Gardai abuse of the rules of the road

Snakeblood · 07-09-2011 04:13PM

deadwood wrote: »

That's fair, but it's not unreasonable to seek some kind of proof, but an internet forum isn't a court so both sides of the debate have to make allowances.

Yeah, that's true. I think it's better for both sides to say 'well, according to what you saw, what happened' and then answer the situation than say the situation didn't happen at all.

Defusing things rather than escalating them, I suppose.

deadwood · 07-09-2011 04:34PM

Snakeblood wrote: »

Yeah, that's true. I think it's better for both sides to say 'well, according to what you saw, what happened' and then answer the situation than say the situation didn't happen at all.

Defusing things rather than escalating them, I suppose.

Exactly. You See? The guard is always right!:D

Now, on with the bashing debate!

tayto lover · 07-09-2011 04:36PM

Snakeblood wrote: »

Yeah, that's true. I think it's better for both sides to say 'well, according to what you saw, what happened' and then answer the situation than say the situation didn't happen at all.

Defusing things rather than escalating them, I suppose.

Maybe you could ask the son of the man who works in the Ombudsmans Office if he can find out how many dud or trivial complaints are made each year and how many have been proven. Then you can take a percentage of the "i saw a Garda doing" from this thread as being made up or trivial.
Some of them are so actually unbelievable they should be sent to Ripleys Believe It or Not, like the "consultants" one.

Snakeblood · 07-09-2011 04:37PM

deadwood wrote: »

Exactly. You See? The guard is always right!:D

Now, on with the bashing debate!

Of course!

Nope, I got my answers actually, someone just responded to me like a dickhead a while ago about something and I kept having to answer. Thanks for being civil.

Bannasidhe · 07-09-2011 04:40PM

deadwood wrote: »

That's fair, but it's not unreasonable to seek some kind of proof and an internet forum isn't a court so both sides of the debate have to make allowances. You'll provide weight to your own argument by providing proof - your readers can't be expected to fill in the gaps, otherwise innuendo and "I heard from a fella who knows a guy" is the benchmark for reasonable debate.

I don't think anyone would disagree with you, but I think the (lets call them) pro-garda posters are saying is that the observer is not aware of the reason for the breaking of red lights/bylaws etc. In my own experience, it happens that you proceed to a call with sirens etc and then get the "stand-down", resulting in glares from other drivers who only see two guards skipping traffic. You shouldn't assume the guys are just doing it for their fill of donuts (chief wiggum has a lot to answer for).
Also I wouldn't say that it has not or will not happen. If it does, then they're wrong. If you see it being done, then make a complaint and change things for the better.(and no, this won't result in a target on your back)

Each case is different. You expect me to answer for someone elses actions? I didn't see this show, but maybe the driver already had an appointment to have his tyres fixed (he can't breeze into advance tyres in a bus, can he?). Maybe the guard weighed up his options and decided that allowing the bus to continue was safer than having it stopped with passengers on a roadside in a dangerous place? I don't know.

Gardai have a power of discretion, which involves common sense. If it's zero tolerance you want, then fine. Just don't complain when you get a fine for doing 101kmh in a 100 zone.

This debate needs some common sense on both sides.

Deadwood - I would like to thank you for your considered, articulate and reasoned responses. Sadly, while myself and others who wished to discuss issues around the perceived (and in my own and other poster's cases witnessed) abuses of the Gardaí exemptions to the traffic laws we were repeatedly greeted by insults, dismissed as liars and accused of being motivated only by anti-Gardaí sentiment. Personally, I am very concerned by anti-Gardaí sentiment within sections of our society (no - it's not just 'scumbags') and was positing that when Gardaí are perceived as flouting, ignoring, disrespecting the laws they are sworn to uphold it feeds that negativity. For this I got personal abuse and my integrity questioned.
This name calling on the part of those who sought to defend the AGS from 'attack' - when most posers here were questioning the proprietary of members of the force using the exemption for what were seen as 'off duty/personal' errands also feeds the 'Us' vs 'Them' divide which many here believe exists between the AGS and the citizens they protect. The genuine belief in that divide expressed here troubles me.

Bannasidhe · 07-09-2011 04:45PM

tayto lover wrote: »

Maybe you could ask the son of the man who works in the Ombudsmans Office if he can find out how many dud or trivial complaints are made each year and how many have been proven. Then you can take a percentage of the "i saw a Garda doing" from this thread as being made up or trivial.
Some of them are so actually unbelievable they should be sent to Ripleys Believe It or Not, like the "consultants" one.

