Penalty For Going Through Red Light

The penalty for going through a red light can vary depending upon the circumstances. The standard penalty will be the endorsement of 3 penalty points on your licence and a £100 fine. However, this penalty can be increased, depending upon how serious the offence is.

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Expert Legal Guidance For Red Traffic Light Offences

At Caddick Davies Solicitors, we understand the impact that any motoring offence charge can have. The below article will hopefully advise you as to the consequences that you face for going through a red light and routes to take if you are charged with such an offence. However, if you are still unsure, and feel that you need a solicitor, you can contact the office on 0333 443 2366 for a free consultation.

We can help you understand the process and explore all available defences and mitigating circumstances, that could avoid or reduce the severity of the punishment you face. If we believe that we can add value to your case, we will advise you as such. However, we will be honest with you if we can add no real value to your case or if legal representation is not needed. We will also give you an indication as to the prospects of success as to any approach that we recommend.

What Constitutes Going Through A Red Light?

Contrary to popular belief, a person does not actually need to go through a red light to commit this offence.

All that is required, is for an individual to cross over the solid white line prior to the junction.

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Send us a message or call us on 0333 443 2366 for expert legal advice

How Are These Offences Detected?

The most common ways that a person is detected committing such an offence are as follows:

1. Being witnessed by a police officer.
2. Another road user sending in video footage.
3. Triggering a red-light camera.

What Are The Next Steps?

If you have triggered a red-light camera or footage has been sent into the police by a member of the public, then the police will firstly need to determine who the driver of the vehicle was.

The police are under an obligation to send the registered keeper of the vehicle a notice of intended prosecution, setting out the nature of the allegation and the time and place that it is alleged to have taken place. This notice must be served on the registered keeper within 14 days of the alleged offence taking place.

As part of this notice, the police will also issue a request for drivers’ information. A person who receives a request for drivers’ information is under an obligation to respond within 28 days.

If you were witnessed by a police officer and were stopped at the time of the offence, then this notice is not required to be posted  – as the officer will identify you at the roadside, and will warn you of the offence.

Notice of Intended Prosecution Received Out of Time

If a notice of intended prosecution is served on the registered keeper outside of the 14 days, then this provides a valid defence to the charge.

The Police, upon notification that the notice of intended prosecution being served out of time, may be willing to drop the case. However, if they are satisfied that the notice was sent in good time to arrive within 14 days, then the charge can only be challenged if the case is taken to court.

It is accepted in law that post is deemed served within 2 working days of it being posted. Therefore, provided that a letter is posted within 12 days of the alleged offence taking place, it is presumed as having arrived within 14 days. This is accepted by the Court unless evidence can be provided to the contrary.

Therefore, in order to succeed in raising a defence on these grounds, the alleged offender would need to go to Court and “rebut the presumption of service” i.e. give evidence under oath as to how they received the notice of intended prosecution and most importantly, when.

The date that you became aware of the notice is not important – It is the date that the notice was physically served at your address e.g. delivered by Royal Mail.

If you can successfully convince the Court that the notice of intended prosecution was served on the registered keepers address outside of the 14-day time limit, then you will be found not guilty of the offence – even if you have technically committed it.

When Does The 14 Day Rule Not Apply?

It is important to note that the 14-day limit does not apply if:

1. You are not the registered keeper e.g. if you were driving a lease vehicle or a vehicle owned by someone else and have been nominated by them as the driver.
2. If you failed to update your vehicle logbook (V5C) when moving address and therefore the notice was sent to your old address.

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Send us a message or call us on 0333 443 2366 for expert legal advice

Failing To Respond to a Notice of Intended Prosecution

If you fail to respond to a notice of intended prosecution, the police will charge you with an offence of failing to provide drivers information. Such an offence cannot be dealt with by way of Conditional Offer of Fixed Penalty and must be taken to court.

At court you face the below penalty for this offence:

1. 6 penalty points.
2. A fine (up to £1,000).
3. A victim surcharge.

Received a Notice of Intended Prosecution for running a red light? We can help

What Are the Defences For Failing To Provide Drivers Information?

