Dezbjr just received a NIP for driving in a bus lane. First he’s ever driven in London, following satnav and using car in front as sort of guide. Camera obviously there cos they know they can catch drivers out… but what with how poorly marked the road is, does he have any chance of disputing?

(still from video, so they have his reg etc)

Not a hope – does Streetview show any other signs?

Poorly marked as in it has the words “BUS LANE” in massive letters on the road?

No harm in trying, I have to drive a lot in London. Worn road markings, especially if it’s raining really don’t help the challenge at hand

Poorly marked as in it has the words “BUS LANE” in massive letters on the road?

Sun in his eyes?

Road markings four abreast and going too slowly?

Road markings don’t pay road tax so shouldn’t have been there?

All valid defences used by motorists for not seeing things 😉

2 signs, road markings, camera sign.

Bus Lane contraventions can have “allowances” applied. How far did he travel in the bus Lane?
Did he pass any other traffic and gain an “advantage”?
Did he cause delay to a legitimate user of that bus Lane?

😆 cheers TINAS, reckon that blue sign is rather telling. Dunno what the young fool was driving in that there bloody London for, I certainly never do. Lesson learned young fella.

How far did he travel in the bus Lane?
Did he pass any other traffic and gain an “advantage”?
Did he cause delay to a legitimate user of that bus Lane

Just from the entry point to those 2 yellow marks, (which Look like they used to say “Stop” maybe.) Followed that car top right of the pic.
Didn’t pass anything.
Didn’t delay anyone.
Looks very innocuous indeed.

Oh, he’s paid the £65 already.
Oh well, cheers folks 😊

I drove about 20yds in a bus lane in Wembley on an event day. I didn’t know it was an event day, we’d been out most of the day and there was no obvious event clutter such as drunk football fans or middle aged people squeezed into Bon Jovi t-shirts.

I checked the sign and was clear to use it “except on event days” so I used it.

Got a ticket, complained and pleaded my case. Got a really sarcastic letter back and told “no chance, pay-up” so ended up just paying rather than contest it further. Gits.
I didn’t obstruct a bus, didn’t hold anything up and only went into the bus lane to get into the correct lane at the set of lights I was approaching.

Is that the only pic they’ve supplied? Looks like he’s moving across to avoid fully entering the lane. Good job he’s not paid already…oh.

Always worth appealing, I’ve had two London parking tickets dropped, not had a buslane ticket in London (yet).

I’ve had a couple where I live though.
If you exit the loading bay for my local shopping centre, there is a small sign to send you straight on as turning right is bus lane for 100m or so.

Even better, if you have to drop tools off as a contractor, you then have to do a lap of the local road network to then park in the carpark, takes about an hour on a bad day. Great for the environment too. Sometimes they let you reverse up the in ramp.

Not a chance. Two cameras in Chiswick and Hammersmith earn a quarter of a million pounds each for the council from bus Lane infringements. The cameras recording yellow boxes can also be particularly annoying when traffic ceases to flow as you pull across the box.

I had one for passing the wrong side of a traffic island because a parked lorry on my side was obscuring my safe route. I appealed to no avail. Be under no illusions, these are significant cash generating cameras that may or may not be useful for traffic.

. The cameras recording yellow boxes can also be particularly annoying when traffic ceases to flow as you pull across the box.

Do not enter the box unless you know your exit to be clear. This is a really easy fine to avoid.

Oh. Thanks.

Do not enter the box unless you know your exit to be clear. This is a really easy fine to avoid.

And an Uber or Addison Lee mini cab changes lane, blocking the exit as you pull away, you’re high and dry. Have you driven in London much?

Poorly marked as in it has the words “BUS LANE” in massive letters on the road?

And the plethora of signage that would have been up before you hit the bus lane…but I have sympathy as there is so much signage, most of it useless, in big cities and towns that its impossible to keep track of it all if you’re not familiar while trying to navigate and watch out for e-scooterists, suicidal cyclists and pedestrians. We’re only human after all and prone to making mistakes and we don’t really give ourselves much of a chance in situations such as these. But confusing drivers and forcing the error presents a fortunate revenue earning potential for some councils. It’s not a game we’re supposed to win.

Slightly off topic there is a bridge over the A1M at Boroughbridge (North Yorks) which often has a spped camera van on it.

