Safe Speed Forums

Hi all. I'm new here and also a new and young male driver, having only been on the road for 9 months. This morning I was travelling on the A1 just before Henleys Corner when I possibly ran a red. The lights turned amber and I knew that I would not have stopped in time even though I was going the speed limit (50), so continued on route.

I believe that the lights turned red after I crossed the line but can't be 100% on that. I looked in my rear view to check if there was a flash but didn't see anything. As it was day time, would the camera still have flashed? If so, would it have been pretty obvious if it did?

Does anybody know if these cameras actually work or if theyre just there for show, as I am now really worrying about this. 3 points is a big deal to me, not only insurance wise (its expensive enough as it is!) but keeping my licence wise. I have no previous convictions, however it doesnt leave me any room for error in the next year and a bit!

If I am issued a penatly, what would it be advisable for me to do. I believe I was in the right for not stopping, as if I had it would have probably been in the middle of the box junction! However will the issuers/courts see it like this.

Thanks in advance, a very worried motorist

Hi AshDaBash.

Traffic light cameras are not for show. One of my colleagues was recently done by one.

Do you know (or can you find out) what the length of the amber phase is? IIRC it should be 3 seconds. Any less could be argued to be unreasonable.

The camera flash is usually obvious if the camera is somewhere within your vision.
Traffic light cameras flash during daytime (I can’t think of any type that doesn’t).
Most cameras are set to activate 2-ish seconds after red, so you might have gotten lucky.

I offer a tip for inexperienced drivers, like yourself, when approaching traffic lights:
Plan to stop!
That way you are best prepared to act quickly (not just for the lights) should the necessity arise.

_________________
Views expressed are personal opinions and are not necessarily shared by the Safe Speed campaign

I understand that there's not much doubt about the flashing of a red light camera. No flash => no photo => no offence => nothing to worry about.

50mph is really a shade too fast to approach a green light that may change. The three second amber means that if the lights change at the 'wrong' moment you'd have to use fairly fierce braking to stop in time. As you found out, I guess. My calculations suggest 44mph as a max for comfortable braking, and downhill it would be less. 40mph is a good guide speed. For this reason, I'm critical of the authorities for using traffic lights at all on roads with speed limits greater than 40mph. (They didn't used to.)

_________________
Paul Smith
Our scrap speed cameras petition got over 28,000 sigs
The Safe Speed campaign demands a return to intelligent road safety

Thanks for the advice guys, looks like a very long 14 days for me to wait now! Oh well fingers crossed... If they got me they got me, nothing I can do! Probably no point appealing just to recieve the usual generic letter that they try and fob you off with!

Thanks again

If you think you were generally wronged then you should appeal.

If you don't then you should not as you just waste time and ultimately money (which we all pay for).

As far as I can see the OP is just worried. If the camera had flashed he would almost certainly have seen the flash.

_________________
Paul Smith
Our scrap speed cameras petition got over 28,000 sigs
The Safe Speed campaign demands a return to intelligent road safety