Anger of the public is rising

My name is URL · 23-03-2012 03:34PM

MaxSteele wrote: »

We all park somewhere illegal for ten seconds, to drop someone off, whether it's your child to school or a friend at the airport.

No we don't. Every one of us here are perfectly functioning automatons; programmed not to break any law in any way whatsoever. Lest our righteous indignation chips be deactivated.. perish the thought.

dark crystal · 23-03-2012 03:36PM

AboutTwoFiddy wrote: »

They weren't issuing a ticket for a mother dropping her child off, they were doing it for parking illegally. The way some parents stop their cars in mid traffic outside schools is ridiculous, delighted the gardai are pulling them up on it. If it was a white van parking on a double yellow nobody would complain about a ticket.

Where my child goes to school, the surrounding roads are all double yellow lined, there are no car parks and you're not allowed to drive into the school premises. There's no school bus system and it's on a busy main road.

Some parents have no choice but to park illegally for a few seconds to allow their children to get to the school gates safely.

Anyone · 23-03-2012 03:39PM

dark crystal wrote: »

Where my child goes to school, the surrounding roads are all double yellow lined, there are no car parks and you're not allowed to drive into the school premises. There's no school bus system and it's on a busy main road.

Some parents have no choice but to park illegally for a few seconds to allow their children to get to the school gates safely.

Park 5 mins away and walk up, will do you and your kids the world of good.

Ice87 · 23-03-2012 03:40PM

Fat owl ones should be walking their kids to school. Not trying to park as close as they can to the gate.

Ellis Dee · 23-03-2012 03:40PM

bluewolf wrote: »

If parents would stop parking everywhere in the vicinity of schools, swarming the roads, and often being a hazard, we'd get somewhere
good on the gardai for going out there

So true! In fact, things can't be all that bad, relatively speaking, when there are still so many cars on the road and kids can't walk even a few hundred metres to school. I walked a couple of miles and then cycled, and that was my routine for years until I could get out of school and resume my education.:)

No point in shouting at the gardai over things like the Mahon report or our country's astonishing tolerance for white-collar crime that does not involve garlic. It's another matter entirely that the command echelons of the force need a really good looking at and probably a thorough shaking up. :rolleyes:

It would also be very interesting to know how many of those who are now futilely and impotently yelling their heads off to the wrong people in the wrong places actually voted for Fianna Fail in the past, and just how sure they are that Lowry wasn't the only crook in the Blueshirts.:eek:

I could be out yelling at someone, too, as it happens, because a whole range of tax increases (including VAT up to 24%) were announced yesterday in Finland and will hit me for half the year or so. One politician said it was better to tighten belts now BEFORE we "end up like Ireland". As bitter as it always is to part with money, I'll grin and bear it, because the package also includes a new "solidarity tax" on the rich. It was originally proposed by Jutta Urpilainen, who is the Finance Minister and a far better looker than Michael Noonan.;);)

http://yle.fi/uutiset/news/2012/02/sdp_wants_solidarity_tax_on_high_earners_3287582.html

dark crystal · 23-03-2012 03:43PM

prinz wrote: »

And? What if she drove through a red light? Or overtook dangerously? Or was on the mobile phone or fixing her make up? What if she finished her breakfast and threw rubbish out the window? Are they supposed to sit there and ignore it and say 'ah well otherwise she's a decent sort'.... that kind of parochial crap has been accepted too long in this country. "Ah well judge, he's a good family man, I am sure that child porn was a mistake.."

Driving through red lights, overtaking dangerously and using mobile phones whilst driving can seriously impede other drivers safety and could cause possible fatalities. I wouldn't equate that with parking outside a school gate to drop off a child.

Also, the child porn analogy is ridiculous - you don't need me to tell you that, surely...

benway · 23-03-2012 03:44PM

Tend to agree with the OP on this, maybe not so much on the specific example, but it seems like Mahon was the point where people finally started to crack. Dunno how it's taken this long.

irelandrover · 23-03-2012 03:46PM

dark crystal wrote: »

Driving through red lights, overtaking dangerously and using mobile phones whilst driving can seriously impede other drivers safety and could cause possible fatalities. I wouldn't equate that with parking outside a school gate to drop off a child.

Also, the child porn analogy is ridiculous - you don't need me to tell you that, surely...

How do you collect your children in the evening?
My experience is in the morning it is not such a huge problem (it is still a problem). As you say parents only park for about 10 seconds.
In the evening you have about 100 cars all parked around the school blocking up the entire area.

prinz · 23-03-2012 03:47PM

dark crystal wrote: »

I wouldn't equate that with parking outside a school gate to drop off a child ...

