ANYONE who has ever owned a car will know the frustration of receiving a ticket for a parking offence, but most drivers also recognise the need to manage traffic and will pay the fine with a promise to themselves never to get caught again.
However, the relationship between the councils that impose the fines and the people who pay them depends on an understanding that drivers will be warned about the danger of a fine and that the punishment will be proportionate. Anything else looks a scheme for raising money rather than controlling traffic.
The case of Geoffrey and Dawn Bonelle appears to have broken these golden rules. There is no question that an offence was committed – Mr Bonelle drove his wife’s car through the bus gate at Nelson Mandela Square in Glasgow - but the city council is now taking court action to seize the car, which is worth about £5,000 – more than 150 times the original fine.
Mr Bonelle’s defence is that he did not see any signs warning him about the bus gate and he deserves the benefit of the doubt on that. In a letter to The Herald recently, Canadian tourist Andy Cornell said he was caught several times in Glasgow after failing to notice any signs. The number of drivers caught at the bus gate has also been way above the average that would be expected in a bus lane, which suggests that the number of signs and their visibility needs to be looked at again.
Secondly, the proposed punishment for Mr Bonelle is grossly disproportionate to the original offence. It is important than fines are paid, but the council is showing a lack of proportion in trying to seize the family car for what is a relatively trivial offence. It should consider another way of retrieving the money it says it is due.
In the longer term, the council also needs to do more to convince drivers the bus gate and other measure like it are working as they should. Do they encourage more people to use public transport? Are buses actually running more efficiently? Are they reducing congestion in the city? Clear, honest answers to those kind of questions might help drivers accept that measures like the bus gate are a good idea and worth enforcing.
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