Caught out by red light camera - around 10 seconds after it went red

A_Lert

It is most likely to be a fixed penalty.

If it does go to court, it is a defence if the lights did not meet legal requirements. That is not just "they were confusing", it's about the rules. It's rare that fixed traffic lights don't meet the requirements, but fairly common that temporary ones don't.

DB1904

MalMonroe said:

Hi, if you DO hear anything, I think it would be worth mentioning the fact that two sets of lights so close together can and does cause confusion. On one particular road in my city there are two lots of two sets of lights, if you see what I mean - it's a long road. You have to be extremely careful not to take notice of the slightly more distant set of lights. I once, just before the pandemic put a stop to many of my journeys, thought that I had slightly rolled over the line when the red light for the first set of one of these showed. And like you I worried for a few days and then waited for a nasty official letter to arrive. But I never heard anything about it. I hope the same will happen for you.

I tried to comfort myself by thinking 'well at least I have learned a valuable lesson there and I won't let that happen again'. 

The problem is that if you are caught committing a traffic violation it's very difficult to wriggle out of it. There are some circumstances, of course where they can be dismissed but in the normal scheme of things excuses aren't accepted. I once went on one of those driving skills courses to avoid points on my licence and I thought it would be a waste of time but I learned a lot. For example, some people on the course said, 'I didn't know because I'm new to the area' but that doesn't wash because every motorist should know the rules of any road for the whole of the country, not just where they live. One woman said she didn't know the speed limit on a particular road because there were no indications on it. Sorry to say we all laughed.

Hopefully, like me, you won't hear anything about it but now you are aware - so you did learn something. Good luck 

Why? The simplest and cheapest way will be to accept the ticket or plead guilty. 

Jenni_D

Are RLC offences subject to a 14 day NIP/S172 like for speed camera offences? If yes then the OP should know within a couple of weeks whether anything will proceed.

@justpassingthrough24 are you the registered keeper of your vehicle, and is the address correct? (i.e. do you hold a copy of the V5C with your correct current name and address?)

TooManyPoints

The OP has been advised of all this on another forum.

Jenni_D

Pepipoo I guess?

That doesn't make the discussion here any less valid.  

TooManyPoints

No you guess wrong. I was just trying to save everybody a bit of time but you're quite right, showing all the points addressed in one place won't do any harm.

justpassingthrough24

Jenni_D said:

Are RLC offences subject to a 14 day NIP/S172 like for speed camera offences? If yes then the OP should know within a couple of weeks whether anything will proceed.

@justpassingthrough24 are you the registered keeper of your vehicle, and is the address correct? (i.e. do you hold a copy of the V5C with your correct current name and address?)

Hi Jenni, my partner is actually registered owner but we both live at the same address. I have no idea about the V5C to be completely honest, may seem very naive but will I need it?

TooManyPoints said:

The OP has been advised of all this on another forum.

Yes, I posted on 3 different forums. Is that so bad? I didn't mean to spam the internet but I've never been in this situation before and didn't know where I'd get the best advice, if any. The RAC forum has had no replies, but another legal forum I posted in got helpful replies. Turns out the internet is just very helpful! And hopefully having all the replies on here will still benefit someone else one day who ends up in a similar situation.

TooManyPoints

//Hi Jenni, my partner is actually registered owner but we both live at the same address. I have no idea about the V5C to be completely honest, may seem very naive but will I need it?//

No you won't need it. The reason people ask is that sometimes people insist that their details are all correct on the V5C only to get it out and find they're not! Hence the recommendation to check. Having incorrect details held by the DVLA is one of the main reasons why people find themselves on the wrong end of a charge of "failing to provide driver's details" (which is far more serious and costly than a speeding charge). 

Yes, I posted on 3 different forums. Is that so bad?

Not at all. I was just trying to save some people time. But on reflection it's far better to have a whole series of answers in each place.

Arklight

It happens; just chalk it down to experience. When I have done it, I have always felt awful about it. I took the wrong signal at a frantically busy multi-junction intersection in America once because the bank of lights literally looked like an insect's eye.

Another time on holiday in the UK, direct sunlight made it look like a green light was illuminated at a crossing, when it wasn't and there was a cop car right behind me. It dawned on me what I had done, and he followed me for a while but then decided he had other things to do and turned off. We were in my wife's Micra so he prolly thought I was about 90.

justpassingthrough24

Arklight said:

It happens; just chalk it down to experience. When I have done it, I have always felt awful about it. I took the wrong signal at a frantically busy multi-junction intersection in America once because the bank of lights literally looked like an insect's eye.

Another time on holiday in the UK, direct sunlight made it look like a green light was illuminated at a crossing, when it wasn't and there was a cop car right behind me. It dawned on me what I had done, and he followed me for a while but then decided he had other things to do and turned off. We were in my wife's Micra so he prolly thought I was about 90.

Thanks for this comment. I was kicking myself the entire day for letting myself get caught out but at the end of the day, these things do happen. Even to the drivers that do their best to obey the rules of the road.

TooManyPoints said:

//Hi Jenni, my partner is actually registered owner but we both live at the same address. I have no idea about the V5C to be completely honest, may seem very naive but will I need it?//

No you won't need it. The reason people ask is that sometimes people insist that their details are all correct on the V5C only to get it out and find they're not! Hence the recommendation to check. Having incorrect details held by the DVLA is one of the main reasons why people find themselves on the wrong end of a charge of "failing to provide driver's details" (which is far more serious and costly than a speeding charge). 

Okay great, thanks. It's useful to know this for the future.

Still haven't received anything in the post but am waiting with bated breath.