Will Running a Red Light at a Temporary Traffic Signal Be Captured?
4 Answers
It will be captured. According to Article 10 of the Road Traffic Safety Law, drivers who violate traffic signals will be given a warning or fined 200 yuan, with 6 demerit points deducted. Temporary license plates are paper permits allowing vehicles to drive temporarily on roads. Traffic violation penalties are unrelated to temporary or permanent license plates and are primarily imposed for illegal driving behavior. To determine a red-light violation, at least three pieces of photographic evidence are required: the vehicle has not left the stop line when the red light is on; the vehicle has passed the intersection when the red light is on; the vehicle has crossed the line and continued to move forward when the red light is on. Article 26 of the Road Traffic Safety Law: Traffic signals consist of red, green, and yellow lights. A red light indicates prohibition of passage, a green light indicates permission to pass, and a yellow light serves as a warning. Article 44: Motor vehicles passing through intersections must comply with traffic signals, signs, markings, or the directions of traffic police. Ways to avoid running a red light: When there is an arrow signal, follow the arrow light; otherwise, follow the circular light. When the red light is on, the front of the vehicle must not cross the stop line. When the yellow light is on, the front of the vehicle must not cross the stop line. When the green light just flashes, if you are close and moving fast, you should proceed, as braking might not stop you in time to avoid crossing the stop line; if you are far away, moving slowly, or the intersection is congested, you should stop. When driving in the city, develop the habit of looking for traffic lights whenever you see a crosswalk or stop line at an intersection.
That time I was driving my colleague to catch a flight when the temporary traffic light at the intersection suddenly turned red and I couldn't brake in time. I spent the whole trip worrying about being caught on camera. Later, I specifically went to the traffic police station to ask a traffic auxiliary officer and learned that most of these temporary traffic lights are solar-powered portable models. They don't have induction coils buried underneath, nor do they have cameras on top. However, if there are public security surveillance cameras at the intersection, traffic police officers can always review the footage and manually issue tickets. The key point is that these lights usually appear in construction zones or accident-prone areas. In case of an actual accident, even if you're not caught on camera, the dashcam footage can still determine liability. It's advisable to ease off the accelerator when approaching such intersections, and being extra cautious in construction zones is always the right move.
Last week, while dropping my daughter off at school, I encountered municipal pipeline construction, and all four intersections were replaced with these portable traffic lights. The road repair worker mentioned that these devices aren't connected to the network for capturing violations, but traffic wardens use handheld devices for on-the-spot evidence collection. As a driving instructor with over a decade of experience, I know all too well that many people assume temporary lights don't capture violations and stomp on the accelerator. Last year, a student ran a similar light at a kindergarten intersection, was recorded by a parent, and reported via the traffic police app—still resulting in points deducted and a fine. Nowadays, during school drop-off and pick-up times, temporary lights near schools are under strict supervision.
Last time we delivered goods through the development zone at 3 a.m., over twenty temporary traffic lights were lit up like a Christmas tree. The veteran drivers in our fleet all said these lights don't capture traffic violations, until our teammate Xiao Wang ran three consecutive red lights and got pulled over by traffic police. Turns out some new portable lights come with 4G modules and automatically upload data to the command center in key urban areas. If you see a basketball-sized black sphere on top of the light, that's a panoramic camera. Remember: slow down for flashing yellow lights, and you must stop at red lights—especially at night construction zones where there are many dump trucks. Don't gamble with your life.
