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PC-M Vip3r

PC-M Vip3r

PC-M Vip3r

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26 Mar 2006
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576
To set the scene, im driving along a carriageway at 40, and its ******* it down whilst talking to my friend. And im approaching a set of traffic lights, they usually stay on green for ages as it is the main road. So as I approach they turn to Amber, im not going to get through. I know there is a red light camera but i didnt realise straight away, Once realised I slammed my breaks on and locked up the front wheels.

Because of the weather conditions i find myself sliding along past the white line at the lights. So the camera flashes me, the car stops and then flashes a second time.

I know I should have been paying more attention to the traffic lights and should have been prepared to stop. After having a conversation with my Dad he said I should be able to appeal due to the weather conditions.

What do you guys rekon?

NOTE: When stopped i was not in the middle of the junction, just about a car Length past the white Line.
 
PC-M Vip3r said:
To set the scene, im driving along a carriageway at 40, and its ******* it down whilst talking to my friend. And im approaching a set of traffic lights, they usually stay on green for ages as it is the main road. So as I approach they turn to Amber, im not going to get through. I know there is a red light camera but i didnt realise straight away, Once realised I slammed my breaks on and locked up the front wheels.

Because of the weather conditions i find myself sliding along past the white line at the lights. So the camera flashes me, the car stops and then flashes a second time.

I know I should have been paying more attention to the traffic lights and should have been prepared to stop. After having a conversation with my Dad he said I should be able to appeal due to the weather conditions.

What do you guys rekon?

NOTE: When stopped i was not in the middle of the junction, just about a car Length past the white Line.
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You might be ok because the 2 pictures will show that you did try to stop.
 
dirtydog said:
So your appeal would be on the basis that you were going too fast for the conditions? ;)
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40 MPH in a 40 Zone, speed limit does not take into account the weather.

@ Pike - This was my way of thinking, if the pictures show that I have moved mearly a few feet between the 2 picturesand my wheels are locked. Thats proff that I have stopped.
 
PC-M Vip3r said:
To set the scene, im driving along a carriageway at 40,and its ******* it down whilst talking to my friend.
Click to expand...

Sounds like you weren't paying enough attention to the conditions I'm afraid; I wouldn't have thought you could appeal because of the weather, it's your fault you couldn't stop in time.
 
PC-M Vip3r said:
To set the scene, im driving along a carriageway at 40, and its ******* it down whilst talking to my friend. And im approaching a set of traffic lights, they usually stay on green for ages as it is the main road. So as I approach they turn to Amber, im not going to get through. I know there is a red light camera but i didnt realise straight away, Once realised I slammed my breaks on and locked up the front wheels.

Because of the weather conditions i find myself sliding along past the white line at the lights. So the camera flashes me, the car stops and then flashes a second time.

I know I should have been paying more attention to the traffic lights and should have been prepared to stop. After having a conversation with my Dad he said I should be able to appeal due to the weather conditions.

What do you guys rekon?
Click to expand...

I reckon saying that you were driving too fast to stop at a red light might not go down too well
 
The thing is.. You can be going 40mph through traffic lights on a dry sunny day.. And if you get caught out just at the wrong time you can brake as hard as you want you will still end up over the line on a red...
 
gareth.e said:
The thing is.. You can be going 40mph through traffic lights on a dry sunny day.. And if you get caught out just at the wrong time you can brake as hard as you want you will still end up over the line on a red...
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Only if you aren't paying proper attention, surely.

There is a set of lights near me with a camera, on a 40 road, which I drive through every day, and I always take care because sometimes - a few times a year probably - it does start to go red at the 'worst' moment - but moderate braking is all that's needed to stop safely in time.

Remember when you approach any set of lights, you should be prepared for them to turn red at any moment.
 
PiKe said:
You might be ok because the 2 pictures will show that you did try to stop.
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lol why do people post crap like this.

Of course it doesnt matter if you tryed to stop or not. All that matters is that you're over the line or not.




Anyway back to the OP. The only way you can "appeal" this is by taking it to court. And you wont get this overturned by turning up to court and saying "but it was wet". The Magistrates are just going to laugh at you and say you should have been driving slower to take account of the weather conditions. Rememeber, the speed limit is not a target. If the weather was such that your breaking distance is increased (such as heavy rain) you slow down precisely for this reason. EVEN MORE so if you're approaching red lights.

Just so you know, i'll let you know how the process works. You'll get a NIP in the post, asking you to say who was driving at the time the offence was comitted. You send this paper back confirming who it was. You then receive another letter addressed to the driver, offering them a punishment. Considering the offence is running a red light you wont get a speed awareness course. You'll likely receive an offer of 3 points and £60 fine. If you accept, you send a cheque and your license off and forget about it. You then get your license back with an endorsement on it, with an offence code of TS10, and you're £60 worse off.

If you want to appeal, you dont do this and reply back saying you want to appeal. You then get another piece of paper summonsing you to court in front of 3 magistrates. This is a specialist speeders court, and it will be full of drink drivers, dangerous drivers, people doing more than 25mph over the limit etc.. all the charges that a magistrate has to decicde, and cant be dealt with by fixed penalty

Once there you have to explain to the magisrates why you did what you did. And they dont take any messing. They'll do tons of these so will have heard all the excuses. Furthermore, if you dont admit it and try and squeeze out of it, the magistrates wont take kindly to it, and likely give you a punishment greater than the original £60 and 3 points for clogging up the system. You better have a lawyer and a cast iron case (which you dont) to make this trip to the courts worth it.

Unless you're willing to hire a lawyer and go to court, you wont appeal this. And a laywer will cost you a darn sight more than the 3 points and £60 fine you'll get.


You're only hope (because you dont say) is that you stopped before you crossed the line. If they've got a photo of you over the white line, then its 3 points time.
 
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Dad = Lawyer :D

Not a lawyer but should represent... Anywho

As I was driving back from were i was going i drove past the camera and there was a bloke in a camera van with the camera open doing something inside it.
 
so hang on, whats the offence here. In the OP you specificly say red light camera

These are mounted on a post, overlooking the junction, usually set about 10 feet back facing with their back towards oncomming traffic (you wont see the lens unless you look in your rear view mirror after you've passed it)


They are not mounted in camera vans. Camera vans are for monitoring speeds only. Unless you drove by that camera van doing 47mph or greater there is no (catchable) offence committed.

(edit) unless there was a red light camera and a camera van ?


Oh and by the way, you'll need a lawyer, not your dad. The reason you get a lawyer is not to sound good, but to know every possible loophole to get you out of it, which only a specialist speeding lawer will do. And i doubt you're dads one of them.
 
MrLOL said:
so hang on, whats the offence here. In the OP you specificly say red light camera

These are mounted on a post, overlooking the junction, usually set about 10 feet back facing with their back towards oncomming traffic (you wont see the lens unless you look in your rear view mirror after you've passed it)


They are not mounted in camera vans. Camera vans are for monitoring speeds only. Unless you drove by that camera van doing 47mph or greater there is no (catchable) offence committed.
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Red light camera mounted on the post at the junction is the one tht flashed me... As i drive back past it, there was a speed camera van parked up next to the red light camera, and the man had lowered the red light camera and had the back of it open.
 
ah he's just changing film then. You could very well be the luckiest man alive if that camera ran out of film earlier that morning.
 
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