Bus lane misery as fines soar to £7.6m
MORE than 100,000 motorists in Scotland’s biggest city have been hit with bus lane fines worth £3.2million in one year.
The number of tickets being slapped on motorists for straying into bus lanes in Glasgow makes it the most prolific city in the UK for punishing drivers.
Councils across Scotland also raked in more bus lane fines than any other part of the UK, totalling £7.6million in 2017.
But Glasgow steamed ahead in terms of the number of tickets issued and the amount of fines paid, with 108,735 motorists caught.
Motoring groups yesterday criticised councils for being ‘money grabbers’ and putting visitors off returning to cities.
According to figures obtained by price comparison website Confused.com under the Freedom of Information Act, Glasgow City Council pocketed £6.5million in fines – an average of £60 per fine.
But council bosses said the total amount paid was £3.2million – as 70 per cent of people pay fines within a fortnight and are therefore charged a discounted rate of £30 per fine. Luke Bosdet, a spokesman for the AA, said: ‘Councils in Scotland are maxing out because they are not being held to account as fiercely as they are in England and Wales.
‘They will even try and get you if you move out of the way to let an emergency vehicle through.
‘We’re having to say to our members that you can’t let emergency vehicles past because you’ll end up running the gauntlet of these money-grabbing councils and the rules say, unless directed by an officer of the law, you shouldn’t move into the bus lane.
He added: ‘People have gone into a city to explore and their one enduring memory of it is a huge fine. All of them say they will never go back to that city again.
‘It’s somewhere between chaos and a huge injustice.’
The AA said progress was being made and the Department for Transport would be reviewing bus lane enforcement – with a view to coming up with a principle that sends first-time offenders a warning letter before a fine.
According to a One Poll survey of 2,000 drivers, 45 per cent of Scottish motorists were unaware they had driven in a bus lane, while nearly one third called for the money collected to be put into making bus lane signs clearer.
A Glasgow City Council spokesman said the figures issued by Confused.com ‘fail to reflect the full story’ as discounted fines were not taken into account.
He added: ‘Bus lanes help to reduce emissions while improving the journey times and reliability of bus services. Bus passenger numbers are falling and we have to do what we can to support an essential form of public transport.’
Amanda Stretton, of Confused. com, said fine money should be invested in signs, adding: ‘The £7.6million in fines issued in Scotland is testimony to the fact that bus lanes are one of the most confusing challenges motorists face on our already chaotic roads.’