Are Outdated Sat Navs To Blame for Bus Lane Fines?

It’s common knowledge that if you are caught illegally driving in a bus lane you will be subject to a fine (a Bus Lane Penalty Charge Notice, to be precise), but where do motorists stand if road layouts have recently been changed? What if the signage is confusing? Is there a case to contest the fine, especially if using a satnav led you down the wrong lane in the first place?

Roads with recent layout changes

Oxford Road, Manchester

Many say no – you should use your common sense as well as reading road signs and onscreen satnav directions to avoid driving down a bus route, but motorists in Manchester may think otherwise. Since the road layout on Oxford Road changed in September 2017, a shocking 149,898 drivers have been caught – and fined – for driving on sections of road that are now for buses only but were for mainstream traffic prior to the change. That’s a lot of £60 fines…. £8,993,880 worth of fines…although of course if motorists pay within 2 weeks, they can pay only half instead.The signage that has been erected shows a red circle with a car and motorbike inside, with text underneath that says 6am – 9pm except for buses, taxis and permit holders. Many take these signs to mean that cars and motorbikes are allowed between these times, but this signage means the opposite, with the red circle (but no strikethrough) designed to show these are NOT permitted during these times.

A direct quote from a local driver stated that it is primarily visitors to the city who have fallen prey to these signs, especially as many use satnavs with outdated maps. This view was backed by local councillor Angeliki Stogia, who said, “We believe that the vast majority of penalty notices are being issued to motorists from outside of the city who are travelling to Manchester for the first time and following outdated sat nav routes.”

2023 update: since we originally posted this article in 2018, guidance has been released as to whether motorists have to pay or can appeal. You can find the latest version of this guidance here: https://moneynerd.co.uk/manchester-bus-lane-fine/.

In addition, Manchester City Council, who maintain that the signage is both legal and adequate, have lost their appeal for a review when a Traffic Penalty Tribunal (TPT) adjudicator ruled in favour of 4 motorists who successfully appealed their penalty notices based on inadequate signage. This has meant that other appeals were put on hold.

That being said, it was the Department of Transport who refused extra markings to be painted onto sections that were most blamed for being misleading.

Other areas of the country to have been in the news recently for misleading bus lane signage include:

Derby – Derwent Street – recent reports show that the council has charged over half a million pounds in bus lane fines since restrictions were introduced in 2020.

Tunbridge Wells – new bus lane restrictions have come into play between 9am-6pm in the Tunbridge Wells town centre, with criticisms from drivers still standing about the signage in place despite improvements in 2022 following complaints and appeals from motorists.

Outdated Sat Nav Systems

With a recent study showing that over half the driving population use sat navs instead of physical maps, how important is it that we keep them updated? A survey from taxi booking company Mytaxi conducted in May 2017 showed that motorists waste 29 hours each year listening to sat nav directions that take them the wrong way or into areas they don’t (or shouldn’t) want to be, so clearly there’s a problem here.

Motorists should of course apply common sense and read the road signage and signals appropriately, making a judgement call without just blindly listening to what their sat nav says. Doing this can have disastrous consequences – in 2012, a teenager was killed when she drove across a crossroads without stopping as it wasn’t indicated to stop on the satnav.

People have ended up driving on railway tracks, up mountains and beached on the sands because their satnav told them to, which may be amusing to the observer but not so the motorist and those involved in the rescue. Whether these misadventures are down to incorrect or outdated directions, common sense has a big part to play here!

Where do you stand on fines in cases where the signage may be misleading and the changes are recent? Let us know in the comments!

2023 update:

Our current navigation options in 2023 are very different to those we wrote about when we published this in 2018. Back then, using sat nav systems were the norm, whereas now the majority of motorists who use a navigation system rely on real-time systems such as Google Maps. Many stores that used to sell sat navs have now actually taken them off the shelves.

That being said, even real-time nav systems have their hiccups and there are still people complaining that systems like Google Maps have taken them through bus gateways. The moral of the story is – regardless of how you find your way to your destination, look at the signage carefully and plan your route before you set off!

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