Pulled over for Running a Yellow Light

The interaction lasted 5 seconds and I don't know why or if it will impact me in the future.

I was driving with cruise control on at 70 while approaching a red light camera in a 70 zone. It turned yellow but I was about 3-5 metres before the line with cars behind me so I had the option of hard braking or leaving it on 70. I chose not to hard brake and coasted through the lights with plenty of time to spare.

Sirens turned on behind me and I got pulled over. The officer told me his name and that I was being recorded and asked to see my ID. He scanned it and told me I was free to go. The reason for the stop was I had plenty of time to stop before the line. I didn't even say a word but I was ready to argue my case if it came down to it.

Do police leave notes on file for future police officers?

What was he scanning my ID for? I'm assuming to check if I have any past offences or warrants etc?

Is what I did illegal?

I have a clean record and the car is a performance car (200k+).

EDIT: I've done reviewing and replying back to the comments. Will be on vacation for the next few weeks.

After sifting through all the trolls from what I understand the cop wanted to check if I had a dubious record or if the car was stolen and the lights were just an excuse to pull me over.

For anyone wanting to read through the drama below, keep in mind the trolls cherry picked a post on whirlpool to assist in their agenda.
The car is a E63S (I also have a C63S as a daily temporarily) which I drive on weekends as a "high yield investment" (non ironically).
As the trolls love stalking my whirlpool account feel free to check out my reddit account as well (remove the 1 from my username) to check out my other cars.

Special shoutout to Muzeeb for spending his Christmas and new year riling up the community with his troll posts.

Comments

          • @CurlCurl: I didn't say to argue, if OP believes they are in the right (which they are indicating that they are) they could have said politely that they disagree with the officers version of events. If OP does then receive a ticket they can opt to challenge it in court, the officers footage will also then show it was disputed at the time as well.

            In some instances officers also rely on an admission of guilt in interactions, and I agree fully with your short version of be polite I would say to only admit crime if it has actually been committed not just alleged to have been without evidence (ie an approximation of speed).

            • +1

              @BillyStm: Better to leave it to an appeal or to court to dispute or say your version of events, there is no reason that you have to dispute it at the time

    • He explicitly told me I was free to go and there was no fine or penalty.

  • +3

    70kmh is just shy of 20 metres per second. Do you expect us to believe the light went orange somewhere around a quarter of a second before you reached the line and in that time you managed to assess the situation re: trailing cars and made the decision to not slow down (a decision which, had you made it given the distance and time would have exerted approximately 8Gs on your body in order to have stopped in time for the line), despite the average reaction time being a quarter second for humans and only marginally quicker for people who have specifically trained their reaction skills?

  • +20

    POST THE DAMN DASHCAM VID ALREADY

    • +3

      OP wants to be the centre of attention, but can't seem to find a work ethic, in return.

      (BTW Performance car 200K = Barina with boot aerofoil and 200K kms on the clock.)

  • +2

    Your profile indicates that you are based in Sydney.

    NSW Police issue traffic infringements via post or email - it's automated.

    Keep an eye on your mailbox!

    • Was told I was free to go and I would not receive a fine or penalty.

      • +3

        Why would you leave that out of the original post and catastrophise the rest, if not trolling?

        And then did a massive edit, using readers comments to try to fill the holes in your fictional fantasy?

        L

  • -2
    1. You probably won't get fined for this - if nothing else, because the officer probably didn't have recorded evidence of the whole event - which means you could easily argue against it later (which in turns means the departmental policy is to not issue you a fine to start with without recorded evidence)
    2. There probably won't be a "note" in your "file" for the next police officer to pull "you/your car" over for whatever, because there really is nothing significant to note.
    3. You are meant to stop upon seeing a yellow light if doing so doesn't mean sudden hard braking (this being the practical definition of "stop if safe")
    4. OzB isn't the best forum for canvassing opinion on this, as most people would have their own biases and focuses and read into the law and law enforcement's actions differently based on their experiences and prejudices.
  • +4

    can op just upload the dashcam footage

  • +4

    I think you need to post the dashcam as obviously you have zero concept of distance/speed so impossible to say whether you were in the right or totally wrong.

  • -7

    Any chance you're a person of colour? In my experience some police (esp in NSW) exude a racist vibe.

