so pissed off today. got my first ticket, for going through a red light that i dont think was!!!i was following a police car on the blue light, we went through two sets of traffic lights (both green and within the speed limit), as i approach the ones outside warren street they switch to amber and police car goes through, im following and go through them too. The lights switch to red just as im on the line.
a little further on down hampstead road appears a police 4x4 behind me with blue lights on and pulls me over (must have been near me as i went through the lights). 3 points and a £60 fine. i was polite to them and said that the lights switched to red as i was on the line and there was no way of me being able to stop before them. they had none of it and said it was red before i got to the line and couldve stopped. they also mentioned they thought i was following the police car too closely
i cant see myself going to court over it as at the end of the day its 2 policeman against my word. so pissed off as its been 6 years of being on the road, 6 in the car and one on the bike and ive been done for something i believe i didnt do!!! ARGGGHHH!!!
Just the opposite today. Found myself the filling of a police police car sandwich on the South Circular.
First car goes through lights on amber, I stopped and the second car had to do the same. Then pulled into the right turn lane along side me so that the observer could give me the stare and eyeball check over the bike.
Tough sh*t guys, I was all legal. And if you think I’m going to be iffy at a set of lights with two uniforms in a silver BMW up my chuff, think on.
Questions: When did the pollice start recruiting 16 year olds? Or is it that they were older but still with a 16 year olds mentality? Or am I just living up to my sig line?
They must have thought you were following the car on the blue lights to make progress. Police take a dim view of this as it’s dangerous.
Basically people hear a siren and do all they can to avoid it and once it’s passed they sort of switch off - if you’re following behind at that point it could be Good Night God Bless for you if a car pulls back into the road having allowed the police through as they might not see you.
It also happens when 2 cars are on a call - it’s the car tailing the second that has to be extra careful.
You were unlucky - sounds like they are making you think twice before tailing again
nah the police car i was following continued on its way i guess the 4x4 police car was parked up near the traffic lights when i went through them. just gonna pay it
I had this happen to me a few years back, what annoyed me was a Ford Fiesta went through the same set of lights after me, but they pulled me and let the car carry on, if I was late through the lights (debatable but I wasn’t going to argue the toss), the Fiesta was definitely through on the red!
It’s bad luck, but I don’t think you’ve got any reason to appeal. Passing through amber is illegal unless it’s too dangerous to stop. So they’ll argue that if you crossed at red, it must have meant you weren’t able to safely stop when the lights were at amber, which means you were going too fast.
AMBER means ‘Stop’ at the stop line. 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.
Sounds like misjudgement of the situation to me. It is dangerous as panda said to tail a police car on blue lights. Also the amber light thing, Rusty has quoted it correctly.
Nasty medicine to swallow, points and fine, but this is what i teach on traffic lights, it might help for future:
Red lights are safe, you know what you’re going to do at them. Green lights have more danger, they might change. As you approach the green light, ease up on the gas, so you’re more able to stop if they change, go through on momentum. Also, the speed you approach at is usually the speed the following car approaches at, so the slower you are, the less chance of being hit up the rear.
I thought amber meant accelerate so as not to get red
It says at 30mph to stop is 75 feet so if you see an amber light at less than 75 feet then it would not be safe to stop (and if its raining even further). I got stopped at barbican for going through an amber and I started to argue the point but its your word against their own so you pretty much have no chance.
Seem to remember a film from way back where an alien came to earth and from his observations deduced that red meant ‘stop’, green meant ‘go’ and amber meant ‘go very fast’.
Not sure what to say, sometimes I cut it short also, and sometimes I see other go so I tent to shield msyelf behind next to them and go with them. A lot of big cars, coaches trucks can’t stop when itc hances so fast so they pass through, not to mention buses, yes TFL buses that go through reds or almost red. Last time I stopped a bus was right behind me and started beeping to why I didn’t go through… niiice. I also tend to go if I see other flooring it behind me to get through, what else can I do? get hit behind and go flying?
