Yellow box junctions UNFAIRLY trigger fines – because they’re bigger than they need to be

Drivers in London and Cardiff are being unfairly stung with fines of up to £160 for yellow box junction infringements because the road markings are unnecessarily large.

A new study from the RAC shows almost every yellow box junction is bigger than it needs to be, leading to unjust fines handed out to motorists and in turn has become a lucrative cash cow for local authorities.

Staggeringly, almost 98 per cent of the 100 yellow box junctions in London and Cardiff responsible for generating the most penalty charge notices (PCNs) in 2019 were larger than necessary for preventing vehicles blocking the path of other crossing traffic.

*Scroll to the bottom of this story to see the full list of the 100 most lucrative box junctions of 2019 and how much of the painted road markings are unnecessary

Sam Wright, a chartered engineer formerly responsible for the design and approval of yellow boxes on Transport for London’s roads, was commissioned by the RAC to examine yellow boxes in both capitals. 

He found that the average box was 50 per cent bigger than it needed to be to serve the primary purpose of having a yellow box in the first place – to prevent vehicles blocking the path of other crossing traffic.

In 2023 the Government decided to let councils outside London and Cardiff apply for powers to enforce moving traffic offences, with the result that 27 local authorities put forward proposals to enforce 111 yellow box junctions.

The yellow ‘criss-cross’ boxes are used to keep traffic flowing through busy junctions, with drivers not allowed to enter a box unless the exit is clear and there’s enough space to clear the box without stopping inside the yellow lines.

1. Talgarth Road and Butterwick junction, Hammersmith, West London – 25,681 tickets costing up to £3.4million. Source: Yellow Box Guru. Freedom of Information requests. Using latest figures pre-pandemic 2019 as estimate for current traffic fines. Value calculated on Penalty Charge Notice of £130*, £160**. These charges halve if paid within 14 days.

2. West Hill Wandsworth fire station junction, South-West London – a grid in front of the station on a busy road – 18,000 tickets a year, costing up to £3 million

3. Traffic lights at the junction between New Kings Road and Bagleys Lane in Fulham, West London – 16,000 tickets a year, costing up to £2.1 million*

4. Homerton High ST/Homerton Fire STN caused 10,391 PCNs between 2018 and 2019 but 56 per cent of the box served no purpose

5. New Kings Rd J/w Bagleys Lane, under Hammersmith & Fulham authority was responsible for 16,199 fines yet 69 per cent of the box has no use

6. Churchill Way/Bute Terrace in Cardiff meant 9,144 drivers had PCNs sent to them while 68 per cent of the box is redundant

7. New Rd/Link Rd, part of Barking council issued 7,245 fines that year despite 70 of the box clearly unnecessary 

8. Putney High Street/ Lacy RD part of Wandsworth’s council has a huge 82 per cent of yellow criss-cross that’s not effective but 6,877 were still issued between 2018 and 2019

9. Croydon Rd/Langley Rd in Bromley issued 6,802 in 2019 but 62 per cent of the box is not an effective traffic measure

10. Rounding off the top 10, High St EN5/St Albans Rd in Barnet caught 6,796 drivers but this 76 of the box is of no use

Yellow boxes rake it millions of pounds each year for local authorities. 

In 2019 alone, the top 100 yellow boxes responsible for 374,276 fines. 

The following year, TfL issued 77,000 box junction penalty charge notices worth at least £5million for contraventions on Red Routes in 2020, a Freedom of Information request revealed.

That works out to an average of 1,500 drivers per week snared by automatic number plate recognition cameras around Central London policing box junctions. 

RAC spokesperson Rod Dennis said: ‘With more and more councils starting to enforce yellow box junctions, it is absolutely vital that they are designed first and foremost with aiding traffic flow and that they don’t exist simply to raise revenue from drivers.’

‘Unfortunately, any box that is bigger than needed – whether that’s due to an oversight on the council’s part or because it was painted on the road many years ago and hasn’t been reviewed – risks drivers being fined unnecessarily when their actions haven’t contributed to congestion.’ 

Automatic number plate recognition cameras cover all of London and major cities, catching drivers for traffic offences, with penalty notices sent through the post to unsuspecting motorists

Last year, the RAC and Wright warned that up to 90 per cent of these boxes are likely to lead to drivers being fined unfairly. 

More than half (55 per cent) directly contravene the current government guidance, sometimes on multiple counts. 

Some 40 boxes were found to pose visibility issues for drivers, yet drivers are the ones parting with hard earned cash when they stray over the lines.

The RAC found that eight out of ten drivers say they struggle to clear yellow box junctions — with half saying they have accidentally got stuck in one, largely due to bad driving by other motorists.

And the penalties for stopping illegally in a box junction can be expensive. 

On TfL red routes, the penalty charge notice is £160, reduced to £80 if paid within 14 days. 

In London Boroughs the penalty is £130, reduced to £65 if paid within 14 days. 

Cardiff and other English authorities penalise motorists £70, reduced to £35 if paid within 21 days. 

Bromley Council in South London made £2.59m in 2022 alone from box fines.

The RAC found that eight out of ten drivers say they struggle to clear yellow box junctions — with half saying they have accidentally got stuck in one, largely due to bad driving by other motorists

There have been occasions where drivers have successfully challenged fines from councils where boxes are too big, but this hasn’t led to a lasting change in the way the law is applied.

The RAC and Sam Wright are calling on the Government to urgently refresh its advice to councils on yellow boxes and make it crystal clear when and how they should be used.

Wright added: ‘The Government has stated that ‘poorly designed schemes can undermine enforcement overall and give rise to public perception of revenue raising.’

‘But it needs to go further and be crystal clear with local authorities about what is acceptable and what isn’t when it comes to the design of yellow box junctions. 

‘The current official design guidance is woefully inadequate and needs to be updated.’