Garda received 17 speeding fines even though he was responding to critical incidents

A SPECIALIST FIREARM garda has been issued with 17 separate speeding notices as a result of driving to emergency call-outs. 

To avoid penalty points on his personal driving licence, he has had to formally justify the nature of his driving in each incident, a garda representative raising concerns over the issue has said. 

This specific case in Waterford emerged as gardaí have appealed for greater protections and a specialist legal framework to allow them to drive patrol cars without the risk of losing their licences. 

GRA representative Peter Firth told The Journal that the Armed Support Unit is based in Waterford city but covers a huge area of ground, including Kilkenny.

He explained that there is a new static camera on the 80kmph N25, which has led to one ASU garda driver racking up 17 fixed charge penalty notices (FCPNs). 

The specialist garda in question has then had to respond and justify the use of speed in each separate incident. 

“The ASU are blue-lighting to barricaded incidents, hostage situations and other serious armed incidents,” Firth said. The individuals then fear ending up with penalty points on their own licences which could impact their personal lives. 

The Journal has also been contacted by several serving gardaí who spoke about a culture of fear in the organisation as they believe there is a risk of being prosecuted for driving at work.

They have also identified other issues such as limited pursuit training and no proper legal protections for officers who drive patrol cars. 

In recent weeks, a garda was convicted of dangerous driving in a case in Dublin in which he pursued a scrambler. In the aftermath of the case being heard in the Dublin District Court, Commissioner Justin Kelly said it does “not appear to me to be right” that a garda responding to a “really serious” call is treated the “exact same way” as an incident of “bad driving”.

“A member of An Garda Síochána – who goes through a red light with blue lights and sirens on, is responding to a really serious call for service, and is involved in a collision – is treated the exact same way as if you or I, off duty, crashed through a red light because of bad driving.”

At present gardaí drive on their civilian licence when at work but the GRA is now calling for a similar system to that used for Defence Forces drivers. They have a separate certificate of competency following training, a de facto driving licence, for being behind the wheel of military vehicles. 

Garda drivers, under the law, get the benefit of an exemption under the Road Traffic Act when driving a patrol car. 

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The problem for gardaí arises due to GoSafe vans and static cameras – garda cars are going through the checks and then being issued automatically with FCPNs regardless of their emergency service vehicle status.

‘Please explains’

According to John Joe O’Connell, vice-president of the GRA, gardaí who receive the notices must, in a report to a senior officer, outline why they were speeding.

Such requests are known in the guards as “please explains”.

In such cases, gardaí give the specific section of law that covers the emergency services exemption, but it is understood that senior managers often now seek further details before cancelling the fixed-charge notice. 

Gardaí say this has heightened fears around the impact work driving could have on their personal licences. 

Protect the protectors

Mark Ferris, a detective in Dublin, has long been a vocal proponent for greater training for gardaí.

He has previously explained to The Journal that gardaí are not well-trained in the specific skill of pursuit driving and he believes the current policy to chase a fleeing vehicle, introduced by garda management, is not fit for purpose. 

“The protections are not there. That member is unfortunately off the road for two years, and that affects his family life, and causes financial hardship all for doing his job,” he said. 

Ferris referenced specialist training in the UK and legislation giving protections to police in Australia whereby the burden of responsibility for incidents is on the person who ran from gardaí.

He said the issue has long been identified in An Garda Síochána, but that previous commissioners have ignored the concerns. 

We asked a garda spokesman about the key issues and they outlined that garda driving training allows members to use blue lights and sirens. The driving course allows them to drive in excess of speed limits.

They added that the Garda Commissioner Justin Kelly said the situation will be reviewed. 

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