The most common defences for failing to provide drivers information are:

1. That you did not receive the request for drivers’ information, and therefore it was not “reasonably practicable” to respond (note: this defence is not available if the notice was not received, as you have failed to update your logbook when moving address).
2. That you did respond to the notice, providing the information required and you did so within the requisite 28-day period.
3. That you did not respond to the notice within 28 days, however you did so as soon as reasonably practicable (this may be relevant where you were on holiday but responded as soon as you opened the letter when you returned home).
4. That you gave all the information that was in your power to give (this may be relevant where you do not have all the relevant information to be able to give to the police, but that you provided all of the information that you could).
5. That you could not with reasonable diligence have ascertained who the driver was (this may be relevant if you had no information as to who the driver was, and you could not have ascertained this information even through due diligence).

Conditional Offer of Fixed Penalty

A Conditional Offer of Fixed Penalty for 3 penalty points and a £100 fine will generally be offered for an offence of running a red-light provided that:

1. You do not have 9 or more penalty points on your driving licence (if you have 9 or more points, you will not be able to accept such an offer, as you will fall liable to a 6-month disqualification for accumulating 12 points within a 3-year period and therefore the offence will need to go to court).
2. The time that you went through the red light did not exceed 3 seconds from when the red light was first displayed.

A Conditional Offer of Fixed Penalty is an out of court settlement and will avoid the charge being taken to court.

Generally, it is seen as a more attractive solution to court proceedings, as it is the minimum penalty that can be offered for the offence and the penalty at court would be much higher.

In order to accept a Conditional Offer of Fixed Penalty

Driver Improvement Course

A driver improvement course may also be offered for an offence of running a red-light provided that:

1. You have a full UK driving licence.
2. You have not taken the course within the past 3 years.
3. You accept commission of the offence and are willing to pay the course fee for attendance.
4. The time that you went through the red light did not exceed 3 seconds from when the red light was first displayed.
5. The course can be taken up and completed within 4 months from the date of the offence.

A driver improvement course can be done in person or online and is usually for half a day. In order to book onto the course, you must pay the course fee, which is approximately £100. If you successfully complete the course, then you will receive no penalty points or financial penalty for the offence.

The course is designed to help educate drivers with the positive outcome of improving their skills as a driver and road safety in general.

When Does A Red-Light Offence Go To Court?

A red-light offence will go to court in one of the following circumstances:

1. If you have not followed the instructions correctly to accept a Conditional Offer of Fixed Penalty (e.g. if you have not provided your driving licence details to the police, or if you did not pay the fine).
2. If you have 9 or more penalty points on your driving licence and are therefore liable to a 6-month disqualification under the “totting up” procedures (accumulating 12 points within a 3-year period).
3. The time that you went through the red light exceeded 3 seconds from when the red light was first displayed.

Contact Caddick Davies Solicitors today 

Send us a message or call us on 0333 443 2366 for expert legal advice

What Is the Penalty For Going Through A Red Light At Court

If an offence of going through a red-light goes to court, you will still receive 3 penalty points on your driving licence.

However, you will be expected to pay an enhanced fine, which is calculated as follows:

1. A band A fine which is 25%-75% of your NET weekly income. This will be capped at £1,000 and you will receive a reduction of up to 33% if you enter a guilty plea at the earliest opportunity.
2. A victim surcharge (like a court tax), which is 40% of the financial penalty.
3. An order to pay prosecution costs (approximately £85 – £160).

In most cases, a case of this nature will proceed to court if a driver has gone through a red light more than 3 seconds after it was activated, and therefore a Conditional Offer of Fixed Penalty cannot be offered. The police have no choice but to issue court proceedings to ensure that a punishment can be imposed. The police cannot offer a Fixed Penalty (£100) for red-light offences that exceed 3 seconds, the fine must then be aggravated at court.

Therefore, the only difference in this type of offence going to court is the level of financial penalty – not the endorsement on your driving licence.

Do I Need a Solicitor?

The truth is, you may not need a solicitor if you have been charged for going through a red-light. If you accept that you are guilty of the offence and you have been offered a Conditional Offer of Fixed Penalty or a driver improvement course, then you should accept it. This will be the best outcome that you could receive.

If you have less than 9 points on your licence, and the matter has gone to court due to the seconds into the red light or due to failing to accept a Conditional Offer of Fixed Penalty, then you can plead guilty online, without the need to attend court, and the penalty will be issued in your absence. You will get the opportunity to enter your financial details online and thereafter will receive an email and letter confirming the outcome.

When Will I Need a Solicitor?

There may be certain circumstances that you do need a solicitor:

Dangerous Driving

There are times where an offence of going through a red-light can be aggravated to a more serious offence of “dangerous driving”.

