bus lane ticket

harleq1962

Ive received a fine for entering a bus lane before 9.30 am , Im not one for using the bus lanes, time states offence was at 9.29 and 37 seconds, i remember the day well, i was taking my wife to a hospital appointment the clock in the car was minutes passed 9.30 and it had said on the radio it was 9.30, I even said to my wife its ok to use the lane now, does any one have any advice on how accurate their clock is and what are my chances on an appealing, thanks for looking and any advice given.

27col

If the clock in your car is the same as the clock in my car then it is never accurate.In fact, I have never had a car where the clock was accurate. I have often wondered why this should be.
As to your problem I cannot see that there is any way that you could prove that what you say is correct. But, you never know, it has got to be worth an appeal. You have nothing to lose by appealing.

sarahg1969

OP - get over on to http://forums.pepipoo.com/index.php?showforum=30 and see what they have to say.

It's not uncommon for councils to make mistakes in their tickets, particularly from CCTV cameras.

interstellaflyer

Sounds like the council are using this as a cash cow to me, 20 seconds early, what happened to benefit of doubt, appeal and if they refuse to cancel the ticket then I'm sure the local and maybe national press would be happy write a story on it, I'm sure this would cause the council a lot of embarrassment.

banner188

That is well harsh!
I cannot understand why it could be seen as reasonable to enforce bus lane timings down to seconds when they should allow for these differences between clocks. As if all clocks are atomic and alligned.
Surely it is up to them to prove the exact time if you contest the ticket?

In future, as some advice, don't try and time stuff like bus lanes and parking etc.. so closely. Allow a margin of error of about 2-3 minutes from what you see on your clock. I wouldn't have used the bus lane until 09.33 because it isn't worth risking.

rdwarr

20 seconds is quite a normal error for a clock so, unless the council can prove without doubt that their clock was 100% accurate, I'd think you had a good defence. Although clocks in cars are rubbish the time mentioned on the radio should be reliable.

dacouch

27col wrote: »

If the clock in your car is the same as the clock in my car then it is never accurate.In fact, I have never had a car where the clock was accurate. I have often wondered why this should be.

Surely it showed the correct time at least twice a day

Money_Grabber13579

dacouch wrote: »

Surely it showed the correct time at least twice a day

But that would only be if it didn't work at all...

pendulum

I would go to the local papers with that BS and try to get it printed.
Ludicrous.

Oldfatgrumpy

Ask them for a copy of the calibration certificate for the clock for that day.

harleq1962

Oldfatgrumpy wrote: »

Ask them for a copy of the calibration certificate for the clock for that day.

do they normally provide this information ?,
also someone told me to ask to reserve the right to the £30 penalty ,
thanks to all who have answered me already.