Red Light Camera's
Discussion
Sorry7 if this has been mentioned before, but had a strange experience tonight.
Coming back from Sutton towatrds the A3 I was approaching some traffic lights, all okay, on green clear, me doing 40mph.
On getting very near to the lights, they changed to amber, at which point myself and the red Excort next to me went through the amber light.....Then I saw it, one flash from the Red light camera. Now the lights could of changed to red after I was past the lights, but I did not 'see red' so to speak.
I would never run a red light on purpose and only on the way to work this morning did I notice how many camera's were on the traffic lights.
Anyway,
I presume they only need to take one picture?
Also, what about the car next to me, how could the police prove which one of us set off the camera.
Yours very interested.
Ian
2 Smokin Barrels said:
If you were both in shot, you both did!
Yeah, I do agree with you on this one, but, and this is not true, but an example, what if I was stopped/broken down and the other car set it off. Just wondering how they work that one out.
I suppose if they come back that one of us was over the speed limit they would not be able to prove who it was ?
Ian
P.S. I honestly have never gone through a red light
>> Edited by tvrman on Thursday 5th May 22:13
2 Smokin Barrels said:
Mmmmm...either don't break down at the intersection, or if you do lie in the road so others can't run a red light.
I hope this helps.
Either way, I will have forgotten about it tomorrow (but not about cameras), and will wait and see what happens....Not too much to worry about just a 'what if'.
Thanks
Ian
spindrift said:
You should be driving at the right speed to be able to stop. Have you ever taken a driving test?
If you're just going to troll for the sake of it, please try harder.
He doesn't actually say what speed he was doing as he past the lights, nor at what point they turned amber.
spindrift said:
You should be driving at the right speed to be able to stop. Have you ever taken a driving test?
So, you exponentially slow your speed down to 0.0001mph on approach to any traffic light in the expectation that it will change to amber just as you get there, do you?
An amber light means "slow down and prepare to stop" - if it changes from green to amber as you're passing it, it doesn't mean "stop".
Give it a rest.
{edited to add:} As an aside, if one were to crawl through the end of a green light at 5mph towing a caravan, odds on the back end of the grockle box would pass the camera on red and pick up the penalty. Fair?
>> Edited by pdV6 on Friday 6th May 10:35
spindrift said:
You should be driving at the right speed to be able to stop. Have you ever taken a driving test?
Good point, but in this event stopping was not the option. I should have anticipated they would change to amber, but as they did not until I was on them.....
I m sure I could have stopped, just over the line and very much with the car at the limit of stopping power, as it did change to amber just as I was going past it. The other problem was the cavalier behind, would he be able to stop as quickly as me.
Ian
PetrolTed said:
You should be driving at the right speed to be able to stop. Have you ever taken a driving test?
If you're just going to troll for the sake of it, please try harder.
He doesn't actually say what speed he was doing as he past the lights, nor at what point they turned amber.
Again, another good point.....
mybrainhurts said:
The first one I ever saw flashed me on approach.
When I questioned the plod office, they said the things do malfunction, sometimes set off by birds, etc.
Long time ago, though.....
They were pulling your leg!
The only birds I know capable of setting off one of these either drive cars badly at ATL junctions or they are the big iron ones used for long haul journeys!
I don't think I have ever seen one of those close enough in the vicinity of an ATL changing from amber to red at the requisite moment to activate it!
pzero64 said:
You may go on only if the AMBER appears after you have crossed the stop line or are so close to it that to pull up might cause an accident.
But presumably you would be unable to prove that latter justification and so would be done anyway.
I could understand red light cameras if they provided some leeway for those who were in that sort of situation. As it is, I think that the camera is triggered the moment the red light is on.
Realistically, most of those who go through red lights are not dangerous because they do it in the first few seconds of red before anyone else has got moving -- annoying perhaps but not dangerous. The dangerous ones are those who go through when it's been red for a while and others are already moving, and they generally do it very fast. Of course this is wrong, and I could justify a camera to catch them, but a second or two into red is not relevant for safety, only for revenue. Worse, causing that extra tension on the approach to the junction (will it, won't it, is there a camera) is likely to lead to more accidents rather than less.
Peter Ward said:
But presumably you would be unable to prove that latter justification and so would be done anyway.
Dead right.
Also, in a thread on here a little while ago, someone posted a question about how to prove that you had to get out of the way of an emergency vehicle at traffic lights (whilst on red).
spindrift said:
You should be driving at the right speed to be able to stop. Have you ever taken a driving test?
What a typical spindrift answer! Where on earth did you get the idea he was speeding?
Would YOU be able to stop if the light turned amber when you were 5 meters short of the line?
It also depends on how lights are set. I pass some which have changed green-amber- red before you can blink an eye. There ist one on A580 - Atherleigh Way Junction... direction - Liverpool-Manchester. Has red light cam. It gets several as lights change and only one car in queue of three waiting cars, can get through before they change again. Fast road - dual NSL limit - worst traffic lights I have ever come across and authorities written to and zero response to date over them. BiBs dislike these lights too.
As for spindling bimbling ...
Und you no doubt obey on your bicycle....
In the Gabon .....
As for spindling bimbling ...
Und you no doubt obey on your bicycle....
In the Gabon .....
WildCat said:
It also depends on how lights are set. I pass some which have changed green-amber- red before you can blink an eye. There ist one on A580 - Atherleigh Way Junction... direction - Liverpool-Manchester. Has red light cam. It gets several as lights change and only one car in queue of three waiting cars, can get through before they change again. Fast road - dual NSL limit - worst traffic lights I have ever come across and authorities written to and zero response to date over them. BiBs dislike these lights too.
I think the traffic lights on the A580 are rather more tricky to deal with than traffic lights in a 30 or 40 limit.
Approaching a green at 70 mph (let's say
) inevitably requires some difficult guesses/judgements to be made. Best wishes all,
Dave.
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