Got flashed for going through red light. Thing is i didnt actually go through, i broke really hard and may have just gone over the line . The letter says i can contest this in court if i want or deal with it by fixed penalty and fine.

Has anyone ever gone to court to appeal this sort of thing and won?? should i contest or not bother as they will probably give me the points anyway.

I think they need to change from single still shot to a short video clip to see if the persons actually run the light.

Yeah, if i was you i'd contest it..

Just say, as the light changed you broke, heavily, and came to a stop just over the line.

The photographic evidence will show your brake lights on - and people jumping lights dont brake while doing it !

i would appeal!!!!! surely the picture shows you with brake lights on, almost stopped! and possibly skid, smoke from tyres?????

Same sort of thing happened to me, coming up to lights and they where red! saw the opposite set of lights change to red and decided to put my foot down, went through the lights when they where green! but the camera still flashed!!!!

Jason

[quote name='Fidgits' date='Feb 15 2005, 09:07 AM']Yeah, if i was you i'd contest it..

Just say, as the light changed you broke, heavily, and came to a stop just over the line.

The photographic evidence will show your brake lights on - and people jumping lights dont brake while doing it !
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Very true mate, but the sad thing is that is exactly what happened, and i remember it so clearly


[quote name='projectslam' date='Feb 15 2005, 09:10 AM']i would appeal!!!!! surely the picture shows you with brake lights on, almost stopped! and possibly skid, smoke from tyres?????

Jason
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not skidding wasnt going fast enough, but brake lights must have been on

surely if you just went over the line, the picture will show your car almost stationary!!!!

actually, thats a point, depending on the angle of the photo, it may show your wheels - and you'll be able to see the 5 spokes not spinning

[quote name='Fidgits' date='Feb 15 2005, 09:32 AM']actually, thats a point, depending on the angle of the photo, it may show your wheels - and you'll be able to see the 5 spokes not spinning
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Actually thats a good point i was on far right and camara was on left accross three lanes......so if i lost the case in court would i have to pick up court costs??

yes, if you appeal and lose, then your conviction will also include court costs...

but by the sounds of things, you shouldnt lose...

How fast were you going if you had to brake heavily and stop over the line?

I guess you could get done for speeding.

[quote name='Fidgits' date='Feb 15 2005, 10:01 AM']yes, if you appeal and lose, then your conviction will also include court costs...

but by the sounds of things, you shouldnt lose...
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Oh bugger what does that cost??

[quote name='ifraz' date='Feb 15 2005, 10:09 AM']How fast were you going if you had to brake heavily and stop over the line?

I guess you could get done for speeding.
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defo not speeding it was just the timing the lights changed, had i not braked and gone through it probably wouldnt have flashed

you might be lucky!
sometimes they don't take you to court!!!! its going to cost them more money in legal fees and more time then it will for them just to drop it, i would appeal and give your reasons why and hopefully they might understand!!!

Jason

[quote name='projectslam' date='Feb 15 2005, 10:39 AM']you might be lucky!
sometimes they don't take you to court!!!! its going to cost them more money in legal fees and more time then it will for them just to drop it, i would appeal and give your reasons why and hopefully they might understand!!!

Jason
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They wouldn't drop it because of court costs .... because they don't care, as they don't pay for it them self personally.

When you goto court ....... you will defo pay for court costs .... usually about £100 - £120 for a red light case ........

[quote name='ScarFace' date='Feb 15 2005, 11:21 AM']When you goto court ....... you will defo pay for court costs .... usually about £100 - £120 for a red light case ........
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Cheers SF

Will they not then try you for driving with out due care as you had to break hard to not cross the lights?

also remember that the amber is a warning sign to you that the light is about to say stop, but i think the key thing here is that the amber means 'warning, be prepered to stop ONLY if safe to do so' so technically if you was at a point close enough to the line and it changed to amber then how can you be expected to stop SAFELY and with DUE care in only a matter of metres.. there for may have been safer to go through.....
also re the courts costs if you loose, surely its gota be a risk worth taking to NOT have any points...

[quote name='Fargo' date='Feb 15 2005, 11:35 AM']also re the courts costs if you loose, surely its gota be a risk worth taking to NOT have any points...
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No doubt, just hope they dont up the penalty if i do loose - "traffic signal offences carry max penalty of £1000"

it depends entirely which county your in, in north yorkshire they would most likely chuck the cas eout and let you go free in some other counties they would just fine you more for wasting their time.

i would contest it though if the evidence shows you stopping then ther should be no problem.

you can always get your solicitor to get the evidence disclose to him/her prior to the court date then you could decide depending on what it shows.

