Bus Lane fines - Test case
Automated fine for straying into a Bus lane?
Bus Lane fines - Test case
An independent adjudicator found in favour of Shaun Duffy, a motorist from Kenilworth, Warwickshire, who received a £60 penalty charge notice for the offence.
He is one of 10,000 motorists caught straying into the bus lane in the heart of Oxford. These fines have produced and income of £635,435 in fines.
The Chief Bus Lane Adjudicator, Caroline Sheppard ruled that the lane was not clearly enough marked. Oxfordshire County Council is appealing this decision in the High Court.
The issue is one of how these bus lanes should be indicated to the motorist. In many cases bus lanes are painted a different colour or the road surface marked to ensure drivers can see clearly where it is a bus only lane..
In some cities bus lanes are only indicated by signs and this has been highlighted in the Adjudicator's report.
"Adjudicators have commented in a number of cases that in a busy city centre drivers are all too easily distracted by the need to be alert to the movement of traffic and pedestrians and are then faced with a multitude of signs."
The final ruling is likely to affect motorists caught using bus lanes in cities apart from Oxford, including parts of Brighton, Nottingham, Sheffield and Manchester.
The adjudicator's position was backed by the AA. "This ruling is an important victory concerning local authority enforcement of moving traffic offences which is spreading across the UK," a spokesman said.
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