Free Traffic Legal Advice

Existing points have no bearing whether a course is offered or not. A course would normally be offered up to 10% + 9, so in a 70 MPH limit that would be 86.

So I made a bit of a mistake the other day. I was driving on the M42 near the HS2 construction works in Birmingham. I’m not from the area and don’t usually drive on smart motorways—only a handful of times over the past few years—so I’m not that familiar with how they work.

Traffic was quite congested, and I noticed the hard shoulder didn’t have a “closed” sign. I assumed that meant it was open to use, so I moved into that lane. While driving along, I remember thinking, “Why isn’t anyone else using this?”

I passed a few overhead gantries and none of them were showing a red X—they were all blank. Then I eventually saw a sign on one gantry that said, “Hard shoulder for emergency use only.” At that point, I moved back into the normal lanes and carried on as usual.

Call me stupid if you want, but I only found out afterwards (after looking it up) that blank gantries actually mean the hard shoulder is closed. I also understand now that smart motorways can detect vehicles using the hard shoulder and issue fines and penalty points.

I know I’m in the wrong, but honestly, I do think it’s quite ambiguous. If the lane is closed, why not clearly show a red X?

Anyway, what I’m trying to figure out is: am I likely to get fined for this? If so, how much would it be, and would I be offered a course instead of points? For context, I currently have 3 points from an SP50 about three years ago.

Hi everyone,
I am a new driver (held my license for only 2 months) and I’m very concerned about an incident that happened late last night at a large junction.
While turning right, I misjudged the turn and accidentally entered the oncoming lane (the wrong side of the central reservation).
Details of the incident:
• The Situation: As soon as I entered the wrong lane, I noticed the traffic lights for that lane were Red and there were a few cars stopped there. I immediately stopped my vehicle to avoid any danger.
• Duration: I was in the wrong position for about 10 seconds before I safely maneuvered back into the correct lane once I saw an opening.
• Traffic: The road was otherwise very quiet, and no emergency maneuvers were required by other drivers.
• The Camera: Right at the junction, there is a large PTZ (dome-style) camera on a tall grey pole. It doesn't look like a typical yellow speed camera or a Gatso red-light camera.
My concerns:
1.   Since I was facing a red light in the oncoming lane (but never crossed a stop line to get there), is there any chance a "Red Light Offence" was automatically triggered?
2.   Do Council or Police CCTV operators typically review footage from these dome cameras to issue NIPs for "driving on the wrong side of the road" if no accident occurred and no police were on site?
3.   Is this specific type of camera usually used for general security/traffic monitoring or for automatic fine enforcement?
I am quite stressed about the 6-point rule for new drivers. Any advice or similar experiences would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you!

A driver attends a store where they can park for 30 minutes without using the scanner machine. If you purchase  items in store over a certain amount you are provided with a voucher which entitles you to 90 minutes parking when you scan your voucher.
The driver spends the amount required and is provided with the voucher and leaves the car park after 30 minutes but before the 90 minutes. Unfortunately the driver forgot to scan the voucher on exit and realised this a little later and returns to the car park within the 90 minutes period albeit in a different vehicle.They scan the voucher which shows that they have exited within the time.
Of course the ANPR will show the vehicle leaving the car park first with the voucher being scanned later. I would have thought this would not cause an issue.
However the driver is concerned they may receive a PCN. Any views appreciated.

I was driving a van last night and passed one of these new AI phone & seat belt cameras and initially thought no more of it as everything was above board, then as I got to my destination I realised that the dark clothing I was wearing may have masked my seatbelt, and now it's got me worried that the camera may have caught me, as these are relatively new, and I've not seen much about them only the pictures where it's obvious phone use or lack of seatbelt.

I'm assuming that the resolution on them is good enough that either it would detect the belt being worn, or a manual check would show that you can see the top of the belt going over my shoulder, and the bottom bits across my lap to the connector?

It is possible that the likelihood of a driver wearing dark clothing did not occur to anyone involved in the development of the system. But, I would suggest, rather unlikely.

Hi folks,

Can you legally proceed ahead where earlier you had crossed the green light but then had to wait on the threshold of big yellow box. Obviously the light which you had already crossed will be turned into red. So in that scenario, is it safe to proceed ahead if the traffic on your left is giving you the way to proceed. Yellow box junction at no point was obstructed.

The offence is crossing the stop line on a red light, so if you are already past the stop line on green then no offence as far as I know, however driving headlong into traffic that has now got a green light going the other way could possibly land you in trouble.