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Examples of adjudicators ruling that duration of stop was 'di minimis'
Case ref
Appellant
Authority
Date & time
Location
Decision Date
Adjudicator
Decision
216036762A
Fiorendina Avona
London Borough of Merton
19 Jul 2016 14:32:00
MTC - Kingston Rd / Dorset Rd
29 Sep 2016
Michael Lawrence
Appeal allowed
The contravention is that the Appellant "caused[d] a vehicle to enter the box junction so that [it] has to stop within the box junction due to the presence stationary vehicles”. The exemption for turning right applies to “any person who causes a vehicle to enter the box junction (other than a box junction at a roundabout) for the purpose of turning right; and stops it within the box junction for so long as it is prevented from completing the right turn by oncoming vehicles or other vehicles which are stationary whilst waiting to complete a right turn”- Law TSRGD regs 10(1) & 29(2), schedule 19 pt II clause 7.
The Highway Code puts it clearly in this way: 150: Box junctions. These have criss-cross yellow lines painted on the road (see other road markings section). 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. At signalled roundabouts you MUST NOT enter the box unless you can cross over it completely without stopping. Law TSRGD regs 10(1) & 29(2).
The contravention occurs if at the time the motorist first enters the box junction there is a vehicle(s) in front moving or stationary within the box or immediately outside so that there is insufficient space at the other side for his vehicle to stop in and he comes to a stop in the junction because of another stationary vehicle. This applies to the path that the motorist has chosen to take. Thus, if the motorist follows traffic moving through the box junction and comes to a stop within it because they do, for whatever reason, the contravention is made out even if at the time he first enters the box the road is clear ahead of the vehicle(s) that he follows. In other words, in following another moving vehicle through the box junction the motorist takes a risk that he may be caught in it; the fact that the Appellant might reasonably expect the traffic ahead of him to move through the box junction leaving him sufficient space to exit the box does not provide a defence to, or give grounds of mitigation for, the contravention.
The alledged contravention did not occur because the video evidence is not available for me to view and non accessible on any form of media. The vehicle is stated to have been inside the box junction for under 5 seconds and Iwould therefore ask that under the 'de minimus non curat lex' this is trivial and the P C N is cancelled.
The Enforcement Authority say that the vehicle came to a stop for 8 seconds and that is sufficient time to prove that the vehicle stopped in the box junction.
The DVD shows the Appellant 's vehicle moving through the box junction following other vehicles and it comes to a complete stop. The issue is how long was the vehicle stopped (stationary) and whether that constituted this contravention. The dvd shows the vehicle stopped at 10 seconds, then move again 3 seconds later and stop and then move again to go out of the box 5 seconds after that. There is no minimum time for a vehicle to become stationary for the contravention to occur, but it has to be more than a few seconds, otherwise it is nominal or de minimis and does not constitute coming to a stop. 7 or 8 seconds can just about be said to be nominal or de minimis, especially as there was a double movement and the total time stopped was less than 10 seconds.
Accordingly, I am not satisfied that the contravention occurred and must allow this appeal
Case ref
Appellant
Authority
Date & time
Location
Decision Date
Adjudicator
Decision
2140186189
Shaun William Elliott
Kingston Upon Thames
13 Mar 2014 07:54:00
Wheatfield Way / Clarence Street
21 May 2014
Gerald Styles
Appeal allowed
I have not agreed with the appellant criticisms of the engineering of the box. I have not agreed with the appellant complaint about the wording on the penalty charge notice.
I have examined the CCTV footage. I have concluded that the driver was at fault in entering the yellow box as he did. I am not bound by earlier decisions of other Adjudicators in their comments about a required number of seconds of stopping as a condition of valid yellow box penalty charge. In my judgment the correct approach is not simply a case of counting seconds but examining the full CCTV clip and having regard to the full facts. I have however been persuaded that the stop that occurred in this instance can be regarded as insignificant enough as to be classed as legally inconsequential. I have allowed this appeal on that basis.
Case ref
Appellant
Authority
Date & time
Location
Decision Date
Adjudicator
Decision
2140244445
Mohammed Joharchi
Kingston Upon Thames
08 Apr 2014 13:44:00
Wheatfield Way
26 Jun 2014
Gerald Styles
Appeal allowed
The appellant has attended at the Angel today. The Council was not represented.
I have watched with him the CCTV clip and considered his explanations in relation to what occurred.
I do not allow yellow box junction appeals on the basis of the timing and sequence of traffic lights. Nor in general are appeals properly allowed because a vehicle in front slows or stops unexpectedly. I detected fault over the appellant entering the box as he did without certainty of clearing it without stopping.
The Council dossier submitted for my adjudication does not tell me precisely how many seconds the appellant car was stopped. It is not especially easy to detect precisely how many in this particular case but on my calculation it was approximately five or under. The vehicle when stopped was towards the perimeter exit of the box and straddling it. Those perimeter factors do not serve as a legal defence as such, but given the evidence overall I have on balance, decided the occurrence was too minor to establish unlawful stopping and liability for a penalty charge. I have recorded the present appeal as allowed.
Case ref
Appellant
Authority
Date & time
Location
Decision Date
Adjudicator
Decision
2140226090
Keith Lindo
London Borough of Waltham Forest
24 Feb 2014 15:33:00
St James Street E17/Leucha Rd E17
20 Jun 2014
Edward Houghton
Appeal allowed
In the light of the very small amount by which the vehicle is seen to be in the entrance to the junction and the brief time it is in this position I treat this on its facts as a case where the principle of de minimis ( i.e legal insignificance) should be applied, and on that basis no contravention occurred. The Appeal is therefore allowed.
