Vaz says traffic signal was malfunctioning when he drove through red light

Transport Minister Daryl Vaz is rejecting suggestions he is a lawbreaker after a video surfaced on social media of him driving through a red traffic light.

In a Twitter thread reacting to the video, Vaz explained that he drove through the red light because the traffic signal was malfunctioning.

In the seconds-long video, Vaz is first seen outside his parked vehicle. He later enters the vehicle and proceeds to drive through the intersection while the stoplight is on red.

However, Vaz explained that: "I quickly realised that the light was malfunctioning, as it quickly turned to green and then yellow and back to red in a matter of seconds and kept repeating that sequence."

"On realising that the light kept malfunctioning I proceeded through the lights after making certain the intersection was clear and signalling the vehicle ahead of me," he said.

Vaz further said, immediately after the incident, he called the head of the traffic management division of the National Works Agency and reported the malfunctioning light.

Vaz also noted that the incident happened months ago and questioned the motive for the release of the video at this time.

"Please note that the video clip ends before I had even crossed the intersection which would have shown the lights changing again. It makes one wonder what was the purpose of not showing the full video and releasing it now," he said.

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