Notorious bus lane at Clapham Park Road 'helped council rake in £1.9million in ... trends now
A notorious bus lane that has caught out tens of thousands of unwitting motorists has helped a council pocket as much as £1.9million in fines in just a year.
The head-scratching junction in Clapham Park Road has been the scourge of drivers for years, with over 15,000 penalty charge notices issued in the last 12 months alone.
At one point, bosses at Lambeth Council may have raked in as much a £5,300-a-day thanks to drivers mistakenly turning left into the bus lane near Clapham Common.
HAVE YOU BEEN CAUGHT BY THE NOTORIOUS CLAPHAM PARK ROAD JUNCTION? Email your pictures to: [email protected]
Traffic adjudicators have previously described the junction's signage as 'inadequate' and slammed the bewildering layout which has cost motorists millions in fines.
This head-scratching junction in Clapham Park Road has been the scourge of drivers for years, with over 15,000 penalty charge notices issued in the last 12 months alone
Other unfortunate victims include the emergency services, with one police car clearly caught on camera illegally entering the bus lane
Motorists have long warned that signs on the 200ft stretch of road are 'unclear and confusing', with an arrow marked on the road appearing to encourage drivers to turn left, directly into the bus lane.
Other unfortunate victims include the emergency services, with one police car clearly caught on camera illegally entering the bus lane.
Drivers fined after being snapped entering the bus lane face two choices: Pay the early repayment fee of £65 or risk contesting it, losing, and forking out £130.
Taking these figures into account, and the fact Lambeth Council issued 15,155 fines between October 2021 and October 2022, motorists will have paid out between £985,075 and in excess of £1.9 million.
March 2022 was the highest-earning month with a total of 1,472 fines - which would have netted the council between £95,680 and £191,360 in 31 days, a Freedom of Information request shows.
The Clapham Park Road bus lane, dubbed a 'cash cow' by furious road users, is said to have netted more than £6million in fines since it became permanent in 2000.
Motorists have long warned that signs on the 200ft stretch of road are 'unclear and confusing', with an arrow marked on the road appearing to encourage drivers to turn left, directly into the bus lane
In March, one furious motorist fought and won against Lambeth Council after he was wrongly hit with a fine for turning into the bus lane.
Richard Newell, 36, took his case to the Traffic Adjudicator -
