The councillor behind a traffic camera responsible for dishing out more than 250 fines each day to motorists in Birmingham city centre has said drivers who flout bus lane rules deserved to be punished.
Labour cabinet member Coun Tahir Ali was urged by members of the council transport scrutiny committee to be ‘fair’ to the thousands of motorists who had received £60 fines for driving down Priory Queensway.
The camera issued an incredible 11,038 fines in just 52 days after being switched on, but motorists claim signs are inadequate, and said they were not aware the area was a bus lane.
Motorists have expressed outrage at the fines, with many complaining they are visitors to the nearby Birmingham Children’s Hospital and have received multiple tickets after spending several days visiting sick youngsters.
But Coun Ali (Lab, Nechells) said that people who drive in bus lanes are breaking the law.
He said: “We have people blatantly driving in bus lanes. We have big symbols on the road and on the lampposts. They are not taking notice and should expect a fine.”
He added that the transport officers will review the lanes in January and make changes in March if needed.
Coun John O’Shea (Lab, Acocks Green) said that willful ignorance of bus lanes should be punished but added that the sheer numbers caught and still driving through Priory Queensway suggest that the ‘warning signs are inadequate’.
He said: “We are asking for fairness over this.”
It was also suggested that with so many cars still using the city centre bus lanes, that the policy of keeping the streets free for buses has failed.
Retired Sutton Coldfield motorist Ben Cheney, who was snapped driving in the lane in September is challenging the fine at a parking tribunal.
He argues that there is no warning for drivers coming from Steelhouse Lane and by the time they turn into Priory Queensway they have no option but to risk a fine or conduct a dangerous U-turn.
