Dear All,
I’ve been meaning to write this story for a few months now…
There were two incidents that happened earlier this year within a week or so of each other, which I think demonstrate everything that’s wrong with the ridiculous — so called — road laws in the UK.
The first incident was in London, where a driver – Steven James – was fined £197 for jumping out of the way of a police van that was weaving in and out of traffic and aggressively trying to overtake him.
Steven pulled into a bus lane to let the police van pass, and was surprised when he received the penalty charge.
Still, he thought, it must be an automated system and if he appealed, they would clearly see that he was getting out of the way of a police van…
…WRONG!
A dimwit from Waltham Forest Council said (and is it just me who reads this in a robotic voice?):
“The rules in London are very clear about entering bus lanes, and it is the responsibility of drivers to know and follow them.
“The driver can be seen moving into the bus lane to let the emergency vehicle pass, before proceeding to drive the length of the bus lane despite having the opportunity to re-enter the road.
“Had the driver re-entered the road, they would not have received a fine.”
Okay, so lets examine that with the actual evidence shall we?…
As you can see in the picture above, the bus lane ends just after where Steven entered it.
Why would any reasonable, safety conscious person pull back out across the white line and then immediately back over to the left?
Of course, they wouldn’t.
These council idiots really are punitive and nasty in my view.
By contrast… right around the same time, a man by the name of Kevin Armstrong aggressively pulled over a 24 year old girl in Nottingham by pretending to be a police officer.
He told her that she was speeding and driving dangerously, and was going to issue her with a speeding ticket.
When she denied it, he said “we can either do this the nice way or the nasty way”.
Luckily a commuter came to the young Woman’s aid and scared the bully off.
She said:
“He pulled his car next to mine and was yelling at me to pull over.
“He had flashing lights on his car and I thought he was a police officer.
“When I told him I wasn’t speeding, he became more aggressive and said he would give me a speeding ticket.
“I completely froze, I didn’t know what was going on. I never found out what his intentions were, but it’s terrifying to think of. I didn’t leave my house for a week after the incident.”
The punishment when he was caught?
A £620 fine and 3 points on his driving licence!
Of course its easy to jump to conclusions when a man forcefully pulls a young woman he doesn’t know over on the street.
But without jumping to those conclusions, is it morally okay for this man to go around bullying vulnerable young women?
Wouldn’t you agree that its absolutely not?
So on the one hand we have a good Samaritan, trying to assist the police on their way to — in theory at least! — help someone. By any reasonable judgement this is not a crime.
And on the other hand you have a potentially dangerous, aggressive bully, threatening and scaring the life out of a young woman.
And the penalties… were basically the same!
Is it just me, or has the so called justice system in the UK been completely corrupted?
Let me know your take in the comments below:
All the best,
Adam
Totally agree with you Adam. I would have disputed the fine and taken it further.
I agree completely. Who are these council officers? Clearly not fit for purpose – effectively unable to distinguish between a motorist being helpful to the police and being fined for his trouble, and a potential madman who should be locked up. Absolutely incredulous, you simply couldn’t make it up!
I don’t agree. Why has the driver made a dive for the bus lane anyway? The car behind him didn’t and thus the police car could pass on either side of him and so he could. I think the driver was pulling a fast one!!
How is that ‘pulling a fast one’? What advantage could he possibly gain from entering the bus lane for just a few yards? Maybe you should be working for Waltham Forest Council?
well said, there was no benefit to the driver to get out of the way, his intention was to clear the path of the police vehicle only and he has been penalised for that. yes I would suggest getting a solicitor and get it to court, the council are abusing their powers, one wonders why the police van was not using the bus lane?
sorry, I don’t pull over for cops at anytime. I will slow right down and indicate left but I don’t make any movement left ie into any type of lane nor cross a red light just to get out of their way!
Good man.
I don’t either now.
I crossed a red light on my motorbike to enable an unmarked police car with lights and siren on to get past me. (There was a central railing and concrete barrier in the middle of the road, otherwise blocking him from getting past) To be fair, it was amber when I made the last minute decision. Otherwise he would have had to stay behind me for the entire traffic light sequence.
I triggered the red-light camera by less than a second.
I had points and fine come through the post. Or I could go on a safety awareness course, as I had held a previously clean licence (for 35 years)
I appealed and was given the response, basically…… that my appeal failed, as the police car was a professional driver, and was trained to negotiate through stationary traffic, and I should have stayed where I was.
Not having the time or inclination to appeal further at the time (which on reflection, I wished I had now let them take me to court) I accepted the “kind” offer of a safety course, and paid the £135 to do it.
They put me on a speed awareness course…… Bunch of corrupt toss pots in my opinion.
I wore my ACABs T-Shirt, proudly to the course.
Why didn’t the police vehicle use the bus lane . That is what I would have done.
Because they would probably get fined too!