    • -4

      Pretty sure that's just raw police culture. 'Acting suspicious' is almost certainly a code/ reason to pursue/charge/harass their preferred target.

    • Any chance you're a person of colour? In my experience some police (esp in NSW) exude a racist vibe.

      I think it's safe to say some PEOPLE exclude a racist vibe, whether they be doctors, shop assistants, motor mechanics, lawyers, post hole diggers, chicken farmers or undertakers.

    • everything is racist!

    • I'm asian but I don't think that would play any factor here which is why I didn't mention it in the original post.

  • +7

    Dashcam footage link please and thank you.

  • +2

    Those bmw 5 series wont pay for themselves.

    • +1

      Just the other day I was thinking that the cops seem to be doing rather well for themselves these days with their flashy BMWs.

  • +1

    Can you keep us updated with what happens? I'm actually curious if police send out fines based on scanning IDs/license plates.

    Thanks, Toyota owner (~7k).

    • +10

      Is what I did illegal?

      I'm not looking for people to agree or disagree with me

      πŸ€·πŸ»β€β™‚οΈ

      • +6

        I'm not looking for people to agree or disagree with me

        And ironically argues with everyone that disagreed with them and the only person they thanked was the user who said what they wanted to hear… :/

        • +1

          and hasn't got the footage he claims to have, apparently.

          Oh what a tangled web…..

    • +1

      It's Ozbargain forums, you'll get a lot of righteous people. You can make a topic about handing free food to the homeless and you'll be bombarded with negative replies.

      In saying that, IMO, you're fine. The police prob scanning your ID and whatever just to make sure everything is valid.

      I made a post about a car merging into the highway across 2 lanes from an highway entry point and I swerved so hard to the right lane then back into the middle lane. I knew there were no cars on my right lane but there was a car maybe 8 car distance away but I decided not to brake but swerve instead and I got alot of comments about I should have braked instead of went into the other lane. If I braked hard, I could caused an accident like you, I decided to merge into a lane with no cars….

      Yet, people were flaming me about my driving ability when no one was speaking about the other car hooning into the highway and merging through 2 lanes.

      Just like you, you made a judgement call which harmed no one.

    • +12

      with troll comments.

      You are the master troll on this occasion.

      As xuqi above identified you were on whirlpool requesting assistance to insure your $140k 2019 C63S 2 months ago.

      FFS. Don't treat us like idiots and we won't treat you like one. FFS. That's a 42% exaggeration. FFS. Get out of town. For all we know now that $140k was probably exaggerated as well and your AMG is probably some high mileage $120k example. FFS. You're probably not even 26 like you claim. FFS.

      • -5

        Not sure why you have a personal vendetta against me as I have no reason to lie about my age or my cars.

        I asked a question and received a bunch of troll responses.

        As mentioned in my earlier post if you really have nothing better to do over this christmas break than to troll me then go and look at my reddit posts which outline the amount of KMs on the clock and my other cars.

        The car in question is a E63S.

        • +1

          I wouldn't call being 'called out' or 'caught out', being victimised.

          • @Protractor: Do your own research instead of following a bunch of trolls who cherry pick links for their own agenda.

            If you want search for my username (minus the 1) on reddit to see the proof. You won't even need to read comments just the posts I made asking questions about my E63S or any of my other cars.

            This guy literally commented on my age from another post on a different forum and claims i'm lying about it. Let that sink in.

        • +3

          No you trolled and got a set of appropriate responses.

      • +1

        FFS

        Friends Family & ?

    • +4

      Gordon's response is what I was looking for.

      Welcome to OzConfirmationBias, thanks for shopping with us. We are glad you decided to use OzConformationBias to cherry pick the parts you wanted to read.

      As for dashcam footage…

      In other words, you either a: dont have it, or b: you wont share it because it makes you look guilty. So, without it, you are going to get treated like you are full of shit, especially now that we found out you are driving a car worth less than half what you quoted in your OP.

      • -1

        There's no point for me to share it with a bunch of trolls. As stated a few times already do your own research instead of following a bunch of troll replies.

        • +2

          I would "do my own research" IF someone posted the dash cam footage so I could make a calculated decision on actual events, rather than being based on the biased retelling of the story from the perpetrator.

          The only troll here, is you…

  • No.

    Yes.

    Nothing.