[quote name='SHAHZ' date='Feb 15 2005, 09:05 AM']Got flashed for going through red light.  Thing is i didnt actually go through, i broke really hard and may have just gone over the line .  The letter says i can contest this in court if i want or deal with it by fixed penalty and fine. 

Has anyone ever gone to court to appeal this sort of thing and won??  should i contest or not bother as they will probably give me the points anyway. 

I think they need to change from single still shot to a short video clip to see if the persons actually run the light.
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Personally I think you will struggle to beat this.
There is normally a "grace period" after the light has gone red (of maybe 2 seconds) and the position of the vehicle is detected by loops buried in the road, so unless there was a fault with it (not unheard of) or the photograph clearly shows you did not cross the junction, it would be difficult to argue a case.

Can you ask to see red-light pictures like you can with speeding pictures?

Have you any legal expense cover? check the conditions it may help, otherwise just take it on the chin, I dont think it will be worth the trouble to contest.

I would think you find it difficuly to prove either that you were braking or that you didn't go through. Might depend on if camera was in front or behind. Do they just take one picture or two, if it's two then that mght help. I'd ask to see the photo(s) and see what they say. Good luck.

It is realy up to you if you want to contest it, the loops maybe chattering or the timer up the duff, but that is realy unlikley in all but the minority of cases...

In case you were wondering how the thing works....

Two detection loops are installed downstream from the Red Light Camera; these loops are independent from the traffic light induction loops.

For red-light only, the state of all aspects of the signal head is continuously monitored and their ‘on’ time recorded. When the red aspect is detected, a timer is started. When this timer is exceeds the programmed ‘time into red’ the two road loops are monitored. If a vehicle is detected the program proceeds to violation capture

When a red light violation is detected, two images are captured from the frame grabber (the first is a wide shot and the second, taken when the detection loop is empty, is a zoom angle shot) and the following information is then stored:
• Date & Time Stamped
• Site Name and Location
• Offence and Frame Number
• Time into Red
• Previous Amber Time
• Speed (optional)
The system then delays (for a period related to the vehicles speed) and captures a third frame (wide angle). The third frame is stored with the information as above plus the time delay between it and the previous frame.

The above will vary from maufacturer to manufacturer, but they all have the same basic Home Office type approval to go through.

Well 9 months on and i aint heard anything...so im glad i contested, rather than not just goes to prove how many people this must happen to, and think it will be easier to just take the points....probably is the better option if you did run the light.... but i remembered this so cleraly especially as i didnt run the light

Don't get too excited mate ............... new law ........ they now have a year to still prosecute, after you contest ............

[quote name='ScarFace' date='Aug 19 2005, 10:12 AM']Don't get too excited mate ............... new law ........ they now have a year to still prosecute, after you contest ............ 
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ohh what when did that start

A few months ago ............

I thought it was technically an offence to go over the line anyway (unless your a motorcyclist as motoring laws don't seem to apply). Also if you didn't stop in time then they could say it was because you had been speeding or driving without due care and attention. Having said that you are allowed to go through on amber if the car behind is too close. Was there a car close behind cause then you could argue that you hesitated cause were deciding if safe to stop or not.

I had to brake really hard on a dual-carriageway to stop at traffic lights when just going at the speed limit and only just stopped before the line. The guy behind didn't and went into the back of me so perhaps I should have gone through. Perhaps the timing of the amber etc cycle on some lights is wrong for the speed limit and you could argue that? Difficult I guess though.

wasnt speeding....had loads of cars behind me, and as said before it was just the timing of it, had i gone through it probably wouldnt have flashed

any news on this

Just came accross this old thread, had forgotten about this, well its been well over a year now

[quote name='SHAHZ' post='348157' date='Apr 21 2006, 01:17 PM']Just came accross this old thread, had forgotten about this, well its been well over a year now [/quote]
It's probably safe to say that your ok now ............

[quote name='ScarFace' post='348158' date='Apr 21 2006, 01:39 PM'][quote name='SHAHZ' post='348157' date='Apr 21 2006, 01:17 PM']
Just came accross this old thread, had forgotten about this, well its been well over a year now [/quote]
It's probably safe to say that your ok now ............
[/quote]

When i saw you posted, i thought you were gonna tell me its now two years