And who said the gardaí were there to enforce your rules? A car stopped on the roadside even for 10 seconds could be extremely dangerous. Perhaps it's near a bend, or what happens when 50 cars turn up and they all want to stop at the gate. Suddenly you have a traffic build up. What happens if an ambulance needs to get into the school in a hurry and 20 cars are all parked every which way blocking the school gate. If it was your child in need of an amublance would you be so understanding?

dark crystal wrote: »

Also, the child porn analogy is ridiculous - you don't need me to tell you that, surely...

Why? It's still the same excuse being made (NB before you make the same mistake as an earlier poster I am not comparing the crimes only the excuses)... or is there some magic list of offences where it's ok to say 'ah well apart from x they usually are law abiding, tax paying' etc?

The King of Moo · 23-03-2012 03:50PM

I think this thread is evidence that there's a lot of anger about, but that it's directed at ridiculous, non-existent targets; in this case an incident of guards issuing a parking ticket to a woman which doesn't seem to have actually happened.

This is the kind of the thing the politicians and bankers must love to see: a load of vitriol about a trivial matter that never actually happened anyway.

See also: Hijabs in photo ID's.

dark crystal · 23-03-2012 03:51PM

irelandrover wrote: »

How do you collect your children in the evening?
My experience is in the morning it is not such a huge problem (it is still a problem). As you say parents only park for about 10 seconds.
In the evening you have about 100 cars all parked around the school blocking up the entire area.

They actually get a lift home from their friend's mum after school because I'm usually working at that time.

She picks them up outside the school gate.

DonalK1981 · 23-03-2012 03:52PM

The parents have no place else to park, the council or planning dept are the cause of this as they didn't allow place for dropping off kids when the school was built designed. Crazy people getting all flustered over this to be fair, a bit of common sense would go a long way...

ejmaztec · 23-03-2012 03:54PM

The Guards just wanted to check the kids' lunchboxes for doughnuts.

AEDIC · 23-03-2012 03:55PM

People would want to make up their minds.... either you want the Gardai doing thier jobs or you dont...

Having the 'down with this sort of thing' type yelling at them isnt going to resolve anything other than giving the shouter something to tell their friends about how they 'fcucked the Garda out of it'

MaxSteele · 23-03-2012 03:57PM

prinz wrote: »

Did she fork anything out? No. Did she even actually get a ticket? Doesn't seem like it. Were any of the gardaí in question overweight? We have no idea. Were they pricks? They were doing their jobs, if that makes you a prick maybe so. Feel for me away. I am not the one creating the culture of letting people away with crimes of any sort.

*Sigh*... Who here is creating a lawless culture ?? By penalising parents in a rush to get their children to school ?god forbid they don't want their children crossing a busy road alone. It's laughable you'd think that's even worth Garda resources or time. We don't know if she did or didn't pay anything. Fact of the matter is, instead of doing something useful, they were sitting on their holes, waiting to pounce on someone who crossed a double yellow line out of a victimless, necessity to get their kids to school. Funny how they haven't caught any of the gang robbing houses in Swords, Balbriggan or Skerries for the past month, but can have cat like reflexes on something like this. I'm not saying guards are pricks, just pisses any rational minded person off to see this kind of petty, trivial nonsense as opposed to actually doing their job.

prinz · 23-03-2012 04:01PM

MaxSteele wrote: »

I'm not saying guards are pricks, just pisses any rational minded person off to see this kind of petty, trivial nonsense as opposed to actually doing their job.

O no?

MaxSteele wrote: »

If you believe a parent should be made fork out an 80 euro fine to some lardass, prick in blue to fill his weekly notebook for something as miniscule and irrelevent as that, well then I feel for you

Either way, they were actually doing their job. Damned if they do, damned if they don't. Oh I forgot they are supposed to turn a blind eye to some people. So Max, where exactly is the line between petty, trivial nonsense and the rules of the road the gardaí should be enforcing? In your head I assume.

SomeFool · 23-03-2012 04:02PM

gremha wrote: »

This morning I was dropping my kid off to school, it's on a busy road & there's a bus stop right outside the main gate (which always struck me as a dangerous place to put it, but I didn't plan it), indented off the road..

Sometimes parents pull up in the bus stop, drop their kids & drive straight off again, no more than a 30-60 second exercise.

