Quarter of appealed fines overturned

Not many people dispute their transit lane fines but, of those who do, nearly a quarter have their ticket overturned.

In the past year Auckland Transport (AT) has issued 7157 tickets for transit lane infringements in T2, T3 and bus lanes on the North Shore.

Builder Carl Scott reckons he is an accurate judge of distance, so was surprised to get a $150 fine from AT for driving in a T2 lane for more than 50 metres.

Scott was among the 1263 people who have appealed their North Shore transit lane tickets with AT in the past year.

From those appeals, 338 fines have been waived.

Scott said the appeal process on the AT website is complex, but he encourages those who think they have been wrongly ticketed to pursue it.

He worries that people who don’t have the time or the means to dispute a fine could be ‘‘fleeced’’.

‘‘If I was in the wrong, I would be quite happy to pay it, but that wasn’t the case, I was crossing the lane 20 to 30m out,’’ Scott said.

‘‘They could be ripping off a lot of people who don’t want to fight it. It’s not fair.

‘‘There are no marks [for 50m] for every single driveway down that stretch of Akoranga Drive [where Scott was ticketed], so there is no way of telling. You could be getting a $150 fine for your own estimation being wrong.’’

AT issued 818 infringement notices to drivers ignoring the transit lane rules on Albany Highway in the first eight months that the North Shore’s newest transit lane was in operation.

AT media advisor James Ireland said the most common reasons a transit lane fine is overturned is for a medical emergency, if the vehicle is stolen, or if AT are unable to identify whether there are other passengers in the car.

‘‘We give people the benefit of the doubt and ticket only when they enter the [transit] lane at least 70 metres from the intersection,’’ Ireland said.

To help guide drivers Ireland said there are solid white lines along transit lanes which indicate when you are not allowed to use them. These change to dotted lines to indicate that is where you can enter the lane to make your turn.

Ireland said transit lane cameras are placed by operators where the 70m enforcement area begins.