To think this traffic fine is unreasonable?

I probably would have done the same as you OP

Wow. Will make sure I don't edge through a red light to let an ambulance through ever again even if we have to sit there for a couple of minutes until the lights change.

I recently successfully appealed a bus lane fine

Follow the steps one by one. Every time you do so, the clock is restarted so you Don't lose anything

Firstly, exhaust the appeals process of the local authority that fined you (it will be clearly signposted)

When that doesn't work, take it to the traffic penalty tribunal (Google it). If they think you have a case they will take it up for free for you.

Good luck

Massively shocked by this. I pull this manoeuvre at least once a week (work commute is also the main run to the hospital).

It might be worth contacting your MP and getting them involved.

But the court cannot reverse the conviction ...

Yes it is completely out of order. As the Highway Code stands, you cannot drive into a bus lane in order to let an ambulance pass. You cannot move a couple of inches past a red light to let an ambulance pass. You shouldn't even mount the kerb to let an ambulance pass.

As far as the law is concerned the above things are a big NO, even in a life-or-death situation that an emergency vehicle might be attending to.

It is fucking disgusting but these are the rules as things stand. I feel bad about blocking an ambulance or fire engine but I would rather risk a stranger dying through the ambulance or fire engine being delayed than me getting caught out in this way.

Again.

It might be worth contacting your MP and getting them involved. Absolutely ridiculous that you'd get a fine for this.

It does seem very harsh. However, I suspect that if you could appeal on these grounds, lots of people would be flouting the law, driving in bus lanes and them claiming they did so in order to make way for an emergency vehicle.

I appreciate that you shouldn't disobey a traffic signal unless instructed by the police, as it might be dangerous to go through a red light for example.

But I wouldn't think that should apply to a bus lane when there's an ambulance needing through. Disgraceful that that is the case.

Older stories ...

www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1204944/Driver-gets-60-fine-moving-yard-red-light-let-police-van-999-pass.html

www.telegraph.co.uk/cars/advice/why-you-could-be-fined-for-letting-an-emergency-vehicle-past/

You are not alone.

OP Please seriously take this to court. It will never get there, not for the shocking PR and media attention hey know they would receive.

The court doesn't have the power to quash the charge - as discovered by the appeal court a while ago. It's the way the law was written.

The fact I have read plenty of similar cases suggests that the power of the press is muted here. If you want change - lobby your MP.

OP Please seriously take this to court. It will never get there, not for the shocking PR and media attention hey know they would receive.

Was it via a camera ? If so, you'll have to suck it up. There is no mechanism in law for reversing a court decision made on the basis of a camera, if the underlying signage etc is correct.

There have been a few cases where drivers have moved across the line at traffic lights to let an emergency vehicle through, and been snapped by a camera, and found there is no way to avoid the penalty.

(I have a vague memory the Appeal court did comment it didn't seem right, but it's up to parliament to legislate to change it.)

The bottom line is that you did break the law.

It's also worth noting that - despite what you may think - flashing blue lights and sirens are not an instruction to move out of the way, and that any emergency services driver would tell you that you should comply with the law if you are making way for them.

This is a different situation than if a policeman had directly instructed you to pull over/go over a red light/break the law. It is a defence to a criminal act that you were instructed to commit the act by a constable in uniform.

The fact that parliament know about it, and have done nothing suggests that it's the will of the people .

Can you contact the Ambulance Service and ask them if they would intervene on your behalf? I'm sure they wouldn't want to let others think they should simply not make way for ambulances and fire engines, but that seems to be the way it's going.

You can't ignore the rules of the road to give way to emergency vehicles unless instructed to do so by a police officer.

If there was nobody behind you, could you not have carried on, given that the ambulance could have changed lanes a second or two later (after you'd passed)?

It's harsh though. You try to do a good deed...

The problem is OP that people have no common sense.

Woman pulls over into a bus lane to let someone in a critical and potentially life threatening situation live. Therefore we must fine her because that lane, empty though it was, is ear marked only for a bus.

It beggars fucking belief.

YANBU OP. I think that's ridiculously harsh.

I witnessed a police car go slowly through a red light to let another police car go through with flashing lights etc, then reverse back through the red light in front of me, it was very odd as I wondered why didn't the car behind the other one simply take the others job rather than both going through the red light and then one reversing, if that makes sense.

BTW you don't live in Oxford do you OP, when my son was a student there he used to regularly drive in the bus lanes (apparently they are notoriously hard to decipher in Oxford) and when he came back for the holidays there would be several fines on the doormat! The annoying thing is they don't issue them immediately so they built up to about 6 or 7 fines before he realised what he was doing and put a stop to it.

That's crazy - I crept through a red light a few weeks (with excellent visibility) a few weeks ago to make way for an ambulance.

It's only a police officer that can tell you to disobey a traffic sign.

So if you are at red lights and and a blue light comes on behind you, and motions you to move forward to let them through, if it's a police car you're fine but ambulance/fire/coastguard you're not.

Google the pepipoo website. It's a forum and the people on there are very good at this sort of thing. They'll tell you the best way forward.

Rule 219 of the Highway Code says to pull out of the way but comply with all traffic signs. You can be prosecuted for disobeying signs, and yes it seems really harsh but that's what they'll get you on .