Red light camera blunder sees London taxi drivers falsely penalised says cabbie representative
A traffic camera error in Wandsworth has been identified, leading to wrongful fines for taxi drivers accused of running red lights, according to taxi trade representatives.
Steve McNamara, General Secretary of the Licensed Taxi Drivers’ Association (LTDA), revealed that the issue came to light when LTDA staff noticed a surge in Fixed Penalty Notices (FPNs) for alleged offences at a specific junction. Upon closer inspection, it became clear that the accompanying images did not show any actual traffic violations.
A site visit confirmed that the enforcement camera was incorrectly positioned, triggering penalties when vehicles crossed the forward stop line of a cycle box rather than the actual traffic light stop line. This meant that drivers were being fined despite stopping legally.
The LTDA successfully challenged the fines, preventing affected drivers from receiving penalty points and fines. The camera has since been switched off until it is recalibrated to operate correctly.
McNamara said in TAXI Newspaper: “I know that our team go above and beyond every day to help members but even I was stunned last week when one of them noticed that we were seeing a lot of Fixed Penalty Notices (FPN) for members allegedly jumping a red traffic light in Wandsworth, suggesting that something strange was going on. He noticed that the pictures that accompanied the FPN did not actually show an offence. He then made a site visit and was able to confirm that the camera was set to activate on the forward stop line of a cycle box and not at the actual stop line for the traffic light.
“As a result, we were not only able to get our members' tickets cancelled, saving them three points and a fine, but even got the camera turned off until it is corrected to ensure no more tickets are sent out in error.
“Our advice to all our members is to contact us if you receive any communication from the police or TfL enforcement or complaints teams before you respond. This is especially true if you plan to accept an FPN that involves points on your DVLA licence, as it’s so easy to make a mistake with the forms, which then results in the FPN getting cancelled and before you know it, you are getting much more serious letters from courts and the DVLA.”
