£70 council fine

[indy4x]

Got a £30 fine for driving in a bus lane in Cardiff centre once - at 8.00 at night! I was lost, looking for a car park, looking at signs - up in the air, bus lane marking on the road. Total con - the streets were deserted almost.
Thanks Cardiff City council.

Got nabbed in Cardiff a few years ago, lights on red but left hand filter lane was green, I was turning left and cut the last 10' of the bus lane and the camera had me

 

[Kram]

Hi,

https://www.examinerlive.co.uk/news/seven-people-getting-bus-gates-13629981

Have a look at the video; lunatics are in charge.

I've not been into Huddersfield Town center since Meadowhall opened and retail parks opened nearby together with a new Morrison's over 25 years ago; the town councilors made matters worse a few years ago introducing bus lanes now they are doing their best to close the few remaining stores by closing even more roads to traffic only catering for non road tax paying and non insured cyclists. The cyclists can have my share of space in Huddersfield because I've no intention of ever visiting the town center again;

Kind regards, Colin.

It looks clear from the photo, I have no problem with people being fined for chancing their luck against a camera.

We have a bus only cut through here with a bollard and cameras, it would save me about 5 minutes per journey, I dont even chance it on motorbike. However Im extremely tempted to epoxy the bollard in the up position. The busses here are **** holes but the speed they take this cut through it would probably kill someone.

 

[Milkybars]

The real reason is the "central" goverment have gradually de-funded all the councils. This is to enusre the idology of private good, pubilc bad continues to be firmed up in the publics mind.
Even if in most cases its not the really the case...

 

[MysterG]

Every year we used to visit Cheltenham for a bit of Christmas shopping. Then a couple of years ago they changed the roads (just before we visited) and the way we usually left had become a bus lane. Signage to late to avoid it, we got hit with a £60 fine. Not been back since.
Apparently they raised something like £150,000 in the first month...

 

[Seadog]

This is to enusre the idology of private good, pubilc bad continues to be firmed up in the publics mind.

Clearly not true of "Blue" councils

 

[Retired]

Hi,

It's a crime here in the UK to be successful and support oneself; any business making a profit the government can get their hands on is sold off to foreigners; anyone daft enough to graft earning a good income is taxed heavier; why don't our UK government simply allow us a bit of pocket money each then the council's can grab this too; I've been retired 20 years having paid a lot of hard earned money into the final salary pension scheme; people who have never worked an honest day in their life receive more in benefits than I receive in pension but I have to pay tax on my works pension.

Sorry to wander off topic but the way the UK is heading no one will have enough money left to pay a fine. A £70 fine is more than we paid for the monthly mortgage on our semi detached house 44 years ago; the mortgage was £6,300 and to us it was a huge amount taking 25 years to pay off. There's a program on TV called "Can't pay we'll take it away" it's truly amazing to see bailiffs chasing over £7,000 in unpaid parking fines from a single person.

Fair play no longer exists; where at one time a police officer would have a quiet word now a police officer has a cash register to ring up for the tiniest mistake. I'm 73 and have ridden motorcycles and driven cars since I was 16 never scared to visit anywhere; we used to drive through the center of London in our Reliant Robin without stress; now I daren't drive through Huddersfield and driving anywhere new is frightening; I don't think its an age thing I think its fear of fines.

It's well overdue for the police to really clamp down on untaxed; uninsured and un-MOT'd cars the quickest way to sort it out would be a blanket scrappage of such cars (vehicles) what's the point fining these people who then are back on the road behind the wheel the next day. Decent people are being treated worse than the criminals here in the UK.

OTR price in 2016 of our Skoda Yeti was £23,000; it's fully legal and main dealer serviced/maintained also it has two lots of insurance on it comprehensive and Gap insurance; legal motorists like us are paying for the illegal motorists who have accidents and aren't insured; we've had a dash cam for years for our own protection.

I'm not against cyclists but these days cyclists are unsafe on modern roads; uninsured they appear to have more protection in law than a motorist.

What's happened to the Great Britain I was proud to be part of?

Kind regards, Colin.

 

[Pete.]

