£10m in bus lane fines just isn’t fare Anger as penalties soar
Craig McDonald Drivers in Scotland were stung with more than £10million in bus lane fines last year.
Aberdeen saw a huge increase, with penalt ies up more than 50 per cent on figures from 2015.
More than £2million in fines were issued in the city last year – taking it into second place behind Glasgow.
A single camera at Bedford Road, north of the city centre, was Aberdeen’s top- earning location, issuing nearly 14,000 fines last year.
The figures were obtained via a Freedom of Information request by the Sunday Mail.
The RAC’s Simon Williams said: “These figures show a dramatic increase in Aberdeen and we have to ask why this is happening.
“If people drive in a bus lane, it’s by mistake – it means it’s not well signposted and motorists are confused.
“More needs to be done to make signs clearer rather than just hammer drivers with fines.”
Earlier this month, we told how drivers in Glasgow were hit with £ 6.7million in fines in 2016 while in Edinburgh it was just more than £1.5million.
It took the total for Scotland to more than £10.3million last year.
Williams added: “All we want to see is fairness. Otherwise, motorists believe they are being taken advantage of for financial gain.
“The feeling is that it’s another revenue-generating scheme, which leaves a bitter taste in the mouth for drivers.”
The AA’s Luke Bosdet said: “If a bus lane catches so many people, there must be something wrong with the signs.
“Bus lane cameras are supposed to be used as a deterrent – not as a means to harvest cash from drivers on an industrial basis.”
Glasgow has 16 cameras, while Edinburgh operates eight cameras and Aberdeen has 11.
Figures released to the Sunday Mail show drivers in Glasgow were hit with 112,045 fines – more than 300 a day – last year.
Aberdeen saw more than 33,504, while in Edinburgh there were 26,190 fines issued.
Drivers are issued with a £ 60 Actor John Hurt’s widow last night paid a poignant tribute to her husband – “the most gentlemanly of gentlemen”.
Anwen Rees-Myers, a former actress and classical pianist, added: “He touched our lives with joy and magic and it will be a strange world without him.”
Hurt, who was knighted in 2015, died at his home in Norfolk aged 77, two years after he was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer.
Anwen, 51, his fourth wife, had shared his joy when he went into remission in 2015. But they were shattered when the cancer returned.
Dad-of-two Hurt starred in more than Scotland’s biggest-earning bus lane cameras – number of fines in 2016. 1. Cathedral Street, Glasgow 2. Nelson Mandela Place, Glasgow 3. Bedford Road, Aberdeen 4. Glassford Street, Glasgow 5. North Hanover Street, Glasgow
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penalty, reduced to £ 30 if paid within 14 days. Fines rise to £ 90 if unpaid within 28 days.
Aberdeen City Council transport and regeneration spokesman Ross Grant said: “Restrictions are vital to ensuring a managed f low of traffic and that is the prime aim of the cameras rather than generating revenue.” 120 films including The Elephant Man, Alien and 1984.
One of his bestloved roles was as flamboyant gay writer Quentin Crisp in 1975’s The Naked Civil Servant.
He also played wandmaker Ollivander in the Harry Potter films.
Potter writer JK Rowling said: “So very sad to hear that the immensely talented and deeply beloved John Hurt has died.”
Hurt refused to let his illness slow him down, with four films still to be released this year.