Bristol clean air zone.

[ukracer]

Having just received a fine for going into Bristol clean air zone. Not knowing I had been in the zone as I turned off the junction after the sign. I am intrigued as to if any one else has unwittingly fell foul of not only the stealth tax but also the over zealous fine or £120 plus the original charge..

I have just written my apeal I dont suppose I will get any where but at least it will waste some bodies time.

quote
Hi I am surprised and shocked to get a PCN notification for various reasons.
1 . I was not aware a live clean air zone applied for Bristol as I am not from that area.
2. Neither the couple (next door neighbors) I was taking to the airport were aware the google route contained a clean air zone.
3. I had indeed seen the signs that said a clean air zone existed 1/4 mile away. so I turned off the route I was taking and saw no more Clean air zone signs.
4. Its ok if you are local and know which roads are in the clean air zone and or google warns you every time you actually enter a clean air zone so you can turn round and take an alternative route.
5 Its not clear enough for strangers to the area to know when exactly they are actually in a clean air zone. signs existed 1/4 mile away but I never saw signs that stated I was now IN a clean air zone.
obviously now I am aware a clean air zone exists I will either stay on the motorways or indeed steer clear of Bristol all together.

I also feel that any first time offenders need to be notified ASAP that they have been in a clean air zone and given the opportunity to pay the clean air fee of £9 and if they dont pay a penalty charge should be sent out but it was almost a month later when I was first aware I had a charge for going into a clean air zone PLUS I only managed to pay the second clean air charge I was issued after checking online BECAUSE I had received the first PCN notice the DAY AFTER I collected my neighbors from Bristol Airport and was within the time scale to just pay the charge.

Its all well and good for locals to know the clean air charge exists and where it applies to but the signage is not at all clear when you actually enter the zone

end quote

 

[fizzy]

These things make my blood boil.
Get some foreign plates on your car you will be fine!
Along with the insane 20mph limit in Wales. M4 shut last night. Diversion was about 5 miles through a 20mph zone and the sad git at the head of the queue was doing 15mph
3 cars overtook him inside the village - and it is supposed to make our roads safer.
I cam to a set of traffic lights on red. Went into the right turn lane and then floored it when lights turned green. Passed about 10 cars in one fell swoop. Clear run then so floored it

 

[Mick Annick]

These things make my blood boil.
Get some foreign plates on your car you will be fine!

Nope, I got nicked for going into the London ULEZ and I’m on French plates!

 

[Cobbler]

The Bath clean air zone starts about 10 yards back from a junction so you have to go into it to turn out of it, if that makes sense. If they moved the start down 10 yards you could turn back away from it, as it is, you are stuck!

 

[500e]

The whole CAZ and 20Mph is a money making idea nothing to do with clean air, it is virtually impossible to mark out a rout without a smart phone or some other device.
Just Don't go there, Bristol and Bath are 2 places I have stopped going through or to, friends and I used to go to Bristol at least once a month to eat £4/500 pound bill not any more Bath occasionally so another lump the poor traders dont get.
Feeling better @fizzy

 

[minimutly]

They say you get what you vote for. Perhaps this will get deleted like the last one....

 

[Nomad]

I did a mini tour of Wales & Midlands last month. Am I allowed to say the road system in the UK is falling apart these days?

M4 all lanes Northbound were closed (2 cars with slightly bent bumpers parked on the hard shoulder, 1 recovery vehicle parked nearby, Lanes 1 & 2 were empty, 2 chaps picking picking up small bits of broken plastic in the outside lane and a que of parked traffic several miles long so the road had been closed for quite a while. No need for any urgency..) Slow traffic southbound as rubberneck types slowed to see what was happening on the other side of the center reservation

Clean Air zones, I hit one in Birmingham Every time I go for a long drive I hear about new schemes I need to avoid.
An article last year lists a lot, some from the list are now live (Newcastle is one I know of) https://www.rac.co.uk/drive/advice/emissions/clean-air-zones/
It's bizzarre that my 1970s banger while being exempt from MOTs & road tax is also exempt from clean air charges.
Your choice, spend ££££ buying a new EV or "clean" car or keep a 50 year old banger on the road legally and cheaply.


Driving in Wales was not fun (some villages marked as 20mph while others are 40mph, also 20mph signposts contradicting 30mph written on the road). I'll not mention the signs that have been removed or defaced by anti-20mph citizens. A few folk driving at 15mph to avoid tickets in 20mph zones.
The time I spent looking for signs on the road or hidden in hedges then checking an rechecking speedo was all time I wasn't paying attention to my driving. As an advanced driver I believe it has made the roads a lot more dangerous !

PM me if you want to know my uncensored views

 

[Beanwood]

I don't quite get it - in my car I have to pay £9 for Bristol, but nothing for Bath ?