  • +2

    Please provide mspaint.exe diagram and dashcam footage

  • +1

    Clearly got pulled over because you drive a 200k+ car.

    Excellent brag post.

      • +3

        Seems like an odd thing to add to the post regardless

        • +3

          The story was merely a segue to mention they own an expensive car.

          • +1

            @Muzeeb: did you know i have a performance car?

            • +2

              @franco cozzo: and (over at WPool insurance thread)
              "My parents are immigrants so they know less about this than I do. I'm more like their personal assistant."

      • +2

        Cost $40K , spent $50K on interest, and spent $110 fixing it.

  • +4

    Two sides to every story.

    Would like to see the dashcam, but i'm guessing it would demonstrate the guilt.

  • the car is a performance car (200k+).

    well theres the problem.

  • +3

    What’s the point in mentioning performance car and 200+? Lol

    • +2

      Digital epeen extension

    • +2

      Trying to flex on the community, but failed

    • -1

      Same reason why someone asked me if race was involved.

  • Yeah pulling you over to look at your fancy car is a myth, sad fact is alot of people see amber light and hit the pedal.

  • -1

    Regarding the situation which led to the encounter with Police. I'd suggest you think twice about using cruise control on roads with traffic lights. It's great on the motorway, where you are likely to keep at 110kph for long periods, but if you have CC on, the temptation is to move your foot away from the pedals, slowing your reaction time if you need to brake for a hazard or red light ahead.

    I'd hazard a guess that, had you not been using CC, you probably could have stopped for these traffic lights.

  • +1

    "Is what I did illegal?"

    Yep.

    Happy new year!

  • +2

    I'm annoyed that the OP didn't get a ticket on the spot.

  • Did the officer give you an explicit warning about stopping on a yellow?

  • -1

    Put the video up πŸ’° πŸšͺ πŸ‘„

  • +3
    • -5

      It astounds me how people don't read. Scroll down.

  • I generally use the point at which the lines turn solid as a reference to whether I can stop safely or not. Any time before the solid lines one SHOULD be able to stop easily in a modern car.

  • -3

    Hot tip for South Australian ozbargainers;

    Police can ask for your name, address and date of birth when they pull you over, but they can't direct you to produce your licence unless they reasonably suspect you're giving a false name. Always ensure you challenge their directions to give you ID so they're losing their temperature in whatever bodycam footage gets presented in court.

    They're all bullies, just like this guy. He just wanted to scare you because he was bored at work. Absolute scum.

    • This was in NSW where I believe we have to provide ID or name and address if it's not on us.

      After sifting through the troll comments it might not have been a bully but just an overzealous cop that thought the car might be stolen or the person driving it might have had a bad record.

    • Oh another police hater , what was the crime you did to make you so bitter ? Thinking you need to stop generalising every Police Officer

      • -1

        I have never been found guilty of an offence. I have a single parking ticket to my name that I didn't have time to fight as I had overseas travel planned.

        Over a decade ago, in my teens, driving home on NYE totally sober, turned onto the street, which was about 300m before an RBT stop.

        About 10 seconds after I turned onto my street, I was flagged down by multiple police cars, lights and sirens the whole deal, pull over, torch in my face, someone yelling at me for thinking I could avoid an RBT. Get asked about where I'm going, why I'm lying about not drinking etc.

        I proceed to blow into the tube (obviously 0.00) and they still keep me there for 10 minutes while they go over the car for crap to defect (nothing defected). Just absolute pricks.

        Since then I've started working in the legal profession and i have been pulled over for running a yellow too… I just set my phone video camera up on my dash, let the cop tell me it's illegal to run yellows etc, asked him if it was any safer for him to run the red to catch up to me, given I only went through thinking I didn't have enough time to stop whereas he did something worse over a very subjective point of law…. told him to give me a ticket and see me in court or let me get on with my life. Of course he let me go.

        The only people who don't hate police are those who have simply been lucky enough not to have to deal with them regularly. I detest lowlife scumbag crims as much as the next guy, but not a day goes by where upper-middle class white men with secure work as police officers don't lie in a witness box in any city of this country… and somehow that just really grinds my gears.

        • Word

        • +4

          Well thank you for your story, so you turned off 300m from rbt ? And you got pulled over as you would expect as most that try and avoid rbts by doing the same. My god and on NYE how dare they nobody drinks n drives on nye.

