Ian McAteer was driving in Glasgow city centre in October last year when he entered the bus gate on Cathedral Street.
Ian, who was not using satellite navigation and was relying on road signage, says he had been travelling along Cathedral Street on his way to Queen Street Station but believes the sign for the bus gate was obscured by double-decker buses and he followed road markings which “provide the motorist with some confidence that to drive in that direction is permitted”.
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Bus gate signage at Cathedral Street. (Image: Gordon Terris, Newsquest)
He told the Glasgow Times: “I live in Edinburgh and I was dropping my son off at Queen Street and I came along to the place in question, and I didn’t see any signs that seemed relevant at the time across the junction.
“I suddenly realised I was in this one-way street trap which is just by the Buchanan Galleries Car Park.
“But once you’re in that street you can’t turn.
“I stopped and thought ‘can I reverse down a one-way street’ but I thought there’s no way and just had to go through the bus gate as many people have done.
“I just thought it was so unfair and wrong.”
Ian McAteer outside the City Chambers (Image: Supplied)
Ian decided to appeal to Glasgow City Council after he received a penalty notice, but says he got a “boiler plate” response and was told if he were to appeal, he would have to pay any legal costs.
He decided he wanted to take it further and took his case to an independent adjudicator at Scotland’s First-tier Tribunal.
Ian, who previously ran a marketing and advertising company, said: “All my friends were telling me Ian, get a life, I’ve only just recently retired, I’ve got better things to do, it’s a waste of time, just pay up.
“I’ve got this very strong sense of right and wrong, and I thought ‘no, I’m not going to back down’.
“I went and investigated and did a lot of research to get myself out of this because I thought it was so unfair.
“I found stuff in the traffic regulations that clearly the signage is not sufficient.”
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Bus gate signage at Cathedral Street. (Image: Gordon Terris, Newsquest)
Despite the fact that everyone told Ian he was “going to lose”, he won his appeal with adjudicator Gary McIlravey stating in April of this year that he believed the signage was “insufficient”.
In his judgement, he said: “I feel, on balance, that the Council have provided insufficient signage to give fair warning to approaching drivers, particularly when there is really only a single relevant sign, which, whilst complying with regulations, may be blocked to view by buses, lorries, etc, thus depriving a driver of fair warning, as appears to have a happened in this case.”
The ruling followed a similar one earlier that same month at the First-tier Tribunal, which was brought to the tribunal after a driver entered the bus gate after travelling onto Cathedral Street from North Hanover Street in January of this year.
Adjudicator Alexander Green also found the signage to be insufficient.
He said: “Although the contravention occurred, I find that the signage at the time and location was not adequate to discharge the Council’s duty to warn drivers in accordance with regulation 17(1)(f).
“The appeal is therefore allowed.”
Bus gate signage at Cathedral Street (Image: Gordon Terris, Newsquest)
Despite the rulings, however, eight months later the signage remains the same, and a spokesperson for Glasgow City Council confirmed that Penalty Charge Notices have continued to be issued to drivers who have entered the bus gate at this location, saying they don’t appeal against all Tribuanl decisions they don’t agree with.
Ian, 67, says he was “outraged” when he saw the signage hadn’t been updated and says it is a “scandal” that fines have continued to be issued.
He said: “They should have done something immediately, even a temporary sign.
“It’s a wrong that needs righting.
“Especially when you think about how much money they’ve made, how utterly devious it is, and then how they treat serious appeals of people making arguments.
“The fact they’ve still been fining people, it’s an absolute scandal.
“All the people who have been fined need to be repaid, and there should be some sort of investigation in the council as to why this has happened.”
He added: “When you say the council is elected by the people to serve the people, councillors should be ashamed of themselves for allowing that to happen.”
A spokesperson for Glasgow City Council said: “The bus gate at this location remains operational, and the signage complies with the relevant regulations.
“We do not appeal against every Tribunal decision we disagree with.”