 

[addjunkie]

believe it has made the roads a lot more dangerous !

PM me if you want to know my uncensored views

I agree totally folk looking at signs all the time is a potential squashed kid or cyclist….though at 20 the cyclists will be passing you as they dont need to follow the highwaycode.

Suspect your uncensored views are similar to most of us middle english outside the bubble voters!

 

[minimutly]

I did a mini tour of Wales & Midlands last month. Am I allowed to say the road system in the UK is falling apart these days?

M4 all lanes Northbound were closed (2 cars with slightly bent bumpers parked on the hard shoulder, 1 recovery vehicle parked nearby, Lanes 1 & 2 were empty, 2 chaps picking picking up small bits of broken plastic in the outside lane and a que of parked traffic several miles long so the road had been closed for quite a while. No need for any urgency..) Slow traffic southbound as rubberneck types slowed to see what was happening on the other side of the center reservation

Clean Air zones, I hit one in Birmingham Every time I go for a long drive I hear about new schemes I need to avoid.
An article last year lists a lot, some from the list are now live (Newcastle is one I know of) https://www.rac.co.uk/drive/advice/emissions/clean-air-zones/
It's bizzarre that my 1970s banger while being exempt from MOTs & road tax is also exempt from clean air charges.
Your choice, spend ££££ buying a new EV or "clean" car or keep a 50 year old banger on the road legally and cheaply.


Driving in Wales was not fun (some villages marked as 20mph while others are 40mph, also 20mph signposts contradicting 30mph written on the road). I'll not mention the signs that have been removed or defaced by anti-20mph citizens. A few folk driving at 15mph to avoid tickets in 20mph zones.
The time I spent looking for signs on the road or hidden in hedges then checking an rechecking speedo was all time I wasn't paying attention to my driving. As an advanced driver I believe it has made the roads a lot more dangerous !

PM me if you want to know my uncensored views

M4 going North? You were on the wrong motorway...

 

[minimutly]

I agree totally folk looking at signs all the time is a potential squashed kid or cyclist….though at 20 the cyclists will be passing you as they dont need to follow the highwaycode.

Suspect your uncensored views are similar to most of us middle english outside the bubble voters!

I don’t think you have the monopoly on voting...

 

[Kayos]

I've been in lots of clean air zones, never had a fine

Not sure why

 

[Chippie]

WTF is a clean air zone?

This is ******* ********…we pay our road taxes, we get our cars passed by a VOSA test at a local MoT station stating the vehicle meets the requirements for emissions testing..

Take me to court….then I’ll pay…bloody time wasters..

 

[Wildefalcon]

I've stopped bringing my clean efficient quiet euro 4 emissions controlled Volvo into Bristol.

I now only use my smokey thirsty loud Landrover LWB, powered by a tdi200.

And I use waze as my sat nag.

 

[Blobber]

Wish they would put one in Luton be a great excuse not to go back!

 

[CompoSimmonite]

There was some discussion to have a Clear Air Zone in Stoke-on-Trent however general consensus was that would be the "final nail in the coffin" as most of us locals avoid it like the plague already and council should be working to attract visitors - not keep them away

 

[Gareth J]

I'd heard about it on the news so read up about the Bristol clean air zone before entering a while back. Turns out the wheezing old diesel I was driving at the time was chargeable so parked up in the outskirts and walked in. Seemed fair enough - I didn't like being in the yard with it running so why should Bristolians have to put up with it.

However, I'd expect signage to be such that it's possible to avoid without having previously researched. Hardly seems fair to have to have heard about it beforehand. If it wasn't appropriatly signed, as appears to be the case with your experience, I hope you get let off the fine accordingly.

 

[Ubique]

They're not 'clean air zones' though, they're 'emissions taxing zones' - if only hot air were taxed, then most of the tinpot local politico's would be bankrupt in a month. Especially that Khan t

 

[ukracer]

I don't quite get it - in my car I have to pay £9 for Bristol, but nothing for Bath ?

It's the uncertainty that's the problem.
I don't have as much problem with paying a £9 fee if I venture into a clean air zone, as I will not be going to Bristol again. Or Birmingham or London but my objection is not being given the opportunity to.pay the damn fee when I had no way of knowing how it all worked the first time it was live.
I had done the same journey last year. Same signs were up apparently according to locals and nothing came through the post.

Surely they should send a request for the 9 quid before they send a PCN.

 

[minimutly]

There will be one in Cardiff soon. Imagine it - 20/30/40 speed limits, bus lanes cropping up as you drive allong, then on top clean air zone signs. There is only so much you can prioritise whilst driving - the WG should understand this well - every time they are asked by the press why they are failing badly at something, their answer is that "this is a priority for us"...
Well, when I was in school a priority was the issue at the top of the list, and there is only one top..