WARNING! Unmarked Subaru on M23

thats all very good speak livvy!

what cheese people off specialy me is when my workshop gets turned over it takes 3HOURS for plod to turn up to tell me that ive been a victim of crime, (no s**t sherlock)wondered where all me tools had gone! then to drive home at an ungodly speed of 42mph to find plod sitting on his a**e minding a camera on a sunday, no doubt on overtime that im paying for. but as you quote " My veiws expressed are just that. mine and mine alone.!!

yours bitter and twisted

Livvy - I think that Dutch was signing his post as "Bitter and Twisted" rather than calling you "Bitter and Twisted"!

New Years night, at about 3am, I drove into town to pick up some drunken friends (I hadn't been out or drinking).  I was in the city centre (Galway) and stopped at a set of traffic lights when an unmarked Mondeo pulled up behind me (it's a small town, and I pass the Garda station four times a day, so I know most of the cars).  After about 30 seconds he turned on his blue lights.  Because of the layout of the junction, it was safe for me to pull into a clearing just the other side of the lights without interfering or risking contact with any other traffic, therefore allowing the emergency services vehicle behind me to proceed unimpeeded.  I pulled into the clearing, and the Mondeo pulled in behind me.  I got out of my car, drivers license in hand, to find out what the problem was.  The passenger from the Garda car got out and started reading me the rite act for running the red light!!!  Bear in mind the night and time of being stopped; the likelihood of them going to a serious call would have been extremely high.  I pointed out that, as he had had no obvious reason to stop me, I thought that he was trying to get to an emergency, and that I only crossed the lights when they had lit their blues, to which he replied that under absolutely NO circumstances should I ever break a red light, and then asked if I had my license (which I had proffered to him at the outset).  When I asked him if that meant that I should block ambulances and fire engines (we were actually outside the main fire station doors at the time) when it was safe to give them a clear path, he turned on his heel, got back into his car, and duly ignored the 2 taxis that flew through the red lights beside him!!!  I could actually see his driver cringing when I asked about the ambulances!!!

As for the goading argument; one of my suppliers was coming from a jewellery fair when a car cut him off on a roundabout (came from the right lane to turn left).  He flashed it, and continued on his way.  A few minutes later he passed the same car and it pulled up to his bumper, so he pulled away.  The other car kept doing this, and eventually turned on a blue light, at which point he stopped.  When the policeman (this was near London) asked him what he was playing at, my guy pointed out where he was coming from and that he had upwards of £100k of jewellery in the car.  The polis arrested him and seized the jewellery in case it was stolen goods (despite him having receipts for everything!).  They brought him into a room with a guy they said was there for aggravated burglary, and asked him for his name and address (all of the jewellery was on a table in front of them), which he refused to give due to the other guys profession.  So he was sent to the cells for 4 hours, was brought back out to give his name and address, and was de-arrested,  but they kept the jewellery for 4 weeks, during which time he could do no business as the polis had his stock.  When he eventually got it back, there was no apology and one or two smaller pieces had gone, but the polis did nothing to trace them.

I know that not all situations are like these (you'll always hear the bad faster than the good, and I've had more good experience with the Gardai than bad), but the above were stupid, as was the one where a female Garda stopped me, alleging that I was speeding.  Funnily enough, the only place she could possible have seen me was stopped at a junction, which was where she stopped me (they were coming from my right on said junction).  When I pointed out that I hadn't been speeding, she got thick and checked my license, tax, NCT, insurance, tyres......basically went through the whole car.  Can anyone guess how annoyed she was when she couldn't find anything wrong???

I'm no saint, but I'll put my hands up when I know I'm in the wrong.  So far, I've been lucky!!

In my experience Fey, the Garda are more bloody minded, and much more of a nuisance than the British police....but some of that may be the slight difference in our cultures, plus the fact I'm British and driving a foriegn car within your Country, which I imagine will be part of the problem your mate had here.

As for the missing jewelry, what can I say mate ?, except I'm sorry and embarrassed, there is nothing worse than a bent copper, their fellow coppers hate them more than we do.