These are my proposed representations. It is not clear when the discount period ends but, to be safe, I should probbaly submit this tonight. If anyone has any comments or suggestions for improvements, please let me know
Thank you
I would like to make representations against this PCN
I barely recall this day 5 weeks ago but have now seen the relevant video. I was travelling within the speed limit along with the flow of traffic along the A23, Streatham High Rd
As I entered the T-junction of Sunnyhill Rd, I focused left and right as there were cars on both sides turning onto and from the A road. When I entered the junction box, traffic was flowing and there was no stationary vehicle in front of me. I entered the box in reasonable anticipation that the car in front of me would leave me with sufficient space and my exit would be clear.
Suddenly, the vehicle 2cars in front of me suddenly stopped even though there was enough space in front of him to fit another entire vehicle. This caused the car immediately in front of me to stop, blocking my exit from the intersection which I had already entered. The lack of adequate visibility prevented me from making a clear judgement before entering the box. Even though I was keeping a standard distance behind the car in front in congested traffic, it stopped at the top of the junction box, leaving me nowhere to go
The junction box was extraordinarily long, extending across the T-junction and just beyond the pavements on both sides of Sunnyhill Rd. This is longer than necessary. The length of the box was about that of 1 ½ buses. Traffic in London does not maintain 1 ½ bus-lengths between vehicles at the best of times.
In addition, where my car stopped rolling for 5-second, the half of the car that was still in the box was not aligned with Sunnyhill Rd, which I had cleared, but rather with the pavement. At this point, the box is not protecting a cross movement. Thus, this section of the box should not be ticketed and a PCN is not justified
I could not, at that point, turn left as I had passed the road; The 2-lane road, at this point, has temporarily reduced to 1 lane. Therefore, I could not change lanes. I tried to slow, trusting that the front car would fill the space in front of him and allow me to clear the box, but they did not in time and I was forced to stop rolling forward for 5 seconds. I did my best not to block anyone
As it was, only half of my vehicle was left in the box and that was for only a few seconds. One can see from my attempt to keep moving forward and to the side, that I was trying to avoid stopping in the box. As it was, no traffic was obstructed, no gridlock was created, no through movement was prevented, which is the purpose of junction boxes. In fact, one can see in the video that a car was easily able to turn around me
It was not my intention to stop in the junction box. I agree with them and am critical of drivers who deliberately stop in them. I try to be careful of them without resorting to stop/start, jerky driving. I think that, in these circumstances, a PCN is a harsh penalty. Had a preceding car not inexplicably stopped where it did, I would have been fine
In short, the situation was created by a preceding car which I could not see nor over which I could have any control
