Driving in a bus lane..

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stevewestern

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I recently got a penalty notice for driving in a bus lane.
As someone who generally doesn't do this sort of thing I took a close look at the pictures which show a parked van on the opposite side of the road and cars overtaking it in my lane. I had pulled into the bus lane to allow them to do so, and was shown pulling back into my lane after the obstruction.
In my mind I am just helping keep the flow of traffic moving, and seem to remember something in the highway code that states that you are meant to do what you can to help.
Am I right?
Do I have reasonable grounds to argue my case?
I can't dispute that I was in the bus lane at some stage but feel that I wasn't wilfully breaking a law.
What do you think?
 
You'd have to ask a knowledgeable lawyer to be sure but there's a claim { here } that you may be able to use...
If the bus lane doesn't allow other vehicles, there are only specific special circumstances when you can drive in it:

  • If there's a blockage or obstruction in the road.
  • If there's an emergency vehicle approaching.
  • To avoid an accident.
  • To pick up or drop off a passenger.
If you enter a bus lane for one of these reasons, make sure you leave it again as soon as it's safe to do so.
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You don't get any penalty points for driving in a bus lane, it's a council penalty but do speak to someone asap if yu want to challenge it as failure to pay within the time limit will increase the fine
 
stevewestern said:
I can't dispute that I was in the bus lane
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They can't let you get away with it or they have to let every tom dick and harry ... if they are anything like round here ..letting the emergency services pass isn't even a good excuse :(
 
KIPAX said:
They can't let you get away with it or they have to let every tom dick and harry ... if they are anything like round here ..letting the emergency services pass isn't even a good excuse :(
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A good point, though how many have been prosecuted for moving out of the way, of an ambulance (or police vehicle?), at a red traffic light i.e. moving forward and to one side ahead of the solid white line? As this too is illegal! I have seen it happen........however, I also recall seeing or should that be hearing an emergency vehicle turn the siren off whilst waiting for the traffic lights to change but leaving "blues" on. Once the lights changed the siren restarted and the car in front acting promptly to allow it through!

In other words an approach of "make way/help if safely possible" is not a 'license' or instruction from the emergency vehicle that would stand up in court.
 
Ah well...
I confess guv, I did it, but bl**dy hell, as one of the rapidly declining number of drivers who actually thinks about other road users this is exactly the sort of thing I hate.
I'll try to work out how to appeal a second time while I work out a way to be as much of a pilchard as penalty fine issuers..

Oh, and thanks for all your replies - I appreciate your help!
 
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stevewestern said:
Ah well...
I confess guv, I did it, but bl**dy hell, as one of the rapidly declining number of drivers who actually thinks about other road users this is exactly the sort of thing I hate.
I'll try to work out how to appeal a second time while I work out a way to be as much of a pilchard as penalty fine issuers..

Oh, and thanks for all your replies - I appreciate your help!
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The ironic thing is Steve, if you’d been on your motorbike you’d have been in the bus lane legally!
 
Moving through a red light at a set with cameras for an emergency vehicle will also result in a fine, can’t see you getting away with it.
 
Is there a video. If not it may be difficult to determine the speeds etc. If it all happened fairly quickly, your reason may have been to avoid a head on crash and should they not be prosecuting the driver who was on the wrong side of the road. It would be worth writing and suggesting this. If this fails and they produce a video which does not support this just pay up. However, if they have no real counter to what you say, fight it all the way. I hope you succeed.

I was driving along a road in my home town and was following an elderly lady driving at less than 20mph. After following for several minutes I was in a wide section of road (dry and clear) and could see it was clear in front and behind and there were no pedestrians to be seen at all; all the pavements and verges were very wide. So I thought the highway code suggests that you overtake quickly (though does not invite you to exceed the limit)which I did and failed to notice the speed temporary hidden speed camera. I was sent a fixed penalty fine which I did pay as they would only use the evidence of my speeding and not the reason why. I like to think that a policeman on the spot would not have booked me or at least only given a warning but you cannot reason with a speed camera. The old lady should have been investigated as to whether she should be driving at all; she seemed to have difficulty with steering even driving so slowly.

Dave
 
stevewestern said:
I confess guv, I did it, but bl**dy hell, as one of the rapidly declining number of drivers who actually thinks about other road users this is exactly the sort of thing I hate.
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You and me both! Driving through some towns is like driving in central Paris, a free for all. Excessive speed, undertaking, lane hopping, tail gating, no indication, the list goes on.

Good luck with the claim, but I expect your chances are close to nil.
 
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mj4456 said:
Moving through a red light at a set with cameras for an emergency vehicle will also result in a fine, can’t see you getting away with it.
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Yes.

In fact the police make a point of it here: https://www.askthe.police.uk/content/Q699.htm
If you do cross the stop line at the junction whilst the lights are on red, you will commit the offence of contravening a red traffic light. It's important to remember that in committing the offence (crossing the stop line) the onus will be on you to provide evidence that you did so to allow an emergency vehicle through. That may be considered as mitigation, but there is no guarantee that it will be. If the police decide to prosecute you for the offence and you choose to challenge that decision, it will ultimately be a matter for a court to decide.
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Brentor said:
You and me both! Driving through some towns is like driving in central Paris, a free for all. Excessive speed, undertaking, lane hopping, tail gating, no indication, the list goes on.
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Sounds like a more civilised version of driving in Johannesburg ... :D
 
Dave Canon said:
Is there a video. If not it may be difficult to determine the speeds etc. If it all happened fairly quickly, your reason may have been to avoid a head on crash and should they not be prosecuting the driver who was on the wrong side of the road. It would be worth writing and suggesting this. If this fails and they produce a video which does not support this just pay up. However, if they have no real counter to what you say, fight it all the way. I hope you succeed.

