Red Light

[Bahco]

Reading the local rag it seems the average cost of going through a red light is around £200 plus 3 points

There was a traffic cop on WM Radio who you can tell LOVES his job who stated that if you go through an amber light, you will still get done.

I always thought that if you attempted to brake whilst the lights were changing then you would not be done.

Anyone had any experience of this and was anyone done unfairly?

 

[ColJack]

it's all down to judgement..
if you stamp on the anchors at an amber light and overshoot the line and get rear ended by the lorry behind you, are they going to cover the damages..
if you consider that stopping sharply will cause a danger then you can run an amber light..

 

[wingcoax]

Also down to the road surface, are you going to slam on when the road is wet or gritty? I know i wont with someone behind me.

 

[ColJack]

been there and got rear ended at a set of lights because I stopped in time but the lorry behind me thought I was going over and was going to follow..

 

[Bahco]

been there and got rear ended at a set of lights because I stopped in time but the lorry behind me thought I was going over and was going to follow..

Hi D

How did the insurance company view this? I would presume that the lorry driver would be liable.

 

[Adam_151]

I would presume that the lorry driver would be liable.

Would have thought so, highway code requires that you maintain a safe distance in front of you to stop regardless of what the vehicle in front does (eg. slam on the brakes for a dog/child in the road)

Only circumstances where I can see that a rear end shunt could go the other way, are. (and theres probably more)

i) Vehicle in front cut in (removing safe distance) and slammed on brakes
ii) Vehicle in front had defective brake lamps
iii) Vehicle in front reversed into vehicle behind

#3 might seem a tad silly, but apparently there is an insurance scam going in involving just that and works on it being hard to prove without witnesses

 

[Shutpa]

Apparently there is an insurance scam going in involving just that and works on it being hard to prove without witnesses

Not all that hard to prove.

Weren't three guys jailed a couple of months ago for intentionally creating accidents then claiming from the insurance companies? I'm sure that they were caught because they always caused the bump in the same road and were spotted by office workers pulloing the same stunt time after time.

 

[conny]

Weren't three guys jailed a couple of months ago for intentionally creating accidents

Quite right Bolo, they got banged up and a court order was issued to try and reclaim the money.

As for the reversing scam, thats been around for a few years now. One case the idiot reversed into an artic lorry and tried claiming for everything. Insurance firm checked his tacho and saw he was actually stationary at the time.
Case thrown out and claimant prosecuted.

 

[Steve]

Not sure if they were trying to crash, but I was once trying to turn right out of a side road. To my right coming towards me was a small car with about 5 lads in it. They were signalling left into the side road I was in. Ordinarily I would have pulled out. To my left was clear. But they seemed to be going too fast, and went straight past in front of me. Good thing I didnt pull out, but what if I had, and they had smashed into me? Who would have been to blame? The guy signalling wrongly, or me making (not unfair) assumptions about the driver's intentions?

 

[conny]

You for making an assumption I'm afraid. A lot of 'main' roads have smaller roads running off them and its not uncommon for someone to indicate a left turn a number of streets ahead of their actual turning point.
An indicator is just that, an indication of what someone 'intends' to do and it is always best to wait those few seconds more until it is absolutely clear what they are going to do.

 

[kirkgas]

from my time riding motor bikes you would be an idiot to pull out of a road when you see an indicator on, and it would def be your fault,

 

[wingcoax]

Steve, the number of times you see a car with indicator on and not turning . I wish i had a pund a time.

 

[Johnmelad502]

Nearest I have ever come to a crash was while signalling to turn left. A car was at the junction ahead of me but I wanted to turn left at the next junction, a few yards further on.

The idiot started to pull out and I had to slam-all-on. The idiot then got out of his car shouting at me. I got out and asked why he had pulled out in front of me, he said you were indicating to turn into the junction I was exiting. I then looked toward the junction and nodded my head indicating that he should look. He did and apologised before meekly getting back into his car.

What he saw when he looked back was -

Yep, he was exiting a one-way-street.

...king Moron.

 

[dextrous]

But why were you trying to turn into it then

 

[gregers]

i remember my old driving instructor telling me that if the light is green what comes next,so i told him.
his response then was,right now you know that it will change BE AWARE OF IT.
iirc in the highway code book,amber means STOP.
also im sure it mentions that you should not be going to fast to stop.