Bus Gate Fine

clg86

Went on holiday to Brighton a couple of weeks ago and today I received a fine through the post for “being in a bus lane” but when I’ve looked into it, it’s a Bus Gate(??) 
Has anybody heard of these before and do I just pay it?
It’s a council PCN so I don’t want to mess about, but also I’ve never even heard of a Bus Gate before and as I don’t know the area I was following my satnav to get back to Manchester and that’s the way it took me. 

I didn’t see any signs for it and looking at the picture other than me unaware I’m driving over a sign on the floor, it’s not an obvious bus lane as there’s no “bus lane line”. 

Any info would be helpful. Thanks. 

Nearlyold

Bus gates (brighton-hove.gov.uk)

daveyjp

A bus gate means the whole street is for buses (and often hackney carriages) only.

Satnavs are full of errors, never rely on them. Satnavs also don't know what type of vehicle you are driving. 

[Deleted User]

daveyjp said:

A bus gate means the whole street is for buses (and often hackney carriages) only.

Satnavs are full of errors, never rely on them.

Councils make it increasingly harder to drive through city centres with the amount of bus only lanes, one way systems, time-limited roads, etc, they set up. By time you get used to one route they go and change it all again. You haven't even got time to look at the sat nav as you're trying to decipher the road ahead.

AdrianC

clg86 said:

Went on holiday to Brighton a couple of weeks ago and today I received a fine through the post for “being in a bus lane” but when I’ve looked into it, it’s a Bus Gate(??) 
Has anybody heard of these before and do I just pay it?
It’s a council PCN so I don’t want to mess about, but also I’ve never even heard of a Bus Gate before and as I don’t know the area I was following my satnav to get back to Manchester and that’s the way it took me. 

I didn’t see any signs for it and looking at the picture other than me unaware I’m driving over a sign on the floor, it’s not an obvious bus lane as there’s no “bus lane line”. 

Any info would be helpful. Thanks. 

Are you willing to give us the precise location?

They're rarely anything but blatantly obvious. From that Brighton link above...

Obvious, no?
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/the-highway-code/traffic-signs

Your satnav is for giving you a general hint as to which way to go, not for blind obedience. What you can see with your eyes out of the windscreen is FAR more important...

Think of a bus gate as a very short bit of bus lane. It's a bit of road you are not allowed to drive through, but buses are. 

Advocado

There was an article about this in the news a few years ago.  I'm sure the woman got off the fine because the term "bus gate" wasn't in the highway code.

[Deleted User]

Advocado said:

There was an article about this in the news a few years ago.  I'm sure the woman got off the fine because the term "bus gate" wasn't in the highway code.

Yep another example of councils inventing their own road markings. Seen something the other week while driving through Leeds about a 2+ lane. Never seen that in the highway code neither.

Needless to say I ignored it and no fine has come through the post. It was 3 weeks ago.

user1977

Deleted_User said:

Advocado said:

There was an article about this in the news a few years ago.  I'm sure the woman got off the fine because the term "bus gate" wasn't in the highway code.

Seen something the other week while driving through Leeds about a 2+ lane. Never seen that in the highway code neither.

Page 140 here:
https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/519129/know-your-traffic-signs.pdf

[Deleted User]

user1977 said:

Deleted_User said:

Advocado said:

There was an article about this in the news a few years ago.  I'm sure the woman got off the fine because the term "bus gate" wasn't in the highway code.

Seen something the other week while driving through Leeds about a 2+ lane. Never seen that in the highway code neither.

Page 140 here:
https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/519129/know-your-traffic-signs.pdf

Sign I saw was white not blue.

AdrianC

...and here's the current Brighton and Hove TROs...

https://www.brighton-hove.gov.uk/current-traffic-regulation-orders

But whether they're legal or not is relatively fine detail. Missing the signage completely is the question at hand here.

daveyjp

Deleted_User said:

Advocado said:

There was an article about this in the news a few years ago.  I'm sure the woman got off the fine because the term "bus gate" wasn't in the highway code.

Yep another example of councils inventing their own road markings. Seen something the other week while driving through Leeds about a 2+ lane. Never seen that in the highway code neither.

Needless to say I ignored it and no fine has come through the post. It was 3 weeks ago.

Leeds 2+ lane was installed years ago, it was enforced for about 6 months as it needs a physical stop to be enforceable.