red light camera

[krarkol]

Was on penwortham way today near preston and was on an NSL and was actually sticking to the speed limit!

Light was green and the roads where dead, so I was pretty much sat at 60, give or take a few mph.

Probably less than 50m away, the lights went orange and changed to red pretty much instantly and then I saw the grey box of doom waiting at the side of the road. I couldn't stop in time so I thought fuck it and gave it a bit of throttle just in case of any traffic coming out (ended up being nobody else at any of the other roads anyway!)

Is there any way of contesting it? The amber seemed way to short and I couldn't slam on the anchors due to the roads being slightly greasy anyway

I know I should be riding to the "conditions" but I had perfect visibility and there were no hazards anywhere around that could jump out and cause me to emergency brake.
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Bandit 600 - deaded

[Andrew_]

your fault, people will most likely say when the traffic lights has been set to green for a long period be prepared to stop. Which you failed to do, there was even a junction ahead as well so you should of slowed down a tad bit for that as well.

[krarkol]

They hadn't been on that long, I saw them change to green while I was further down the road about 400-500m away
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Bandit 600 - deaded

[covent.gardens]

Amber timing is standard across all traffic lights, it was probably on longer than you'd like to think. They usually give you a grace period too, so you have probably gone through it more than a second after it changed if you've actually been done. Did you see it flash?

https://pepipoo.com/ as always, they might do something stupid like send the NIP out too late etc.

[krarkol]

I didn't see the flash, but I've been doing some research due to the fact if I get an NIP it's bye bye licence!

Typical stopping distance is 73m in dry conditions, highway code states its double in wet. The distance that I was from the lights when it changed to amber, I had 3 seconds to stop from 60mph and there was no way it could be done.

I was roughly inline with the camera as it went to red so if I'm extremely lucky I may have gone way past the line during the 1-2 second grace period, especially as I gave it a handful after I'd come off the throttle before realising there was no way I'd be able to stop
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Bandit 600 - deaded

[covent.gardens]

You've just basically admitted rider error, by admitting you hesitated (came off throttle). If you had just kept going to begin with you'd have cleared it on amber, since you only just went through on red, no?

I doubt you will hear any more about it tbh. Doesn't sound like you would have triggered it.

[st3v3]

[krarkol]

There was probably a split second or so in my hesitation as I rolled off the throttle to grab the brake, realised I wasn't going to stop anyway and rolled back on. I'd probably slowed down to 55mph at best. Probably got to around 65-70 by the time I was half way across the junction.

I could also see the sideroads clearly and didn't see any traffic, which is why I didn't think the light would change due to the fact I was on a major road.

st3v3, I was on a long straight with no one around and doing 60mph. The road conditions meant my braking distance would be longer but there was no way anything could dive out and cause me to emergency stop.

How bright is the flash? I don't recall there being one
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Bandit 600 - deaded

[st3v3]

So you can guarantee there was nothing coming from another direction, heading towards you that was also amber gambling?
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Roger wrote: Women don't get damp for clingy puppies. Get some better happy pills, hit the gym & buy a medallion the size of a dinner plate. Job done

[AlexW]

This is why coming up to traffic lights you're supposed to slow down slighlty and be ready for them to change.

[krarkol]

I can guarantee that nothing was coming from any direction and I usually do roll off the throttle a bit but as I saw nothing around I didn't think they'd change. Just gutted it's like the 2nd set of lights that I've seen in my whole life that had a red light camera!
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Bandit 600 - deaded

[Joncrete Cungle]

Hopefully all the red light cameras in Preston are still not working.

https://www.lep.co.uk/news/local/city-s-traffic-light-cameras-do-not-work-1-95637

[krarkol]

Nice find! Nothing came up when I googled it

Fingers crossed then! I lose the bike then I lose my weekend job which is vital for me to survive while at uni
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Bandit 600 - deaded

[grant965]

Wooo Penwortham. Your talking about the lights on the whitestake junction, coming from kingsfold towards leyland and the recycling centre? If so dont worry, ive heard of a few people jumping them and hearing nothing. Dont think the box has been working for years.
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Ex bikes: 05 Suzuki En 125, '98 Yamaha Thundercat, '08 Honda cbr125, '05 Kawasaki z750, '03 Triumph Daytona 600, '91 Kawasaki ex250, '03 Hyosung Comet 125
Current Bike: '02 Suzuki TL1000R

[daemonoid]

[pork6156]

[G]

Go back to the junction and video the timings, if you believe they are dangerous?

Should be able to stop from 60mph in around 3 seconds on an ok bike, providing you've got ok grip.

I doubt it'd look good on the camera that your speed may now be over the speed limit, as you say you accelerated.

[woo]

the highwat code will tell you that amber means stop just as red means stop and green means proceed if its safe to do so, last time i read the highway code
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Elen sila lummen omentielvo!

[Joncrete Cungle]

The cross roads junction at Penwortham bypass / Coote Lane / Chain House Lane is not one to go tonking through imho, even on green. Impatient myopic cagers waiting to turn right or left manage to pull out in front of other cagers. The case of the taxi driver killing the biker one night a couple of years ago at that junction drifts in to my mind from time to time as I pass there.

[Ariel Badger]

[krarkol]

Glad the box aint working then it's the old grey double lense gatso thing

G, thats the thing, it had been that horrible shitty light rain about an hour before so the roads where greasy as hell

pork, I know there are potential for animals running out, but if I took that into account on every single road I'd be trundling around. Chances are low and my chances might be even lower seeing as I've already hit a bird a few week ago

Ariel, I'm a nice guy, already got 115 on my licence as my organs aren't much used to me when I'm gone

I know speeding up wouldn't have helped me if there was any other traffic, but due to the fact no one was around I was probably at much lower risk of hitting traffic and beating the lights rather than braking and having a higher risk of coming off due to the slimy surface grip
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Bandit 600 - deaded

[andym]

Just wanted to post a little comment about the amber lights thing here... I don't know if they have sorted it yet but at Lawrence Hill Roundabout in Bristol there is one of the juntions there that one set of lights change to amber to stop the traffic and at exactly the same time the other set is amber to let the traffic go.... It had been that way for a couple of years too

[krarkol]

We have lights here also in Blackburn near the ice rink where one side streets set of lights are green just before the main road goes red. It keeps traffic down as the traffic is just merging onto the main road at the same time the main road traffic has just stopped. It is bad if you skip a red light though!

I don't know these preston lights very well, but I risked shooting through the red as it was just turning rather than risking coming off and sliding across the junction just so I'd make it in time
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Bandit 600 - deaded