Screwed up at traffic lights, help

[Iguessthatswhytheycallittheblues]

It's fully my fault, just stressed and unsure what to do. I stopped at the lights on a one way street, before the 'no entry'. It turns out the actual stop line was a thin line further back on the road that I missed, so I'd stopped before the end of the road and lights but past the stop line.

A police 'dog unit' stopped behind me, I saw him gesturing at me then beeped, so I went as I thought I was meant to go, the light was still red.

I went and the police car turned the other way, I saw the guy look at me again. Only been driving a few months and I feel sick, it was a silly mistake, I'm not someone who speeds or runs reds on purpose. Has anyone else had this? I've just got to deal with it.

Possibly, just before they beeped i noticed the driver waving his hand in the air and looking at me, I just think if they'd beeped and I'd ignored it and stayed there what would've happened, i couldn't exactly reverse back behind the stop line, it made me panic

To get your attention. You (and therefore they) were sat in the junction and he wanted you to clear through it.

It's because the light was red, but it's the way the driver looked back at me

@Iguessthatswhytheycallittheblues you were probably blocking cars from a different route where you stopped so they were likely telling you to move your butt and keep going! We all make mistakes as new drivers, don't give it another thought, likely nothing will come of it

But if you've already gone past the line then you need to complete the manoeuvre. Lots have people have tried to explain this.

Maybe a couple of extra lessons with an instructor would be useful?

Not if it's not safe to do so. You wouldn't run a red light into a stream of moving traffic just because you've gone slightly over the line if it's not safe.

You can’t let mistakes like this cause unnecessary upset, stress and panic when you’re driving. The police dog unit would have stopped you there and then if they thought you’d done something serious that needed an immediate response. They didn’t, so nothing to worry about.

You probably need to be looking further ahead and anticipating based on the road markings and signage if you missed a set of red lights.

That's why the beep confused me, I don't know what they were wanting

Could they have been beeping to warn you that the light was still red. They may have feared that you were about to pull out into the road on red ?

Maybe, but they could see i was stationary

It's hard being a newer driver as you're still learning but also under more scrutiny not to get points etc

In that case they may have just been beeping to highlight your mistake. I wouldn't worry about it. Sometimes the lines aren't drawn very clearly and it can be confusing.

Don’t worry OP, don’t think the police were especially helpful in beeping you - a beep could mean anything!

I really wouldn’t worry ☺️

I shouldn't have assumed they were beeping me to go, I feel stupid.

The lesson here is not to get panicked by the behaviour of other drivers. Always take things slowly, look carefully and make your own judgement on the safest course of action. If you make a mistake, chalk it up to learning. Don't let other people rattle you. Stay cool 😎

Nothing is going to happen. Stop worrying and just forget it. They were dicks to beep

I think it's more embarrassment that you've made a mistake, and sods law that the police were watching. Doesn't sound like they were bothered if they didn't stop you.

Look at it from the point of view that you've learned from it, so you'll be better prepared in future! Everyone makes a mistake driving sometimes no matter how experienced they are, no such thing as perfection.

Retired police officer. Technically they could send you an NIP for failing to stop at the light. But 100 to 1 they're not going to bother. If they'd wanted to deal with it they'd have stopped you at the time. Police don't have time for minor traffic offences, that's what cameras are for.

It's well known that we only start learning after we've past our test. We have all been there x

This does sound like it could be what happened. I’ve seen that offen happen at some lights by me.

If you’re not feeling confident, why not book a couple of refresher lessons, or a Pass Plus course if you can afford it. You can ask them to explain that junction to you and cover other areas where you feel a bit anxious.

The police beeping should have been to alert you to their presence. Being past the lights you wouldn’t have been able to tell necessarily that the lights had changed, so potentially they may have been beeping to let you know they were behind you and wanting to go through green lights.

Once you’d overshot the junction and realised that you’d done so, your next step would be to pay close attention to the other lights and traffic and only move off if safe to do so. Even if someone, even a police car, had beeped you.

I imagine the light had turned green but you couldn’t see if because you were too far forward

The police haven't run a red light so I think the OP probably passed when it was green (she said above that she wasnt sure).

If they were going to do anything they would have stopped you there and then. Please stop worrying. I still get nervous now on unfamiliar roads after 27 years of driving and I drive all over the country!