A young woman’s shock at being fined $500 for not knowing a basic traffic rule that almost every driver has broken

A young Australian woman has taken to social media to express her shock at being fined $500 for disobeying a much-misunderstood highway code.

Melbourne’s Lucinda McGarrity was fined for going through a yellow light on Rathdowne Street in Carlton North.

She openly admitted that she didn’t know her action was against the law.

A young Australian woman has taken to social media to express her shock at being fined $500 for disobeying a much-misunderstood highway code

“So you’re learning something new every day and today I learned that it’s illegal to go through a yellow light unless it’s 100 percent necessary,” she said in a TikTok video.

To further embarrass Ms McGarrity, police officers stopped her at 8.30am on a busy road with sirens wailing and then tested her for drunk driving and drug driving.

In the ultimate outrage for a Melburnian, it all happened right outside one of north Melbourne’s trendiest restaurants, Florian.

“So I was embarrassed,” she said.

“Everyone eats their salmon gravlax and tomato tartine while getting the show of a lifetime, which is having me tested for drugs and breath while I cry my eyes out.

“So don’t drive through yellow traffic lights anyway!”

Some of Ms McGarrity’s supporters were impressed with how she accepted the punishment.

But one urged her to “fight the fine… try to get out of it.”

Melbourne’s Lucinda McGarrity was fined for going through a yellow light on Rathdowne Street in Carlton North

She replied, “I’m not going to fight it, I did the wrong thing. But good to know for the future.”

Others were surprised it was even a criminal offense and carried a $500 fine.

“How do you justify such a large fine for such a small offense?” said a woman.

“It’s treated the same as a red light,” Ms. McGarrity said.

All offenses related to ignoring traffic lights are also associated with three minus points.

Others were not so empathetic towards her.

‘The comments [here] scares me, how does nobody know? That’s the whole purpose of the amber light (to slow down),” said one woman.

According to RACV, many motorists mistakenly think of the yellow (or yellow) ‘as an extension of the green.

“A better way to think of the yellow is that it comes at the beginning of the red, not at the end of the green.

“A yellow light is not a signal to speed through the intersection to overtake the red light.”

The RACV said drivers “are not allowed” to drive through a yellow if it’s possible to brake safely before crossing the line.

“If you cannot safely stop before the stop line, you must stop before entering the intersection itself.”

It added that motorists should still stop even if they slightly cross the stop line.

“At that point, our recommendation would be that you stop.”

If you have already entered the intersection when the traffic light turns yellow or red, you must exit as soon as possible.