Council or transport authority Yellow box PCN
This situation: Another driver (still moving) took the gap or lane you were using, so you stopped because of their move, not because of a line of stopped traffic ahead. - full question

Did another driver swerve or cut in and take the space you were heading for, so you had to stop, not because traffic was already queued still ahead?

Challenge guidance for this situation

This page explains a common yellow box PCN appeal angle. If the checker brought you here, the guidance below is adjusted using your yes/no answer in the URL. This is not legal advice.

Your draft letter

Replace everything in [square brackets] with your own details. Scroll inside the box if the text is long. 

Subject: Representation / appeal: yellow box [PCN number]

I am challenging this penalty because I did not stop in the yellow box due to stationary traffic ahead blocking my exit.

When I entered the box, my way out in [my lane / the lane I was using] was clear or I had a space to drive into. Before I could leave the box, another vehicle [cut in from my right / changed lane into my lane / moved into the space I was driving towards / straddled two lanes and stopped]. That vehicle was moving; it was not simply part of a queue that was already stopped in front of me.

Because of that other driver's move, I had to stop in the box. If that had not happened, I would have been able to clear the box.

I ask you to watch the CCTV carefully for this. The contravention is about stopping because of stationary vehicles; here I stopped because another driver's manoeuvre removed my exit space.

[Add: date, time, location, your vehicle registration, and any extra facts.]

Yours faithfully,

[Name]

Guidance for your case

What to do next

Good. This is a real defence other drivers have won with. Your next job is to say clearly what the other vehicle did and ask the council (or adjudicator) to watch their video for it. You can copy the answer below into your appeal.

Why this can matter

The rule is about stopping because of stationary vehicles blocking your way out. If the council's video shows (or you can show) that a moving vehicle changed lane, cut in, or grabbed the space you were driving into, adjudicators have allowed appeals: you stopped because of that driver's actions, not because of a queue of stopped traffic ahead.

Say the other car took your gap or cut in, and ask them to check the video for that. Other drivers have won on this point.