Parked vehicles left no realistic safe alternative for the lorry (2026)

Case 2250278688 / 2025-10-09 / Adjudicator Philippa Alderson

HOLLYDALE ROAD (NORTH)

“In the specific circumstances of this case I find that no realistic alternative was open to the driver.”

Philippa Alderson

The PCN concerned a lorry passing to the right of a keep-left traffic island on Hollydale Road (North). Southwark relied on footage, photographs, the PCN, legislation and correspondence. The driver maintained that the narrow road and parked vehicles prevented safe passage to the left.

Philippa Alderson repeatedly examined the footage and photographs from both parties, allowing for distortion caused by camera angles. She found it very likely that passing to the left would have been extremely challenging, if not impossible, because vehicles were parked both before and beyond the island.

The adjudicator also considered the possibility of turning back. For this size of vehicle, she found that a three-point turn would have been potentially dangerous given the signpost, parked motorcycles or cycles and other parked vehicles. On 9 October 2025, she allowed the appeal because no realistic alternative was open to the driver. She stated that the decision did not affect the enforceability of the location's signs.

The important distinction is between an evidenced obstruction and a preference for the wider gap. A representation should show the available space, vehicle dimensions, parked vehicles and potential turning movements. This case does not permit every wide vehicle to bypass a keep-left sign, and the adjudicator made no finding about whether the lorry's speed complied with the speed limit.

Source and case reference

Use case reference 2250278688 in the London Tribunals register to find the official decision. This commentary distinguishes the adjudicator's finding from a possible argument in a different case; previous tribunal decisions do not bind another adjudicator.