OT: red light violation

It's pretty dangerous.

Same happened to my Mrs. She tried to say to them that she didn't know who was driving the car as I occasionally use it (which is true) Anyway to cut a long story short she had to go to police headquarters where she was shown photographs of the picture, zoomed in!! She said even a blind man could have identified her from the picture as the quality was superb.

She got a £60 fine and 3 points. The offence is classed as a TS10 if you are trying insurance quotes on line. For what its worth, both our insurances never went after renewal even with her points on.

Steven.

The message from snipped-for-privacy@gmail.com (Andy Hewitt) contains these words:

The one I hate is the Tee-junction lights at the end of our road.

When you turn right from the stem of the tee you can see the red light for the people on the left arm of the tee - and quite a few times I've had people in front of me suddenly stop for a red light which isn't theirs at a stop line which isn't there.

Oh, and then there's turning right into the stem of the tee. There's a green filter arrow which comes on after a while, but only at certain times of the day. The rest of the time there's just the ordinary full round green light which is there all the time. Some drivers just sit and wait for the filter - which sometimes never comes. In the end you just drive gently round them and put up with the testiculating [1] going on behind.

[1]Waving of arms while screaming bollocks.

Catching such criminals is key to the local police force statistics. Without traffic offences to report we might start to ask what they do all day.

Andy

In hind-sight, that's what these lights appear to be, a closer look reveals they are a pedestrian crossing.

You have to wonder what goes on in the minds of the road designers, don't you?

I mean, we have congestion in three roads now, and a feckin' long wait in each way (because of the numerous filters). Before it was just a plain roundabout, and no congestion in any direction.

That's my point.

However, I regard red light jumping as one of the most serious and dangerous traffic offences. You might miss the green light and drive over for yellow, that's bound to happen by laws of probability once a while. But there is no excuse for the red lights.

I agree, with one exception - where they`ve put the stupid fecking grills over the lights themselves, so you can only see them when you`re 8-12 foot away - by which point you`re too close to stop, and while you`re trying to see what the lights are on (bearing in mind you`ve then got to duck slightly to see them because of the roof line), you`ve got your eyes off the road, potentially putting pedestrians at risk.

There are two sets like that in Old Swan, Liverpool, and what makes this worse is they`re pedestrian lights - exactly the sort where you want a driver to have his eyes on the road, not struggling to see obscured lights at a road crossing.

If they`re there to be seen, DON`T COVER THEM !

There's one like that near us on a busy crossroads. Unless you drive forwards over the white line, the filter just doesn't operate. Most frustrating if you're sat behind someone who politely sits waiting for the filter... More annoying is the one nearest my house, a busy crossroads. My direction: the B6030, until recently deemed to be the major route. Across it, a road of uncertain classification but now forming part of the town's outer ring road. The lights are set on a 1.5 minute cycle with no sensors, so it's perfectly possible to sit for a whole minute with no traffic crossing the junction, or waiting, fuming, while cars drive up and straight across. Infuriating. Makes you want to cross them on red, and when you see them about to change you tend to put your foot down as you know how long the delay will be.

Yes, there are some stupid traffic light configurations. There is one on the way from Denham to Tatling End with a road junction to the right towards Chalfont St Peter. Coming up from Denham, the road splits near the right junction with a traffic light on the grass somewhere in the middle between the road to Tatling End and traffic wanting to turn right.

The layout is quite obvious to the locals, but a casual driver, unknown to the area, might think that a red light applies to the traffic going straight on and not to the traffic turning right! It's an easy mistake to make by just a small lapse of concentration. Indeed there has been a couple of big accidents, but nothing is been done about the layout. It's only natural for the authorities the blame the motorists.

The message from snipped-for-privacy@gmail.com (Andy Hewitt) contains these words:

Ah, yes, it's like that round here, too. When we lived in Hounslow drivers would somtimes deliberately reverse over the control box for the lights in Steve Biko Way 'cos when they weren't working all the traffic went away.

The message from Chris Bolus contains these words:

Many years ago I was waiting at a junction in the small hour with not a car in sight wondering in how many other countries in the world a driver would sit at a red light when there exists a perfect view of 200 yards each way of empty road.

Just as I was wondering if I could summon the nerve to pass a red light[1] a trafpol car rolled gnetly up behind me.

[1] I never have, knowingly, except at a set of roadwork lights I knew to be faulty.

Even though the camera is behind the car? Amazing!

I take it you meant to write "never went up". Did you have to let your insurers know right after the prosecution or not until renewal time? Anyway, that's reassuring. Thanks.

Sorry, yeah I meant that the insurance never went up. I think you legally have to let your insurers know after the prosecution. If you didn't and you had to make a claim etc I could imagine them saying your insurance is null and void as that isn't the details you supplied when you originally asked for cover!!

She was turning left at a junction when she went through the amber / red light so the camera took the picture more of a side on than from behind. I know it's no excuse but our daughter (6 then) started screaming she was about to be sick just as she approached the lights. My wife's first thoughts were to get round the corner and stop in the parking bays directly round the corner. She never even knew the camera had flashed. The picture at the police station even gave details of how much time had elapsed since the light changed to red!!

Steven.

I know you can turn right in the US.

I have a great idea.......... ;-)

I've done it a couple of times. The first time, after waiting about 5 mins at 2am in the morning, without another vehicle in sight, and reversing over the sensor, I decided they were broken and carried on. The same situation the second time, except it was on a Sunday afternoon. While I was waiting, 4 or 5 cars drew up behind me. After I crossed the lights on red, I noticed all the cars behind, followed. Mike.

The message from "Mike G" contains these words:

Ah, yes, there was a set like that in Watford near the old hospital. If you missed your turn you were stuffed 'cos unless you reversed back over the sensor another turn never actually happened.

Now - you might say "Don't miss your turn", but occasionally learners c*ck up. I used to use that set of lights 'cos you could almost guarantee that there'd be no one behind you to pressure a nervous learner, so it was good for the first few efforts at lights - until they got it wrong!

I suppose this is where I trot out my turning right at a US traffic light tale.

As you say you can turn right on red providing no pedestrian is crossing, so there I am in a suburban housing estate on a 6 lane dual carriageway and seeing no pedestrian I turned right only to here a frantic whistle blowing and glimpsed in my mirror a chap in a fluorescent orange boiler suit gesticulating at me. I pulled up and when he caught up with me he proceeded to tell me off (he had a Milpitas City Police badge on his boiler suit) for turning right when someone was using the crosswalk. I couldn't even see them as they must have been 25 plus yards away on the other side of this ruddy great dual carriageway.

I pleaded being English and not understanding Mercadian road systems and he let me drive off.

Shame, years ago I was on the white line at some lights and FLASH FLASH , got done, I too went to see the pics, I had a MK2 GTI at the time and when the guy zoomed in you could even see what radio station I was listening to, I suspect if the windows were etched it could be read also, same 60ukp and a ts10 :-(