Red light at level crossing with a twist

Red light at level crossing with a twist

Author
Discussion

Mandat

Original Poster:

4,247 posts

253 months

Yesterday (19:48)
quotequote all
Firstly, I haven’t been done for jumping a red light, and I just wanted to gauge people’s opinions on the situation shown in the clip.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GZRh83H9MT4

The clip is from a Polish dash-cam site and shows two cars going over a level crossing after the barriers go up, but 5 seconds before the red lights stop flashing.

On the other side of the crossing is a police car, which runs after the two miscreants.

Apparently, the standard fine in Poland for a level crossing red light offence is 2,000pln (approx. £400) and 15 penalty points. (Polish drivers can accumulate 24 points, which come off after 2 years).

In the example shown, it seems harsh for this event to be punished in the same was as running a red light when the barriers are coming down, which everyone knows is dangerous and should rightly be punished.

However, once the barriers are on the way up, it seems like a minor & technical infringement whilst the light are still flashing, in much the same way that driving at 71 in a 70 is illegal, but nobody has ever been prosecuted for it.

Interested to hear people’s thoughts.

119

12,091 posts

51 months

Yesterday (19:55)
quotequote all
Mandat said:
Firstly, I haven t been done for jumping a red light, and I just wanted to gauge people s opinions on the situation shown in the clip.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GZRh83H9MT4

The clip is from a Polish dash-cam site and shows two cars going over a level crossing after the barriers go up, but 5 seconds before the red lights stop flashing.

On the other side of the crossing is a police car, which runs after the two miscreants.

Apparently, the standard fine in Poland for a level crossing red light offence is 2,000pln (approx. £400) and 15 penalty points. (Polish drivers can accumulate 24 points, which come off after 2 years).

In the example shown, it seems harsh for this event to be punished in the same was as running a red light when the barriers are coming down, which everyone knows is dangerous and should rightly be punished.

However, once the barriers are on the way up, it seems like a minor & technical infringement whilst the light are still flashing, in much the same way that driving at 71 in a 70 is illegal, but nobody has ever been prosecuted for it.

Interested to hear people s thoughts.
Really?


kestral

1,964 posts

222 months

Yesterday (20:16)
quotequote all
Mandat said:
Firstly, I haven t been done for jumping a red light, and I just wanted to gauge people s opinions on the situation shown in the clip.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GZRh83H9MT4

The clip is from a Polish dash-cam site and shows two cars going over a level crossing after the barriers go up, but 5 seconds before the red lights stop flashing.

On the other side of the crossing is a police car, which runs after the two miscreants.

Apparently, the standard fine in Poland for a level crossing red light offence is 2,000pln (approx. £400) and 15 penalty points. (Polish drivers can accumulate 24 points, which come off after 2 years).

In the example shown, it seems harsh for this event to be punished in the same was as running a red light when the barriers are coming down, which everyone knows is dangerous and should rightly be punished.

However, once the barriers are on the way up, it seems like a minor & technical infringement whilst the light are still flashing, in much the same way that driving at 71 in a 70 is illegal, but nobody has ever been prosecuted for it.

Interested to hear people s thoughts.
How do you know the police car is going after the two cars that went over the crossing?

Mandat

Original Poster:

4,247 posts

253 months

Yesterday (20:18)
quotequote all
119 said:
Really?
Perhaps not really interested, but interested enough to create the post to find out what others think.

What are your thoughts on this?

wazztie16

1,587 posts

146 months

Yesterday (20:21)
quotequote all
I'm wondering how the police officer would know the lights were red, unless they WERE going after the drivers and they admitted to the offence.

Mandat

Original Poster:

4,247 posts

253 months

Yesterday (20:21)
quotequote all
kestral said:
How do you know the police car is going after the two cars that went over the crossing?
It's in the commentary in the clip, but good point. The police could have received a shout at that exact moment, which coincided with the crossing offence.

Mandat

Original Poster:

4,247 posts

253 months

Yesterday (20:23)
quotequote all
wazztie16 said:
I'm wondering how the police officer would know the lights were red, unless they WERE going after the drivers and they admitted to the offence.
Presumably the lights on both sides of the crossing are synchronised, and would have still been flashing in front of the police car on their side.

119

12,091 posts

51 months

Yesterday (20:24)
quotequote all
Mandat said:
119 said:
Really?
Perhaps not really interested, but interested enough to create the post to find out what others think.

What are your thoughts on this?
They ran a red light so they have broken the law and in front of the police.

