I have been caught speeding three times (over a number of years - I have been driving for 21 years) and I have twice attended a driver awareness program which was offered 'instead of points'. The program is incredibly interesting and it really does make you so much more aware of the way you drive and how it impacts on others. Most accidents occur because of a string of coincidences. You running an amber light could have been just one piece of a jigsaw, had an accident happened. Now you say you couldn't have stopped without the car behind ploughing into you, but that is precisely why you should slow down when you are approaching lights (and all junctions / bends and so forth) because you should be able to stop. And if you had slowed down, the car behind you would have also slowed down. Don't forget, you have been driving one week. You cannot possibly know everything about it. The cops attitude may have been bad, but if you hadn't run an amber light, you wouldn't be in this situation now. I personally wouldn't appeal, like Kate said, you may end up worse off. Take it on the chin

Well said Izzy and very true! A little rhyme which one hopes will never be about one of us;

' Did you hear the story of Edward Grey,
Who died defending his right of way?
He was dead, dead, dead as he sped along,
He was dead, dead, dead as if he had been wrong'.

In traffic, no matter who is wrong, who is right, whether it is our actions or somebody elses, the consequences can be devastating.

Whether a cop has a chip on his shoulder or not, or whether one thinks he is wrong and you are right, perhaps put this down to experience and learn from it.

And why anyone would admit to what sounds like a bribe of a judge on a public forum is beyond me. Irresponsible!

I'm amazed you would say that for everyone to see, that's morally and legally wrong and in a world that often proves to be very small it takes one wrong person to see that and look further to cause a lot of issues for your Dad, the judge, and you.


Violet star, I think it might be difficult to argue

I'm a little curious that you knew roughly how long you'd driven past him, he was going in the opposite direction so on the right side of his car to see you and he must have turned around to come to you, have I understood that correctly? He was feeling pretty certain he saw what he did to do that. I'm guessing he saw the lights go to amber and was counting from then on to see if you crossed the line. Your only allowed to cross an amber light if your front wheels are already across the stop line when they change to amber or if stopping might cause an accident. If you were slowing down for the lights, even if green, in case they change then you should be able to stop before they change and if the driver behind you hits you thats because they were driving with out proper care as they should also be slowing down and they would be the one to cop it law wise, not you.

If it were me I'd suck it up and not risk more points by the risk of it going against you and drive like a Saint to avoid any more.

i am about to take my test and i too have been taught by my instructor that if you have a car behind you and the light turns to amber then considering how near you are to the white line it may not be safe to stop and then in that case you are permitted to cross the line obviously taking caution using your mirrors and looking out for other traffic, i think itws all about driving safely and maybe driving is taught differently these days so no violet star did not have to stop at the white line and as long as she continued in a cautious way selecting a lower gear and appropriate speed and using observations she should have continued.

Unfortunately in general, the traffic behind us does not maintain a safe enough distance behind ones vehicle, which sadly puts one in a position of having to run a amber light so that the vehicle behind does not smack into the back of ones car.

Always maintain a safe enough distance behind a car to allow yourself enough distance and time to stop if the car in front suddenly stops. Does this happen in reality? No, because nowadays sadly everyone is in a damn hurry to get from A to B.

But you are supposed to assume the lights might change and you might have to stop so you will be slowing down for the lights even if they are green, the cars behind you will also be slowing down. I suspect they can take all number of factors into account if it was appealed. Did Violet Star say what speed she was doing as she approached the lights? The police know how long it takes to stop at certain speeds I am sure and so one way or the other I could see it being a tough one to argue. If I had 12 points to play with I might think it worth the risk but she has 6, the copper felt strongly enough to turn around and find her, if it went against her and she ended up with more then that would be a nightmare

Thanks for everyones help. I think its become a little confusing for some, The police officer didnt turn around he was on my left opposite me i was turning right and he was going straight ahead from the left which means he was already coming down my way. I wasnt driving at a high speed it was around 20-25 mph i have also been taught that if i cant slow down in time without causing a crash then go through the amber which is exactly what i did.

When he pulled me up he said if i had another officer with me i would have pulled up the van in front of you aswell. I dont know why because when i went through the lights it was amber for definate because i looked and checked.

I think this is getting a little confusing. Lots of people have offered some quite sensible advice but at the end of the day none of us were actually there to see what happened; and we are also only hearing one side of the story. (No offence Violet!)


I'm 37 and have been driving for 20 years. I have never caused or been involved in an accident ever. I have always been very proud of my clean licence. This week I got caught doing 35 in a 30 zone by a speed camera. Am I gutted? Absolutely. But what can I do but take it on the chin and Violet that is what you must do. I was always taught to anticipate a green light changing to amber and It sounds like not doing this has been your downfall. The onus is on the car behind you to be able to safely no matter what you do.

There is a well known saying that you never really start to learn to drive until you pass your test. You have a lot of learning still to do. Put this behind you, learn from it, and go on to become an excellent driver. At the end of the day fortunately there was no accident and nobody hurt.

Sorry if that sounds harsh, I really don't mean it to, I just think you need to move on from this positively.

