Bus Lane Cheats

I just heard today that more than 2,000 motorists have been caught driving in city centre bus lanes. These bus lane cheats have fallen foul in just a four week period. Wow, that’s incredible. The actual figure of bus lane cheats over this time is 2,193. If this is a consistent and representative sample, then extrapolate that over a year and you get a staggering 28,500+ over a year.

For these “experimental” (for want of a better word) bus lane cheats all they will face at this time is a warning letter. The letter tries to educate them and raise awareness. Maybe the motorists have got off quite lightly there.

Also bear in mind that the cameras were only used in four of the city’s bus lanes. Imagine if all bus lanes were under scrutiny.

Bus Lane Cheats – Kerching!!!

Warning letters now out of the way, from next Monday, no more warnings. All offenders will be fined. Any bus lane cheats caught on camera will be fined £60. The £60 is reduced to £30 if paid within 14 days. So, if those 2,193 were fined instead of warned, then the local council would have raked in – at best, £131,580 and at worst, £65,790. As I say, kerching!! A sizeable amount without a doubt.

Just imagine if the 28,500 figure above was a reasonable projection. At worst that would generate, £855,000. At best, £1,710,000. That’s a big kerching!!

Mind you, I don’t know the capital cost of the cameras, or their running costs. But nevertheless I’m sure CWAC have done the sums and the outlay is more then covered by the revenue these cameras will generate.

Of the 2,193 caught so far, I wonder how many were from the Chester region and how many were “out of towners”? If there’s a fair number from out of town then you would think the revenues earned will still be quite sizeable as local motorists will soon cotton on and not offend.

Bus Lane Cheats – May I Make A Request Please

The camera equipment used to nab the bus lane cheats is called “Cheshire West and Chester Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR)” cameras. Now, I don’t know the technicalities of the equipment, but if they can be used elsewhere, or tweaked a bit, here’s my request.

After seeing yet another instance of a car speeding through a red light on a pelican crossing yesterday, I thought “here we go again”.

I did speak with someone from the Council a few weeks ago to ask them about the cameras on pelicans. Apparently the cameras already on pelicans are not utilised to catch offenders.

Let’s extend the request to all traffic lights, even though my initial enquiry was specifically about pelican lights.

Pelican Lights Cheats

The person I spoke to initially wasn’t sure who would be responsible for any cameras utilised to catch “Pelican Lights Cheats” (for want of a better phrase), if they were installed.

The Police or the Council? As the bus lane cheats cameras are looked after by CWAC, then I’d imagine “Pelican Lights Cheats” cameras would follow suit?

Even if the Police were to be the ones to sort this and collect any revenue then it’s swings and roundabouts really. I would imagine extra revenue earned by the local Police will then reduce their request to the local Council in their annual precept request.

A lower Police precept request may reduce, or freeze Council Tax amounts. Let’s assume the Council Tax amounts are frozen. The residue of the reduced amounts earmarked for the Police could be reallocated and be utilised elsewhere.

Whatever the finance structure is, imagine the income that could be generated from identifying “Pelican Lights Cheats”.

But, more importantly than the financial aspects, think about the safety of pedestrians. The number of cars that steam through a red light on a pelican crossing is incredible.

Not Just Cars Though

To be fair it’s not just cars. Here’s an instance from a couple of weeks ago. A bus went speeding through the two sets of lights on Liverpool Road as I started across the road. You know the ones. The pelican crossing by Eversley Park and just before those you have the normal traffic lights. They seem to change at the same time.

So for traffic heading into town, the normal lights would be on red first as they approached. But at the same time the pelican would also be on red. I was standing alongside a lady who was also about to cross. As the pelican changed I happen to look at the traffic from the left. A bus came hurtling through the normal lights and I said to the lady, “best hang on, I don’t think he’s going to stop”.

Sure enough as the “beep, beep” of the pelican was ringing out, the bus piled through. After a quick apology to the lady, “no, no I’m not calling you a D***head”, I tried to get the number plate, but too late.

Bus Lane Cheats And Beyond

In short, what I’m saying is, as good an idea cameras focused on bus lane cheats may be, don’t forget other camera options.

Or should we not be more concerned with cameras that may have an impact on the safety of the public first? I know where I think any camera investment should be concentrated first.

Anyway, to conclude, bus lane cheats will be fined from next Monday onwards. As for cameras to catch “Pelican Lights Cheats” and other traffic lights offenders – let’s hope this is on the agenda soon, if not already in the pipeline.

Chester Lifestyle

Chester may well have embarked on a bus lane cheats campaign. But, as we all know, Chester is a great place to live and visit as well. To find out more about our beautiful city, have a look HERE, or if you are looking for things to do, or for places to visit in Chester, head over to HERE.

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