I'm an idiot. I've spent my entire driving career of ten years with a clean licence, spanning well over a quarter of a million trouble free miles and two advanced driving qualifications. Maybe until yesterday. Yesterday I was an idiot.
Driving down Leeds Street towards the city centre in Liverpool, an area I don't normally drive in and am not familiar with. It's a dual carriageway with a 30mph limit. I'm in lane 2 of 2 as my exit slip (which becomes a right turn) is a few yards after this next set of lights.
I pull up at the red light behind an obviously stationary large white transit, and wait. We've just come out of the hospital after a two hour wait and some pretty life changing news (positive news this time). We're chatting about what it all means and generally going over what was said. Chit chat, basically.
After maybe 20 seconds, the Transit in front starts moving off. I engage first gear, look right/left/right to ensure no vehicles are approaching the crossroads who might 'jump their red light', and have a green light in my vision the entire time. I see the road crossing ours is totally empty, lift the clutch and follow behind the Transit and into the junction. All this happens in the space of about two seconds (i.e. the usual scenario of the car in front sets off, you check it's safe to follow and keep pace from behind).
The only problem is, as I enter the junction the car behind me starts beeping. Many swear words are uttered and my blood runs cold, as I realise that there are in fact two sets of traffic lights joined on to each other. One for our two lanes, and one for the adjoining right turn only lane. The van was completely obscuring 'our' light, and the green light I'd seen in my peripheral vision during my 'safe to proceed check' was the second full set for those making right turns. The van driver had apparently just seen green and driven forwards, and I - in the circumstances explained - followed him in the genuine but mistaken belief I was right to do so. "Just keeping up with the traffic".
The 'best' part is, it's the only set of lights in town with a red light camera. D'oh.
Being a van, he was slow to move off and I kept the usual prudent distance behind him (hence 'our' red light remaining obscured behind his solid panel van until it was too late). My only potential saving grace, and the reason for this thread, is that there were no flashes to be seen.
Yes it was daylight (lunch time), but it was overcast and dull with only dark rain clouds in the sky. Surely if the camera had flashed not only the van but myself (i.e. four flashes in the space of two seconds) we'd have been hard pressed to miss them? Even if for some reason I missed it in my mirrors I'd imagine (and am fervently hoping) it'd have done a great job of reflecting off a huge sheet of painted white metal in front of us?
Yes I know, I'm a fluffy kitten killer in addition to all the polar bear suffering I inevitably cause. I ought to be banned from driving and never be allowed out again... blah blah. In hindsight I should have perhaps waited a short time before driving home from the hospital, but we were simply engaged in happy conversation not devastated by some terrible thing.
I know it's an absolute offence, but in my 'defence' (in explaining for this thread, not a legal defence) the van obscured the light and I saw simply saw 'vehicle in front moves off, green traffic light shining'. I even did my usual safety checks before proceeding into the junction, it's not like I was driving without due care or jumped them intentionally in an amber gambler/it's only a pink light sense.
To be honest that's why I'm all the more annoyed with myself. 'Stuff' happens, but I should have not been caught out that way. It's genuinely my only mess up of its kind in all these years. As I said, I'm an idiot.
I now await the arrival of new years' day which is the 15th day following the offence. No news by then is good news, and all that. But it's the distinct absence of flash that is giving me the glimmer of hope. As I said I've never been in a situation like this before so have no reference. Would four flashes - two for the van and two for me - be so easy to miss completely even when you're paying attention to the road? I noticed the car behind flash his headlights at me as he beeped me crossing the line, and there was certainly no four-fold flash of lightning to be seen.
The camera is definitely a red light camera, and is this one here. The lights went green about four or five seconds after the van and I went through.
Maybe, hopefully I got lucky. Maybe not. Would the offence be considered more serious given it wasn't a 'clipped the red by 2 seconds' but rather a 'crossed a very definite red', or am I making that up? An awareness course or FPN is bad, but not the end of the world. Having to go to court isn't something I'd relish the thought of, and it's rather peed all over my Christmas spirit.
I'm fanning the flames of hope given the apparent lack of flash, but no matter what comes of this - or doesn't - I know I have learnt a very permanent lesson. Thanks in advance for any helpful replies.
