How Do They Know It Was Red When I Crossed The Line

Question:

I received a notice for this offence and requested photographic evidence. The picture shows the back of the very back of the car going over the line on the red signal but I don’t think it conclusively shows that the signal was red when the front of the car went over the line – do I have a case to appeal this?

Graham Says:

It’s a valid point to make. The police will claim that the photo evidence (and evidence from the device) shows the length of time that the light was on red and the speed at which you were traveling. They will therefore be able to back calculate where your vehicle was when the light first changed to red.

Its really difficult to challenge red light offences and I normally advise against trying unless it was a police officer at the lights claiming to have seen the offence occur. We can then argue human error – which is easier.

Have you got any points already? If so, how many? Are you a new driver?

You need to also bear in mind that it’s an offence to go through on amber as well as red unless you can show that it was not safe to stop. So even if you convince the court that the lights were not red you will still be guilty if they find that the lights were amber.