Cardiff Council will be granted powers to enforce bus lanes and a range of moving traffic contraventions in the city from August 4th.
Everyone can get frustrated when inconsiderate drivers block bus lanes and road junctions or make illegal manoeuvres that can place others at risk. Typical contraventions that require enforcement action include, queuing in bus lanes, blocking yellow box junctions, making prohibited turns and stopping on school keep clear zig-zags.
The enforcement of bus lane and moving traffic offences will complement the enforcement of parking offences assumed by the council in 2010, assisting delivery of one of the council’s ambitions of reducing traffic congestion and encouraging transport by modes other than by private car.
Public safety is a further consideration under the new enforcement powers. Drivers, who ignore prohibitions on access or turning, can be in conflict with pedestrians. Restrictions on weak bridges can be ignored by over-weight lorries leading to potential structural risks.
Councillor Ramesh Patel, Cabinet Member for Transport, Planning and Sustainability, said,
“The prosperity, growth and development of Cardiff as a city, depends upon people being able to move around and access places of work, training establishments, services and key facilities. Inconsiderate drivers can cause significant delay and disruption on major routes by thoughtless use of the road. The new enforcement scheme will hopefully encourage better driving, reducing the number of driving contraventions and will ensure greater safety for pedestrians and cyclists and provide a boost to more sustainable forms of transport”.
It is planned to roll out the new civil enforcement scheme in stages beginning with a focus on bus lanes. A total of 9 fixed camera sites will capture images of bus lane contraventions and the images will be uploaded to a central server.
All recordings will be reviewed by a Civil Enforcement Officer before a decision is made to issue a penalty. Where there are genuine reasons for a moving traffic contravention, for example, entering a bus lane temporarily to allow passage for an emergency vehicle, the recording will be erased. Images of permitted vehicles will automatically be deleted. The licensed keeper of any unpermitted vehicle who contravenes a motoring regulation will receive a notice, including a £70 penalty charge, as well as still images of the traffic violation. The notice will contain a link to a website, where it will be possible to view a short video clip of the contravention taking place.
An appeals process will be in place with the Council’s appeals team and the independent adjudicator having access to the same video clip as the motorist.
Enforcement of yellow box junctions and other contravention types will follow, using cameras which can be moved to various sites in the city. A car mounted camera will be used to enforce contraventions outside school sites.
Councillor Patel added:
“The new civil enforcement powers will mean that a single enforcement authority will take consistent enforcement action across the city. Cardiff residents will be clear exactly where responsibility for enforcement lies. In addition, the Police will be released to concentrate on other criminal matters. Furthermore, all revenue obtained from the issuing of penalties will be ring-fenced to cover operating costs with any surplus used for spending on transport schemes”.
