A CAR lawyer has revealed three little-known loopholes that can help you challenge ULEZ fines and win.
Nick Freeman, who is also known as Mr Loophole, gave out his handy tips as the hated levy expanded to cover the entire Greater London Area today.
A car lawyer has explained that inadequate signage could help you challenge ULEZ finesOlivia West
AlamyLondon mayor Sadiq Khan pressed ahead with plans to expand the charging zone today despite backlash from motorists[/caption]
Nick explained that drivers could beat the fines imposed in the charging zone as they “could be invalid without warning signs”.
A lack of signage telling drivers that they are entering the zone can lead to fines being overturned.
Indeed, scaffolder Noel Wilcox had his fines thrown out after arguing that very point in a landmark legal case.
This is especially groundbreaking in the context that six local authorities hit by the expansion, including Surrey, Kent and Essex county councils, have refused to sign agreements with Transport for London to allow ULEZ signs to go up in their areas.
Nick told The Telegraph: “Any road traffic regulations that are introduced, there must be clear, unambiguous signage.
“And in the absence of clear, unambiguous signage, no penalty can be enforced. The prosecutors would, I’m quite confident, win on appeal.
“This happens in speeding cases, you get it in bus lane cases, there are a whole host of cases where the signage isn’t clear.
“And then when somebody wants to challenge it, they invariably win because the signage doesn’t doesn’t fit the bill.”
Other loopholes are also available to owners of older vehicles which either haven’t been tested to modern standards or even don’t meet them at all.
Classic cars are exempt from the charge as they were built well before emissions testing became standardised and controlled in the way it is today.
TfL defines classics as vehicles over 40 years old on a rolling basis.
This means 1983 is the current cut-off, moving to 1985 in 2025 and so on.
However, some motorcycles that do not qualify as classics can still benefit from a third little-known exemption.
ULEZ rules state that bikes must meet the Euro 3 standards introduced in 2007.
However, some older models are actually cleaner than those standards require but were only tested to lesser Euro 1 standards (from 1999) or not at all.
As a compromise, TfL will accept a certificate from the manufacturer stating that the emissions from the bike are below Euro 3 levels.
If you don’t have one of these, you can take a 20-minute Motorcycle Emission Test at one of five accredited sites in the capital at a cost of just £175.
Passing this will be accepted as proof that your bike is withing ULEZ regulations and means you won’t be charged in the now-expanded zone.
It comes after Sadiq Khan’s mayoral rival slammed the extension roll-out as a “dark day for drivers” and urged voters to give him the boot.
Meanwhile, TfL’s website was hit by issues as it was overwhelmed by thousands of motorists rushing to check if their vehicles complied with the new rules.