Speeding Q&A superthread

Got pulled in doing about 130 on the M50 (finglas to blanch)a few days ago by unmarked car. Didn't see a gun or anything to detect my speed but when asked my speed I did say about 130, to which I was told I was wrong, that I was doing at least 150-160? I know I was over the limit anyways but I haven't received the fine yet (took licence, took registration too) so not sure what the FCPN will say but generally if it's around that speed it's a court summons is it not? Don't mind paying the fine and getting the 3 points but I'm a bit concerned that my speed was guesstimated at a lot higher than what it was? I know for a fact I was doing more than 130, had CC set on the 130 mark..

Has this happened to anyone?

Killinator wrote: »

Gardai can't guess the speed. They have to use a calibrated device, ie: laser.
If they thought you were going that fast but didn't have a gun they could issue a summons for careless driving but it would be in very shaky grounds in court.
If they issue a FCN it must state what speed you were doing not a rough guess.
There is no set speed over a given limit that automatically means court over an FCN. It's up to the garda in question to decide the course of action taken.
They have several months to apply for a fine so you wouldn't have it this soon either way.

they have a speedo on the car, which would allow them to form an opinion of what speed was being done, which I believe would be accepted in Court.

Feds tailgated me in my beloved Mk1 05 Fabia vRS yesterday on the M6 between Oranmore and Athenry

I was doing an indicated 110km in a 120km - Its probably around 105km.
Inside lane with no other vehicles about.
First thing I see is an ugly snout of a horrible i40 right on my bootlid for about 300m
I slow off to encourage the tailgating driver to overtake
The car draws alongside and 2 feds attempt to stare me down.....!
I take no heed of this unwarranted and unwelcome attention and they go on after about 2km

By engaging in this type of behavior I got the impression the feds were probably under the mistaken assumption that they would get me to floor it then they would secure a handy prosecution. I felt kind of threatened and uneasy

I have it all on both front and rear dash cams. Its really crystal clear, shows bad behavior and I am considering making a complaint regarding this unsavory unprofessional conduct.

Who do I complain to to make as big of a deal of this as I can ...? I am not going to report this to the local cop station as I would prefer to take it well up the ladder and make sure that this is addressed properly by a senior. A slap on the wrist wont cut it this time - I wont be happy until them lads are put on desk duty ...!

Get the DA to bust their asses!

Allinall wrote: »

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christopher_A._Wray

He’s your man.

Good luck and God speed.

I think going straight to the Director of the FBI is a bit risky, if the feds are here intimidating our citizens chances are he has sanctioned it and is aware of it!!!!

Anyway it wouldn't be the correct procedure. According to https://www.justice.gov/opr/how-file-complaint you can file a complaint at https://oig.justice.gov/reports/component/fbi or otherwise report it to the law enforcement component's internal affairs unit.

Probably no harm report it to the Directorate of Military Intelligence (Ireland) as well. They will be very concerned about agents from a foreign intelligence/security organisation operating in Ireland.

Yarisbob wrote: »

Feds tailgated me in my beloved Mk1 05 Fabia vRS yesterday

Stay frosty my friend and as Q says never let them see you bleed!!

yamaha4life wrote: »

Hey all,

I got notified today that i had a court summons waiting for me at local garda station for speeding fine that was unpaid.

He said it was from January 2018 and gave the reg.

The reg of the car given. i didnt own the car until end of September 2019 and sold it in 2020.

So even if the date is January 2019 I still wasn't the owner of the car! (I know where the previous owner works i cant remember his name but id know him if i saw him)

Not sure what to do here, if its a court date for it i think ill have to get a solicitor.

How should I proceed? how can i prove my innocence?

I can't collect the summons so ill have to wait for it he didn't specify whether it will be an post or a garda that will deliver it.

Generally a non payment of a speeding ticket (FCN) will be a yellow summons which will need to be served by a Garda.
Reason being that a load of them were being posted but person then claimed they weren't served in court and there was no proof to contrary so many were struck out.
That said it need not be served on you personally, it can be served on someone else at your address or acting on your behalf (wife, parent,etc..) and this will be noted on summons which is then signed by a peace commissioner or judge to confirm it has been served on or for the accused.

As fir the whole not owning it at that time, that should have been picked up before and fcn was issued?!
Was it a speed van or Garda issuing the ticket?

Killinator wrote: »

As fir the whole not owning it at that time, that should have been picked up before and fcn was issued?!
Was it a speed van or Garda issuing the ticket?

The garda didnt say if it was go safe or garda fine, i was stopped once for speeding in said car, i posted on another person thread that the garda who stopped me couldn't show me my speed on the gun he said the recall wasn't working he spent about 5 mins trying to get it up and couldn't, he said that because if the malfunction he wouldnt be issuing a fine and to keep a closer eye on my speed in future. Be a kick in the pants if this is the time in question. As I have no idea if i was or wasn't speeding at the time.

To answer your questions.

1: I dont believe they should be using the Garda ramp as they're a private company.
2: If the orange lights were flashing they were in the middle of calibrating the camera, it wasn't live yet
3: You really answered your own question there. Pure money grab

yamaha4life wrote: »

Hey all,

I got notified today that i had a court summons waiting for me at local garda station for speeding fine that was unpaid.

He said it was from January 2018 and gave the reg.

The reg of the car given. i didnt own the car until end of September 2019 and sold it in 2020.

So even if the date is January 2019 I still wasn't the owner of the car! (I know where the previous owner works i cant remember his name but id know him if i saw him)

Not sure what to do here, if its a court date for it i think ill have to get a solicitor.

How should I proceed? how can i prove my innocence?

I can't collect the summons so ill have to wait for it he didn't specify whether it will be an post or a garda that will deliver it.

only just saw this, you did check the date I assume?

Jim_Hodge wrote: »

I found that hilarious. I've never heard an R road referred to as a boreen. Your initial post confused me as a boreen is, by definition, a narrow country road or lane. That's a far cry from an R road.

A few Speed vans on the R roads around here from time to time. Never any on the boreens.

Yeah, boreen evokes a single lane road, often with grass growing in the central area, where you would have to slow right down or stop to pass an oncoming vehicle.

tcawley29 wrote: »

https://roscommonherald.ie/2021/04/28/judge-reiterates-concerns-about-locations-of-speed-vans-in-roscommon/?fbclid=IwAR1bOClDReN3m68K8N2_rUBK6xV-h4bDOlaLSfv1Cbwk0omwdMPW2xcxzP0


Also, can someone please let me know if it is still the case that gosafe operate between the signs. I've heard otherwise but the source is not reliable so I'm skeptical.

From what I've read here, the councils have actively been removing the warning signs in the last few months.

It's interesting though that some of the judges are now critical of the vans being hidden because the intent is they are a visible deterrent. I wonder if they will apply the same logic to AGS speed traps, the majority of which are hidden or up on motorway on-ramps catching cars passing below them.

Isambard wrote: »

i think what happened was the zones were massively increased in length, in some cases combining 2 or more zones. Signs were only needed at the start of the zone, so redundant signs were removed.

can anyone confirm this?