Case ref
Appellant
Authority
Date & time
Location
Decision Date
Adjudicator
Decision
2220025129
Gordon Loomes
Transport for London
29 Oct 2021 11:17:26
MASONS HILL / KENTISH WAY
10 Feb 2022
Anju Kaler
Appeal allowed
Mr Loomes attended the hearing. There was no representation by the Enforcement Authority.
The contravention alleged is entering and stopping in a box junction when prohibited. The prohibition is contained in the Traffic Signs Regulations and General Directions 2016, Schedule 19 Part 2 paragraph 6. This provides as follows.
7. (1) Except when placed in the circumstances described in paragraph 8, the road markings shown in diagrams 1043 and 1044 shall each convey the prohibition that no person shall cause a vehicle to enter the box junction so that the vehicle has to stop within the box junction due to the presence of stationary vehicles.
The CCTV footage shows heavy but steady moving traffic. The Appellant is seen to take a careful and cautious approach, stopping before entering the box. Other vehicles are entering the road from the right in front of his. The Appellant moves forward as the vehicles in front start to move. The black car in front stops just past the box because another car pulls into his path. The black car had enough space in front to continue moving but it does not do so, probably because the car in front of his is getting too close. The Appellant’s vehicle continues to edge forward slowly and comes to a stop at 11.17.22. The brake lights go off at 17.22.26 and the vehicle moves on.
I find that the actions of the vehicles in front led to this car having to stop momentarily within the confines of the box.
It is a requirement that the vehicle is stationary in the box for the contravention to be established. 4 seconds is too short a period to establish that it is stationary.
Case ref
Appellant
Authority
Date & time
Location
Decision Date
Adjudicator
Decision
2180500267
Philip Clark Day
Transport for London
16 May 2018 15:18:00
Homerton High Street
07 Feb 2019
Gerald Styles
Appeal allowed
This case has had a relatively lengthy history. It now comes before me for adjudication following an Order of the County Court.I have viewed the CCTV footage on a dvd.
I have read the appellant correspondence regarding delays in actual receipt of the DVD he requested. That aspect of the appeal has not inclined me to allow it. I have accepted TfL correctly recorded the dates of despatching evidence (and duplicates) when it prepared the case summary for adjudication in this Tribunal. It has also accurately stated there the correct course is for a driver to wait at the start line of the box until able to identify a clear and sufficient space beyond it waiting and ready to receive their vehicle and to delay box entry until then. In this case part of Homerton there is a pair of boxes one close to the other but the law and the principle I have just referred to properly apply irrespective of this.
However having viewed the CCTV footage and assessed the evidence overall, and in particular noting a short stop with only part of the vehicle intruding into the box at the far side, I have been persuaded to rule any occurrence as trivial for the purposes of enforcement in these proceedings (de minimis). It is on that basis I have allowed the present appeal.
Case ref
Appellant
Authority
Date & time
Location
Decision Date
Adjudicator
Decision
2160303194
Tariq Choudry
London Borough of Barnet
25 Apr 2016 19:19:00
Cricklewood Broadway (NW2)
11 Aug 2016
Sean Stanton-Dunne
Appeal allowed
This PCN was issued for the alleged contravention of entering and stopping in a box junction when prohibited. The alleged contravention occurred in Cricklewood Broadway at 7.19pm on 25 April 2016.
It is an offence for a vehicle to enter a box junction without a clear exit and to then stop within the box unless the vehicle is stopping to perform a right turn out of the box.
I have reviewed the CCTV footage in this case. The footage shows that Mr Choudry's vehicle entered the box junction without having a clear exit. However, I am satisfied from the footage that the alleged contravention did not occur. Immediately upon stopping, the vehicle was put into reverse motion. It then stopped for all of 2 seconds before being driven forward again and out of the box.
I do not accept that this constitutes stopping in a sense sufficient to constitute a contravention. A vehicle might come to a halt in a box for 2 to 3 seconds while a driver changes gear and moves forward. A vehicle might similarly come to a halt for a few seconds due to stalling. This is simply too de minimis to amount to stopping for the purposes of the alleged contravention.
Case ref
Appellant
Authority
Date & time
Location
Decision Date
Adjudicator
Decision
2220025129
Gordon Loomes
Transport for London
29 Oct 2021 11:17:26
MASONS HILL / KENTISH WAY
10 Feb 2022
Anju Kaler
Appeal allowed
Mr Loomes attended the hearing. There was no representation by the Enforcement Authority.
The contravention alleged is entering and stopping in a box junction when prohibited. The prohibition is contained in the Traffic Signs Regulations and General Directions 2016, Schedule 19 Part 2 paragraph 6. This provides as follows.
7. (1) Except when placed in the circumstances described in paragraph 8, the road markings shown in diagrams 1043 and 1044 shall each convey the prohibition that no person shall cause a vehicle to enter the box junction so that the vehicle has to stop within the box junction due to the presence of stationary vehicles.
The CCTV footage shows heavy but steady moving traffic. The Appellant is seen to take a careful and cautious approach, stopping before entering the box. Other vehicles are entering the road from the right in front of his. The Appellant moves forward as the vehicles in front start to move. The black car in front stops just past the box because another car pulls into his path. The black car had enough space in front to continue moving but it does not do so, probably because the car in front of his is getting too close. The Appellant’s vehicle continues to edge forward slowly and comes to a stop at 11.17.22. The brake lights go off at 17.22.26 and the vehicle moves on.
I find that the actions of the vehicles in front led to this car having to stop momentarily within the confines of the box. .
It is a requirement that the vehicle is stationary in the box for the contravention to be established. 4 seconds is too short a period to establish that it is stationary.