Naturally the disabled person need not be an actual driver, just in the vehicle being driven by a carer, relative or friend - the badge carries a photograph of the qualifying person and has to be displayed during use including a time clock - stay is usually limited to 3 hours but can vary. Parking is FREE in public car parks where Blue Badge holders can park in normal spaces as well as the more prominent disability bays.
All too often the limited number of disability parking bays are being bagged by other motorists who have no rights to park there, they include;
# drivers who do not have a Blue Badge at all - in some cases 50% or more call into this category, this is especially rife at supermarkets where there is limited protection for Blue Badge owners, it being private rather than public.
# the vehicle sports a Blue Badge but the actual disabled person is NOT in the vehicle and thus the user is breaking the rules of the use of the Blue Badge. If caught the badge holder faces a £1,000 fine and loss of the badge - some 12,000 badges are withdrawn annually in the UK for this and other infringements.
# the badge is stolen or to a lesser degree a fake so the user has no connection with a disabled person, so they can as such gain preferential free parking and in London freedom from the congestion charge.
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On public parking areas and streets the police, traffic wardens and the local council can inspect badges and their holders but experience suggests this does not happen often enough. The number of actual court actions against drivers illegally using disability parking bays and blue badges is unknown but believed to be tiny. A department of transport supported campaign BAYWATCH campaigns for better use and control and several leading supermarket and disability groups are involved. Despite new laws in force for over 3 years the problem does not seem to have improved and the disabled Blue Badge holders continue to get angry over the clear and blatant misuse of these special parking bays and the associated Blue Badges. Do you, even briefly use a disabled persons parking bay? Or are you aware of others who deny a disabled person this advantage of forward parking? A quick look at disability parking areas proves the size of the problem. What is the solution - in simple terms stronger control and supervision by the authorities and the owners of private parking areas, BUT to a greater degree the badge holders themselves and their drivers to "revolt" as a collective force and voice to make things happen. At present disability parking bays are used MORE by the active enabled motorists than by those to whom they are intended.
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