Cars with defective headlights

M

macnas

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Last night I was driving for one hour. In that time I met 12 cars coming towards me with defective headlights (some had 1 full head light, some had 1 full and 1 parking light ). These can look like motorbikes until they pass by. Lots of other cars had lights that were misaligned.
I had thought it would be an easy task for any Garda to identify these cars and take appropriate action. Do the Gardai stop cars at night anymore?
That same night 4 people were killed in car accidents. Why is nothing being done?
 
Re: Time to do something!

What about negligent drivers also doing something themselves to reduce the risks to themselves and other road users - e.g. rectifying faults with their vehicles, not drink-driving, driving with caution and according to the rules of the road etc.?
 
Re: Time to do something!

If you're suggesting that offending drivers 'self police' their dangerous and negligent behaviour it's doubtful that road deaths will ever fall.

It's common enough to see cars with only one working headlight. I feel that it's a serious enough offence to warrant more Garda attention than currently appears to be the case. It's not as if it's a hard offence to spot.
 
Re: Time to do something!

It's not an either/or issue and a lot could be done by people themselves addressing their own behaviour on the roads and adhering to the rules/laws that already apply. Of course the Gardai should deal with breaches of the law but obviously they are not omnipresent.

In this as in many other contexts Irish people seem to prefer to pass the blame onto others (e.g. Garda enforcement) rather than looking at their own responsibilities.

Take for example - the driver was drunk and speeding, the passengers were not wearing seat belts, the road conditions were fine and it was on a relatively straight stretch of road (slight bend) and yet the verdict recommended that parked heavy vehicles display warning lights as if this was some sort of contributory factor mitigating the culpability of the driver and passengers in question. Note that in this case the heavy vehicle was (admittedly technically illegally) parked on the opposite side of the road to the car that crashed so I can't see how additional lighting would have helped...
 
Re: Time to do something!

I'm not blaming the Gardai-it's those that choose to behave in the manner that causes road deaths that are to blame. That's the main cause. The solution? No consensus, but it certainly seems fair to assume that greater enforcement of existing laws would help.

I have little or no sympathy with those who are at fault for road accidents-my sympathy lies with the innocent victims. I don't blame the government or the Gardai for causing road deaths, but I do feel that more could be done to try and prevent them. However, I am not responsible for the actions of others, nor do I have any mandated power to influence them. If I know of someone who is breaking the law I will report them where I have enough information. I am also for the introduction of random breath testing and more speed checks on dengerous stretches of roads. Enforcment is the job of the Gardai, whose efforts can be influenced by the government.

I read the story you were referring to above. The main cause seemed to be excess alcohol and speed. The truck was indeed parked illegally, but it is/was disengenuous of an investigation to suggest that this was anything other than a minor contributory factor. I don't think that dead drunk drivers have ever been criticised in a coroner's court for causing the deaths of others.
 
Re: Time to do something!

The comment about no prosecutions following from the accident (obviously against the truck owner was a disgrace) was disgraceful implying, as it seems to me, that some people (not necessarily the Gardai) might consider the truck owner somehow culpable! At worst he might have been due a ticket for illegal parking even though even this was probably a technicality (i.e. depended on some little known bye law on parking heavy goods in a residential area or something like that). Ultimately the driver was to blame and the passengers were also culpable. This is probably the case in many other accidents. It would be better if this was stated clearly rather than pussy footing around the issue for fear of offending the next of kin or being seen to be harsh or whatever.
 
Re: Time to do something!

ClubMan said:
Ultimately the driver was to blame and the passengers were also culpable. This is probably the case in many other accidents. It would be better if this was stated clearly rather than pussy footing around the issue for fear of offending the next of kin or being seen to be harsh or whatever.
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Agreed, the point needs to be made each time. But I doubt that a coroner would be willing to do it, nor any politican brave enough. The opposition parties get great mileage out of railing against the government over road deaths, I doubt they would rather criticise those who actually cause the accidents in the first place. Bertie has come out today and made a fairly meek plea for all motorists to 'drive carefully' in light of the 5 deaths in Donegal on Saturday morning.
 