Whilst this is dependent upon the circumstances of each individual case, the following factors may result in a more serious charge:

1. Driving at excess speed when going through the red light.
2. The red light being displayed for a long time.
3. Going through the light caused in a collision.
4. Being involved in a police chase.
5. Pedestrians or other vehicles having to take evasive action.

An offence of dangerous driving is defined as when an individual’s driving falls far below that of a “competent and careful” driver.

It is a serious offence that, if convicted, will result in the following sentence:

1. A mandatory disqualification from driving for a minimum period of 12 months.
2. A compulsory extended re-test with the DVLA at the end of the disqualification.
3. A community order OR a prison sentence up to 2 years.

If you have been charged with dangerous driving, we advise having legal representation to either assist you presenting a defence or pleading mitigation to secure a lesser sentence.

Special Reasons

If you have rolled over the white line but stopped short of the red light/junction/traffic, then you are technical guilty of the offence – no matter how harsh that may seem.

However, the Court may choose to exercise discretion not to endorse any penalty points if they are persuaded that there are ‘special reasons’ as to how/why the offence was committed.

An application for ‘special reasons’ is usually most appropriate in circumstances where an offence may have been committed on a technical basis, but there may be significant mitigation to be considered in connection with a lack of knowledge/intent, little or no harm caused, or less moral culpability associated with the offence.

A special reason must be:

1. A mitigating or extenuating circumstance;
2. Directly related to the commission of the offence;
3. Not amount to a defence in law;
4. Circumstances that ought to properly be considered when considering penalty.

If you feel that this applies to you, then you can contact the office on 0151 944 4967 for a free consultation. We will go through the circumstances in detail with you and will advise on the prospects of success in your case.

Contact Caddick Davies Solicitors today 

Send us a message or call us on 0333 443 2366 for expert legal advice

Exceptional Hardship

If you are guilty of this offence but will accumulate 12 points on your driving licence then you would fall liable to a 6 month disqualification under the “totting up” procedures.

A disqualification from driving can be avoided in such circumstances by making an application for “exceptional hardship”.

Such an application is about convincing the Court that the consequences of a disqualification from driving would have a significant impact on you or those around you.

In order for the court to grant ‘exceptional hardship’, they will need to consider that the consequences of disqualification are ‘exceptional’. They need to be convinced that these matters go beyond matters of inconvenience or difficulty. If the court believes that disqualification would result in difficulty or inconvenience, then a disqualification will be imposed.

A ‘totting up’ disqualification is intended to cause difficulty and inconvenience as it is intended to be a punishment for ‘totting up’ penalty points. However, if the court can be persuaded that the consequences of disqualification go beyond difficulty and inconvenience, then it is upon that basis that they can find ‘exceptional hardship’ and allow you to keep your driving licence. Furthermore, any consequences suffered by a third party will be considered more significantly by the court than that of consequences to yourself.

Typical examples of “exceptional hardship” include, but are not limited to:

1. Loss of job.
2. Inability to repay debts.
3. Impact on family members in the household.
4. Caring responsibilities for children or a vulnerable family member or friend.

If a disqualification would have a significant impact on you or someone you know, then we would recommend speaking with a solicitor to discuss the strengths of your case.

Contact Caddick Davies Solicitors today 

Send us a message or call us on 0333 443 2366 for expert legal advice

Summary – Going Through a Red Light

At Caddick Davies Solicitors, we have a team of specialist motor defence lawyers who are experts in preparing cases, defending charges, and presenting mitigation in court in order to avoid or reduce a disqualification in cases such as going through a red light offence. We understand the complexities of these cases and have a proven track record of successfully assisting clients in avoiding convictions, penalty points and driving disqualifications.

From the most straightforward to the most intricate cases, we are dedicated to providing personalised support and guidance. We begin every enquiry with an informal discussion to gain a thorough understanding of your unique circumstances and to address any questions you may have in complete confidence.

If you believe that you have a defence or mitigating circumstances that should be considered in your speeding case, please do not hesitate to contact our office for a free consultation at 0333 443 2366.

• About
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Neil Davies

Motoring Lawyer at Caddick Davies Solicitors

Caddick Davies is recognised as one of England and Wales’ leading motoring law firms, offering specialist Speeding Solicitors, Drink Driving Solicitors & Dangerous Driving Solicitors.We provide advice and representation on all motoring offences including speeding, the avoidance of disqualification on penalty points or “totting up” (exceptional hardship), driving without due care and attention (careless driving), dangerous driving, drink driving, as well as a range of services related to medical revocation of a driving licence.

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