A notorious box junction in Fulham has been dubbed a money-box junction after it emerged drivers have been fined millions of pounds in recent years.
Motorists caught up on the yellow grid at the junction of Bagley’s Lane and New King’s Road have had to cough up a considerable £12 million in Fixed Penalty Notices (FPNs) since 2010 , and £2.4m in the last 18 months, according to a new report.
The money has been received by Hammersmith and Fulham Council, with the junction policed by a camera which captures drivers' misdemeanours.
It responded: “Seven million drivers navigate the junction each year, without breaking the rules and getting a ticket.
“Just 0.3 per cent of motorists receive fines, and this figure is falling year-on-year. H&F uses any surplus from infringements to pay for highways maintenance and free public transport for over 60s and disabled people.
“This is one of the busiest routes into London and the sheer volume of traffic explains why the number of tickets is higher than at other junctions.”
The findings, by BBC London’s Inside Out , also show Hammersmith and Fulham to be the top yellow-box earners in 2016, having collected £2.1m in 2016.
Speaking to the BBC, Andrew Ashe, who has campaigned for better traffic management at Bagley’s Lane , said it was the “perfect money box”.
He said: “As the cars are coming through you will see one traffic light which is green, encouraging traffic into the box, and the other one is red, and then they are stuck.”
The Institute of Highways Engineers (IHE) said box junctions were poorly placed and disagreed with Hammersmith and Fulham Council . Also speaking to the BBC, chief executive Richard Hayes said it was “not ethically right” for drivers to pay so much: “Something is definitely wrong.
“Should there be a lot of infringement, then I think there is something wrong with the installation.
“It should be fixed. Yes, we make a lot of money, but it’s not working. I’m not sure I feel ethically that is the right way to take things forward.
“The situation isn’t the box junction - it’s the traffic flow ahead of the box junction that is causing the problem.
“We’re very good at installing new installations. We’re not very good at reviewing and reflecting on whether those installations are working properly.”
Former racing car driver and motoring editor at Confused.com Amanda Stretton agreed more could be done to control traffic flow in order to save motorists hundreds of pounds worth of fines.
She said: “Traffic flow ahead of box junctions often contributes to drivers being forced to enter the box despite their exit road not being clear. With London being notoriously tricky around peak travel time, drivers are being caught out as often they are left stuck in the box junction.”
