Red Light - Flashed

[breezer]

On my way home from UNI today i didnt have time to stop and ended up going through a red light. Next thing i new a huge white flash. It was by one of those yellow cameras!

NO i wasnt speeding! YES i was paying attention. I dont want no smart **** comments from people as i know what some people are like on here.

What happens?

Iv looked on google and a few people have said £60 and 3 points.

[Moffmo]

those cameras are $hit coz i know what you mean you like a metre away from the line and it goes red, bit unsafe to stop really...

but yeah, you have got at least 3 points

[jaxx]

if your a meter away from the line when it goes red then youve had ample time to stop within the yellow light!

unlucky mate but yes itll be a 60quidder and 3 points, just have to take it on the chin

[Fidgits]

yeah, as has been said above, those cameras only flash if you cross the line AFTER the light has gone red.

So unless someone went through after you, it will be the 3&60 - you can of course, plead not guilty...

[breezer]

yikes!! there any way i can get round the 3 points? because theres me, my dad and my brother on the insurance who drive the car!

[jaxx]

why try and get out of it when your guilty as charged??

who is the registered owner of the car?? its the name on the V5 that will get the ticket

[Fidgits]

well, as i said, you can plead not guilty (when you recieve the summons in the post), which will mean going to Magistrates court.

This will allow you to give any reasons/special circumstances that may have caused you to go through the light - just remember they do have photo evidence..

You can claim mitigating circumstances to get a lower/higher fine, and perhaps less points, but dont count on it - unless you have a very good reason, they wont let up..

Oh, and say you go to court, you could still get 3 points and £60 fine, and you'll have to pay court fees on top of that too...

So as Rob says, if you are guilty, your better off accepting it..

[breezer]

my dad is owner of car!! ok 3 points it is then! if there was a way to get out of it, im sure everyone would try and get out of it.

atm my insurance is roughly £300! im on with my dad (main driver) and im secondary driver. what increase on insurance is likely???

[Fidgits]

that depends on your insurance company, its impossible to say.

Just ensure, the moment they are on your license you tell them..

[breezer]

ah!

[Fidgits]

Dont worry too much, its your first 3 points, it wont be too bad...

[breezer]

if ya must....

[breezer]

insurance company will rape me for it though! mo money mo money mo money for an accidental thing! totally sucks balls

[celtictricky]

insurance company will rape me for it though! mo money mo money mo money for an accidental thing! totally sucks balls

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Avon Constab will give you the option of taking points, or attending a Police Driving seminar (FOR BAD PEOPLE!!!), the funny thing is, if you take the latter, when you renew your insurance they look on it favourably and give you a discount!

[Hou]

well my insurance hasnt changed for 3 points for 90 on a motorway, better to tell them straight away as said earlier and all will be fine!

[breezer]

who you with?

but theyl take a different approach for me, oh look hes 19, must be a boy racer or a nutter, lets put it up £200!!

[Moffmo]

who you with?

but theyl take a different approach for me, oh look hes 19, must be a boy racer or a nutter, lets put it up £200!!

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When the letter comes in, you didnt know who was driving....

I mean it could have either been you, your dad, or your brother....

So theyll forget the 3 points, and give you just the fine.... :P

[Hou]

im with cis and im only 20 got the points at 18

[Fidgits]

who you with?

but theyl take a different approach for me, oh look hes 19, must be a boy racer or a nutter, lets put it up £200!!

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When the letter comes in, you didnt know who was driving....

I mean it could have either been you, your dad, or your brother....

So theyll forget the 3 points, and give you just the fine.... :P

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That wont work...

They closed that loophole 2 years ago, if the registered owner cannot identify who was driving at the time, then he is responsible for the offence...

[JustJJ]

Right, first thing you need to understand is that running a red light is an absolute offence and something I'd NEVER do intentionally and could never condone. As Fidgits says, If the light turned red while you were a few metres away, you could and should have stopped on the amber. Having said that, its not uncommon for sets of lights with cameras on to have the amber period reduced in an attempt to catch more 'amber gamblers'. You're highly unlikely to get off by saying it wasn't safe to stop unless the photos support that - another vehicle trying to drive into your boot or something. On the other hand, I'm fed up to the back teeth of motorists getting continually persecuted for technical infringements yet we live in a society that has no deterrent for far more serious crimes. On the basis that its only a matter of time before I get caught out, I try to keep reasonably prepared.

