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I got stopped last week after going through an amber light. The policeman pulled me over and gave me a fixed penalty charge of £60 and 3 points on my license.
My question is this. If I contend the charge in court, is there any chance at all the points can be increased? I'm not bothered about paying a few hundred quid, but I really don't want more than 3 points on my license.
My defence is basically that the lights were at the end of a long dual carraigeway. The lights were green as I approached and all traffic had gone through meaning I had a clean run and was going at a reasonable speed. The lights turned amber and in my honest opinion it was safer to go through than to slam on the breaks to try and stop. Seeing as Amber means "Stop if it is safe to do so" I think it's a little harsh.
Of course I don't actually think I'll get off with it, but still, I'd like to try if I'm certain I'll only get 3 points.
However, you will be liable for a fine (probably higher than £60) plus CPS costs (about £40-£50) plus victim surcharge (applied to all fine sentences) of £15.
Seeing as Amber means "Stop if it is safe to do so"
No it doesn't. Amber means stop, unless it is unsafe to do so. That may sound the same thing and be seen as pure semantics, but within a Court of Law, these 'wrinkles' do matter.
You have stated that the road was clear; so it was unlikely that you would have been rear-ended if you stopped. If it was also fine and dry with a good road surface, there is no reason to believe that you would have skidded. All of this adds up to the fact that it would not have been unsafe to stop.
The PC concerned must have seen it as pretty blatant to ticket you for an amber; are you absolutely sure that no part of your vehicle was still behind the stop line when the lights went red?
And BTW, you stop a vehicle using brakes, not breaks.;-)
With my teaching hat on, and following on from what patdavies has said, if you were approaching a set of lights from a long dual carrigeway that had been green for some time, you should have been anticipatingthem to change to amber then red, and being approaching in a fashion that allowed for it.
I agree therefore that it is unlikely that a court will accept any mitigating circumstances with your explanation.
btw
The length of time set for an amber light to stay on before going to red, is governed by the type/speed of the road the lights are on. i.e. if the lights were on a 60mph section of road, the amber illuminates for a greater length of time than say on a town centre 30mph road to allow for the greater reduction in speed needed. The actual length of time that particular amber was showing for could well be presented in the court against you for ignoring it. Similarly, if yuo believe the amber to be unreasonably short for the speed of that particular road, you could use it as a defence. (My opinion is that it is more likely to be the former)
court will believe the policeman and increase costs. I would take the lowest cost hit - pay the 60 pounds, get the 3 points and move on. (crem's advice is good)
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Originally Posted by Gaskie
