# Who can you complain to re Bus Eireann speeding drivers



## Bamhan (19 Jan 2007)

I am wondering who I should address a complaint re the speed at which Bus Eireann drivers drive to.

Daily I meet drivers driving at speeds far in excess of the legal speed limit.

I have complained one particular bus driver to the Inspector at Limerick Bus Depot to be told by the Inspector to F-off and got no satisfaction.

I made an official complaint at the Garda Station which despite enquiring a number of times afterwards I never got any satisfaction from.

Yesterday evening the bus from Cork to Limerick was travelling on the over taking lane of the dual carriageway at a speed in excess of 120KMP.

I have never seen a bus driver puller over for speeding, not saying it has never happened but they seem to get away with driving at these speeds all the time.

Letters of complaint to Bus Eireann seem to fall on deaf ears....is there any other means of redress?


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## SlurrySlump (19 Jan 2007)

I absolutely agree. On the N11, the Stillorgan dual carriageway, these buses and taxis overtake on the inside lane at such speeds that my own car often shakes with the back-draft.


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## redstar (19 Jan 2007)

Try the Minister for Transport - road safety is a 'hot' topic with the govt these days, so you might make some progress there.


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## dontaskme (19 Jan 2007)

Bamhan said:


> I am wondering who I should address a complaint re the speed at which Bus Eireann drivers drive to.
> 
> Daily I meet drivers driving at speeds far in excess of the legal speed limit.
> 
> ...


 
Put your complaint in writing. Send it to the Customer Services Manager, Bus Station, Parnell Place, Cork. (Well, maybe phone up beforehand to verify name and address)

Give the date and time and location you saw the speeding and any other info, e.g. reg no., destination, type of bus etc.

I've written to them in the past, but not about speeding and found that they usually respond.

Note that exceeding the speed limit while overtaking may not necessarily be an offense.


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## ubiquitous (19 Jan 2007)

There is nothing particularly dangerous about driving about travelling at 120kph or a little higher on a dual carriageway or motorway - over 70% of German motorways have no speed limit whatsoever and their accident and fatality rates are much lower than ours.

If buses are forced to restrict their speeds regardless of all other circumstances, their passengers may experience delays - thus disincentivising them from using the bus in future. The more this happens, the more passengers will opt for their cars - which are bad for road safety, road congestion and the environment in general.


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## Purple (19 Jan 2007)

ubiquitous said:


> There is nothing particularly dangerous about driving about travelling at 120kph or a little higher on a dual carriageway or motorway


So a double decker buses that go over 120 Kmph on the M50 is safe?!
What about the same buses going well over the speed limit in built up areas and back roads, are they safe as well?


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## Megan (19 Jan 2007)

What about the late night Mini-Buses driver that drinks bottles of beer while he is driving. This is in a country area where he is taking passengers home from the local disco. Also allows passengers smoke on the bus. A girl complained to the driver one night about the smoking and he told her if she didnt like it she could get off the bus - as this is the only taxi in this area she didnt have much choose but to stay on the bus.
This bus is allways waved on through any Garda checks that are on the road home.


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## Bamhan (19 Jan 2007)

Ubiquitous, I am not against speed per se. But the way the drivers drive is very agressive.

They do not seem to pay any heed to speed limits, which means that if for example you slow down when arriving at the 60kmp zone you will have a Bus Eireann Bus driving right on your bumper.
This has happened more than once.

It is the manner in which they drive which I feel is unsafe for their passengers and other road users.


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## Sunny (19 Jan 2007)

Megan said:


> What about the late night Mini-Buses driver that drinks bottles of beer while he is driving. This is in a country area where he is taking passengers home from the local disco. Also allows passengers smoke on the bus. A girl complained to the driver one night about the smoking and he told her if she didnt like it she could get off the bus - as this is the only taxi in this area she didnt have much choose but to stay on the bus.
> This bus is allways waved on through any Garda checks that are on the road home.


 
There is nothing to stop her reporting the driver by ringing the guards and getting him stopped if he is drinking while driving.


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## ubiquitous (19 Jan 2007)

As I said above there is nothing particularly dangerous about exceeding the speed limit on a motorway or dual carraigeway - within reason of course. 
However that does not excuse tailgating, aggressive driving or drunken driving for that matter.