A bus stop outside a school, whatever next. I suppose if the bus can't park properly and causes an accident will you call the guards then?

kippy · 23-03-2012 04:02PM

UDP wrote: »

of course! If the mother was breaking the law then she should get a ticket. Otherwise what is the point of the law.

This whole thing of X should not get prosecuted for breaking the law because someone broke a bigger law is ridiculus. Everyone who breaks the law should get done unless there is a very very good reason e.g. a law was broken to save a life or that kind of thing.

This is something I talked about during the whole Ivor Callelly debate last year or a couple of years ago. (God knows where I could find the post)

What kind of a signal is sent to every man woman and child in this country when people at the very top of society that are entrusted with running the country and making critical decisions, decide to act illegally, immorrally, and unethicilly and get away with it, often times without even a criminal investigation? And when I say get away with it, I mean completely take the piss in getting away with it?

It's not a signal that we should be proud of because it lessens the law of the land and when you see what happens with people who commit what is thought of as a "lesser" crime you have to see where the anger is coming from?

Directing the anger at the ground level gardai is pointless, they are after all only doing their job - policing at that level, however up the line and in certain areas of this society the law does not apply or it applies in a quasi grey fashion, which is completely wrong and paints our country in a very very poor light.

On this particular incident, it does seem a bit petty but she did break a law, however as with a lot of these type of things one has to ask why she broke this law, and in the case of many of you who live near schools one has to ask why people clog up roadways? Perhaps because:
The schools aren't adequately provided with public transport,
No planning has taken place to allow for space for safe drop offs,
or in the case of new schools or houses that have been built near old schools, outright bad planning.

I feel for the Gardai and I feel for the woman mentioned but I am with the OP, there is a greater feeling of anger over the past few months and this is being shown through incidents such as this and the opposition to the housing charge.

dark crystal · 23-03-2012 04:04PM

prinz wrote: »

And who said the gardaí were there to enforce your rules? A car stopped on the roadside even for 10 seconds could be extremely dangerous. Perhaps it's near a bend, or what happens when 50 cars turn up and they all want to stop at the gate. Suddenly you have a traffic build up. What happens if an ambulance needs to get into the school in a hurry and 20 cars are all parked every which way blocking the school gate. If it was your child in need of an amublance would you be so understanding?

You do love a bit of hyberbole, don't you

There's a yellow grid directly outside the school gate which is never parked in by any cars, which would facilitate an ambulance, if that were ever required. As I stated before, cars other than those driven by staff are not permitted in the school grounds, so an ambulance would have no trouble entering the school entrance.
Speaking of safety, it seems crazy to me, that so many schools are built on busy main roads, with no planning for the increase in traffic around the area. Yes, there's a lollipop lady there, but I've seen so many near misses with little ones darting out from nowhere further up the road and just missing being hit from oncoming traffic.

This is why I drive them as close as I can to the gate and why their safety comes before the possible threat of a ticket.

prinz · 23-03-2012 04:06PM

dark crystal wrote: »

There's a yellow grid directly outside the school gate which is never parked in by any cars, which would facilitate an ambulance, if that were ever required..

What about the bay for the school bus? That not count? Let's say a low figure 20 cars each lining up to pull in the bus parking area, each taking on average by your count 45 seconds, that's 900 seconds. Be generous and divide that by three for three cars at a time. 300 seconds. That's 5 minutes. 5 minutes that the school bus would either (a) have to block up a lane of traffic and wait holding everyone else up, or (B) allow the kids disembark in a potentially dangerous spot. Neither scenario I would assume is going to be acceptable to yourself.

Plazaman · 23-03-2012 04:07PM

gremha wrote: »

.....Sometimes parents pull up in the bus stop, drop their kids & drive straight off again, no more than a 30-60 second exercise.

This morning there were two Gardai at the bus stop, standing back from it, behind a high wall.

A car pulled up & the door opened, a child aged about ten kissed it's mother (assume it was it's mother) & was getting out of the car when the two Gardai stepped out. One had his notebook/ticketbook out already & the other walked around the back of the car, I guess inspecting it. The child got out & stood on the path watching.

As the garda with the book was speaking to the driver. A pedestrian walking their child across the road started shouting at them "You should be arresting corrupt politicians instead of harassing parents dropping their kids to school" Then another on the side where the car was started shouting at them to "Leave the poor woman alone", then another started shouting something I was just out of earshot to hear clearly, all three of them approached the Guards & were shouting at them, the Garda motioned for the woman to go & then they said something to each other & to the two men & woman who had been shouting at them......