Why is there no MOD on this forum? I am sick of this poster's repeated personal attacks on my integrity and honesty.

tayto lover · 07-09-2011 04:51PM

Wertz wrote: »

My reference to "siege mentality" was towards members of the force both on here and in general in public. The Us and Them thing cuts both ways.

Most people support what the gardaí do...although some have a problem with the way they do some things and as usual the few bad apples give you all a bad name when it comes to certain things...
As for scumbags that shouldn't be complaining...obviously they're the ones who are going to shout the loudest because it's in their interest to hate the guards, but that doesn't give certain garda carte blanche to treat them any differently than any other member of the public they encounter in their day-to-day dealings, and if scumbags are treated unfairly or more harshly because they're scumbags then they have some right to complain...

A very fair and reasoned post and not a bit "makey uppy" or exaggerated like others have resorted to. Well done.
Of course there are good and bad apples everywhere and the Garda are no exceptions but to use these threads just to get back at them for something is quite common it seems. Fair play to you again.

Bosco boy · 07-09-2011 04:53PM

Bannasidhe wrote: »

deadwood wrote: »

That's fair, but it's not unreasonable to seek some kind of proof and an internet forum isn't a court so both sides of the debate have to make allowances. You'll provide weight to your own argument by providing proof - your readers can't be expected to fill in the gaps, otherwise innuendo and "I heard from a fella who knows a guy" is the benchmark for reasonable debate.

I don't think anyone would disagree with you, but I think the (lets call them) pro-garda posters are saying is that the observer is not aware of the reason for the breaking of red lights/bylaws etc. In my own experience, it happens that you proceed to a call with sirens etc and then get the "stand-down", resulting in glares from other drivers who only see two guards skipping traffic. You shouldn't assume the guys are just doing it for their fill of donuts (chief wiggum has a lot to answer for).
Also I wouldn't say that it has not or will not happen. If it does, then they're wrong. If you see it being done, then make a complaint and change things for the better.(and no, this won't result in a target on your back)

Each case is different. You expect me to answer for someone elses actions? I didn't see this show, but maybe the driver already had an appointment to have his tyres fixed (he can't breeze into advance tyres in a bus, can he?). Maybe the guard weighed up his options and decided that allowing the bus to continue was safer than having it stopped with passengers on a roadside in a dangerous place? I don't know.

Gardai have a power of discretion, which involves common sense. If it's zero tolerance you want, then fine. Just don't complain when you get a fine for doing 101kmh in a 100 zone.

This debate needs some common sense on both sides.

Deadwood - I would like to thank you for your considered, articulate and reasoned responses. Sadly, while myself and others who wished to discuss issues around the perceived (and in my own and other poster's cases witnessed) abuses of the Gardaí exemptions to the traffic laws we were repeatedly greeted by insults, dismissed as liars and accused of being motivated only by anti-Gardaí sentiment. Personally, I am very concerned by anti-Gardái sentiment within sections of our society(no - not just 'scumbags') and was positing that when Gardaí are perceived as flouting, ignoring, disrespecting the laws they are sworn to uphold it feeds that negativity. For this I got personal abuse and my integrity questioned.
This name calling on the part of those who sought to defend the AGS from 'attack' - when most posers here were questioning the proprietary of members of the force using the exemption for what were seen as 'off duty/personal' errands also feeds the 'Us' vs 'Them' divide which many here believe exists between the AGS and the citizens they protect. The genuine belief in that divide expressed here troubles me.

It would trouble me too only for I know most people are decent and support AGS. Some posters here expect not to be contradicted or questioned on their posts or claims well I'm sorry I'm entitled to an opinion as well. Just cause we differ and your arguement isn't being accepted in full it seems to trouble you. I'll tell it straight and if that troubles you then tough!

tayto lover · 07-09-2011 04:55PM

Bannasidhe wrote: »

Why is there no MOD on this forum? I am sick of this poster's repeated personal attacks on my integrity and honesty.

