Thousands of drivers have been fined for going through Union Street’s bus gate, but there are a lucky few who have successfully appealed and got their money back.
Though they are in the minority, we asked Aberdeen City Council for the most common reasons these individuals had their bus gate fines overturned.
Here’s what they said:
Taxis, deliveries and roadworks…
Anyone taking a non-permitted vehicle through the bus gate on Union Street will be issued with an automatic £60 fine, which can be reduced to £30 if paid promptly.
The council allows people to appeal these fines within 28 days if the driver believes the fine should not have been issued.
According to Aberdeen City Council, the most common reasons appeals were upheld include proof the vehicle was used as a taxi or was making a delivery in the area.
Other reasons appeals have been allowed include occasions where drivers have been directed to use the bus gate due to road closures elsewhere on the road network, or if they were carrying out some kind of utility or emergency works within the area covered by the bus gate.
However, among the top reasons the city council told us they upheld complaints, there is no mention of appeals being upheld due to incorrect signage which was installed by the council and recently rectified.
Reasons for rejections of appeals
The council says one of the most common reasons for appeals to be rejected is where customers “claim they are following their sat-nav and ignored street signage in place.”
Another common reason for rejection is where no evidence to support a claim has been provided.
“I have to sympathise with the council in that complaining without evidence is never going to work, and saying that the sat nav directed a driver through the bus gate is just plain silly,” said Luke Bosdet, a spokesman for the AA.
“However, where large numbers of drivers fail to heed the restriction and get a fine, the council needs to consider why that might be and reinforce the signage and directions if necessary.
“Of course, it could be that they know that drivers regularly get caught out and the fines income is just too lucrative for them to want to do anything about it.”
How many people have successfully appealed?
We asked Aberdeen City Council how many appeals it received between July and December of last year, when 42,000 drivers were recorded going through the bus gate on Union Street.
The authority told us that 2,342 appeals were submitted in total.
Three-quarters of these were rejected, with just 607 appeals upheld.
The council has updated its bus lane appeals page online to include specific detail about the Union Street traffic measures.
It states that the council “wish to clarify that distance signs installed alongside bus lane and bus gate signage has not affected the validity of any charges applied to motorists.”
“The council accepts that two distance signs, on Union Street and Market Street, were not accurate and thanks the public for bringing this to our attention.”
The message continues by stating that these issues have been rectified and that members of the public are welcome to appeal any fines within 28 days of receipt of that charge and that any appeal will be considered on a case-by-case basis.
Have you been unfairly fined by the bus gate on Union Street? Tell us in the comments section below
Is there anything I can do if my appeal was rejected?
It’s a tricky question and the law seems a little bit vague on the issue.
For starters, it’s more difficult to appeal a fine you have already paid as the council will consider the payment as you admitting you were in the wrong.
However, if you’ve not paid and your local council still doesn’t accept your appeal you can take the matter further and appeal to a bus lane tribunal, according to AA spokesman Luke.
That is usually where complaints about signage in particular – like inadequate signage, bad road layout and faded road markings – tend to be proven, he said.
However in the case of bus gates appeals specifically, tribunals may not be the answer.
Stuart Beveridge is a criminal defence lawyer at Grant Smith Law Practice in Aberdeen and explained that incorrect or poor signage is not currently a legal defence when it comes to bus gate appeals.
“Unfortunately the way the law is currently written, any bus gate appeal to the tribunal can’t be on the basis of signage,” he said.
“It is strange however that someone can appeal on the basis of incorrect signage for parking offences but not bus lane offences.”
He said that drivers can only rely on the “goodwill” of the council if this is their defence.
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