§ Mr. CoxTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many prosecutions of private motorists charged with driving in a bus lane during the hours when138W such lanes are not authorised for use by private vehicles in the Greater London area there have been in each of the last three years. [69400]
§ Mr. BoatengProsecutions of private motorists are not separately identifiable in the statistics collected on motoring offences, nor can this offence be distinguished from other offences connected with neglect of traffic directions in the statistics collected centrally.
However, most bus lane offences are dealt with by fixed penalty notice, and information obtained from both the Metropolitan and City of London Police shows that 15,218 fixed penalties notices were issued by them for contravening a bus lane in 1996, 15,061 in 1997 and 14,846 in 1998.