Purple , I specifically mentioned motorways or dual carraigeway - obviously this does not apply to speeding in built up areas and on back roads. What made you think it did?


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## legend99 (19 Jan 2007)

"nothing particularly dangerous"

Doesn't change the fact that its against the law.


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## polaris (19 Jan 2007)

ubiquitous said:


> As I said above there is nothing particularly dangerous about exceeding the speed limit on a motorway or dual carraigeway - within reason of course.


 
Why don't we just get rid of speed limits and use our own judgement on what a safe speed is.


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## annR (19 Jan 2007)

My fiance made a complaint to Bus Eireann about the driver of the Dublin-Donegal bus flying over the narrow Cavan/Fermanagh roads talking on his mobile phone at the same time.  He was happy that the complaint seemed to have been taken very seriously.


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## Megan (19 Jan 2007)

annR said:


> My fiance made a complaint to Bus Eireann about the driver of the Dublin-Donegal bus *flying* over the narrow Cavan/Fermanagh roads talking on his mobile phone at the same time. He was happy that the complaint seemed to have been taken very seriously.


 Maybe thats the answer - Bus Eireann has started to fly their buses instead of driving them.


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## Joe1234 (19 Jan 2007)

dontaskme said:


> Note that exceeding the speed limit while overtaking may not necessarily be an offense.



Why not?


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## RainyDay (20 Jan 2007)

I made a complaint via email on Bus Eireann's website a couple of years back, and the response seemed to indicate that it would be taken seriously. 

If the Gardai aren't taking reports seriously, I've had good results using the TrafficWatch line (1890-205805) in the past. Your complaint gets logged immediately by the telephone operator before being passed to the local station, so I get the feeling it is a bit harder for the local Guard to ignore the complaint - he/she has to account for addressing the complaint. 

In relation to the smoking on the bus, this should be reported to the OTC hotline 1890-333100.


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## annR (22 Jan 2007)

RainyDay said:


> If the Gardai aren't taking reports seriously, I've had good results using the TrafficWatch line (1890-205805) in the past. Your complaint gets logged immediately by the telephone operator before being passed to the local station, so I get the feeling it is a bit harder for the local Guard to ignore the complaint - he/she has to account for addressing the complaint.


 
I tried that once about some dangerous driving and the Garda asked me I wanted to press charges.  Basically he wouldn't address it unless I wanted to go to court or something.


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## Ravima (22 Jan 2007)

annR is correct. The gardai will not do anything, except maybe and it is a maybe, mention (caution) the driver. To go further and try to get a conviction, you must go to court and you must be a witness. You will be deemed by the court to be in the positon of 'common informer' and basically, it is then your word agains tthe other driver. However, with regard to a commercial vehicle, such as a bus/truck the tachograph would be vital.

Anyway, its much easier for gardai to catch the dangerous car driver doing 103 in 100 zone on a straight stretch of dual carrigeway. the argument is that most fatalities concern cars not buses, proving that there are lies, damn lies and statistics!!!!!!!!!!!!!


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## RainyDay (22 Jan 2007)

annR said:


> I tried that once about some dangerous driving and the Garda asked me I wanted to press charges.  Basically he wouldn't address it unless I wanted to go to court or something.


Hi Ann - Surely, it wasn't any surprise that you'd have to go to court? How else would you expect your complaint to be heard in court? If you really are concerned about the driver in question, isn't it worth the 1/2 day off work to go to court?


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## Joe1234 (22 Jan 2007)

RainyDay said:


> If you really are concerned about the driver in question, isn't it worth the 1/2 day off work to go to court?



Your half day in court could save someone elses life - maybe even your own!


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## Bamhan (23 Jan 2007)

I once reported a guy who went straight through a stop sign causing me to have to swerve out of his way.
I used that traffic line and they rang me back and I was then contacted by a local guard and went to the station to make a complaint in writing.

The Guard came back to me later that evening teeling me he had spoken to the guy in question and that he was very sorry, remembered the incident and was aware he was in the wrong.

Guard then asked be did I want to proceed with the complaint against him.
I said no as I was satisfied that he had been spoken to by the guard and would think the next time.

However I would be prepared to go to court if I felt it was necessary to do so.
I felt a caution in this case sufficed.


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