“Education is a progressive discovery of our own ignorance.” (Will Durant)
Imagine my surprise when I saw this poster on the back of a London bus recently:
Hats off to Transport for London, I thought, for indulging in a little education rather than enforcement, even if it is a fraction late; after all, they have been relieving us of our hard earned cash for a couple of years now for minor moving traffic offences. Hmm, bit of a misnomer that. How can it be a moving traffic offence when you are caught stationary in a yellow box?
Anyway the campaign “Know the Rules” started at the beginning of November and will run until early December. You can read the press release here. They have also produced an accompanying leaflet.
So I showed this poster to my son. He took one glance at it and said, “Well that’s stupid. All three vehicles are committing an offence!” Take a closer look:
The law states “…a vehicle which is stationary or stops within a box junction includes a vehicle which is stationary whilst part of it is within the box junction”. Legally all three vehicles in the picture are “within the box”. OK the black one is marginal, but it is deliberately depicted as overlapping the yellow line.
The law also says “no person shall cause a vehicle to enter the box junction so that the vehicle has to stop within the box junction due to the presence of stationary vehicles.” Well Mr Black has stopped in the box and is blocking Ms Blue, so they both qualify for PCNs. Mrs Silver is being blocked by Ms Blue.
“Ha!” you say, “but her exit is clear”. Sorry, read the law above again. It does not say anything about exits. Mrs Silver has stopped due to the presence of a stationary Ms Blue. “OK then, but Mrs Silver is turning right.” In this case Mrs Silver is in the box and in the clear. You can enter and stop in the box when turning right. The law allows for the fact that you can be held up because of oncoming traffic or other stationary vehicles.
So there you have it; three PCNs. That will be £300 please, or £150 if you pay within 14 days. Kerrching! Mrs Silver can appeal to PATAS – the chances are she won’t bother.
Now where did I put the phone number of that tabloid journalist so that we can all have a laugh?
Posted by moneyboxjunction 
