Had my first experience of this today (for those of you that don't know it - it runs parallel to part of the M6 past Fort Dunlop).
www.birmingham.gov.uk/carsharelane.bcc
I happily drove along it at 11am to much gesticulation and light flashing from those in the other lane, not sure why as it is only in existence until 10am, oh well shaved minutes off my journey time so they do have a useful purpose :-)
Was intrigued to know what the offence is if a single occupancy vehicle uses it in its period of operation, the website is not exactly definitive:
"Enforcement
The car-sharing lane will be enforced by the Police and fines will be issued to offenders found to be contravening the lane."
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Not likely to be a police priority.
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From what I saw from driving on that road everyday, they seem to have people watching sometimes doing traffic surveys on that section now, but I don't believe any enforcement of the lane has take place...yet..
And yes, it's amazing how many people fail to understand that it ends at 10am, despite the very clear signs!
Edited by TheOilBurner on 18/03/2008 at 08:05
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I regularly drive down a "bus-lane" in our town when it's not in operation(clearly marked signs) but I notice that even police cars don't use it.
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The bus lane on the A38 through Erdington is the same - they removed it a few years ago but all the sheep still keep out of the lane.
We need periodic re-testing to get some of these dimwits off the road!
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I spotted one of my colleagues doing this and asked them the next day why they didn't use the old bus lane, the answer:
"When did they change that?"
Errm..about 3-4 years ago...look for the big signs that say "BUS LANE SUSPENDED" and the blanked out bus lane signs...
The funny / bizarre thing was I saw them still doing it a couple of weeks later...they obviously didn't believe me!
To be fair, the road layout and markings on the road make it look like the bus lane is still kind of there. They need to be changed too.
The annoying thing here is that if you avoid the sheep and actually use the left lane, you almost cannot help but undertake when it's busy, especially if you need to turn right or are heading to the M6. Although I have seen police cars effectively undertaking along there, so it must be OK, right?
Edited by TheOilBurner on 18/03/2008 at 09:19
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The bus lane on the A38 through Erdington is the same - they removed it a few years ago but all the sheep still keep out of the lane.
Don't shout too loudly - its great way of making decent progress at the moment!!
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>>Don't shout too loudly - its great way of making decent progress at the moment!!
My thoughts exactly!
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