The local councils in London have already run a muck with stuff like this. Blocked roads, no entry signs, no right turn , no left turn of course if you're a cyclist you have a tax free run of the place. Madness that is crippling London.

Yes I got done on my bike recently. Went up a road I've used many times to find two big plant pot things and signs barring my way. Only option was to take the road on the right. That also had a restriction but it was just two small signs high up and un-lit (this was at 6am so totally dark). They fined me for contravening the restriction and the photo shows me still looking left at the one that was blocking my way forward.

I applealed but they turned it down and I didn't have the time to escalate it. One of our other guys had exactly the same thing in a different location and he appealed his sucessfully.

 

[minimutly]

Councils services used to represent value for money before they were run by bean counters, over paid out of touch councillors and embroiled in HSE bull. They all need to replace the thousands of overpaid chair polishers with on the ground workers and restore some of the basic services. If every chair polisher removed could pay for a few men pushing brooms ,using a shovel or repairing roads Britain would not look like the hit hole it currently is.

Bob

You see this post - this really hits the nail on the head as to what's wrong with this country. Every post in power is filled by desk jockeys who've never actually worked in their lives. From the government down, people run things on paper/by computer, without knowing the hows and whys things should be done a certain way. And when it comes to actually doing things - it's all out to contractors, so there is no direct link with the work until it's finished - and then its an argument over who's fault it is.
Every day I get this - I write a spec for a hydro scheme, go through it carefully, then have to hand it over to "Engineers" who oversee the contractors - without even going to site. Several times I've been told off for suggesting to contractors how I want something done -"you can't do that, if it doesn't work it will be our fault".
Well, here's news, build it like I ask and I know it will work, now there's something...

 

[frank horton]

Hi there Colin.....
pretty much thats why I left Blighty......
that n the c*rp weather.....
If u gotta put up with idiots in town halls n governments might as well do it in the sunshine.....
Stockport was the same years ago.....great place to shop, then they made it pay to park on the streets, then upped the charges on what little official parking there was........
everybody left to go to the out of town shopping centers.....free parking and pedestrionised.....
plenty of places to eat n warm in winter....it's always winter up there....hahaha....
so the shops went bust and my business rates went thru the roof to compensate for the loss of revenue.....
then I quit and got rid of 5 members of staff......
I gotta say never looked back....
bloo*y shame.....

 

[Cobbler]

Every year we used to visit Cheltenham for a bit of Christmas shopping. Then a couple of years ago they changed the roads (just before we visited) and the way we usually left had become a bus lane. Signage to late to avoid it, we got hit with a £60 fine. Not been back since.
Apparently they raised something like £150,000 in the first month...

Cheltenham council had to rescind that traffic order, it caused too much confusion, as you say, by the time you saw the signs it was too late to avoid.

 

[Retired]

Hi,

My wife and I should have quit the UK when we married frank; we've always been grafters but this kind of thing is unacceptable these days in the UK; back to the plot though.

HS2 is going to solve everything whilst bankrupting the UK; what's the point of having a train doing a thousand miles an hour to travel from Leeds to London when the infrastructure to the Leeds train station is gridlocked? It sure makes a lot of sense and why should the tax payer have to fund those living so far from their work? I'm bewildered by it all these days.

A while ago York council in its wisdom closed a main bridge into the city causing huge misery and cost to innocent drivers;

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-york-north-yorkshire-26949373

The air is now so clean the polar ice cap is melting at a rapid pace unlike years ago when every house had a coal fire and industry was coal powered meaning short severe winters and long glorious summers; no one wants to breathe in pollution but at what cost?

Towns and cities should now demolish the boarded up stores and create a welcome atmosphere for motorists by providing decent free parking in their center then recreate the shopping around the car parks; what's the point of a three story car park when above is free so why not build taller car parks; no doubt a resident would complain putting a stop to such a stupid idea because the car park was blocking out the distant landscape; now's the best time ever for councils to come up with some creative thinking as to how to get cars back into the towns and cities whilst also accommodating those wishing to cycle; councils would not cope with even an horse and cart without messing it up. An underpass to a giant multi story car park in any town center would help but it won't happen.

