Yellow light turns red in the middle

[Azuteor]

Earlier today at around 6:30 in the evening, I was driving home from my classes at the university I go to. I managed to cross the line on the speed limit while the traffic light was on yellow, but it turned red 3/4 of the way before I could cross to the other side. After that, I noticed that I got flashed.

"Oh, shi7!"

Along the way, I figured that I shouldn't worry about it and if I do get a ticket, I would take ownership for my mistake and pay off the fine. Even so, I couldn't keep myself from wondering if the violation for running a red light is justified even though the light changed when I was in the middle of the intersection. It wouldn't be smart of me to stop in the middle of traffic then back up while drivers are still behind me.

I'm generally a good driver. I do my best to follow the rules of the road and I admit, I make mistakes here and there. Should I have any reason to worry? What would you do in a situation like this? Got any tips so I don't do this again? I probably also have some ideas of my own.

Thanks!

[Alpha]

Could you have stopped, and you chose not to? If not, then you did not make a violation, assuming the rules for traffic lights are the same as here. Though we do have orange, not yellow.

...Why do we have different 'middle' colours?

[che]

Usually, the red light contains some orange in its hue, and the green light contains some blue, to provide some support for people with red-green color blindness.

^Straight copied that from Wikipedia, but I knew it had something to do with people who are color blind. In this case, it would appear New Zealand is better once again.

As for the original question, it's what Alpha said. If you had time to stop after seeing the yellow, you should have. If you didn't have time, it's okay to be in the middle of the intersection as it turns yellow (assuming you were going the speed limit). The cameras, I also assume are pretty well timed on reaction and such so that if you do receive a ticket it's fair.

[Azuteor]

Up until now, I'm not so sure, but I'm leaning towards that I should have stopped on yellow even though I "believed" I was safe. It's a 50-50 thing for me. I didn't gas it like most Memphians here to which I would feel like a moron, haha, but whatever, both of you are right. Even my parents warned me about it. I'll have to wait until I get a letter to see what's up. I'll update as well as soon as I get it.

Thanks for your input and reinforcement.

Gah, I hope the fine isn't super expensive!

[che]

Up until now, I'm not so sure, but I'm leaning towards that I should have stopped on yellow even though I "believed" I was safe. It's a 50-50 thing for me. I didn't gas it like most Memphians here to which I would feel like a moron, haha, but whatever, both of you are right. Even my parents warned me about it. I'll have to wait until I get a letter to see what's up. I'll update as well as soon as I get it.

Thanks for your input and reinforcement.

Gah, I hope the fine isn't super expensive!

It's actually 90 days jailtime with a bail of 5,000$ USD. Good luck.

[loaf]

in my opinion if you are in the middle of the intersection and it turns red...you are fine. I just tend to make that split second decision...it turns yellow "Can I make it? Or do I stop" right away and it's kinda obvious for the right answer. But then again I've ignored the must stop though and kept going lol....so lucky that cop didn't care.

[Chez Daja]

Eh, generally if you're already driving toward a yellow light, you should stop. If it only just turned yellow as you reached the line, it's a safe bet to go because the middle light is the readying indication that it's time to either speed up and get across the road or stop.

The fact that the light was still yellow as you passed the line and got most of the way through means that you shouldn't really be losing sleep over this. A lot of the time, people get flashed but they don't actually receive a fine unless the person reviewing the photographs feels you should get one (within the law as well obviously). I don't know what it's like over there but in England, they usually let that type of stuff slide. As long as you're not running reds (and trust me, we've run a couple of reds before and not even received the fine (these were also rookie mistakes that we regretted afterwards)) you should be alright.

Don't worry too much kiddo. If you happen to get a fine, well... that's life. We all make mistakes sometimes.

[Pete]

If you were past the crosswalk line before it turned red, you're fine. If you were half of less than halfway through the crosswalk, then you'll get the ticket. Sometimes the cameras go off, but they wind up under review and you won't get a ticket.

[DragonHeart]

I wish we had those cameras around here. We need them. One particular light I usually get stuck at on the way to work could probably support the entire town just on the fines from people running the red. Sometimes if it's busy the entire intersection will be blocked by all the cars who ran the yellow/red so now no one can turn or get across until the next light turns green. It's ridiculous. Traffic lights, directionals and speed limits all seem to be optional these days. I've wondered if that's why the local ambulance hangs out in the parking lot on the other side of the intersection all the time.

My mom and I were astounded recently when we were going to a store and watched about a dozen cars intentionally run the red to turn left into the parking lot simply because no one was coming. Same street as the other intersection, just further down. It's a very busy main road with lots of side street entrances and businesses. That's the kind of decision making that gets people killed. But there are no traffic cameras and thus unless an officer is present, people do whatever the hell they want.

I have had people flip out on me for obeying the rules of the road and doing these crazy things like not blocking an intersection or letting someone with right of way go first.

In the grand scheme, I think accidentally running a yellow that turned red isn't that grievous an error. I think you're probably fine. Just err on the side of caution next time. I rarely make lemonade myself, mainly because I just don't feel like getting t-boned by an impatient jerk who doesn't wait for the light to turn green before going. I've seen that, too. I have run the yellow a few times at night though, cause the sensors sometimes don't 'see' my car in line and the light changes early. Bah.

~DragonHeart~

[Josh_R]

I would say you will be fine. If you were halfway across I see no reason for them to give you a ticket..

You should have done the american thing though.

Green- Go
Red- Stop
Yellow- Floor it so you can make it.

