simonds1

Just been done for running a red light.....BUT the traffic lights weren't actually working properly! I will probably never explain this without drawing a picture, but it's quite a simple junction.....you can go straight on, or turn right. To turn right you go into a little filter lane, and you wait for the green filter arrow to come on. Now....THAT is the bit that isn't working. It's common knowledge like. It's the junction right by the Uplands Tavern in swansea (some of you may know it, I always see a silver classic goin around when I'm up here). So anyway, I knew the filter arrow wasn't working cuz I came up a few weekends ago and was sat there for about 10 mins like omg where is the bloody filter light.....and I ended up just having to pick a gap & go. I got to my mate's house and he was like yeah, that's what you gotta do like, cuz it hasn't worked for ages. So yeah, came up now on friday just gone, did the exact same thing, but this time, THREE cop cars saw me do it!!!! And then they just swarmed around me like I'd just commited the worst crime ever. Lights blazin, I was like omg wtf!?! One marked, 2 undercover, all at the same junction lol. Gutted. So yeah, I tried to explain to the cop that the lights were actually knackered, and I'd still be parked there from a few weekends ago if I was waiting for the green filter like. But nah, that didn't seem to matter to him at all. He just kept saying "you went through a red light" after everything I said. So yeah......anyone on here from swansea and know the junction I'm talking about? I'm just wondering whether to contest it or not like. £60 fine and 3 points seems well harsh for a non-straight forward situation like this y'know? Fair play if it was a blatently obvious red light that I'd just gone through then yeah, but.....this isn't like that. When the red light is on (for the people going straight on) then I think the green filter light should be on at some point, so while the straight on lanes are both stopped, you can turn right yeah? So basically, I reckon I've been done for going when I was actually meant to go.....but there was just no bulb in the green filter arrow, so it looked like I went on a red. I dunno what to do! Aaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.

Okay rant over lol, cheers for reading, if you didn't fall asleep half way through!

gpssti4

iTrader: (6)

I won't offer any advice, but if it were me, I'd fight it and go to court. You may get a judge with an ounce of common sense - oh well maybe not.

simonds1

Hmm yeah lol. Hopefully will have more sense than the THREE police officers I had to deal with. They were just out to get me, all being really arsey. Was no tellin any of em anything like

robby

can you not borrow a camcorder and film the lights for several minutes?

if you contest the offence you can use the film as evidence that the lights weren't working as they might be fixed by the time you go to court and you'll then have no proof

finalzero

I had to copy and paste your post into notepad and then split up the paragraphs ;-)

As per above, get a camcorder and go to the same lights, if you can stand somewhere do so and then record the lights for a good 10 minute, hopefully you will record the knackered lights and prove that other drivers are sitting there wonder wtf is going on.

simonds1

Yeah that's what everyone's saying. It's in swansea tho, which is an hour away from me. I tried filming them before I came home, and I had the absolute perfect opportunity.....some guy just went straight through on red like I did....but instead of takin a video I took a frikkin still photo lol. Soddin camera was on the wrong setting! Gutted! So yeah, stood there for a good 10 - 15 mins feeling like an absolute **** holding my camera up at these lights lol.....but there just wasn't enough traffic to show that there was anything wrong with em like. Nobody seemed to wanna turn right while I was standing there! Grrr!

finalzero

Ask a mate to wait at the lights and film the results, when someone sees the traffic flow while your mate is waiting they should realise something is wrong.