Free Traffic Legal Advice

Greetings everyone,

First time posting so wanted to tank all volunteers that continue to help on this website.

I received a PCN for driving through a bus gate in this notorious location. I have seen a couple of posts on this already but I feel that my case may be slightly different (I hope).

I originally tried to go through the normal left side of the gate, I tried reversing a few times but with an SUV it felt rather tight. The location also clearly had multiple collisions/scratches in the past (GPS picture attached). I then reversed and went through the bus gate to avoid any potential collisions. Thankfully, the video on the PCN does show me reverse from the normal path after trying and going through the bus gate.

My thinking process was:
- I genuinely was not aware that this is an offense until today otherwise I would have just kept trying until I fit (that's on me sadly)
- there was absolutely no traffic in the area at was past 1am
- My SUV is about 1.9m (max is 2m) in conjunction with the lack of good lighting made it difficult to estimate the distances
- The damage on the path made me more worried about scratching a brand new car (got it from Tusker last month)

Is it worth disputing this at all or do I have to take it on the shin 

Your support is greatly appreciated!

Street View:

Video:

Welcome to FTLA.
We need to see more information.


For guidance on posting images please to have a read of
https://www.ftla.uk/civil-penalty-charge-notices-(councils-tfl-and-so-on)/read-this-first-before-posting-your-case!-this-section-is-for-council-tfl-dartme/

and post here all sides of the PCN (only redact yr name & address from documents  - leave all else in),.

any council photos/video,
and a GSV link to the location.

Added, thank you for flagging this.