Driver shocked by arrival of $600 worth of fines

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nate

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# 64536 17-Jul-2010 12:00

Article here.

Could I possibly suggest, and this is a long shot, if you're not a bus, don't drive in the bus lane?

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# 352628 17-Jul-2010 12:24

Exactly, avoid it at all costs. If the rule is you can use it within 50m of the intersection, there should be some kind of indication. Just to be safe though, avoid!

sbiddle

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# 352634 17-Jul-2010 12:50

heavenlywild: Exactly, avoid it at all costs. If the rule is you can use it within 50m of the intersection, there should be some kind of indication. Just to be safe though, avoid!

I don't see how marking could ever possibly be a solution. Imagine the mess on the roads trying to come up with a solution to mark 50m before every intersecting road or driveway for every bus lane in the country?

rscole86

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# 352639 17-Jul-2010 12:59

The offender did not actually say if he knew the rules or not. Ignorance, which I believe is the case here, is no excuse.

minigopher17

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# 352646 17-Jul-2010 13:26

I notice the new Christchurch bus lanes have 50m markers painted on the bus lane before every intersection. When I was last in Auckland I don't remember there being any on those bus lanes. Maybe Auckland need to learn a thing or two from Christchurch?

old3eyes

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# 352649 17-Jul-2010 13:37

minigopher17: I notice the new Christchurch bus lanes have 50m markers painted on the bus lane before every intersection. When I was last in Auckland I don't remember there being any on those bus lanes. Maybe Auckland need to learn a thing or two from Christchurch??

The AKL city council won't do that as the existing situation is a cashcow. The AKL CC have gone mad over the past few years with these bus lanes. Our company has moved out of Symonds street this weekend and the main reason is the entry and exit to get in and out of the building and don?t even start us on that piece of crap roading called the Grafton Bridge bus lanes..

Regards,

Old3eyes

NonprayingMantis

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# 353034 18-Jul-2010 17:52

If you can't estimate 50m very roughly and make sure you always go under it then you really have no business driving a car. stopping distances at high speed are often in that range.

old3eyes

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# 353040 18-Jul-2010 18:22

old3eyes:
minigopher17: I notice the new Christchurch bus lanes have 50m markers painted on the bus lane before every intersection. When I was last in Auckland I don't remember there being any on those bus lanes. Maybe Auckland need to learn a thing or two from Christchurch??

The AKL city council won't do that as the existing situation is a cashcow. The AKL CC have gone mad over the past few years with these bus lanes. Our company has moved out of Symonds street this weekend and the main reason is the entry and exit to get in and out of the building and don?t even start us on that piece of crap roading called the Grafton Bridge bus lanes..

Update to this. The NZ Herald reported yesterday that the AKL CC made $4.2 mil on buslane fines over the past 12 months so there's no way they will want to improve things. No doubt they will be looking closely at the WN CC Stasi spy camera parking cars to add to revenue..

Regards,

Old3eyes

Kyanar

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# 353053 18-Jul-2010 18:56

minigopher17: I notice the new Christchurch bus lanes have 50m markers painted on the bus lane before every intersection. When I was last in Auckland I don't remember there being any on those bus lanes. Maybe Auckland need to learn a thing or two from Christchurch?

Could be tough - there isn't actually 50m between most Auckland intersections!

What the government needs to do is change the law so that councils can actually exercise discretion when fining - currently, they're required to enforce the law exactly as written, and have no leeway to let people off for stupid mistakes.

I finally have fibre! Had to leave the country to get it though.

johnr

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# 353071 18-Jul-2010 19:31

minigopher17: I notice the new Christchurch bus lanes have 50m markers painted on the bus lane before every intersection. When I was last in Auckland I don't remember there being any on those bus lanes. Maybe Auckland need to learn a thing or two from Christchurch??

They are on the Shore down Onewa Road

richms

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# 353111 18-Jul-2010 21:37

I am more worried about the part where he says that the $150 is a months worth of electricity. Guess he is living in a shoebox with just a lightbulb...

Richard rich.ms

robbyp

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# 353140 18-Jul-2010 23:00

nate: Article here.

