Gone through the red light. What can I expect?

[ginandtonicinthegarden]

I'm a very careful driver. I've ever had any fines (apart from a parking one). Anyway, I went through a very busy junction, 5 lanes, lots of cars, getting in the right lane, look up and the light is red as I'm driving through. Such an idiot!
What can I expect?

You can look up the location online to see if it has cameras

This: I had the same a couple of years ago and panicked but I googled and actually there are only a handful of red light cameras in my county. It’s of course not ideal to run a red light but probably nothing will happen

We got a speeding ticket last October and only found out a couple of months ago. They said we'd ignored two letters but we never received them. 3 points and a £400 fine for 37 in a 30.

Might be worth checking the details for the owner and registered keeper are correct and up to date, as things can quite easily be overlooked when buying a second-hand car, and that could mean it's harder for the authorities to get hold of you if there is an offence committed.

@soupmaker almost the exact same thing happened in our house, except in our case I found a supermarket receipt from the time of the offence that identified the guilty party! He’s never got any kind of ticket when driving his own car

The driving course is only about £100. Obviously you miss a days work but no points on your licence and you don't have to report it to your insurance.

@QueenOfThorns

For future OP use Waze when driving. It tells you which traffic lights have cameras. I find it helps me to be more of an aware driver.

I’m not trying to be a typical MN twat about driving here, but if you need an app to tell you that there are red light cameras and ‘make you a more aware driver’, then you should be considering whether or not you’re capable of driving safely.

An app in no way should replace your observation and you should not be relying on one to tell you if it’s ok to stop at a red light.

@MadeForThis

Astonishing! Unless you are the OP and have read the terms and conditions of your insurance please stop posting such bollocks.

Similar here. I received a ticket for turning right at a no right turn. As I opened the envelope DH sarcastically said "oh yes, now what have you done?". I looked at the photo, was definitely my car and said I was fully aware that was no right turn and I'd never have done it. He looked over my shoulder and sheepishly admitted it was him.

Ha! I've asked him to only break the law in his own car from now on 🙄

Different strokes. I’ve been driving for 5 years and the only tickets I’ve gotten are for parking 🤷🏽‍♀️ I have Waze on constantly because driving in London there’s always road works etc and I like to have the most efficient route to get places and I’ve noticed they alert you to other things as well, which I find useful. Hence my suggestion to OP seeing as she had an issue with a red light.

I went through a red by mistake once; it was a large roundabout controlled by a series of traffic lights with a really confusing layout. One set went green but I didn’t realise that there was another set about 30 yards just behind them and that they were red. I scared the life out of both myself and the poor driver I cut up. 😳 No repercussions from that, other than a very valuable lesson.

I did this by mistake on a tricky junction. Three points and a fine. No camera but a police car was nearby and they stopped me.

I did this on a horrible junction which has really confusing lights - went through the red on my side of the crossroads as the lights on the opposite side were still showing green as they are separate and I was concentrating on them rather than the ones on my side. Only realised when I had to do an emergency stop as the traffic had started coming across from my left and right.

No camera, but I was really shaken up by it (and also massively relieved when I was telling someone and realised that most people I know have made that mistake on those lights, but once made, have never done it again!).

Assuming they are switched on. They are usually very obvious as well - big yellow boxes - you can't really miss them. They are different to the ones to catch people speeding.

That's bad luck. When is there usually ever a police car around - when you actually want one?

I’m not trying to be a typical MN twat about driving here, but if you need an app to tell you that there are red light cameras and ‘make you a more aware driver’, then you should be considering whether or not you’re capable of driving safely

There are some really confusing junctions, I am not surprised people sometimes go when they shouldn't. If you never get confused, well good for you (but you are lying or deluded or just don't come across confusing junctions).

The driving course is only about £100. Obviously you miss a days work but no points on your licence and you don't have to report it to your insurance* of course you have to report it to your insurance - you have to report EVERYTHING to your insurance. In fact even if you phone up to ask if you have to report something they note it and it increases your premium for the next year.

You can Google your county and ‘red light cameras’ and it should show you where all the cameras are located. Might put your mind at rest, or maybe not 🤔

Fair enough, I read your post as wanting to know where red light cameras were so you would know it didn’t matter if you stopped or not! I often use satnav for directions too.

no, I don’t make a habit of running red lights 😂 tbh I didn’t even know they were a thing until a couple years ago

Hi all. I accidentally drove through a red light a few days ago. I am pretty sure there are no red light cameras there, however there are the little black boxed things on top of the traffic lights (I have been told they are actually sensors). I am normally a very careful driver and have a clean licence. What should I expect? Thank you

I was half reading while listening to music & thought you had gone through a red light district, no wonder I thought drivers were getting tickets for driving through 🤣

You'll get your answers if you read through this thread!

I'm the OP. I never got a fine!
People on here were correct - just because it is a major junction doesn't mean there are cameras.
It was a few pretty tense weeks though, every time the post arrived... lol.