Anyway a friend got nicjlked for 81mph ( i was done there for a similar speed couple of years ago) so he attends the speed awareness course online and it turns out all bar one of the folks was nicked at the same spot all for low 80mph offences.

Now i dont defend speeding, but i have to question the value of this in preventing accidents

confusing drivers and forcing the error presents a fortunate revenue earning potential for some councils. It’s not a game we’re supposed to win

One of the tunnels under the Thames has changed weight restrictions, so a LWB ford transit connect isn’t allowed anymore, The sign explaining this is next to a busy roundabout with a width restriction. You simply do not stand a chance of taking the information in whilst dealing with everything else going on.

The weegies know how to rinse drivers in bus lanes

Glasgow City Council rake in nearly £22m in bus lane fines

Anyway a friend got nicjlked for 81mph ( i was done there for a similar speed couple of years ago) so he attends the speed awareness course online and it turns out all bar one of the folks was nicked at the same spot all for low 80mph offences.

Absolutely no sympathy. 80mph is speeding on any UK road, I know every driver ever has probably done it, but it’s a fair cop.
It’s not like missing a limit change. You all went too quick and got caught, so maybe you’ll slow down or keep your eyes peeled in the future.

but i have to question the value of this in preventing accidents

Speed kills, simple as that. If the speed awareness course then slows you down then mission accomplished. Potential speed-related accident avoided.

Bristol is a nightmare for this at times, had a fine a couple of years ago where roadworks pushed you to a diversion, that also had roadworks that hadn’t set up a diversion, so headed back and took the first turning, which of course was a little bus shortcut, i did stop when i saw the bus route marking on the road, but as luck would have it the vehicle directly behind me at the time was a bus, going via that route.

Reality is i just got flustered and missed the sign, then even more flustered with a bus being behind me so kept going, it happens, we all mess up at times, and they can be costly, no point worrying about what’s done, for the amount of money it’s more hassle to push it, you just end up paying more, or worse, your lads done the easiest, and best solution for reducing any stress or further annoyance.

I have sympathy as there is so much signage, most of it useless, in big cities and towns

Me too, and it seems to be getting worse. There’s some new-ish roads and junctions near here and the signage is ridiculous for what, in most cases, are actually pretty simple junctions. It’s basically cognitive overload, and in attempting to tell you about 50 different things and/or the same thing multiple times, they’ve managed to tell you nothing.

Have you driven in London much?

Exactly.

And one I didn’t receive was turning right at a traffic light junction that had a no right turn. And of course this was at night and the light behind the No right turn sign on the traffic light itself was not lit so you could not see the sign. I expected a fine but it never came. I certainly would have contested that one since it was an honest mistake due to absence if signage.

Bus lane cameras are for money making. Our village, however does need one for keeping by right at islands because four times an hour we see gridlock as the railway crossing barriers fall. Then all hell breaks loose as people take it upon themselves to drive on the wrong side or the road around two mini roundabouts to try and make progress. I saw twenty in an hour the other day.

On a lighter note, if this thread was a test of observational skills, martinhutch is the loser 😛

I’ve driven in London my whole life and still get caught out – I’ve started finding it so stressful in the last few months that I’ve in effect given it up. I’ve started turning down work in London – it’s just not worth the hassle. I suspect this is a deliberate tactic of councils, to just make driving so uncomfortable that it’s impossible.

The sheer quantity of road signs, bus lanes street furniture, rules and cameras make actually paying attention to your driving very difficult. Couple that with ever narrowing lanes, filtering motorbikes and emergency vehicles on top of endlessly changing speed limits between 20 and 30 mph (even on the same stretch of road).

You also NEED to have a phone with satnav running due to the sheer number of road closures, no right, no left, one way systems and god knows what else – it’s is a further distraction and makes me feel like i have adhd.

I’ve driven in London my whole life and still get caught out – I’ve started finding it so stressful in the last few months that I’ve in effect given it up. I’ve started turning down work in London – it’s just not worth the hassle. I suspect this is a deliberate tactic of councils, to just make driving so uncomfortable that it’s impossible

Yeah, I wish I had the choice. I got a ticket for both directions on the weight limit for the tunnel. Wasn’t worth me going to work that day and wiped out a fair chunk of overtime, my kit is heavy and bulky so public transport isnt an option.

It’s a bit academic now, but if he was entering from Hartfield Crescent, there’s no advance warning sign of the bus lane, and iirc the taper is shorter than recommended in the road marking handbook thing.