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The Motorists' Guide
to Appealing Parking, Bus Lane, Yellow Box Junction and Moving
Traffic Tickets |
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Bus Lane Tickets and Notices .....................................................................................................................
Check to see if the information on your ticket and subsequent
notices complies with the law.
You'll be surprised how many authorities get it wrong!
The
legislation has been summarised below. The parts in italics below have
been copied from the relevant regulations with links to the official
site for confirmation.
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Bus Lanes in London
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The Ticket
-
Enforcement Notice
- Notice of
Rejection
Bus Lanes
outside London
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The Ticket
- Notice of
Rejection
Example of a Non Compliant
Ticket in London
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Bus
Lanes in London
In
London, the London
Local Authorities Act 1996 (amended
2000) gave London councils the
powers to enforce bus lane restrictions. The original act made the driver
responsible but the 2000 amendment (in schedule 2) made the owner
accountable for the PCN.
The
Ticket
Part II of the 1996 act specifies what must be stated on the ticket:
(3) A
penalty charge notice under this Part of this Act must state—
(a) the
grounds on which the council believe that the penalty charge is payable with respect
to the vehicle;
(c) that
the penalty charge must be paid before the end of the period of 28 days beginning
with the date of the notice;
(d) that
if the penalty charge is paid before the end of the period of 14 days beginning
with the date of the notice, the amount of the penalty charge will be reduced
by the specified proportion;
(e) that,
if the penalty charge is not paid before the end of the 28 day period, an enforcement
notice may be served by the council on the person appearing to them to be the
owner of the vehicle;
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For point (g) above,
schedule 1 was amended by the
2000 act. The amendment means the
authority is only obliged to consider representations after an
enforcement notice has been served.
It's quite difficult to read and
understand this section by swapping between the two acts, so I've
rewritten the revised paragraph 2 of schedule 1 below:
Representations against enforcement notice
2
(1) Where it appears to a person on whom an enforcement notice
has been served under paragraph 1 above (in this Schedule
referred to as “the recipient”) that one or other of the grounds
mentioned in sub-paragraph (4) below is satisfied, he may make
representations to that effect to the council who served the
notice on him.
(2) Any representations under this paragraph must be made in
such form as may be specified by the councils, acting through
the Joint Committee.
(3) The council may disregard any such representations which are
received by them after the end of the period of 28 days
beginning with the date on which the enforcement notice in
question was served.
(4) The grounds referred to in sub-paragraph (1) above are—
(a) that the recipient—
(i)
never was the owner of the vehicle in question;
(ii) had ceased to be its owner before the date on which the
penalty charge was alleged to have become payable; or
(iii) became its owner after that date;
(b) that there was no breach of an order or regulations of the
type described in subsection (2) of the said section 4; or
(c)
that at the time the alleged breach of such order or regulations
took place the person who was in control of the vehicle was in
control of the vehicle without the consent of the owner.
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The Enforcement Notice
After 28 days an enforcement notice is
served by the council.
Schedule 1 of the 1996 act
stipulates what this must contain:
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(2) An enforcement notice must state—
(a) the amount of the penalty charge payable;
(b) the grounds on which the council believe that a penalty
charge is payable with respect to the vehicle;
(c) that the penalty charge must be paid before the end of the
period of 28 days beginning with the date on which the
enforcement notice is served;
(d) that failure to pay the penalty charge may lead to an
increased charge being payable;
(e) the amount of that increased charge;
(f) that the person on whom the notice is served may be entitled
to make representations under paragraph 2 below (see
above)
; and
(g) the effect of paragraph 6 below. |
In addition from (g) paragraph 6
states:
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6
(1) Where a council serve a notice of rejection, the person who
made the representations under paragraph 2 above in respect of
which that notice was served may, before—
(a) the end of the period of 28 days beginning with the date of
service of that notice; or
(b) such longer period as a traffic adjudicator may allow,
appeal to a traffic adjudicator against the council’s decision.
(2) On an appeal under this paragraph, the traffic adjudicator
shall consider the representations in question and any
additional representations which are made by the appellant on
any of the grounds mentioned in paragraph 2 (4) above and may
give the council concerned such directions as he considers
appropriate.
(3) It shall be the duty of the council to whom a direction is
given under sub-paragraph (2) above to comply with it forthwith |
The
Notice of Rejection
If you appeal against the enforcement
notice, paragraph 5 stipulates what the notice of rejection must
state:
Rejection of representations against enforcement notice
5
Where any representations are made under paragraph 2 above but
the council concerned do not accept that a ground has been
established, the notice served under sub-paragraph (10) of the
said paragraph 2 (in this Schedule referred to as “the notice of
rejection”) must—
(a) state that a charge certificate may be served under
paragraph 8 below unless before the end of the period of 28 days
beginning with the date of service of the notice of rejection—
(i)
the penalty charge is paid; or
(ii) the person on whom the notice is served appeals to a
traffic adjudicator against the penalty charge; and
(b) describe in general terms the form and manner in which such
an appeal must be made;
and may contain such other information as the council consider
appropriate
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Bus
Lanes Outside London |
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For Bus Lanes Outside
London, The
Bus Lane Contraventions (Penalty Charges, Adjudication
and Enforcement) (England) Regulations 2005 applies.
