PCN (34) - Nottingham City Council - Entered Bus lane early to take hospital entrance

Hi,

I was running late for my wife's hospital appointment at Nottingham City Hospital.  We were coming down Hucknall road and I entered the bus lane slightly early after gate no.2 of the hospital in order to take gate no.3 entrance.  The council sent me a PCN through the post and I appealed sighting that the PCN was invalid because I had to enter the bus lane in order to take the entrance of gate no.3 of the hospital and attached a copy of my wife's hospital appointment lettter.  My appeal was rejected on the basis that I was driving along the bus lane for an unreasonable distance.  The distance after gate no.2 to gate no.3 is very short and I do not believe this is an unreasonable distance as claimed by the council.

Do I have a case to appeal further or should I just pay the fine?

I would be very grateful for your guidance.

Thanks.




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Only sight of the video can allow us to determine whether your contravention was de minimis, (trivial), or not.  The video may be available on the Nottm website, by quoting PCN number and car reg.

So, please post the PCN all sides, redacting only your name and address. Also please post a GSV link telling us exactly where you drove into the bus lane to turn into the hospital.

Thanks for your reply, I really appreciate it.

I have attached the images of the original PCN notice and a link of the video from the council website.








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Looking at GSV, and the photos you've posted, you drove into the bus lane by the bus stop layby on the opposite side of the road. Using GSV distance measuring, you were in the bus lane for 58 yards, which I am sorry to say is way out of any likely de minimis (trivial) argument that could succeed at the adjudicators.

Presumably this is a 30mph limit and you had traffic right behind - I don't think it's unreasonable to prepare a left turn earlier than the lane end which should end sooner in my view. Whether an adjudicator will agree is the £35 question.

We need to look at all the PCN.

Another argument for de minimus, that I would include, would be that you are not undertaking any traffic, so you gained no material advantage by excursion.

Thanks all, your input has been very valuable to me.

If I take the chance and appeal again and I lost, will I lose the discount rate?

I just wanted to add that on the day of the hospital appointment there was more traffic than usual on Hucknall road due to road works at various interval.  Sections of the road were blocked with cones which meant more traffic build up.  This was one of the reasons we got late for the appointment despite setting off early.

Is it worth mentioning this in the appeal in a meaningful way?

Thanks all, your input has been very valuable to me.

If I take the chance and appeal again and I lost, will I lose the discount rate?

If you take them to the adjudicators, the discount option is lost. Of course if you win, you pay nothing. It's a double-or-quits gamble essentially.

What would you say are my chances in succeeding if I appealed?

What would you say are my chances in succeeding if I appealed?

Poor.

Some adjudicators take a hard line - you're either in or out - but others will consider traffic conditions, road layout and triviality (the latter not so great here).

But post all the PCN as there may be other things to look at.