Re: Time to do something!

If people were aware that the Gardai were checking for defective lights on cars for the month of March (say) and were seen to do so, then nobody would drive with defective lighting. This could then be extended to the month of April where spot checks on car tyres could be done. Each month a different check carried out and this check well publicised could have a good effect on driving behaviour.
I would hate to think that someone I know was to die in a traffic accident because the other driver/car had bald tires or poor brakes etc? If they can pay for petrol then they can pay to maintain their car in proper condition.
Can a car be confiscated on the spot if defective? Or is the driver allowed to drive away from a Garda checkpoint with obvious defects?
 
Re: Time to do something!

It's sadly a case of the Gardai just not caring or having the inclination to do something about it other than being out on the roads checking tax and other revenue protection/generation procedures. I have seen one headlight cars being waved thru checkpoints all the time. :mad:
 
Re: Time to do something!

Just in case there is any doubt - posting on a topic on a bulletin board does not constitute 'doing something about it'.
 
Has anyone observed of late the ticketing of vehicles that flagrantly violate the parking regulations by Gardai? No, of course not. And many of those situations force pedestrians and cyclists into the roadway. But the Gardai blindly saunter by...

I know for a fact that if you are spot-checked in Holland and found without a usable spare tyre it is a moving violation (points and fine). Here, here!
 
Do you remember an epidose of the simpsons where they had to bring in a new police chief that would enforce the laws?

Prehaps the same is needed here, bring in a police force that will enforce all the laws and not just the ones they want to?
 
bond-007 said:
Do you remember an epidose of the simpsons where they had to bring in a new police chief that would enforce the laws?
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And we all remember what happened to Rex Banner........
 
the roads are so bad that one could argue the lights were ok when I set out and it must have been the potholes etc that shook it out of alighment. Impossible to police.

I try to avoid driving at niight, sad but a necessity.


noah
 
So, Rainyday, the newspapers are wasting their time reporting on how that the laws are being broken. Surely it puts pressure on the powers-that-be to act! You know they only react to pressure.
 
macnas said:
So, Rainyday, the newspapers are wasting their time reporting on how that the laws are being broken. Surely it puts pressure on the powers-that-be to act! You know they only react to pressure.
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I wouldn't consider a thread on AAM to be 'pressure'. If you really want to bring pressure to bear, you'll need to up the stakes considerably.
 
In France the excuse that the light bulb must have 'just blown', is not an offence, but it is an offence if you don't have a set of spare bulbs in your car to rectify the matter immediately if stopped by the the police. The same should be introduced here.
 
Re: Time to do something!

CCOVICH said:
I don't think that dead drunk drivers have ever been criticised in a coroner's court for causing the deaths of others.
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ClubMan said:
Ultimately the driver was to blame and the passengers were also culpable. This is probably the case in many other accidents. It would be better if this was stated clearly rather than pussy footing around the issue for fear of offending the next of kin or being seen to be harsh or whatever.
Click to expand...

Unfortunately, the age old Irish tradition of not speaking ill of the dead is the main reason why the above comments are true and commonplace. And until we get past that, we'll never really have true clarity on why accidents really happen. It's just unfortunate that agents of the State (Gardai and Coroners) can fall into this traditional thought as well.
 
ophelia said:
In France the excuse that the light bulb must have 'just blown', is not an offence, but it is an offence if you don't have a set of spare bulbs in your car to rectify the matter immediately if stopped by the the police. The same should be introduced here.
Click to expand...

Statistically only 0.3% of accidents are caused by defective cars. This concentration on headlights etc. reeks of uninformed mob sensationalism. Pity the press doesn't behave responsibly and report the facts - for example the way that Northern Ireland has reduced road deaths through education and the elimination of right turn black spots on all roads by creating a right turn lane.
 
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