If you had done this then no way would you get a ticket. A leason to all you drivers out there. Yellow means increase your speed by 10mph.. Haha don't listen to me I am a shity driver.

[Block]

If you get a ticket they will mail it to you with two pictures of your car, one of your right at the beginning of the intersection and one with you on the other side. The pictures are done at an angle where you can see the condition of the lights within each picture. If you're lucky the first picture of you first coming into the intersection will show a yellow light and you won't get a ticket. But who knows.

[Tiffany]

Like other people have mentioned, if you are in the middle of the intersection and the light goes red, what really do they expect you to do? Stop in the middle of the intersection and impede traffic?

I was taught going "past the point of no return" . Soooo, if braking would cause an accident (say, going to fast or past the point of stopping safely) then you definitely did the right thing.

[LocoColt04]

Chances are, it was someone behind you or in another lane that triggered the flash.

The first flash won't go off if you're already in the intersection. I've had a couple of close calls myself, but never an issue with a ticket. I do know, however, that the system works, because my sister's gotten two of them.

Here, it's just a $75 fine for running the light. Failure to pay, of course, results in HARD TIME in a holding cell.

[GeLeHa]

That's happened to me twice. Never got a ticket in the mail.

I've seen them go off even when the light is green as well, when there's no reason for them to go off. F***ing traffic cameras, how do they work?

Also, this:

You should have done the american thing though.

Green- Go
Red- Stop
Yellow- Floor it so you can make it.

[GypsyElder]

I think, if you're in the middle of the intersection and it turns red, ur screwed because you're supposed to slow down for yellow and be ready to stop, not speed through. Even though that's what most people d0 so you might get a ticket.

I was told you're supposed to have good enough judgment to slow down and stop in time once its yellow. So basically if ur in the middle when its red you didn't slow down when you were supposed to. Idk my friends step dad is a cop and he said he chases down people who are in the middle at red :s he may have been messing with me though. Its kinda bull.

My dad said you don't get one lol, no idea.

[Selcopa]

I love not having camera's around here.

I have however, been pulled over 8 times for speeding. I got a ticket the first time, I learned how to talk my way out of tickets since then, 7/8 is a pretty good success rate for dodging tickets

[Unknown Entity]

Green - Go
Red - Stop
Yellow - Floor it so you can make it.

Or alternately:

Green - Go.
Red - Stop.
Amber - Prepare to go (from stop) or stop (from movement). Ya know, so you don't get involved in an accident or get a ticket. >>;

If the light goes red while you're in an intersection, it shouldn't be a problem because the other roads at the intersection are are still in the "amber" light preparing to move into the intersection. There's a couple of seconds delay between "amber" and "green" to give enough time for the intersection to be clear.

If you floored it just within a second of the light going "red", then you're just asking for an accident or ticket to happen.

Yay for programming models.[/nerd]

But as stated before, you should be fine unless you were able to stop. If you get a ticket, then you know to pay closer attention to the lights.

[winterborn86]

I only went through a red light once since I been driving, the light was hidden around the tree on a roundabout plus I was panicking about which lane I was supposed to be in to come off, it was a really busy roundabout too and I totally missed the red light, luckily for me the lane of traffic that was supposed to move off next hadn't started going so I lived, It would of been more dangerous for me to suddenly stop for it than it was to carry on cos a car would have gon into the back of me. Sometimes it is ok to go through a red light in situations like that, but to do though a red light on purpose is a dangerous thing to do and there is no excuse for it, I nearly went into the side of someone because they decided to jump the light.

[Rocky]

Here, it's just a $75 fine for running the light. Failure to pay, of course, results in HARD TIME in a holding cell.

$75 thats it?! Over here they're $107.50 on the dot, I'd know because at 11:45 at night I ended up not coming to a complete stop before making a right turn on a red light and ended up getting a ticket for it fml.

Green - Go.
Red - Stop.
Amber - Prepare to go (from stop) or stop (from movement). Ya know, so you don't get involved in an accident or get a ticket. >>;

It was a joke bro (one that I loled at) no need to get all political and shit in here na mean? <3

F***ing traffic cameras, how do they work?

lol.

I have however, been pulled over 8 times for speeding. I got a ticket the first time, I learned how to talk my way out of tickets since then, 7/8 is a pretty good success rate for dodging tickets

That's pretty impressive man, I'm currently 1/3. First ticket I was going a little over the speedlimit through one of those small speedtrap towns they have in them hick midwest states like Iowa and as I pulled over for gas, the cop was sitting at the gas station, came out and wrote me a ticket while I was refueling. He had the lights on the car and everything it was pretty exhilirating I was going 7 over, he wrote it for 7 over. The second time I ended up going down a hill fast on the way to work (it was like 4:30 as I was driving while I had to be there at 4:30 so it was one of those tight situations) and while I pulled into the my place of employment, the cop pulled right behind me and gave me a ticket, again sirens on and everything. I ended going like 10 over, he wrote it for 5. Third time I was going rediculously fast around corners and stuff, but I was in a hurry since I was coming home from class and picking up my brother so we could drive up to my Grandpa's funeral, but I explained it to the policelady and she gave me a warning. Anyways, teach me your tricks sometime?

Anyways, yeah Azu they can nail you for that kind of stuff and if you look like the stereotype stoner/lawbreaker or have a sketchy looking car or something, they probably will more often then not. Just gotta watch for those lights that have been green awhile because they trip me up the most. But since I like to challenge people just like I challenge DMR battles in halo I more often then not run right through the yellow because I'm a boss like that lol.