The motorists risking being fined for ignoring road closure

As reported in the Gazette, Hampshire County Council decided to close Chapel Hill underneath the railway bridge to all vehicles except buses and taxis, to allow for extra space for pedestrians and cyclists whilst social distancing.

The other side, Vyne Road, is completely shut off to all vehicles.

When the Gazette went there on Friday, a steady stream of traffic was seen ignoring the signs and using the road. Those coming from South View or Houndmills towards the town centre, had to drive through several sets of signs informing them of the road closure and diversions.

Despite this, one woman shouted out of her car window when waiting at the traffic lights questioning why we were taking her photograph. When informed the road was closed, she responded: “No one told us.”

She had already driven through numerous sets of signs informing her of the new restrictions before arriving at the traffic lights.

Our research reveals these drivers are risking a fine for their actions, in failing to follow the Highway Code.

Much of the Highway Code is not legally binding. According to the RAC some of the code is simply guidelines recommended for motorists to follow.

However, a number of the 307 regulations set out in the government-issued book are backed up by official traffic laws, meaning you can be fined, prosecuted or disqualified for ignoring them.

Any rule which uses words like ‘must’ or ‘must not’ is supported by a law.

Road users ignoring these guidelines could find themselves given a traffic offence such as careless or dangerous driving.

Guidelines in the Code which use words ‘should’ or ‘should not’ are advice, and don’t have legal weighting to support them.

However, these can still be used in court as supporting evidence, for example if there is an incident on the road and a driver wasn’t following the Code’s advice.

When it comes to bus lanes, this is backed up by law, with a typical punishment for using a bus lane being a £70 fine.

Whilst Chapel Hill is not a designated bus lane, temporary signs are still enforceable, meaning motorists entering a closed road could be penalised with anything from a fixed penalty notice to a careless driving charge.

Hampshire County Council said it will be monitoring the success of the new scheme weekly.

Cllr Rob Humby, deputy leader, said: "The impact of the temporary Chapel Hill/Vyne Road scheme will be assessed weekly in terms of observational reports and on-site user feedback, and daily in terms of inspections of the barriers and signs. Traffic, pedestrian and cycle surveys will also be undertaken.

“Residents and users will be able to provide feedback via a QR bar code on site which can be scanned using a smartphone to provide comments or by visiting www.sustrans.org.uk/space-to-move where you can register your views "The scheme will be formally reviewed after four weeks, when we will look at all of the feedback received alongside the traffic surveys in order to make a decision about whether the scheme is meeting its purpose – which is to make access safer for cyclists and pedestrians on Chapel Hill.”