Appealing Road traffic offence (Fail comply - Red Light)

[Dr Imran T]

Afternoon chaps, I'm looking for some advice please. I have done some reading on previous threads/other forums but I'm not entirely sure on what is the best course of action.

Overview - I got by a fixed camera going through a red light. The offence is that I went through the red light that was illuminated for 1 second. I was travelling in my car with my family including 1 baby/toddler and my 8 year old son.

Both my wife and I used the car that day but I used it more (more journeys) so I nominated myself as the driver responsible. The photo only showed the back of the vehicle but I understand a driver has to be nominated.

As it stands currently I have decided to appeal the decision on the grounds that I had a partially obscured view of the lights/unable to stop in time as I didn't want to emergency stop/brake suddenly as I had a baby in the car.

I do have the option to change my plea to guilty within the next 4/5 weeks. At that point I will be given a small fine and 3 points.

Any advice on whether to fight this out? is there a chance of a successful outcome for me?

Thank you all.

[Roo]

Why weren't you preparing to stop when the amber light came on?

[Alucidnation]

Dr Imran T said:

Afternoon chaps, I'm looking for some advice please. I have done some reading on previous threads/other forums but I'm not entirely sure on what is the best course of action.

Overview - I got by a fixed camera going through a red light. The offence is that I went through the red light that was illuminated for 1 second. I was travelling in my car with my family including 1 baby/toddler and my 8 year old son.

Both my wife and I used the car that day but I used it more (more journeys) so I nominated myself as the driver responsible. The photo only showed the back of the vehicle but I understand a driver has to be nominated.

As it stands currently I have decided to appeal the decision on the grounds that I had a partially obscured view of the lights/unable to stop in time as I didn't want to emergency stop/brake suddenly as I had a baby in the car.

I do have the option to change my plea to guilty within the next 4/5 weeks. At that point I will be given a small fine and 3 points.

Any advice on whether to fight this out? is there a chance of a successful outcome for me?

Thank you all.

I really can't think of any legitimate reason why you would fail to stop at a red light.

[Dr Imran T]

I can only assume the traffic light wasn't clearly in full view. Hard to say it was marginal as the light must have been amber then obv. went red at which point I went through

[Vaud]

Can you post up a street map view of the traffic light in question?

[Dr Imran T]

^^I'll have a go!

[Amateurish]

Just pay the fine and move on.

[NGee]

OP of course you're right, any car with a baby on board can just ignore red lights.

I mean....what could possibly go wrong?

[AllyBassman]

Pay the fine and move on.

Having a baby in the car does not exempt you from sailing through red lights. Just like needing a wee does not exempt you from speeding.

[Tony1963]

When you say the traffic lights were obscured, what obscured them?

[Nigel_O]

traffic lights are usually in multiples, so there should have been at least one other light that would have been visible.

If you went through one second after it had changed to red, you would probably have had another 4 - 6 seconds with it being on amber beforehand

Are you really saying that you went through a set or traffic lights where you had not known whether they were red, amber or green for at least five seconds prior?

To answer your question, I think you'll have a pretty tough time convincing anyone that there are mitigating circumstances - if you couldn't see the lights, you should have stopped or slowed, not proceeded. Having a baby on board compounds the issue, rather than justifying it. What would have happened if the lights had been on red for a couple of seconds longer and traffic had started crossing from the other direction(s)?

[Lemming Train]

I think he should appeal, with the excuse that he had a baby in the car and so couldn't stop at the red light, nor the amber light that preceeded it , and then post up the appeal response here for our entertainment.

[Graveworm]

Dr Imran T said:

Afternoon chaps, I'm looking for some advice please. I have done some reading on previous threads/other forums but I'm not entirely sure on what is the best course of action.

Overview - I got by a fixed camera going through a red light. The offence is that I went through the red light that was illuminated for 1 second. I was travelling in my car with my family including 1 baby/toddler and my 8 year old son.

Both my wife and I used the car that day but I used it more (more journeys) so I nominated myself as the driver responsible. The photo only showed the back of the vehicle but I understand a driver has to be nominated.

As it stands currently I have decided to appeal the decision on the grounds that I had a partially obscured view of the lights/unable to stop in time as I didn't want to emergency stop/brake suddenly as I had a baby in the car.

I do have the option to change my plea to guilty within the next 4/5 weeks. At that point I will be given a small fine and 3 points.

Any advice on whether to fight this out? is there a chance of a successful outcome for me?

Thank you all.

Unable to stop in time is not a defence to a red light. It is a defence to an amber light. If the lights are so obscured that you can't see them then that could be a defence but it might be a tough win.

[Cat]

Graveworm said:

If the lights are so obscured that you can't see them then that could be a defence but it might be a tough win.

If the lights are partially obscured, as the OP said, then you need to slow down so that if they are red at the point you can see them clearly you are able to stop. "I couldn't see the lights properly so I just went for it" is unlikely to have a good outcome in court.

Cat

[Dr Imran T]

Thanks all for the insightful replies. Of course I'm not justifying my decisions looks like I did indeed make a bad judgement perhaps on this occasion. Having a baby on board does also not give anyone the right to skip a light also.

I think by the time I saw the light it was Amber and in hindsight I should have stopped abruptly. I think in that split second I dithered I went through the light

I have had to do some sudden stops before with the kids in driving around East London - never great but sometimes necessary I guess.

[Dr Imran T]

Cat said:

If the lights are partially obscured, as the OP said, then you need to slow down so that if they are red at the point you can see them clearly you are able to stop. "I couldn't see the lights properly so I just went for it" is unlikely to have a good outcome in court.

Cat

Noted, but for the record I didn't go for it and mash the throttle to make the lights!

[Vaud]

Amber means stop. Amber is on for 3-6 seconds, IIRC.

[Graveworm]

Vaud said:

Amber means stop. Amber is on for 3-6 seconds, IIRC.

3 seconds + - .25 seconds.

[Cat]

I'm not suggesting you did, however you did go through a set of lights 4 seconds after they turned amber. What speed were you doing (it's normally on the photo) and what as the limit?

Cat

[Dr Imran T]

^^there is no recorded speed on the Single Justice procedure Notice. it just states red light illuminated for 1 second.

Speed limit is 30MPH on that stretch of road.