Box Junction on a roundabout

Geodark

Hi all, bit of a query...

Was driving home tonight, came to a roundabout with box junction markings. Pulled up and waited for the traffic to start moving before I entered the junction. The traffic started to move, but I pulled out before there was enough room for me to enter the section after the box junction and then the traffic stopped again leaving me in the box section for about 10 seconds (and I know the time doesn't matter) I was the only car in the box section. I then realised that in a little section just off the roundabout was a police car facing the roundabout with two police in.

Just wondered if they have to stop you and give you a ticket on the spot and because they didn't I have got away with it, or if I am likely to get a letter through the post.

on another note, if you get caught in a box junction and fined - is this something that you have to notify the insurance company about?

Strider590

I'd say as long as it didn't look deliberate, you have nothing to worry about.
Unlike the speed camera partnerships, the actual Police do try to be sensible about these things.

Car_54

I agree with Strider, it's unlikely they'll take action.

However, they don't have to stop you at the time, so you may get a NIP in the post.

So far as insurance is concerned, you normally have to notify them of all convictions or fixed penalties. Some even want to know about speed awareness courses. Some require you to tel them immediately, others just at renewal time.

arcon5

Of course a speed awareness course isn't something the insurer would be able to find out about anyway unless you told them yourself.

neilmcl

arcon5 wrote: »

Of course a speed awareness course isn't something the insurer would be able to find out about anyway unless you told them yourself.

However this is a question be asked by an increasing number of insurers now.

IamNotAllowedToUseMyName

Geodark wrote: »

Hi all, bit of a query...

Was driving home tonight, came to a roundabout with box junction markings. Pulled up and waited for the traffic to start moving before I entered the junction. The traffic started to move, but I pulled out before there was enough room for me to enter the section after the box junction and then the traffic stopped again leaving me in the box section for about 10 seconds (and I know the time doesn't matter) I was the only car in the box section. I then realised that in a little section just off the roundabout was a police car facing the roundabout with two police in.

Just wondered if they have to stop you and give you a ticket on the spot and because they didn't I have got away with it, or if I am likely to get a letter through the post.

on another note, if you get caught in a box junction and fined - is this something that you have to notify the insurance company about?

Most people don't use box junctions correctly (and also they often represent what you should do at junctions anyway).

You obviously know how they are supposed to work, but it is hard to resist entering them in stop start traffic where it is hard to judge, under the imagined pressure of other drivers. London love putting cameras on them, but I suspect that as long as you didn't cause an obstruction, the police will not be too enthusiastic about chasing up a technical infringement that caused no harm to other road users.

Pincher

If you wait for too long, people behind you will honk you.


You can't win.
You can only make a judgement call.


I would take a detour if a particular direction is blocked solid.

benjus

Pincher wrote: »

If you wait for too long, people behind you will honk you.

Better to be honked at than have to pay £60 or whatever it is.

Although other drivers can be intimidating at times. Reminds me of driving in Brazil, which had a surprisingly high number of speed cameras (on the coast road going west from Rio, anyway). They apparently worked as the local drivers respected them, but they all seemed to know exactly where they were or how to spot them in advance, as they would happily ignore the speed limits until they got near a camera. As a foreigner unfamiliar with the system I kept to the speed limits, which resulted in impatient Brazilian truck drivers driving some huge lorry a few inches behind my bumper. In those situations I generally pulled over and let them pass if possible.

Pincher

This is about 30 years ago. We had been to Disneyland in Florida.
New York - Miami - New York in about two weeks, with no incidents.


Then, about a mile from drop off point, the coach got stuck in traffic, and our driver did not move forward when the lights turned green, as the exit is full. We got bumped from behind. The tour guide and driver went to the back to see what was happening. They ran back to the front and shut the door pronto. A bunch of Porto Ricans with metal bars chased them and started banging on the side of the bus. Our driver and guide reached under the seat and drew out machetes and went out again to stop them damaging the coach.


Bizarrely, no one got hurt, just the coach, and when the exit cleared, the driver got in and drove on. So did the Porto Ricans.

Johno100

neilmcl wrote: »

However this is a question be asked by an increasing number of insurers now.

Interesting, who other than Admiral Group companies are now asking?

facade

Car_54 wrote: »

So far as insurance is concerned, you normally have to notify them of all convictions or fixed penalties.

A yellow box junction is a non-endorsable fixed penalty, dealt with by means of a penalty charge notice same as a parking offence, do they really want to know about parking tickets as well?


Was this a yellow hatched box junction, or just a "Keep Clear" box to allow traffic to emerge & cross the island?

Stopping in a "Keep Clear" is just discourteous, it isn't illegal, so there wouldn't be a penalty.

Yellow box junctions are normally dealt with by Traffic Management camera operators, rather than the Police, who likely wouldn't be interested unless it was blatantly obstructive.