Clear timed-zone signs outweighed reliance on satnav (2026)

Case 2250432289 / 2025-12-31 / Adjudicator Teresa Brennan

Oldfield Lane South

“Drivers need to look for traffic signs and not overly rely on their satnavs”

Teresa Brennan

The motorist challenged a London Borough of Ealing PCN at Oldfield Lane South, explaining that heavy traffic and roadworks had led them to follow satnav. They said they had not seen signs indicating a restriction.

Teresa Brennan reviewed the CCTV and site photographs. The evidence showed pedestrian-and-cycle-zone signs on each side of the carriageway, prohibiting motor vehicles Monday to Friday from 8:15 to 9:15 am and from 2:30 to 3:45 pm. The recording showed the vehicle passing those signs.

The adjudicator found the signs sufficiently clear to alert an approaching driver in time to use an alternative road on the left. The restriction had been introduced in March 2025, and the alleged contravention occurred on 30 April. A change to the road layout did not remove the need to look for current signs. The appeal was refused on 31 December 2025; the circumstances advanced were mitigation, which the adjudicator could not use to allow it.

This provides a useful contrast with the allowed left-turn example. A statement that the driver did not notice a sign is different from evidence that the sign could not adequately be seen or understood before entry. Where the authority's footage and photographs establish clear signing and an available alternative, reliance on navigation instructions alone does not answer that evidence.

Source and case reference

Use case reference 2250432289 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.