Thousands of fines issued while enforcing a road safety scheme could be void after a tribunal overturned a driver’s penalty because of inadequate signage.
Medway Council’s ‘School Streets’ scheme, which fines motorists for driving down designated streets around the start and end of the school day, launched last year.
Chris Lee was one such driver fined for entering a designated school street on Richmond Road, Gillingham, during its hours of operation in September.
The 56-year-old appealed to Medway Council, saying it had been unclear he was approaching the zone until it was too late and he had no option but to drive on.
The Towns’ authority rejected his appeal and insisted he pay the £35 fine, which increases to £70 if not paid after 21 days.
However, Mr Lee took his appeal to a traffic penalty tribunal, an independent adjudicator of the fines issued by local authorities who overturned the council’s decision.
They ruled he should not have to pay the fine as there was insufficient warning as he was approaching the pedestrianised zone and signage was unclear.
Chris, who runs a carpet and upholstery cleaning business, believes the authority is issuing fines hoping motorists won’t challenge them all the way to tribunal.
He said: “There’s no way in the world anyone could remember all the locations of all the school zones, so people are reliant upon the signage and it is not good enough.
“There’s two signs warning about the zone, one right as it starts and another 200 yards up the street at a busy junction.
“I was turning right from Saunders Street onto Richmond Road; it’s a very busy street, so when you’re pulling up at the stop sign, you are more interested in avoiding oncoming traffic coming at you from the left and the right and across the road.
“So I didn’t notice that there is a sign straight across that’s not actually facing the junction, it’s facing up Richmond Road.”
Mr Lee says it “can’t be just a one-off” and he doesn’t believe he’s the only person who’s been fined. “Medway Council must surely be aware of this but they are definitely banking on people not taking it further,” he added.
“It’s all a money grab, and these school zones are not saving anyone’s lives, they are not reducing congestion or improving the air quality.”
Medway Council says it has successfully defended a number of appeals and remains confident signage at this site is adequate and compliant with the relevant legal standards.
But opposition member Cllr Andrew Lawrence (Con), who does not support the widespread use of the scheme, says he’s often contacted by residents about problems.
He added: “I think school streets may have a place in certain areas because some schools are on busy roads.
“But in a lot of places, in my view, it has just been implemented in order to fleece hard-working families dropping their kids off to school because the council is so strapped for cash.
“I’m getting lots of feedback that some of the signage is opaque at best. It’s not entirely clear when you’re entering a school street zone.
“I think there is absolutely some questions the council need to answer on signage. I’m not saying the council have done this deliberately, I think it’s just poor design.”
He added he thought many people would pay the £35 penalty rather than challenging it because they would worry the process would take too long and would result in them owing £70.
In total, 24,673 fines have been issued across the 12 school street zones since the first group was introduced in March last year.
Of those, 2,706 were appealed by motorists, but only 330 were successfully overturned, and around £675,000 worth of penalties have been paid for contravening the rules.
The roads around the Burnt Oak Primary School, Richmond Road, Cornwall Road, and Devonshire Road, have regularly been the location of the highest number of penalty charge notices.
In the first nine months of the introduction of restrictions from 8.15am to 9am and 2.45pm to 3.45pm more than 7,700 drivers entered the zone when they shouldn’t have.
Medway Council has previously defended the scheme as “making a big difference”.
Portfolio holder for community safety, highways and enforcement, Cllr Alex Paterson (Lab) said: “We’ve got seven locations in Medway which have had school streets operating for over a year now and the feedback from those locations is really positive.
“I’ve seen the difference this makes to the atmosphere outside school and fundamentally to the perception by parents that they are able to safely walk their children those last few yards to the school gate.”
Speaking in September following the scheme’s extension to more areas he explained they were also looking at “all the issues”.
“We look at complications in the road layouts, we do consider the feedback that we get from these consultations,” he added.
But the fact adjudicators now say signage for at least one zone is insufficient could mean many fines could potentially also be successfully appealed.
In response, a Medway Council spokesman said: “We have successfully defended a number of appeals at this location, and this is the first in which an adjudicator has found against us on signage grounds.
“While we will review the adjudicator’s decision, we remain satisfied that signage at this site is adequate and compliant with the relevant legal standards.
“We will continue to review feedback, including comments on signage, to ensure the scheme operates effectively.”
