Police cameras at traffic lights

I am renting a car for the next month.

Last weekend, I went through an intersection on a YELLOW light - but the light turned RED as I was going through.

(the intersection was after I crossed the Isar coming into the Isartor intersection).

I saw the red light flash camera go off as I went through the intersection...

What happens?

Can I dispute this (because it was YELLOW when I entered?)

Will the car rental company be fined and pass the fine along to me?

Will the car rental company not let me rent in the future?

Thanks in advance...

Well, you are not supposed to intentionally go through a yellow light in the first place. That's the warning that it is about to turn red.

i have had that experience, not on a red-light but was about 100km/h over the speed limit. didnt know the german autobahn had ended and we were in friggin belgium anyhow.

1. yes you can go and explain yourself. (i didnt, i was very clearly in the wrong)
2. the rental car company passes on the fine to you and also adds a nice 10-25 euro "processing fee"
3. you can rent from them again anytime (as long as your license is valid )

i can only say what happened to me with my own car i got a months ban plus 3 points and a fine (cant remember how much).i managed to delay the ban until i went on holiday.so be perpared to hear from the rented car company and authorities unless you gave a false address

But the rental car companies usually require a CreditCard for rental. If you give'em a fake address, then that get the correct info from the CC Company.. Unless you paid in cash and/or also gave your CC company fake info..

People like you cause wrecks and back up traffic for miles just so you can run a "yellow" which obviously was red when you entered into the intersection (that is how the cameras work). You can dispute it, but you will and should lose.

If you dint see the camera, the you could also be done for driving without due care and attention..

If you did see the camera, then its your own fault.

I've been zapped on many lights and absolutely nothing has come of it. A couple of times I've had a letter in the post with a fine of about €20 or so, nothing else. In other words, based on what's been said here, nobody will be able to give you a definitive answer as to what may or may not happen. Good luck!

Hardly credible, unless this wasn't in Germany. By law the minimum fine for crossing a red light is € 50.-, so you either crossed a red light and paid at least €50 (and got 3 points in the "Flensburger Verkehrssünderkartei"), or paid €20 for a different offence than crossing a red light. Crossing a yellow light is not an offence and therefore has no fine on it.

It is however possible that absolutely nothing happens, in this case the film in the camera was already full or had some other mal-function, or for some reason the picture taken couldn't provide enough evidence.

I can only comment on my own personal experiences. It was in Germany. I've been fined a number of times for speeding and red light running offences and have never stumped up more than €30 (usually less, one was actually €15 but I think that was just a parking offence). The last one was in Thalkirchen near the zoo which, last time I checked, was still in Germany.

did you get caught by the camera,if so then very surprised

I got stopped a few times for speeding and jumping red lights but just jumped out of the car and accused the police officer of living in the past and being worse than the SS as well as accusing the entire police force of being a Nazi-like cult. Normally they just run away screaming and you don't get fined although you do have to pull away sharpish like

Oh yeah. EDIT:

Yes, I still have the photo. It's quite nice actually, I was wearing shades as it was a nice sunny day and had Badger beside me. Unfortunately the shades are not the Mae West and sometimes I don't notice certain things...like traffic lights.

thats prob quite unlikely if the camera was triggered to be honest. Doubt you would be able to dispute it

So how long does it take for the fine to show up in the mail after being caught on one of these cameras? Or am I misunderstanding the process?

I was "flashed" on the corner of Belgradstr. and Herzogstr. in Schwabing, but I didn't run a red light. I stopped at the junction perhaps 1 meter over the stop-line, and thus the camera flash went off. Do these cameras also fine for these types of things, or did it just go off by default thinking it could've been someone running the red light? This was at 2 in the morning with no one around.

But it still caught the Augustiner in your hand!

You should be fine. As long as you stopped then the cameras will show that. I know that in the UK it can take up to 6 weeks. If you hear nothing back after that then OK

oli2000, thanks for posting that. just because you run a red does not immediately mean driving ban. depends on how long the light was red! i would just wait and see if they send you a ticket.

