Free Traffic Legal Advice

The offence is crossing the stop line on a red light, so if you are already past the stop line on green then no offence as far as I know, however driving headlong into traffic that has now got a green light going the other way could possibly land you in trouble.

Indeed, and the offence is committed if any part of the car crosses the line. It can be difficult, if not impossible, for a driver to see whether the rear bumper has cleared the line.

I was driving on Finchley Road where the new roadworks are, and there was a red temporary roadworks board saying “USE BUS LANE.”

I moved into the bus lane before I reached the sign because I could already see it ahead (probably around 50 metres away) and assumed it was telling traffic to use the bus lane due to the roadworks.

I haven’t received a PCN or anything—I’m just curious.

Has anyone else driven through there recently? Did you enter the bus lane before the sign, or wait until you were level with it?

Also, is there any guidance or law that says how far before a temporary “USE BUS LANE” sign you’re allowed to move over? I can’t find anything that mentions a specific distance.

Would appreciate hearing from anyone who’s driven through that section or knows how these temporary roadworks signs are supposed to work.

no it’s on finchley road

I think it would be physically impossible to move into the bus lane only once you are level with the use bus lane sign. There would have to be a dramatic last minute swerve and you would still be a couple of feet prior to the sign.