Drivers slapped with yellow box fines worth almost £1m after councils granted increased powers
Drivers were slapped with fines worth nearly £1 million from just 36 yellow box junctions last year after councils were granted increased powers.
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The RAC warned these figures show an “enormously high number” of fines were being handed out to drivers.
Yellow boxes can be found across the UK and are used in an attempt to ensure traffic flows smoothly through busy junctions.
If your car enters one while an exit is blocked, you’ll likely be hit with a hefty fine.
London and Cardiff were the only parts of the UK where drivers could be fined for yellow box offences until the Government introduced new legislation in May 2022, which enables all councils across England to apply for enforcement powers.
Data provided by English councils in response to Freedom of Information requests by the RAC showed 36 yellow boxes outside London and Cardiff were enforced last year.
In these boxes, a whopping 32,748 fines were issued, worth a total of £998,640.
These fines are generally £70, reduced to £35 if paid within 21 days.
The RAC analysis found Manchester City Council issued the most PCNs, with 13,130 in relation to six junctions.
This brought in £446,706 which was nearly half of all yellow box-related revenue outside London and Cardiff.
Kent’s Medway Council raised the second highest amount at £145,162 after handing out 4,433 PCNs for the five yellow boxes it enforced.
It was followed by Buckinghamshire Council, which received £139,798 for 3,618 fines.
But the single junction that generated the largest revenue was at Dennis Roundabout in Guildford, Surrey, which cost drivers £81,445 as 4,250 PCNs were issued.
Drivers hit with fines rarely appeal the fines, with the highest proportion appealed being 18% in the Manchester City Council area.
RAC senior policy officer Rod Dennis said a yellow box which generates a small number of fines indicates it is “working as it should”, which must be the ambition for councils rather than using them as a “revenue-raising opportunity”.
He went on: “Very few people set out to deliberately flout the rules and get fined.
“The large number of penalties being dished out over a small number of locations and in a short space of time should send alarm bells ringing in council offices.
“It’s vital box junctions are used in the correct places and are only as big as absolutely necessary.
“They must be fairly set up so that drivers don’t find themselves stranded through no fault of their own.”
Alex Paterson, Medway Council’s portfolio holder for community safety, highways and enforcement, said its enforcement of yellow boxes is “not about catching people out”, adding that road markings were updated so “nobody could reasonably claim not to have seen them”.
Buckinghamshire Council deputy leader Thomas Broom said the area suffers from “a lot of congestion” and the amount of yellow box fines issued “directly relates to the number of people who commit these traffic offences”.
A spokesperson for the Local Government Association said: “All councils follow guidance to ensure motorists are treated fairly.
“There are processes for appeal if anyone believes they have been unfairly fined.”