With councils outside London and Cardiff wanting additional powers to use cameras to catch drivers who stop in yellow box junctions, RAC research reveals eight in 10 motorists struggle to get through them without stopping.
What’s more, almost half (46%) admit they sometimes get stuck in them accidentally.
| Two-thirds of drivers (67%) say they find it difficult to get through some yellow box junctions without stopping, while 13% say this is the case for most they encounter.
The same percentage (13%) however, believe every yellow box junction is easy to negotiate without coming to a halt on the lines. Among those who claim it is difficult to drive through a yellow box junction without needing to stop, more than three-quarters (78%) think this is very often due to poor sequencing of traffic lights. A third (32%) blame their infringement on the fact so many other drivers break the rules in this way that it forces them to do the same. One in five (20%) say they are badly designed and 15% believe they are often used in the wrong places. |
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| Rule 174 of the Highway Code states:
You MUST NOT enter the box until your exit road or lane is clear. However, you may enter the box and wait when you want to turn right, and are only stopped from doing so by oncoming traffic, or by other vehicles waiting to turn right. |
Currently, only local authorities in London and Cardiff are able to enforce yellow box junctions with cameras and issue penalty charge notices (PCNs), but many more councils in England and Wales would like to be able to use cameras to enforce these often troublesome and controversial junctions.
The rules are normally enforced by police, however declining officer numbers and the difficulty of catching offenders has resulted in little or no enforcement, leading to calls for a roll-out of camera enforcement elsewhere.
Asked whether councils across the country should be able to issue PCNs to any driver that comes to a standstill in one, more than a third (36%) of drivers surveyed by the RAC thought it was a good idea that would help prevent congestion at junctions. Another 36% agreed they ought to have this power, but should limit enforcement only to problem junctions. A quarter (24%), however, are adamant local authorities should not have these powers.
But a majority of the 1,990 drivers questioned in the RAC survey would like to see a softer approach to enforcement if local authorities were able to use cameras to issue PCNs, with nearly two-thirds saying a warning letter should be sent in the first instance, followed by a fixed amount PCN for subsequent infringements.
A fifth (21%) think there should be a lower penalty charge for a first infringement, but a higher one for subsequent offences if caught again within a 12-month period. Thirteen per cent claim it should be a fixed amount penalty charge notice, reduced for early payment, no matter how many times a driver gets caught.