ET I was "flashed" as I just managed to stop about 1 metre over the line on one occasion too. About 2 seconds later the camera flashed again (there was no other traffic anywhere else around). I was later told by a colleague that this is normal: the second picture proves whether you were stopped or not.

Just a tip for the blind and stupid. a yellow light means the lights are going to change and you should SLOW DOWN and be wary of the light change, not speed up to just get past. for the colour blind among us the red light is the one at the top. jesus learn how to drive and dont whinge if you get fined for not being able to do so.

end of rant

usually takes about a month for speeding fines so I guess similar for this. You should be ok as it takes 2 pics and pic nr. 2 will show you were standing still.

I quite like the system in Austria where the green lights flash a bit to warn that it will soon turn orange

How much warning do you need? It just confuses me

I mean the yellow is there to warn you it's about to turn red. So the flashing green is there to warn you that you're about to be warned?? They ought to warn you about that.

Well at least it speeds things up a bit. If drivers are warned that the lights will soon turn red, the natural reaction is to make sure you get past it before it turns.

I dunno, orange seems to invariably lead to me either braking quite hard or speeding up a bit to get through, neither of which can be right really

@Oli2000

Most cameras now adays don't use film.. their digital, and record to a harddrive, or have direct links to a central server. (Usually directly connected cameras are in the city limits)...

The way lights gets jumped in this country is absolutely amazing! Saying that, I did jump a red light once and got a ticket.

Every single time I am always amazed when this happens...

I got zapped near the Deutsche Museum today... I'm just an idiot. Grrr.

No.

The light was definitely yellow when I entered the intersection. It turned red as I as crossing the intersection. I have witnesses in my car to confirm.

I think it may flashed because there was ANOTHER car behind me (tailgating) - that ALSO entered the intersection. The other car, however, entered the intersection after the light had turned red.

The problem is - the camera shoots from the front - so probably did not get the plate number for the car directly behind me because it was tailgaiting.

And for all of you people who think I was "speeding" through the intersection - not true. I was going fairly slow - I just entered the intersection while the light was still yellow.

Sigh... having read these posts and the others on TT, I think I'm a gonner for a month, but just to see if anyone has any other thoughts...here goes:

I was just coming back from work and there's a 3-way junction I cross where the lights only turn green for a milisecond. I actually crossed the line when it was green, but the traffic moved straight into another queue at the next set of lights, so I had to stop again once I was about a car-and-a-half's length over the line. This left me right in the middle of the road for traffic coming from the other side (next to move at the lights)...so when my queue moved, I moved with it to get out of the way of the cars who had just got green... Flash, flash - waaaaay after 1 second after the red light had gone, I imagine (not that I could see it as the lights were behind me!).

Am I toast?

And if I am banned for a month, does that affect my insurance premium?

I was having such a nice day too...what a bummer.

You could try explaining that one away. You might just pull it off. Either way the fine/points may not be all that much so don't get too upset.

PS: There was a guy at work who got a fine for going through a red 1 minute 30 seconds after it changed. He argued he went 1 second before it went green...

So he jumped a green light...

Because you were already over the line you might get away with it as the camera may not have got a shot at your number plate. Not very likely though. I stupidly jumped a red light by about 3 milliseconds, with a cop car behind me, Doh!. I got a fine and some points but it didn't affect my insurance.
By the way the rule in Germany is that you should not cross the line if the other side of the junction is not clear. It's like the yellow boxes they have in cities in Britain, where there's a sign saying "Do not enter box unless your exit is clear". They just don't bother with the painted box on the road and it applies to every junction.

Personally i dont think you will be busted, I have been flashed twice when turning left when there is a camera and a left filter lane, (actually it is the junction of Standler strasse where you turn left into Balan strasse) the green arrow for the filter lane is only on for enough time for maybe 2 or 3 cars at the most... never had a fine.

