http://www.autoblog.com/2013/07/30/man-beats-ticket-dashcam-evidence-takes-town-court-video/#continued

*quality

Who watches the Watchmen?

Boosting this quality contribution up in the Hot Listing - declared quality by blankfist.

I'm so confused because I'm pretty sure the light would have been red and the office would have been right.

Here in Jersey when the light turns red for one way it stays red for the other way for about 3 seconds. That way in case someone trying to "make it before the light turns red" ends up running the light s/he doesn't smash the person who goes on green.

I guess it depends on the area?

*wheels
*law

Adding video to channels (Law, Wheels) - requested by brycewi19.

I agree with Darkhand. Even if he didn't run the light, he cut it pretty damn close.

True but the cop was not in a position to see that. He could only see his light turn green. From the Cops position he could not see the other light nor watch-it turn red.

Everywhere I've lived there's a two second delay after the light turns red before the cross light turns green. In multiple reviews, I'm getting a 3 count before the cops light turns green. He may be cutting it close on the yellow but he's also completely through the intersection before the green light comes. The law around here, as l was instructed by the person giving me my road test for my license, is that as long as you're in the intersection before the light turns red, you're good.

Maybe the law is different there, but the traffic judge seemed to agree.

Yes, let's start inventing crimes if we can't catch you breaking any actual laws. That's what the law-abiding citizens who pay your fucking salary deserve.

Good job, Officer Dipshit. You'll make sergeant in no time.

Uh, whereas I can't see it turn red, I can definitely tell that it's no longer green.

Within the first 6 seconds of the video, look at the light pole above the "W" and watch the light there closely. At the 6 second mark it goes off, meaning that's the green light. You can safely assume that it's gone to yellow at that point, and it takes a solid 3-4 seconds for that truck to even reach the intersection once the green light has gone off.

Based on the fact that the light turns green in our direction less than a second before he's out of the intersection I'd assume that the light was red. And, people seem to be forgetting that dash cams capture very little of the full view of your windshield, the cop would EASILY have seen what colour the light was at the time.

Your observations are correct although I made his time out to be just under 3 seconds . If he was in most Canadian jurisdictions he would have been arguing in court about whether he could have stopped safely on the yellow, which depends on road conditions, speed and drivers reaction times. However this takes place in Vermont which like most American jurisdictions I'm aware of does not have a stop on yellow requirement. The only applicable rule is you do not enter an intersection on red. So this guy was clearly in the right and the cop had to know it.

The officer needs to be charged and convicted of perjury.
All police involved need an official complaint on their permanent record to halt any advancement in their career, one from the judge would be GREAT! I'm just guessing, but I bet if they skip the next court date, they'll all have a warrant out for their arrest, how great would that be!
I'm just sad he could only sue for $2000, I think treble damages is warranted in this situation, and it should come out of the officers pay/pension.

"I caught you smoking weed! You're under arrest."

"No I wasn't"

"Can you prove that you weren't smoking weed?"

Weather permitting, etc. I was always taught the rule of thumb is that you stop on yellow if you can without standing on the brake, and go through otherwise. That way you are preserving the flow of traffic, keeping it smooth and safe.

On red lights, I was always taught that if you enter an intersection before the light is red you clear it as soon as it's safe to do so. And you wait for people for clear it if your side turns green while they are in the intersection. This mainly applies to people making left turns, because oncoming traffic isn't obeying the stop on yellow rule of thumb above. In good weather, of course.

So, I think this guy was in the intersection before the light turned red and he was far enough across to not impair traffic by the time the other light turned green. I don't see a problem...he maintained his speed. Didn't slam on the brakes or speed up that I could see.

The cop followed him for as long as he did because he wanted to make a bust on something and was waiting on some other better reason to come along. He could have pulled him over long long before since that road was basically empty.

So, hope the guy wins. And I like that he was outraged during the ticketing process....his age probably helped him there. Young guy doing that probably wouldn't be fairing as well.

He clearly *did* run the red light. At the very start of the video, you can see the traffic light for cross traffic is yellow, if you look at the top left of the screen. At 0:06, the yellow light vanishes, meaning that it is now a red light. The truck then appears in the video crossing the intersection.

I don't know what was indefensible about this video.

The cop is not Batman. He can turn his head.... The vast majority of lights are positioned where you can turn your head and see the cross traffic light.
I do this all the time so that I can see when the cross light turns yellow, so I know my green light is coming.