Joy xx

I'd get some good legal advice love,just read through the thread and it seems you have a case, but as it has been said a experienced traffic cop vs a new driver hmmm could be tricky, and you certainly don't want to end up with more points & a bigger fine.
Also I falied my 1st driving test and one of the 3 things I apparently falied on was going through an amber light, had just come round the corner from another set so had no idea how long the lights had been at green, there were 2 cars behind me going at speed so It would not have been safe to slam breaks on, and light only went amber as I crossed the line!
Good luck with this I really hope you get it overturned! xx

i started driving in 1983 and have just for the 1st time in my life got a clean driving licence i had points before i passed !! i was on 12 points 4 years ago but because of my work they allowed me to carry on driving as it would of ruined me
I had 2 ts10 s (going through a red light) and rather than points the last time i went on a driving course the main thing that stuck in my head was( if you aproach a set of lights from round a bend and its green what does this mean) every one said go through it (the answer was that its about to change!!) since then ive never been caught out great advice and my insurance has just dropped 300 quid this year!
in law amber is stop as well as red, so the 'i went through on amber' never stands up in court i know i tried it and lost and it cost me a lot more money i once panicked as the lights were changing and i was on 9 points and braked and just skidded over the white line and set off the camera still got done!!
what your saying does sound unfair but life can be so unfair sounds like the copper was having a bad day

I personally never bribed the judge...... The judge accidently realised after discovering money that the copper was wrong - thing is he was and we should have been believed - but no it was my word against a bent cop. But then most of them are bent. Its common where I am for cops to trade to information to turn a blind eye (not with me) but it happens.

There is no justice in this country. If your guilty - you get the life of riley and if your genuine and honest you get disbelieved and thats wrong!

My cop on this occasion clocked me when I was around a corner - I could prove this and the judge at the time wasn't interested until actually paid to take a closer look at the information. It was never a case of I did wrong and that daddy bought me out. Basically I was on the brink of losing my license.

I asked to do driver awareness courses - but there only in some parts of the country.

I have been driving 8 years and never crashed apart from reversing accidently into a ditch lol! The cops the good guy - we are his paycheck and the judge sees that many people in a day he can't be bothered either!

You should legally be allowed to appeal without having to find the judge and make him look at the evidence more clearly, without needing a solicitor and if you lose not giving more points and higher fines - its an incredibly unfair system.

I have even asked for a black box to be added in my car to measure speed etc as thats the only way to disparage these bored traffic cops playing snooker for a laugh and pulling people for wrong reasons.

At least speed cameras are a fair game. Unless someone cloned your car - your pooped!

I actually find that quite offensive, my dad was in the police force for over 30 years and was a good and fair policeman. There are geeks on here who have an association with the police either by marriage or otherwise so I don't think your comments are fair.

We have policemen friends also, one who is in traffic and I would never think that he would stoop to this. They are only doing their job and trying to keep the roads a safer place to drive. Dear god that is needed. I lost my best friend in a car accident, not our fault and nor was I driving but it was caused by another driver.

Sorry Violet, for digressing from your initial post.

Whether you bribed a judge or not, it is the admission publicly, that you acknowledge that a member of your family did so! Whilst you feel that one cop may have had a massive chip on his shoulder, perhaps he is not the only one ??

Negativity breeds negativity. Many people every day experience unpleasant and/or what may be unfair circumstances, but, it is about moving forward and on from this and turning something negative into something positive. It can be done!

I never said ALL of them are bent. I said most of them. Especially here where I am from where the majority are linked in with gangs, tip off dealers on expected drug busts and play games when doing traffic monitering - I.E 1 point every red car stopped, 7 points for a black etc. Theres so many cops here that will turn a blind eye and this means honest hardworking people lose out.

Nothing against traffic cops if they actually did there job and pulled the people that need pulling. The amount of times I have rang in and reported cars that are all over the motorway and the cops have then been miles and miles away and these people get away with it. But when they do falsely pull people and then the Judge won't believe us as we are just civilians is a joke.

I have as a rule had a few good dealings with cops, they have been really helpful and listened - then there are the others that leave some criminals to walk the street to benefit them and then pull someone driving to meet targets.

And cops turning a blind eye is nothing new and never will be. Cops take bribes to ignore some smaller crimes then use that money to pay for info to catch bigger criminals who then pay them to turn a blind eye if they give them info back on other crimes. It happens, its a fact of life and its a shame people use there power in this way.

And this is certainly the case in Violet stars case. A cops got all up on a power trip and used his authority in the wrong way. Whether shes at fault or not he could have been nicer - but then again it depends sometimes on the attitude they get back too.

Point is everyone has there price. Policeman are no different.

Judges look at black and white. If a cop says black is white he will be believed.

We as the general public will always hate traffic cops as everytime we get pulled we presume there wrong. I have found if I admit I did something wrong the coppers just let me off and you should take heed. After all its your life they are trying to save too.

But even you have to agree - like everyone here that even if Violet star was 100% in the right as a new driver the cop will win hands down. Surely the guy that pulled her could have just told her off as this is often enough for new drivers to panick over as its a close shave.

Anyway sorry again I offended you but I was just stating what happens on a daily basis around here - plus I also watch too much corrie!

If only life was that easy! I think you need something like 20,000 petition signatures for government to even look at your proposals!