London councils raise millions through box junction fines

Councils in London have generated millions of pounds from drivers who infringe on yellow box junction rules as a result of poor traffic management.

The majority of councils have a camera trained on box junctions enabling them to enforce traffic regulations. A box junction in Fulham has collected over £2.4 million in Penalty Charge Notice (PCN) fines in just 18 months while Waltham Forest has racked in £1.7 million in fines.

The Highway Code rule 174 states: ‘You must not enter the box until your exit road or lane is clear’.

Richard Hayes from the The Institute of Highways Engineers (IHE) commented: "Something is definitely wrong. Should there be a lot of infringement, then I think there is something wrong with the installation."

"The situation isn't the box junction - it's the traffic flow ahead of the box junction that is causing the problem.”

Andrew Ashe, who has campaigned Hammersmith and Fulham Council for better traffic management argued: "My big concern is that the councils are allowed to keep the money themselves, this means they are motivated not to make improvements, because it's leading to massive abuse."