What's the story with Garda Driving?

gem25x · 11-01-2009 02:02PM

djtechnics1210 wrote: »

Why not just pull into slow lane and let them pass. :rolleyes:
Its meant to be an overtaking lane... thats why there's two lanes.
If doing 40mph then get into the inside lane and stop holding up everyone behind.
The procedure for garda drivers is to match the speed of the car in front and if car doesn't move (which it never does, because people think they can drive away happily in the outside lane and let everyone behind them go as slow as them) then flash headlights to indicate you want to pass.

I know I was off point but I wasnt referring to a garda car in the above thread. Please note ther quote was referring to beemer.

My point was, I'm sick sh!t of people driving up my @rse in bigger cars who dont have the manners to obey the rules of the road let alone be considerate of other road users. And if someone is driving on my bumper I'll slow right down not just to wreck their head but to prove a point. Absolutely no need for the speed or tailgating.

And for the record I'm not drivin up and down link roads at 40mph in fast lane all day every day:D I would consider myself a safe driver and road user and am fully aware of the dangers of actin the maggot on the road - drivin v v v v slowly can be just as dangerous (obv for the OTHER road users)

rant over

jt123456 · 11-01-2009 02:56PM

i kinda meant the likes of B roads or the normal National roads as there's not many motorways or dual carriages ways in my neck of the woods. In these types of roads there is no where to go, No slow/fast lanes, and in many cases not even any hard shoulders. So your happily driving along at 50mph (reasonable speed and certainly not holding anyone back) and you can just see the eejit behind you banging his steering wheel and screaming at you to get out of the way. This road rage often leads to ridulous overtaking maneouvers on solid white lines and around corners :eek:.

shakin · 13-01-2009 04:46PM

now correct me if im wrong here, but there is a standard driving course and and advanced driving course(for cars)? so can gardai on the standard do high-speed pursuits? or must they have the advanced?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fYmpZq3moKY

pa990 · 13-01-2009 05:19PM

shakin wrote: »

now correct me if im wrong here, but there is a standard driving course and and advanced driving course(for cars)? so can gardai on the standard do high-speed pursuits? or must they have the advanced?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fYmpZq3moKY

The Gardai do not get involved in Pursuits.. They follow at a safe distance until someone runs out of petrol

miceal · 13-01-2009 05:32PM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XRbdKu3iwdA

Not sure if this is the Gardai or the Police.

donvito99 · 13-01-2009 09:27PM

'Tis the Guards, a disgrace that people would put lives of Gardai nd their own at risk. The guards wont get very far in a Galaxy either, albeit it is more for the storage of gizmos in the back rather than speed.

deadwood · 13-01-2009 10:48PM

donvito99 wrote: »

...it is more for the storage of gizmos in the back...

Their names are Nog and Karlitosway, if you don't mind!

Eru · 14-01-2009 02:18AM

deadwood wrote: »

Their names are Nog and Karlitosway, if you don't mind!

Grievance!

Sierra Oscar · 14-01-2009 02:16PM

2,600 gardaí driving patrol cars without qualifications

The Oireachtas Justice Committee has heard that around 2,600 gardaí are driving patrol cars without the necessary qualifications.

The comments were made by Kathleen O'Toole, the chief of the Garda Inspectorate.

Inspector O'Toole said these gardaí were operating on so-called "chief's permission" without having undergone a driving course.

She says this policy is putting both the officers themselves and the lives of the public at risk.

http://www.breakingnews.ie/ireland/mhsneyeyqlau/

Trojan911 · 14-01-2009 02:27PM

Heard her talking on the local news today. Will be interesting to see if any action is taken to change this policy for the better & get officers on proper driving courses.

metman · 14-01-2009 02:34PM

This would involve spending a lot of cash to increase places on courses, i.e recruit more instructors, more vehicles etc etc. Is this likely to happen in a recession?

Its the same rubbish here; people waiting an eternity for driving courses simply because the job won't invest in the driving schools.

The answer is to stick the standard response course onto foundation training. Think of all the wasted weeks in basic training, covering pointless topics that could be substituted with a driving course and public order training. That way everyone out of Templemore/Hendon/Wherever is a response driver and a level 2/Mat officer.

PS my identity crisis has now been resolved thanks to TheNog and Cult!

Blazer · 14-01-2009 02:42PM

I don't mind Gardai or the ES driving on the road..it's good to know that if you need them they will get there fast.
I just wish though most of them in Limerick would learn how to use indicators.
Have yet to see a Gardai vehicle use them.

