Apologies if this is posted before, but I think I just got a ticket for running a red light.
The camera flashed, and I was the only one except scooters at the intersection. I was stopped at the intersection on a red light (in the left lane of a two lane road), but had a green right turn arrow. Seeing how it was 1AM in the morning, no traffic, and people do it all the time, I turned right (from the left lane), and I saw the flash.
Any tips on how to fight this? Anything to do now? Or should I just wait for the ticket to arrive? Maybe the camera is out of film, and it will never come, haha
Technically, I made a legal right turn on a green arrow, albeit from the left lane (which may or may not be illegal), but I see people do it all the time, in traffic, and in front of cops even.
This happened on GuangFu Road in Hsinchu. Beware of the intersection shortly before you get to the entrance to the expressway going towards city center! I’ve always known that red light camera was there, as I’ve seen other people get nailed (although they actually ran the red light).
If you did a legal turn, I imagine the photo would show this ? Best to wait is see if anything happens, it might just be “Oh look, he’s not going straight on, he’s turning” and they throw it away.
If you did an illegal turn, pay the miserly fine and be more careful next time.
You can petition against it. I did it once and was able to get a cheaper fine and postpone payment on the ticket (by months and months) because it took so long to get processed, thanks, to well, it being the Taiwan government.
This was a while ago, so I don’t know if things have changed or not. The building is in Gongguan, by Taida, not the DMV. You have to write a statement of what happened. I wrote the longest, most confusing thing I could.
I was mad that I still had to pay some money in the end, (considering all the money my country has given and invested in Taiwan, and they have the balls to charge me for a little freakin’ traffic ticket?), and picked up one of those big heavy metal clips and threw it at the guy at the counter, but I don’t recommend that (or calling the cop that gave you the ticket the next day and yelling at him).
[quote]This was a while ago, so I don’t know if things have changed or not. The building is in Gongguan, by Tai-Da, not the DMV. You have to write a statement of what happened. I wrote the longest, most confusing thing I could.
[/quote]
I’ve been there too. I had to pay extra fines because they were late, it was quite a lot. I wrote that I’d been out of the country and didn’t have to pay any late fees. I don’t know the name or ther floor, but it’s in the big building on Roosevelt Road next to the Gongguan MRT Station that has a market on the 1st floor.
It sounds to me that you are unfamiliar with the traffic laws here. You did take a test, I presume. You appear to have broken the law (I see everyone else do it, doesn’t cut it). Pay the fine. If you can afford a car, you can afford the fines.
You should frame the ticket; getting a ticket for running a red light – what an oxymoron.
[quote=“wolf_reinhold”]It sounds to me that you are unfamiliar with the traffic laws here. You did take a test, I presume. You appear to have broken the law (I see everyone else do it, doesn’t cut it). Pay the fine. If you can afford a car, you can afford the fines.
You should frame the ticket; getting a ticket for running a red light – what an oxymoron.[/quote]
Actually, I’m driving on an international license that has been stamped by the local DMV for use in Taiwan for the duration that the international license is valid.
The ticket hasn’t actually come yet, I’m just guessing that I got one. As for running the red light, I technically didn’t run it. I had a green right turn arrow, so I turned right. Albeit, I did it from the left lane. Is doing this on a green arrow explicitly illegal? If so, fine, I’ll pay. I know in my home country doing this isn’t explicitly illegal, although it may not be a good thing to do.
I would have to agree with an earlier post. If you didnt run the light then I am sure your photo will be tossed in the trash. I know that they do that with speed camera pics that feature more than one car. Although they know one of them must have been speeding to have triggered the camera, they dont know which one so have to throw it away.
I doubt that turning right from the left lane isnt against the road rules where you come from. It may not written up as an offense titled ‘Right turn from left lane’, but I am confident that the police back home (wherever that is) would pull you over and give you a ticket for ‘dangerous or negligent driving’ or the like.
