# Dangerous overtaking what should I do?



## blinkbelle (6 Oct 2006)

Was coming along on a main road today, very heavy rain alot of traffic as there usually is on this road on a friday with people to and from dublin/galway.  

Out of nowhere this car starts overtaking like mad behind me at least 2 cars i could see in my mirrow then he was behind me driving up my hole.

I didnt do anything was doing about 50 as there was a white van in front of me and a car in front of it.  So i kept an eye on him and sure enough he went for me, think he wanted to get the van as well but then there was a car coming on opposite side and he just flew in front of me and jammed on.

This isnt unuasal on this road, there has been many accidents on it.   I got make model, colour and reg of the car. 

Im after trying to ring my local gardai but no answer.  I was behind him then untill we got to the town.  He was a young fella, with one passenger.  

Is it even worth my while trying to keep getting in touch with the gardai?

It just annoying me as it was bad driving conditions, nobody could move any faster but yet he still wanted to beat the traffic.  Unreal.


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## Ron Burgundy (6 Oct 2006)

to be honest no.....

first its your word against theirs and unless your willing to give up a days work to go to court its pointless.

thats if the garda bother to even look into it.


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## johndoe64 (6 Oct 2006)

I was listening to Joe Duffy awhile ago and a woman had a similar problem but it was with a truck, she reported it to the guards and they said they would handle it, next thing she gets a call from the truck driver, she was appauled that the gaurd had just passed on her details and done nothing else.

So I don't know would it even be worth your while!!!!


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## Megan (6 Oct 2006)

A few years ago I got a phone call from my local friendly garda station to say a man complained about me running him off the road on a roundabout. Lucky for me I could tell him exactly the make of the car the man was driving because I could see him on my left hand side as I went round the roundabout (one lane roundabout). I was going right -  the trouble was so was he  - but he was in the wrong lane but decide to go anyway and it seems he hit the kerb and damaged his wheel and then reported me in the garda station. I gave my account to the guard and he said he may need to get in touch with me again to get a statement but I never heard back from him. They do act sometimes. Thats 4 years ago.


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## REXO (6 Oct 2006)

Hi,
For a couple of months ,a  young lad was driving dangerously on my route to work.  Its a rural road and theres nowhere you can overtake safely. Theres usually a steady convoy of cars between 8.30 and 9am every morning. That never stopped him, intimidation tactics,  riding on your bumper , flashing lights etc etc. ....so I went to the guards

They pulled up the guys address and visited his house, the guys father went "ballistic"  and tore into the young lad on the doorstep in front of the the guards. 
No problems since but the guard said he could prosecute if i was willing to testify in court. 


maybe I've saved a life.
and you can too.


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## tosullivan (7 Oct 2006)

you can call the Garda Confidential Hotline on 1800 666111

I was turning right at a junction a few months ago and a van came up the left of the queue of traffic that was turning right, appearing to be turning left.  Just at the last second it turned right as I was turning right and cut me off nearly sending me into the oncoming traffic.  I called the number and reported him and it was followed up.


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## pennypincher (8 Oct 2006)

Usually when I see an asshole trying this type of manouvre-trying to overtake and pull in front of you I just ensure I leave no space between me and the car in front...and then they either have the choice of hitting the oncoming car or pulling back in behind me....blowing the horn while all this is going on tends to alert other drivers and they usually start blowing too....


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## Ancutza (8 Oct 2006)

If you don't like this particular kind of manouvre then NEVER, EVER come to Romania.  It's a favourite at intersections and it drives me NUTS!!!

Seriously though, unless a guard is on the scene to witness the incident, then I think that very few such complaints are followed-up.  Your word against theirs...


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## Ron Burgundy (8 Oct 2006)

pennypincher said:


> I just ensure I leave no space between me and the car in front...


 
to me thats just as bad as the other driver


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## onekeano (8 Oct 2006)

I know someone who reported a guy driving like that a few years ago. The next day the guards were in touch to thank them and asking them to make a statement because the car in question had been in a very serious accident and the driver was denying any claims of dangerous driving.

Luckily my friend wasn't the only one who had reported the a$$hole and the guards prosecuted. IMHO you should call the confiential telephone line and report it.

