Good morning everyone, today I got my first ticket in Switzerland, however I think it was given to me by mistake, but I want to know your opinion.

The incident took place on the 31st of December at 20:05, I was driving from my place to a friends place and pass through a junction at yellow. I saw in advance that the light was red, and when I was 5-10 meters before the junction it turned Amber, so I crossed the line at Ember (After red). My letter tells me that I passed the red after 36.5 seconds.

I know that I cannot cross the intersection at yellow (after green) if I can't make it or if I will need to stop in the middle. But is there a rule from red to green?

You go when it is green. Before that you are risking a fine which is exactly what happened to you.

It was not ember alone but also, and most importantly, still red. You must not cross the line before it turns green (Art. 68 SSV) You did a false start, and just like in sports , it is penalized. If you got a simple fine of CHF 250, OBV No. 309.1 than all is correct and there is not much you could contest. Actually nothing.

Perfect, thank you for your response, you are right it was a false start, my bad. I went today to that intersection and saw that Amber is always on with Red together so I assume I shouldn't drive. Learned my lesson the hard way

I'm pretty sure that you should have learned it, amongst other things, when you first took driving lessons. Amber/yellow/whatever you want to call it, never means "go"; you should be equally wary of amber even when it's not on with a red.

Yes, of course we all go through amber when it's just changing from green, but if you see it amber as you approach you should always stop if possible (and assume it will be red by the time you cross the junction). Many folks have complained here in the past when it's gone from amber to red before they've fully crossed the junction, thinking that as long as it was amber when they passed the light they were safe to go, which is clearly not the case.

And it's absolutely no different here than in any other country, Green for Go, anything else for stop.

I've approached a light that was green, then changed to amber so I stopped. And then the amber started flashing as the traffic light switched to night mode.

Am I right in assuming that this is not taught in Swiss driving schools?

If I wait until green to drive off, I routinely get the driver behind hooting his horn in annoyance.
This got me thinking that perhaps people here are taught to move off on amber.

You are wrong and you will fail the test if you move over the line before green. Red plus Yellow/amber/ember/orange means: prepare for green, which will come soon, and be ready for a swift start once green is lit. Unfortunately, the length of this period is not uniform over the places. It seems to be quite long in the city of Zurich and rather short in the canton of Aargau.

What I do is on amber/yellow, foot off the brake... brake lights go off informing any idiot behind that yes I'm awake. Then gas on green.

Never make important driving decisions based on the impatient tooter behind you.

Just another thing I miss from driving al older manual. Letting go the clutch fast, stall the engine and fake having problems to restart the engine after someone horns. Modern cars kill this kind of fun

I'm surprised, surely there is a general amnesty when visiting friends on New Years eve ?

In all my years of driving I don't think I've ever been hooted from behind unless/until the light was actually green and I'd failed to see it. I can forgive them for doing so on those rare occasions, e.g. if I'd not realised there was a filter for that lane, being glad of the reminder. Bit people hooting you when it's still red&amber? Naah, never.

One of my cars is still an old-fashioned manual, but then nobody expects a Landrover to zoom off quickly anyway, plus of course nobody wants to get into an argument with a battered-looking 2.5 ton 4wd either.

I can definitely confirm that it happened to me too to be honked multiple times on red+yellow. My possible explanation was that these are so inpatient that they pretend you start immediately at green without any delay and if they see that you have break lights on during yellow they honk, because these professional racers expect you to use the yellow time to lift the break and be ready to go.
This explanation does not make much sense - but it is the best I have

Not exactly! Sometimes there is a flashing yellow, which means proceed with caution.

No. It means the ordinary rules apply, which is either the signage, including stop sign or yield, or in absent of those priority from the right.

Is it not the larger vehicle that has priority?

In the USA, yes I remember my confusion approaching those fancy intersections with stop signs upon every entry

As I recall the local traditions in Greenwich, CT, that was not the size, but rather the IDV (Insured Declared Value) of the car, what set the priority. Also, it was considered a best practice to give way to handicapped cars (all tinted windows, prosthetic exhaust pipes, lowriders etc.) or FL plates.

It's no wonder you have that opinion.


Given your nickname