New driving laws have come into effect and motorists are being warned they could face fines ranging from £60 to £980 if caught out.
There are three significant changes to the law that drivers need to be aware of this June. The first change relates to low emission zones, with penalties for vehicles that don't comply. As has already been witnessed in places like Sheffield and Bradford, drivers will now face fines for entering low emission zones in four major cities.
Drivers of older, more polluting cars will be required to pay a daily charge of £60 to drive into Edinburgh, Glasgow or Aberdeen. Any vehicles that don't meet the standards will be charged £60, with fines escalating up to a maximum of £480 for eight repeated offences.
Buses, lorries and coaches will be subject to a fine of £980. This is due to the fact that the charge for entering the zone doubles each time, meaning a single entry incurs a £60 fee, but if you enter again without paying, this rises to £120, then £240, up to a maximum of £480 for car drivers.
For HGV, bus and coach drivers, fines start at £120 but can reach as high as £980 for repeated offences. The cameras operate 24 hours a day, 365 days a year and utilise automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) to monitor all vehicles entering and exiting the zones - there are no exceptions, reports Bristol Live.
Drivers warned of Highway Code changes that could land them with £200 fineIn another significant legal shift, e-scooters are set to become more prevalent on our roads. From June 1, new Vehicle Special Orders (VSOs) will be introduced, enabling local councils across the nation to initiate 'e-scooter trials' and temporarily lift existing restrictions on these vehicles.
Typically, e-scooters are prohibited on UK roads, but these VSOs will permit councils to experiment with e-scooter trials, similar to those witnessed in Cambridge. Lastly, a change in law concerning petrol and diesel could impact your next trip to the fuel station. The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has been granted fresh powers to probe and report any instances of price exploitation and gouging at petrol stations to the government.
The hope is that this will lead to a reduction in the prices of petrol and diesel - currently among the highest in Europe due to substantial retailer margins - starting from June, thanks to this new legislation which was enacted at the end of May.