Driving down Leeds Street towards the city centre in Liverpool, an area I don't normally drive in and am not familiar with. It's a dual carriageway with a 30mph limit. I'm in lane 2 of 2 as my exit slip (which becomes a right turn) is a few yards after this next set of lights.
I pull up at the red light behind an obviously stationary large white transit, and wait. We've just come out of the hospital after a two hour wait and some pretty life changing news (positive news this time). We're chatting about what it all means and generally going over what was said. Chit chat, basically.
After maybe 20 seconds, the Transit in front starts moving off. I engage first gear, look right/left/right to ensure no vehicles are approaching the crossroads who might 'jump their red light', and have a green light in my vision the entire time. I see the road crossing ours is totally empty, lift the clutch and follow behind the Transit and into the junction. All this happens in the space of about two seconds (i.e. the usual scenario of the car in front sets off, you check it's safe to follow and keep pace from behind).
The only problem is, as I enter the junction the car behind me starts beeping. Many swear words are uttered and my blood runs cold, as I realise that there are in fact two sets of traffic lights joined on to each other. One for our two lanes, and one for the adjoining right turn only lane. The van was completely obscuring 'our' light, and the green light I'd seen in my peripheral vision during my 'safe to proceed check' was the second full set for those making right turns. The van driver had apparently just seen green and driven forwards, and I - in the circumstances explained - followed him in the genuine but mistaken belief I was right to do so. "Just keeping up with the traffic".
The 'best' part is, it's the only set of lights in town with a red light camera. D'oh.
Being a van, he was slow to move off and I kept the usual prudent distance behind him (hence 'our' red light remaining obscured behind his solid panel van until it was too late). My only potential saving grace, and the reason for this thread, is that there were no flashes to be seen.
Yes it was daylight (lunch time), but it was overcast and dull with only dark rain clouds in the sky. Surely if the camera had flashed not only the van but myself (i.e. four flashes in the space of two seconds) we'd have been hard pressed to miss them? Even if for some reason I missed it in my mirrors I'd imagine (and am fervently hoping) it'd have done a great job of reflecting off a huge sheet of painted white metal in front of us?
Yes I know, I'm a fluffy kitten killer in addition to all the polar bear suffering I inevitably cause. I ought to be banned from driving and never be allowed out again... blah blah. In hindsight I should have perhaps waited a short time before driving home from the hospital, but we were simply engaged in happy conversation not devastated by some terrible thing.
I know it's an absolute offence, but in my 'defence' (in explaining for this thread, not a legal defence) the van obscured the light and I saw simply saw 'vehicle in front moves off, green traffic light shining'. I even did my usual safety checks before proceeding into the junction, it's not like I was driving without due care or jumped them intentionally in an amber gambler/it's only a pink light sense.
To be honest that's why I'm all the more annoyed with myself. 'Stuff' happens, but I should have not been caught out that way. It's genuinely my only mess up of its kind in all these years. As I said, I'm an idiot.
I now await the arrival of new years' day which is the 15th day following the offence. No news by then is good news, and all that. But it's the distinct absence of flash that is giving me the glimmer of hope. As I said I've never been in a situation like this before so have no reference. Would four flashes - two for the van and two for me - be so easy to miss completely even when you're paying attention to the road? I noticed the car behind flash his headlights at me as he beeped me crossing the line, and there was certainly no four-fold flash of lightning to be seen.
The camera is definitely a red light camera, and is this one here. The lights went green about four or five seconds after the van and I went through.
Maybe, hopefully I got lucky. Maybe not. Would the offence be considered more serious given it wasn't a 'clipped the red by 2 seconds' but rather a 'crossed a very definite red', or am I making that up? An awareness course or FPN is bad, but not the end of the world. Having to go to court isn't something I'd relish the thought of, and it's rather peed all over my Christmas spirit.
I'm fanning the flames of hope given the apparent lack of flash, but no matter what comes of this - or doesn't - I know I have learnt a very permanent lesson. Thanks in advance for any helpful replies.
Yes I carried on, pointless stopping in the middle of the junction and hoping for no oncoming traffic, when the offence was already complete.
