Frustration over road sign that's cost drivers $25,000 a day in fines
A sign banning a left turn has netted about $25,000 in fines each day since it was introduced in June.
Drivers are now banned at times from turning left from Mare Street into Richmond Road, in the London suburb of Hackney, in a bid to cut down on pollution and increase safety around schools nearby, local media reports.
The restriction applies from Monday to Saturday between the hours of 7am and 10am and 3pm and 7pm.
And despite being in place for a couple of months it continues to catch many off-guard.
In the first nine-week period there were nearly 14,000 tickets issued – costing motorists close to $1.6 million (£898,235) during that time.
Those tickets cost £65 ($115) each, with the Hackney Gazette estimating that equals £100,000 (about $176,000) a week, or £14,000 (about $25,000) each day.
Motorists have claimed there was not enough notice about the traffic changes.
Others also complained about one of the signs being too high to read, which led to it being lowered in July.
One Islington council worker has been handed 21 tickets and is said to be “extremely stressed” about paying off his hefty bill.
The council is now appealing on behalf of the man who has been driving this route for three decades, the Hackney Gazette reported.
The 74-year-old is not the only one who has been slapped with multiple fines.
A man named Derek Rochester who has been using the intersection for a decade has received six tickets.
“You have to come into the inside lane. You’ve got to keep an eye on the bus lane and watch out for cyclists and taxis. It’s easy to miss them,” Mr Rochester told he Hackney Gazette.
A Hackney Council spokesperson told the Metro the notices already met all requirements of the Department for Transport, but additional signage had been added “to ensure all drivers comply and help make our children’s school journeys healthier”.
“While it is the responsibility of drivers to read this signage and adhere to the road closures, we will, of course, listen to representations where a driver feels that a fine has been issued unfairly or received multiple fines during a short period.”
The initiative is reportedly being run as a trial for nine months.