TheNog · 14-01-2009 02:49PM

Tbh I cant see why the basic driving course cannot be done locally. If each division had maybe 2-3 drivers trained to instructor level. These instructors can come from the Traffis Corps.

It would remove the need for travel and sub allowance as well as accomodation at the college.

Trojan911 · 14-01-2009 02:52PM

Mathew Reilly wrote: »

I don't mind Gardai or the ES driving on the road..it's good to know that if you need them they will get there fast.

Agreed there, but it is better for all if they are competant in doing so by undergoing a response course, they get there faster & safer.

Corega · 14-01-2009 07:56PM

I can't see why the driving course isn't done down in Templemore during your initial training.

Also it's a requirement for a lot of jobs these days to have a full clean driving licence, in the meantime there are guards with provisional licences who get the permission slip from the Chief and are asked to drive patrol cars from the get go. And given the high speed nature of pursuits and additional awareness needed in these situations this doesn't seem right. So I believe any new recruits should be required to have a full licence before being allowed to join AGS.

cushtac · 14-01-2009 08:10PM

Corega wrote: »

Also it's a requirement for a lot of jobs these days to have a full clean driving licence, in the meantime there are guards with provisional licences who get the permission slip from the Chief and are asked to drive patrol cars from the get go.

Don't know where you got that from, but you need to hold a full clean license in order to get Chief's and you don't get Chief's 'from the get go'.

CLADA · 14-01-2009 08:18PM

Corega wrote: »

in the meantime there are guards with provisional licences who get the permission slip from the Chief and are asked to drive patrol cars from the get go.

Please do not post incorrect information on this subject, provisional licence holders do not get chiefs permission.

Driver training in AGS has been seriously under resourced for years, the standard of training provided is excellent, it's providing an adequate number of courses to meet demand that's the problem.

In an effort to increase the number of qualified drivers the duration of the standard course was reduced which also reduced the qualifications of the driver (e.g 2000cc restriction), the advanced course is 4 weeks, the VIP escort course is 3 weeks.

Corega · 14-01-2009 08:32PM

Apologies for getting my information wrong. However, I still believe a full licence should be a requirement before being accepted as a recruit.

CLADA · 14-01-2009 08:40PM

Corega wrote: »

Apologies for getting my information wrong. However, I still believe a full licence should be a requirement before being accepted as a recruit.

Can't agree with you there, I did not have a full licence when I joined and I am now the top driver in the job :cool:

Had a full licence been a requirement I would not have been eligible to join, would the organisation have recovered from such a loss

Don't even think about saying it deadwood :mad:

cushtac · 14-01-2009 09:02PM

Corega wrote: »

Apologies for getting my information wrong. However, I still believe a full licence should be a requirement before being accepted as a recruit.

That won't solve the problem and would only exclude otherwise qualified applicants from applying for the job. The only solution is to increase the number of members being trained to the appropriate standard.

Corega · 14-01-2009 09:30PM

CLADA wrote: »

Can't agree with you there, I did not have a full licence when I joined and I am now the top driver in the job

But if it had been a requirement and you were adamant on joining up you would have made damn sure that you had made every effort to pass your test beforehand.

I only bring it up because driving is such an integral part of modern policing, and quite rightly so as it enables you to respond to incidents quicker, carry more equipment and patrol a larger area than if you were on foot. It goes without saying that most members, at some stage in their career, will find themselves behind the wheel so it would seem to be the logical step.

Anyway my Godfathers pizza just arrived so I've nothing more to add atm.

cushtac · 14-01-2009 09:41PM

Corega wrote: »

But if it had been a requirement and you were adamant on joining up you would have made damn sure that you had made every effort to pass your test beforehand.

What difference would that make? There's no capacity there to train all the Gardaí looking for the course at present so there's little point in requiring the students to have a full license if they're not going to get trained for years after attestation

Corega wrote: »

I only bring it up because driving is such an integral part of modern policing, and quite rightly so as it enables you to respond to incidents quicker, carry more equipment and patrol a larger area than if you were on foot. It goes without saying that most members, at some stage in their career, will find themselves behind the wheel so it would seem to be the logical step.

The logical step would be to train all those Gardaí currently looking for the course before worrying about students & potential students who aren't even in stations yet.

Eru · 15-01-2009 04:53AM

CLADA wrote: »

Can't agree with you there, I did not have a full licence when I joined and I am now the top driver in the job :cool:

For a girl!

