Fined 130 for Driving in Bus Lane

wuming78 SG

the stretch of road at queensway between mei chin road and alexandra road; if you take farrer road and turn left towards queensway.

the leftmost lane is the bus lane. but towards the end of the stretch, before the cross junction, i think it becomes a non-bus lane. if i am not mistaken it is five lane at the junction, with the right 3 lanes allowing right turn and 2 left lanes for going straight, so if the leftmost is a bus lane then there will effectively be only one car lane for going straight - not quite sensible.

can i write in to explain that it is difficult to tell when the bus lane stops and when it becomes a normal lane?

has anyone here explained off a similar offence before?

thanks!

tomsss SG

The outmost 2 right lanes for meant for turning right only, the centre is for turning right AND going straight... so effectively there are 3 lanes going straight... 1 for bus and 2 for cars.

I think the bus lane stops temporary just before the traffic junction (marked with dotted lane) thats for cars who intend to make a left turn. When the light goes green there (including green arrow to the right), all 5 lanes will move, so there's no excuse for you say that you stuck behind a car that is going to turn right when you want to go straight.

Not sure about stopping at that left lane right at the junction.... though i've seen many cars stopping there... or perhaps ya just plain lucky

wuming78 SG

so am i right to say that the segment of the road about 50 metres from the junction is not considered bus lane?

tomsss SG

i believe the dotted yellow lane is only to allow cars to pass through to make left turns. you are still not allowed to stop or park your car within that yellow dotted lane... as its still actually considered bus lane. btw how were u caught? where you travelling though the junction on that dotted lane or stopped at the junction there?

if you go further up toward Bukit Merah, right outside the ABC food centre, you'll notice the situation there is even tighter. only about 30 metres or so of dotted bus lane outside the main carpark entrance.... further down only about 20 metres leeway to the smaller car park.

LazerLordz SG

I'd recommend you take a few pictures of the area during the time period you were summoned..

traffic flow in that area makes it quite illogical to fine someone for somehow transiting through the lane..

wuming78 SG

if you know how farrer road turns into that stretch of the road, there are two possible paths - one (single lane) which the bus uses, and the other further up the ramp before joining the same road on the right lanes.

i was using the former so i naturally ended up in the bus lane. it was in the morning and the other lanes were jam-packed. when i went into that stretch of road, i tried to join the 2nd lane but could not. so i moved further up to squeeze in and there he was, a man with a camera. must be him lor.

so essentially, i took a legal path to the road, but ended up in the bus lane - i was led into committing the offence?

tomsss SG

i was in a similar situation before, the cars on the right wouldnt let me out of the bus lane... then suddenly i was eye-to-eye with man in white, with tripod in front and notepad in hand. he saw me, i saw him. that lasted for 3 sec as i passed passed before finally getting out of the lane. so far never recieved anything Razz

perhaps you were pretty unlucky that his hands were quick on the camera. just write to them and see how loh.

AndrewPKYap SG

you write in you will probably get off because it is these guys and not LTA that caught you... Abuse of authority by Singapore Bus Service Traffic Wardens

If there are no buses in front and back of your car and their camera shows no buses in behind your car, you have a good case.

Write in quickly. My fren forgot to pay and ended up paying $300 or $400/- (I forgot)

send in your complaints here:

http://talk2lta.lta.gov.sg/AskLTAContentController?action=Public.AskLTA.CreateFeedback

sbst275 SG

Most of the times it's not them

Driving through bus lane during restricted hours irregardless of whether other lanes are jammed or not is still an offence...

Be lucky that there's alrdy no more demerit points

sbst275 SG

During peak hours, strictly no cars are allowed into the bus lane unless on those dotted lines which allows you to turn to the side roads

If not there's no need for the bus lanes

But for this Queensway/ Portsdown Ave junction, the road on the side (If I can remember, this lane is not raised even aft the road upgrade), that one ought to be a bus lane with just a dotted line as there's a side road inside this short stretch

wuming78 SG

my argument is that i was "led" into the bus lane, but wasnt given a chance to get out of it before i got caught..

do you think i should go and verify that the lanes were indeed as i remembered?

another thing... i realise they gave me 7 days to pay, not 7 working days. and there are already 4 holidays this week! tsk tsk

sbst275 SG

This one I'm not too sure abt the road

But I know those ppl very chao kuan one... Stand near the boundary

drumstick SG

Just remember in future, when bus lane in operation. Only enter on the dotted lines.

Take this as a lesson and be alert in future. Laughing