Hey Guys, check this video from the cctv that fined me £60 for driving on the bus lane. I was for most of the time on the line, and never more than 15-20 cm in. Would a car crossing over by 20 cms get a PCN too?
https://www.youtube.com/v/RwWMk99_4LQ&hl=en&fs=1&
What do you guys think? Do I have some grounds for contesting? Is there a rule/guideline stating how much inside the lane is tolerated to be an infraction?
That’s rotten luck! :pinch:
I could be wrong, but AFAIK, if you are on the line, it’s classed as being in the bus lane; let alone 15cms in.
Of course, this might depend on the borough/ local council, like parking rules. So it might be worth finding them out if possible.
I would hope that a car would be caught for it as well!
Camden council are c*nts … they hate motorcyclist, and pick on them at any opportunity.
You shouldn’t have been fined! - More to the point, why aren’t these bus lanes open to Motorcycles?
isn’t it only red lane bus lanes that are open to us? and tbh, if a bus wanted to get passed you, they couldn’t have. that’s their arguement.
suck it up and pay the fine I say.
Your just a cash cow to them mate , did you see how desperate on the movement of the camera he / she was to get your plate !
On the line and your screwwed mate !
Technically you were the bus lane side of the solid white line for the whole of that length, which constitutes a contravention (this is what they see of course).
I’ve looked at the video carefully and the first car you undertake is indicating right - so you went in the bus lane to safely pass to avoid danger - this is allowed. You then only straddled the line and you can argue that you were obviously riding in a fashion to avoid any entry into the bus lane than was necessary.
However, never pay one of these up front. You always have the chance for an informal appeal which wont affect the £60 fine, and the time for payment freezes until they come back with the appeal reply.
Firstly get on Pepipoo and get them to check all the wording of the PCN - any mistakes will invalidate it.
Check all the road signage of the bus lane in question. The biggest mistake is poor signage - again pepipoo can help.
Also - how much do you want to risk it. If you’re willing to push it the whole way, what quite often happens is the council will bail out at the last minute when you go to PATAS as this costs them a lot in administrative fees - the official formal appeal procedure with the independent bus lane adjudicator.
Most councils wont bother to turn up to these unless they know they are guaranteed to win. No show = you win.
I know three cases of this happening with Camden so personally I would go for it.
You have to be sure of the mistake they have made though and be willing to see it though.
You risk the fine doubling to £120, but they rely on this to get people to pay up.
Technically I reckon they’ve got you bang to rights.
Yes they are cnuts though and we know that it’s only to make extra revenue and nothing to do with making anything safer.
This is what happens when we elected the type of politician we have.
Flippin eck, that’s some scary George Orwell 1984 big brother stuff right there man-flippin fascists.
looks to me you was in the bus lane over the white most of the way down it.
sorry to say this mate but not sure what good will come from contesting as you were in the buslane… :ermm:
Harsh but fair 
My understanding is that this is also technically illegal. A friend of mine recently got done for the same thing. A car waiting to turn right was holding up the queue of traffic, she undertook and crossed the line into the bus lane by only a few inches to get by safely (I saw the photos) - she contested the fine & lost.
Hate to say it but yes I think you’re bang to rights there.
Just pay up and take it on the chin. You undertook the first car and was a good couple of feet inside the bus lane. I don’t think you’re allowed to do that:Whistling:
Why were you undertaking in the first place?
Like the above mate I think they have you bang to right when I saw that you were well over the line and think your going to lose this should you choose to pursue this one.
I would look to get out of it on a technicality. Can you cross to pass a vehicle turning right? If you cant go into the lane, how do you get to the parking spaces on the inside of the bus lane?? Check all the signage and layout - is is correct? Is it a time limited lane? Councils and plod are making loads of mistakes these days on traffic and if you can spot a technical glitch then go for it and appeal. They wont fight hard.
What he said… 
Also, you could go for the fact that they didn’t have a continuous, unobstructed view of you from the infraction to when you had your plate taken down. Might not work, but what have you got to lose? 
IMHO for almost all of the vid you look to be the ‘wrong’ side of the white line !!
Thanks for all the responses guys. As stated above they probably got me bang to rights. I still feel abused though. I’ve had other bus lane pcns where I was bang inthe middle and I do accept it, but this is simply playing the system.
So I am going to contest it, if only to make sure they spend more money dealing with my challenge than what they are going to make from the pcn. I dare hope that if we all do the same they’d start focusing on useful traffic enforcement (cyclists perhaps???) rather that petty technicalities.
Anyway, I looked around for technicalities and I’ll challenge on these points:
1- Wrong signage. There should be some tapered diagonal line at the beginning, or if it continues over a junction only a line. Instead they have and arrow pointing forward and criss crossed lines (which I understand mean that you can’t stop there…). Check it here
Anyway, that floor sign is nowhere to be found in Chapter 3 of the traffic signs manual, so I think that’s my best argument for a challenge.
2- I was undertaking a vehicle turning right (good spot Davey).
3- I stayed on the line during most of the lane. A car that stepped that far into the line wouldn’t be fined. And I can’t find any evidence anywhere that the line belongs to the bus lane.
Let’s fight back.
Gloves off! Well done for having a go. Let us know how you get on?
