[Lily]

Have you ever opened that mysterious white envelope and realised it was a yellow box junction fine?

It’s one of those moments many drivers know all too well: you come home, see a letter on the doormat, open it… and suddenly realise it’s one of those dreaded fines. 😟 £70 down the drain.

Well, data from an RAC analysis of 2024 yellow box junction enforcement shows drivers in England paid nearly £1 million in fines from just 36 junctions outside London and Cardiff.

In total, 32,748 penalty charge notices (PCNs) were issued all around the country!

Have you ever been caught by a yellow box junction? Or seen one that felt confusing or badly designed?

[Rolebama]

I can't say I've ever seen a confusing yellow box, and over the years since they were introduced I have never heard of anyone I know being fined over one*. However, I still see them blocked by cars sitting in them because they have entered going straight, and been held up by traffic in front being stationary. I have had cause to take my daughter to Bedford Hospital on a number of occasions these last couple of years where there is a yellow box, and am amazed by the amount of cars that sit there, blocking the road.
*People I know will quite openly talk amongst ourselves about FPNs for speeding, parking etc. I received an FPN for £95 because I went through a road marked for buses only. About 10yrs ago.

[TC1474]

In my locality, they have installed yellow box junction camera's and the local authority is making a fortune.

I was booking yellow box junction offenders as far back as the 80's all the way through to my retirement in the noughties.

It is a common offence and often one of the first offenders young coppers book drivers for, along with the offence of "Quitting" = Leaving a motor vehicle parked and unattended with the engine running.

2 simple offences from an evidential point of view.

[Beelzebub]

Originally Posted by Lily

Have you ever opened that mysterious white envelope and realised it was a yellow box junction fine?

As an aside, some forces (the Met in my recent experience) are still using brown envelopes. Those seldom bring good news.

[Lily]

@Beelzebub there is nothing I dread more than an unknown envelope arriving in the mail. And you’re completely right, brown envelopes usually mean serious or bad business.

It’s almost a national feeling! I once saw an interview with Keira Knightley where she mentioned she received a brown envelope from the Home Office and didn’t open it for weeks, completely convinced it was bad news. It turned out to be her OBE. 😅

If a millionaire actress fears brown envelopes, it’s totally normal that the rest of us do too!

[Lily]

@Rolebama after I posted this, I was discussing with my family whether they found yellow box junctions confusing or difficult to navigate, and someone mentioned some people just risk it went in a hurry: "I’ll just squeeze through" or "“Traffic will move in a second”. One of them raised his hand and said "guilty as charged".

The fact that the government is making £1 million a year with these fines mean a lot of people think like that. If you're a good driver, it's difficult to understand why others would do such a thing.

For anyone reading this post, quick reminder from the Highway Code: you must not enter a yellow box unless your exit is clear, except when waiting to turn right and blocked by oncoming traffic.

@TC1474 wow, I can't believe that one of the most common offences is leaving your car with the engine running while going for a cuppa or something. 😆 Aren't they afraid of their cars getting stolen?

[TC1474]

Originally Posted by Lily

@TC1474 wow, I can't believe that one of the most common offences is leaving your car with the engine running while going for a cuppa or something. 😆 Aren't they afraid of their cars getting stolen?

It most commonly occurs with delivery drivers or those defrosting their cars in the winter and go back indoors whilst defrosting.

It adds salt to the wounds because not only do they end up with fines and points, but in the event that the vehicle is stolen the insurers will not pay out for the theft as they consider the policyholder to be directly contributing to the theft of the vehicle and thereby negligent.

A local supermarket driver came unstuck recently (having warned him and he just scoffed) when his van was stolen and he became liable for the cost of the 74 plate Mercedes van along with the content, about £100,000 in total.

Expensive lesson to learn.

[Lily]

@TC1474 I see…yeah, sometimes you're in a hurry and you want to defrost your car while you do something else at home before leaving for work.

Feeling bad for a supermarket driver I have never met! £100,000 in total! 😔 That probably took him ages to pay.

[olduser]

I think, when vehicles get trapped in yellow boxes it's because they were focused on the bumper in front, rather than driving in the conventional sense, I think of it as a sort of auto pilot.
If car in front moves it's OK to move etc.
I have never been fined for being in a yellow box but I have had lots of head light machine gunning, or horn fanfares because I stopped outside one!