Drivers Warned Of Fines As Councils Are Granted New Yellow Box Powers

Drivers may face an 'avalanche' of fines as councils across England are given more powers to issue penalty charges against motorists.

The RAC says a failure to update design and maintenance guidance for the country's roads ahead of the changes means many drivers will be unfairly punished for small offences.

The warning comes after the Department for Transport announced it would be handing local authorities new powers to hand out fines for 'moving traffic offences', most notably for failing to move through yellow box junctions used to control the flow of traffic.

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Outside of London and Cardiff, councils have previously only been able to issue PCNs for illegal parking and driving in bus lanes, with moving traffic offences the responsibility of police. However, from later this year local authorities are set to be able to request to enforce these offences themselves in areas where existing measures to improve compliance have failed.

The new powers, which are set to come into force on 1 June, come as the RAC says that many yellow box junctions are poorly maintained, often leaving drivers trapped through no fault of their own.

"There will be a high degree of confusion among drivers and local authorities, which could lead to an avalanche of penalty charge notices being wrongly issued and then having to be appealed," RAC head of roads policy Nicholas Lyes said in a statement to the Mirror.

"This will inevitably lead to an unnecessarily high number of appeals for local authorities to review, as well as some poor outcomes for drivers."

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Lyes added that the DfT had rejected the RAC's pleas for guidance on yellow box junctions to be updated ahead of the changes, saying: "We are worried that failing to update guidance to include the lessons learnt from more than 15 years of enforcement in London will lead to countless wrong fines being issued, no end of unnecessary stress for drivers who feel they have been unfairly treated and thousands of wasted council hours investigating appeals.

"It's absolutely crucial that yellow box junctions are enforced fairly and, as things stand, this may not be the case, which will mean many drivers will be treated poorly and lose out financially as a result."

In a statement, a DfT spokesperson said: "These new powers are designed to improve cycle safety, air quality and better support of bus services. It’s for local authorities to enforce them and ensure they meet local needs."