After getting my first traffic-camera ticket yesterday, I'm 100% behind self-driving cars.
Most cases, I made the correct choice, but sooner or later I am going to screw up.
But a self-driving car shouldn't get any hangup like that and the AI should improve each time it gets into an accident just like airline safety improve after each accident.
In Australia, when you screw it up, you get a ticket for the red light and a ticket for speeding (if you were).
It's not uncommon to lose your license for that "one" incident.
This would also help the elderly or disabled who would not be able to pass a driving test.
In the UK there are amber lights for this purpose. The light changes from green to amber, before turning red. Both amber and red mean 'stop', but you're not going to get a ticket for going through an amber light.
"You MUST stop behind the white ‘Stop’ line across your side of the road unless the light is green. If the amber light appears you may go on only if you have already crossed the stop line or are so close to it that to stop might cause a collision."
(From https://www.gov.uk/using-the-road-159-to-203/road-junctions-...)
Source 1: California Driver Handbook
http://apps.dmv.ca.gov/pubs/hdbk/traff_lgts_sgns.htm
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Solid Yellow – A yellow signal light means "CAUTION." The red signal is about to appear. When you see the yellow light, stop if you can do so safely. If you cannot stop safely, cross the intersection cautiously.
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The "stop if you can do so safely" wording is safety advice, and sound advice too. But it's not a statement of law.
Source 2: California Vehicle Code
http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/cgi-bin/displaycode?section=veh&gr...
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21452. (a) A driver facing a steady circular yellow or yellow arrow signal is, by that signal, warned that the related green movement is ending or that a red indication will be shown immediately thereafter.
21453. (a) A driver facing a steady circular red signal alone shall stop at a marked limit line, but if none, before entering the crosswalk on the near side of the intersection or, if none, then before entering the intersection, and shall remain stopped until an indication to proceed is shown, except as provided in subdivision (b).
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Note that the yellow light is described only as a warning, with no mention of it being illegal to enter the intersection while the light is yellow. And there is no mention of it being illegal to be inside the intersection when the light turns red, only that you can't enter on a red light.
I can't speak for other states, but I suspect that the laws in many of them are similar.
I had a similar misunderstanding myself until recently. I'd read the wording in the driver handbook and thought that the bit about "if you can stop safely" was the actual law rather than safety advice. It was much later that I got curious and looked into it a little further.
"Do not enter the intersection if you cannot get completely across before the light turns red. If you block the intersection, you can be cited." [0]
You might think this is only referencing situations where you are stopped in the intersection (i.e. blocking it) but there is no reference to speed here.
There's a question on the test: [1]
Q: It is against the law to enter an intersection when:
A 1: You can't get all the way across before the light turns red
A 2: The light is flashing yellow and you didn't stop first
A 3: The light is yellow and you can stop safely
The correct answer is 1.
So, when viewed by a normal person, you may assume that this only applies if you're forced to stop in the intersection (and therefore block it), but neither the driver's handbook, nor the test itself (sorry my link is just an unofficial practice test, but it's on the real thing too) make any reference to speed. Therefore I think it's absolutely reasonable for your "instructor going out of his way to mention that it was illegal to be in the intersection when red" [GP]
I haven't looked up the actual law to see if the wording makes it OK to be in an intersection with the light red, providing you entered legally (yellow/green) and have a clear exit path - but I'm guessing it does not.
[0] http://apps.dmv.ca.gov/pubs/hdbk/traff_lgts_sgns.htm
[1] http://www.elitedrivertrainingservices.com/tests/AdultPracti... (Q10)
If you block an intersection because there isn't room on the far side, you'd be cited under section 22526 of Chapter 9, Stopping, Standing, and Parking:
http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection....
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22526 (a): Notwithstanding any official traffic control signal indication to proceed, a driver of a vehicle shall not enter an intersection or marked crosswalk unless there is sufficient space on the other side of the intersection or marked crosswalk to accommodate the vehicle driven without obstructing the through passage of vehicles from either side.
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This section is known as the Anti-Gridlock Act of 1987. The reason this had to be enacted was that it was never illegal to be in an intersection when the light turned red. If that were illegal, then officers would already have a section number to cite you under. They didn't, so this law gave them one.
Besides that, the only other relevant sections I could find are the ones I quoted in my previous comment. Here's another link in a newer format:
http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displayText.xh....
The rest of the Vehicle Code can be found through a link on this page:
I've skipped red lights, not just to make way for ambulances and police cars (but yes that) but also when the amber->red transition is very short, you're doing the speed limit and when you check your mirror prior to putting on the brakes the driver behind is seemingly trying to read your GPS or check themselves in your rear-view mirror [ie is too close]. Slamming on the brakes then is dangerous; that's an offence too, damned if you do ...
The "must" in "You MUST stop" is an interesting one. The Highway Code is basically [correct me if I'm wrong] a summary of a code that if applied correctly should keep you from being in breach of the Road Traffic Act/ other similar Acts. So it says you must stop for a red light or you will breach, for example here, RTA Section 36 (http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1988/52?view=plain).
Now reading RTA Chapter 52 Section 36 I find it tells me about traffic _signs_. So, wither traffic lights, well the interpretations at S.192(1) are useful and refer me to Road Traffic Regulations Act (http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1984/27/section/64) but still not finding anything that tells me about traffic lights.
The details in RTA 36 concern proper placement and use of a sign, but this doesn't really seem to cover the complete situation - clearly a policeman on duty could direct you to cross a line at a red-light, or indeed the Highway Code says that when lights fail (and you know that how!?) then you can ignore them.
So, traffic lights are a special case of traffic signs that don't really get well accommodated it seems. I concede I gave up when I hit the fifth "reference this other section for what a 'traffic sign' is" so there could be detail elsewhere.
/rant
PS: Ah, http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2002/3113/regulation/10/m... = TSRGD regs 10 & 36, does the bit about traffic lights. Apparently only a red light is a sign under S.36 above.