Drivers Who Obstruct Yellow Boxes in Cardiff Will Be Fined
From Monday 12 October, drivers who stop on a yellow box junction and obstruct traffic in Cardiff are to be fined, as part of the city’s Moving Traffic Offences Scheme. The City of Cardiff Council has being issuing warning notices to drivers over the past week who have offended but fines will now be sent out for all captured offences.
The Council is the first local authority in the UK, outside London to enforce yellow box junctions using innovative technology, which allows offences to be issued retrospectively via CCTV. This new technology increases efficiency, as staff do not have to watch live footage to enforce the scheme. This is the next phase of the Moving Traffic Offences Scheme. The Council is already fining drivers for illegal use of bus lanes.
The enforcement of yellow box junctions will take place in a number of phases, with cameras currently in place in Customhouse Street, Bute Terrace and Bute Street Junction. Other junctions are being monitored and more cameras will be placed in other areas of the city centre. The Moving Traffic Offences Scheme has been designed and put in place to change drivers’ behaviour and to crucially keep Cardiff moving in the city.
Cllr Ramesh Patel, Cabinet Member for Transport, Planning and Sustainability, said: “Our priority is to increase the use of public transport and to keep Cardiff moving by stopping obstructions to other traffic. We are not being secretive about where and when the enforcement will take place. This isn’t our intention, we want to change drivers’ behaviour.
“I am sure many people share my view on just how frustrating it is when a driver stops on a yellow box junction, creating an obstruction to other road users. There is simply no need for this and we ask all drivers, if you don’t think you can drive to the other side of the yellow box -please don’t. Think of other road users and wait until you are able to do so. At the end of the day all we are asking is that you are considerate of your fellow motorists, we will all benefit in the end if our roads are clearer and traffic flows smoothly.”