A FURIOUS driver labelled a notorious Basildon bus lane a “cash cow ploy” after being slapped with a fine on Remembrance Sunday.
Kim Gandy, of Kent, who drives through Basildon regularly visiting family in Wickford, claims the bus gate in Southernhay is “deliberately confusing” to create as many fines as possible.
The 62-year-old, who has been driving since 1978, was hit with a £70 fine on Sunday, November 13 – a day she says was shrouded in mist meaning she could not see the road signs.
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“It’s a money trap and is clear victimisation of motorists,” Ms Gandy said.
“The whole traffic system and ‘signage’ around Southernhay is deliberately ambiguous and conflicting. By the time a driver has tried to work out what it actually means, it's too late.
“I consider this to be a deliberate cash cow ploy to penalise motorists and extract hard-earned cash from people who are already under extreme pressure due to the current economic disaster we all face.”
A freedom of information submitted earlier this year a whopping 6,835 fines were issued to motorists caught wrongly using the bus lane in just one month alone.
But Essex County Council (ECC), responsible for fining those who drive in the wrong lane, insists the road has “clear and large” signage and is not set up to catch out motorists.
A spokesperson for ECC said: “When the bus gate was opened clear signs were installed and very large road markings were painted in the road advertising the rules for this part of Basildon. These markings were studied by the independent Traffic Penalty Tribunal of England and Wales and found to be acceptable for this bus gate.
“For Essex County Council, bus gates are about compliance rather than income and success for the council would be to issue no fines at all, because then people were not contravening the restrictions but instead being more thoughtful about their journeys and the routes they take.
“All money generated by Penalty Charge Notices from bus gates in Essex is ring-fenced and reinvested to help improve public transport, roads, sustainable and active travel schemes and the transport network across Essex.”
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