NO ONE likes receiving a ticket for a parking or speeding offence, but most of us recognise the need to manage and control traffic, particularly in city centres and on fast dangerous roads like the A9. So when we end up with a ticket, most of us will just pay the fine and vow never to make the same mistake again.
However, the imposition of tickets for motoring offences depends on an understanding between the council imposing the penalties and the drivers who have to pay them, namely that they will receive a reasonable warning. Before every bus lane or road controlled by average-speed cameras, there should be a clear sign so the driver knows what is expected of them.
Sadly, a number of recent cases appear to have broken that golden rule. In 2014, a bus-lane camera outside the Royal Infirmary in Edinburgh issued more than a quarter of the capital’s fines for that year. The following year, a bus gate in Nelson Mandela Place in Glasgow became notorious when the number of drivers caught quickly rose way above the average for a bus lane. The suspicion was that the cameras were being used to generate revenue rather than improve safety.
The same suspicion has fallen on a camera in Glassford Street in Glasgow. The camera catches drivers straying into a bus lane outside an NCP car park but many motorists have felt that the signs warning them of the bus lane were inadequate. One driver in particular, John Burleigh, has vigorously pursued the case and has tried for five years to have his ticket overturned.
To date, Mr Burleigh has been unsuccessful but his case is now considerably strengthened after it emerged that new signs at the Glassford Street bus lane have resulted in the number of convictions being cut by a fifth over four years. In its first year, the camera brought in 340 tickets a day on average, but as of last year, after new signs were installed, the daily total has been cut to 21.
The conclusion is obvious: if drivers are adequately warned about a camera, they will avoid it, which means that the hundreds of drivers who were caught in the first years of its operation were unfairly treated. Glasgow City Council appears unwilling to accept this (probably because it would cost it hundreds of thousands of pounds in refunded fines), which means justice for Mr Burleigh and other drivers like him looks like a remote possibility.
That leaves only one hope. If the council is not going to do the right thing and waive the fines imposed before the new signs went up, then it and other councils must at least ensure that lessons have been learned. Drivers must be warned clearly about the danger of a fine before it is imposed but councils must also do much more to convince us all that bus lanes and other similar measures are working as they should. Where does the money go? Do bus lanes really cut congestion? Answers to those kind of questions could help win more support for bus lanes and remove the suspicion once and for all that what they are really about is making money.
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