Tweet
Last month I picked up a £130/£65 fine whilst in a courtesy car for stopping in a yellow box junction.
I could have just paid to get it over and done with but I decided to appeal and today I found out that I won
!
Whether the actual fine was justified is debatable, I was turning left onto a main road and the traffic light just beyond the junction (which you can't see from the first stop line) turned red leaving me stuck in the box.
I submitted the appeal below with a few images and today I had a letter back from TFL saying, 'Due to an administrative error the above penalty charge notice has now been cancelled. Please accept our apologies for the inconvenience this matter may have caused you'.
Moral of the story: don't just pay, do a little bit of research and fight back, you might just save yourself £65!
I could have just paid to get it over and done with but I decided to appeal and today I found out that I won
!Whether the actual fine was justified is debatable, I was turning left onto a main road and the traffic light just beyond the junction (which you can't see from the first stop line) turned red leaving me stuck in the box.
I submitted the appeal below with a few images and today I had a letter back from TFL saying, 'Due to an administrative error the above penalty charge notice has now been cancelled. Please accept our apologies for the inconvenience this matter may have caused you'.
Moral of the story: don't just pay, do a little bit of research and fight back, you might just save yourself £65!
The Information Commissioner's Office Code of Conduct states.
"You must let people know that they are in an area where CCTV surveillance is being carried out. The most effective way of doing this is by using prominently placed signs at the entrance to the CCTV zone and reinforcing this with further signs inside the area. Clear and prominent signs are particularly important where the cameras themselves are very discreet, or in locations where people might not expect to be under surveillance”
No signs were in place from my direction of travel on Stanthorpe Rd therefore the PCN issued is invalid. See attached.
The Traffic Signs Regulations & General Directions 2002 states
'The road markings shown in diagrams 1043 and 1044 shall each convey the prohibition that no person shall cause a vehicle to enter the box junction so that the vehicle has to stop within the box junction due to the presence of stationary vehicles.'
A number of issues are caused by the red traffic signal on the Streatham High Rd. At the first stop line on Stanthorpe Rd it is impossible to see the status of the signal on Streatham High Rd as it is obstructed by a building. Once the stop line has been passed there is no safe place to stop in the event that traffic backs up to the yellow box junction as stopping before would mean stopping on either the marked pedestrian crossing area or on the advanced stop area for cyclists.
At the points of both passing the stop line and entering the box, the junction was clear. I was then unable to leave the box junction area as the vehicle in front moved to straddle both lanes before stopping.
All non-standard road markings must have the approval of the Department for Transport. Note in the DfT approval (case 3811) the yellow box junction intersects the double red lines on the Stanthorpe Rd side then continues right up to the kerb. Also note the dimensions stated in the approval, the width of the box on the Stanthorpe Rd side should be 7.5m. The box junction in question does not reach the kerb in the way that is illustrated in the DfT approval, as a result the box is not 7.5m wide and is skewed in a way the DfT have not approved.
The only way in which the box junction can comply with the DfT approval is if the box extends to kerb thus allowing the Stanthorpe Rd edge to be 7.5m. As the box fails to comply to the specifications approved by the DfT section 31 of the 2002 regulations cannot be applied to this non-standard box junction.
If you reject my appeal please send with your response a copy of the relevant traffic order, proof the camera in use is an approved device, evidence that CCTV warning signs appear both prominently and frequently on Stanthorpe Rd and evidence that the yellow box junction complies with the DfT approval and is therefore authorised to have section 31 of the 2002 Traffic Signs Regulations and General Directions applied to it. Please consider these as requests under the freedom of information act.
"You must let people know that they are in an area where CCTV surveillance is being carried out. The most effective way of doing this is by using prominently placed signs at the entrance to the CCTV zone and reinforcing this with further signs inside the area. Clear and prominent signs are particularly important where the cameras themselves are very discreet, or in locations where people might not expect to be under surveillance”
No signs were in place from my direction of travel on Stanthorpe Rd therefore the PCN issued is invalid. See attached.
The Traffic Signs Regulations & General Directions 2002 states
'The road markings shown in diagrams 1043 and 1044 shall each convey the prohibition that no person shall cause a vehicle to enter the box junction so that the vehicle has to stop within the box junction due to the presence of stationary vehicles.'
A number of issues are caused by the red traffic signal on the Streatham High Rd. At the first stop line on Stanthorpe Rd it is impossible to see the status of the signal on Streatham High Rd as it is obstructed by a building. Once the stop line has been passed there is no safe place to stop in the event that traffic backs up to the yellow box junction as stopping before would mean stopping on either the marked pedestrian crossing area or on the advanced stop area for cyclists.
At the points of both passing the stop line and entering the box, the junction was clear. I was then unable to leave the box junction area as the vehicle in front moved to straddle both lanes before stopping.
All non-standard road markings must have the approval of the Department for Transport. Note in the DfT approval (case 3811) the yellow box junction intersects the double red lines on the Stanthorpe Rd side then continues right up to the kerb. Also note the dimensions stated in the approval, the width of the box on the Stanthorpe Rd side should be 7.5m. The box junction in question does not reach the kerb in the way that is illustrated in the DfT approval, as a result the box is not 7.5m wide and is skewed in a way the DfT have not approved.
The only way in which the box junction can comply with the DfT approval is if the box extends to kerb thus allowing the Stanthorpe Rd edge to be 7.5m. As the box fails to comply to the specifications approved by the DfT section 31 of the 2002 regulations cannot be applied to this non-standard box junction.
If you reject my appeal please send with your response a copy of the relevant traffic order, proof the camera in use is an approved device, evidence that CCTV warning signs appear both prominently and frequently on Stanthorpe Rd and evidence that the yellow box junction complies with the DfT approval and is therefore authorised to have section 31 of the 2002 Traffic Signs Regulations and General Directions applied to it. Please consider these as requests under the freedom of information act.
Comment