are my fellow students and instructor messing with my head?

I've got the same rules for myself, Ghost Ryder. Once the steers have crossed the "stop bar", you are officially in the intersection according to the local PD, driving instructors, and three different lawyers I've spoken to about this issue. In that case, you are better off from a legal perspective to go ahead on through (provided you are safe to do so).

Safe stopping distance depends upon a number of factors including weight of vehicle, condition of road, condition of tires, brake adjustment, and a few others. I haven't yet successfully fought a "failure to abide by traffic signals", but I probably wouldn't win on the "obstructing traffic" ticket either and the failure to abide ticket doesn't have any points in PA.

 

Use to run linehaul pulling triples. Never failed while leaving town that you would take off from a red light and before you could get the second trailer through the intersection the light would turn red. Oh well.

 

Do this for a living. As long as the front of your truck is past the white stop bar when the light turns red you will not get a ticket, at least in my state...should be the same in all others.

 

I've set the camera off a few times in Chicago and never received a ticket. If you are in the intersection you are probably past the camera being able to read your license plate or see your face. I wouldn't worry too much about it.

 

I don't worry about it. Pulled wind blade through traffic cameras. The average truck is 75 ft long or less, I was 190ft long and had a rear pilot car tucked under the tip of the blade. The flashes went off on every intersection and neither I or the pilot car ever received a ticket.