Roy


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## rgfuller (9 Oct 2006)

I've also seen someone harrassing a car (threw an empty bottle at it when overtaking, was driving dangerously, etc) - the passangers of the harrassed car must have called the police, because a couple of miles up the road a garda car was waiting at a junction and pulled over the car causing the trouble, we all stoped I gave a statement of what I'd observed and the two of us drove off, no idea what happened to the aggressor but I assume he got 'talked to'.
So it's definitly worth calling - in fact if your alone in a car a hands free kit could be a lifesaver if you need to report someone while driving along.


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## sun_sparks (9 Oct 2006)

pennypincher said:


> Usually when I see an asshole trying this type of manouvre-trying to overtake and pull in front of you I just ensure I leave no space between me and the car in front...and then they either have the choice of hitting the oncoming car or pulling back in behind me....blowing the horn while all this is going on tends to alert other drivers and they usually start blowing too....



Don't the Rules of the Road state that if you don't intend to overtake the car in front, then you should leave sufficient room for someone to overtake you? 

I know this doesn't make allowances for asses who want to act like lunatics, but to be honest, I wouldn't be forcing someone to drive even more dangerously than they are already. What if something happened and they tried to get past and had a crash? Could you live with that? Yes, it would be their fault, but had you let them in...

(And trust me, I feel the same urge to block them, but sometimes you just need to let things be!)


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## micamaca (9 Oct 2006)

Isn't there some very aggressive drivers out there these days??

Is the Garda confidential line really confidential?  I too was listening to Joe Duffy and the woman who complained about the truck driver....I would be horrified if I complained about someone to the guards and then they gave my number out to that person...luckily it seems the truck driver really just called to apologise but the next time it might be some psycho who makes your life miserable.  

Can we trust our guards to do the sensible thing?  I don't have much confidence in them as you hear an awful lot of bad press and very little good press...such is life.


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## Johnny1 (14 Feb 2007)

pennypincher said:


> Usually when I see an asshole trying this type of manouvre-trying to overtake and pull in front of you I just ensure I leave no space between me and the car in front...and then they either have the choice of hitting the oncoming car or pulling back in behind me....blowing the horn while all this is going on tends to alert other drivers and they usually start blowing too....


This is what causes accidents do you ever think of the innocent driver comming in the opposite direction put yourself in his position how would like it? The same thing happened to me comming from Killarney years ago some fool behind decided to overtake me as there was a car comming in the opposite direction I had to slam on my brakes to leave him overtake to prevent an accident I was traveling behind him for some distance he must have got a fright because he stopped overtaking cars that was until he recovered about half an hour after he overtook a car on a bend. You must make allowances for these bad drivers.


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## kilomike (14 Feb 2007)

I would inform the Gardai and ask them for a reference number so that you can follow it up later, never mind 1800 number, ring 999, that way you can ensure the call is recorded.


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## KalEl (14 Feb 2007)

Johnny1 said:


> This is what causes accidents do you ever think of the innocent driver comming in the opposite direction put yourself in his position how would like it?


 
I agree...what'll probably happen is the fool will take the lesser of two evils and slam into the side of your car, driving you off the road possibly killing you. Plus you're increasing the chances of rear-ending the car in front of you bigtime!
It's hard not to sometimes though...have done it myself when guys try and undertake on dual-carraigways/motorways. Isn't clever though.


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## aircobra19 (14 Feb 2007)

pennypincher said:


> ... I leave no space between me and the car in front.......



I also don't get the point of this. If you are not willing to overtake, why prevent someone else from doing it, and by tailgating??? I slow down and leave a gap so they can use the space and thus get away. Last thing I want to do is have them sitting behind me for a few miles. 

Had a incident tonight in  heavy city traffic. Some muppet in a 4x4 almost caused an accident accelerating to close a gap in from of him. Just to stop me pulling into an easy gap in another lane. As the traffic was queued in his lane anyway, all he achieved was defending that 8ft of space for about 30 secs. I'd already moved past him in another lane by then. 

Why people can be nice and let people ahead of them I have no idea. It makes no difference to your journey time.


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## KalEl (14 Feb 2007)

aircobra19 said:


> I also don't get the point of this. If you are not willing to overtake, why prevent someone else from doing it, and by tailgating??? I slow down and leave a gap so they can use the space and thus get away. Last thing I want to do is have them sitting behind me for a few miles.
> 
> Had a incident tonight in heavy city traffic. Some muppet in a 4x4 almost caused an accident accelerating to close a gap in from of him. Just to stop me pulling into an easy gap in another lane. As the traffic was queued in his lane anyway, all he achieved was defending that 8ft of space for about 30 secs. I'd already moved past him in another lane by then.
> 
> Why people can be nice and let people ahead of them I have no idea. It makes no difference to your journey time.


