Motorists 'caught out' by no left turn rule on Kimber Road

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Motorists 'caught out' by no left turn rule on Kimber Road

Postby Community Editor » Fri Sep 18, 2020 11:30 am

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Over 2000 penalty notices and £140,000 in fines have been issued on Kimber Road, SW18, after a no-left-turn rule was put in place in July.

The new layout – which prevents people turning left at the junction of Kimber Road and Twilley Street – caused anger amongst many motorists when it was implemented.

Some residents used to making the turn complained that signs gave them little forewarning, and that fines issued by the Council's camera could quickly rack up.

A recent enquiry revealed that more than 2,100 Penalty Charge Notices (PCNs) – over £140,000 – had been issued between July 23 and September 1.

A spokesperson for Wandsworth Council commented:

“Drivers approaching this junction were given plenty of warning with a number of signs indicating this manoeuvre was no longer permitted.

“It is of course hugely important for safety reasons that motorists pay proper attention to all road signs and signals and carefully observe the rules of the road.”

But councillor for the ward, Malcolm Grimston, said more could be done by the Council to prevent fines escalating.

“I would stress that I am not against the ban at the junction as such and can sympathise with local residents who face the heavy traffic. However, the huge number of fines shows that the signage, though it met the regulatory requirements, was simply not effective in letting users know of the change.

“As regular users will know, the layout almost feels like one is 'supposed to' use Twilley Street if going towards Wandsworth Town and it would need something right at the mouth of Twilley Street itself to make it obvious.

“I have one resident of West Hill who fears she may get 11 tickets, at a cost of over £700. For perspective, fines for stealing cars are often in the £200 range.

“There is a quite a gap between the 'offence' and the user actually receiving the ticket and during that gap many motorists will have continued to use the road without knowing they were doing anything 'wrong'.

“I am calling for the Council at the very least to make sure that no motorist gets more than a single fine no matter how many times they were caught out,” he said.
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