Red Light Camera Incident

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Thu 29 Jan 2009 08:24
Red Light Camera Incident - ijws15
Driving home last night I managed to get my timing right at the traffic Lights on the A446 near Coleshill where there is a red light camera (the one NBH stood beside years ago as she did an item on speed cameras!) the lights turned green just before I reached the stop line in the right hand lane so I did not have to stop.

Car in front of me in the inside lane didn't get the timing right and stopped just past the white line while the lights were on red. The camera then flashed twice.

Will he get a ticket for not stopping at the red light? I would be surprised if the two photos show the car to have moved more than an inch or two between the frames.
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Thu 29 Jan 2009 14:00
Red Light Camera Incident - cockle {P}
Well, you'd hope he wouldn't as he did stop but suffered a minor error of judgement which ended up not causing danger to anyone.

However, I think you'll find that the offence is committed by any part of your vehicle passing the white stop line while the signals are at red. I seem to recollect seeing it in black and white some time back, but can't remember where, that this also applies to any part of a vehicle that passes the signal after it turns red even if the front has already passed the signal before it turns red. It may have been on a truckers site because the example was given of an artic where the tractor unit has passed on amber but the rear of the trailer passed after the signal turned to red, which depending on roadspeed and traffic conditions could, potentially, be a second or two; the answer given was, 'offence committed as part of vehicle proceeded to cross stop line after red light displayed.'
If I'm mistaken I'm sure one of our BiB will be along later to correct me!

So he may get lucky, or maybe not.
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Thu 29 Jan 2009 14:18
Red Light Camera Incident - smokie
I worked in an office outside which they piloted the red light cameras many years ago. This info may be out of date, but there they installed two strips in the road, one around the white line and another partway across the junction. Each triggered a flash, and I understood they needed both for a conviction - they could also calculate your speed - even though the distance was a few yards. Therefore just crawling across the first strip would not suffice - you'd get a flash but not the necessary two.
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Thu 29 Jan 2009 17:23
Red Light Camera Incident - ijws15
Definitely two flashes, unmistakable in the dark!
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Thu 29 Jan 2009 22:51
Red Light Camera Incident - Bill Payer
One of these been put maybe a year ago at a junction near me that I use twice most days and, waiting to come through the other way it's incredible how often I see it flash - I reckon I see it flash at least 3-4 times per week. It does flash twice.

It looks as though there's a wire loop about 6" beyond the line and my understanding is that once it's flashed it then flashes again automatically - there's no second trigger. I also believe that if you go over the line at all then the offence has been committed. I often stop next to people and watch them creeping forwards towards the wire and wonder if I should tell them!

Edited by Bill Payer on 29/01/2009 at 22:53

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