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Caught in a yellow boxed junction - can I challenge my fine?

I was recently making my way out of London on a Sunday evening (just after 5pm) and entered a yellow box at a set of traffic lights in good faith, as the traffic seemed to be moving in a way that I could clear the junction without problem. My recollection is that the traffic ahead then stopped for some reason and I was stuck in the box for a matter of seconds before I started to go and clear the box. I have now been hit with a fine of £130 (£65 if I pay quickly) for "entering and stopping in a box junction when prohibited”.

This appears to be a way to further extort money from the motorist without any consideration of the actual traffic conditions associated with the event. Do you think this is a situation that I can successfully challenge?

Asked on 21 April 2012 by RW, via email

Answered by Honest John
We've been here before. It's a very difficult situation. If every driver refused to enter a yellow cross-hatched area until his exit was clear we would have gridlock because traffic could not clear junctions fast enough. On the other hand, if people were not fined for blocking yellow hatched junctions, that would also cause gridlock.
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