If you get sent a ticket you best assume that it was considered an infraction and just pay the fine.
May be best to just bite the bullet on this one and be happy that you didnt collect a motorcyclist on your way around. Things could certainly have been a lot worse!
Of course turning right from the left lane is illegal! That’s why they have those lane markings with a big arrow pointing forward on the left and a big arrow pointing right on the right. Its immaterial, anyway. If you really did get caught on film, the photo will simply show your car moving over the line while the light is at red. It will be pretty difficult to plead your case that you were in fact just about to turn right, and even if you could, the turn would still be illegal, as you were making it from the wrong lane.
[quote]
I doubt that turning right from the left lane isnt against the road rules where you come from. It may not written up as an offense titled ‘Right turn from left lane’, but I am confident that the police back home (wherever that is) would pull you over and give you a ticket for ‘dangerous or negligent driving’ or the like.[/quote]
Yes, perhaps. I’ve fallen in this situation several times before at home. It will be the middle of the night, with no other traffic around. I’ll be waiting at a light that seemingly never changes. At home, right turn on red is legal, so rather than wait for the light, I turn right. One could argue that it’s dangerous, but under the given conditions, it really isn’t, although I’ll admit in general, it’s not a good thing to do. A cop would have to be either really bored, or having a bad day to give you a ticket for that. I would imagine even more so in Taiwan, as people right turn from the left lane in broad daylight and full traffic, in front of police.
[quote]
May be best to just bite the bullet on this one and be happy that you didnt collect a motorcyclist on your way around. Things could certainly have been a lot worse![/quote]
Again, it was 1AM, absolutely no traffic, except for the scooter in the right lane who was also patiently waiting for the light to change. Absolutely no danger, or no way that I would have taken anyone out. Seeing the green right turn arrow, I took advantage of that, turned and was greeted with the flash.
In any case, prevailing advice seems to be to wait for the ticket to come and worry about it then. No sense in worrying about something that may never actually come.
[quote=“Big Fluffy Matthew”]If you did a legal turn, I imagine the photo would show this ? Best to wait is see if anything happens, it might just be “Oh look, he’s not going straight on, he’s turning” and they throw it away.
If you did an illegal turn, pay the miserly fine and be more careful next time.[/quote]
Hope I’m not jinxing myself by saying this, but 2 months later, still no ticket. The past tickets I’ve gotten all came within 2-3 weeks. I guess they took a look at the photo, figured out that I was turning right on a green arrow, and threw it out.
I think they’ve been warned off by the appeals place, as its so easy these days to get tickets waived. The cops probably trash any photos now unless they’re rock-solid evidence.
[quote=“Ben”]Hope I’m not jinxing myself by saying this, but 2 months later, still no ticket. The past tickets I’ve gotten all came within 2-3 weeks. I guess they took a look at the photo, figured out that I was turning right on a green arrow, and threw it out. [/quote]Told you nothing may happen, but what the were you doing you doing turning right from the left lane ? Are you aware that my my wife just spent some time in hospital thanks to a taxi driver doing something equally stupid ? I guess he thought “meiyou guanxi” too.
I’m truly sorry for what happened to your wife, and I wish her a speedy and complete recovery.
As I said at the time, it was 1AM, the right turn arrow was green, and there was nobody around save for a lone scooter, who was already completely stopped in the scooter “waiting box”. Had I been in the right lane, I would have had to cross the scooter “waiting box” anyway to make the turn. There was no chance of hitting anything or anyone. It’s not something I would have done, say, during the day, or with any kind of traffic around.
We obviously don’t agree on this, but I do respect your opinion. It seems that the authorities agree with me, and that is good enough for me. There’s no point in me really trying to justify it any further.
[/quote]Told you nothing may happen, but what the 
were you doing you doing turning right from the left lane ? Are you aware that my my wife just spent some time in hospital thanks to a taxi driver doing something equally stupid ? I guess he thought “meiyou guanxi” too.