Being caught on camera doesn't automatically mean you're facing £60 and 3 points, there are a number of things that can happen. Firstly the camera might be out of film or the roll of film has to be discarded for some reason (camera not calibrated properly), you'll hear nothing so count yourself lucky and don't do it again ;) Secondly there are rules the 'Safety' Camera Partnerships have to follow when issueing the Notice of Intended Prosecution (NIP). The NIP must be sent by at least first class post, if its sent 2nd class simply wait until the 28 days you have to reply are nearly up and then tell them it wasn't served correctly, they'll be out of time to issue another one and you're clear (keep the envelope as proof though). Sadly they've pretty much clued up to this now and its unlikely to happen. The second thing to check is did the NIP arrive in time, they have 14 days from the day after the offence to get the first NIP to the registered keeper by 'normal course of the post'. Normal course of the post means next day for first class (unless next day is a bank holiday / sunday, then its the day before). If the first NIP arrives with the registered keeper outside the 14 days, check the postmark and if it couldn't have arrived in time again you're clear... Do as before and keep the envelope.

If this NIP ends up correctly served things start to get more tricky and more stressful. Head over to http://www.pepipoo.com/ if you reach this point and still want to contest the ticket. The best approach at the moment is probably the PACE letter. If the registered keeper wasn't driving, they should fill in the NIP as normal with the driver's details, sign it and return it. When a NIP arrives addressed to the driver, you send a letter instead of filling in the NIP basically it says I'm complying with S172 of the Road Traffic Act and supplying the details you asked for as information, but as I wasn't given a caution under PACE this information cannot be used as a witness statement in court. The camera partnership will try and bully you into filling in the NIP, avoid any further correspondence with them. You might hear nothing further or you might get a summons to the magistrates court, most likely for failing to comply with S172 or possibly for the red light offence. Its highly likely the CPS will drop the case before it reaches court, but having to go to court and defend yourelf becomes a possibility here. If you do go to court your defence depends on what you're prosecuted for. If its for failing to comply with S172, the PACE letter is compliant and you should be found not guilty. If its for the red light offence, be prepared to object if they try to introduce the PACE letter as evidence and your objection should be upheld, leaving them with no evidence (rear facing camera, so no photos). Sadly though, magistrates courts are a law unto themselves and the ACTUAL law sometimes means very little here. Also remember that the magistrates courts are partners in the camera partnership, there is a very real chance you'll get convicted here. If that happens you can appeal to the Crown Court. So far all appeals using PACE have been dropped by the CPS before reaching the Crown Court, they don't want a court that can set precedent to hear the case as they're fairly sure they'll lose and then the entire system goes !Removed! up. Really if you think of using PACE, get over to pepipoo and ask their advice as things get fairly technical and they have pro forma letters etc for you to use.

Btw using PACE for your first 3 points probably isnt worth the stress....

</Dave aka my other half :P>

[cfc1]

Wheather the points affect your insurance or not depends on the code.. you can get an SP10 or an SP30... can't remember which.. ( been a long long time since i had my 3pts).. but one code is veiwed as a more serious offence.. the less serious doesn't affect insurance.. or at least they didn't affect mine all those moons ago... do a google search on speeding codes or summit :)

EDIT:.. DON'T ask me why i ended up talking about speeding lol.. just ignore me lol

** note to self** "read the post and remember what it's about before you reply next time"

[GT4 BOOSTER]

http://www.nottinghamshire.police.uk/faq/driving.asp

[breezer]

ok?

it really does suck though!! it was a n honest mistake, and i am aware that there was a camera there! in fact theres 2, but one for the other road crossing it. as if i would do it on purpose, i go past every day!

fair enough speedin = 3 points

but red traffic light :(

[breezer]

is it likely insurance will go up?

i found the code out! its TS10!

[JustJJ]

yup it is TS10.... cause I have one...

and really tbh.. running a red.. is more dangerous than speeding...