A good start would be a complete clear out of all the councilors and replace them by idiots at least it would be a huge improvement;

We live on a small private estate each paying a lot in rates; I reckon if all the rates we pay between us were added they might pay for one top over paid councilor? We pay our rate bill in one large amount each year in full up front not wanting to be wound up every time a monthly rip off payment is deducted from our account; councils stink.

Kind regards, Colin.

 

[wyn]

The recent new london cycle lanes have been deemed "unlawful" by a high court judge.....last day or two i think.

 

[dobbslc]

The recent new london cycle lanes have been deemed "unlawful" by a high court judge.....last day or two i think.

Yes!
Yes yes yes!
Toss pots the lot of them!
They have pandered to the green brigade at the complete cost of the actual people that pay the taxes , the motorists!
I can't reach some of our sites in the city due to the 'cycles only' signage. I tried it one Sunday morning when most of the restrictions aren't in force and couldn't reach a side road off Leadenhall without going through a cycles only sign.
They have run rampant during lockdown thinking no one was watching!

 

[bricol]

While I'm an over enthusiastic car lover, you have to be off your rocker to think town centers could cope with modern traffic volumes! There simply isn't room on the roads to accomodate the volume. You need out of town parking and bus lanes to get buses in - I like visiting York for shopping - dump the car in a park and ride and into the center hassle free in minutes.

 

[Melvyn Best]

Cambridge council have used COVID as an excuse to close a road bridge in a very popular shopping area as well as several other roads ,supposedly due to social distancing , fining any drivers that ignore the closure, if people were to walk on the pavement in the direction of the arrows on the floor there would be plenty of space.

 

[bigegg]

"offences which are punished by fines are only laws for the poor"

 

[Gritineye]

The recent new london cycle lanes have been deemed "unlawful" by a high court judge.....last day or two i think.

Eastbourne council extended their town centre parking meter scheme outwards, to include most places tourists would park and also a lot of residential areas.

Huge outcry resulted in it being disclosed the whole scheme was illegal and they had exceeded their powers.

Then all the meters were covered up for quite some time, after lots of legal sculduggery they managed to get the law changed, using the excuse that they had spent so much money installing everything that they needed the income to recoup it.

So it's all back in place now. Every one of the traditional parking spots in the surrounding countryside have been blocked off with stumps/logs/boulders etc. so visitors have to use pay and display parking.

Hoards of visitors roaming around looking for somewhere to park, only to find the National Trust and the South Downs National Park muppets are up to very similar tactics,

 

[8ob]

I have never understood why the councils of these congested towns haven't tried to spread the traffic out in time zones, places like London have got folk trying to get to work at the same time kids need to get to school and trucks need to unload at shops/building sites, kin bedlam. These bigger towns don't sleep so I cant see a problem with trucks delivering at night and reintroduce things like flexi hours for office staff, time zone sticker the cars/trucks.

Bob

 

[bigegg]

I have never understood why the councils of these congested towns haven't tried to spread the traffic out in time zones, places like London have got folk trying to get to work at the same time kids need to get to school and trucks need to unload at shops/building sites, kin bedlam. These bigger towns don't sleep so I cant see a problem with trucks delivering at night and reintroduce things like flexi hours for office staff, time zone sticker the cars/trucks.

Bob

because that would be a simple, efficient, cheap, solution which would mean a sharp decrease in revenue for the private conpanies which enforce the regulations?


<edit: there are no spelling mistakes in the above>

 

[Pigeon_Droppings2]

Got a £30 fine for driving in a bus lane in Cardiff centre once - at 8.00 at night!

Was that recent or in the 1980s?

Here in London it's £100 for bus lane and yellow boxes...thats on top of the added charges ....£15 congestion...£12.50 ULEZ.

But that's clearly not pulling in enough money....so the latest scam (sorry "good idea") is they've blocked every side road with flower pots with "road closed" signs....left enough room for a car to get thro and stuck a camera behind. Apparently thats £100 a pop too.

And they wonder why so many people are just selling up and leaving....but less people means the fines and charges will need to go up!