          Police running red light to catch you ? So he should have waited then gone like the clappers even more dangerous to catch up tou you ? I bet your one of those that when stops say " Why are you picking on me you should be out catching rapists and murderers" ? Or " I pay your wages " well the last one I'd always just ask for a payrise as you pay my wages.

          So 10yrs and you were spoken to loudly and held up for 10 minutes and somehow this is a reason to hold a grudge ? I dont think so , something else surely must have happened.

          But what would i know? I only spent 37yrs of my life protecting people like you, and listening to all the bad things Police supposedly do, from the stranger on the street, the media even freinds. Every single damn day !

          Funny how all electricians n brick layers dont get labelled if one does something wrong.

          Power trip i dont think so taking away someones freedom was something i never ever took lightly.

          Lying in court yes been accused many times of that, however someone must have also made civilian witnesses lie, cctv must have been doctored. I feared no lawyers ever as nothing they can do when you simply answer truthfully, ive nothing to hide nor gain from lying in court.

          But i got alot of gratitude for my 2 buggered shoulders, 1 banged up knee, numerous cuts abrasions, stabbed twice, shot at 3 times runover twice (got great video of the last stolen car hitting me on my Police bike at 140kmh.) I mean i could go on.

          I have bravery medals and commendations but in the end WA Police decided to forcibly retire me medically unfit last year, and as we have no workers compensation im currently on unemployment benefits.

          But scum like me saved many a life, with little to no thanks not that I expected any but alas even when im retired i still have to listen too people like you.

          1 shift on patrol with any officer, on a Friday or Saturday night , you would re think your words and opinions in a heartbeat.

          • -1

            @Wayne7497: Turned off 300m from an RBT… a reasonable response might be to politely ask why, "oh you live on this street, well, we're out doing RBTs tonight. Care to blow into this tube?"

            Running a red to pull someone over for running a yellow… Not for committing crime of the century.

            Thanks for doing what you did, but you did get paid for all of that—and before you say it, I don't feel like my tax dollars paid it, tax is just the cost of living in society.. I'm just pretty sure that most police go to work for the paycheques, not the accolades or recognition or sense of duty (I'm sure there are exceptions but if you're one of them, then surely you realise it).

            Just because I do not like police you've become awfully presumptuous… just like how something else must have happened. It's simply not the case. Maybe you don't lie in the witness box but as you can see it's really quite easy to convince yourself something must be the case just because of a difference in opinion.

            I remember this coming out and surprising a few people I knew: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-08-07/act-police-officers-a…

            Great video, it captures the spirit I was spoken to in those many years ago for absolutely no reason.

  • When I was younger driving in my wannabe race car Honda I ran a stop sign and got pulled over but they saw I had a clean driving record and decided to let me off

  • where's that juicy dashcam footage???

    • -7

      No reason for me to supply it to a bunch of trolls.

      • +2

        BSA of the YEAR, 2023-2024. Congrats

    • The interaction lasted 5 seconds

      faketaxi.com… 5 sec clip

  • He saw a performance vehicle running yellows, ofc he's going to do a licence check.

  • Yes they leave notes. Ring Revenue NSW and they'll read out the notes to you (if you are issued a penalty, officer can email or post).

    He will state, distance from Stop Line, Speed, time since yellow etc. You won't get off through driving record. So youll have to take it to court if you believe your version of events is correct.

  • In my younger years I took an intersection corner at speed on a wet road and lost control of my dad's old commodore. After speaking to the cops they offered me a yellow light fine or I could contest that I did nothing wrong and they would have to investigate and it could go to court. I, of course, took the fine and that was how I learned yellow light fines are a thing.

    • I learnt by reading the Rules and updating by reading every year, I have never had a Traffic Light ticket.

      Why would anyone Neg your comment?

  • If you could have stopped safely before the lights when you saw the lights turn orange, you should. Otherwise it is illegal to go through the orange.

    Did you actually see the lights change from green to orange?

    Maybe you missed the actual change and so you didn't start the stopping procedure as soon as you should have?
    Maybe you did see the change and decided to accelerate/coast?
    Maybe you didn't see the change and decided to accelerate/coast?

    Hard to know when OP has chosen to withhold the dashcam footage.

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