She's got a ticket to ride and she cares

Trish Martin is one of the thousands of motorists who have been fined. Photo / Brett Phibbs

An Auckland City official's blaming of the media for confusion about bus lane rules showed an unwavering, arrogant attitude, says a motorist whose mistake resulted in a $150 fine.

To add insult to injury, the motorist, Kelston Girls High School assistant principal Trish Martin, found herself being lectured by the official's letter about why Auckland City Council had bus lanes.

Then came the accusation: "We appreciate it can be frustrating to wait in a queue when an empty bus lane is available."

Mrs Martin had written in to explain it was her ignorance about the changed bus lane rules that landed her in trouble.

"I had thought that as my actions could be regarded as a mistake, they just might consider withdrawing the fine.

"But the reply letter was really snotty. It was unforgiving, and I was annoyed by the council saying the media is giving out inaccurate information.

"I found that to be an arrogant statement, as I have only learnt about the new bus lane rules from the Herald's explanation."

The council's letter said it tried to take a reasonable approach.

But Mrs Martin believed it was a standard letter used by council infringement review officers.

Mrs Martin is one of thousands of motorists who have been pinged for turning too soon into the bus lane on Symonds St in order to get on to Grafton Rd.

The council's letter said she was observed travelling for 71m in the bus lane.

It recapped laws about bus lane use, saying there was "a lot of inaccurate information about bus lanes in circulation via the media and other sources that can confuse matters".

But council group manager parking Dale Clements said yesterday he had no criticism of specific media or articles. "It's just that lots of people have quoted stuff they have heard from various media channels and their uptake is not necessarily the truth or what is repeated or what the rules and laws are. So people's uptake is now so confused and muddled."

Mr Clements said each request for a review of an infringement was treated on a case-by-case basis.

"Depending on the outcome of the review, we use a whole range of responses, which could be anything from a totally individualised letter through to where we cut and paste different paragraphs for quoting legal stuff, to a standardised letter."

A full explanation of the rules was in the council's newsletter City Scene, which was delivered to many households this week and was available on the council website.