 
It depends though...I'm always considerate when it comes to letting the deserving in. But make a point of not letting people who deliberately stay in the wrong lane to gain ground and then try and get back in ahead of those who've bothered to be in the right lane!


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## aircobra19 (15 Feb 2007)

KalEl said:


> It depends though...I'm always considerate when it comes to letting the deserving in. But make a point of not letting people who deliberately stay in the wrong lane to gain ground and then try and get back in ahead of those who've bothered to be in the right lane!



You've no way of knowing why they are in the wrong lane. Could be mistake, could be unfamilar with the junction, could be anything. So it makes sense to force them to stop and hold up and entire lane (the one they are in) in order to prevent them from merging in turn in your lane. I don't see the point. 

Its got to the point now where no one lets anyone go ahead, so people just force their way in, otherwise you could sit for 5 mins with your indicator, for someone to let you in.


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## KalEl (15 Feb 2007)

aircobra19 said:


> You've no way of knowing why they are in the wrong lane. Could be mistake, could be unfamilar with the junction, could be anything. So it makes sense to force them to stop and hold up and entire lane (the one they are in) in order to prevent them from merging in turn in your lane. I don't see the point.
> 
> Its got to the point now where no one lets anyone go ahead, so people just force their way in, otherwise you could sit for 5 mins with your indicator, for someone to let you in.


 
I don't agree...people making mistakes would be in the minority.
You see it every morning on the M50 northbound at the N7/Red Cow exit. People make the effort to be in the correct lane and sit queuing to get onto the off-ramp. Then you get idiots who drive all the way to the hatched area, stick their indicator on and block the traffic in the slow lane. I make a point of not letting these people in.
I think most drivers are mannerly...they let people out, acknowledge generosity etc. But I see nothing wrong with refusing to allow drivers to take the proverbial michael!


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## aircobra19 (15 Feb 2007)

In that scenerio maybe but its really for the guards to enforce the rules, not for people to go vigilante using their car as a weapon.


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## Irish Fire (15 Feb 2007)

micamaca said:


> Isn't there some very aggressive drivers out there these days??
> 
> Is the Garda confidential line really confidential? I too was listening to Joe Duffy and the woman who complained about the truck driver....I would be horrified if I complained about someone to the guards and then they gave my number out to that person...luckily it seems the truck driver really just called to apologise but the next time it might be some psycho who makes your life miserable.
> 
> Can we trust our guards to do the sensible thing? I don't have much confidence in them as you hear an awful lot of bad press and very little good press...such is life.


 
I this not taring all members of the Gardai with the same brush. To be honest I rang the Garda Traffic Watch (1890 205805) last week when I saw a gobsh**e driving like someone out of an F1 race. I rang them when I was at the Redcow and they had him pulled at Bluebell (now Idon't know if it was a case of they were in the right place at the right time) and I got a call from the Garda in question about an hour later and he is going to court with him(so am I mind but that dosen't really matter to me if it saves one life even if it is that gobsh**es life)


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## babaduck (15 Feb 2007)

I have rung Trafficwatch a few times to report absolute assholes & in EVERY instance, it was followed up.  One guy was p*ssed & almost killed us - he was taken to court & got a ban... if I hadn't rung the Guards, he could have killed somebody.

Why should muppets get away with driving in a dangerous or threatening manner - it's not acceptable to overtake on a bend with oncoming traffic & no space to manoeuver, or to force sombody doing 100kph onto the hard shoulder so they can zoom past (in a 100kph zone...)


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## pennypincher (15 Feb 2007)

pennypincher said:


> Usually when I see an asshole trying this type of manouvre-trying to overtake and pull in front of you I just ensure I leave no space between me and the car in front...and then they either have the choice of hitting the oncoming car or pulling back in behind me....blowing the horn while all this is going on tends to alert other drivers and they usually start blowing too....



My concern here is that if he gets in front of me and has to slam on the brakes and I then hit him it's my fault!Also it might cop him on,if we all make it easy for them to get away with it why should they bother changing thier ways?


