Unwarranted Bus Lane Penalty Charge Notice?!

[astraldream]

Hi, I wonder if anybody can help me. I recently received a bus lane penalty charge notice for 'entering, proceeding or waiting in a bus lane when prohibited' by Liverpool City Council for a contravention at Mount Pleasant Bus Gateway in Liverpool 3 which I paid immediately by credit card as the letter threatened an increase in the fine from £30 to £60 if not paid promptly. I am normally careful not to enter bus lanes and was surprised I had received a fine, but recall that it was not until I entered Mount Pleasant that I realised that the road had recently been designated as bus lane from the road markings. There were no signs posted. Mount Pleasant had previously been a through road, and not designated as a bus lane. I have since been sent a couple of articles from the Liverpool Echo which support my argument that there was inappropriate signage and that the bus lane is to be repealed following several similar complaints. Articles are enclosed as links. Does anyone know where I stand on reclaiming my £30 from Liverpool City Council and have an idea what I could say to them to ensure that I am repaid. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks Cheryl http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/liver...0252-31440466/ http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/liver...0252-31417179/

[malgoode]

Re: Unwarranted Bus Lane Penalty Charge Notice?!

THIS IS PURELY MY OPINION BASED ON MY OWN EXPERIENCE.
I have recently fought London Borough of Barking and Dagenham Council over Bus a bus lane penalty. I discovered that there are many, many ways that the penalty becomes invalid. I actually ignored many of the regulations that they broke (such as I was allowed to turn left and I travelled only 12 metres to do so) and went for the fact that the camera they used was not approved by the home office and that the information printed on the photo/video was both incomplete and listed in the wrong order. The regulations for bus lane enforcement are really strict. I took the case right through to tribunal but I finally won because the council failed to appear!! My opinion is that way they didn't have to admit that their equipment was incorrect and that thousands of motorist had paid for invalid penalties.

However, as always, possession is 9 tenths of the law and once you have paid you have little chance of getting the money back. As always, if you have a good case don't pay even if the costs rise with time. Always fight first coz if you pay and try to recover later, you probably won't get your money back. You can try and you may win - especially if the signage was incorrect - but you will have a huge fight on your hands. Once they have your money they don't want to give it back coz if they do and thus admit that they were wrong, they may get large numbers of claims. Don't forget, they make lottery win money out of penalty charges, legit or not. If you go ahead, you will need lots of photographic proof that the signage was not legitimate and claim for a penalty that was incorrectly issued. If you are lucky, their own photographic evidence may hang them. Check out http://www.ticketfighter.co.uk/bus.htm for lots of info about bus lane enforcement.

With bus lane offenses I discovered that unless the council have been particularly careful, there are lots of areas that a penalty will be invalid. Incorrect street marking or correct markings a meter away from where they should be, a sign with a non approved image, a sign of a incorrect shape, the length that you used of the bus lane, adjoining side street without duplicated markings etc etc etc. The cameras with their high zoom facility make the case look worse than it is - it may make under 20 metres travel (which is allowed) look like 30 or 40 (which is not allowed) but if they have been too mean and not changed old cameras for regulated cameras none of the penalties are valid. Looking at the newspaper report about signage would lead me to believe none of the penalties are valid from that camera even if it is approved. As in many cases in ripoff britain, it is a money collecting system based on peoples fear and lack of knowledge.

THIS IS PURELY MY OPINION BASED ON MY OWN EXPERIENCE

[bluebottle]

Re: Unwarranted Bus Lane Penalty Charge Notice?!

The best way to send the burgermeisters scuttling to their nearest branch of Superdrug for Imodium Plus capsules is to request a copy of the Traffic Management Order (TMO)(also known as a Traffic Order). If the bus lane and the TMO are compliant, fine, but if ANYTHING is in the slightest way defective, expect to hear strange tunes eminating from the town hall as the burgermeisters' lower gastro-intestinal tracts react to the revelation that they have dropped one almighty clanger and are going to get their gluteus maximi kicked from one end of the high street to the other and then back again for an encore by the good people of the borough.