Quote Originally Posted by Ron Bennett
If an officer sees a dirty plate, they'll likely just tell the driver to clean it off -
In the UK, the officer would be obliged to issue the driver with a £30 fine, plus a 3-points endorsement on their license (contravention of 'construction & use laws') - plus, it gives them an excuse to pull you over...not a good thing, generally speaking, even in respect of convenience.

In the UK, the police are NOT allowed to pull a driver over without due cause - ie, they have to have a reason...I always try to minimise the 'reasons' - lights and tyres are in good order, sensible driving patterns, etc, negate the 'reason' for a cop to pull me over.
Most of the speed-limits (a ridiculous notion, there is no such thing as a speed limit) in this country are a joke - wide open country roads with a 'speed-limit' of 50mph!..sheesh, I usually drive a fully freighted artic at full-pelt (56mph restricted by limiter) without causing any danger what-so-ever.

As to traffic light cameras.
In the UK, our traffic lights have 5 stages:
1: RED - means STOP
2: RED and AMBER - means STOP, but prepare to go
3: GREEN - means GO (if the way is clear)
4: AMBER - means prepare to STOP (if it is safe to do so)
5: RED - means STOP
If you went past the line, just as the lights turned RED (bearing in mind that the AMBER light has given you a 2second warning of the imminent RED - at 30mph, you can travel 60ft), then it could be conceived by law that you were demonstrating a lack of awareness, or were travelling at a speed that didn't allow enough stopping distance - a difficult situation to find yourself in - the conviction would come under the banner of "driving without due care and attention".

Remember, the law works on the basis of "what if...", as much as it does to "what is..."
(especially when it comes to motoring laws)

The UK motorist is seen as a 'cash-cow', we are the most heavily taxed body in the country, and have so many laws governing us as to treat us like criminals before the act - it's a sad fact.
I think I'm right in saying that the motorist fraternity contribute over £400Billion per year in revenue to the UK treasury.
They just want to bleed us dry, and use such tactics as 'global warming' and 'environmental degradation' as their propoganda tools.
Most cars these days run cleaner than ever before, and contribute very little towards global warming.
They are also increasingly made of bio-degradable materials.

oops, I'm in danger of going off on a tandem here, so I'd better leave it there.........for now bwhahahaha
Res...
RESiNATE Reviewed by RESiNATE on . guilty until proven innocent???? becareful in the US. i fell a victim to a new freedom that was taken away by our govt. got a letter in the mail that says i have a court date for running a red light. they havea pic of my car going under a red light. then under it, it said "the light has been red for 0.2 seconds." fucking bullshit. theres no way they can prove i was driving my car. pinned on me bc a fucking camera at the red light? sorry USA, but thats not being innocent until proven guilty....and i think tahts something are Rating: 5