Bus Lane Fine, Contest?

[untakenname]

Came home today to find I've got a £130 fine for straying into a buslane last weekend





I only went into it (briefly) as the cars infront were turning right, I don't even think all four wheels were in.

Hopefully I've got dashcam footage of the incident as I've only driven once during the week. Will take the card out of my dashcam and link it here if it's still on there.
If I pay within two weeks its half price but I think I'm going to contest as I genuinely feel I didn't cause any issues to other road users, there wasn't any buses in the lane and I went back as soon as I passed the cars and iirc the actual sign was obscured by foliage (placed by the council).
If I do contest and lose do I have to pay full whack if they find against me?

Cheers.

[vonhosen]

Whether you caused any issues or whether there were any buses using it at the time are irrelevant as far as the allegation is concerned.

[untakenname]

It's just a bit annoying as it was light traffic and the weekend, I honestly didn't think I was contravening any laws passing the car turning right (think I may have been 4 minutes shy of the time cutoff).

I'm pretty sure all my wheels weren't in the lane, this guy seems to think he had a case but I don't know the outcome http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/scottish-news/dr...

Had a look on my dashcam and it looks like I've still got the recording, I've got the microsd card out of the dashcam but now need to find the fullsize card adaptor.

[Fore Left]

I once got fined for being in a bus lane because I thought it was Sunday when it was in fact Saturday. That traffic was light, I impeded no buses and no kittens died was irrelevant. I accepted my mistake and paid up.

You're in the bus lane FFS. Man up, pay up and move on.

[bigandclever]

It's a bit st, but:
Your wheels are in the bus lane;
About 8 car lengths back it says BUS LANE on the floor, so not sure where the foliage is that's hiding it;
The road markings seem very clear.

[untakenname]

It's the sign at the beginning of this video of the incident, just uploaded from my dashcam
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x4zxWBzg8s8

[CoolHands]

No chance

[speedking31]

You could try arguing that following the arrow that guides you from lane 2 to lane 1 would be an extremely difficult manoeuvre in your car leaving you no option.

[Mr Snrub]

That council Christmas party won't pay for itself you know

[mph1977]

speedking31 said:

You could try arguing that following the arrow that guides you from lane 2 to lane 1 would be an extremely difficult manoeuvre in your car leaving you no option.

1. absolute offence with good evidence of the contravention = OP MTFU and pay

2. the bus lane is a still a bus lane in all circumstances until the dashed line in the pictures

[loafer123]

The bus lane is also left turn only...

[Wacky Racer]

Banged to rights OP. Shame but.........

What shocked me was how powerful those cameras are....

[55palfers]

You should have been caught in possession of some Class A drugs. It would have been a smaller fine.

[Stoofa]

I've only had the one bus lane letter - when they were turning on the cameras on in a part of Cambridge. I'd watched people time and time again zipping down those lanes, to the point of frustration feeling I was the only idiot there for not using it.
Got a warning letter through - just to inform you the cameras are now live, do it again and it will be a fine. I've not driven in a bus lane, anywhere, since.
But I too remember being amazed at just how good the picture was.

[Red Devil]

I thought that road looked familiar from the still image. Your video and the #176 bus confirmed it - https://goo.gl/maps/j6m1VrYyBev

Rather than an immediate surrender to the gloom and doom merchants, let's examine this in a bit more depth.

Yes, the hanging basket obscures the bus symbol but not the bike or cycle ones nor the word taxi. The restricted hours are also clearly visible.
So it boils down to whether you can get an adjudicator to agree that the obstruction is sufficient to render the signage non-compliant.

Your car is opposite the off licence/grocery. The front of blue Skoda hasn't even got as far as the head of the arrow.
The right turn into Maple Road is two to three car lengths further on - https://goo.gl/maps/yCaDbT5XgaA2
If you had been a little more patient you could have waited until the lead car had made the turn then crossed the dotted line.

The de minimis argument may then come into play - http://www.driving.co.uk/news/putting-a-stop-to-th...
Bear in mind that each case is decided on it merits and that was at the TPT, not London Tribunals.
You would have to persuade the adjudicator to rule in your favour on the basis of consistency of approach across the UK.

However the weakness in advancing Kornbluth as persuasive is that you were not about to turn left into Penge Lane. Your vid clearly shows this.
The case then turns on whether the enforcement camera footage has followed your car for long enough to do the same.

It will cost you an extra £65 (loss of prompt payment discount) to find out - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A732Cuuo2tI -

[sherbertdip]

Not only did you go into a live bus lane you effectively undertook the traffic as you went into a turn left only lane to go straight on. I think this battle is lost and paying up quickly is the only way.

[Garvin]

I suppose this is one of those 'technical' offences like speeding but, even then, speeding does give you a bit of leeway. This is just pernicious enforcement of the rules. The OP wasn't seeking to gain any particular advantage or block the bus lane in any way, just keep him and, I suspect, following traffic flowing and it was just before the gap opened up in the bus lane anyway. If the OP had made the manoeuvre fully within the 'gap' then there would be no penalisable offence.

However, I suppose 'rules are rules' and the OP has committed a 'technical' offence and will have to pay up but this sort of enforcement without any discretion is something that saddens me about the modern world.

[Riley Blue]

untakenname said:

It's the sign at the beginning of this video of the incident, just uploaded from my dashcam
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x4zxWBzg8s8

The partially obscured sign is one of several bus lane notifications. Had it been the only one, you might have had a case but it isn't, the others are perfectly clear and unobstructed.

[Pete317]

What's the fine for stepping on a crack?

[Mr Snrub]

55palfers said:

You should have been caught in possession of some Class A drugs. It would have been a smaller fine.

I'm sorry but this is a very serious offence. If there had been a bus approaching, half a dozen people could have found their taxpayer subsidised journey to Morrisons delayed by anything up to 3 seconds.


Could you live with that on you conscience? Could you?