Free Traffic Legal Advice

(PCN) NJ41731881
London borough of Hounslow
Code 31J Entering and stopping in a box junction where prohibited
Bath Road (outside Hounslow West station)

Hi please help with advice on appealing the PCN , this happened as a bus 3 cars ahead stopped and as I went through a green traffic light I entered the box, the bus ahead  prevented the flow of traffic from moving and I was stuck on the box without knowing the roads I didn’t know what to do or where to go.

https://imgur.com/a/wN4ATii

https://maps.app.goo.gl/gVHvNVzL5qorWyEa6

Many thanks

Ellie

Agreed. The only car which stops in the box junction never has a stationary vehicle blocking its exit.

OP, can't see you losing this one if you stick it out to the end.

Also, the PCN is invalid too.

I'll draft something for you tomorrow.  I don't know why the PCN is invalid but if Hippocrates says it is, you can be sure that it is!

Re the PCN, a common mistake is for people (and councils!) to believe that any stop within a yellow box junction is an offence.  That's not the case - the law specifies it's only an offence if the stop is made necessary by stationary vehicles.  So, stopping for a pedestrian walking across your path, or behind a vehicle which isn't stationary is ok.  In the video of your incident, you do stop in the box junction but crucially the car "blocking you" never becomes stationary.  The vehicle in front of that one is stationary, but it's far enough in front of the box junction that it wasn't necessary for you to stop in the box junction because of it, so that's also ok.

Suggested draft representations (building on Hippocrates skeleton).  NB, I've assumed the PCN was addressed to you rather than someone else (it will go to the vehicle's registered keeper and they are the ones who should respond, not the driver if that's someone else).

Dear Hounslow,

I would like to submit representations against your recent PCN on the following bases.

1) The alleged contravention did not occur as the video quality is (i) so poor and (ii) even playing it several times one can just about make out that it shows there is no contravention of entering and stopping due to the presence of stationary vehicles.  The vehicle in front of my own is at no point stationary, and the one in front of that looks to be sufficiently in front of the box junction that my vehicle could have passed through completely without stopping.

2) The PCN is in any case invalid for the following reason. Under "If you do nothing":

The PCN wrongly states which action triggers the period in which the council may serve a charge certificate: “If the Penalty Charge is not paid before the end of the period of 28 days beginning with the date of service of this notice an increased charge of £195.00 maybe payable. We may then send you a Charge Certificate.”

The law states at Schedule 1 5:

1) Where a penalty charge notice is served on any person and the penalty charge to which it relates is not paid before the end of the relevant period, the enforcing authority may serve on that person a statement (in this paragraph referred to as a “charge certificate”) to the effect that the penalty charge in question is increased by 50 per cent.
2) The relevant period, in relation to a penalty charge notice is the period of 28 days beginning—
(a) where no representations are made under paragraph 1 above, with the date on which the penalty charge notice is served.

Please see London Tribunals case 224038612A for further confirmation on this point.

For either, or both, of these reasons, you should cancel the PCN.

Kind regards,

XXXXXXX

and the one in front of that looks to be sufficiently in front of the box junction that my vehicle could have passed through completely without stopping.

Think you can be firmer here as it's clear you waited for moving traffic to disperse and then easily drove across beyond the box as there was space.

The response completely fails to consider your actual arguments.  I would definitely take this further.