Crossed The Line With Front Tyres And Then Stopped

Question:

Hello,

I was driving a van and approaching traffic lights. They turned amber and my initial reaction was that I had enough time to continue through.

However, they turned red and I had to instantly decide that I could not continue driving. I stopped and the van did not go through the red lights, but rather crossed the white line and stopped completely.

I think only the front wheels crossed and not the back ones.

The police have offered a course or fixed penalty with 3 points. I feel I have committed no crime. I did not drive through. I stopped.

Please could you advise me?

Many thanks for your time.

Graham Says:

Thank you for your question.

You have a defence to going through on amber if you can show that it was not safe to stop. It is an offence for any part of your vehicle to proceed across the stop line whilst the lights are on red – so if you front wheels went across on red then you won’t have a defence. If your front wheels went across on amber you may have a defence if it was not safe to stop.

The fact that you did not go completely through means that you have a potential special reasons argument. Have you asked to see the photos? Be careful with this one because you don’t want to lose the offer of the course if ultimately you have to accept the allegation.