Free Traffic Legal Advice

I will deal with this tomorrow for you. Don't worry about the initial challenge as that is not a legal necessity anyway.

He he, thanks @Hippocrates much appreciated.

By 'upright sign' do you mean the signs which give the restriction times (eg Monday to Friday 7 am to 10 am)? Can you elaborate a little bit on the legal requirement to have to pass a sign?

Kind Regards

Tom

Hi @Hippocrates

Ok, fair enough, will do. Thanks for your help, I really appreciate it
Cheers
Tom

Update:
We sent the PCN to the parking adjudicator and Haringey decided to not contest the appeal, so it was cancelled.

Here was the appeal letter, if anyone is interested:

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The PCN is invalid based on the following grounds and should be rejected.
1.   Lack of video evidence of the vehicle passing an upright sign

The PCN video evidence does not prove the alleged contravention as it does not show the vehicle passing an upright sign; this is required to prove that the bus lane restriction was adequately communicated to the driver prior to them committing the alleged contravention. The absence of this evidence has been used as grounds for rejection of other PCNs by independent adjudicators, and these rejections set a precedent to reject this PCN also.

Haringey’s 4th March appeal rejection letter includes the following statement: 
‘The vehicle is seen entering and driving within a marked bus lane in the opposite direction to the authorised flow of traffic. Even though the driver did not physically pass the regulatory sign at the start of the lane, the restriction applies along the entire length of the bus lane, and motorists must not enter it unless doing so is expressly permitted.’
They have explicitly acknowledged that I did not pass the regulatory sign before pulling into the parking space within the bus lane. Their argument is that they do not need to provide evidence that I passed the regulatory sign to prove that the alleged contravention occurred because I entered and drove in the bus lane ‘in the opposite direction to the authorized flow of traffic’, but this argument is false for the following reasons:
-   I did not drive ‘within the bus lane’, I pulled into a space designated as a parking space by Haringey Council
-   I did not drive in the opposite direction to the authorized flow of traffic; I parked on the opposite side of the road. This is perfectly legal – the only time it is illegal is at night, unless in a recognized parking space (see Highway code 248), which is not the case here.
Therefore, the responsibility remains on Haringey Council to provide adequate warning signage and to provide evidence that a vehicle passed this to prove that a bus lane contravention has occurred, both of which they have failed to do here.
2.   Upright signage does not meet regulatory guidance
Please see the file ‘Additional photo evidence’, photo 1. This shows the bus lane warning sign after the intersection of Colney Hatch Lane and Muswell Road. This does not meet the regulatory guidance given for sign 959B given in Traffic Sign Manual (TSM) chapter 3 sections 9.3.6 and 9.3.7, specifically:
-   The sign on the photo has the word  ‘&coaches’ written on it. This is not a valid inclusion; if the aim is to show that local buses and coaches can use the bus lane, the bus symbol should be used without the addition of ‘local’ on the bus symbol.
-   The sign includes the time restrictions above the sign, not below; section 9.3.7 of the TSM states ‘The times during which the bus lane operates are shown in the bottom panel of the signs to diagrams 958 and 959B.’

3.   Confusing overlap of bus lane restrictions and designated parking spaces

I pulled into the bus lane because I had seen a space which Haringey council had designated as a parking space. I was not able to see the parking restriction warning signs (see file ‘Additional photo evidence’, photo 2) nor the bus lane warning signs prior to parking, so I checked with the Dentist, then checked the signs further up the road, and then moved the car once it became clear of the restrictions (the majority of which can be clearly seen in the PCN video). It is extremely confusing and misleading to on the one hand delineate designated parking spaces on the road and the same time overlay a bus lane restriction that will lead to a PCN being issued as soon as you park in the parking space; the warning signs are not visible and no grace period was given to allow me to check the signs further up the road. This is at best ill-considered and at worst opportunistic profiteering by Haringey Council.
Yours Sincerely,
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