I was driving along a road in my home town and was following an elderly lady driving at less than 20mph. After following for several minutes I was in a wide section of road (dry and clear) and could see it was clear in front and behind and there were no pedestrians to be seen at all; all the pavements and verges were very wide. So I thought the highway code suggests that you overtake quickly (though does not invite you to exceed the limit)which I did and failed to notice the speed temporary hidden speed camera. I was sent a fixed penalty fine which I did pay as they would only use the evidence of my speeding and not the reason why. I like to think that a policeman on the spot would not have booked me or at least only given a warning but you cannot reason with a speed camera. The old lady should have been investigated as to whether she should be driving at all; she seemed to have difficulty with steering even driving so slowly.

Dave
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I've not seen any evidence of a video but that's a great suggestion, I'll give it a try.
I have to say that I can't argue the fact of the law, I was in the bus lane, but I do think my reason is good, and even more, it is honest !
 
This is a massive bone of contention in my town.

A 24 hour bus lane has been introduced (despite the buses stopping at around 8pm!) on the main road into the town centre.

At one point there is a right turn into a petrol station. If someone is waiting to turn into the petrol station the traffic backs up behind causing long queues. Strangely the council have decided this is the perfect spot to put a camera so anyone who enters the bus lane for the few seconds it takes to go round the waiting car gets a ticket - even if the buses are not running.

The camera has generated hundreds of thousands of pounds for the council so they have no interest in changing anything.
 
daveproctor said:
This is a massive bone of contention in my town.

A 24 hour bus lane has been introduced (despite the buses stopping at around 8pm!) on the main road into the town centre.

At one point there is a right turn into a petrol station. If someone is waiting to turn into the petrol station the traffic backs up behind causing long queues. Strangely the council have decided this is the perfect spot to put a camera so anyone who enters the bus lane for the few seconds it takes to go round the waiting car gets a ticket - even if the buses are not running.

The camera has generated hundreds of thousands of pounds for the council so they have no interest in changing anything.
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How do these people get and keep their jobs Dave ?
There is a bus lane near us that cost £30,000 to put in, but within a couple of weeks 'they' realised it was in the wrong lane so it is no longer a bus lane, although the painted road will make it seem like one for years, causing all sorts of chaos. Hmm.
 
A few years ago my father-in-law was called out to deal with an urgent problem in one of the towns car parks; he was in charge of them at the time working for the council. It was a Sunday morning and when he reach a particular junction, the lights were red. They were evidently red for all directions and after some minutes had passed he decided that the lights were faulty as they had been reported faulty the day before. He carefully crossed with the light still red not noticing a police car waiting to cross from the side also held on red. He later received a fixed penalty and points for crossing red lights. He thought that this was grossly unfair and he was certain the lights were faulty and he was attending an urgent issue in his own time. He intended to plead not guilty. I persuaded him not to do so but plead guilty and appear in court but obtain evidence of his mitigation. He obtained in writing from the County Council a report that the lights had had an intermittent fault for some weeks though they believed it had be repaired by the Sunday. He also obtained in writing from the Council that he had been called out urgently. I also advised him to accept that he had made a mistake but with good intentions. The magistrates clearly accepted that the situation was unusual and that there was mitigation so only fined him £10 and no points on his licence.

Dave
 
Dave Canon said:
The magistrates clearly accepted that the situation was unusual and that there was mitigation so only fined him £10 and no points on his licence.

Dave
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But if the lights were faulty what was he supposed to do? Sit at the red light until it started working again? Was everyone who passed through the red light fined? I wonder.
 
woof woof said:
But if the lights were faulty what was he supposed to do? Sit at the red light until it started working again? Was everyone who passed through the red light fined? I wonder.
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Ah! red lights....we were told as first time visitors to SA in about 2005 to never stop at night when the 'robots'(traffic lights) were on Red......even if we seemed to be in a safe area :cautious: o_O:police:
 
woof woof said:
But if the lights were faulty what was he supposed to do? Sit at the red light until it started working again? Was everyone who passed through the red light fined? I wonder.
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But questioning him, he just assumed the lights were still faulty and thus did not wait long enough. The police said he only waited 3 mins and the lights changed just after he crossed them.
 
Ricardodaforce said:
The ironic thing is Steve, if you’d been on your motorbike you’d have been in the bus lane legally!
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Not everywhere, I think. Not sure if we're allowed to use bus lanes here in Exeter or not.
 
I've decided to wait until I can make a formal representation - I'm dammed if I'm going to pay for doing something I believe was in the interest of other road users.
I'll let you know what happens, as long as you'll visit me when I go down for a long stretch..
 
Brentor said:
Just received my first ever speeding ticket after 45 years.
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You might be offered a 'speed awareness course' which will loose the associated points, but cost slightly more than the fine.
 
g4aaw said:
You might be offered a 'speed awareness course' which will loose the associated points, but cost slightly more than the fine.
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I did one of those, absolutely shocked at how many people didn't understand what the national speed limit was. Most didn't know how to tell if they were in an urban 30 mph zone, or a NSL area.
 
Jelster said:
I did one of those, absolutely shocked at how many people didn't understand what the national speed limit was. Most didn't know how to tell if they were in an urban 30 mph zone, or a NSL area.
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Knowledge level on our roads seems to be consistently variable!
Sorry to have strayed off Steve's topic.
 
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Jelster said:
I did one of those, absolutely shocked at how many people didn't understand what the national speed limit was. Most didn't know how to tell if they were in an urban 30 mph zone, or a NSL area.
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I was the only one on mine to have not been done in a 30 limit!
 
I was nearly hit by a woman who was driving the wrong way round a one way system (clearly marked) while she was looking to park for a speed awareness course. If I hadn't been running late, I would have found the organiser and pointed her out.
 
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