Red light cameras
- Thread starter Nero
- Start date
Nero
Re: Tired
I’m not sure he did accuse me of shit driving but happy to take the rap. Guilty as charged. I am, however, curious about the point at which the camera triggered and how the speed was calculated (I was in the outside lane and the camera is on the left hand side, right behind the line, so there must be some geometry involved)
Might be worth getting the pic just to see how it works
Might be worth getting the pic just to see how it works
Fudgemaster
pfm Member
Might a dashcam have helped your case?
Stuart Frazer
pfm Member
I have seen the traffic camera trigger a few times. One time when I was stopping and a car on my inside lane jumped the lights. The camera flashed twice, presumably to show the distance and speed travelled when jumping the lights. That's why I suggested getting the photos - they may take a leaner view when they see you did stop, albeit not before the line.
TheDecameron
Unicorns fart glitter.
There's no fee ( up here at least) for getting the photos- you may be surprised by what they show. I certainly wouldn't do anything until I'd seen them.
You can't break the law to move for an emergency vehicle, you're liable for prosecution if you do.
So moving for an ambulance wouldn't be a viable defence.
Tony Lockhart
Avoiding Stress, at Every Opportunity
Twice I've had irate car drivers behind me insisting I go through a red light because of an emergency services vehicle. Apart from the law telling me to stay put until the lights go green, the first rule of first aid is to not put yourself in danger. Suits me.
Sue Pertwee-Tyr
Accuphase all the way down
If I could safely move, irrespective of the legal position, then I would do so. It seems the right thing to do. I would hope that a prosecution, in the circumstances, would be unlikely.
Tony Lockhart
Avoiding Stress, at Every Opportunity
Nope. Not at all. There's no excuse, unless a copper instructs you to move.
Sue Pertwee-Tyr
Accuphase all the way down
Yes, I know. But if I'm impeding the progress of an ambulance or fire engine on blues and twos, and I can clear their path by crossing the line at lights (note, without going into the traffic flow) or crossing a solid white line, or squeezing into a bus lane, I'll do it and deal with the consequences later. If nothing else, I'd expect the actions to be mitigation if a prosecution occurred.
jtrade
pfm Member
Fully agree.
Tony Lockhart
Avoiding Stress, at Every Opportunity
Us lot ain't gonna change the law. Cross the line on a red, even if the queen is in the back of the ambulance and Phil the Greek is driving, you're done. Plenty of people have tried to use the excuse......
jtrade
pfm Member
As others have made clear, if you have indeed broken the law, you have broken the law and might as well pay the fine and take the points without further ado.
However, the law is sometimes open to interpretation in ways that are not always immediately obvious to the layman. This is the procedure I followed to successfully challenge two fines, one for crossing a red light, the other for driving a vehicle without a valid MOT :
1. Check both the exact wording of the charge itself and then the exact wording of the law under which you are charged (look it up online); then check the exact wording of the section of the law in which the paragraph under which you are charged appears.
2. Request and carefully examine the evidence.
3. Review if there is any way you can argue that you have complied with the exact wording of the law. If you can, consider if you are willing to stand up in court and calmly and clearly put this to the judge / magistrate(s), quoting the exact wording of the law and how you have complied with it.
Everybody laughed at me when I said I felt it was reasonable to challenge the two charges against me, including the prosecutors (in one case, he sat there rolling his eyeballs in mirth as I explained my interpretation of the law; in the other, she immediately jumped up and objected vociferously). In both cases, the magistrate(s) listened very carefully to what I had to say, then ruled in my favour.
Pedro83
pfm Member
That is or at least was my understanding too..... Then I crossed the line about 18 months ago in Stockport and triggered the lights twice. Though by asking them to review both photos, establish deceleration and noting the fact my brake lights were on both photos (something I knew) - I cannot recall the exact physics I also provided them with (I got out and took photos); I was able to back my own case. I merely stated I didn't enter the junction in the sense that no collision would have occurred and what I provided them with was obviously sufficient. Unless they had more important cases to chase.
Now, I make myself fully aware of what to do should at all times anticipating a swift change - at all signalised approaches, not just enforced. I need to drive and wouldn't wish any undesirable circumstances which is why they are there in the first place.
Whaleblue
Southbound
I’m saddened.
Maybe it’s because we live in a society where one might be prosecuted for making a judgment call on when it’s safe to break the rules safely.
Or maybe because anyone might think that a possible £30 fine is not worth taking on the chin for the possibility of making the difference between life and death of a stranger.
Cav
pfm Member
So you approached the lights at such a speed you could not stop or failed to brake hard enough to stop and got off. Lucky there was no one crossing that you would have run down and lucky to have such a dozy magistrate.
Either way nothing to boast of...