Short sharp shock treatment for London drivers.
In just two years, nearly 8,000 motorists have received fines for driving into a bus lane. Nothing strange there until you realise the lane is just 39ft long.
Harrow Council pocketed a total of £442,363 between April 2019 and the end of 2021.

The bus lane is not much longer than the length of a double-decker. It’s situated on a section of Northolt Road in South Harrow and has caught out 7,854 drivers in 19 months.

bus-lane-harrow

View of the bus lane from Google Maps

Freedom of thought

According to RAC’s Drive, the scale of the issue came to light after a Freedom of In formation request. It came from motorist Geoffrey Ben-Nathan, 77, as he looked to overturn his fine. This he achieved after accidentally driving into the bus lane.

The local authority said it was against the law for motorists to use the lane. However, the way the road is laid out and signposted has led some people, including Mr Ben-Nathan, to believe they have been treated unfairly.

Ben-Nathan argued his case at a tribunal, telling adjudicators that the signage on the approach is ‘unclear’ and will lead to many other people getting fined

Clear and obvious

Most restrictions along Northolt Road only apply at certain times of the day. But this becomes a 24/7 restriction for the small section of the route. Most of those caught automatically pay the fine. However, part of his evidence was to provide several examples of other motorists who had successfully overturned their fines by using similar arguments.

He believes clearer signage should be put into place to warn drivers.

Mr Ben-Nathan said: “Morally, the onus must be on councils to prevent motorists from contravening their motoring regulations. This is not the case at the moment.”

RAC head of roads policy Nicholas Lyes agrees that “signage and road layout are crucially important”.

“Anywhere a local authority is dishing out a high volume of penalty charge notices for a single location should sound alarm bells about the design of the scheme.”

In its response, Harrow Council says it believes that “the signage here is clear and in accordance with the law”.