3 POints and £100 fine for turning left!!

charlottelou

Hi,
I'm a bit confused about a recent fine i was given by the police.
I turned left at some traffic lights that was signalling right (the green traffic light is a green arrow pointing right) But there is no sign prohibiting me to turn left.

Once i turned left, there was police waiting in a blindspot to give 3 points and £100 fine... there was an actual queue of people waiting to be dealt with for doing this.

I wanted to appeal on the grounds that there is no signs prohibiting me to turn left. But i wanted to check first as i might have got this wrong.
I've been driving 15 years and am sort of out of touch with certain signs and i don't want to make myself look an idiot if i appeal lol.

Is it a legal contravention ? does a green arrow pointing a certain way telling you you can ONLY turn that way? or is it just a guide?

Id like to try to get out of this. Mainly because i don't think that you should get 3 points for this. Even if you get caught speeding, you get a chance to go on a speed awareness course instead of points. so somehow what i did is classed as worse than speeding even though i wasn't putting anyone in danger?!?!




Thanks in advance for any advice.

Cornucopia

It would be useful to know whether the offence is turning left, when the turn is prohibited; OR whether it is for proceeding when there was effectively a red light (for your direction of travel).

I could see either of those things being a valid offence in the circumstances you describe, depending on the signage and road markings.

In answer to the general theme of your question, if the lights are displaying ONLY one or more green arrows, then ONLY traffic going in the direction of the arrow is permitted to proceed.

Sometimes green arrow lights are tacked on to the bottom or side of a "main" set of red/amber/green lights, and sometimes they are part of a set of three of red/amber/green arrow.

charlottelou

thanks for your reply.
The offence is for turning left. But there are no signs to say that you shouldn't turn left.

There is no left turn option only a green arrow to turn right.
Effectivley its a no left turn but no signs are up to say this

OhhToria

Can you share with us a Google Maps Street View of the junction?

Cornucopia

What about "no entry" signs?

It's more straightforward if it's just a left-turn offence, and not to do with passing a red light, because it comes down to whether the signage is/was correct.

I've never seen a set-up like the one you describe, but that doesn't mean that someone hasn't made a mistake.

ampersand

op - you'd be wise to take this one to pepipoo as well:
http://www.pepipoo.com/
If you can, include pics of p/w, recto and verso, with any shots of the junction/lights, if poss.

Keep us updated and Good Luck!

Marktheshark

They did a similar thing in Leeds with a "no cycling sign" dozens paid up as sheep do until someone took them on in court where they proved that the "no cycling sign" similar to this one was not actually an enforceable sign but a recommendatory one.

The actual no cycling sign is red circle.
Dozens paid and got no refund as they had admitted the offence even despite there not been an offence to commit.

This sounds similar, police are under great pressure to get tickets wrote out and fetch the cash in.
Most will just pay, so unless you are up for a court fight, pay up now.
otherwise
Get some pictures of the junction, beware Google street view is years out of date.

charlottelou

thanks all, i cant attach a photo as its saying im ot allowed due to being a new member. ill go over to pepipoo

thanks

Marktheshark

Post here as well, getting ignored on Pepipoo is not unusual, I have good knowledge of traffic regulations and enforcement .
I would need to see the road as you approach at 100m away, 30 meters away and on the junction and the road you turned in to from the junction and it has to be recent.

ampersand

Host it on tiny pics and one of us will convert it for you.

It's helpful for all forums and similar sites to have info. and policing trends updated[i.e. gumment cutbacks masked as alternative revenue streams].

Fruitcake

charlottelou wrote: »

thanks all, i cant attach a photo as its saying im ot allowed due to being a new member. ill go over to pepipoo

thanks

You can upload pictures to a hosting site such as tinypic or photobucket, then post a link here or on pepipoo but with http changed to hxxp. Someone will then convert it for you so everyone can see it.