New legislation to crack down on people who abuse disabled parking has been passed unanimously by the Scottish Parliament. The Disabled Persons’ Parking Badges Bill will give councils the power to confiscate and cancel Blue Badges which are abused.
Blue Badge Misuse
We’ve probably all witnessed someone with a Blue Badge in their window park in the bays at the front of the Tesco car park or on double yellow lines, then run into to the shop for a quick item or two. To them, it’s just handy, thanks. Trouble is, it’s taking up spaces needed by genuine blue badge users, as well as generally undermining the image of this hugely important scheme.
As far as on-street parking goes enforcement powers have, until now, rested with the police. Parking offences, however, don’t sit high on their list of priorities. The new bill both broadens powers in relation to suspected Blue Badge misuse and, crucially, extends these to traffic wardens as well as the police.
Unique Number
The Bill was brought forward by blind MSP Dennis Robertson (SNP) with the aim of strengthening enforcement and reducing abuse of the scheme. He describes the misuse as “socially unacceptable, as it prevents badge holders from accessing the on-street parking concessions to which they are entitled”.
The bill will allow police or traffic wardens to check the unique number on badges against the identity of drivers. It also gives them increased powers to identify fake badges by checking them against the Blue Badge database.
Major Impact
The Blue Badge scheme is for drivers or passengers with severe mobility problems. It provides a range of parking concessions enabling Blue Badge holders to park closer to where they need to go. In Scotland almost 250,000 people are Blue Badge holders and misuse of the scheme has a major impact on them since they rely heavily on disabled parking spaces to go about their daily lives.
Research by Transport Scotland has shown that 83% of Blue Badge holders have come across some abuse of the system. Audit Scotland also reported that around 4,000 badges belonging to people who had died had not been returned to councils by their families or carers. It’s suspected that many of these are being misused.
Legitimate Badge Holders
The new legislation is set to come into effect in 2015 and will impact parking on public roads. It’s hoped that tackling on-street problems will vastly improve the lives of legitimate badge holders by improving access to services in the community. Click Disabled Persons’ Parking Badges Bill here to read more about the new Scottish legislation.
Disabled Parking Award
Off-street parking is also highly important – think of supermarkets, retail parks, multi-story car parks or hospitals, for example. Blue Badge abuse is prevalent in these situations as well, where the onus is on the owner of the car park owner both to provide bays for disabled people and to enforce appropriate use of these crucial facilities.
Practice in this regard varies hugely. One organisation which campaigns tirelessly to encourage better enforcement of parking rights is Disabled Motoring UK (DMUK). This summer the charity launched a new quality standard for parking facilities, the Disabled Parking Award. In order to qualify for the award, car parks must:
- provide parking bays designated for disabled users
- ensure that such bays are adequately sign posted
- ensure that disabled parking bays are illuminated at night
- provided accessible ticket machines
- ensure that use of disabled parking bays is effectively enforced
Where possible, parking providers are also encouraged to offer a discounted rate to Blue Badge holders, in recognition of the additional time it can take people with reduced mobility, including wheelchair users, to complete their visit.
DMUK chief executive Graham Footer comments: “We hope that car parks operators across the country will take up this award. By doing so, they can demonstrate to all their customers that they are committed to creating high quality parking facilities for all.”
