JNugent writes:

Daniel Barlow wrote:

JNugent writes:

[ law regarding amber traffic lights:]

In any given case, whose job is it to judge the acceptable value for
"too close to be stopped safely"?

A list of people whose job it is to judge things can probably be had by
contacting the various courts aroud the country. They're called
"judges", appropriately enough.

Post-hoc, you mean?

It is inherent in the scheme of things that road traffic offences are
judged after they have been committed (or alleged to have been
committed), yes. I think that to do otherwise would be an unacceptable
infringement of civil liberties.

How does the opinion of a judge, months later and in receipt of
second-hand information, help the driver or cyclist who is approaching
and nearly at a set of traffic lights which have just, this very
fraction of a second, turned amber?

It doesn't, but that's not what you were appearing to ask. If a driver
wishes to avoid committing the offence in the first place and needs
advice on whether he can safely stop at a set of traffic lights which
has just turned amber, he may have recourse to (a) his own knowledge of
his vehicle an the road conditions, (b) the guide to stopping distances
printed on the back of the Highway Code, (c) the services of such
organisations as the BSM, the AA, and numerous independent driving
instructors, any of which would I am sure be happy to give him a
remedial course in driving skills.


-dan