Accused of breaking red light by Garda, looking for advice

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galway_blow_in

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Was driving in Galway city today and a garda car pulled me over not far from the hospital,he accused me of having broken a red light having emerged from the Dunes stores on headford road which is a good two km back so unbeknownst to me ,he followed me for quite a bit, he claimed that when I pulled out on the main headford road that an oncoming motorist had to break to avoid hitting me, the second part is utter rubbish but as it's absolutely possible that in urban slow moving traffic,lights can change quickly and you could easily find yourself technically having committed a red light break ( most guards would allow digression) , might it be worth contesting in court ?, receiving penalty points has a really negative effect on insurance premiums so meekly taking it on the chin is a hard swallow

Obviously judges instinctively side with guards so that is important to bear in mind,do all garda cars use cam recording while out in traffic?

Technically I may have broken a red light though I was extremely surprised when he put this to me , the accusation of an oncoming motorist having had to abruptly stop to avoid hitting me is utter garbage
 
galway_blow_in said:
it's absolutely possible that in urban slow moving traffic,lights can change quickly and you could easily find yourself technically having committed a red light break
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It's something i see more and more. Used to be gaming the orange light. Orange being the signal to put the foot down. Now it's routinely 2 or 3 seconds into a red.
galway_blow_in said:
Technically I may have broken a red light though I was extremely surprised when he put this to me
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There's no "technically" if you went through a red then you have broken the lights and therefore the law and endangered other traffic users.
 
Please ,Let's not rush to get all priggish, " endangering other drivers" , nuance is a healthy trait ,I endangered no one or the guard would have charged me with dangerous driving,I didn't drive out on motorway traffic,I entered slow moving traffic

Questions if I may

1. Do garda cars have dashcams ,if I did make the manuvure during a switch in the colour of the lights , obviously video footage would convict me but I firmly believe this did not happen and would hope the judge would not simply unconditionally side with the guard

2. The guard lied about an oncoming motorist having to stop suddenly, people drive out of school grounds or shopping center car parks every day,other motorist's show good will and let them out ,this is what happened here
 
Guards not only make mistakes, some are naturally high handed ,some need names in their books to meet quotas,it's good for promotional opportunities, it's not especially clever to always assume a guard is inherently incapable of wrongdoing
 
I don't recall breaking a light but it's technically possible,I remember the events and circumstances which involve the guard making the accusations, it's his interpretation I don't agree with
 
I was stopped for crashing a red light at a pedestrian crossing.

I was shocked and expressed my shock and apology to the police woman - it was in Belfast. She told me to be more careful in future. I have no doubt that I crashed the light but I did not do it intentionally.
 
Guards are not impartial observer's, are you completely naieve, were that the case ,no one would ever need to employ a defence solicitor in a court setting, bizzare comment, guards have agendas
 
So the Garda was driving along.

He saw the light going green.

He saw you pulling out so you were crashing a red light.

He saw the car in front of him breaking.

Seems clear enough to me.
 
galway_blow_in said:
people drive out of school grounds or shopping center car parks every day,other motorist's show good will and let them out ,this is what happened here
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I let people pull out of side roads all the time and people let me pull out.

I have never stopped at a green light to let someone out on a red light.

And I don't think anyone has ever stopped at a green light and encouraged me to break the red light.
 
I turned left out of a shopping centre car park onto an Urban dual carriageway, when I exited the light was green , traffic is bumper to bumper in Galway all of the time so making a ten meter turn can take thirty seconds,you could begin a turn in green and not have fully completed it by the switch back to red and thus technically broken a red
 
Burgess, your a professional contrarian and all round awkward individual , if you are only interested in being your usual priggish self,be a pal and annoy someone else
 
galway_blow_in said:
you could begin a turn in green and not have fully completed it by the switch back to red and thus technically broken a red
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I don't know the rules of the road. But if you went through the lights when they were green, then you probably did not crash them.

Was there one of those yellow boxes there?
 
You're not challenging anything, just willfully misrepresenting me in order to carry on in your usual high handed manner

I hit nobody or came close to hitting nobody,the guard add libbed that bit for dramatic effect, that's just my poor fortune to encounter a jerk of a cop but it's neither here nor there if he has cam footage of what of what constitutes a technical red light break

I'll ask again.

1. Do guards use cam footage?
2 do judges always side with guards in relatively minor non criminal court appearances ?

Three extra penalty points in 2025 can add several hundred euro to insurance renewal
 
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