red light camera

[jyh888]

hey guys, one late afternoon i was driving home from uni and was stuck in peak traffic. I crossed an intersection when the lights were orange and it turned red when i just crossed the line. Can i fight for this situation?? I am driving the white civic as seen in the pictures below

http://a.imageshack.us/img834/2978/579444713415.jpg

http://a.imageshack.us/img121/5179/579444713414.jpg

[Tai]

Was tehre a do not Queue across intersection sign?

[jdm_kid]

I crossed an intersection when the lights were orange and it turned red when i just crossed the line.

if you crossed the intersection then you would of crossed the line already ? ..

[jyh888]

From what i saw there was no sign that says do not queue across intersection. It was peak traffic and i was approaching the orange light but quickly moved forward and the light flashed, however when i passed the line i saw the lights were still orange and a split second later turned red...

Yes i did cross the line already....

Im wondering if i should take it to court? but i dont know how to argue this case...is it legal or illegal?

[Tai]

Well Orange light means you should prepare to stop yet you decided to continue through even with peak traffic.

You could of blocked traffic if it didn't move.

Dont think you got a case here.

[GIPONU]

mayb you could.. is the floor wet in the pictures? i cant see, i can see marks like water but cant confirm it.
you could probaly try go for the;
i was gonna stop but i saw the car behind me and because i didnt have enough distance for a safe stop without causing an accident i decided to go through the intersection thinking it was safer.
just a suggestion man, but my real suggestion is go see a traffic lawyer

[ninzee]

the sensors arnt exactly on the line they are usually like a foot or 2 past

[ninzee]

from the pic looks like ur rears passed on the red light mayb u could say u were half way though when it went red?

[jyh888]

Thanks for the suggestions guys, im not sure whether i should take this case to court or not, as i believe that i am not wrong just very unlucky, i crossed the line probably miliseconds before it hit red light and the camera flashed and it was peak traffic which meant i was travelling very slow i.e. 15km/h so i definately wasnt speeding or anything.

If i go to court i have to pay court fee, if i lose i still have to pay the fee and the fine which is $338 and a 3demerit points.

From your experiences, what sort of chance do you think i will have with the judge? I am on my full license but have been suspended during my Provisional license for 3 months due to double demerits on public holiday from exceeding the speed limit.

[aaronng]

Thanks for the suggestions guys, im not sure whether i should take this case to court or not, as i believe that i am not wrong just very unlucky, i crossed the line probably miliseconds before it hit red light and the camera flashed and it was peak traffic which meant i was travelling very slow i.e. 15km/h so i definately wasnt speeding or anything.

If i go to court i have to pay court fee, if i lose i still have to pay the fee and the fine which is $338 and a 3demerit points.

From your experiences, what sort of chance do you think i will have with the judge? I am on my full license but have been suspended during my Provisional license for 3 months due to double demerits on public holiday from exceeding the speed limit.

You won't have much luck. Your chances to get out is if you were forced to go through because you had a tailgater behind (pics prove this is not the case), you couldn't drive through because of traffic in front (pics showed that you moved forward in between the two shots), and that the camera had snapped you when you were just too far in front of the sensor (not the case either).

You would have had a chance if you stopped at the lights even after the white line and let the camera snap your car. Both pics would have shown that your car was not moving and you could have explained that you braked as hard as you can but the wheels still went over the line.

In this case, you'd have to cop it and pay the fine. Not much point going to court to ask for leniency because you have had your license suspended before. If you had never gotten a fine in your entire life for say 5-10 years of driving, then you might have gotten a warning or reduced fine.

[GIPONU]

not from wat i've witnessed. i was at the lights next to another car with a red light camera. and the driver next to me was very impatient.
so what he did was creep forward 30cm at a time and just as he hit the first line for pedestrians to walk in the camera went off. then it turned green and i left hiim there wondering why he got snapped

[GEG]

the sensors on that particular intersection are a good 5 metres from the pedestrian line, so your front wheel tripped it

you can see already the car in front of you in the same lane is not even on the other side yet, due to traffic, so it is clear you were holding back before the sensor, then when the light was milliseconds from turning red, you accelerated to queue across - going over the sensor at the same time.

next time you're waiting a while, at the start of the line, dont roll through the line. keep waiting for the next set of lights.

any judge will throw this out back on you, the photos tell the tale

[musanoor]

what was the penalty?

[grifty]

i think is around $330-350 + 3 demerit points

[tinymoon]

I am sorry but please let me steal your post for a while because it is pretty much the same question.

I read a post from other forum about running away from fines and infrigment notice as they are all international students (most of them are chinese) . Is it possible to just send back the infrigment notice and keep quiet till you go back to your country??? (They all live in NSW and VIC)