Turning Right Against Red Light

[big cyril]

Interested to know what folks think of this -

Location - Ballygowan Road in Belfast, citybound , turning right at staggered crossroads, to road which connects to outer ring.

Was turning right at this junction today, for those who know the area , coming down from Ballygowan, the one lane in each direction opens into two and then there is a staggered crossroads, well I was going right so joined the turning right lane and waited behind a few other vehicles until the green arrow appeared.
I noticed a policewoman standing at the junction with her notebook out (not a speed detector!) watching the junction.
Anyway, the vehicles in front moved off eventually and when it was my turn I noticed that the green arrow had finished and replaced by red.
Not sure what to do (especially with Mrs PSNI watching ) and the road was clear so I turned right anyway.
Now, to have remained there would have blocked the junction totally and the light was green when I entered the junction so am I likely to get a summons about this?

 

[Marc]

think once you have crossed the line your ok to turn

were you sitting in the little filter type lane just in front of the pizza place?

 

[big cyril]

think once you have crossed the line your ok to turn

were you sitting in the little filter type lane just in front of the pizza place?

It was the juction further up the hill, where the Church is, not sure of the name of the road joining it.

 

[Lyons]

This is indeed a puzzling issue. Especially as theres almost a second line nearer the junction. But if you were to stop at it, and not proceed if the light changed to red, then you would subsequently be blocking the path for the cars coming out of the road on the right. This has happened to me, and i just go on. The initial stop line is too far from the light + junction.

 

[Marc]

ahh.. i know where you mean now.. the glen road I think its called.. I think you shoudl be ok, as you would have been stuck dead in centre of the road if you didnt go.

It was the juction further up the hill, where the Church is, not sure of the name of the road joining it.

 

[sdd]

then again though, if there is not yellow box junction, and mrs psni was watching cars for whatever reason could they not argue that it didnt matter if u blocked the junction i have no idea i'm just wondering?

 

[ossy2004]

its her word over yours...she'l win if she wants too suppose, good luck. tbh i wouldve went on myself as you were already passed the stop line and were about to make madness on the road

 

[Smick]

I don't think anyone knows for sure how to handle that junction, everyone just takes there time at it an makes sure the way is clear before moving off after the lights changing. Its obvious if someone is going to end up stuck in the middle so most drivers will wait and give way to the stuck party.

 

[big cyril]

Interesting - posted because I really didn't know and most folks not sure either.

Now wondering what Mrs PSNI was actually there for - perhaps catching people who had run the red on the main road, perhaps there was a police car or bike further down towards the junction with the outer ring to actually stop cars as the only thing she could have done otherwise is take down number plates.

 

[Nicky]

id say you were right to move on, as you would have been blocking traffic trying tp cross at the next change..

IF, anything did come of it, just say that you were sitting over the white line already, as you were expecting to go, and then the lights had changed, and you felt unsafe to sit there.. (thats probably what happened al the same.. lol)

 

[Millanio]

That sounds like a very similar situation to Balmoral Avenue, for those that know it, when you head down to the Kings Hall end wanting to turn right onto the Lisburn Road, the filter light goes off and then goes red but oncoming traffic coming up from under the bridge is allowed on. People that don't know this junction are often left stranded in the middle with a red light facing them, they then need to either turn right anyway through the red or get in the way of vehicles which start to cross from either side. Really its a case of a poorly designed junction and there should be a yellow box to keep people back. I suppose its possible that the PSNI officer was making a note to see if the lights were causing problems like this rather than trying to catch people out.

 

[ZoomZoomZoe]

There are several junctions like this, coming down the Castlereagh Rd turning right on to Grand Parade is the same and they have actually changed the pedestrian crossing timings to allow for people turning on a red light before the green man appears, so maybe they are doing similar there? Tho you'd think that would be for the Roads Service to decide...