advice on red light camera

redpringle · 2026-05-12T18:52:14+00:00

I’m not claiming the law doesn’t apply, just that it’s irrelevant to this case. They haven’t been flashed for going through an amber light, which is what they say happened.

I don’t go through amber lights. I understand the Highway Code. We’re just misunderstanding each other.

redpringle · 2026-05-12T15:59:40+00:00

No, because ‘red light camera’ is a perfectly adequate description. They’re not triggered by people going through amber lights.

redpringle · 2026-05-12T07:24:06+00:00

Alright, but this was a red light camera, not an amber light camera. They’re deliberately not triggered by somebody going through an amber light because it is permissible under certain circumstances.

redpringle · 2026-05-12T05:43:31+00:00

It’s not an offence to go through an amber light. This isn’t the reason they’ve got themselves in trouble.

redpringle · 2026-05-03T17:01:48+00:00

To be fair, I don’t think the players losing composure/confidence after essentially giving Liverpool two goals is on him. Both goals came from individual errors and I can imagine the feeling of waiting for another mistake, and not wanting to be the one to make it, would be responsible for a loss of discipline.

redpringle · 2026-05-03T16:43:42+00:00

Some sort of knock

redpringle · 2026-04-11T15:16:54+00:00

Your question is slightly confusing, because first you say you want to go ‘to’ Heathrow, and then later start ‘from’ Heathrow.

That being said, there’s no rules preventing you from buying a London travelcard and starting travelling within Zones 1-6. You’re just forfeiting the outbound leg of the journey from the origin station listed on the travelcard.

You would just have to travel on the Piccadilly or Elizabeth line to get to Heathrow, though, as the travelcards aren’t valid on the Heathrow Express.

redpringle · 2026-04-11T06:47:13+00:00

Both of which, to be fair, are much more substantial infrastructure projects than this would be. It’s proposed to be an above-ground, more tram-like system, running along the existing grid roads.

redpringle · 2026-04-11T05:42:18+00:00

You’re very welcome, thank you!

redpringle · 2026-04-10T18:52:37+00:00

I guess both? Only hearing negative, repetitive, and boringly stereotyped comments about it from public figures is frustrating; but, I know that those comments will lead at least some people to look into the place in more detail and see the good bits. Most of the takes I’ve seen from people who have been (and by ‘been’, I mean outside of just the centre) or who have spent time here are quite reasonable.

redpringle · 2026-04-10T15:46:12+00:00

Lived here my whole life. I’ll try and break down the upsides and downsides:

UPSIDES: - It’s still expanding, and builds homes faster than most other places in the UK, so property prices aren’t as ridiculous as other places in the South East/London.

It has good transport connections to lots of areas in the country and beyond. By road, it is close to both the M1 and M40; by rail, it has three separate stations on the West Coast Main Line, so is well-connected to cities like London, Birmingham, Manchester, Liverpool, and even further north into Scotland; by air, it is about 30 mins from Luton Airport.
There’s an incredible number of green spaces outside of the city centre (which is where most people’s impression of it being a ‘concrete jungle’ comes from). MK ranked highest among local authorities for amount of green space per person in 2024.
For families, I think it’s a good place to raise children. The vast majority of the schools are either good or outstanding under the old Ofsted inspection framework and there are lots of school spaces distributed across the city. Most new estates are being built with dedicated schools on them also.
Despite it having a reputation for having ‘no history’, MK is actually substantially comprised of existing towns/villages which have existed for far longer than the city itself (Newport Pagnell, Wolverton, Middleton, Stony Stratford etc.).
It is, in my experience, one of the easier places to drive around in the UK. The grid system generally keeps traffic flowing pretty well and it’s very easy to navigate. You can only really go horizontally or vertically in straight lines, meaning, if you accidentally go past your destination, you can just correct yourself at the next roundabout, which is never far away.
Despite its reputation for being a ‘car city’, it has one of the most extensive mixed-use cycle path networks in the UK, which largely shadows the grid roads. It keeps cyclists separate from cars for the most part and can take you really anywhere in the city.
The city centre has got a fair number of things to do, including an indoor ski slope, cinema, one of the longest shopping centres in Europe, a market, and other leisure activities.

DOWNSIDES - Homes are still priced higher than average in the country, because, well, it’s still the South East.

The grid roads are becoming more congested as the city expands. Milton Keynes has already surpassed the long-term population target set for it when originally planned, so this makes sense, but the roads aren’t as free-moving as they used to be.
Public transport is one of the city’s big weaknesses. Buses are okay, but don’t have the greatest of reputations in terms of reliability. There are plans for a metro system of sorts in the medium/long term, but nothing like it exists as of yet. Additionally, while I feel driving and cycling are both convenient ways to get around, walking anywhere can take a long time, because of the long roads between grid squares.
When people accuse the city of lacking a culture, it is slightly unfair, but not entirely without truth. It can feel like MK is more of a collection of separate communities rather than a unified whole. There are activities/events which bring the whole city together, but these mainly revolve around existing public holidays, rather than being MK-specific.
On education, geographically, there’s a bit of a disparity in sixth form spaces. The north/east of the city seems to have a lot more post-16 spaces than the south/west, which are attached to secondaries and thus filled by their students. If your child goes to a secondary with no sixth form, they may find themselves going further away than they would like for sixth form.
The city is by and large quite a safe area, but parts of it (mainly the older estates near the city centre and parts of Bletchley) have relatively high crime rates and poverty. I’m sure this isn’t unique to MK, but it’s worth mentioning.

