Help. Went through red light to let police car through..

[Thingymajigii]

Two lanes of traffic waiting at a red light. Police car comes through the traffic, blue lights on, all cars parting behind me to let it through, gets to me and car next to me won't budge an inch so it was down to me to move out of the way and the only way was to go through the light. I did stop very shortly after going through in a safe place, not obstructing any other traffic.
I think the lights had a camera on it.
I don't have any cameras on my car so I cannot prove that I was letting a police car through.
Any advice or previous experience with this one?

That'll probably be me soon!

In fact police and ambulances are told not to force drivers into junctions. They have to wait until the lights change if they can't get through without pushing another vehicle across a red light

You're backtracking. You said we don't really have them here and you'd have to get stopped in person to get fined. That's categorically not true. They might not be on every light but they're common enough, especially at bigger junctions and throughout cities. Certainly common enough that lots of people get fined.

Did a speed awareness course last month and they confirmed you must never go through a red light, even to let emergency vehicles through.

I am right! I’ve gone through red lights before and shat it thinking I would be fined and get points on my license! But it’s generally not the case. According to this link, for example, there are only 250 red light cameras in London https://www.car.co.uk/media/blogs/general/uk-red-light-cameras-everything-you-need-to-know

Red light cameras are also distinctive, obvious yellow things, and not to be confused with the sensors which detect traffic building up.

I'd have done the same - if the camera hadn't been there.

I'd hate to think that they would hold this against you. Especially since you only gave them room and didn't go altogether. But I think they might have you bang to rights, alas.

Backtracking? Don’t think I’m invested enough to backtrack on something I have stated as fact and continue to state as fact! They’re not a big thing here. Check this link to see how uncommon and also how distinctive red light cameras are. www.car.co.uk/media/blogs/general/uk-red-light-cameras-everything-you-need-to-know

You shouldn't go through a red light. The police shouldn't have pressured you. The light probably didn't have a camera. If it did I believe the absolute worst that could happen is 3 points and £100. Obviously if you have points already this could be an issue but even insurance don't care about 3 points.

A tip - when you get the letter asking to identify the driver, put £50 to the side. You have 28 days to respond, spread it over 2 paydays and when you get a letter saying pay the fine put £50 to the side. Doesn't feel as bad.

Not the OP but a PP said that the driver honked the horn for good measure and what happened to me was that the driver changed the siren noise to something even more loud and piercing. My exact words when recounting it to my husband was that it was a 'seriously get the fuck out of the way' noise. Two examples of how that could be communicated!

However I have learnt something today and would be more reluctant to do it next time!

Your link says the opposite to what you're trying to say. It explains there are actually many.

"With such a high volume, you're bound to get caught if you're the type to speed up when you see an amber light."

I had to go on the driver education course thing recently and someone asked this specific question, and I’m afraid the answer was that you should not go through a red light unless explicitly told to do so by a police officer.

No, 250 cameras across all of the junctions in London is a low volume. They are not common, but the person who wrote that article had to make up the word count somehow. Facts are facts, babe. And Google is free! Try it for yourself. Then, drive around your town or city and count the number of bright yellow cameras attached to traffic lights. Let me know how you get on.

I used to do the traffic court at Marylebone years ago and even the police and ambulance drivers got ticketed - they had to come to court and explain they were responding to an emergency.

absolute farce.

Op you're fine, you're overthinking this. Stop panicking, you will not be in trouble, at some point common sense kicks in. You went over the stop line to enable the ev to get through but you didn't go through the junction.

I’ve done this two or three times over the years, never got done for it. Only ever edged thru the lights enough to let emergency vehicle thru & whilst ensuring vehicles with right of way had already stopped. (On a big, busy roundabout, so clearly those with green light right of way had stopped)

I imagine it can’t be a clear stated rule “you can go thru a red light to allow emergency vehicles thru” because any accident would have to go against the “red light jumper” regardless of the reason.

Interested to know what emergency vehicle drivers expect. I imagine they have to deal with some dreadful drivers in their day to day.

Don't know why you're bringing London into this as if that's the benchmark with how common something might be in the UK..

There are 7,000 over the UK, your own link explains that's high volume but you're doubling down instead of just saying "oops, turns out they're more common than I'd thought." I'll take publicised facts over your interpretations of those facts, "babe".

I've googled. Does this picture count as a fact or does that not suit your narrative either?

I hate when drivers panic and mount kerbs when they hear sirens. I've seen cars do that as primary school children are walking on them to go to school.

And the police are should have turned off his siren at that point and turned it back on when you were able to move. You must never, ever go through a red light and you are never expected to. There are multiple videos online about it. Next time stay in your place .

Unfortunately as others have said you can expect a fine if picked up by camera. The only circumstance you go through a red light is if directly instructed to buy police. For this reason emergency vehicles behind a driver who has no where to go should turn off siren.

That link says there are 7000 speed cameras in the UK. It’s ok to be wrong! I bet you rarely, if ever, see a red light camera. They are bright yellow. They have signs which tell you what they are. They are pointed directly at the solid white line you must wait behind. Think of this interaction as you move through the world, and accept that you are wrong, and that’s ok.

I'll take that as a no, you don't agree with that photo stating they're very common because it doesn't suit your narrative.

I guess it's true, you can't argue with stupid! Enjoy your night.

"Source?"

Shocker. Poster ignorant of the laws of the road demands proof from someone who does.

As posters have said this is the highway code (and also the DVLA essential guide to driving)

Only In extreme cases would you be asked to go through a red-light by police. It is never expected as it is dangerous.

I think if you went to court and described what happened any magistrate worth his salt would remove any fines.

Just before Christmas I was listening on R4 to an interview with an ambulance driver about this very subject. He stated if cars are waiting at red lights and there's no room for them to go past, they will turn off their siren, leaving only the blues flashing, and wait behind queuing traffic for the lights to change.

The reason emergency vehicle drivers are trained to do this is to avoid other drivers at worst causing a collision, for which they would be held responsible, or at best incurring points and a fine. He also said it's the responsibility of the emergency vehicle driver to overtake other vehicles safely; so pull over only if it's safe to so and preferably not opposite a vehicle on the other side of the road which has also pulled over.

Hopefully, OP, you've got away with it.