Council seeks powers to penalise drivers who break the rules of the road
Manchester City Council could soon be able to fine motorists who break the rules of the road if an upcoming consultation is successful.
Under new guidelines local authorities are now able to apply for discretionary powers to enforce Moving Traffic Offences (MTOs), using powers that are currently only available to Greater Manchester Police.
These would include motorists who intentionally block yellow boxes at junctions, or who fail to comply with banned left or right turning signs.
A consultation has now been launched to gauge the public’s opinion on this scheme and to gather feedback on the proposed enforcement locations. If this consultation was successful enforcement would then be carried out via cameras at set locations.
Those locations would be:
- Stockport Road junction with Dickenson Road and Stanley Grove
- Cheetham Hill Road/Elizabeth Street
- Ashton Old Road/Chancellor Lane/Fairfield Street
- Palatine Road / Princess Parkway
- Great Ancoats Street/Oldham Road/Oldham Street
- Kirkmanshulme Lane / Mount Road
- M56 Junction 6 / Wilmslow Road
The consultation is now live and will run until Monday, October 31.
To note, enforcement will not be taking place in these locations during the consultation window. Any enforcement would follow this consultation, and conditional on the Council being granted these powers.
While the new powers would allow enforcement across the City, the Council wants to focus on known areas where problematic driving is taking place regularly and where enforcement will provide wider benefits for road users in Manchester, such as improving road safety, improving journey times on key roads, reducing congestion and tailbacks.
To arrive at the final seven locations a camera survey took place across Manchester, focusing on 15 locations where there were high reported numbers of accidents.
Councillor Tracey Rawlins, Executive Member for Environment and Transport said: “It can be a huge source of frustration for motorists when other road users fail to adhere to the rules of the roads. During peak periods, one person’s impatience, which results in a blocked yellow box, can snag up the entire network and result in significant delays, increased idling and higher levels of pollution.
“The areas we have identified are locations where significant disruption can take place on a regular basis, and we would hope to be able to address these issues should we gain the power to enforce MTOs.
“As ever, I would call on residents to take part in this consultation so we can gather the best body of evidence on how this scheme will affect people in Manchester.”
