Oh no, I'm such a criminal... !

Peño

Peño

Peño

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Joined
17 Jun 2005
Posts
1,080
Location
London
Seriously, the Congestion Charge is a joke.

I'm fully aware of the zones and when the charge applies but I have no reason to go into the area during those times.

Except for last Friday when I finished work early and decided to pick up my girlfriend.

Okay it was clearly my fault because I entered the zone at 17:45, 15 minutes before the charge ceases.

I also "forgot" (for lack of experience) to pay the charge of £8 online later that night.

So what do I get? A £120 PCN in the post, reduced to £60 if I pay within the next 14 days.

OH, GRAND!

£60 for driving 0.4 miles.

I'm sorry for my little hatchback blocking up your roads and choking my fellow Londoners to death with it's exhaust fumes, Ken/Boris. Next time I'll wait 15 minutes for the priviledge. :rolleyes:

It'll be at least next year when/if they scrap the stupid extended western zone that I got caught in.

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AcidHell2 said:
Whats the problem as you said you are fully aware of the rules and yet you did it anyway.
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The problem is the severity of the fine in comparison to the actual "crime" itself.

It's not like I drove through the whole of the zone during peak time.

This is 15 minutes prior on a Friday evening.

0.4 miles.

In an extended zone.

Hardly an "offence" in my eyes, yet I'll comply with the stupid initiative and pay up anyway.
 
Housey said:
While I agree the it's a licence to print money you can't get a little bit pregnant.
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True. :p
P_A_N_I_C said:
your girlfriend should have walked 100m up the street, would have saved £8, and now £60 :)
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Yeah. Or what I should have done is turned right and not left.

[edit]Oh, and the roads that run parrallel and perpendicular to the zone are red routes. The parrallel roads are also one-way which explains why I turned left into the zone (to pick her up).[/edit]
 
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Slightly ironically, one of the reasons the congestion charge exists is for this exact reason, to cut down utterly pointless car journeys like driving 100m round the corner :p
 
Still, if they spent our car tax on roads like they should rather than subsidising the rest of the system it wouldn't be needed.

Thank god it didn't happen in Manchester.
 
I know that area well, It's not even a 15 minute round walk!

Although I would think that like some car parks, the C Charge should be free for up to 30 minutes in the zone so to speak.
 
Hate said:
I know that area well, It's not even a 15 minute round walk!

Although I would think that like some car parks, the C Charge should be free for up to 30 minutes in the zone so to speak.
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Ah, that yellow line wasn't my whole journey.

It just indicates the part I got charged for.

I think they should scrap the whole extended western zone completely and keep it to central London.
 
Not ever having driven into London, do I understand the system correctly; If you drive through the congestion zone between 7AM and 6PM, you have until midnight the same day to pay the charge? So you get 6 hours in which to pay something you get no actual notification or invoice for, and a PCN if you fail to do this?
 
If you forget to pay on the day then you can pay the following day for an increased charge of £10. You can also pay in advance if you need to for example if you knew you'd be driving in the zone all week etc.
 
It's also worth noting you can pay in a load of different ways - online, by text, over the phone, in some newsagents etc.

It's very quick and very easy.
 
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