Clean Air Zone Driver ‘won’t ever visit city again’ after paying fees
AMAN has vowed never to return to Bristol after being hit with Clean Air Zone fees.
Alan Stubbington was travelling through the city to visit his ‘seriously ill 12-week-old granddaughter’ when he entered the fee-paying zone.
It was his first time in Bristol city centre and he was trying to follow his sat-nav, avoid bus lanes and read road signs. He did spot a few “green zone” signs but didn’t realise these meant he had to pay.
He said: “As a new visitor to the city I won’t be returning or recommending it to anyone else to visit. I was concentrating on the roads etc. My car is green enough to not have to pay the road tax so assumed it was emissions-friendly! I did get lost and was driving around quite a lot looking for the hospital and was under a fair bit of stress.
“I repeated the journey two days later and left the city by a different route that I thought was easier and as I was going to the airport I was following sat-nav again for the easithey
est route.”
Nearly three weeks later, he was amazed to get two Clean Air Zone fees through the post. They arrived in January, which was during the grace period which meant he had to pay the fee but was not fined – if
had arrived a month later he would have been paying hundreds of pounds.
“These were too late to lodge a proper ‘within seven days’ appeal so I duly paid the £9 fee for each ‘offence,’” he said.
“In my opinion, the whole thing is a disgrace and leaving people with no case for appealing for leniency in special cases even though I appreciate ignorance of the law is no excuse!”
Another motorist recently told the Post he fears he might lose his home after driving through Bristol’s CAZ up to 30 times without realising his car wasn’t compliant. By the time the first fine landed on his doorstep, he had already racked up huge fines with the council.
A similar frustration between both cases was how long the initial fine took to arrive.
A council spokesperson said: “Bristol’s Clean Air Zone emissions standards will ensure that the city meets the requirement from government to bring air pollution within legal limits in the shortest possible time. We have always been clear that drivers should use the vehicle checker before travelling to find out if they need to pay a charge for their chosen route. Those who think they have received a Clean Air Zone PCN in error or have mitigating circumstances can submit an appeal. Each appeal will be assessed based on its own merit.”