Bus Lane Advice

longleggedhair

I drove along a bus lane today, that was applicable until 7pm (Birmingham). The time on my car was 7.01. But I had the radio on and the 7pm news came on as I was half way along 😩. I wondered if I will be hit with a fine or if there is any leeway like there is with speed tickets? Thanks for any advice.

DUTR

Depends if there were enforcement cameras for the said lane.
The news doesn't always start on the top of the hour.

longleggedhair

Thanks, it was radio 4, so I believe that is always on the hour. I’ll have to go back and have a look if there are any cameras.

peter12345678910

No leeway, but if you pay quickly it gets reduced to £30 from £60.

Marvel1

A bit random, but check the time on say your tv guide/planner then look at the time in car to see if how much a difference it is.

Johno100

longleggedhair wrote: »

I drove along a bus lane today, that was applicable until 7pm (Birmingham). The time on my car was 7.01. But I had the radio on and the 7pm news came on as I was half way along 😩. I wondered if I will be hit with a fine or if there is any leeway like there is with speed tickets? Thanks for any advice.

Where was it exactly? Outside of the inner ring road there are very few static bus lane enforcement cameras.

tacpot12

I always keep my car clock set 2 minutes ahead of the correct time as a way to avoid being late for meetings etc. This would also reduce the risk of being 'caught' by being a minute or two too early in the bus lane.

stator

It's unlikely they will fine you. If they do you can always challenge them to prove that their clocks are accurate and synchronised regularly. They will probably cancel it rather than fight such a trivial case

Car_54

stator wrote: »

It's unlikely they will fine you. If they do you can always challenge them to prove that their clocks are accurate and synchronised regularly. They will probably cancel it rather than fight such a trivial case

I don't think the process works like that. You can certainly challenge them, but they're under no obligation to respond. The ultimate appeal is to an adjudicator, not a court of law.

IamNotAllowedToUseMyName

You'd probably be able to win on appeal as de minimis. The council are under an obligation to be fair (unlike private parking companies) and so charging you within a minute or so of the change of time is expecting you to have an unreasonably accurate view of the time.

I would expect that they have a few minutes leeway either side of the start and end times.

In future, the thing to do is avoid the stress and leave it a couple of minutes just in case.

pogofish

Check that you are not in one of those council areas that double the penalty for vehicles straying into bus lanes in the last few minutes of operation.