Bus Lane fine - Moor Street Birmingham

Gerrard00004

Evening all,
I have tried searching for relevant threads for information. I am probably guilty of doing the typical man search but could not find anything definitive to Bus Lane fines.

So straight to the point, my beautiful (she's watching me type) Girlfriend accidentally drove into a Bus lane, located as Moor Street Birmingham.
We accept it has happened, however, I was seeing if there was any advice into how we may potentially appeal this.
To give some context to the situation. Birmingham has been going through a lot of changes, to accommodate the extended Tram line, the incoming HS2 and trying to make Digbeth (main route into city centre) more pedestrianised. I have lived in Birmingham my whole life and still have to pay extra attention to the road signs/markings everytime I enter B'ham. My partner, does not live or has ever lived in Birmingham so relies on her out of date, car navigation system, which has a mind of its own around the NEC - she tried to get to resorts world and ended up at the Tamworth junction M42.

Any advice would be appreciated. 

Thanks 
Me

cw8825

If your defence is she is not local to the area or the satnav. You’re wasting your time. 

If it was clearly marked with correct signage they have her bang to rights. 

If you are going to appeal you need to be able to demonstrate why it was issued incorrectly. 

If you feel it’s worth the time and effort carry on but remember there is a video/picture if the car driving in a bus lane

WellKnownSid

Any appeal along those lines is going to need to strongly highlight your girlfriend's inability to be safely in control of a motor vehicle at any speed / lack of situational awareness / disinterest in road traffic laws.  Probably best you pay the fine.

LightFlare

head to:

https://www.ftla.uk/

read the "before you post" thread and provide all info requested (even if it seems trivial to you)

Okell

As per @LightFlare ^^^^

Relying on GPS in any major city (or indeed town) is simply asking to collect tickets for all sorts of infringements

mr_stripey

unless the roads were being resurfaced and the words "BUS LANE" not painted, or you can prove some other signage was missing or misleading then you are going to struggle to prove anything other than your girlfriend simply wasn't paying attention.

It's easy done - I copped for one whilst looking for a Premier Inn car park in Bedford a couple of years back. Although I missed the signage, it was definitely there. Pay up and move on!

angrycrow

I have sympathy for the op's partner knowing the section of road they are referring to. They recently blocked access to the moor street car park and made it all bus lanes. By the time this is clear your best and only option is to divert into the bull ring car park. The roads approaching this point are utter chaos due to being dug up to fit tram lines. 

Unfortunately I fear they are stuck with the fine. 

SiliconChip

The easy solution is to avoid driving anywhere in the city centre where you are not already entirely certain of the route. The only places I drive to inside the middle ring road are through the city on the inner ring road or to park either at Navigation Street or Snow Hill. Taking the bus, train or tram (when they can be bothered to run them) is usually a far better option.

Mildly_Miffed

The information on the satnav screen is always to be treated as being of a lower priority than the information outside the windscreen.

She may benefit from being reminded of this.

jimjames

If you can visit the location you may be able to get photos of the signage to prove that it's misleading or not properly visible when you are in a vehicle with others around but that could be could be clutching at straws.

peter12345678910

Birmingham city centre is very strict, all their cameras work. Just slightly go over a bus lane line they will take pictures, also it is an incredibly complex road structure created when roads were less busy p.s unless it is a part of your regular routine.