Depends on whether he could stop safely though. If he was to close to the light to stop when it turned amber and he made the choice to go for his own safety then that isn’t an offence. If however he was far enough back to stop then that is another story.
As for the box junction, if people pulled in front of you causing you to brake and stop in the box then that isn’t your fault. If you’ve jumped your lights and they haven’t, then its your fault, if however, as you say, you are sure they left on the amber and pulled in front of you then its a different story.
Personally I’d worry about it when it comes through the post!
No way did I go through a red light - but it’s quite a wide junction and I wasn’t speeding - by the time I was in the middle cars were already pulling across in front of me - I had no choice but to stop.It just makes me so f*cking angry that every move you make you feel you are being watched and some faceless g1t is going to turn you over for money even when no accident/problem has occurred.
The law is very specific. For an offence to be committed you must have entered the box at a time when your exit was blocked by stationary vehicles. If it wasn’t so blocked when you entered the box you can’t commit an offence. Anything that happens after you entered the box, and vehicles that block you that are not stationary, cannot be used to show there was an offence.Also, note you can only commit the offence by being stationary. This means two things - a single photo cannot show there was an offence, and most importantly, if you don’t ever stop in the box, there was no offence no matter how long you spend in the box. Therefore, if you think you may need to stop in a box, slow right down. A good reason to practice slow riding! Aim for any gap that might mean you will get out of the box. As long as it is safe to do so, think about how to spend time in the box whilst still moving. Going slowly to the far corner might be better than racing for a closing gap.
If you put a foot down, immediatly roll forward a foot at least so the next still will show you have moved (they like to show bikers with their foot down to show they are stationary, so make sure you don’t stay in one place even if not really moving very much at all.) BTW, one thing I forgot - because you only commit an offence if the exit was blocked when you entered, if you simply stop for any other reason, including waiting behind a car turning right when you are going straight on even where you could have swerved round that car, the courts have ruled there was no offence. In other words, if you choose to stop when there was a route open to you your exit wasn’t blocked and there is no offence no matter what you have done. Note however that being in the wrong queue and not following what the queue is instructed to do (for example, a green arrow traffic light pointing straight on when you want to turn right which is controlled by a red light) is a seperate offence.
Thanks Giuliano - I admit I went across an amber light and there was nothing in my way - but I was only doing 30 and by the time I was in the middle of the box the cars were moving and it would have been dangerous to proceed - after getting hit side on by a car and getting my leg mullered (not my fault) I don’t want a repeat performance - so these days I ride more cautiously.
The irony is is that a few years back I would have been crossing that junction at 60 mph and not experienced this problem - these days when I ride more cautiously I risk getting fined.
