PCN from CCTV Oxford Street

[gonnagetthemback]

Last week we took the kids to Hamleys, I drove there. At the top of Oxford Street, cars should bear left so as not to drive down Oxford Street, but for years people have been driving down Oxford St. There is a sign up saying only buses are allowed tho. I pointed this out to my husband and he said don't worry got for it, follow the two cars in front of you! So I proceeded down Oxford St. Police cars passed me, they weren't bothered. However this morning I've rec'd a PCN from Westminster saying I have been "using a route restricted to certain vehicles" in Oxford Street. The document has a photo of my car - great!

 

It's £60. However it says:

 

REDUCED PENALTY CHARGE PAYABLE: £60. IF PAYMENT IS RECEIVED BEFORE THE END OF THE PERIOD OF 14 DAYS BEGINNING WITH THE DATE OF THIS NOTICE.

FULL PENALTY CHARGE PAYABLE: £120.00 IF PAYMENT IS RECEIVED AFTER 14 DAYS BUT BEFORE THE END OF THE PERIOD OF 28 DAYS BEGINNING WITH THE DATE OF THIS NOTICE.

 

Is this correct, can somebody pls advise if there's any mistakes with this? I started the new year swearing I woudn't get any penalty charges of any sort!!!

 

Thanks everyone!

[Chesterexpress]

There is a sign up saying only buses are allowed tho.

 

So if there was a sign saying only buses, why did you disobey it? Sorry in my opinion you took the risk therefore you pay the penalty.

[gonnagetthemback]

can anyone help?

[green_and_mean]

I would make your husband pay he deserves it for his stupidity.

[BaldyBaldwin]

what day and time did the ticket show?

[gonnagetthemback]

it was 14.50 on saturday. isn't the wording incorrect though?

 

PS, my husband isn't stupid so no need to be so rude, we have drove down Oxford St for years!

[green_and_mean]

PS, my husband isn't stupid so no need to be so rude, we have drove down Oxford St for years!

 

I was joking, but if telling you to ignore a 'Buses only' sign is not stupid I don't know what is.

[Chesterexpress]

PS, my husband isn't stupid so no need to be so rude, we have drove down Oxford St for years!

 

Your husband was foolish for telling you to disobey the sign, and some would say that it is you who was stupid for doing so......not that I would ever dream of doing so.

[tiglet]

I'd just pay it - you did the deed, after all.

[gonnagetthemback]

My God you people are so patronising and damn rude. What right have you got???

Do you say the same to people who are trying claim back bank/credit card charges??? After all, the charges are listed in terms and conditions!!! No, I doubt it!

£60 is a heavy fine and therefore I feel it's unjustified.

You lot have just made me feel worse, but I guess that was your intention!!!

[green_and_mean]

You saw a sign saying BUSES ONLY and decided to ignore it what did you expect? If you had not seen the sign or it was missing, you may have got a bit more sympathy but you deliberately ignored it. The Highway code is there for a reason, you can't just pick and chose what signs you feel like following. Personally I think you got off light I consider ignoring road signs warrants points on your licence just as much as speeding does.

[SeanT]

Don't be such a muppet, get over it and pay the fine, at least it's a fine and not endorsement, I will probably have to live with 3 points for 5 years for *allegedly* doing 57 in a 50.

Getting unrepresentative bank charges back is a case of appealing the unfair charges as they are a penalty (ie. a fine) rather than a realistic administrative charge - what you did is an offence and therefore it is perfectly fair and legitimate for you to be fined.

You drove in a bus lane, where there was a camera designed to detect people doing so, which is an offence, you got fined, are you expecting people to say, "this is completely unfair, and you can appeal this because clearly you've been driving down this street for years"

Your only defence would be that it wasn't your vehicle, you can ask for the footage in order to prove this, you'd get more help on pepipoo but ultimately you're less likely to do it again, therefore the system has worked...

[robin9342]

Bank charges are a completely different situation. Their legality is currently being tested at court. However, you deliberately contravened a traffic regulation whose legality is established and got caught.

 

I dont think anyone is being rude or patronising or intends to make you feel bad. Nobody likes paying a fine, but I think that in this case, you just have to accept it and move on.

[Chesterexpress]

My God you people are so patronising and damn rude. What right have you got???

 

Not rude at all, just people being honest with you. If anything it is your response that is rude.

 

£60 is a heavy fine and therefore I feel it's unjustified.

 

As others have said, think yourself lucky that the offence doesn't attract points on your licence.

[green_and_mean]

ps Don't forget to pay by Saturday or it goes up to £120!

[tiglet]

Sorry if you've been offended, but traffic laws are there for a reason - in this case, to encourage people to use public transport and ease congestion. The penalty is meant to act as a deterrent - it's not a misleading charge or, in this case, a way to make the local authority money.

 

I've smoked in pubs for years but I can expect a £100 fine if I tried that argument in my local.

[gonnagetthemback]

I haven't even read your arrogant posts, this is an unfair charge and all of us are trying to reclaim charges that are either unfair or excessive. I did nobody any harm, didn't cause any obstruction etc etc!!!

 

Please don't bother posting anymore, i find your nasty posts extremely distressing and uncalled for.

[green_and_mean]

I did nobody any harm, didn't cause any obstruction etc etc!!!

