amber light

ziggyboy4435

AndyMc.....

Post a street view image looking at the junction from where you were parked. Looks like you have the makings of a not guilty there.

esuhl

Car_54 wrote: »

Not quite. The law actually refers to "any vehicle which is so close to the stop line that it cannot safely be stopped without proceeding beyond the stop line".

If the light changes to amber, and you would be unable to stop before the stop line, you may proceed. If you have sufficient braking distance to stop, you MUST stop.


Slamming on the brakes is dangerous -- you wouldn't be expected to perform an "emergency stop", so it's a grey-area, which is why police usually only prosecute jumping red lights.



But there's no defence that you can be psychologically "pushed along the road" by the vehicle behind. It's one of those textbook excuses like "the dog ate my homework" that police and judges don't tend to view sympathetically.

warehouse

There's a word you can use in court that will get you off most light jumping offences where the light has turned amber just as you hit it.

Tell them you were "committed".

Nasqueron

esuhl wrote: »

You can't cause an accident by braking like that. The person who hit you caused the accident by tailgating.


You're allowed to go through on amber if you would be unable to safely stop in time, not in case an idiot is tailgating you.

That's just being pedantic over one word. Cause, get hit, whatever you want to call it. Stop on amber unless doing so would mean an accident happens. Good drivers anticipate a light changing - has it been green a while, are there pedestrians waiting who may have pressed a button etc and slow down. Bad drivers drive at normal speed and are shocked by the light changing and have to slam on or speed up

Nasqueron

warehouse wrote: »

There's a word you can use in court that will get you off most light jumping offences where the light has turned amber just as you hit it.

Tell them you were "committed".

You won't get prosecuted for going through a light as it changes to amber. OP either chanced it on amber, lost and went through on red (likely given the police had a green light) or the lights were faulty and there light was amber as the other went green

thebigstillmeister

Only time in 20 years of driving have I received any points and it was for 'contravening traffic lights',

On my way to work (many years ago now) there used to be a junction on a motorway that turned on to a large raised dual carriage way where 2 lanes then filtered off left and down where there was a set of traffic lights and a sharp left bend where both lanes have to go left.

Police car was hiding behind the bridge (used to see them there quite often) with a sole purpose of trying to catch people for going through the lights. Also where they used to park would not have given them the best view of the lights either as they would have been looking in to the side of the traffic lights,

To this day I am still adamant that it was not red, had only just turned amber, I am sure they just thought, "..been sitting here a while getting boring now, that was probably close enough, we'll have him then we'll go for breakfast",

I could see the police women starting to write my ticket before they had even finished pulling me over,

When I stopped I said I had cars behind and I was slowly reducing from 70mph, the road was slightly wet and I took the decision that it was safer to go through the amber than brake heavily,..

then she just said "No it was red", I said no it wasn't then she repeated herself and then seemed to be on some power trip and started checking all around my car asking when my MOT was etc,

I just paid the fine and got the points, my word against two Police officers I am sure I would have lost,

Still annoys me now,

Head_The_Ball

thebigstillmeister wrote: »

Only time in 20 years of driving have I received any points and it was for 'contravening traffic lights', .............
I just paid the fine and got the points, my word against two Police officers I am sure I would have lost,

Still annoys me now,

Relax, you are doing ok if that is all you have had in 20 years.

How many times have you broken the rules of the road and got away with it? Offset that unfair fine and points against all the times you got away with it.

In over 40 years of driving, half of which was maybe 30,000 miles per year, I've been done twice.

One was for 104 mph on the M40 for which I got a 2 week ban, a fine and no points and the other for doing 58 mph as I entered a 50mph roadworks section of the M5 for which I was offered and accepted a £85 course with again no points.

I've also been stopped a few times for speeding but got away with a talking to and a warning. I presumably passed the attitude test.

If I had been caught and fined for every offence I have ever comitted I would probably be bankrupt and on over 1,000 points. :eek:

thebigstillmeister

Head_The_Ball wrote: »

Relax, you are doing ok if that is all you have had in 20 years.

How many times have you broken the rules of the road and got away with it? Offset that unfair fine and points against all the times you got away with it.

...very true,

molerat

Nasqueron wrote: »

OP either chanced it on amber, lost and went through on red (likely given the police had a green light) or the lights were faulty and there light was amber as the other went green

We have a local junction that is very easy to be crossing the traffic when they have a green even though you cross your white line on green. There is quite a distance from the line to the junction to allow buses and HGVs to get round the tight corner and all it takes is some little old lady to decide she can only do 2 mph round the bend and the other lights have gone green. Luckily the line cannot be seen from the other lights but easy to make an assumption. Agreed though you do get quite a few chancers.