About a month a go driving through Kingston-Upon-Thames I drove in a bus lane and have subsequently received a Penalty charge (£130/£65 if paid within 14 days). The reason I did this was there was some road works and there was a sign saying Use Bus Lane. I appealed and they’ve written back and said prove it – how the hell am I supposed to do that? To make it worse they given me 14 days from April 5th and the letter arrived today – April 14th.

Highways department should have records of any works carried out.

FOI request…

Getting so we need Dash Cams for council stupidity too 🙁

http://www.eveningtimes.co.uk/news/13235980.Fined_for_entering_bus_lane_to_get_into_parking_space/

Write back asking them to prove there wasn’t a sign, give them 14days to respond and delay posting the letter.

Ask to see the evidence.

Invite them to discuss it in Court.

I got fined for driving in a bus lane (honest mistake, thought it was only a bus lane between 7 and 10, just like all the short stretches on the road, went in at 6:00am with the correct lane completely clear!)
As part of the prosecution, there was a video and photo of me doing it. If there were roadworks that would have shown up. What evidence has been presented to you?

Interesting, was it a fixed camera or a mobile one ? I saw a very interesting piece on tv of a privately run mobile speed camera van which was operating illegally as they had no signs up – its a legal requirement to warn motorists if its not a handheld I believe – they work on the basis by the time you get the fine you cannot prove there was no sign

Invite them to discuss it in Court.

Appeal it thru their normal process.

I ended up sat in front of a Barrister twice when disputing ones in London (on a motorcycle) – won one, lost one.

never thought about this a positive of having a dash cam…. but ergo it opportunity presents its self.

cheaper than the subsequent fine even if it does wind agent007 up (cross ref another thread on dash cams)

ts a legal requirement to warn motorists if its not a handheld I believe

Google that sentence and see what the results say
Works for many of your beliefs.

the speed trap was hidden – there is no requirement for the police to make themselves visible or provide warning when operating in this way

You cannot even appeal on the grounds you did not see it. Of course they don’t have to warn you as it defeats the point of the exercise

Dear Drug dealers, later today will be raiding this street and doing random stops at the Train station. Please dont change your behaviour based on this warning
Much Love
The Feds.

I am sure you can see why this is a poor policing strategy

never thought about this a positive of having a dash cam….

Unless you get the notice within 15 minutes after the incident happening you won’t have any footage though…

I disputed it when I got a ticket for entering a bus lane – and lost.

Driving up Wembley high road & didn’t realise that there was a match on at the Stadium.
Yes, there were signs but as I was driving and not really caring what local sports events were on, it didn’t really register.

I got to a bus lane near a junction, quickly read the sign that said something like,
Buses only
Mon-Fri 0700-1900
Sat 0700-1900

So, as it was a Sunday I used the bus lane – for about 40yds.
At no point did I get in anyone else’s way or impede a bus; traffic was light and there weren’t any buses in the vicinity. At the set of lights I was approaching the bus lane ends before the actual lights, so I was getting myself into the left hand lane at the lights early by going into the bus lane.
A week later I got an £80 fine. I originally thought my plates had been cloned and stuck on another Ibiza, before realising where it actually was.

I didn’t dispute the claim as such, but explained my reasoning & that as I didn’t live locally I wasn’t aware there was a match on. They said tough, pay the fine.
Annoyingly, the other signs on the approach have flip down portions on them that say EVENT TODAY in read, but the one sign I used to make a decision about whether I could use the lane or not, conveniently didn’t have the flip down sign on.

Your situation is different, but I imagine on this occasion they are hoping you’ll just back down as it won’t be easy to prove.
As above, the council should have proof of whether there were road works or not. I’d be getting in touch with my local MP and/or local paper to have a rant about it too, if you are sure you are correct about the sign telling you to divert into the bus lane. Do they not have camera evidence of the incident (with the roadworks in the frame?) – they sent me pretty pictures of me driving up the bus lane!

Too late for the OP as it only goes back 2 weeks but this is a little known but very useful site for details on London Roadworks…

London’s Register of Roadworks

Came in very handy when Thames Water denied they had dug up the road and damaged our car in the process 🙂

“Unless you get the notice within 15 minutes after the incident happening you won’t have any footage though…”

8gb card and a car that hardly moves….:D

You could avoid any future issues by trading your car in for a bus. Imagine the fun you’ll have…

Bury Council have two revenue traps on roads approaching the town, one on the A56 coming north from Manchester and one on the road coming east from Bolton. The bus lane is 7-10 and 4-7 restricted for miles then suddenly changes to “all times” with only one small sign to warn of the change of conditions. A hundred yards further on there’s a small square marked on the pavement where a tiny camera car sits; the operators are so fed up with being abused that they stick bits of paper on the windows to hide their faces.

Under FOI I wrote and asked Bury how much they were earning from the scam. After two requests, which I had to word increasingly precisely, they finally admitted they earned £158,984 in 2013/14.

My flat is by the station in kingston, the agent told me the camera covering the yellow box junction there 100 yards before station is the biggest revenue generater in the area. Its so congested people get caught every light phase – you could be there for ages if you didnt chance it.

Write them a letter (posted recorded delivery) explaining why you are not paying it.

99% chance they will cancel the ticket. It costs them too much to take it to court.

I’ve appealed a bus lane fine before, and won. I drove up a filter lane in order to enter a park and ride area. The gate was closed (earlier than it should have been) so I had no option but to carry on through the bus ‘gate’ into a bus lane. I got snapped and written to but they accepted my explanation!

Junkyard – lazarus
ts a legal requirement to warn motorists if its not a handheld I believe

. Of course they don’t have to warn you as it defeats the point of the exercise

You really think this? The point is to slow people down, NOT to issue £x amount of fines.

Roadworks.org is another site you can use to view roadworks (not sure if it works for past roadworks.

I use it all the time at work to try and keep an eye on our contractors as it seems they have no requirement to provide any sort of update even if they are weeks past the required date!