Feel sick with stress, incident at traffic lights with man in a van

[H1900]

I am shaking. I was just driving home from the supermarket and noticed this van driving very close behind me. It was making me really uncomfortable and I sped up slightly to get away from them but didn’t want to speed. There was a set of traffic lights ahead and they started to turn red as someone pressed the crossing and I panicked as I didn’t want to stop with the van so close behind me so I carried on going. I went through and they were absolutely definitely on red. Will I now get a fine? Does anyone know if I will lose my licence? I can see conflicting information online. I’m a lone parent and feel incredibly worried as I have no support to take dd to activities etc

God, stop overthinking. IT is a complete non-event. I understand your anxiety at being harassed by the van driver but we ALL have to deal with hazards like that when we’re driving and if you’re so shaken by it, you fly through pedestrian crossings on red, then you should not be driving.

You say you sped up but didn’t want to speed. That sounds to me like you were going too slow to start with which would have annoyed the cars behind. Obviously, that doesn’t excuse his behaviour but you can’t be antagonising people either.

And as other PP have said, if you could speed up without speeding you were driving too slowly

If someone behind is making you concerned, just signal to pull over and pull over and let them go past.

I'm genuinely curious by what you mean with this bit - Running a red light on a rural road won't have any consequences that way it happened here, but the next time such a situation arises, it might not be rural and there might be other cars or even pedestrians involved.

How can you saying running a red light on a rural road won't have any consequences?

There are some idiots out there on the roads. There are also a lot of people trying to do a job under a lot of pressure trying to get to a place who are frustrated by slow drivers in front. That's no excuse for tailgating or intimidating drivers in front of course. But in the eyes of the law you'll almost certainly find that claiming that you were intimidated by a vehicle driving behind is no excuse for speeding or jumping red lights either.

Next time if you are concerned about someone driving too close behind pull over when it is safe to do so and let them pass. It may well be that the driver was just being lean on the brakes and closing up and falling back for that reason rather than deliberately trying to intimidate.

And it is unlikely that you will get done for jumping the red light from what I can tell from your photo. But if you do it's no biggie. You will just have to pay the fine and/or take the speeding course. Probably best to be thankful it didn't end up as a serious accident.

Red light cameras tend to be before the actually junction (dependent on type of camera and where you are in the country)

Also dependent on the time the light had been red for (and again where you are) you might be offered an educational course instead of fine or points.

If you are the reg keeper of the vehicle you should get a NIP/172 request within 14 days. Call them and find out what your options are. If it is only a fine as a PP said you have 6 months to deal with it so you can ask for extra time to get the cash together.

So there was someone at the crossing, who’s pressed the button and you went through the red light? God sake, OP. If they had stepped out on to the road, you’d be in serious shit.

If the pedestrian clocked your registration plate, they might report you. Same with any other car around with a dash cam.

As far as the camera on the lights, you can check here https://www.speedcameramap.co.uk to see if the lights have one.

In future, just pull over and let them pass, or stay at your speed and ignore.

Bloody hell, you cannot let people pressure you like this! Tailgating is illegal, but now you've done something illegal too!

Next time if someone is driving aggressively up your arse, I pull over and let them pass.

Unlikely to loose license over one thing. Unlikely to have camara on the lights says someone who passed a mobile speed trap doing 77mph overtaking a middle lane hogger who was doing 60mph until I over took to stop me passing. They was doing 60mph in the middle lane and kept overtaking me at 70 to sit back in front of me and go back to 60mph. I floored it just just I passed the police. Nothing happened. If I had been caught I'd have deserved it but its annoying when it's another driver being a cock.

If it makes you feel any better, I once went past a camera years ago, and no action was taken. Then unfortunately I was caught by a camera who flashed and sent out notifications. I just took a speed awareness course which meant no points on the license, but if I did it again within 3 years, it would mean points are added. Fortunately, 3 years have passed, but I'm better with the speeding now.

If you use the Waze app, it tells you when the lights you’re going through have a red light camera. You could check by driving there again to put your mind at ease.