As for insurance after the ban (if you get it) I dont think it makes any difference unless it increases the number of points you have to a point where the insurance Co. gets a little twitchy

I wouldn't worry... you'll be fine

I got flashed on this light AND I started crossing when it was green, I no others who have been flashed here, we never received a ticket

i skipped the red light at Thomas-Wimmer-Ring @48.137477, 11.584456 ( just feed this in google map and it should show you the signal that i skipped accidentally).

I totally goofed it up and the explanation ( not an excuse) is that i was busy changing my lane and totally missed this signal and i realised my grave error only when i saw the 'other' car which was in the lane i wanted to get into, simply come to a halt...it was then that it dawned to me.

I definitely dont recollect a camera flashing but then it was broad day light, so chances are that i couldn't have possibly realised it.

By any chance can someone point me to an unofficial list of 'hidden' cameras in munich ? BTW,My tomtom did NOT warn me about a speed camera in this junction.

- Jughead

@ Freckle, Fraunhofer, ecke Müller ecke Papa Schmid Strasse maybe?
Thet one is a real problem right now as there are some road works.
I think there they should have the UK "box junction" rule that even IF you are on a green, you are only allowed onto the junction if there is a free way out.

@ MT - Honey, you're in Germany, there is a law against it. Who needs boxes? Think outside the box!




You notice that junctions are also mentioned, so if you've got a street coming in from the right or left just stay put if you would block the way.

i was wondering what would happen if someone ( not me : ) ) skipped a red light, the intimation about this lands up in his mailbox a month later but in the meanwhile was caught again skipping a red light ! Do the penalties stack up or does it only count as one or does he stand to loose his license...

I would advise your friend to surrender his license voluntarily before his luck runs out.

It does depend on the timing. I stupidly jump a lightly coloured red light a few years ago. Unfortunately the car behind me was a police car, whoops. However as it was under a second after the lights had changed all I got was a fine and a few points on my licence. If it had been over a second I believe I would have got a short ban as well. My mistake, and one I don't intend to repeat. If you repeat an offence they will nail your head to a tree! Your "friend" will probably lose their licence and probably have to take the physchiatric "idiot" test before they get it back.

As Allershausen said it depends on the timing.

From my the Bussgeldkatalog on my CD version of 'Das Telefonbuch, München 2008'.
If you pass red after the traffic light has been on red for 1 second then it is a 1 month ban. If you do not cause an accident in this case you would be fined €125 and have 4 points on your license.
If it's less than 1 second and you do not cause an accident it is 3 points and a €50 fine.

And yes points accumulate, which will remain on your license for a minimum of 2 years depending on the severity of your offence.

See second page of this pdf file (in English) from Flensburg for an explanation of the points system:
http://www.kba.de/Stabsstelle/Publikatione...st_englisch.pdf

I went down to my local beer market the other other day ...

when leaving I went a cross 2 lanes, so that I was in the right lane to do a U-turn...

Because there was a lot of traffic I just went quick, at the last moment I noticed a police car parked up - as I went through a red light.

I had to wait before i could do the U-turn, because of on coming traffic ...

A moment later a policeman came to talk to me, about why I had just gone through a RED light, O dear me i thought ( or words to that effect ).

I said that the light was very bright from behind and it was therefore impossible to see the RED light - we talked for several minntes about it and then he said
D'ont do it again - be more careful - and let me go ...

Is that Normal or was I just lucky ???.

Lucky mate, very lucky

Here's a quick question... I was wrapping up a birthday trip to the Formula 1 race in Hockenheim yesterday and had just arrived back in Düsseldorf. I queued at a light in the left turn lane, with a red turn arrow in front of me. Straight-on traffic in both directions had green lights. After a few moments, the straight-on traffic in the opposite direction from where I was facing came to a stop and my red arrow switched off. Straight-on traffic in my direction still had a green light, so I assume my turn lane had now become clear to make a left turn (no green arrow was present). I turned left, and halfway through the light I saw the flash go off. Crap.

Any thoughts?

Any witnesses? If you can prove a malfunction you don't have to pay.

My wife was in the care with me... although that surely wouldn't count as an unbiased witness.

It's worth trying. More power to your elbow, and keep us posted.