Council PCN through post. Very strange road layout

jgallcash

Hi All,

i recieved a PCN through the post yesterday from a London Council (photo below).










Basically I haven't driven through the area that I was photographed for about 6 months, its clear that since then there have been road changes including a type of road funnel i haven't ever seen before (please see photo).

I came around the corner and was faced with what looked like a very very narrow path to the left and one to the right with a big gap in the middle. As this feature was very close to me as i came aroud the corner i didn't really have much time to think and thought that it was some kind of one way system where by one direction of traffic has priority. As there was no other traffic i went through the middle.

It is very clear looking at the photograph there is a blue arrow pointing left but genuinely this gap looked too small and i even stand by this in looking at the photo too.

i have to say that i am not trying to shirk my responsibility here, the £60 isn't that much of an issue, its more the fact that it was a genuine mistake (or this particular measure is too close to a corner)

What do you think? Has anyone seen these before? Is it worth appealing?

Any comment greatly recieved.:money:

peter_the_piper

This is the standard Islington cash cow, as far as anyone can make out its only there to generate revenue. There have been many posts on this but I'm not sure of the outcome of any. I suggest that a post on Pepipoo.com may well get other advice.

roddydogs

£120

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Bl**** H *****

jgallcash

i can pay the £60 reduced within 14 days. I just feel that it was a weird setup, it was placed very close to a turn off from a major road and really come on me quick. i haven't seen this kind of setup before, should i be swoting up on my highway code? Has anyone else seen these traffic control measures??

usignuolo

I agree the gap looks narrower than your car. Are you in a position to measure it? If your car really will not fit, you have a pretty good case.

Usually when there is this sort of width restriction there is some sort of prewarning, for large vehicles. Was there any indication earlier of what the width restriction was and what type f traffic is allowed to use the centre gap?

jgallcash

I'll head there tonight to measure it against the width of my car.

No warning that i saw, i'll check tonight. basically i turned right off a main road onto a smaller residential area and it was immediately there in front of me. as it is a residentail area i'm guessing no big vehicles allowed?

If there had been another car behind me when i turned right i could have caused a bump by braking too hard to understand what to do.

usignuolo

I just found this on the local paper website Islington Gazette 17 September 2009. It was installed to stop lorry drivers using the road as a rat run, so they claim. I think your best case is to measure the width and claim it is too narrow for you to safely negotiate. Not sure what the legal requirement is but in Croydon the width restrictions are usually 2.1m (7 feet) wide. How wide is this gap and how wide is your car?


Is this the same one as caught you out?

Islington Gazette 17 September 2009

CONFUSED drivers have been stung for more than £1.2million in less then six months after Islington Council installed a new traffic barrier - and started fining people for driving through it.

A CCTV camera poised over the new width restriction in Riversdale Road, Highbury, issued 10,775 tickets between March 6 and August 31 - worth a total of £1.29million.

That is the equivalent of 60 tickets being issued every day.

Angry motorists - who claim that road markings at the width restriction were far too confusing - are now calling on Islington Council to cancel the tickets.

Highbury West councillor Theresa Debono, who sits on the opposition Labour group, has taken up their cause.

She said "This junction is at best confusing and at worst a trap for unsuspecting drivers.

"I am angry on behalf of those drivers who found the signage at this junction bewildering and thus ended up with fines.

"During the current recession with so many people finding themselves out of jobs, the least Islington Council could do is be more vigilant when implementing new road layouts." The width restriction was installed in Riversdale Road in February, in order to stop lorries using the street as a rat run.

The restriction allows cars and vans less than 6ft 6ins wide to pass through two narrow lanes on either side of the road but it bans them from driving through a large gap in the middle - which is for dust carts and the emergency services.

But when the width restriction was installed, council officers left an image of a bicycle marked out on the road - which led many motorists to believe that the narrow lanes were for cyclists and that the middle section was for cars.

Workmen attempted to remove the image in April but ended up merely obscuring it. It was not properly removed until now.

Motorists have also complained that the lanes are so narrow that large cars and vans cannot get through without scraping the pavement or mounting the kerb.

Chris Dickens, 61, of Wilberforce Road, Finsbury Park, whose husband Paul got three tickets, said: "They put up the width restriction in February and Paul had no idea what it was for. He thought that because there was no central gate, it wasn't yet in operation. So he just went through. No one understands the relevance of the width restriction. There's no big problem with lorries here. It's just a terrific money-maker."

Delivery driver Mevlut Yilmaz, who had to mount the kerb, said: "It's too narrow and the road is curved, so it's actually very difficult to get through. This is just about making money."

But not everybody agreed. Mary Moles, 72, a Riversdale Road housewife, said: "Before there was a constant stream of lorries. Now it's a lot better."

Islington Council insists that the width restriction complies with regulations - and will only consider cancelling tickets if drivers appeal.

A spokeswoman said: "There is clear and adequate signage and street markings on all approaches to Riversdale Road to warn drivers about the width restriction. As some drivers may have incorrectly assumed that the old cycle logo on the road implied a cycle lane, all traces of the logo have been removed.

"However, anyone issued with a penalty charge notice is welcome to appeal and each case will be assessed on its own merit.

jgallcash

This is exactly that place actually yes. I absolutely knew it would have been confusing for anyone!

They have issued thousands of tickets for that one place, makes you sick!

maninthestreet

Sorry, but the signs clearly state to keep left of those bollards, and you went to the right. But £120 fine sounds a bit steep to me.

peter_the_piper

You may well be right but the combination of a tapering white line on the right and the double yellows confuses the eye into believing the gap is narrower than it actually is, Without the d/yells there would be no-one going through the central gap. Very clever bit of psychology and I'm sure deliberate.

Coupon-mad

It's your call but I would appeal this one right to the adjudicator if need be.

Even though the main confusing sign has been removed recently (which was a bicycle painted on the road on the left!) it's clearly still very confusing to the average motorist. The left hand lane is very narrow -because we know it used to be a bicycle lane - and looks too narrow to many drivers approaching it for the first time.

Here's just one thread about this road, the PCN was cancelled:

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=1639653&highlight=riversdale+road

If you Google Riversdale Islington fine I expect you'll find other threads on other forums (don't include 'Road' in your keywords or you'll miss any results where they've only said 'Rd').

I know it's been mentioned more than once on pepipoo and other PCNs were cancelled as well IIRC.