This simple driving error could soon land you £160 fine
DRIVERS are being warned that Transport for London is raising its penalties for driving in bus lanes, late payments on Congestion Charge zone, blocking red routes and performing illegal turns from 2018.
GETTY
Drivers could soon face fines of up to £160 as Transport for London will increase its penalties for certain offences from January 2 2018.
TfL will be increasing penalties for driving in bus lanes and failing to pay the Congestion Charge from that date
Fines are increasing to £160 from £130 and from £65 to £80 for those paying the fine early.
Carrying out illegal turns and blocking red routes will also face hike in the price of fines later that month, pending the Government signing it off.
It is expected that TfL will rake in an extra £20million a year from the price hikes.
Related articles
Edmund King, AA president, has said, however, that these price increases are not fair.
Speaking about the rises he said: "Congestion charge and moving traffic fines need to be a proportionate deterrent. Many people will consider that £80, let alone £160, is not.
"Our main concern is the lack of discretion. There will still be drivers who may stray into the congestion zone or a bus lane and come straight out.
"Would a short grace period or warning letter for the first time not be a fairer response?
"Knowing how mercilessly fines are pursued, the AA would argue that a driver who has to go through a lengthy appeal and wins should be compensated the full £160 PCN amount for the hassle and false accusation.
Would a short grace period or warning letter for the first time not be a fairer response?
"The aspect that worries us most is other councils seeing the riches of PCNs at this level and wanting the same."
These price hikes come after the toxic T-Charge was introduced into London earlier this year.
The T-Charge adds a £10 toxicity levy on top of the £12.50 Congestion Charge fee, for cars that do not meet a predetermined emissions standard.
Reasons for an increase in the price of penalties was said to be because of an increase of the number of Penalty Charge Notices issues in London.
The amount of PCNs issued in London rose 12 per cent to 1.5 million over the last five years.
Paul Cowperthwaite, TfL's general manager for road user charging said that because of this a stricter deterrent was needed.
"Although the Congestion Charge has been effective in reducing the number of cars entering central London, we've seen a 12 per cent increase in the number of motorists being issued with PCNs in the last five years.
"This shows that the deterrent factor of the existing PCN has reduced over time.
"The new PCN level will help improve compliance and also encourage people to consider cheaper and more active alternative forms of travel."
