Accused of breaking red light by Garda, looking for advice

ClubMan said:
This junction?
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I doubt if that is it. How could he start in green and still be travelling in red? The other side of the yellow box is clearly visible so he would not have progressed had it not been clear. ( I seem to recall a yellow box that went around a blind corner and a driver could not know if it was clear or not - I had wondered if that was the case for GBI. But he doesn't mention a yellow box.)

galway_blow_in said:
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
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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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How could this have happened at that junction? The oncoming car gets a green light moves forward but flashes at Galway Blow In to go ahead anyway?
 
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II don't know if the Gardai have dashcam but it's possible their new personal camera's may have recorded this. Those cameras are on continuous record but they don't retain everything, they have to press a button within 30 seconds of something happening, otherwise the data gets written over every 30 seconds.

I know Galway traffic is manic but there is no "technically" driving through a red light, you did or you didn't. Simple as that. Secondly, if your eyes were on the road in front of you, how do you know that no one braked?.

Look at it from the Garda perspective, they see a car driving through a red light (which you've pretty much admitted), they've probably seen a car having to break as a result, which no matter what you say I cannot see how you would be aware that they didn't. Therefore they stopped you.

You'd spend the insurance increase on a solicitor to fight this.
 
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Peanuts, I brake all the time on a regular basis while in urban traffic, it's a simple reaction to other driver behaviour, there is a difference between that and jamming the breaks to avert crashing into someone,the latter absolutely did not happen yesterday,as for the Google maps shot , the difference with that still and yesterday is yesterday the traffic on headford road was not only bumper to bumper,there was a five minute queue of traffic exiting from the Dunnes store's capark as well,I was five minutes waiting at the lights ,at no time was the traffic on headford road whizzing along,even when green on headford road ( thus red in Dunnes car park) , the pace of traffic was snail like , if every motorist in Galway abided by the moralizing prigs on this site ,no one leaving the likes of Boston scientific on to the Dublin road below Connolly's motor Garrage would ever arrive home as it's a case of doing folks a solid favour and letting them out or leaving them stuck, it's what drivers do ,no one is driving straight out on to 100km high speed motorways and creating collisions

This is why Brendan is incorrect in assuming it's not possible to take so long manuvuring from the car park on to the headford road

The guard exercised the most extreme draconian interpretation of events and exercised zero nuance or disgression, it's just unfortunate on my part but I suspect that the judge wouldn't even have time to conceive of the circumstances,she wasn't there and will only be able to assess from a technical standpoint, it's inevitable,not a judges job to advise guards to exercise nuance, luckily most do so unlikely to ever happen again
 
galway_blow_in said:
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
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galway_blow_in said:
,I was five minutes waiting at the lights ,at no time was the traffic on headford road whizzing along,even when green on headford road ( thus red in Dunnes car park) , the pace of traffic was snail like
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So, you were stopped at a red exiting Dunnes, the main road had green but the traffic was bumper to bumper, somebody on the main road flashed you to proceed which you did and in doing so broke the red light? Is that it?
 
@galway_blow_in

Could you confirm that this is the junction?

And can you tell us exactly what happened.

For example. Were you waiting patiently on red and only proceeded when the lights went green.

Crossed with Clubman. Who flashed at you? Makes little sense at this junction.
 
If that is indeed the junction, or even the one after it if turning left, there are pedestrian crossings at both. Maybe that is why the garda applied a strict rule of law. Regardless of the fact that there might not have been a person on the crossing, breaking a red light is an offence and I would argue a worse one if you break it and cross a pedestrian crossing, even an empty one. I understand the trafffic problems in that area (and that city as a whole) and also walked around it a lot. Frustration at traffic does not mean that you can break the rules of the road.

Actually just looked again and there is also a bike lane. So even if the vehicle traffic was at a standstill, there could have been a fast moving cyclist coming up that lane.
 
Brendan Burgess said:
And can you tell us exactly what happened.
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And also what did the Garda do exactly? I presume that they issued a fixed charge penalty notice and points (€80/2 points?) for careless driving but it's not totally clear from the thread three pages in...

