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Bus lane — emergency / unavoidable (giving way to emergency vehicle)

If the footage shows you entered only to let a responding emergency vehicle through, to avoid a collision, or in a genuine emergency, that is worth putting to the council. Be clear about how the argument actually works, because it is easy to overreach. The Highway Code tells you to let emergency vehicles pass but to do so while still obeying traffic signs, so it gives you no permission to enter a bus lane. There is one route on which you can say no contravention occurred at all: the traffic order for that particular bus lane contains an exemption covering what you did. Absent such an exemption, the route is to ask the council to cancel the charge for compelling reasons. That is a real route, expressly provided for in the regulations, but it is discretionary: the council may refuse it, and we have no outcome data on how often it is granted.

Legal basis

Traffic Management Act 2004 Part 6 and Schedule 7 paragraph 6 (bus lane contraventions); Civil Enforcement of Road Traffic Contraventions (Approved Devices, Charging Guidelines and General Provisions) (England) Regulations 2022 (S.I. 2022/71) — reg.2 brings an OGL bus lane contravention within the regime and reg.1(5) excludes Greater London; Civil Enforcement of Road Traffic Contraventions (Representations and Appeals) (England) Regulations 2022 (S.I. 2022/576) reg.5(4)(a) (the alleged contravention did not occur) and reg.5(2)(b)(ii) (compelling reasons to cancel); Highway Code rules 219 and 281; Traffic Penalty Tribunal bus lane grounds of appeal. For contraventions before 31 May 2022, S.I. 2005/2757 is preserved by S.I. 2022/66 article 3(4)-(10).

How to identify this in your case

Get the footage first — for a camera ticket you can require the council to let you view the record free of charge or to send you free stills. Look for the emergency vehicle before or after you moved, a hazard ahead, or another vehicle braking sharply, and note how many seconds you were in the lane. Then get the traffic order for that bus lane and read its exemptions. That is the single most valuable thing you can do: if the order exempts what you did, you can argue no contravention occurred. If it does not, do not claim that anyway — put the same facts as compelling reasons instead. That route is expressly provided for in the regulations, but it is discretionary and we have no outcome data on how often it is granted.

Sample appeal wording

Before you send this

Deadline. A late submission can be turned down without your argument being read. Check your notice for the deadline and how it is counted.
Paying may end it. Paying can count as accepting the notice and can close a challenge already under way. Part-paying or acknowledging an old debt can also revive a time limit that had expired.
The amount can change. Check what happens to the sum if you challenge — it may be held, re-offered lower, or keep rising, and fees or enforcement can continue meanwhile.
Use the official route. Use the method, recipient and form your notice specifies, with any reference, evidence and signature it asks for. Sent elsewhere, it may not count.
Only say what is true. Do not copy any statement of fact unless it is true for you, and check the legal point still applies. Delete what does not fit. It may be treated as your statement.
Careful what you volunteer. Avoid unnecessary admissions — naming the driver or accepting responsibility can remove arguments. But answer anything you are legally required to answer, and do include the evidence your ground needs.
Keep the record. Keep what you sent, the attachments, any receipt, and the reply. Note the next deadline.

Sample wording to adapt and send yourself — it may not fit your notice or the stage you are at. Replace the bracketed prompts with your own details; leave any case citation as it is.

Dear Sir or Madam, Re: Bus lane PCN [NUMBER] — [LOCATION] — [DATE] at [TIME] I make representations against the above penalty charge notice. What happened: at [TIME] on [DATE] I entered the bus lane briefly in order to [give way to a [police / ambulance / fire] vehicle approaching with sirens and blue lights / avoid a collision with a [vehicle / cyclist / pedestrian] who suddenly [action] / deal with a genuine emergency, namely [describe]]. I was in the lane for approximately [NUMBER] seconds and returned to the running lane as soon as it was safe to do so. [USE THIS PARAGRAPH ONLY IF THE TRAFFIC ORDER ACTUALLY CONTAINS AN EXEMPTION COVERING WHAT YOU DID. If it does not, delete it — asserting that no contravention occurred without an exemption to point to will simply be rejected. I rely on the ground at regulation 5(4)(a) of the Civil Enforcement of Road Traffic Contraventions (Representations and Appeals) (England) Regulations 2022, that the alleged contravention did not occur: the traffic regulation order governing this bus lane exempts [describe the exemption], and that exemption covers my entry. Please provide a copy of the order relied on.] Whether or not that ground is accepted, I ask you to cancel this penalty charge under regulation 5(2)(b)(ii), on the basis that there are compelling reasons to do so in the particular circumstances of this case. The Highway Code at rule 219 tells drivers to consider the route of an emergency vehicle and take appropriate action to let it pass. I recognise that rule 219 is advice rather than a legal requirement, and that it asks drivers to act while complying with traffic signs, so I do not suggest it authorised my entry — but it is the conduct the Highway Code invites, and penalising it in these circumstances would be unreasonable. I understand that this route is a matter for your discretion. [USE THIS PARAGRAPH ONLY IF YOUR NOTICE CAME FROM A CAMERA — the right below applies to an approved device notice. This notice was issued on the basis of a record produced by an approved device. Under regulation 3(3) of those Regulations I require you either to make that record available for viewing by me free of charge at one of your offices during normal office hours, or to provide me free of charge with such still images as you consider establish the alleged contravention. The footage will show the emergency vehicle at approximately [TIME MARK] and the brief duration of my entry.] I ask you to cancel this penalty charge notice. Yours faithfully, [YOUR NAME] [YOUR ADDRESS]

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Bus lane — emergency / unavoidable (giving way to emergency vehicle)

Legal basis

How to identify this in your case

Sample appeal wording

Beat It writes this argument automatically

Sources

Related appeal grounds

Next steps