I read a person's question on Whirlpool where they went through a red light (where there's a red light camera) and was wondering if they would be getting booked.
https://forums.whirlpool.net.au/thread/3lyzj649
As I understand the person's situation is they were"
There's a couple of points of interest here.
First, if the person really was 5-10m from the stop line could they have been able to stop in time before entering the intersection. There's an additional 8m after the stop line before the intersection. At 5-10m if they were travelling say 50km/h their stopping distance would have been 15m and so they would have been over the stop line but it would have been quite close to decide.
If they continued at 50km/h they would have travelled 55 metres in four seconds, (the timing for the amber light), plus another 6.9 metres for the roughly half second allowed once the light changes to red. In other words there was plenty of time to continue at their current speed and not get booked.
If you can stop before the stop line you should. If you think you'll go over the stop line but not into the intersection (over the pedestrian crossing for example) and can stop you should. If you don't think your can fully enter the intersection with all of your car before the light turns red then you should stop or there's a high probability you'll get caught by the red light camera. Only keep going if it's not safe to stop, in which case there's sufficient time allowed in the amber and red light timing of the traffic signals.
Remember, with the sensors one is often after the stop line so to be clear of the sensor you need to have all of your car past the sensor before the light has turned red. Yes there is about half a second allowance in the red phase, but this is such a short amount of time. Think of this as being about the length of the car.
Keep mind if you're travelling slower due to turning or traffic, you cover less distance. Many people get booked because they're travelling slowly. When you're travelling slowly keep in mind it takes less time to stop.
People often slow down as they approach speed cameras through fear of getting booked. This actually can increase their chances of getting fined because at a slower speed, they can take longer to pass over the sensor.
Most of us can't estimate distance well. If we could life would be much easier. Without some aid on the road we're all likely to continue to misjudge the distance and time with the subsequent fine for misjudging things.
For example, this person thought they were 5-10 metres from the stop line. They also said the back of their car was probably still in the intersection when the light went red. From the stop line to the traffic lights on the other side of the intersection is approximately 25-28 metres. If he was 10 metres before the stop line plus say 2 metres from the front of his car to where he's sitting, that's around 37-40 metres. The amber shows for 4 seconds and at 50km/h he would have travelled 55 metres. That is he would have been past the traffic lights and not been able to see them. That means he was probably further before the stop line than he thought and mostly likely had sufficient time to stop but decided to speed up instead.
Now as for the U-turn and turning left from the main road across the service lane, there's a no left turn sign at the intersection so that was breaking the law.
Kelvin Eldridge
www.SpeedCameraLocations.com.au
https://forums.whirlpool.net.au/thread/3lyzj649
As I understand the person's situation is they were"
- Travelling southbound in the service road on St Kilda Road where it crosses Union Road.
- There's a speed camera for the service road and another for the main road.
- The person was travelling under the speed limit but sped up once they realised the light was changing to amber. By speeding up they increased their speed to around 55-57km/h so under the speed limit.
- The traffic light changed to amber when they were 5-10 metres from the stop line.
- They think the back half of their car was going through the intersection when it turned red.
- The person did a U-turn to the main road section of St Kilda Road, did a left turn from the main road crossing the service lane.
There's a couple of points of interest here.
First, if the person really was 5-10m from the stop line could they have been able to stop in time before entering the intersection. There's an additional 8m after the stop line before the intersection. At 5-10m if they were travelling say 50km/h their stopping distance would have been 15m and so they would have been over the stop line but it would have been quite close to decide.
If they continued at 50km/h they would have travelled 55 metres in four seconds, (the timing for the amber light), plus another 6.9 metres for the roughly half second allowed once the light changes to red. In other words there was plenty of time to continue at their current speed and not get booked.
If you can stop before the stop line you should. If you think you'll go over the stop line but not into the intersection (over the pedestrian crossing for example) and can stop you should. If you don't think your can fully enter the intersection with all of your car before the light turns red then you should stop or there's a high probability you'll get caught by the red light camera. Only keep going if it's not safe to stop, in which case there's sufficient time allowed in the amber and red light timing of the traffic signals.
Remember, with the sensors one is often after the stop line so to be clear of the sensor you need to have all of your car past the sensor before the light has turned red. Yes there is about half a second allowance in the red phase, but this is such a short amount of time. Think of this as being about the length of the car.
Keep mind if you're travelling slower due to turning or traffic, you cover less distance. Many people get booked because they're travelling slowly. When you're travelling slowly keep in mind it takes less time to stop.
People often slow down as they approach speed cameras through fear of getting booked. This actually can increase their chances of getting fined because at a slower speed, they can take longer to pass over the sensor.
Most of us can't estimate distance well. If we could life would be much easier. Without some aid on the road we're all likely to continue to misjudge the distance and time with the subsequent fine for misjudging things.
For example, this person thought they were 5-10 metres from the stop line. They also said the back of their car was probably still in the intersection when the light went red. From the stop line to the traffic lights on the other side of the intersection is approximately 25-28 metres. If he was 10 metres before the stop line plus say 2 metres from the front of his car to where he's sitting, that's around 37-40 metres. The amber shows for 4 seconds and at 50km/h he would have travelled 55 metres. That is he would have been past the traffic lights and not been able to see them. That means he was probably further before the stop line than he thought and mostly likely had sufficient time to stop but decided to speed up instead.
Now as for the U-turn and turning left from the main road across the service lane, there's a no left turn sign at the intersection so that was breaking the law.
Kelvin Eldridge
www.SpeedCameraLocations.com.au
No comments:
Post a Comment