Driving offences

An overview of the most common driving offences in Ireland, the penalties that are in place, and information on how to appeal.
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If that's what was issued then are you going to appeal it or challenge it in court?

Driving offences

An overview of the most common driving offences in Ireland, the penalties that are in place, and information on how to appeal.
www.citizensinformation.ie www.citizensinformation.ie
Someone else asked if you have a dashcam which would be very useful if it can prove that you are innocent of the offence.
 
I think it's worth pointing out here that the offence of breaking a red light does not require you to fully drive through the junction, the offence in legislation applies if any part of the car advances past the stop line, or light where there is no line.
 
Last comment as the whole thread has descended into a priggish pile on from the usual holier than thou house regulars VIP section

The bit about a motorist on the headford road flashing lights is ironic considering that's technically an offence , by flashing the lights ,you are complicit in deviating from the letter of the law ,all of a sudden the VIP club puritans are fine and dandy with law breaking LOL .

Like I said earlier,in most cases a guard will exercise disgression,no one bolted out on to swift moving traffic and forced other drivers to jam on the brakes

It's hardly wonder this site has about as much footfall as a LADA car dealership in 2024 when every thread is a pious display of finger wagging, carry on though, it's obviously pleasing to the Uber self satisfied gold club members
 
galway_blow_in said:
The bit about a motorist on the headford road flashing lights is ironic considering that's technically an offence , by flashing the lights ,you are complicit in deviating from the letter of the law
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There is no offence in Irish legislation of flashing your headlights. Flashing is permitted as a visual warning to alert others of your presence, you could potentially be charged for causing a hazard to other drivers if you were deemed to be misusing them.
 
Just because something didn't happen this time, it doesn't mean that it won't happen next time you cross a red light. If someone thinks it is ever ok to do it, chances are they will repeatedly do it and potentially other poor/illegal driving behaviour. And the more people that do it the more people tend to copy the behaviour. The garda might have done you a favour as you will hopefully be less likely to do it again and might save yourself and someone else injury or worse.

Not a member of a golf club at all, but I do tend to get exercise as a pedestrian and am thoroughly sick of seeing dangerous driving behaviour, most common of which is failure to stop at a red light.
 
galway_blow_in said:
It's hardly wonder this site has about as much footfall as a LADA car dealership in 2024 when every thread is a pious display of finger wagging, carry on though, it's obviously pleasing to the Uber self satisfied gold club members
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Based on this and your other comments in this thread, it sounds as if there's not a lot holding you here. From my perspective, feel free to jog on; there's no red light or yellow hatched junction blocking your exit.
 
galway_blow_in said:
Last comment as the whole thread has descended into a priggish pile on from the usual holier than thou house regulars VIP section
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If that's how you want to characterise people simply trying to understand what is a very confusing situation that seems to be poorly explained, then so be it.
galway_blow_in said:
It's hardly wonder this site has about as much footfall as a LADA car dealership in 2024 when every thread is a pious display of finger wagging, carry on though, it's obviously pleasing to the Uber self satisfied gold club members
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Good job we have your 2000+ posts to keep it going so? Even if it was already moribund several years ago...

Is this potentially defamatory

If you're looking for a solution then a solicitor's letter asking this person to stay away from your wife is one way to go. It would have no legal effect but might cause them to think twice before approaching her again. It might also irretrievably escalate matters, and open a Pandora's box of...
www.askaboutmoney.com
Edit: just thinking ... Might calling others/everyone here "priggish" be defamatory/libellous I wonder? I suppose it's not if we are?
 
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galway_blow_in said:
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Before you go, could you actually tell us what happened.
Has ClubMan identified the correct junction?
Were the lights red when you approached the junction. You stopped. Then when they went green you moved off? or Did you approach the lights when they were green and just go onto the yellow box and not get off it in time because your exit was blocked?

But most mysterious of all, how did someone allow you through? I can understand that at a junction without traffic lights but I can't see how it happened at traffic lights?

If you think that we are priggish, I think we will appear quite liberal when compared to the judge.

And do come back and let us know how you get on.

Brendan
 
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