Above the law
Those of you who have visited here before will know that I have no great love for our gubmint militia police force.
While the prime culprit is our legal system with its overabundance of petty laws, rules and restriction, the Gardaí don't do themselves any favours by enforcing those laws by the book rather than by common sense.
I came across a couple of photographs on Twitter recently where they brag about their great "capture". The Tweet was s follows –
Meath Traffic video motorcyclist dangerous overtaking & on hatched markings, FCN issued for dangerous overtaking
For the benefit of those who don't know – FCN is a Fixed Charge Notice. In other words, more cash into the gubmint's coffers, on the whim of the police.
The first photograph shows the overtaking in action.
I know it's only a single image which doesn't give the full picture [pun intended] but that looks like a reasonably safe maneuver? I certainly wouldn't class it as "dangerous" as there seems to be ample space each side of the bike. It's not a spot I would have chosen, but that is the level of my criticism.
The second picture is the one that really piqued my interest.
Now here we have a real crime in plain view. The cyclist has the audacity, nay the sheer vandalism of driving on some faded paint! What a crime! He drove on hatched markings? Anarchy in action?
Personally I ignore those patches of paint out of sheer necessity. More often than not they would force a motorist into a chicane that is more dangerous than driving straight over them. And anyway, I refuse to be bossed around by some fucking paint. Judging by the second picture, I'm not the only one as that paint is well eroded.
Actually both pictures do show a motoring offence in action.
Note the speed and note the distance to the car in front of the camera?
But then our police are above the law.
Give some folk a fancy dress outfit and instill in them a belief in the omnipotence of authority and off they go collecting revenue for some lard arses who pretent they are electrd to serve and the even lardier arses who hide in the shadows.
Cynical.
But true.
The hatchings that the bike is on seem to have a broken line surrounding them (it might just be a shadow?). In the UK, I think that it is only going into hatchings with a solid line around them that is an offence – the others are an "encouragement" to keep opposing traffic slightly further apart. Is there any distinction between the two in Ireland, or does it depend on whether you fancy taking the gamble if the Gardai have incorrectly issued the penalty?
However, I don't trust Plod not to issue money making tickets on the basis that there are not enough people brave enough to argue the toss.
Considering the number of successful appeals against various speedinf and parking fines, I would say that there is a huge reliance on public ignorance, not to mention fear of flashing blue lights and uniforms.
I must look up that one about the solid/broken ines as applies here. Could come in handy?
They could have doubled their money with the first image by giving the driver of the car that had yielded to the motor bike a ticket for driving on the hard shoulder.
Is that what they mean by a fine line?
How come any squad car I see is usually being driven in a manner that would incur the wrath of any judge? Just sayin' ……
Outside the house of a friend of mine, a lorry driver, who had been driving with two wheels on the hard shoulder to allow a car to pass, was pulled over for driving illegally
If ever proof were needed that the "law" is just a cash machine……………………
An old joke to lighten the mood.
This fella is driving and gets pulled over by the cops.Cop asks why he was 5 miles over the speed limit,the motororist is internally seething but replies calmly "I have to attend an Irish wake".The cop is curious and asks "Whats special about an Irish wake?" The man replies
"If the corpse is male it's customary to cut off his dick and pin it over the door"
"What happens then?" asks the cop.
"Everybody that attends the wake tugs the dick on the way in and out,until the dick is six feet long"
"Wow ,what happens then?"
"Well then they send it down to Templemore for six months ,and give it a cops uniform"
I have heard it said that the best jokes are the ones that have a strong elemen of truth to them?
Being a very keen motorcyclist and having passed my IAM advanced test, not that passing it makes me anything extraordinary I would say that in the case of the first photo, although the car had pulled over to let him pass he did place himself in a position of being the 'meat in the sandwhich' with the coach which would get any traffic coppers attention. In the second he did nothing wrong per se except that the cross hatchings are there as a caution and had there been any vehicles waiting to pull out from a junction that would have given them the 'reason' they needed for a nick.
I used to be a motorcyclist myself and as I said, I wouldn't have chosen that particular circumstance to overtake. He is taking a risk, but I would judge it as a relatively minor one?
As for a vehicle being stopped in one of those painted "reservations" then obviously the cyclist would see that vehicle and avoid it, but if nothing is using that area then there is no harm in driving across it. Common sense should trump the law.
I agree wholeheartedly both overtakes were safe enough but I think the speed in the first photo also got their attention. I don't know the limits so the bike may or may not have been going over it. The other thing that gets up traffic's noses is that the bike obviously did not see them behid him so as far as they were concerned he was not paying enough attention. All they then do is follow until they can nab him for something. This is their job! to make money and bollocks to common sense or courtesy; anything about safety is tantamount to bullshit.
I did wonder if the speed registered on the photograph was the speed of the police car or that of the target. If the former, then our bastions of the law were definitely driving much too close to the cars in front and constituted a major traffic hazard!
I'm a motorcyclist and I don't get it at all. In the first picture he is only going 58mph and the car is giving him room! The speed limit on highways (carriageways) is 65mph so WTH?
In the second photo the guy is only going 36mph!!! I take it this hatch lane you are speaking of is similar to what we call a suicide lane. Kinda' like a third lane for either direction to use to pass.
Traffic tickets as with DUI's are nothing more than money making schemes used to tax us to death!
There is no mention of speeding so presumably that wasn't an issue.
The hatching is an irritating technique they have here of marking off a "safety reservation" for traffic turing off across the opposite lane. The photo shows the absolute end of the markings and he is only a few inches over and seeing as there is no evidence of any oncoming traffic so fining him for his alleged "offence" is a gross abuse of power. If I were a judge hearing that case I would fine the police for wasting court time!