Man of Honour
- Joined
- 5 Jun 2003
- Posts
- 91,820
- Location
- Falling...
There's a 4-way junction near me where the traffic lights on one of the 4 roads malfunctions regularly. Well, when I say malfunction, it either does not detect vehicles waiting, or the controller has gone doolally.
The junction has 2 minor roads (from industrial estate / shopping centres) feeding into the main road.
I use this junction 3-4 times a week, and more often than not, the minor road on which I am waiting to join the main road, the traffic lights will not turn green. By the time the other lights change to green and red at least three times I often do just check the road is clear and go through the red light (I know I'm a criminal). However I have in the past waited behind cars at that junction where, without exaggeration, we have waited over 5 minutes without any change in lights. In that situation, I've turned around and gone an alternative way, unfortunately you then are fed into a one-way system which is a bit of a pain.
So my question is, do you feel that going through the red light in such a situation is fair? Or would you argue that you either wait, or do something else?
The reason I ask, is a friend who uses this junction got pulled over by the police (quite rightly) for going through the red light, explained the situation, but the police said that he should just wait. He said they will be fining him and giving him points. He has a dashcam so will be taking it to show the situation - he showed it to me, and you can clearly see the lights changing 4 times for the other 3 sets of traffic lights, and the dashcam time shows nearly 6 minutes before he took the initiative.
I know in a black and white world what he did was wrong, but I think it is a little unfair. When he pulled out of the junction there were no cars, and the police only happened to be coming round the corner so it was just bad timing.
I personally don't think he should get points or a fine for it.
The junction has 2 minor roads (from industrial estate / shopping centres) feeding into the main road.
I use this junction 3-4 times a week, and more often than not, the minor road on which I am waiting to join the main road, the traffic lights will not turn green. By the time the other lights change to green and red at least three times I often do just check the road is clear and go through the red light (I know I'm a criminal). However I have in the past waited behind cars at that junction where, without exaggeration, we have waited over 5 minutes without any change in lights. In that situation, I've turned around and gone an alternative way, unfortunately you then are fed into a one-way system which is a bit of a pain.
So my question is, do you feel that going through the red light in such a situation is fair? Or would you argue that you either wait, or do something else?
The reason I ask, is a friend who uses this junction got pulled over by the police (quite rightly) for going through the red light, explained the situation, but the police said that he should just wait. He said they will be fining him and giving him points. He has a dashcam so will be taking it to show the situation - he showed it to me, and you can clearly see the lights changing 4 times for the other 3 sets of traffic lights, and the dashcam time shows nearly 6 minutes before he took the initiative.
I know in a black and white world what he did was wrong, but I think it is a little unfair. When he pulled out of the junction there were no cars, and the police only happened to be coming round the corner so it was just bad timing.
I personally don't think he should get points or a fine for it.