Ex traffic now retired .Police driver should have used his common sense . Use of bus lane would have avoided this situation completely. He made the situation worse.
Agreed, unfortunately for Steven he made a bad call & the council are too money grabbing to back down.
This means that Steven is unlikely to move over for emergency vehicles in the future.
A theif in court with a string of offences (35). Punishment, unpaid work and a fine. God help you though if commit the worst crime in the world and drive through a speed camera just over the limit.
people that vote for these imbecilles should stand up and be counted
we are getting what we vote for
I’m sick to death of jobsworths and council bureaucracy. we’re all sick to death of being told how to live
it’s time for a change
You don’t vote for council employees. They are there regardless of who gets voted in.
This is not a one-off for Waltham Forest Council. My wife was not far from Whipps Cross Hospital when an ambulance came up behind her, driving along the centre line. There was a bus lane to her left, which she used to allow the ambulance to pass. Got a penalty notice a few days later. When we wrote to explain the situation (with video evidence) she was “let off” but told “Don’t let it happen again”.
Ambulance should have used bus lane.Common sense needed
I crossed a red light on my motorbike to enable an unmarked police car with lights and siren on to get past me. (There was a central railing and concrete barrier in the middle of the road, otherwise blocking him from getting past) To be fair, it was amber when I made the last minute decision. Otherwise he would have had to stay behind me for the entire traffic light sequence.
I triggered the red-light camera by less than a second.
I had points and fine come through the post. Or I could go on a safety awareness course, as I had held a previously clean licence (for 35 years)
I appealed and was given the response, basically…… that my appeal failed, as the police car was a professional driver, and was trained to negotiate through stationary traffic, and I should have stayed where I was.
Not having the time or inclination to appeal further at the time (which on reflection, I wished I had now let them take me to court) I accepted the “kind” offer of a safety course, and paid the £135 to do it.
They put me on a speed awareness course…… Bunch of corrupt toss pots in my opinion.
I wore my ACABs T-Shirt, proudly to the course.
i got 2 fine at 8.01am within 40 yards of each other in bus lane on motorbike because there was a break in the line for a driveway and that makes it 2 different bus lane hence 2 fines
That is why I NEVER give way to plod. Sit tight and let them wait. Probably only using blues and twos because they are late for tea break anyway.
Don’t even get me started!!!!!
My wife was fined for legally parking in road side parking bay. The sign was outside of t a school and said ‘no parking between 8.30 and 9.30 am’ and and no parking between 12pn and 1pm’. My wife was at a School interview and was fined £60 a reduced fee if she paid in 7 days at 11.30am. First plea rejected, appeal rejected and had to go to arbitration. The person who issued the fine clearly didn’t have a clue and neither did the council that that rejected the appeal. The cost to my wife was a half a days wages lost to attend the arbitration.
It comes to something when councils can’t employ people with some intelligence who don’t understand basic and have no common-sense. They clearly don’t understand they are public employees.
It’s all these lefty woke councils isn’t it … money makers.
I got photo’s in Newcastle at the Rugby magic weekend a couple of years ago … necer been to Newcastle before, and must have gotten in wrong lane at traffic lights.
Got home, 2 days later a photo of me turning left, in a bus lane at lights. And a nice letter saying we got you but we’ll let you off, just don’t do it again!
Do this mean all motorists should put their hazards on and go slowly. The others with blue lights on can go around you, whatever service.The owners is there’s to pass safely. Councils What are they advising??
The people who consider appeals work in a punitive culture of reject and deny every appeal, let nobody off if at all possible. There is no common sense about the process.
A balanced, sensible view might be to think “What is the purpose of the bus lane?” – To ensure buses can progress unimpeded. “Was a bus impeded?” No. Was there a valid reason for pulling into the bus lane? Yes. – I’d have cancelled the ticket (and probably lost the job as an appeals processor).
One problem being that there is a bus stop right at the end of that lane so i can see why he got sent the ticket but the police van could have entered the bus lane if it was a emergency
“Why would any reasonable, safety conscious person pull back out across the white line and then immediately back over to the left?” …well, obviously, to avoid being fined. Was he too lazy to go back into the normal lane?
“And the penalties… were basically the same!” …no they weren’t. One was more than 3x the other, as you yourself state. Not enough punishment for the bully IMO. I see the point you’re making but please don’t go into ‘Daily Mail’ sensationalisation to make it, it dilutes your argument.
Hi Adam,
I don’t accept your premise that the punishments were the same.
Clearly, the guy getting out of the way of a blue-light vehicle should not be fined. If he is taking the opportunity to drive in the bus lane once entering it, he is asking for a fine, the distance travelled in the bus lane is not really relevant. If not immediately returning to the correct side of the white line, how far is he allowed to travel? And what happens to someone travelling a metre further? i.e. a big grey area.
The bully got a £620 fine and three points, these punishments are up to the court which takes everything into consideration. He might be earning £200 a week and £620 is a great deal to him, who knows?