legal advice for running a so called red light

[martint235]

Start picking and chosing which laws to enforce and the others may as well not exist.

Exactly.

 

[fossyant]

Simple, the OP jumped an amber gambler and was caught. Oh well.

 

[gaz]

Sorry, but if you have been done on a bike for jumping a light, then you have bloody well done it. Amber means stop.

Don't get this thread ? Fess up.

Unless it is not safe to stop

 

[marzjennings]

Sorry, but if you have been done on a bike for jumping a light, then you have bloody well done it. Amber means stop.
.

No, it means stop if you can.

AMBER means
‘Stop’ at the stop
line. You may go
on only if the
AMBER appears
after you have
crossed the stop
line or are so
close to it that
to pull up might
cause an accident

 

[Sara_H]

Start picking and chosing which laws to enforce and the others may as well not exist.

They already do! So, given that thats the case, I'd prefer this situation to be dealt with by having a word, it's really not worth the expense of taking it to court.

 

[fossyant]

No, it means stop if you can.

AMBER means
‘Stop’ at the stop
line. You may go
on only if the
AMBER appears
after you have
crossed the stop
line or are so
close to it that
to pull up might
cause an accident

Sorry, but on a cycle, he has been a bad boy.

They have his name and address already, he has been caught, SIMPLE.

You can quote this and that, but to be pulled by a copper on a pedal bike, you have been a really bad boy.

 

[morrisman]

So you were traveling under 10mph as well as braking lightly in preparation to stop, and yet you feel that the braking was sharp when the cyclist changed lanes infront of you?
Doesnt quite make sense to me.

Why not, if someone rides in front of a car douing any speed and the driver has to step on the brakes it will cause a sharp stop.

This does not make sense. The view clearly was obstructed if there were vehicles in front of you.

The stop line could be viewed down the side of the cars in front,

The cyclist was operating a push bike, not a car. Driving license is irrelevant.

The officer asked for id and was shown a driving licence, should he have rejected it as the guy was ona bike?

FORCE is not an accepted term.

By whom?

The initial incident happened at about 1748 hrs, the interaction was over at 1903 hrs. That is one hell of a long traffic stop.

I have also noticed that neither of the officers said whether or not the cyclists stopped after the white line. Yes, crossing it is technically breaking the law but there is no mention of whether or not they continued through the junction or stopped.

As you say the offence is complete when the line is crossed so whether the cyclist stopped or not is irrelevant.

I see no real evidence against either of the cyclists as it is just one persons word against the other.

I think it is one cyclist word against two policeman's word and you may wish to consider who the magistrates will believe.

Stand your ground and dont be bullied just because the officers are of the law. Equal rights whether or not they are officers. They need physical evidence to charge you with something, not just what they think they saw.

No they don't.

 

[downfader]

No, it means stop if you can.

AMBER means
‘Stop’ at the stop
line. You may go
on only if the
AMBER appears
after you have
crossed the stop
line or are so
close to it that
to pull up might
cause an accident

I think this is a good point to raise. Any number of us will have experience of riding towards a light that flicks to amber, but know full well that the vehicle behind wont be brought to a stop by the driver/rider.

 

[marzjennings]

Sorry, but on a cycle, he has been a bad boy.

They have his name and address already, he has been caught, SIMPLE.

You can quote this and that, but to be pulled by a copper on a pedal bike, you have been a really bad boy.

I wasn't talking about the OP, just your ascertain that amber just means stop, which it doesn't.

 

[Boris Bajic]

They already do what, exist or pick and choose?
Anyhow, cut to the chase here, RLJ good or bad?

RLJ bad, although I do it myself on bicycles more frequently than I ought to. If stopped, I would have to pay.

Speeding bad, although I do it myself in cars and used to do it to a wicked degree on motorcycles. My currently clean license has been empointed many times.

 

[morrisman]

I wasn't talking about the OP, just your ascertain that amber just means stop, which it doesn't.

For clarity the law as stated in Traffic Signs Regulations and General Directions 2002 is:

Regulation 36(1)(e) states that the amber-alone signal shall convey the same prohibition as the red signal, namely that vehicular traffic (other than tramcars) shall not proceed beyond the stop line, except that, as respects any vehicle (other than a tramcar) which is so close to the stop line that it cannot safely be stopped without proceeding beyond the stop line. In such circumstances, it shall convey the same indication as the green signal which was shown immediately before it.

 

[marzjennings]

For clarity the law as stated in Traffic Signs Regulations and General Directions 2002 is:

Regulation 36(1)(e) states that the amber-alone signal shall convey the same prohibition as the red signal, namely that vehicular traffic (other than tramcars) shall not proceed beyond the stop line, except that, as respects any vehicle (other than a tramcar) which is so close to the stop line that it cannot safely be stopped without proceeding beyond the stop line. In such circumstances, it shall convey the same indication as the green signal which was shown immediately before it.

So and to summarize, stop if you can.

 

[Sara_H]

They already do what, exist or pick and choose?
Anyhow, cut to the chase here, RLJ good or bad?

1)They already pick and choose.

2) It depends. I've RLJ'd before when not to do so would have put me at risk,but never passed through a junction.
Usually when I've been in a cycle lane leading to lights, it's changed to red, not been able to get into primary, filtered to ASL, find a vehicle in ASL so crossed line to get in front to be in a sfer position.
There's also a another set of lights where I have to turn right. I've been under and over taken whilst turning there, really dangerous maneuvering by drivers. I've noticed there's an all red phase for the pedestrian crossings. It'd be much safer for me to turn in that phase and since I've always been the only cyclist and it's slightly uphill (so I'd be going slow) it wouldn't really pose any problems for peds either. I've considered it, but haven't tried it yet
As a rule RLJ = bad though, unless not red light jumping puts someone at risk.

It's not really clear in the OP why he jumped the read,

 

[Lanzecki]

Just to point out there is no Furious Cycling charge, only Wanton and Furious Driving (which applies to cyclists, horse riders and motorists alike)

Noooo. Well there goes an item on my bucket list

I shall have to add the Alp-d'Huez back on. That'll be less fun.

 

[Linford]

Is taking responsibility for your actions such a bad thing for people to do nowadays?

I took my PTW for a spin a couple of years ago...last time before putting it away for the winter. I rode up a big hill, chugging along..maybe 60, didn't realise that a patrol car had caught up, and sitting just outside the view of my mirrors, in the inside lane, got to a roundabout, went around it and then wound it on...a lot (last time out, conditions were good, ..topped it out in 3rd gear before slowing behind traffic, flicked the visor up, sat there for about 10 seconds in the flow minding my own business, and then heard sirens approaching behind me, thought...are they trying to get past, or are they after me (oops). Realised the latter was the case, and then pulled over in a side road for a chat about 1/4 mile up (this was on a trunk road)..immediately got the caution, and thought, he isn't playing, so was polite, respectful and listened to what he had to say. He then offered me the choice of 3 points and a fine for speeding (FPN) or a day in court...and he had it on cam...as well as another PC in the passenger seat, and guaranteed me that I'd be looking at a ban...which I accepted to be the case.
I took the FPN, and when all was done, got down on my knees and said a little prayer he didn't just go the other way.

If you are caught and banged to rights, then bend over, accept your punishment, and try and learn from it.

All IMO of course