Hold on a minute. If you go back through the posts you will find that i was attacked more than anybody else. BUT the people who were treated worse than anyone were the men and women of an Garda Siochana.

hatrickpatrick · 07-09-2011 05:00PM

deadwood wrote: »

I don't think anyone would disagree with you, but I think the (lets call them) pro-garda posters are saying is that the observer is not aware of the reason for the breaking of red lights/bylaws etc. In my own experience, it happens that you proceed to a call with sirens etc and then get the "stand-down", resulting in glares from other drivers who only see two guards skipping traffic. You shouldn't assume the guys are just doing it for their fill of donuts (chief wiggum has a lot to answer for).
Also I wouldn't say that it has not or will not happen. If it does, then they're wrong. If you see it being done, then make a complaint and change things for the better.(and no, this won't result in a target on your back)

The point is though people HAVE disagreed with it. People in this thread have implied that it's ok for a Gard to offer to get a friend off a ticket as it's trivial.

Does the principle of croneyism and abuse of power not bother people? It's got this country into the ridiculous mess it's in, and while of course a Garda going through a red light to get some coffee isn't going to crash the economy, the point is that, just as "economy begins at home", so does ethical behavior. Once we start giving people free for all exemptions from the law it's an absolutely appalling slippery slope. Just a few weeks ago we had a thread here from a guy who says a Garda car almost crashed into him during a car chase. As I said earlier, the Ombudsman seems to get an absolutely ridiculous number of traffic related complaints.

You can't simply dismiss this as petty. No one cares about a random red light or a cup of coffee, it's the principle behind it which we're arguing about here. The principle of those with very great trust and exemptions from the law of the land, abusing that position.

Bosco boy · 07-09-2011 05:07PM

hatrickpatrick wrote: »

deadwood wrote: »

I don't think anyone would disagree with you, but I think the (lets call them) pro-garda posters are saying is that the observer is not aware of the reason for the breaking of red lights/bylaws etc. In my own experience, it happens that you proceed to a call with sirens etc and then get the "stand-down", resulting in glares from other drivers who only see two guards skipping traffic. You shouldn't assume the guys are just doing it for their fill of donuts (chief wiggum has a lot to answer for).
Also I wouldn't say that it has not or will not happen. If it does, then they're wrong. If you see it being done, then make a complaint and change things for the better.(and no, this won't result in a target on your back)

The point is though people HAVE disagreed with it. People in this thread have implied that it's ok for a Gard to offer to get a friend off a ticket as it's trivial.

Does the principle of croneyism and abuse of power not bother people? It's got this country into the ridiculous mess it's in, and while of course a Garda going through a red light to get some coffee isn't going to crash the economy, the point is that, just as "economy begins at home", so does ethical behavior. Once we start giving people free for all exemptions from the law it's an absolutely appalling slippery slope. Just a few weeks ago we had a thread here from a guy who says a Garda car almost crashed into him during a car chase. As I said earlier, the Ombudsman seems to get an absolutely ridiculous number of traffic related complaints.

You can't simply dismiss this as petty. No one cares about a random red light or a cup of coffee, it's the principle behind it which we're arguing about here. The principle of those with very great trust and exemptions from the law of the land, abusing that position.

what do you work at yourself?

tayto lover · 07-09-2011 05:14PM

hatrickpatrick wrote: »

The point is though people HAVE disagreed with it. People in this thread have implied that it's ok for a Gard to offer to get a friend off a ticket as it's trivial.

Does the principle of croneyism and abuse of power not bother people? It's got this country into the ridiculous mess it's in, and while of course a Garda going through a red light to get some coffee isn't going to crash the economy, the point is that, just as "economy begins at home", so does ethical behavior. Once we start giving people free for all exemptions from the law it's an absolutely appalling slippery slope. Just a few weeks ago we had a thread here from a guy who says a Garda car almost crashed into him during a car chase. As I said earlier, the Ombudsman seems to get an absolutely ridiculous number of traffic related complaints.

You can't simply dismiss this as petty. No one cares about a random red light or a cup of coffee, it's the principle behind it which we're arguing about here. The principle of those with very great trust and exemptions from the law of the land, abusing that position.

Was it only the Garda car that almost crashed into that poster ? I'm sure the car they were chasing was being driven by someone with a poor level of driving, even worse than the Garda and was every bit as likely to hit the poster as the Garda car. If the Garda did not chase the person in this car and he got away with a crime we would surely have people on here complaining about that too. They cannot win !!