Not sure there is anything to argue tbh.


wazztie16

1,587 posts

146 months

Yesterday (20:25)
quotequote all
Mandat said:
wazztie16 said:
I'm wondering how the police officer would know the lights were red, unless they WERE going after the drivers and they admitted to the offence.
Presumably the lights on both sides of the crossing are synchronised, and would have still been flashing in front of the police car on their side.
Just because the officer believes they're synchronised, doesn't mean they can be sure they're working correctly.

Mandat

Original Poster:

4,247 posts

253 months

Yesterday (20:30)
quotequote all
119 said:
They ran a red light so they have broken the law and in front of the police.

Not sure there is anything to argue tbh.
You are absolutely correct, but in this situation, my view is that it is akin to doing 71 on a motorway. Equally illegal, but I wouldn't expect anybody to get stopped and prosecuted for such an infringement.

119

12,091 posts

51 months

Yesterday (20:31)
quotequote all
wazztie16 said:
Mandat said:
wazztie16 said:
I'm wondering how the police officer would know the lights were red, unless they WERE going after the drivers and they admitted to the offence.
Presumably the lights on both sides of the crossing are synchronised, and would have still been flashing in front of the police car on their side.
Just because the officer believes they're synchronised, doesn't mean they can be sure they're working correctly.
You could try that as defence.

https://utk.gov.pl/en/new/18544,Level-crossings-wi...

119

12,091 posts

51 months

Yesterday (20:33)
quotequote all
Mandat said:
You are absolutely correct, but in this situation, my view is that it is akin to doing 71 on a motorway. Equally illegal, but I wouldn't expect anybody to get stopped and prosecuted for such an infringement.
As per my link above, it appears they have recently tightened up rules for crossings, probably due to similar behaviour to bell ends in your video.


QBee

21,739 posts

159 months

These rules were in place in Italy in the 1970s.

I was touring in Italy in 1974, and was at the front of the queue at a closed level crossing.
Train passed, barriers went up.
I did just as they did, as I thought it was fine to proceed.
Nobody else moved.

100 yards down the road I.was stopped, so I decided to play dumb.
I spoke no Italian, he spoke no English. We were young and in a Mini.
After about 10 minutes of trying to get me understand, the officer gave up and waved us on our way.

These rules are different in different countries.
Be aware if travelling in Europe.

E-bmw

11,082 posts

167 months

wazztie16 said:
I'm wondering how the police officer would know the lights were red, unless they WERE going after the drivers and they admitted to the offence.
I take it you didn't actually watch the video clip then?

ScotHill

3,712 posts

124 months

No I agree with the OP, I think there should be a feathering around laws where individuals are able to break them in boundary cases at their own discretion, and in this instance specifically I think the police should have respected that; there’s nothing more reliable than the average human’s judgement in the heat of the moment.

MustangGT

13,207 posts

295 months

wazztie16 said:
Mandat said:
wazztie16 said:
I'm wondering how the police officer would know the lights were red, unless they WERE going after the drivers and they admitted to the offence.
Presumably the lights on both sides of the crossing are synchronised, and would have still been flashing in front of the police car on their side.
Just because the officer believes they're synchronised, doesn't mean they can be sure they're working correctly.
Do you really think the two sides are controlled independently?

Common sense says it will be a single controller for precisely that reason.

Pica-Pica

15,220 posts

99 months

I think it was crass stupidity of the police to do a turn round and risk blocking the (now) free access across the track.

119

12,091 posts

51 months

Pica-Pica said:
I think it was crass stupidity of the police to do a turn round and risk blocking the (now) free access across the track.
Lol.

Yellow Lizud

2,665 posts

179 months

119 said:
Pica-Pica said:
I think it was crass stupidity of the police to do a turn round and risk blocking the (now) free access across the track.
Lol.
Not quite sure why the "LOL", this is exactly what I was thinking.

The police manoeuvre was way more dangerous than the car moving a few seconds before the red lights had gone out.

119

12,091 posts

51 months

Yellow Lizud said:
119 said:
Pica-Pica said:
I think it was crass stupidity of the police to do a turn round and risk blocking the (now) free access across the track.
Lol.
Not quite sure why the "LOL", this is exactly what I was thinking.

The police manoeuvre was way more dangerous than the car moving a few seconds before the red lights had gone out.
Dangerous in front of a line of stationary cars and a clear view of little else coming the other way?

As i posted earlier and with an easy to read link, they have recently clamped down on crossing rules, probably because of bell ends in the video.

I guess you proceed on a red light at junctions as you can see there is nothing coming?