School street fine overturned at tribunal for inadequate signage

KentOnline / KMTV

Local Democracy Reporter Ollie Leader went to Richmond Street in Gillingham to see for himself.

Transcript

00:00You might have seen one of these signs if you've been driving around Medway,

00:04warning you away from driving near certain schools at peak times

00:08when the roads there become pedestrianised.

00:12That is, if you can spot them.

00:15For Chris Lee, a lack of signs along Saunders Street

00:18meant he was hit with a fine, which he says was not his fault.

00:24If you're not aware of something being there

00:27and there's no road signage on the road that you're travelling down

00:32before you get to a place where you can pick up a penalty notice

00:39then yeah, it's a bit of a shock

00:42but you then think to yourself, well, did I make a mistake?

00:45I need to check this out because I don't think that there's something right here.

00:49Well, I got behind the wheel myself to take the same route as Chris

00:54and see what warnings there were for the school street.

00:59So, just on the right, right here is Saunders Street.

01:03This is the road Chris drove down and said

01:05there wasn't adequate signage warning him

01:08that there could be a school street right at the end.

01:11As you can see, lots of cars, lots of vehicles,

01:15not a lot of signage for the school street.

01:18In fact, I can't see any warnings at all as we drive down here.

01:24We're coming up to the stop line now.

01:27You should be able to get a better look at the sign as we come up here.

01:31If you're just about coming to view that right there

01:35is the only warning for coming from this direction

01:38that there is a school street along here.

01:40Well, a reasonable person is not going to be looking

01:44at lampposts for every single sign

01:47if it's overwordy.

01:49By the time you've even got halfway down it, you've gone past it.

01:53It took Chris two months since getting the fine

01:55for him to receive this letter from the Traffic Penalty Tribunal

02:00notifying him that his penalty notice had been overturned.

02:05And the adjudicator here doesn't mince any words.

02:08It says that that sign right behind me, that is overcomplicated

02:13and did not adequately convey that Richmond Road

02:16would become a school street.

02:19Yeah, so I'm getting lots of feedback

02:21that some of the signage is opaque at best.

02:24It's not entirely clear when you're entering a school street scheme.

02:28This scheme is all about raising money.

02:31It's not about improving the lives of residents.

02:34Medway Councils say they have successfully defended a number of appeals at this location

02:40and this is the first in which an adjudicator has filed against them on signage grounds.

02:47They say that while they will review the adjudicator's decision,

02:51they remain satisfied that the signage at this site is adequate

02:55and compliant with the relevant legal standards

02:59and will continue to review feedback to ensure the scheme operates effectively.

03:06But none of that will be a sign that gives people like Chris confidence

03:10their concerns are being heard.

03:13Olly Leader in Medway

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