Bannasidhe · 07-09-2011 05:21PM

Bosco boy wrote: »

It would trouble me too only for I know most people are decent and support AGS. Some posters here expect not to be contradicted or questioned on their posts or claims well I'm sorry I'm entitled to an opinion as well. Just cause we differ and your arguement isn't being accepted in full it seems to trouble you. I'll tell it straight and if that troubles you then tough!

I have no problem with my argument not being accepted in full. I do have a problem when the 'counter-argument' consists of nothing but insults and name calling.

I am fully aware that Gardaí may be responding to a call which is cancelled. I have no issue with Gardaí drinking coffee in the squad car. I do have an issue when I know Gardaí are not on official duty but still availing of the traffic law exemption. You believe this NEVER happens. I believe it does. We are both entitled to our beliefs. Neither of us is entitled to insult the other. I have not personally insulted anyone on this thread but have been repeatedly called a liar and my integrity questioned.

I fully support the AGS and am aware of what a god awful job it can be. The horror of some crime/accident scenes officers have to witness with little or no psychological support offered to deal with the trauma. The heartbreak of having to inform next of kin of a death. The sick in stomach feeling on hearing one has to search for a missing child. The relentless abuse suffered by members of the force on a daily basis when they are just doing their job. The sheer sh*te of being called in to deal with domestic abuse/violence ( not to mention that both sides could turn on you in a second). It takes a special kind of person to be able to get up in the morning ( or evening depending on shift) and face into a day/night of potential horror and abuse.

But yes - I will speak out when I see abuses for the very reason that I do support the AGS and do not wish the force to come into disrepute because a very small minority act as if the everyday laws of the land never apply to them.

Hightower86 · 07-09-2011 05:28PM

Some of the posts on this forum are unreal, so very defensive posters on this forum, and on both sides of the argument!!

Yes Gardaí do break the rules of the road on occasion and during the course of my work i have done it too. Its not something that I take lightly because as a member you are very easily identifiable and should be setting an example for other road users. It would be arrogant though of me or 'pro-Garda' posters to suggest that Gardaí are fully entitled to do whatever the hell they want while on the road. Of course somewhere in the country a Garda has abused the Rules of the Road, and if proven they should be held accountable.

Some people here though need to open their eyes though on what goes on in the inside of a patrol car. an emergency call can come in during a routine patrol, giving cause for the 'blues and twos' and getting to the call ASAP.This can mean breaking red lights or driving at speed above the posted limit. Again, as some posters have already argued, stand down can be given on these emergency calls and the lights and sirens de-activated. To some it may look like we may just be crusing through traffic to get the cup of coffee/ breakfast roll/donuts, and those posters need to cop on. Don't assume to know unless you have all the facts at hand. If i activate the lights for the hell of it and happen to cause an accident in doing so, i'll be held accountable and rightly so. It's not a choice i take lightly when on occasion i have to drive outside the rules of the road but sometimes its absolutely necessary.

And like every other profession or walk of like there are good and bad apples, so please don't judge all of us on the actions of the one bad apple!!

cursai · 07-09-2011 05:31PM

People are so funny. one commenter there saying he witnessed a garda using sirens to get to the Cork Garda club for lunch. Seriously did you follow him the whole way there?
This is how begrudgers want the Gardai to behave

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=95DviCW3K48

tayto lover · 07-09-2011 05:36PM

Bosco boy wrote: »

It would trouble me too only for I know most people are decent and support AGS. Some posters here expect not to be contradicted or questioned on their posts or claims well I'm sorry I'm entitled to an opinion as well. Just cause we differ and your arguement isn't being accepted in full it seems to trouble you. I'll tell it straight and if that troubles you then tough!

Like you I always say what I think too. I find it better than pretending to be a friend while stabbing someone in the back.
You have a few lads in the Garda who have the wrong career but by and large I have found the ones I had dealings with to be very brave, decent and conscientious men and women. They go about their daily work on our behalf in a very professional way and where I live we would have been lost without their help especially in the 1970's and 80's when things were rough. Nobody minded if they arrived to assist you after you reported an attempted robbery or hijacking with a cup in their hand or not wearing their cap. They were glad to see them. Because of them many a business remained open and people were left in employment.
It pains me to listen to petty complaints and so-called "expert" opinion of people who must have very little to occupy their thoughts.

