Traffic Light Camera's

bargainboy

i was driving home from the spectacular Debenhams sale last night when i got zapped with one of these for running a red light. here is the dilema it was green as i approached it and when it was too late to stop it changed to amber ( i was in line with the lights ) then immediatley changed to red needless to say i got flashed. I couldnt slam the anchors on as the car behind me would have hit me i had no choice but to go through it does anyone know if there is anything i can do about it.:mad:

Bossyboots

I have never seen a light go straight to red from amber. You usually get quite a lot of time between. If it is genuinely the case that the setting is too fast, you might have an argument. Amber means get ready to stop so it should not change to red straightaway. I think you need to go back to that set of lights and time the sequence. You will need to be able to prove they were not operating correctly and you need to do that now, before someone fixes it.

If you find they are timed correctly, then I doubt there is anything you can do. You can try using the argument that you believed it was dangerous to stop because the car behind was too close and travelling to fast but I am sure they hear that one all the time (albeit, it is often a genuine argument) so I don't know what sort of response you might get. It is different when the police stop you and you use the safety argument because they will have seen the other vehicle and, after all, that is your judgement call if you believe it is safer to go through and risk traffic on the other junctions than risk being hit from behind. I know someone on this site used that argument successfully and so did a friend of mine. It is different with cameras, unless you have a witness to the timing of the light changes and the speed of the car behind. Did the car behind stop or go through the lights as well? If they have another close catch right behind you, they might be willing to agree it was safer for you to go through.

You might find there wasn't even any film in that camera and not hear anything anyway but you do need to go and had another look at those lights today.

Astaroth

Agree with Bossyboots on it - need to get the timings done now before they realise their is a fault and fix it. Even if it is fixed there should be a log of the work done but the typical problem with dealing with these things is that there are so many different departments involved that no one knows who does what exactly (when working in claims I spent hours trying to find out who owned CCTV cameras on motorways etc)

bargainboy

thanks firstly for the 2 reply's I phoned my local road safety camera department and received an answer from a very rude lady at the other end. before i even finished what i was saying she cut me down by insisting that all camera's are fixed to 3 second delay between sequence change and that i will receive 3 points and a £60 fine in the next 14-21 days after trying to explain my case she just cut me off again and told me the same. I maybe should not have phoned at 0805am as she probably just started, also she has probably heard it all before with possible chancers. i will be going to the enemy camera tommorow night to do this as i have no chance of doing it tonight but the good thing is they dont know who i am or which camera i went through. oh yes i also asked if i could contest it she said no you have to pay the fine and take the points :mad:

lily_the_pink

bargainboy wrote:

i was driving home from the spectacular Debenhams sale last night when i got zapped with one of these for running a red light. here is the dilema it was green as i approached it and when it was too late to stop it changed to amber ( i was in line with the lights ) then immediatley changed to red needless to say i got flashed. I couldnt slam the anchors on as the car behind me would have hit me i had no choice but to go through it does anyone know if there is anything i can do about it.:mad:

I got zapped a while ago at a set of traffic lights - a notice never came through though. I think (or at least I was told) that there have to be 2 flashes (which happened in my case) - so it may well be that it has not caught you. I would do as everyone else suggested re: the timings (video?) but you may well find that nothing ever comes of it.

bargainboy

i was only flashed the once lets hope and see still going to do the timing video camera thing though

kaya

write them a letter stating that you are a good citizen and always drive within the law etc. The reason you didnt stop was to avoid an accident, the idiot in the big lorry behind you had been tailgaiting you and you were genuinly concerned for your/his safety, if you had kids in the back even better, works most of the time

Dead_Eye_Jones

I guess the counter argument will question whether you were speeding if you were going too fast to stop safely. Id also suggest that going through a red light to prevent one accident yet potentially cause another far greater one isnt really going to go down to well.

Sadly Ive witnessed the result of a car going through on red and a high performance motorbike accelerating through green.

However, we werent there so cant judge you.

Wig

The 3 second thing she mentioned will be hard to prove on video, she is talking about (presumably) the time from red to the time when the camera becomes active. So she is saying you went through red after it had beeen red for 3 seconds. You will have to film the lights constantly for hours (perhaps have your car parked nearby and hide your camera under an old towel then leave the car there filming for 4 hours or whatever.

You will however, be able to show the length of time it remains on amber before going to red, if it as you say there should be lots of cars getting caught.

Let us know how things develop.

Bull S about not being allowed to contest it, of course you can.

trickytrolleys

You can contest it, however, most traffic offences are strict liability offences and therefore provided you acted voluntarily its doesnt matter one jot why you did it you still get done, i think this is very unfair but its the way it is. i definitely would get back down and film the sequence - we have traffic lights at the end of my road that no sooner do they fl;ash green but they can be back on red in a split second, its ridiculous but then so are the buffoons taht operate these things!! Good luck, hope you succeed.

robby-01

you might not get a ticket.If you do pay it.
Make as many excuses as you like ,you still jumped a red light if you get caught take it on the chin.
I,m not getting on my high horse I've done it myself but you cant excuse it.
If you get a summons you will not get off with it not unless you employ sir alex's brief and get him to say you had the !!!!s.