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Box junction stupidity

Robert

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By the council not the driver...

Here is a google maps view of the box junction-
Screenshot 2026-08-12 150902.jpg

If you are coming from the top of the picture to turn right into woodland road you must enter the box junction. The rest of the image is to show the traffic light junction bottom right.

The traffic lights have a right turn filter that allows cars to turn the corner and head for the box junction - oncoming traffic preventing the right turner exiting the box. The filter is short duration and traffic is not continuous.

So... as long as your exit lane is clear you can be stationary in a box junction if prevented from leaving by oncoming traffic.

The local council seem to have other ideas.

01.jpg

Now that sounds like the exit was blocked or that the manoeuvrer happened outside the box junction.

The second page has stills from the video - showing the exit is clear and the box junction covers the exit road area (which can also be seen in the google clip above)...


02.jpg


My daughter has made that turn hundreds of times and I've done it quite a few times without incident. She has challenged the ruling and been given a date for the appeal - march 2027 !

The other daft thing is by the time she turned the traffic ahead hadn't moved because of a red light.
 
That doesn't wholly make sense, but in summary is their issue because she stopped while the van passed then turned, rather than waiting for the van to pass before entering the box?
 
" as long as your exit lane is clear you can be stationary in a box junction if prevented from leaving by oncoming traffic"

Did that exemption come from the highway code?
If not ,and I were a council pedant ,that would be good enough excuse for me
 
Yes, highway code, AA guidance, google AI you name it. sit in a box junction is fine if your exit is clear and oncoming traffic prevents your right turn.

edit- the council letter quotes the highway code then shows pictures with the exit lane clear! It's a no through road so little traffic. The box junction is there in the first place to assist turning into and out of the road.

in this case sitting outside the box to wait would have blocked the lane just the same and there could be another oncoming in the time it takes to move forward.
 
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"Rule 174​

Box junctions. These have criss-cross yellow lines painted on the road (see ‘Road markings’). You MUST NOT enter the box until your exit road or lane is clear. However, you may enter the box and wait when you want to turn right, and are only stopped from doing so by oncoming traffic, or by other vehicles waiting to turn right. At signalled roundabouts you MUST NOT enter the box unless you can cross over it completely without stopping."

By my reckoning, that means no offence. Can't tell from the pictures, but if not signalling right they might interpret the right turn as an unplanned last minute evasive attempt to avoid a fine ?
 
Hard to argue evasion when she lives in that road.

The text of the letter contradicts itself and so does the pictures. So yes no offence.

Got a feeling that camera is new. There is another box junction the other side of the lights and that is a real cash cow as it is easy to get caught out by traffic queues.
 
Excellent
You'd be sensible to pay the £80 to prevent the inevitable escalation of the financial side,then seek redress for the false conviction.
But how much time,money and effort are you prepared to sacrifice in the process- that's what the council is betting on.

Is there a social media group of other victims that can be mobilised?
 
That's another thing. The letter took so long to arrive the early payment limit has passed. Unless the term served means when it arrived but how would they know that?
 
Also ask them to prove you made the right turn after the box junction as they suggest.

Does the fact that the lines are incomplete have any positive bearing on this situation?
 
That's another thing. The letter took so long to arrive the early payment limit has passed. Unless the term served means when it arrived but how would they know that?
'Served' means the date it arrived, but unless you can prove when it physically landed on your doormat, notices sent by post are 'deemed served' two days after posting. You may be able to get them to reset the clock if you did want to pay the reduced amount, on the grounds that you didn't receive it until <date>. That said, paying it admits liability. You can't pay to avoid the hassle (or to hedge your bets with the early payment discount) and then keep appealing for a refund.

Although, in this case, the normal independent adjudicator should be a pretty clear-cut win based on the council's own evidence.
 
Thanks for the comments and confirming what we thought - no offence.

Edit. That yellow box site is interesting. Seems there are some things open to interpretation but i still think my daughter is ok.
 
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