Bosco boy · 07-09-2011 05:39PM

Bannasidhe wrote: »

Bosco boy wrote: »

It would trouble me too only for I know most people are decent and support AGS. Some posters here expect not to be contradicted or questioned on their posts or claims well I'm sorry I'm entitled to an opinion as well. Just cause we differ and your arguement isn't being accepted in full it seems to trouble you. I'll tell it straight and if that troubles you then tough!

I have no problem with my argument not being accepted in full. I do have a problem when the 'counter-argument' consists of nothing but insults and name calling.

I am fully aware that Gardaí may be responding to a call which is cancelled. I have no issue with Gardaí drinking coffee in the squad car. I do have an issue when I know Gardaí are not on official duty but still availing of the traffic law exemption. You believe this NEVER happens. I believe it does. We are both entitled to our beliefs. Neither of us is entitled to insult the other. I have not personally insulted anyone on this thread but have been repeatedly called a liar and my integrity questioned.

I fully support the AGS and am aware of what a god awful job it can be. The horror of some crime scenes officers have to witness with little or no psychological support offered to deal with the trauma. The heartbreak of having to inform next of kin of a death. The sick in stomach feeling on hearing one has to search for a missing child. The relentless abuse suffered by members of the force on a daily basis when they are just doing their job. The sheer sh*te of being called in to deal with domestic abuse. It takes a special kind of person to be able to get up in the morning ( or evening depending on shift) and face into a day/night of potential horror and abuse.

But yes - I will speak out when I see abuses for the very reason that I do support the AGS and do not wish the force to come into disrepute because a very small minority act as if the everyday laws of the land never apply to them.

Point taken and I totally agree with you, I too don't like to hear or see such incidents and I have never denied they don't happen but some people jump to conclusions about what's happening as I described in an earlier post. I don't believe it's as common as stated, there seems to be a hard core of bashers who wait around for the next Garda bashing thread to emerge. Facts mean little to them as they have their agendas. It's getting a little tiresome, there's a saying " don't argue with fools, they'll drag you down to their level and then beat you with experience" I'm not referring to you by the way, apologies to the earlier poster if the tone was poor.

MagicSean · 07-09-2011 05:45PM

HarryPotter41 wrote: »

If its a busy night how long might the delivery take, I agree with not wasting resources but you also have to look at the Gardai protecting their own asses by not having someone making a complaint because they were left hungry too long. Sadly most Gardai have to operate in a CYA atmosphere, this thread being typical of the kind of thing that goes on with scrutiny from the public, and irrational scrutiny a lot of the time at that.

The problem is timing. It's no good waiting a half hour for delivery. A person is entitled to be detained for as little time as necessary. So ideally the food should be waiting when the person gets out of interview so they can eat it and go back in quickly.

hatrickpatrick wrote: »

The point is though people HAVE disagreed with it. People in this thread have implied that it's ok for a Gard to offer to get a friend off a ticket as it's trivial.

That's just not true. People have actually said that Gardaí cannot get someone off a ticket wether they want to or not. The system does not allow it.

hatrickpatrick wrote: »

Does the principle of croneyism and abuse of power not bother people? It's got this country into the ridiculous mess it's in, and while of course a Garda going through a red light to get some coffee isn't going to crash the economy, the point is that, just as "economy begins at home", so does ethical behavior. Once we start giving people free for all exemptions from the law it's an absolutely appalling slippery slope. Just a few weeks ago we had a thread here from a guy who says a Garda car almost crashed into him during a car chase. As I said earlier, the Ombudsman seems to get an absolutely ridiculous number of traffic related complaints.

You talk about abuse of power but use that incident as an example. The Gardaí were chasing two cars with armed men on board. They were highly trained drivers. They nearly crashed. They didn't actually crash. That's the difference between a trained driver and an untrained driver. Breaking traffic laws while trying to stopped armed and dangerous men is surely the correct use of power.

hatrickpatrick wrote: »

You can't simply dismiss this as petty. No one cares about a random red light or a cup of coffee, it's the principle behind it which we're arguing about here. The principle of those with very great trust and exemptions from the law of the land, abusing that position.

That's not why this thread was started. It was started by someone who didn't like sitting in traffic. i can't think of any reason why Gardaí shouldn't use the bus lane when on duty. Even if they are just going for a coffee. While in the buslane they are staying mobile and have a possibility of detecting road traffic offences. Sitting in traffic is just time wasted doing nothing.

Bannasidhe · 07-09-2011 06:02PM

Seanbeag1 wrote: »

Sitting in traffic is just time wasted doing nothing.