The
Ticket
Section 8 specifies what must be stated on the ticket:
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(5)
A penalty charge notice must state—
(a)
the registration mark of the vehicle involved in the alleged contravention
(b)
the detection date and the time at which the alleged contravention occurred;
(c)
the reasons why the authority believe that a penalty charge is payable;
(d)
the amount of the penalty charge;
(e) that the penalty charge must be paid
before the end of the 28 day period;
(f) that if the penalty charge is
paid before the end of the period of 14 days beginning with the date of service
of the notice, the penalty charge will be reduced by one half;
(g) that
representations may be made, on any of the statutory grounds of appeal, to the
authority against the imposition of the penalty charge but that representations
made outside the 28 day period may be disregarded;
(h) what are the statutory
grounds of appeal;
(i) the postal address to which representations are
to be sent;
(j) any electronic mail address or FAX number to which representations
may be sent as an alternative to the postal address;
(k) that if at the
end of the 28 day period—
(i)
no representations have been made; and (ii) the penalty charge has not been
paid,
the
authority may increase the penalty charge by a half and take steps to enforce
payment of the charge as so increased;
(l) the manner in which the penalty
charge may be paid
(m) that if the representations are rejected an appeal
may be made on any of the statutory grounds of appeal may be made to an adjudicator
in respect of a penalty charge; and
(n) that the recipient may, by notice
in writing to the authority, request them—
(i)
to make available at an office of theirs specified by him, free of charge and
at a time during normal office hours so specified, for viewing by him and by his
representative (if any), the record of the contravention produced by the approved
device pursuant to which the penalty charge was imposed; or
(ii) to provide
him, free of charge, with such still images from that record as, in the authority's
opinion, establish the contravention.
(6)
Where the recipient of the notice makes a request under paragraph (5)(m), the
authority shall comply with the request within a reasonable time. |
As per point (h) above, the PCN must
also state what the statutory grounds of appeal are as follows as
per
section 9 of the above act:
9. —(1) The recipient may make written representations on any of
the statutory grounds of appeal to the authority against the
imposition of the penalty charge; but the authority may
disregard any such representations which are received by them
after the end of the 28 day period.
(2) The grounds are—
(a) that the alleged contravention did not occur;
(b) that regulation 6(1) (other proceedings pursued) applies;
(c) in a case where the penalty charge notice has been served
on the recipient on the basis that he was the owner of the
vehicle concerned, that the recipient—
(i) never was the owner of the vehicle in question;
(ii) had ceased to be its owner before the detection date;
or
(iii) became its owner after the detection date;
(d) in a case where the penalty charge notice has been
served on the recipient on the basis that he was the hirer of
the vehicle concerned, that he was not liable to pay the
penalty charge under regulation 5(2);
(e) that the recipient was the registered keeper of the
vehicle in question on the detection date, but on that date—
(i) the circumstances were as mentioned in regulation
5(2) (vehicle subject to hiring agreement);
(ii) the circumstances were as mentioned in regulation 5(3)
(vehicle kept by a vehicle trader), and the recipient was
either not a vehicle trader or was a vehicle trader but not
the vehicle trader keeping the vehicle; or
(iii) the vehicle was in the control of a person who had
assumed control of it without the recipient's consent; and
(f) that the penalty charge exceeded the amount applicable
in the circumstances of the case.
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The
Notice of Rejection
If the authority rejects your appeal,
they must serve a notice of rejection.
In accordance with
section 10 this must state:
(3) Where an authority is not satisfied that any of the
statutory grounds of appeal is established, the notice served in
accordance with paragraph (1)(b) must be a notice stating that
they do not accept that the ground has been established ("a
notice of rejection").
(4) A notice of rejection shall—
(a) state the reasons for the authority's decision;
(b) state that an appeal against the imposition of the penalty
charge may be made to an adjudicator within the appeal period;
(c) specify the statutory grounds of appeal;
(d) describe in general terms the procedure for making an
appeal;
(e) state that an adjudicator has power to make an award of
costs;
(f) indicate the circumstances in which the power may be
exercised; and
(g) state that unless, before the end of the appeal period—
(i) the penalty charge is paid; or
(ii) an appeal is made to an adjudicator against the
imposition of the penalty charge,
the authority may increase the penalty charge by 50 per
cent and take steps to enforce payment.
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Example of a Non Compliant Bus Lane Ticket in
London
The period to pay should be from the
date of the notice.

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