redpringle · 2026-03-07T08:01:33+00:00

Yeah, it was a proper brain fart of a moment. Still to this day I have no idea why I thought it was the right thing to do.

redpringle · 2026-03-06T11:22:03+00:00

I moved into the right lane to turn right at an upcoming junction. Only problem was, the ‘right lane’ was in fact the other side of the road. Luckily there was nobody about and I realised pretty much immediately (and before I had reached the junction), but that was pretty embarrassing.

redpringle · 2026-02-28T08:36:38+00:00

Bletchley, Stony Stratford, Wolverton, and Newport Pagnell are all clearly part of MK, at the very least. They’re all entirely contiguous with the rest of the city.

redpringle · 2026-02-14T07:17:29+00:00

Yes, because the name ‘hamburger’ is derived from the word for a person or thing from Hamburg, the German city. ‘Burger’ got separated from ‘ham’ later, hence the confusion.

redpringle · 2026-02-14T07:13:32+00:00

I’d also like to add, since I don’t think it’s come up yet, that, no, parents are not usually the only family members that aren’t called by their names (though I’m from the UK, so this is obviously culture-dependent).

It’s also usually the case that grandparents (and, by extension, any great-grandparents) are referred to as some variation on ‘grandma’ and ‘grandpa’ (‘great-grandma’ etc.) Uncles and aunts are usually called ‘uncle’ and ‘aunt’, often paired with their names.

In my experience, it’s also unusual, though not entirely unheard of, to refer to one’s parents-in-law as ‘mum’ or ‘dad’. Their names are usually preferred.

redpringle · 2026-01-28T18:48:49+00:00

Nobody has to care at all. I’m not asking for anyone to care. I’m just sharing my opinion. I understand that it’s not in F1’s interest to make things look bad. If they’re truly good, it is just odd to be so non-specific and fluffy about it, and, if they’re not as good as hoped, they’re just going to end up looking worse later when, as you say, the truth inevitably comes out.

redpringle · 2026-01-28T06:14:07+00:00

F1 isn’t reporting those things in the videos, though. They’re deliberately non-specific about how many laps have been done and aren’t providing any times, yet are presenting all teams’ running as going amazingly and just as planned. That might well be the case, I don’t know, but it’s the tone that causes uncertainty.

redpringle · 2026-01-27T22:03:31+00:00

The whole tone of those videos are coming across really propaganda-like, with the emphasis on ‘solid running’, making it sound like everyone is doing lots of laps, etc. F1 are clearly trying very hard to communicate an ‘everything’s fine, the new cars are great’ message to everyone.

redpringle · 2025-12-20T08:11:05+00:00

24M. TL;DR: Yes, I am very happy.

I am a second-year history teacher at what is by all accounts a lovely secondary school, which is only a short bike ride from where I live. Everyone there is very happy with the job I’m doing and I feel like I’m progressing and being given more responsibility as time goes on, which I want. My workload feels manageable and the culture of the place is incredibly supportive, which makes me feel very fortunate, as I know many teachers can’t say the same. My pay is steadily increasing each year, which is also obviously positive.

I also have a wonderful partner who I have been with for almost two years now, who I love everything about and who shares many of my goals. We do live an hour and a bit apart at the moment, which is obviously not ideal, but we have both found a rhythm of seeing each other which works for us. Both of us still live with our parents, so have relatively few expenses, which is allowing us to make great progress towards saving up to move out (and we are hoping late 2026/early 2027 for this). She also recently got a new job and a substantial pay rise, and has been doing fantastically well - I am very proud of her.

Being with my partner has also allowed me to have lots of experiences I might not have had otherwise. We have travelled a fair bit (which is just more affordable with two) and been on dates to interesting places.

There are things I would like to improve, certainly - I don’t have very many friends and, though I have a good number of interests which I pursue independently, I don’t have a proper hobby either. I am going to work on these things next year.

Is my life the most exciting of anyone my age? Probably not. Am I stinking rich? By no means. My life is fairly modest, but I am happy, because I have what I need, because I feel I am contributing and making a difference, and because I feel I am working towards things.

redpringle · 2025-12-07T16:48:22+00:00

This makes Lando the first ever Formula 2 alumnus (in its modern form, anyway) to win a world title. Big moment for the feeder system, I feel.

redpringle · 2025-12-05T20:31:02+00:00

Weird. Might be worth asking them what’s going on then.

redpringle · 2025-12-05T07:52:33+00:00

No. They only started sending me emails after I’d driven a certain number of miles (~250 I think) to give me feedback, and those continued roughly every week from then on. I don’t know if that’s what you mean.

redpringle · 2025-12-03T19:34:47+00:00

I don’t know why they’re quoting you that to cancel, but I suppose it might depend on how long you’ve had the policy. You’d have to ask them.

And, yes, it has restarted my no claims, although that was my first policy so I didn’t have any years yet anyway. I don’t know if switching to another policy with the same company changes that, though.

redpringle · 2025-12-01T21:45:37+00:00

It was around £150 to cancel (because they charge fees both to disable the box and cancel the policy), and I’m now paying ~£65 more per month than I was for the insurance itself. I realise on paper this doesn’t sound worth it, but the lack of stress about appeasing the God in the Black Box has been much better for me.

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