Corega wrote: »

Apologies for getting my information wrong. However, I still believe a full licence should be a requirement before being accepted as a recruit.

So you think a full drivers license should be required when 90% of recruits wont see the inside of the passenger side nevermind the drivers side for the duration of their training and probation? Wheres the logic in that?

deadwood · 15-01-2009 01:24PM

CLADA wrote: »

Don't even think about saying it deadwood :mad:

How am I meant to work in the face of such oppression?

:mad: yerself!

Driving is only a small part of the job and a driving licence will never be a requirement before joining. I know several top-notch members who have never driven for various reasons and it doesn't hold them back.

petergfiffin · 15-01-2009 02:03PM

Corega wrote: »

Apologies for getting my information wrong. However, I still believe a full licence should be a requirement before being accepted as a recruit.

Army recruits can join the army and become drivers without posessing a driving licence and they learn to drive everything from cars to artics & APCs (wouldn't Garda APCs be cool:rolleyes:....), in many ways the army see not having a licence as preferable as there are no bad habits to unlearn and you can learn the right way from the start, in fact your "civvie" licence doesn't count for squat until you do the official course. Now before people start, I 100% accept that Garda & Army drivers have a totally different focus but I think the point that you don't need a licence still stands.

Makes me think though that if there are issues with Guards being able to get onto driving courses maybe Army instructors and vehicles could be used to get people to a basic standard with Garda instructors doing the Garda specific piece.

Corega · 15-01-2009 02:36PM

Karlitosway1978 wrote: »

So you think a full drivers license should be required when 90% of recruits wont see the inside of the passenger side nevermind the drivers side for the duration of their training and probation? Wheres the logic in that?

Okay I can accept that, but it's highly likely that once training and probation are completed 90% of Guards will end up as either a passenger or driver. Surely the more experience you have behind the wheel, the better. Furthermore, from what I've been told your training and probation can be the most hectic period of your career and most people wouldn't have the time to practice and pass their test, especially if they're in a busy station.

After passing my test last year I was given me a few choice words that have stuck with me; "While you may have passed this test remember that you are still on a learning curve." And she was right, it takes years for people to realise the nuance's of driving i.e. how the car reacts in different weather, being aware of the limits of a vehicle and, the most important skill, observation.

petergfiffin wrote: »

Army recruits can join the army and become drivers without posessing a driving licence and they learn to drive everything from cars to artics & APCs (wouldn't Garda APCs be cool:rolleyes:....), in many ways the army see not having a licence as preferable as there are no bad habits to unlearn and you can learn the right way from the start, in fact your "civvie" licence doesn't count for squat until you do the official course. Now before people start, I 100% accept that Garda & Army drivers have a totally different focus but I think the point that you don't need a licence still stands.

Makes me think though that if there are issues with Guards being able to get onto driving courses maybe Army instructors and vehicles could be used to get people to a basic standard with Garda instructors doing the Garda specific piece.

That's a valid point, the fact that the advanced courses for both Guards and Defence Forces personnel will be a lot more focused on the skills that they require. And also get rid of any bad habits picked up along the way.

All I'm saying is the sooner people start driving the more experience they will gain. Crawl, walk, run...in this case the crawling would be passing the "civvie" test before you move on to the more advanced stages.

cushtac · 15-01-2009 07:11PM

Corega wrote: »

Okay I can accept that, but it's highly likely that once training and probation are completed 90% of Guards will end up as either a passenger or driver.

They'll be a passenger alright, but it's rare enough that you'll be driving that quickly.

Corega wrote: »

Surely the more experience you have behind the wheel, the better. Furthermore, from what I've been told your training and probation can be the most hectic period of your career and most people wouldn't have the time to practice and pass their test, especially if they're in a busy station.

Since you can't get Chief's without having a full license, you have been judged by the state to be as competent as anyone else on the same license & there's plenty of people out there who've been driving for years and are still bad motorists. I've never heard of anyone having a problem getting the time to practice for a driving test.

shakin · 20-01-2009 03:37PM

would an advanced driving course from an approved private instructor of garda standard be acceptable to use to drive squad cars?

CLADA · 20-01-2009 05:18PM

Ahem...D1 actually.

shakin · 20-01-2009 05:43PM

city4life wrote: »

which remind me to get my d licence!!!

is that for personnel carriers or normal van?

What's the story with Garda Driving?

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