Gardai speeding along the Luas tracks

Bee · 13-03-2005 11:11PM #1

Anyone else notice this?

Strolling down past Irish Life...There was a Garda van stopped under the railway bridge,on the Luas tracks, waiting for the lights to change, in no hurry, moved off and drove the wrong way up Abbey St along the Luas tracks the other morning.

I would normally expect to see only the usual idiot cyclists do this

Mid afternoon a speeding Garda car drove down Abbey St. along the Luas tracks and stopped at Store St cop shop.

Is this a very dangerous abuse of power?

Anyone else experience this?

Bee

Andrew Duffy · 14-03-2005 11:23AM

Constantly. So long as we have a police force that is in fact an unregulated off shoot of our military we will have officers who believe themselves above the law. Comfort yourself with the knowledge that it is increasingly unlikely that the driver of the marked car or van has been trained in defensive high speed driving and is in fact driving based upon a letter from his superintendent.

Zulu · 14-03-2005 11:39AM

Ah the Guards! Speeding to the chipper. Would you expect anything else?
I just hope everyone is alright when they hit a Luas.

tk123 · 14-03-2005 01:16PM

Zulu wrote:

Ah the Guards! Speeding to the chipper. Would you expect anything else?

Speeding to the doughnut shop!!

BrianD · 14-03-2005 01:38PM

I'm sure emergency vehicles can use the luas reservations at all times. Though it is debatable whether they should be used routinely.

Tarabuses · 14-03-2005 02:45PM

Emergency vehicles should use their sirens and warning lights when making any otherwise illegal manouevres. Of course thay do not since, as has been said, they are above the law.

Victor · 14-03-2005 03:40PM

Emergency vehicles can use the Luas-only streets at all times. The things to be conscious of are grip on the rails and restricted space if a tram is at a platform.

So it's not so much that they are above the law, the law doesn't apply to them.

Bee do you object to fire trucks using Grafton Street?

RuggieBear · 14-03-2005 03:45PM

even if it is a non emergency?

Know it's not strictly the same but wasn't there a case a couple of years ago about an ambulance involved in a crash when it went thru a red light and a judge said that it was not legal to do so or something....sorry i'm being so vague.

Zulu · 14-03-2005 04:03PM

AFAIK: It is illegal for all emergency vehicles to break the law, but in an emergency it is over looked.
ie: a cop car speeding - just to be speeding is illegal. A cop car chasing joy riders is breaking the law by speeding - but they're not going to be prosecuted.

robinph · 14-03-2005 04:04PM

From knowing some ambulance drivers years ago, so my memory and the facts might not be quite right, I'm sure that they said that they would still get done for speeding, jumping lights, or anything else. And this regardless of if the blue lights/ sirens were on or if they are on the way to an emergency.
The blue lights and sirens are just there for the purpose of warning other road users that they should really get out of the way as this vehicle is on the way to save someones life.
The same rules apply to all three services exactly the same as they do for all other road users, it just chosen to ignore the breaking of the speed limits by an ambulance, etc, as we would hope that if we were in the back of it they would be trying to get to us to hospital as quickly as possible.

optiplexgx270 · 14-03-2005 04:12PM

Is it that big of a deal?

seamus · 14-03-2005 04:16PM

RuggieBear wrote:

even if it is a non emergency?

The Gardai routinely drive up and down Grafton St and many other pedestrianised streets in the evenings, even when there's no emergency.

TBH it doesn't bother me, so long as they're in a marked patrol car.

RuggieBear · 14-03-2005 04:23PM

seamus wrote:

The Gardai routinely drive up and down Grafton St and many other pedestrianised streets in the evenings, even when there's no emergency.

TBH it doesn't bother me, so long as they're in a marked patrol car.

tbh it doesn't usually bother me either...but i'd hate to think they were taking a shortcut and risking peoples lifes just for the sake of it

Victor · 14-03-2005 04:42PM

RuggieBear wrote:

tbh it doesn't usually bother me either...but i'd hate to think they were taking a shortcut and risking peoples lifes just for the sake of it

It's probably safer to use the tram only street as they tend to have less traffic, which would generally make things safer.

The thing about the ambulance running the red light was that the driver did so without paying heed to other traffic (e.g. blind or deaf drivers). The ambulance driver was found 25%(?) responsible and the car driver 75%.

green_onions · 14-03-2005 06:04PM

Was walking down O'Connell St by Clerys at lunchtime today. The traffic was backed up because the lights at Abbey St were red. Traffic was also backed up in Sackville Place (at the side of Clerys) as a result. Next thing a Garda van comes racing down Sackville Place sirens blaring. There was a truck and a council litter van in the way but they couldn't move cause of the traffic. The Garda van driver is blasting the horn at them. So the council van promptly ramps up onto the central median of O'Connell St, a danger in itself to pedestrians. The truck moves forward and the Garda van swings a left onto the path outside the Sony Centre. Speeds across the footpath and ramps down onto the road again at the Abbey St junction and speeds away across O'Connell Bridge. People on the footpath had to literally jump out of the van's way. That was pure madness and the Garda driving should have exercised a hell of a lot more caution

Occidental · 14-03-2005 06:15PM

Zulu wrote:

Ah the Guards! Speeding to the chipper. Would you expect anything else?
I just hope everyone is alright when they hit a Luas.

