Can I appeal my red light ticket?

Amy2312

My partner was driving and got to a green light which she went through but stopped on the line as it was a left turn and a large HGV was turning which breaked sharply because there was a bus coming. She was pretty much past the traffic light and couldn't even see that it had changed to red therefore continued through. Can she dispute it??

debtdebt

Nobody is stopping you appealing. So yes, you can appeal.

Mercdriver

It's not really appealing. You can take the matter to court to defend it if you choose. Was she not in a position to see the lights changing? That is something she would need to demonstrate.

Hong_Kong_Phooey.

debtdebt wrote: »

Nobody is stopping you appealing. So yes, you can appeal.

There is no appeal, reject the ticket and try your luck in court is the only way.

Amy2312

There was another light but it was far to the right of where she was and there was cars in the way and couldn't see it change. You can see that on the images they have taken

Hong_Kong_Phooey.

Amy2312 wrote: »

My partner was driving and got to a green light which she went through but stopped on the line as it was a left turn and a large HGV was turning which breaked sharply because there was a bus coming. She was pretty much past the traffic light and couldn't even see that it had changed to red therefore continued through. Can she dispute it??

I've never seen a set of traffic lights with the stop line ahead of the lights.

Mercdriver

Amy2312 wrote: »

There was another light but it was far to the right of where she was and there was cars in the way and couldn't see it change. You can see that on the images they have taken

She could try and contact the office that sent the ticket and argue that politely, but they could argue that if she could not see what stage the lights were at that she should have stayed put. The offence is complete if any part of the vehicle crosses the line. How far into red was she? The notice will usually say how many seconds. Depending how much time, she might receive a kind offer to spend a few hours in a classroom in exchange for not getting 3 points on her licence.

Amy2312

Basically she had already gone over the line when the light was on green but then stopped with her car mostly over the line because the HGV in front breaked hard when he realised what was around the corner. Once the HGV started moving again she did too. But the light must have been red. It says 2.5 seconds on the letter.

Hong_Kong_Phooey.

Amy2312 wrote: »

Basically she had already gone over the line when the light was on green but then stopped with her car mostly over the line because the HGV in front breaked hard when he realised what was around the corner. Once the HGV started moving again she did too. But the light must have been red. It says 2.5 seconds on the letter.

She doesn't appear to have a defence, the cheapest option maybe to accept the ticket.

Mercdriver

Amy2312 wrote: »

Basically she had already gone over the line when the light was on green but then stopped with her car mostly over the line because the HGV in front breaked hard when he realised what was around the corner. Once the HGV started moving again she did too. But the light must have been red. It says 2.5 seconds on the letter.

You'll need to take this one to pepipoo and see what they think. She should have stayed put. If her car had already been completely over the line she would have been in the clear. The offence is any part of the vehicle crossing the line while red light illuminated. She would have passed the line 5.5 seconds after the first stop signal (amber means stop and is illuminated for 3 seconds and should only be passed if unsafe to stop).

It's a hard lesson, but if you can't see the signals to see that it is safe you should not proceed.

Amy2312

Ok. Thank you for your help!