Lot to be said for the old visual presence

- I am always amused when I see drivers stuck in traffic chatting away on the mobile then they spot a squad car in the rear view mirror/lane next to them. Wonder how many phones end up under the driver's seat when they drop them suddenly?

TylerIE · 07-09-2011 06:27PM

Bannasidhe wrote: »

I have no penalty points. I have taken (and passed) advanced driving courses in the UK and Australia. I have worked at Templemore as a training consultant. Yes, I believe the emergency services need to be allowed flexibility when responding to calls. However, I object when I see (as I did last week) a guard sitting in her car in traffic (she was in the lane next to me for a good 10 minutes) chatting and then texting on her mobile and then pull someone over 5 minutes later for doing the same thing. The guard was using a mobile phone while driving - this is against the law. She was not responding to a call-out. Indeed, after she issued a penalty notice to the driver she stopped, the same guard had time to pop into Tesco for milk.

It smacks of one law for us/another law for them - haven't we had enough of that sh*ite in Ireland?

How exactly do you know she issued a fixed penalty notice?

HarryPotter41 · 07-09-2011 06:36PM

tayto lover wrote: »

Was it only the Garda car that almost crashed into that poster ? I'm sure the car they were chasing was being driven by someone with a poor level of driving, even worse than the Garda and was every bit as likely to hit the poster as the Garda car. If the Garda did not chase the person in this car and he got away with a crime we would surely have people on here complaining about that too. They cannot win !!

Very true, and if the Garda car was seen dawdling along as the other car sped through traffic they would be villified for neglecting their duty.

HarryPotter41 · 07-09-2011 06:40PM

Seanbeag1 wrote: »

The problem is timing. It's no good waiting a half hour for delivery. A person is entitled to be detained for as little time as necessary. So ideally the food should be waiting when the person gets out of interview so they can eat it and go back in quickly.

The food is generally got for a prisoner who is being detained overnight or for a lengthy period of time, they don't tend to opo out for food for someone brought in for a simple questioning. My experience from dealing with Gardai at work is that the people who are left to kick their heels in the cell while they are calming down/sobering up/awaiting court in the morning get fed, not Johnny thats been brought in to be questioned about the assault/theft/burglary last week.

0O7 · 07-09-2011 06:41PM

Bannasidhe wrote: »

I have no penalty points. I have taken (and passed) advanced driving courses in the UK and Australia. I have worked at Templemore as a training consultant. Yes, I believe the emergency services need to be allowed flexibility when responding to calls. However, I object when I see (as I did last week) a guard sitting in her car in traffic (she was in the lane next to me for a good 10 minutes) chatting and then texting on her mobile and then pull someone over 5 minutes later for doing the same thing. The guard was using a mobile phone while driving - this is against the law. She was not responding to a call-out. Indeed, after she issued a penalty notice to the driver she stopped, the same guard had time to pop into Tesco for milk.

It smacks of one law for us/another law for them - haven't we had enough of that sh*ite in Ireland?

This gets better...

So your an advanced driver in multiple countries that states on a Public Forum that you had your house raided on terrorism grounds and now work training the Gardai.
And you watch the Gardai "Flying" to meetings with their lights and sirens on (to have lunch with you)
You follow the Guards and watch everything they do and then complain about it on the internet.

Bannasidhe wrote: »

The guard was using a mobile phone while driving - this is against the law. She was not responding to a call-out. ?

How do you know this? And "Acting in the course or their duty" does not just mean responding to a call... it could be to the station about an incident earlier...etc

HarryPotter41 · 07-09-2011 06:42PM

0O7 wrote: »

How do you know this? i suppose now your gonna say you designed tetra or something???

Jaysus, I hope he did, I wanna nail whoever designed it to the wall.

MagicSean · 07-09-2011 06:44PM

HarryPotter41 wrote: »

The food is generally got for a prisoner who is being detained overnight or for a lengthy period of time, they don't tend to opo out for food for someone brought in for a simple questioning. My experience from dealing with Gardai at work is that the people who are left to kick their heels in the cell while they are calming down/sobering up/awaiting court in the morning get fed, not Johnny thats been brought in to be questioned about the assault/theft/burglary last week.

My experience is the opposite. People who are detained over night for court get breakfast and that is all. People who are being questioned get three meals if they are there at the meal times. A drunk person brought in for public order would never get food while they are sobering up.

tayto lover · 07-09-2011 06:45PM

0O7 wrote: »

This gets better...

