"Alasdair" wrote in message
news:jlue241g1mpqgfddssnj4dn81i82mkp6fc@4ax.com...
> On Sun, 11 May 2008 23:43:31 +0100, Sleepalot
> wrote:
>
>>(Casual question) When did it become illegal to go through a red
>>light? I thought red lights were to be treated as "stop" signs, and
>>that it was permissible to go through - with caution - under unusual
>>circumstances (eg, if the lights were obviously faulty).
>
> As far as I understand, it is mandatory to stop at a red light. Green
> lights are not even a licence to proceed regardless but only if
> proceeding is safe.
>
> In practice, if the lights are obviously faulty, a blind eye is turned
> to going through but strictly speaking it is an offence unless
> directed to do so by a police constable in uniform. I wonder if one
> would be committing an offence if one dialled 999 on the mobile and
> demanded a policeman immediately to permit me to go through the
> lights.
The actual requirements are set out in the Traffic Signs Regulations 2002, r
33, and the offence is under the RTA 1988, sec 36:
It is an offence for a person driving or propelling a vehicle to fail to
comply with the indication given by a traffic sign which :-- indicates a
statutory prohibition, restriction or requirement, or - which is expressly
provided by or under any provision of the Traffic Acts, and which :- - is of
the prescribed size, colour and type, and - which has been lawfully placed
on or near a road.
It is only an offence to go through a red light.
Except:
when a vehicle is being used for fire brigade, ambulance, bomb or explosive
disposal, national blood service or police purposes and the observance of
the prohibition would be likely to hinder the use of that vehicle for the
purpose for which it is being used, the requirement instead shall be that
vehicle shall not proceed in a manner or at a time likely to endanger any
person, and in the case of a red light to cause the driver of any vehicle
proceeding in accordance the signals at the junction to change its speed or
course in order to avoid an accident.
You could argue that a stuck red light is not within the regulation, as I
have seen successfully argued in relation to a sign that claimed to prohibit
"stoping", and double white lines that were so deficient that they failed to
comply with the requirement of "a continuous white line...." However, as I
see it, there is no obvious get-out clause.
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