Last week I made a rare trip to the Valley from here in Leicestershire......I decided to call in and see my old mum in Sidcup first and then drove via Eltham and Well Hall Rd towards Shooters Hill. Today through the post I've received a £130 penalty notice from Transport for London, as on my way up Well Hall Rd, just before the Old Shooters Hill cop shop, I had to stop with my cars rear end in a junction yellow line box (Broadlands).....I stopped because the car in front of me did as the traffic lights must have changed.....I was not blocking the junction as a car turning right can be clearly seen on the picture sent to me and went pass me without any problems!! To say I'm pissed off is an understatement......I was wondering if anyone had come across this before...is it worth appealing.....I've driven that route since the 70's......never had any problems and I think this is daylight robbery!!!! Help greatly appreciated. Will try and upload pictures from the camera over the weekend.
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moved off again and closed the gap in front.....Mayor Boris short of 'dosh' again!!! FFS
This site might help
http://www.ticketfighter.co.uk/yellow.htm
As detailed in the regulations below, the offence is stopping in the box due to the presence of stationary vehicles. Therefore stopping for another reason such as a red light, pedestrians etc is not an offence. The authority must prove there were stationary vehicles in front of the box.
It's a bit like speeding cameras. We can all complain about how they raise money but until you have to take a phone call and then tell your wife that her 19 year old brother has been killed in a road traffic accident I think you fail to see the relationship between these 'sneaky' attempts to save lives.
I'm not getting at you directly RM, nor am I a 'busy body' type but even though I don't like the idea of cameras watching our every move, the box junctions are there for a reason, and 'just over' is over. There has to be a line somewhere. One wheel, a bumper, half a car, all but one wheel, it's irrelevant. If the law (or Highway Code) says don't stop in one then I don't see how one can be cross when one gets photographed in one and is asked to pay a fine for it.
It does raise money, but my understanding is that there needs to be a good reason (I.e. a suggestion that it will save lives) before a camera can be deployed. If a car blocks a junction and an ambulance is unable to get to someone that needs life saving treatment then a couple of fines seem more than justified in my view.
I think I'll go and hide now!
However, so many people have no idea what the yellow boxes are for and every weekend Maidstone comes to a standstill because some selfish bastards decides that a yellow box means nothing and that as long as they're passed the traffic lights he's OK to carry on around the one-way system - when all they do is bring it to a grinding halt.
Last weekend it was a WPC in a Kent Police Car - boy did I give her some stick.
Anyway thanks for the advice.....I'll pay £65 on Monday....Cheers all RM
Everything you write is true but of course the truth often doesn't tell you everything you need to know. 75% of speed cameras in London have now been switched off because it was eventually agreed that in the vast majority of cases they were purely there to make money and served no legitimate purpose in road safety. Box junctions are different. It's not about safety per se but is more about keeping access for vehicles which could be emergency service vehicles needing to use that junction. The cameras are there to catch unfortunate drivers and make money. There are every day millions of other infringements of the Highway Code that do not attract such attention because they can't easily prove wrong doing and squeeze £130 out of the culprit. It is an extortionate sum of money for such an infringement and perhaps justice would be better served if the owner was to receive a letter on first offence and a penalty subsequently.
I do agree with KHA that its the rules and however draconian they are we all know or should know what they are. I have always felt a pressure from the car behind me to go through junction, but now I try and wait until the car in front has cleared the box.