So your an advanced driver in multiple countries that states on a Public Forum that you had your house raided on terrorism grounds and now work training the Gardai.
And you watch the Gardai "Flying" to meetings with their lights and sirens on (to have lunch with you)
You follow the Guards and watch everything they do and then complain about it on the internet.

How do you know this? And "Acting in the course or their duty" does not just mean responding to a call... it could be to the station about an incident earlier...etc

Ripleys.

0O7 · 07-09-2011 06:54PM

i dunno, I'm done with this thread anyway... getting bored.
lets move onto a new bashing thread....

:rolleyes:

TylerIE · 07-09-2011 07:02PM

blarney_boy wrote: »

Ok, to get back on topic, was travelling through Cork last Friday and was stopped at lights at intersection in Ballyvolane, next thing a garda car can flying up from behind, crashing the red light and went up towards Mayfield. This behaviour was suicidal, as the wall on the right of the junction means it's impossible to see if there is any traffic coming onto the junction as you approach and the garda car could very easily have "t-boned" a car travelling through the intersection on a green light. When we finally got the green light and made our way up to Mayfield we say that the garda car was parked next to a VW Polo that had left the road and was wedged in a ditch, the occupant of the car was unhurt and was walking around, however if a motorist had the misfortune to be travelling through the Ballyvolane intersection earlier when the garda car performed their kamikaze dive bomb attack they would have been killed or seriously injured.

This is the junction here:

http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&ll=51.914895,-8.448077&spn=0.001142,0.003484&z=19&vpsrc=6&layer=c&cbll=51.914895,-8.448077&panoid=VCaSzUL84OKm49I9HZ3onQ&cbp=13,76.6,,0,-2.15

And if the motorist had been hurt the Gardai would have been there quickly and able to assist them with their injuries. So many reports of road traffic incidents are, to put it mildly, incomplete or inaccurate, so as they are often the most geographically spread the Gardai have a very important role in being first responders, and being able to alert the other emergency services. Furthermore their early attendance at one road collision can often prevent another from happening as they can do traffic control, and prevent some eejit from driving into the scene.

Advanced driving involves scanning and planning, so the passenger in the car was probably scanning the junction in so far as possible, and the Garda driver would have reacted accordingly. As another poster said, its easy to misjudge speed and timing of another vehicle when your stationary.

charlemont · 07-09-2011 07:18PM

TylerIE wrote: »

And if the motorist had been hurt the Gardai would have been there quickly and able to assist them with their injuries. So many reports of road traffic incidents are, to put it mildly, incomplete or inaccurate, so as they are often the most geographically spread the Gardai have a very important role in being first responders, and being able to alert the other emergency services. Furthermore their early attendance at one road collision can often prevent another from happening as they can do traffic control, and prevent some eejit from driving into the scene.

Advanced driving involves scanning and planning, so the passenger in the car was probably scanning the junction in so far as possible, and the Garda driver would have reacted accordingly. As another poster said, its easy to misjudge speed and timing of another vehicle when your stationary.

That's a seriously dodgy junction, People coming from either side on the Ballyhooly Road tend to speed up once they see the green light, I actually hate that junction, If a cop wants to speed through it, Good luck to him but its an accident waiting to happen.

deadwood · 07-09-2011 08:56PM

hatrickpatrick wrote: »

The point is though people HAVE disagreed with it. People in this thread have implied that it's ok for a Gard to offer to get a friend off a ticket as it's trivial.

Don't confuse the use of the power of discretion with doing a friend a favour. There's an important difference.

I've missed the posts where people (guards or real people) have implied that it's ok for a guard to get a friend off a ticket.

The thread almost returned to a reasonable discussion about the rights and wrongs of the abuse of the rules of the road by gardai, but some posters will continue to blindly accuse and defend positions.

I find, that when a member of the public is shouting the odds at me, accusing me and my colleagues of this and that, I'll tell them they're probably correct and make a fair point and then instruct them how to take proper action if they actually want to do something about it rather than blow off steam or try to out wit a beleaguered guard in front of their comrades. They usually walk away a bit disappointed and confused because they didn't get the row they wanted and the guy they wanted to have a go at told them they were right.

I'd suggest a similar approach by some posters here.

Gardai abuse of the rules of the road

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