carzony wrote: » it is a 131 reg. unmarked btw... sorry mate might be a saloon now that I think of it.. Anyway, they have one in clondalkin
kub wrote: » So thats what they are like marked up, thanks lads. I must say though i think the Fords and Hyundai' s marked up make them look very alike.
carzony wrote: » Doesnt sound very safe if on a motorway or a busy main road does it lol.. i seen a new focus hatchback and that was well lit up. rear blues in the indicators, huge blues in the grille and a dash light..
highdef wrote: » An i30 Tourer (I think it was dark blue but it was quite dark at the time) passed me on the M4 westbound when it was at near darkness. The blue flashing lights and headlights could not be missed in my rear view mirror, from a few kilometres away. However when it passed me, not only did it have $hitty blue flashers in the rear light cluster that could be barely be seen but the driver had not turned the (regular) lights on which meant that it was virtually invisible from behind. A few drivers flashed the car but his mind was obviously pre-occupied. Not the sort of thing I would expect a trained professional driver to forget.
Pigeon Reaper wrote: » Have some photos of fingals command unit. I didn't put up internal ones as I wasn't sure if it was the best thing to do. I know CD have a similar unit and the Coast Guard have three. What other agencies have these types of unit?
DesertCreat_15 wrote: » No need to have the blues activated on the rear traveling along the motorway, it only blinds drivers as he/she passes. Also, why is there no blue lights on the civil defence Hägglunds ? ( I know it needs orange too)
Turner wrote: » On nearly all patrol cars all lights need to be switched to off for the flashing headlamps to be activated. It looks as though the driver has forgotten to switch on their lights but they know what they were doing, hence why you saw him coming from a few km's away.
highdef wrote: » That's all well and good in clear weather with good visibility. Say it's a foggy day (or night) and the i30 with what look like 1 watt flashing blue lights are the only rear illumination is stopped on a motorway or any busy road/fast moving road for whatever reason? The rear flashing lights are comparable to a dimmer than normal parking/side light on the front of a car. This is assuming that the guard in question has forgotten to put the fog lights on, of course.....not that that would happen! I know Garda vehicles have certain exemptions but surely having no tail lights on when conditions say they should be on cannot be acceptable???
sdeire wrote: » Saw an odd one today like that - DFB D41 passed me with flashing headlamps on, but no blues, and clearly not on a run. Just plodding along as if he'd left them on by mistake. Easy thing to do?
foreign wrote: » If you stop a car then you can set about putting on whatever lights are necessary. Also, an unmarked car won't be doing fend offs so not really an issue. As I said earlier though, more drivers see the flashing headlights than see the blue. Why I don't know. Even in the 11reg Avensis which would blind you with its blues I've had to put on headlamp flashers to get some cars to see me. So now I always make sure they are on and once stopped put on rear reds.
foreign wrote: » Possibly on a separate switch. Still some AGS vehicles that have a separate toggle switch for headlamp flashers that you need to hit as well as blues.
CharlieCroker wrote: » Siren is pretty much useless on the motorway. Won't hear it at anything over 50 feet over road/wind noise.
highdef wrote: » OK, fair enough about the rear lights. You know the routine. With regards to the flashing headlights over the blue flashing lights, would I be right in saying that when they flash, they are the full beams that flash? If so, their illumination would be far greater and noticed far easier in peripheral vision than the standard blues, on unmarked cars at least. When I first noticed the i30 tourer, I was near the end of the long straight westbound on the M4 between junction 5 and 6. I was about 2km ahead and in fairly heavy traffic but the flashing headlights still caught my attention (I do actually check my mirrors regularly), not that I could see the actual headlights flashing but more that I could see the glare it caused bouncing off traffic ahead of it. As I went around the slight bend a few seconds later, I could no longer see the car in my mirrors but I was then prepared to pull over when needed as I knew something was coming in a hurry. When the car got within a few 100 metres, I indicated and pulled over as did everyone else. It was only when I had a clear view of the car in my mirrors that I could see the blue flashing lights.....yes they were very bright but the headlights most certainly are what got my attention in the first place. There was no siren and there really was no need for one except maybe a bit further on when I saw the car had to slow rapidly because someone sat in the overtaking lane for a while, despite the fact that everyone else had pulled over.....how the hell the driver did not notice beggars believe. It's drivers like that who really really worry me that they are driving at high speeds on public roads!
foreign wrote: » Look at the video in this link to see how stupid people are. Now where this is you can see/hear the DFB coming from a long way off.https://m.facebook.com/groups/157166861075257?view=permalink&id=325002854291656&ref=m_notif¬if_t=group_comment_reply&actorid=1698690373
highdef wrote: » I'm getting an error when I click on that, says content is unavailable. Maybe I need to be "friend"?
wotswattage wrote: » One issue which has been discussed here before are the always on headlights + fog lights on (newish) Garda cars where the driver doesn't turn his rear lights. It's a very common sight at night to see a patrol car/unmarked car pass then notice the rear of the vehicle is completely dark. Ok the marked patrol cars have reflective chevrons but the dark coloured unmarked cars can be very hard to spot on the road. It's an issue for modern cars with DRL's too. To be fair the driver sees the road ahead illuminated, and the dash lit up so it's understandable he/she may sometimes forget. It's really a silly design flaw straight from the depot...
kub wrote: » But isn't it law to have the rear lights on while dark? Could be interesting if an accident happened.
Mr Simpson wrote: » It is, but they're only human. Very easy to make that mistake due to the drl's. Rear lights should be on auto as well