Does red light camera has a delay?

Ermia

I was driving overnight a few days ago and when I was approaching a junction, the light become amber. I thought I'm gonna make it and tried to accelerate, but my car isn't very agile, so the light became red exactly when I was on the line.

Are there any delays between the time the light gets red and when the camera gets activated? Even a second of delay would  mean I'm safe. 

I searched the web and got contradicting suggestions: 1.5 seconds, 0.9 second, and no delay (camera activated instantly).

TooManyPoints

It does vary according to the location but the delay is usually about one second. Seems you will have to wait for fourteen days (assuming you are the Registered Keeper) to find out.

As an aside, amber means "stop" unless it is unsafe to do so..

Car_54

Ermia said:

I was driving overnight a few days ago and when I was approaching a junction, the light become amber. I thought I'm gonna make it and tried to accelerate, but my car isn't very agile, so the light became red exactly when I was on the line.

Are there any delays between the time the light gets red and when the camera gets activated? Even a second of delay would  mean I'm safe. 

Don't be so sure. The offence is committed if any part of the car crosses the line on red (or amber). You may have been exactly on the line, but there were still several feet of car following behind you.

Ermia

TooManyPoints said:

It does vary according to the location but the delay is usually about one second. Seems you will have to wait for fourteen days (assuming you are the Registered Keeper) to find out.

As an aside, amber means "stop" unless it is unsafe to do so..

Is it possible to figure out the delay of the camera depending on the location or type of the camera? Any sources? It's the one near Brent park in London:




And the type of the camera is:



I'm almost sure it didn't flash, but apparently they don't necessarily flash for  red lights, right? 


P.S. Yeah I know AI should have stopped, but it's my first year and I'm on a black-box insurance, so my mind is now engineered to break and accelerate very very smoothly, so I subconsciously try to avoid breaking on just-ambered lights.

Now I'm thinking the cost of having 3 points in my license is actually worse than having black-box insurance cancelled for harsh breaks.

AdrianC

Ermia said:

...

P.S. Yeah I know AI should have stopped, but it's my first year and I'm on a black-box insurance, so my mind is now engineered to break and accelerate very very smoothly, so I subconsciously try to avoid breaking on just-ambered lights.

Now I'm thinking the cost of having 3 points in my license is actually worse than having black-box insurance cancelled for harsh breaks.

You won't get your insurance cancelled for braking for a traffic light that changes.
But, yes, you'll find a TS10 3pt FPN on your licence will makes insurer frown at you.
A course may help you remember what you learned so recently, though.

But let's consider the reality of what you were dealing with...

The amber is usually on for about 5 seconds. That's PLENTY of time to slow gently.

It's a 40 limit, so five seconds is 90m. The Highway Code stopping distance is 24m.

And, no, I'm not including thinking time (12m at 40), because if you can see a light has been green for a while, you're ready for it to change, aren't you?

And, clearly, you weren't worrying about hard acceleration or exceeding the speed limit showing on your black box, right...?

I thought I'm gonna make it and tried to accelerate, but my car isn't very agile

BTW, if you want to accelerate quickly from a cruising speed, change down a gear or two...

hollie.weimeraner

Amber is a standard 3 seconds.  The cameras are activated by the red light circuit going live therefore the delay is 3 seconds from the amber light. It will depend where your wheels were when the red light was activated. approximately 14 days of sweating on 3 points and a fine.

TadleyBaggie

Speeding up may not have been the smartest thing to do, sone red light cameras also double up as speed on green cameras.

maxmycardagain

Amber is your warning

red is your winning ticket from the police

Coveredinbees!!!!

I got a course for going thru a red light, you might get that. I stop on amber now if it safe to do so, not worth the £95 for a couple of minutes.

Ermia

Are there any downsides to having a single policy to stopping at ALL amber lights?

TBH the 3 seconds of amber light is not enough for me to evaluate whether I should 

Ermia

Are there any downsides to having a single policy of breaking at ALL amber lights?

TBH the 3 seconds of amber light is not enough for me if I need to evaluate at EACH single amber light whether I can safely pass or not. If we exclude the thinking time and mirror checking from the 3 seconds, it is really tricky to react (stop or accelerate) in the remaining time.

so is it safe to simply jump on the break whenever I see the amber light and stop at all cost? If someone hits me on the back, it’s not my fault, is it?