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## scuby (15 Feb 2007)

i was travelling from galway to cork last year, and i could see a guy in my wing/rear view mirrior driving dangeriously, trying to over take cars on bad bends with oncoming traffic... he eventually worked his way up behind me and drove about 2 feet from my rear bumper.. flashing lights, tried to pass me, even though there was a line of traffic about a mile long in front of me... anyway he was trying to pass me for ages, on bends and a few time having to hit the brakes to go in behind me again. and he went for it again, and an oncoming car had to swerve to avoid him, and the other cars travelling in the same direction as me had to brake and swerve as well....i called the cops in ennis and told them what was happening, and they said they would try to get him.. asked my for my details etc, but said i wanted them to have a word with him and that i did not want to go to court etc.. i told the guard i did not care if he kills himself, but would be very sorry to see someone else killed over him.... when we got to ennis they had him pulled in and they were writing up his details, and the were looking all around his cars, me and a few more blew the horn at him, and as i passed the guards i shouted well done.. as he would definately have killed someone that night.....


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## june (16 Feb 2007)

This is not exactly on the same vein as previous replies but here goes...

I was parked in an outdoor car park today, putting baby into  car seat next thing I noticed the car beside me reversing back towards my pushchair which was behind me obviously. I hammered on her boot and she stopped just before hitting the pushchair. 

Clearly this girl did not look in her mirrors. If she did not see the pushchair then she would not have seen a child inside or beside it.
 It does not take that long to strap in a child and the ignorant cow could have let me finish rather than reversing into us. 

I hope when she grows up and has children of her own to put into a car that others will afford her more courtesy than she showed to me and my kids today


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## comanche (16 Feb 2007)

Am guessing she did not see the pushchair because of its height. Thats why you should always reverse into a parking space and drive out.



june said:


> This is not exactly on the same vein as previous replies but here goes...
> 
> I was parked in an outdoor car park today, putting baby into  car seat next thing I noticed the car beside me reversing back towards my pushchair which was behind me obviously. I hammered on her boot and she stopped just before hitting the pushchair.
> 
> ...


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## PGD1 (16 Feb 2007)

my wife reporting a youn glad for agressive driving and to be fair to the Guards they followed it up and it went to court. On the day the guy hired a solicitor who used agressive techniques to put put my wife off guard and he got away with it.


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## BCPK (16 Feb 2007)

does the gardai number for reporting dangerous drivers still work? it was a pilot scheme in the South east and i thought they were going to roll it out nationwide? 
1890205805


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## Eeyore (16 Feb 2007)

BCPK said:


> does the gardai number for reporting dangerous drivers still work? it was a pilot scheme in the South east and i thought they were going to roll it out nationwide?
> 1890205805





Irish Fire said:


> I this not taring all members of the Gardai with the same brush. To be honest I rang the Garda Traffic Watch (1890 205805) last week when I saw a gobsh**e driving like someone out of an F1 race. I rang them when I was at the Redcow and they had him pulled at Bluebell (now Idon't know if it was a case of they were in the right place at the right time) and I got a call from the Garda in question about an hour later and he is going to court with him(so am I mind but that dosen't really matter to me if it saves one life even if it is that gobsh**es life)



I have used this number in the past as well and while it can be difficult to get through, once you do the guards will respond. I reported a driver for dangerous overtaking and a guard called me back a few days later to get the details. It didn't go to court but I was told that he would get a caution.


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## manukev (16 Feb 2007)

pennypincher said:


> My concern here is that if he gets in front of me and has to slam on the brakes and I then hit him it's my fault!Also it might cop him on,if we all make it easy for them to get away with it why should they bother changing thier ways?


these people may not always be dangerous drivers,you might have someone trying to overtake in an emergency situation so why should anyone break the rules of the road themselves and close a legal gap on someone else just because it bugs them to be overtaken.tailgating is equally as dangerous


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## bonzos (28 Feb 2007)

Be very carefull about reporting driving incidents.What happen if the other driver get your personal details in the course of following up the complant.Bottom line is you dont know the other drivers background!!


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## Mad_Lad (28 Feb 2007)

closing a gap when someone tries a overtaking maneuver is illegal! and makes you just as bad as the other driver! People should report bad behavior and let the gardi deal with it, otherwise it can cause road rage. Worry about your own driving!


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