"Unfair" Fine for using bus lane?

[abo]

Bummer, I'm sure plenty of people make the same mistake.

Cheers.

I did. Only the one though lol, I got a right bollocking from the OH when the letter arrived at my northern home...

 

[Little yellow Brompton]

That sounds like bollocks.

http://www.snopes.com/horrors/techno/radar.asp

 

[PBancroft]

Hardy surprising - the chap who posts it goes by the name of Walter Mitty

I stand by my earlier statement.

 

[Sheffield_Tiger]

What a load of nonsense waffled by some as defence to passing over a clearly marked 6" wide white line with a load of blue and white signs giving clear and concise information.

Drivers that can't read those signs and see the clear notices, if they wish to avoid penalties in future and are incapable of taking onbopard the lesson learned by the penalty, need to pay for their own re-education.

 

[TwickenhamCyclist]

I’m looking forward to when that physicist gets fined for jumping a red light and mounts a defence based upon the Doppler Effect / red shift... mind you, he’d have to be speeding just a little

 

[Walter Mitty]

I stand by my earlier statement.

Oh Peter Where's your sense of humour.

 

[Walter Mitty]

What a load of nonsense waffled by some as defence to passing over a clearly marked 6" wide white line with a load of blue and white signs giving clear and concise information.

Drivers that can't read those signs and see the clear notices, if they wish to avoid penalties in future and are incapable of taking onbopard the lesson learned by the penalty, need to pay for their own re-education.

It looks as if he might have a point though. Unless the times for the bus lane have changed since the Google van drove down Queens Road in Sheffield the blue and white signs giving 'clear and concise information' are wrong. If I've got the right bus lane the sign clearly states the bus lane operates between 7.30am and 9.30am in the morning and 4pm and 6.30pm in the evening. The times on the signs differ from those on the traffic regulation order which, if my memory serves me right (this is not my area of law), is a legal document. This document states the times as being between 8am and 9.30am and 4.30pm and 6.30pm.
Legal document says 8am - sign says 7.30am
Legal document says 4.30pm - sign says 4pm
Is it a northern thing or is it just Sheffield_Tiger that believes this is 'clear and concise information'?
Perhaps some road users should learn to read these signs and associated legal documents, if they wish to avoid paying fines that haven't been issued in accordance with the law. These road users could then use the money to pay for their own re-education - especially their spelling "Onbopard" what that mean ST?

 

[Dan B]

I find it curious that when I ask forums such as this for advice on cycling along bus lanes which do not permit bikes, the general consensus is "that lane is stupid" and "go for it, nobody will mind", but when the discussion is of car drivers using bus lanes to which they are not entitled, the response is "stupid idiots get what they deserve".

Now I'm not saying that any individual poster is being inconsistent here, because chances are it's not the same people posting on both threads, but it is interesting - to me anyway - that the group consensus can be so different on what are quite similar questions.

 

[marinyork]

I find it curious that when I ask forums such as this for advice on cycling along bus lanes which do not permit bikes, the general consensus is "that lane is stupid" and "go for it, nobody will mind", but when the discussion is of car drivers using bus lanes to which they are not entitled, the response is "stupid idiots get what they deserve".

Now I'm not saying that any individual poster is being inconsistent here, because chances are it's not the same people posting on both threads, but it is interesting - to me anyway - that the group consensus can be so different on what are quite similar questions.

I don't especially agree with the bus gate near me (it makes my rides more pleasant than it might be) or one other bus lane in Sheffield, but I don't think it's the huge deal people make out. Some of the other bus lanes are fairly practical and allow street parking throughout the day in an easy way. One reason people don't like cars in them is that they have the nasty habit of parking in them in bus lane hours.

In general Sheffield is not much like London in that enforcement is years and years behind what you have. If you drive or park in a bus lane round here you're very unlikely to get a fine as many are still unenforced. The few that are enforced are mostly relatively recent. Similarly bus lanes that exclude cyclists in south yorkshire are mostly oversights from councils that aren't very good on cycling, whereas in London it's a very major issue.