Could I possibly suggest, and this is a long shot, if you're not a bus, don't drive in the bus lane?

They only need one case to go against the council, and the council will be forced to refund all the fines. Could end up very costing for the council, and for the rate payers. Although the rules should be there, to prevent people driving in th ebus lanes, a certain amount of discretion should be applied, especially as it is the tax and ratepayer who actually paid for the roads and the bus lanes. Also if people don't have enough room to merge into the bus lane, to turn left, it could create more congestion, and accidents. The council are solely using it as an income generator and the law is being absued, which makes people very anti these types of laws in the first place.

Byrned

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# 353234 19-Jul-2010 09:13

If they didn't get it the first time they drove past the Auckland City worker wearing their hi-vis vest, standing behind a video camera, on the side of the bus lane, at peak traffic times, they're probably not going to!

IMO, if you turn into one of the these lanes before where the person is standing, which is roughly 50 meters, you're just being stupid. If you got into the lane before you saw the person, you were probably well out of the 50 meter distance.

The Grafton Bridge one is a different story as the last time I was driving that way it's next to impossible to see the sign before you get to the bridge, and by the time you do you're pretty much committed to crossing. It was only because I'd heard about it being a bus lane between certain hours that I didn't.

Byrned

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# 353240 19-Jul-2010 09:26

robbyp:
... if people don't have enough room to merge into the bus lane, to turn left, it could create more congestion, and accidents. The council are solely using it as an income generator and the law is being abused, which makes people very anti these types of laws in the first place.

In my experience of people using the lanes, I am yet to see anyone trying to merge into a lane to perform a turn that has had a problem with congestion/causing accidents. Mostly what I see is people waiting until just before they need to turn, indicating, and moving into the lane. Sometimes I see people not wanting to wait in a queue and entering the lane before the 50m. And sometimes I see these people holding up buses. Maybe we should allow people wanting to turn left to drive along the sidewalk as well?

And I would like to see your reference for the the statement that they're "solely" using it as a revenue generator. I would see it as they are enforcing the law and using the revenue to pay for the policing of the law, and most likely the enforcement of the fines. Just because a fine has been issued doesn't mean it's pure $$$ int he bank. But I'm guessing you'd rather have the headline "Council losses $4.5m enforcing bus lanes".

Personally I would like to see more things like this being done to enforce other driving laws which are routinely broken. Such as running red lights, and failing to give way (or stopping at a stop sign). Maybe if we did this we might actually get some courteous and cautious drivers on the road.

Mind you, just my opinions...

old3eyes

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# 353538 19-Jul-2010 18:19

richms: I am more worried about the part where he says that the $150 is a months worth of electricity. Guess he is living in a shoebox with just a lightbulb...

My power bill with Mercury is about $145 / month and we don't live in a shoe box with one lite bulb..

Regards,

Old3eyes

tristanb

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# 354528 21-Jul-2010 16:21

Could I possibly suggest, and this is a long shot, if you're not a bus, don't drive in the bus lane?

The problem is that bus lanes line the left side of many Auckland streets. So if someone moves through this lane, they get a fine. Even if it's into a loading zone.

As the bus lane is also the left-turn lane, and with the 50 metre rule, people have to wait in a congested centre lane, then try to get into the left lane at the last minute (that's if the buses let you in). I have seen many examples of people dangerously indicating left at the last minute to get into a turning lane because everyone is so paranoid about the ridiculous fines.

The guy in the article got 4 fines because he would not have known he was doing anything wrong, and the fines take a while to arrive.

Here is an image I took of Symonds Street in Auckland.

Red car narrowly avoids council cameras and buses just to turn left

Red car narrowly avoids council cameras and buses just to turn left

You can see that fortunately Bus 209 is letting this left turning red vehicle in. Imagine though if the buses were tailgating, and the straight light was green and the left turn red. The poor red car would be stuck holding up straight-going traffic (the white van), increasing Auckland's congestion.

Also imagine if the white van needed to turn left, how would he get into the correct lane?

You can see the council enforcers with their video camera on the right of the picture. I took this photo with my cellphone on the intersection corner - 50 meters is a short distance. In this case the camera is at 70 metres.

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