As you can imagine we drive a large number of miles every year and are constantly at the mercy of our Garda Traffic Corps and no matter how careful we are there will always be a day when you will get caught for some traffic offence. I have been extremely lucky as I have been driving professionally for over 20 years and never had a ticket (other than for parking!!) and my license was totally clean.
I was heading back from Dublin in our car last night after a long day over in England on business and at about 11.00 traveling through Littleton Co. Tipperary – a typical sleepy country village and one of the countless ones we still have to pass through thanks to our still woeful infrastructure and whilst I had slowed for the village I didn’t slow enough and got caught by a radar gun. The officer was standing about 200 yards from the de restriction sign which lies at the bottom of a hill at the end of a fast stretch of road and, needless to say I was one of many who got caught so I will soon be Eu80.00 poorer and have 2 penalty points. I do not dispute the facts of the case but for years it has been accepted that traffic does not strictly observe the 50 km speed limit in these places late at night and indeed the Garda NEVER enforced this. I have traveled over that road countless times at all hours and never seen a speed check in a village at night. It would be fair to say that the officer would have caught 90% of vehicles last night – sitting ducks? - I think so!
The Garda are currently suffering from a major image problem in Ireland and antics like this will not help, I think once the respect of the public is lost their already difficult jobs will become impossible. If this all sounds like a rant to be honest it is, if I had got done for doing 130 kph in a 100 limit I would have no argument but I wonder what mine and other tickets issued last night really will achieve in cutting road deaths, I see dangerous inconsiderate and often downright reckless driving every day and people are getting away with it en mass! I’am not sure of the wisdom of writing this but my goodness I do feel better!!!
Music – Still a bit chilled but really enjoying listening to some old school chilled Ibiza stuff like To the River by Groove Armada and la Passonara by the Blow Monkeys. I’am thinking of checking out a bit of ambient jazz too, we were in Lanzarote about 4 years ago and there was a great dj playing that kind of stuff – any suggestions of where to start?
Book – Filth by Irvine Welsh is drawing to a close and I honestly am reading it in small bursts as I don’t want to finish it, it really is that good, If you like this kind of stuff and as I said earlier you are not easily offended you really have to check it out – a masterpiece to my mind!
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