Question for the traffic garda amongst us and those that have had dealings with them

bit of a strange one
- but -
do Gardai have generic sentences that they issue to motorists ?

Recently (in the last 12months) I've been in two situations where gardai used similar sentences which made me think they use specific sentences to make a person feel guilty or so they could put doubt in the persons mind and make them believe something that isnt true.

an example:

I was on my way to football a few months ago - 6.40ish (kick off was 7pm) .... I was going up a road which changed to a bus lane (I continued driving in the bus lane for a bit - all the time looking for a gap to join the traffic - eventually I managed to get into traffic and an unmarked car pulled up alongside me and told me to pull over)

I pulled back into the bus lane and the road widened a bit more - so I pulled up alongside some cars on the side of the road...the gardai pulled up and said I was driving in the bus lane - I didnt dispute that...but then the member said I almost hit a cyclist and I was on my mobile phone at the time.

(there was no cyclist on the road and I did not pass any while I was in the bus lane) .... I denied I was on the phone and even gave my mobile to the garda so he could check the history himself - I felt like he would not believe me unless I showed it to him and if the matter came to court - it would go against me if I didnt show it to the garda.....anyway.... fine was issued (driving in a bus lane) and paid !!

Second occasion - a while back - I was in traffic at a T-junction....slowly moving ..... some drivers taking an age to turn when the lights changed - eventually as I got to the junction the lights changed to red - I was following the car in front of me and said "funk this" and continued driving.... fair enough I broke a red light...whoop de doo - cyclists, busses, taxi's and other road users do it on a regular basis.

Anywoo - next thing I know a garda car pulled up alongside of me (I'm guessing was front of the queue of the other set of lights) ... starts telling me that I broke a red light and could have killed the cyclist (at max I was travelling 5-10km/hr) ... there was no cyclist in sight and if there was he would have had to break the lights in order for us to have had a collision.

I accept on both occasions I "broke" the law - and I hope the gardai continue to punish people like me.... unfortunately its not done on a regular basis - but my point is that once a person is "caught" they (in my experience) are accused of other crimes as the initial crime is petty - are they trying to make it into a more serious charge or are they trying to make a motorist feel like they need to second guess themselves ?

has anyone else out there had a similar experience ? or have the gardai out there been told to say certain things to knock a person off balance and create doubt in their own mind - or is it that the chance of a conviction is higher if the story sounds better (almost hitting a cyclist is a better story to tell back at base than some guy was in a bus lane and I did him)