Drivers seeing red over penalties

QUEENSLAND motorists were stung almost $600,000 for running amber traffic lights last year, thanks to a littleknown law that makes it illegal to pass through an orange light.

Running an amber light carries the same penalty as running a red light – with both costing the driver $378 and three demerit points. Since 2015, more than 5300 drivers statewide have been caught entering the intersection too late.

Drivers in the south were the worst offenders in 2017, with Brisbane motorists recording 437 amber light offences, the southern region 349 and the Gold Coast/Logan area 311.

This year, in January alone, 128 infringement notices, worth almost $50,000, were handed out across Queensland.

A Transport and Main Roads spokeswoman said that drivers could be fined by police officers or traffic cameras.

“Motorists must stop on a yellow light unless it is unsafe to do so,” she said.

“If it is unsafe to stop, such as being close to the light when it changes from green to yellow, you may proceed through the yellow light within the posted speed limit,” the spokeswoman said.

The state’s peak motoring body supports the law, which RACQ spokeswoman Renee Smith said was there to protect drivers.

“The yellow light rule is there to indicate the light will soon turn red, so drivers can slow down and prepare to stop,” Ms Smith said.

“It’s not a signal to speed up to make it through the intersection. This kind of behaviour is reckless and dangerous,” she said.

“Police wouldn’t have issued fines if these were 50-50 calls. They must have been blatant attempts to skip through the lights.”