Traffic signals are timed so that if you’re going the speed limit you will have enough time to either stop before the signal turns red or clear the intersection on the yellow. Either you were speeding or you ran the red. Both show poor judgment. I’d pay the fine you earned and exercise better judgment in the future.

they may be designed that way but they are far from perfect and road conditions can and do effect stopping times, your best bet is to take it to court and contest the ticket on the grounds that you felt it would be unsafe to come to a stop at that point due to road/traffic conditions

The camera not going off probably doesn't help you, the cameras are not perfect and falsely trigger or fail to trigger all the time. Which is why the they are required to be reviewed before spending you a ticket. On the contrary, it probably would have been better for you if it did go off and you didn't run the red.

But always talk to a traffic lawyer anyways, having a clean record or at least not having something on your record recently is still probably your best defense.

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Who cares about the camera? The cop and the cameras in his car saw it. Go slower next time and you wouldn’t need to run a yellow.

Mitigate it.

In Washington a driver may enter an intersection on a solid yellow light and it is of no significance if the light turns red before the vehicle exits the intersection. RCW 46.61.055. If you choose to challenge the infraction your likely to prevail on these facts.

Thank you, yeah it doesn’t matter if it turns red while you’re in the intersection, as long as it was yellow at the time you entered the intersection. Case closed you should not have gotten a ticket.

Always contest

>you felt it would be unsafe to come to a stop at that point due to road/traffic conditions

Don't admit fault for some other traffic violation, such as "driving to fast for conditions", to try and get out of the one you were cited for. That just asking for additional citation.

I was taught in drivers ed that when making left hand turns in a busy intersection you’re supposed to pull all the way into the intersection and wait for the yellow/red to stop traffic in the other direction to execute your turn. This wouldn’t be legal if the above law wasn’t valid.

Sorry that's not how I understand it. As I understand it if you are in the intersection and the light turns red that is ticketable, since you are not clear of the intersection.

An officer once told me yellow means stop if able and being in the intersection is ticketable since you have 3 seconds on the yellow.

Every traffic signal?

"brakes"

You are not alone and in many places you would be correct. Road rules can vary in small but significant ways from State to State and people naturally just follow what they were taught/told although the rule where they now live is different. In both Oregon and California you would be correct and I would get a ticket. Here is nice breakdown of the issue that Puget Sound Public Safety put out a few years ago:

YELLOW LIGHT: What does a steady yellow light mean in a traffic control signal in Washington? The law (RCW 46.61.055) says that a driver facing a steady yellow light is hereby warned that the green light is being terminated or that the red light will immediately follow which is when traffic shall not enter the intersection. You can enter the intersection when the light is Yellow but you cannot enter the intersection after the light turns red.

Washington, like 37 other states with “permissive yellow” rules, drivers can legally enter an intersection during the entire yellow interval, and a violation occurs if a driver enters the intersection after the onset of red. In the other states that have a “restrictive yellow” rule, drivers can neither enter nor be in the intersection on a red, and a violation occurs if a driver has not cleared the intersection after the onset of red.

How long a yellow light remains steady is depended upon the speed limit of the road. In a yellow light study done in Seattle the average light was 3.5 seconds. The Federal Highway Administration recommends the following yellow light times:

25 MPH - - 3.0 Seconds 30 MPH - - 3.5 Seconds

35 MPH - - 4.0 Seconds 40 MPH - - 4.5 Seconds

45 MPH - - 5.0 Seconds 50 MPH - - 5.5 Seconds

55 MPH - - 6.0 Seconds

If they’re functioning properly, yes.

Every single signal in the state? How does that work? You're making shit up.

Lol I’m not. This is a thing that traffic engineers do. They do have set algorithms and software to help, but they legit program traffic signal timing based on the posted speed limits, among many other factors.

It’s totally a thing. Traffic engineers make decent money. Maybe you’d like to join the profession? There’s a huge need for more engineers, and it’s very interesting work. Plus these are usually jobs with good health insurance and retirement benefits. Come aboard!

I have many years experience working in city planning and transportation planning. I know it's a thing. What I also know is that not every signal series is timed. And certainly the three stoplights in my town aren't. We don't even know which light the OP is talking about. You know you're being hyperbolic.

So long as the light is green or yellow when you enter the intersection you are correct.

I’m not talking about coordinating signals, just strictly the timing of yellows & reds. If you’re really as knowledgeable about transportation planning as you say, then you would know those are standardized and take into account the posted speed limit. I really don’t understand why you’re so deadset on fighting this point, but by all means, keep shouting into the void.

Thanks and I agree with this. I am a software engineer and I figured that both the lights are set in such a way that for the speed limit at that particular cross street, the light and its timing algorithm are set so that if I was going the speed limit, i would have enough time. But, factors such as it was raining, dark, and the timing may be good on paper but for me to slam on the breaks sometimes that can be just as dangerous.

Also, wouldnt the camera also have similiar if not more sensitive software/sensors that had i entered when it was red, it would have snapped a pic? meh.. ill just pay it, I was just trying to get some conversations and basically its what I thought.

thanks. Im going to just pay the fine but thought Id try and get a lil conversation going and Ive learned some things

Of the things Ive learned from asking this question is that people like to argue for the sake of arguing. Im sure each signal state machine is set as a function of the speed limit as input. then it just knows how long to stay yellow and when to switch to red. Most likely with a buffer to take into account various conditions.