How to appeal a bus lane fine

Bus lane fines have proved to be a lucrative source of income across the country for cash-strapped local authorities. One notorious bus lane in Clapham Park Road has netted up to £2 million in one year for Lambeth Council. Traffic adjudicators have previously cited the junction’s signage as ‘inadequate’ and criticised the confusing layout which has cost motorists millions in fines. Local authorities play the percentages game knowing many motorists will simply pay up. Knowing how to appeal a bus lane fine is crucial to win your case at a tribunal.

Can you appeal being in a bus lane?

Penalty Charge Notices (PCNs) are issued when a vehicle is in contravention of parking, bus lane or moving traffic regulations. Appealing a PCN is called “making a representation”. You cannot appeal a PCN after paying the penalty charge.

How do you get out of a bus lane fine?

You can appeal to the local council. Usually you have to appeal within 28 days of receiving the notice. The penalty charge notice will explain how to appeal and by when.

How do I challenge a bus lane fine?

You need to contact the council in writing before the end of the 28 day period from the date of service of the Penalty Charge Notice. You will need to provide all evidence for consideration.

What reasons can you use to appeal a bus lane fine?

There are various reasons why you may wish to appeal an unfair bus lane fine. These include:

• The alleged contravention did not happen
• You did not own the vehicle at the time
• Your vehicle was stolen
• You moved into the bus lane to avoid obstructing an emergency vehicle
• You were forced into the bus lane to avoid a collision
• Evidence – Google Street View, photos, witness statements, receipts, permits – anything that can help your case.

What happens if you drive in a bus lane by mistake?

This is likely to fall under “Failure to comply with traffic lane markings” or something similar.

The key to appealing this is to cast reasonable doubt citing that the signs were unclear, misleading and confusing for you to comply and make an informed decision. Google Street View can be used as evidence, which has a date stamp.

When is a bus lane not a bus lane?

Signs and road markings are often not legally compliant.

A bus lane needs to have a 45 degree taper line to filter traffic into an adjacent lane. This is a “bus route only”.

BBC Radio Gloucester invited me to speak about this after a motorist lodged a successful appeal based on inadequate signs and road markings.

You can listen back to the clips on my YouTube channel.

Do you get points for accidentally driving in a bus lane?

You won’t get any points on your licence if you drive in a bus lane by mistake.

Are all bus lanes monitored?

They certainly are around London! Most towns and cities have the majority of bus lanes monitored. Bus lanes that are most likely to catch motorists out will certainly have cameras on.

There is a bus lane in Edinburgh that is literally just a few hundred yards long and is no use to anyone which has a camera on. This is clearly nothing to do with enforcement for Edinburgh City Council – it’s just an easy cash cow.

How long does it take for a bus lane fine to come through?

The Council has up to 28 days to issue a bus lane fine. This timeframe may be extended if they have requested your keeper details within 14 days from the DVLA who have not responded timely.

Postal strikes can be cited as a defence. The Daily Express conducted an investigation whereby 1 in 3 letters never arrived in December 2022.

What happens if I challenge a PCN bus lane fine?

Your appeal will be heard at a Tribunal. It will be promptly cancelled if they uphold your appeal. If your appeal is disallowed, you will be liable to pay the full amount.

Can you drive in a bus lane on a Sunday?

Anyone can use bus lanes outside the hours of operation. Bus lane times can and do vary, although you need to be given sufficient guidance to make an informed decision.

Are PCN bus lane fines legally enforceable?

Yes. If a Penalty Charge Notice was issued by the police of council, you cannot ignore it. It is a legally enforceable fine for an infringement on public highways.

Do you have to declare a bus lane fine to your insurance company?

No. It is a civil matter and not a criminal offence. No penalty points are issued on your driving licence so it should not impact on your insurance premium.

Traffic Penalty Tribunal

The adjudicators at the Traffic Penalty Tribunal are part-time Adjudicators. They are wholly independent lawyers and barristers, so have nothing to do with the Councils.

All they do is work within the laws and legislation and make sure that if a council has not followed these laws / legislation, they will uphold an appeal.

Sometimes the adjudicator actually spots something that the appellant has missed, and orders the council to cancel the Penalty Charge Notice on a totally unrelated matter that they have spotted.

How do you write a good appeal letter?

Wins for bus lane contraventions tend to succeed on inadequate / missing signage.

This is a textbook example to use for the most common reason for being caught – confusing bus lane signs.

A motorist overturned a fine issued by Essex Council as there were too many confusing bus lane signs. This links in with another case about a journalist with the Hackney Gazette who had a similar experience with bus lane signs and result.

BACKGROUND

A psychologist was fined for inadvertently entering a bus gate in November 2018.

She stated that the bus gate, which is a short section of road blocked off to all traffic except buses, cycles and taxis was endangering lives. Once you are committed to turning left on this street, you have no way of safely turning around.

There were so many signs by the bus gate with information that cannot be consciously absorbed and processed in sufficient time for motorists to make an informed decision.

RESULT

She lodged an appeal and won on the basis that there are too many signs that are confusing motorists’ brains.

This lady is clearly qualified to offer such opinions as she has published several academic papers on how people process visual information.

Essex County Council raked in about £1.5m from 53,000 motorists within 18 months so it’s clearly lucrative. This reinforces the points that this individual has successfully addressed and has opened up the floodgates for retrospective appeals being made.

THE LOOPHOLE EFFECT

Motorists are finding inspiration from high profile celebrity cases where celebrities have hired Nick Freeman (otherwise known as ‘Mr Loophole’ for his ability to find loopholes in badly drafted legislation and sloppy administration errors by the authorities trying to enforce the laws). This has become known as the Mr Loophole effect and Nick Freeman has published a book to shine a spotlight on the techniques he uses.

THE ROAD TRAFFIC ACT

The Road Traffic Act cuts both ways. I see it around Edinburgh with so many signs that are confusing and contradictory to the point where nobody takes any notice.

Councils just see this as a ‘nice little earner’. It just takes one individual to make a stand and it opens up the floodgates for others to follow suit.

You cannot be expected to comply with road signs that are cluttered, obscured and confusing to the point where you cannot be expected to make a conscious and informed decision.

This has been confirmed by an adjudicator. Illegal signs = illegal fines.

This is an interesting case which raises valid points that other motorists can use to successfully lodge appeals on bus lane fines.

Have you been fined for being in a bus lane due to confusing bus lane signs? Did you appeal it?