 

[Sheffield_Tiger]

It looks as if he might have a point though. Unless the times for the bus lane have changed since the Google van drove down Queens Road in Sheffield the blue and white signs giving 'clear and concise information' are wrong. If I've got the right bus lane the sign clearly states the bus lane operates between 7.30am and 9.30am in the morning and 4pm and 6.30pm in the evening. The times on the signs differ from those on the traffic regulation order which, if my memory serves me right (this is not my area of law), is a legal document. This document states the times as being between 8am and 9.30am and 4.30pm and 6.30pm.
Legal document says 8am - sign says 7.30am
Legal document says 4.30pm - sign says 4pm
Is it a northern thing or is it just Sheffield_Tiger that believes this is 'clear and concise information'?
Perhaps some road users should learn to read these signs and associated legal documents, if they wish to avoid paying fines that haven't been issued in accordance with the law. These road users could then use the money to pay for their own re-education - especially their spelling "Onbopard" what that mean ST?

If the driver was in the bus lane during the times clearly displayed on the signs AT THE TIME (regardless of what the signs on Streetview said when the google car passed) then all the rest of it is just waffle to get out of paying for an offence.

If the driver was captured OUTSIDE of the times displayed on the sign, then fair enough - anything else is loopholes to get out of being punished for commiting an offence.

As for spelling, if you cannot tell the difference between a typographical error involving two adjacent keys and an inability to spell then I'm guessing that "Must try harder" was a regular comment on school reports.

What a mess we would be in if everyone wriggled out of offences as motorists love to do. "The law regarding looting was not clearly displayed outside London shops so the police are powerless to press charges"

 

[Tynan]

The speed is primarily measured by radar, with the camera (two pictures 0.7s apart, and marks on the road a set distance apart) used to record the licence plate, and to serve as a cross check if the speed is disputed.

that camera takes those pictures using what exactly?

And the physicist is using light as his argument, whatever exactly his argument is

 

[Origamist]

I find it curious that when I ask forums such as this for advice on cycling along bus lanes which do not permit bikes, the general consensus is "that lane is stupid" and "go for it, nobody will mind", but when the discussion is of car drivers using bus lanes to which they are not entitled, the response is "stupid idiots get what they deserve".

Now I'm not saying that any individual poster is being inconsistent here, because chances are it's not the same people posting on both threads, but it is interesting - to me anyway - that the group consensus can be so different on what are quite similar questions.

If I was caught using a bus lane that I was not entitled to cycle in, I'd just suck up the punishment, regardless of whether I was willfully ignoring the signage or was just unaware.

 

[clarion]

If you break the law and get caught doing it, you should MTFU and pay the fine. A coupl eof years ago, I was late responding to a change in speed limit from NSL to 30mph on a bend with a camera just beyond. I passed the camera at 35mph. My fault, and I accept the penalty. I won't do it again.

Anyone who whinges about being fined for driving (or parking) like a selfish dick is as bad as a looter. You did wrong, now pay up, **** off and drive better in future.

I think the same about lawbreaking cyclists, btw. And the chap whose youtube video of a dumb Police Officer failing to book him for an alleged RLJ has been slammed on a number of fora. If he was guilty, he's the direct equivalent of all these lawbreaking sobstoryists in the press.

 

[marinyork]

It looks as if he might have a point though. Unless the times for the bus lane have changed since the Google van drove down Queens Road in Sheffield the blue and white signs giving 'clear and concise information' are wrong.

Getting slightly tired of this.

It's not as ridiculous as it sounds. If you look at that area on streetview the imagery has actually changed! First there is the casino which was formerly a skating rink on Duchess Road. Move along one shot and the place is under scaffolding and a bus lane sign appears very close to the junction. Move one shot along from that and bob's your uncle the new sign has appeared. Sign 1 says 7:30-X:XX whereas sign 2 says 8:00:9:30.

 

[TwickenhamCyclist]

If I was caught using a bus lane that I was not entitled to cycle in, I'd just suck up the punishment, regardless of whether I was willfully ignoring the signage or was just unaware.

Origamist, I'm makingmy MA final project at the moment (in film editing) and Chris Marker rightly features in it a fair bit - everytime I get distracted and wonder online I keep seeing your avatar and it reminds me to get back to work!!