What I do when someone tailgates me is to stop checking my rear mirror. They can see me and I don't need to see if they are there unless I am doing a manoeuvre. Also slightly touching your breaks usually freaks them out anyway.
More importantly, you see the red light way ahead of time so start breaking slowly and it should give enough time for the driver to react even if they are right up your backside. If nothing else, it will slow them down sufficiently so the bump won't be too bad and yup get a nice insurance payout from their provider too.

Those lights done have cameras, you’re fine.

Not sure you should be driving if you get so bloody anxious about a driver and put others at risk going through a red light!

Wow there’s a load of sanctimonious people on this thread. Have you never done anything wrong while driving? I’m pretty sure we all have. I was stopped at a crossing once, the beeps for people crossing stopped beeping, and I immediately set off, looked back and the lights were still red! Nobody died and nobody died in OP’s scenario either. Better that she jumped the red light than stopping suddenly, the van tail ending her, and her being shunted into pedestrians.

OP I’m sorry this happened to you. Please don’t worry, there’s no cameras on those lights. If it happens again, slow down more and hopefully the twat will overtake you.

To those trying to victim blame OP for driving too slowly: (a) it’s not an offence, and (b) that’s not a reason for the van driver to tailgate her. He was an aggressive dickhead.

Just be thankful the pedestrian didn't step out. I tell my daughter to never start to cross on a green light and to check cars are actually slowing as I have had several near misses myself as a pedestrian.

OP - do you have OCD by any chance?

I’m sure it will be fine, but please don’t react that way next time - and there will be a next time - just drive as you normally would, and get a dash cam fitted asap.
If you do get a NIP, then there’s not much you can do, but you won’t lose your licence unless you’ve already got 9 points?

Did the light turn red AS you went through or BEFORE? If it only changed as you were going through then you are absolutely fine. Are you one of those people who slam on the second the lights go to amber even though you could get through safely carrying on at a normal speed?
The van driver was being an absolute arsehole but please calm down.
In future as pp have said never ever speed up for tailgaters- you'll never go fast enough for them and constantly checking your mirrors while speeding faster than you are comfy with is dangerous.
Slow right down and let them pass.
Or repeatedly touch your brakes to warn them. I also do this if coming to a sudden standstill on the motorway (in traffic) to help avoid someone rear ending me at 70mph as I think doing that is more attention grabbing!
Tbh in this situation I'd have probably stopped at the lights and stuck my head out the window and given him a piece of my mind but I don't recommend that!
Yes slow driving is annoying, but dickheads don't know the reason for it and they need to fuck off and keep back.

It doesn’t go green that quickly.

Massive reach. It was one incident. Leave OP alone.

I recently went through a red light: I thought I had enough time on the amber and I risked it, was wrong to do so. If you look on your sat nav/phone it will normally show if there is a camera there. They calculate the number of seconds you were "over" - for example I was 1.39 seconds. So they sent a letter saying they would prosecute (as I say entirely my own fault in any case) and I was worried, but in the end I got a driver awareness course which was actually very interesting, and I paid about £89 for that (alternative was £100 and 3 points). Anyway, that was my experience last month.

@H1900 I have had male drivers do this to me when driving in the evening on a bypass and country roads. It's extremely unnerving. I hope you're ok. It's easy for people to say pull into a supermarket etc, but if you're not near anywhere well populated it can make your nerves jangle even more. Like others have said, the only thing you can do if it happens again is slow down. Chances are they will just sail past and forget all about you . It makes me so angry actually to think how many men are driving around deliberately intimidating other drivers and potentially causing an accident.

Are you one of those people who slam on the second the lights go to amber even though you could get through safely carrying on at a normal speed? - @Wavescrashingonthebeach - I know this question was for OP, but I am now. I'm paranoid about it happening again and the police instructor on the awareness course said they find this happens a lot with people - they become hyper aware and it doesnt help.

And just to conclude, instructor also said if you are being tailgated, actually slow down and don't speed up to get away from them (assuming of course you can't change lanes safely/not an option).

@MyPithyPoster That is extraordinarily reckless behaviour. What an idiot.

It's not victim blaming.

It sounds as those she was driving dangerously and she was allowing herself to be pressured into doing dangerous things.