{"id":8407,"date":"2012-02-28T09:01:23","date_gmt":"2012-02-28T09:01:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.diaryofanadi.co.uk\/?p=8407"},"modified":"2012-02-28T09:01:23","modified_gmt":"2012-02-28T09:01:23","slug":"driving-instructor-fined-but-gets-off","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/diaryofanadi.co.uk\/?p=8407","title":{"rendered":"Driving Instructor Fined \u2013 But Gets Off"},"content":{"rendered":"

From the Bournemouth <\/font>Daily Echo via the newsfeeds<\/font><\/a>, a driving instructor was \u201cstunned\u201d to get a \u00a370 fine after his pupil stopped on the reverse round a corner exercise to let a car pass. The car turned out to be a Poole Council Camera Car.<\/p>\n

\"CatalinaThe instructor claims his pupil was acting properly \u2013 and on the surface of it, that seems to be the case. However, the council mentions a bus stop in its version.<\/p>\n

If you look up the road that the instructor was using via Google (Catalina Drive), you can clearly see that just in front of the corner apparently being used there IS<\/strong> indeed a bus stop (and yellow lines all around the bend). It would be necessary for the car to stop inside this bus stop bay in order to commence the manoeuvre \u2013 quite a long way inside if the manoeuvre was being done in usual learner fashion (i.e. 2-3 car lengths ahead of the bend).<\/p>\n

Poole Council\u2019s website<\/font><\/a> \u2013 specifically its guidelines about issuing PCNs (penalty charge notices) – say:<\/p>\n

\n

CONTRAVENTION CODE: 47<\/strong><\/font><\/p>\n

Stopped on a restricted bus stop or stand<\/strong><\/font><\/p>\n

This code is used when a vehicle other than a bus parks in a restricted bus
stop. Only buses may stop in the marked area.<\/font><\/p>\n

Coaches may also stop to pick up and set down passengers but not to park
awaiting passengers.<\/font><\/p>\n

No loading\/unloading is permitted.<\/font><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

The instructor in question can argue all he likes, and claim to know all the rules (which is exactly what he does), but the council\u2019s rule is quite clear. If you stop in a bus stop area you are liable for a fine.<\/p>\n

He is lucky that they got the road name wrong on his PCN \u2013 so he got off on a technicality. Otherwise, he would have had to pay or appeal.<\/p>\n

I don\u2019t have much time for council snooping, and in situations like this then maybe Poole Council ought to exercise a little more discretion, since a lot of motorists must get away with stopping for the few seconds it takes to turn around when the camera car isn\u2019t around. But if they don\u2019t show discretion, they don\u2019t, simple as that. And people have to live with it.<\/p>\n

The local PCN rules are<\/strong> crystal clear and the ADI obviously didn\u2019t know them as well he he thought he did. Whatever city you live in, you need to make sure you know what the local council will allow, and what it will stamp on. For example, some will let you use bus lanes to get past cars which are turning right, whereas others will fine you instantly for doing the same.<\/p>\n

It isn\u2019t illegal to stop at a bus stop \u2013 but the Highway Code says you shouldn\u2019t. PCNs are civil and not criminal affairs, in any case. And for those people who only like to quote part of the Highway Code, here\u2019s the bit they keep forgetting (note the highlighted part):<\/p>\n

\n

<\/font>240<\/strong><\/font><\/p>\n

<\/font>You <\/font>MUST NOT<\/strong><\/font> stop or park on:<\/p>\n

    \n
  • the carriageway or the hard shoulder of a motorway except in an emergency (see Rule 270) <\/font><\/li>\n
  • a pedestrian crossing, including the area marked by the zig-zag lines (see Rule 191) <\/font><\/li>\n
  • a clearway (see ‘Traffic signs’) <\/font><\/li>\n
  • taxi bays as indicated by upright signs and markings <\/font><\/li>\n
  • an urban clearway within its hours of operation, even when a broken white line is on your side of the road, except to pick up or set down passengers (see ‘Traffic signs’) <\/font><\/li>\n
  • a road marked with double white lines, except to pick up or set down passengers <\/font><\/li>\n
  • a tram or cycle lane during its period of operation <\/font><\/li>\n
  • a cycle track <\/font><\/li>\n
  • red lines, in the case of specially designated \u2018red routes\u2019, unless otherwise indicated by signs<\/font><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

    Any vehicle may enter a bus lane to stop, load or unload where this is not prohibited (see Rule 141).<\/strong><\/font><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

    This whole affair is between this ADI and Poole Council (and it\u2019s enforcement policies) \u2013 was the bus stop in question \u201crestricted\u201d? There is no single nationwide answer.<\/p>\n

    But you have to ask: where\u2019s the bus going to go if it turns up and there is a learner arseing about in the bay?<\/p>\n

    An ADI ought be able to work that one out for themselves.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    From the Bournemouth Daily Echo via the newsfeeds, a driving instructor was \u201cstunned\u201d to get a \u00a370 fine after his pupil stopped on the reverse round a corner exercise to let a car pass. The car turned out to be a Poole Council Camera Car. The instructor claims his pupil was acting properly \u2013 and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[80,87],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8407","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-adi-related","category-news"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/diaryofanadi.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8407","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/diaryofanadi.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/diaryofanadi.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/diaryofanadi.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/diaryofanadi.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=8407"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/diaryofanadi.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8407\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/diaryofanadi.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=8407"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/diaryofanadi.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=8407"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/diaryofanadi.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=8407"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}