A grandmother will no longer have to pay a bus lane fine after a council has backed down. Almost 30,000 drivers have been caught out by the lane in just one year, including 74-year-old Sandra Dawson.
But the council has quashed Sandra's fine after bosses said it was not in the public interest to reprimand the pensioner. The gran was driving her two grandchildren to the cinema when she accidentally drove onto the bus lane.
Shortly after, Gateshead Council sent the resident a £70 fixed penalty notice, which Sandra says she would not have been in an easy position to pay since retiring. She appealed to the local authority directly but to no avail, ChronicleLive reports.
However, Sandra then made an appeal with the Traffic Penalty Tribunal and the fine was dropped. The bus lane, in Gateshead, Tyne and Wear, has been a contentious issue for motorists for some time, with almost 30,000 drivers fined between April 2021 and March 2022.
A Freedom of Information request revealed fines generated from the bus lane raked in £1.8miliion in that time. Sandra, who says she does not drive around Gateshead regularly, found the Askew Road bus lane particularly difficult to navigate.
She said: “I was committed and I couldn’t do anything. There were buses tooting at me to move but there was a gentleman in front of me. I found the whole situation very stressful.”
When Sandra appealed to the council directly but to no avail, it dawned on her she may have to pay the fine in instalments as she was unable to cough up the full £70 fine. However she didn’t know how to go about that either. Sandra continued: “I would have done but I didn’t know how you could achieve that. I don’t suppose there is a box online asking if you want to do that and it’s so difficult to speak to someone in person because it is all automated now.”
In a last-ditch effort, the grandmother-of-two appealed to the Traffic Penalty Tribunal and the fine was then waived. The Tribunal promptly responded and said: “The Council has taken the view that it is not in the public interest to pursue this matter further.”
Sandra said: “I’m just so relieved, I couldn’t believe the email. I didn’t expect the outcome I got. I’m so relieved that common sense has prevailed.”
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A Gateshead Council spokesperson said: “Decisions to make changes to road layout and traffic configurations are continually monitored to ensure their effectiveness, and in the case of Askew Road we have made improvements based on tribunal outcomes, as well as insights received from residents, drivers, and colleagues.
“While we do not comment on individual cases, I can confirm the council has not lost any recent tribunals in relation to the traffic regulations on Askew Road.”
In response to the story, Lib Dem councillor Jonathan Wallace shared his experience of the bus lane and its effects on traffic. Coun Wallance said: “In January last year, I saw 15 cars coming onto the bus lane, realise they were in a bus lane, stop, and try to get into the middle of the road. All because it is very confusing and it is not clear from the signage.
“We have said they need to start again with this traffic management scheme because all it has done is cause more congestion and more pollution. I would say to the person who has not been penalised ‘well done’ and perhaps she will share her experience with other people who may be in the same position.”
In August 2022, 736 people signed a petition to implore Gateshead Council to re-open Askew Road to all traffic, as many felt the current system is “not fit for purpose”.
