Learner confused after being told to continue at red light
Even if you're an experienced driver, there can be some situations on the road which are rather baffling.
From roundabouts with 200 different lanes and exits, to tricky junctions and obscure road signs.
And one learner driver was left totally baffled when her driving instructor told her to drive through a red light, despite feeling like she shouldn't. Take a look:
Advert
In a video shared by driving school Clear View Driving, learner Erin tried to slow down her car as she approached the red light. However, she was quickly prompted by her instructor to continue driving.
In the video, the driving instructor said: "It's not for you."
Erin replied: "But it's a red light."
The instructor answered: "No, this red light doesn't apply to you.
"But, I will get into that in a second."
Later, when a pedestrian was crossing, the instructor said: "Don't rush, just let him cross."
TikTokers were as confused as to why she shouldn't have stopped.
One said: "I'm an experienced driver and that would confuse me a lot. I would like to know to who that applies."
Another user who understood Erin's confusion said: "I can understand why she thought that."
A third who pointed out: "So why the traffic light is facing the car is confusing."
A fourth wrote: "Who's [the red light] for then?"
Another added: "I've been driving for 10 years. I would have stopped."
Thankfully, the driving instructor was on hand to explain in more detail why Erin shouldn't have stopped.
It turns out that the red light in question was for traffic that was already established on the main road.
The driving instructor told The Sun Online: "In that clip, we were mid-turn when Erin noticed the red light.
"But the red light was not for us; it was for traffic that's already on the main road; they were waiting in the distance outside the junction behind us.
"That red light is known as a repeater traffic light, which only applies to the traffic already facing that light. My learner noticed it once we turned in.
"If there were traffic behind us as we stopped, then that would block the junction completely.
"The vehicles behind us could also get into a collision as they are not expecting to stop there.
"We should not stop at that point as there is no solid line as we are in the junction."
This is really handy to know.
Lucy Devine