A grandad has staged a one-man protest warning drivers about a tiny bus lane that has caught out thousands of motorists.
Geoffrey Ben-Nathan continued his campaign to have the rules of the bus lane changed so things are clearer for drivers, MyLondon reports.
He stood next to the sign leading up to the 39ft bus lane in Northolt Road, Harrow, north-west London, which he said is confusing and leads to people using it accidentally.
Geoffrey, 86, was one of those fined for driving into the bus lane, which operates 24/7, but he successfully overturned the ticket after a tribunal found in his favour.
A Freedom of Information request found that 7,854 drivers were caught using the lane between April 2019 and the end of 2021. It bagged £442,363.36 worth of fines for Harrow Council.
Geoffrey said measures should be put in place to make the situation clearer to drivers, particularly if this is a problem spot.
The retired businessman said: “One answer is that councils be put under a statutory duty to flag up all contraventions which are so many per cent above average: be they contraventions in entering a bus lane or contraventions at any other location.
“Morally, the onus must be on councils to prevent motorists from contravening their motoring regulations. This is not the case at the moment.”
As part of the tribunal hearing, Geoffrey gave several examples of other motorists who had overturned their fines by using similar reasoning to his own.
He suggested the council was happy to keep the measures in place because, even if it loses a few cases, the majority of people will still pay their fines.
Geoffrey said this was a case of the council being more concerned about collecting revenue rather than efforts to “improve road safety and minimise accidents”.
Mr Ben-Nathan said he had spoken with Harrow Council leader, Cllr Graham Henson, who said there are no plans to remove the bus lane as it “helps buses to change lanes without affecting the flow of regular traffic”.
However, Cllr Henson explained the council will “review” the site to see if “improvements can be made” to both the road layout and the signage.
Responding to Geoffrey’s complaint, a Harrow Council spokesperson said: “It is against the law for ordinary motorists to use a bus lane and doing so usually results in a fine.
“We believe that the signage here is clear and in accordance with the law.”