They hit one outside the Four Courts a while back.

murphaph · 14-03-2005 08:31PM

Victor wrote:

The thing about the ambulance running the red light was that the driver did so without paying heed to other traffic (e.g. blind or deaf drivers). The ambulance driver was found 25%(?) responsible and the car driver 75%.

robfitz · 15-03-2005 12:58AM

Zulu wrote:

AFAIK: It is illegal for all emergency vehicles to break the law, but in an emergency it is over looked.

They don't break the law, the law doesn't apply to them.

http://www.irishstatutebook.ie/ZZSI274Y1998.html
S.I. No. 274/1998: ROAD TRAFFIC (TRAFFIC AND PARKING) (AMENDMENT) REGULATIONS, 1998

5. ...

(2) A prohibition or restriction imposed by these Regulations shall not apply to the driver of a fire brigade vehicle or an ambulance or to the use by a member of the Garda Siochana of a vehicle in the performance of the duties of that member, where such use does not thereby endanger the safety of road users.

...

FX Meister · 15-03-2005 01:17AM

So why was it all over the news that Fire Brigade drivers can get penalty points if they speed and could lose their license?

Bee · 15-03-2005 02:39AM

Victor wrote:

Bee do you object to fire trucks using Grafton Street?

No, nor especially ambulances. I object strongly to idiotic driving by Gardai that is a danger to the public and I strongly suspect, the abuse of the Luas tracks by Gardai for non-emergency situations.

Bee

jesus_thats_gre · 15-03-2005 03:59AM

Emergency services cannot break the road traffic laws.. The Gardai can..

As for the moaning that the Gardai do the above, have you seen an instance whereby an accident even neary could have happened?

Zulu · 15-03-2005 10:58AM

jesus_thats_gre wrote:

As for the moaning that the Gardai do the above, have you seen an instance whereby an accident even neary could have happened?

Yes, yes I have.

murphaph · 15-03-2005 11:01AM

Whatever about the legal ins and outs of them using Luas as a shortcut, it sets a p*ss poor example for our already crap motorists.

seamus · 15-03-2005 11:04AM

jesus_thats_gre wrote:

As for the moaning that the Gardai do the above, have you seen an instance whereby an accident even neary could have happened?

When I was in fourth year, a young fella from CUS was hit by a Garda car driving the wrong way down the contra-flow bus lane. On his birthday. Holding his birthday card in his hand.*

Chances are he crossed the road without looking.

*Seriously

edmund_f · 15-03-2005 11:06AM

do remember when Ireland was hosting the Eu ministers, the Gardai around the place would have put a group of boy racers to shame, did complain.... went to the complaints comission, surprisingly enough _they_ found that _they_ had done nothing wrong.

Zulu · 15-03-2005 11:18AM

edmund_f wrote:

complaints comission

pppppppfffffffffttttt. :rolleyes:
Thats the best joke I've heard in a while.

Victor · 17-03-2005 10:00PM

edmund_f wrote:

do remember when Ireland was hosting the Eu ministers, the Gardai around the place would have put a group of boy racers to shame, did complain.... went to the complaints comission, surprisingly enough _they_ found that _they_ had done nothing wrong.

The concepts of "in the course of their duties" and diplomatic immunity come to mind.

jesus_thats_gre · 17-03-2005 10:11PM

Zula, care to share what it was?

Seasus.. Why were they there though?

seamus · 18-03-2005 12:06PM

jesus_thats_gre wrote:

Seasus.. Why were they there though?

Even though the m is nowhere near the s, I'll assume that's aimed at me

I've no idea why they were there. Though driving in a contra-flow bus lane in order to skip traffic comes to mind. Otherwise they should have had their siren on.

Gavin · 18-03-2005 05:10PM

Someone commented above about the gardai being an offshoot of the army ? What was that all about ?

On the issue of Gardai braking traffic law, it seriously pisses me off. If they have the sirens on, I don't give a ****, they can do what they want. If the sirens aren't on, or the lights, they have no right to go the wrong way up a one way street, take turns that are illegal for other users, break the lights etc. They are the enforcers of the law, the defenders of the peace, you think they would adhere to law so as to set an example !!!

Gav

Turner · 18-03-2005 06:26PM

seamus wrote:

The Gardai routinely drive up and down Grafton St and many other pedestrianised streets in the evenings, even when there's no emergency.
.

Its called patrolling their district. If they werent there people would be giving out aswell.

Gardai speeding along the Luas tracks

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