 

 

Why are you SO special and above the law did the sign say no cars unless going to Hamleys, I very much doubt it!? If anyone is being arrogant its you for your utter selfishness and contempt for the law. Cars are banned to ease congestion and speed up the buses, obviously one car does not make much difference but if everyone took your idiotic view of the situation and ignored the sign it would cause an obstruction. Its not as if it was 2am in the morning it was a Saturday afternoon you could not have picked a busier time if you tried.

[tiglet]

I think the point is that it's not a charge i.e. a payment for a service, it's a penalty i.e. a fine for breaking a law/by-law.

 

I really don't think anyone means to be arrogant, I simply think people disagree with you on this issue.

 

This site is about unfair/excessive charges but people are entitled to post their opinions, without being rude, and should expect the same in return.

 

What is it about this that you feel is unfair (were the notices concealed etc.?) and what do you think should be suggested to you?

[SeanT]

I haven't even read your arrogant posts

 

Anyone else find this telepathy business captivating?

[BaldyBaldwin]

morning gonnagetthemback

 

firstly, if you are going to use this site you should get used to the smart remarks from the holy than thou attitude brigade that inhabit this forum. (i have) makes you wonder why they are here if they have never put a foot wrong.

 

Now, down to business

i will check out the times that oxford street is closed to cars, i believe that it is open to all traffic after 7.30pm weekdays and all day sundays but not sure about saturdays though, will find out for you.

the opinion that you should just pay up is flawed, as westminster have a long history of sending out( knowingley??)incorrect PCN,s

 

Best of BB

[Martynandemma]

a couple of things, a PCN is a Penalty Charge so I see it is as excessive. I got one before christmas from one of these CCTV cars for parking half on the pavement. Now thats fine if I was issued with a ticket to my car by a warden I would grudgingly pay up, but to get a photo through the post asking me to pay a fine I see is wrong. I do not recall being told by the government or council that fines could be given in this way.

 

This is a clear infringement of our civil rights & I think something should be done about it "1984 Big Brother is watching you!!"

 

Also if you are breaking a law by being half on half off the pavement why is it that 50yards down the road cars are allowed to do so.

 

The same for bus lanes, they should be 24/7 or not at all you have my support gonnagetthemback

[Tezcatlipoca]

gonnagetthemback, some of your responses in this thread are unacceptable. The facts are quite simple; by your own admission you directly disobeyed a road sign and have now been caught for it.

 

People's responses to your situation have been both understandable and - in my opinion - admirable, but the fact you evidently don't want to face responsiblity for your own actions does not give you the right to behave like a petulant child.

It really doesn't matter whether you've been driving down Oxford Street for the last 5 years or the last 5 decades, it does not absolve you from accountability. When you chose to ignore the road sign, you accepted the consequences.

[green_and_mean]

a couple of things, a PCN is a Penalty Charge so I see it is as excessive. I got one before christmas from one of these CCTV cars for parking half on the pavement. Now thats fine if I was issued with a ticket to my car by a warden I would grudgingly pay up, but to get a photo through the post asking me to pay a fine I see is wrong. I do not recall being told by the government or council that fines could be given in this way.

 

This is a clear infringement of our civil rights & I think something should be done about it "1984 Big Brother is watching you!!"

 

Also if you are breaking a law by being half on half off the pavement why is it that 50yards down the road cars are allowed to do so.

 

The same for bus lanes, they should be 24/7 or not at all you have my support gonnagetthemback

 

A penalty charge is just what it says a PENALTY for breaking the law. If you think its excessive good because that the whole point its supposed to be a deterent. At the end of the day if you park illegally it doesn't matter if you get ticketed by a guy in the street, a cctv camera or a satellite in space for that matter the point is you were still parked on the pavement which is against the law. If someone burgled your house would you think it unfair if they got caught on cctv rather than by a passing policeman, I very much doubt it. Road signs and road markings are the LAW if you don't agree with them then either put up with the fines or walk. The OP is lucky that she got a PCN and not a summons to appear in caught for failing to obey a road sign. Having a photo taken of your CAR is in no way infringing your civil liberties, cars do not have the same rights as humans fortunatly. The only rights that where broken in your case was the freedom for pedestrians to walk safely down the footway.

[Bernie_the_Bolt]

gonnagetthemback, some of your responses in this thread are unacceptable. The facts are quite simple; by your own admission you directly disobeyed a road sign and have now been caught for it.

 

People's responses to your situation have been both understandable and - in my opinion - admirable, but the fact you evidently don't want to face responsiblity for your own actions does not give you the right to behave like a petulant child.

It really doesn't matter whether you've been driving down Oxford Street for the last 5 years or the last 5 decades, it does not absolve you from accountability. When you chose to ignore the road sign, you accepted the consequences.

 

The same equally applies to the LA.

 

gonnagetthemback, if you can scan and post both sides of the PCN we can take a look at it to see whether it complies with the law. This could give you grounds for appeal. If you appeal you should bear in mind that you will lose the opportunity to pay the discounted penalty.

 

I agree that motorists should take responsibility for their actions, errors and misjudgments. This does not absolve the authorities for operating an enforcement process within the law. Many do not. When they don't it is entirely legitimate for motorists to hold the LA to book. Decriminalised traffic and parking enforcement is designed to be punitive. Natural justice and the decisions of courts and those charged with the responsibility of making decisions have long since settled the principle that if a punitive system is not correctly applied it cannot be applied at all.

 

There is nothing petulant about upholding this at all.