I see nothing here about her actually getting a ticket but I do see she pulled into a bus stop. Seeing as everyone else is speculating, I will too. Maybe Bus Eireann got onto the Gardai to monitor the situation as they were fed up with people taking up the space for the bus which has to wait in the road blocking traffic creating a hazard until Mummy drops off her little angel "for 10 seconds" without due regard for others.

I'll raise the speculation stakes and hazard a guess that she is the same person who pulls up outside a shop on double yellow lines or on a footpath and leaves the hazard lights on while she "pops in".

If these people want to complain or shout about corrupt politicians, they know where Kildare Street is.

SEPT 23 1989 · 23-03-2012 04:08PM

Well Los Angeles went up in flames over a speeding fine

keithclancy · 23-03-2012 04:09PM

Whats the betting she lived 10 minutes walk away from the school ?

dark crystal · 23-03-2012 04:10PM

prinz wrote: »

What about the bay for the school bus? That not count?

As I stated previously, there is no school bus system in place where I live.

prinz · 23-03-2012 04:12PM

dark crystal wrote: »

As I stated previously, there is no school bus system in place where I live.

I was referring to the OP where the car was pulling into the designated bus parking bay.

kippy · 23-03-2012 04:13PM

keithclancy wrote: »

Whats the betting she lived 10 minutes walk away from the school ?

She may have.
I walked to national school, as did the majority of my friends. We were all within 15 -20 minutes walk of the school but a few things were different then.
1. There were far fewer cars on the road - we were also lucky that there was a decent sized verge to walk on (country roads).
2. There wasn't an insane fear of someone coming along and kidnapping your child.
3. It seem to rain less then than it does now.

There are many other variables that, even if you live relatively close by a school, may not make it practical or safe to walk.

MaxSteele · 23-03-2012 04:16PM

prinz wrote: »

O no?

Either way, they were actually doing their job. Damned if they do, damned if they don't. Oh I forgot they are supposed to turn a blind eye to some people. So Max, where exactly is the line between petty, trivial nonsense and the rules of the road the gardaí should be enforcing? In your head I assume.

I should have rephrased that as "not all guards are pricks". The ones in question were.

This isn't the M50 or Naas road were talking about. This is probably a suburban or village area with a very low speed limit. If you don't like having to wait in traffic or have concern for other people, like everybody else, then quit your whinging and use a different route. Btw, imagine those guards stopping "times how many cars" doing that every morning ?? I'm sure you wouldn't be quick to defend them then I bet. Big difference between parking illegally and leaving it there for ages as opposed to a few measly seconds, which makes sweet f*** all difference to me or you.

dark crystal · 23-03-2012 04:16PM

prinz wrote: »

I was referring to the OP where the car was pulling into the designated bus parking bay.

I wouldn't normally advocate anyone parking in a bus parking bay, but if the bay was empty and the woman was simply dropping her child off safely for a matter of seconds, it wouldn't bother me, as long as she wasn't preventing a bus from parking there.

prinz · 23-03-2012 04:19PM

dark crystal wrote: »

I wouldn't normally advocate anyone parking in a bus parking bay, but if the bay was empty and the woman was simply dropping her child off safely for a matter of seconds, it wouldn't bother me, as long as she wasn't preventing a bus from parking there.

Seriously what happens when 20, 30 people have the same idea? Do you let them all park there? What happens when the bus is prevented from parking safely? Do you tell people not to stop there in future?

keithclancy · 23-03-2012 04:19PM

kippy wrote: »

She may have.
I walked to national school, as did the majority of my friends. We were all within 15 -20 minutes walk of the school but a few things were different then.
1. There were far fewer cars on the road - we were also lucky that there was a decent sized verge to walk on (country roads).
2. There wasn't an insane fear of someone coming along and kidnapping your child.
3. It seem to rain less then than it does now.

There are many other variables that, even if you live relatively close by a school, may not make it practical or safe to walk.

I think your watching too much TV.

1. Drink driving was rife back then, Ireland was one of the worst places in Europe for it.
2. You'd be more worried about the Paedo priests running the school, never mind the Weirdos that existed back then as well, they didn't just 'appear' in the last 20 years.
3. WTF, Bring an umbrella, less rain, I remember it being just as s*it as it is now.

The difference back then was it was seen as an unnecessary waste to drive that short a distance to school, now its seen as a necessity, plus people didn't have more than 1 car and your Dad or mum would have taken that to work.

Anger of the public is rising

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