Motorist is fined $200 for little known offence at traffic lights – and it’s a common driving manoeuvre
- A common driving operation is in the spotlight after a driver copped a fine for it
- Footage shows driver changing their minds at a red arrow before driving ahead
- The incident drew confusion on TikTok as to how they had done anything wrong
A motorist was hit with a $200 fine, and lost two demerit points doing a manoeuvre commonly practised by drivers.
In a video posted to TikTok a Perth driver is seen pulling over into a right hand turn lane, pausing before indicating left to leave the right-turning lane and continue driving straight ahead.
Despite the lights being green and no one else being on the road, the fixed red light camera flashed twice.
A driver stops to turn right before they decide to go straight on, and cop a fine with demerits
A traffic camera lights up the night as a motorist drives through an intersection perhaps not realising it was illegal by moving from a right hand lane.
Many Aussies were left confused over what the driver was being fined for.
The person who posted the video said the offence was ‘driving contrary to arrows at intersection’.
A spokesperson from the WA Road and Safety Commission told Yahoo News the footage reveals drivers are unaware of some of the road rules.
These include stopping at a red arrow, driving in the direction of traffic lane arrows applying to the lane and not driving across single, continuous lines dividing two lanes.
The WA Road Traffic Code 2000 says if there are traffic lane arrows applying to a lane a driver is in, then they must drive in the arrow’s direction.
If someone doesn’t stop at a stop line, where there is a red arrow they risk a $300 fine, plus three demerit points, or six in the holiday period.
A $100 fine and two demerit points can be applied for crossing single continuous lines.
TikTok users said the same thing had happened to them but no fine materialised, while others said a fine did indeed arrive.
‘[This] happened to someone I know (sic) once. I was in the car too, but they didn’t end up getting the fine – guess officers have some discretion,’ one user said.
While another wrote, ‘my housemate got fined for an identical offence, not obeying lane arrows, instead of a red light fine’.
‘I got fined and demerit point as well for the same reason,’ another user said.
One confused commenter said, ‘obviously the way was clear on their left and indicated, all good’.
‘I did this in Perth too, I got done $200 and two points,’ one more chimed in. ‘I didn’t even know it was a thing until the ticket came in the mail’.
The incident comes after a Queensland man was smacked with a $1033 fine, and four demerit points after being snapped with a phone on his lap.
The man posted his fine on social media saying he didn’t know it was illegal, as he was stopped at a red light.
Yet according to state authorities it is illegal to hold or have a phone resting on you, even when you are stopped at lights.
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