? Not that many I would say in relation to the amount of call outs they have.

flogen

ok, please move away from the incompetence of drivers, the ignorance of pedestrians and the stupidity of the provisional licence laws and move back to the topic at hand.