Free Traffic Legal Advice

The registered keeper of the vehicle received a penalty charge notice from Barking & Dagenham Council within the last 9-10 days.
The driver of said vehicle was visiting a client and was not used to the area or roads.
The driver pulled out in to the bus lane from a petrol station and drove in the bus lane for 30 yards.
There was a sign showing that the bus lane ended- this was the only sign the driver noticed, by that point the lane had already finished.
It was in the evening and therefore road markings were not clearly visible.
It was also a busy road and the driver's focus was on exiting the petrol station safely and not causing an obstruction.
In addition, the route the driver was taking to the client's property meant exiting the upcoming roundabout on the first exit. The driver entered the left lane to anticipate this. This left lane being the bus lane that ended within 30 yards of entering it. Overall driver was potentially in the bus lane for 2-5 seconds according to the driver.
Pictures of area and signage attached and PCN letter.
First Google street view image shows petrol station the driver exited from and the second google street view photo shows what was opposite to the petrol station exit.


[ Guests cannot view attachments ]

Hi,

Just to confirm re PCN...when referring to requiring the whole PCN, do you mean the back of it as well as the front cover?

Thanks

The driver of said vehicle was visiting a client and was not used to the area or roads.

For statutory PCNs liability rests with the owner no matter who was driving, so you can drop all this "the driver" nonsense, which can actually backfire.

Here's the video:



I don't see how the signage could possibly be adequate: https://maps.app.goo.gl/iwH6rMbLyt5BkDH38

Here is The London Borough of Barking and Dagenham (North Street, London Road, Wood  Lane, Cambridge Road, Linton Road, Ripple Road, New Road and Longbridge Road) (Bus Lane) Order 2002.

That being said, they likely won't get the video admitted into evidence, that's the reason we've not lost a London bus lane case since July 2021 and I don't see why that would change now.

Apologies, I am not trying to shift the blame. I was just trying to be precise with my language. I completely understand that I am liable for the vehicle. My understanding was that it is best to talk more in the third person tense when explaining the situation.

These responses give me some semblance of hope!

It's better than that, as I said we've not lost a London bus lane case since July 2021. It's the council that has very little hope of getting anywhere with this, as long as you hold your nerve and see this through to the end.

I'm tempted to say you might as well wait for the enforcement notice and make formal representations against that.

Thank you for the draft.

For absolute clarity, I am the registered keeper and I was driving the vehicle.

@Injustice204 I'd go with Hippocrates's suggestion & offer of representation, he has more capacity than me to take on new cases at the moment and you can't really go wrong with a London bus lane case.