Drivers who ignore lane closures on motorways marked with a red ‘X’ will be handed a Fixed Penalty Notice (FPN) of £100 fine and three penalty points from June 10.
At present, only a police officer catching drivers in the act can issue the FPN but the new Road Traffic Offenders (Prescribed Devices) Order 2019 was passed on May 13.
The enforcement will mirror motorway speeding offences in which the police force where the incident took place will issue the penalty.
Edmund King, AA president says; “Although it has taken far too long, this is a welcome measure to improve safety on motorways.
“Our research shows that one in 20 drivers continue to drive in red X lanes even when they’ve seen it, and so far Highways England have written warning letters to over 180,000 drivers about their actions.
“Red X’s are put up to warn of an obstruction, so drivers must get out of the lane when they see them. We have had several incidents recently where AA members’ cars have been hit in a live lane on ‘smart’ motorways.”
Since the beginning of 2017, Highways England has issued over 180,000 warning letters to drivers who have ignored the signs in an attempt to stamp out the behaviour.
Matt has been an automotive journalist for eight years. As senior staff writer he is responsible for the automotive content on Fleet News and also contributes to Automotive Management. Prior to this, Matt worked in the automotive industry for 10 years.
The Engineer - 17/05/2019 08:37
Sad you have to enforce common sense but if that is what it takes. The X is because the lane is closed because someone has broken down ahead and you are going to crash into them if you continue and possibly both die.