Transport for London (TfL) has acquired new powers which allow it to enforce laws prohibiting motorists from cycle lanes.
According to the British Motorcyclists Federation (BMF), the laws - which were previously enforceable only by the police, but which TfL can now use CCTV to enforce - can result in £160 fines if broken, or £80 if paid within four days. TfL acquired these new powers on 27 June 2022.
Specifically prohibited is riding or driving within any of the cycle lanes, marked by solid white lines, in London, which is where we recently tested the Maeving RM1, pictured above.
The BMF also says that over half of Londoners say that fear of traffic is a reason they choose not to cycle, despite an overall increase in cyclists within the English capital during the Covid pandemic.
Jim Freeman, Chair of the BMF, takes a cynical view of TfL’s new enforcing powers, suspecting the department’s need for money is a major factor.
Freeman said: “Let’s be careful out there! As someone who’s had a camera ticket, where I was snapped near Old street, about a foot over a bus lane line, late one night, I know how easy it is to get caught out.
"Given TfL’s perennial cash crisis, don’t expect any leniency, they’re desperate for the cash.”
Like the motorway service and petrol station parking fines we wrote about yesterday, it is certainly possible to see this London-centric development as a case of public departments trying to catch people out in order to benefit their own financial situation.
On the other hand, these are not new laws or fines, and there is a very clear safety argument - on the part of the cyclists for which the lanes exist in the first place - for their existence.
