|
Many Dial-a-Cab drivers
come in daily from the east using the A12, with a
large percentage of those leaving by the Olympic
Park Eastway exit. Watching the village changing on
a daily basis can almost take your breath away, but
as professional drivers we also have other things to
look at – such as watching out that we don’t stop in
yellow box junctions. DaC driver Howard Flavin (A18) usually comes into town that way and like most drivers using the route, had been inconvenienced by the ongoing roadworks that seemed to have been there forever, together with a set of temporary traffic signals that caused huge tailbacks each day. Because the lights seemed to have just been "plonked" down with very little thought, there were times when if they suddenly turned red, not only were you in for a wait of several minutes, but the chances were that you would have had to stop in the fading yellow box at the Eastway junction with Osborne Road. And that, indeed, happened to Howard. "It wasn’t as though I was slap-bang in the middle of it," Howard told Call Sign, "I was on the periphery of it, but a camera high up on a lamppost caught me and the next thing I knew was that a PCN arrived in the post from Hackney Council. I remembered the incident and felt quite miffed that Hackney’s self-inflicted traffic hold-up had caused me to stop on the outer edge of the box – albeit definitely touching it. I wasn’t blocking anyone in and in fact, so far as I was concerned, the section I was in shouldn’t have even been there as it was beyond where the road junction ended." In fact, so "miffed" was Howard that he decided he wasn’t going to hand over his hard-earned money to Hackney without them knowing they had been in a fight! Over the past 18 months, DaC drivers have gained a name for militancy when it comes to paying PCNs, with the old days of just paying up seemingly having gone. Even when the fine was to be paid by DaC itself, drivers were so fed-up that they insisted on appealing the penalty tickets, with many being successful. Howard’s PCN was down to him, but he was every bit as annoyed as those caught whilst quietly waiting for their passengers. However, he knew he’d have no chance in a |
Howard’s yellow box victory! |
|
 This Call Sign picture shows how the yellow box illegally overlaps the junction |
||
|
normal appeal
because he was in the box and caught on film. So he
tried another approach. "I had always wondered why that particular box seemed to not only cover the junction, but also go beyond it, so I decided to find out if it was legal. I came across ticketfighters.co.uk and going by the information on that site, I went back in the early hours and measured the box. I almost staggered myself when I realised that I had been right and that the box was too large. I appealed but Hackney said no, so I took it to the adjudication service at PATAS in Angel Square N1. They agreed with my findings and allowed the appeal on the grounds that the offence did not occur. Not only was I pleased with the result, but I felt really proud of myself for not caving in to Hackney Council. It’s the first time I have acted in this type of militant way in regards to a PCN, but now I wouldn’t hesitate to do it again." In the adjudicator’s decision, she said: The issue in this case is whether the box junction in Eastway is properly marked. Mr Flavin has provided his own drawing of the box junction. He states that he measured it himself. The local authority do not suggest that the measurements Mr Flavin has provided are inaccurate and nor has the local authority provided its own measurements of the box. I therefore find that Mr. Flavin has accurately recorded the measurements of the box junction. The box junction is across the junction of Osborne Road and Eastway. Its purpose is presumably to protect access to and from Osborne Road and to ensure that drivers on the |
Eastway do not block that
access. The CCTV footage, together with Mr Flavin’s diagram, show
that the box junction extends beyond the junction in both
directions. On one side this is by 870 centimetres and on the other
by 1110 centimetres. The CCTV footage shows Mr Flavin’s taxi
stationary beyond the junction of Osborne Road, but within the part
of the box junction that extends 1110 centimetres beyond the
traffic. This means that his taxi is not blocking any car turning
into Osborne Road, nor any car turning right out of Osborne Road. Mr Flavin argues that the box junction does not comply with diagram 1044 in the Traffic Signs Regulations & General Directions 2002. I agree. This is because the box extends well beyond the kerbline of the junction with Osborne Road on both sides of the junction. Diagram 1044 shows that the corners of the box junction should be at the corner points of the kerbline. As I find that the box junction does not comply with the Traffic Signs Regulations & General Directions 2002, I allow this appeal. Howard ended by telling Call Sign: "There is nothing worse that when you get hemmed in by someone who blocks a yellow box junction. As professional taxi drivers, we rarely block junctions even without a yellow box in. But Hackney’s decision to put in a box that was bigger than that allowed and to fine drivers going in it, was a liberty. Sadly, I doubt that they give a toss and they will still collect fines from those that can’t be bothered fighting them…" |
|
 |
Powered by NetXPosure |