Disabled Parking bay regulation length (on street adjacent and parallel to kerb)

ledrat9

Hi all
A while ago I applied to my local authority for a designated disabled bay to be installed outside my house. Parking is difficult and there have been times when I've had to park in a different street. At first the local authority said it could not be done due to a lack of funding.

Then later they decided that they were going to introduce a residents parking controlled zone. They then wrote to me saying that they could now instal the bay to coincide with their planed works. They said they would be in touch and I heard nothing more. In January the works took place, yellow lines went down and ares where marked out and a bay was painted in outside my house! 

But it turns out that this bay will not be a disabled bay. It's big enough for 1 car. It cannot be larger due to the vicinity of dropped kerbs. I tried to get a response from the council but the person I was dealing with seemed unable to now respond to my email. So I escalated it by taking the case to my local MP. She wrote to them and she did get a response.

The council said that the reason they could not install the bay was due to the minimum length of a disabled parking bay being 6600mm or 6.6 meters if you prefer, and there was not enough room available for the bay! Now further up the road to me a disabled resident has a bay marked out and it is no larger than a space needed to accommodate a single vehicle. Also one in an adjacent street is exactly the same. In fact everywhere I've ever been I've never seen a single bay of 6.6 meters in length. That's almost enough to take four cars. My car being 1.8 meters in length.

Now I've tried researching this and all I can find is that the minimum requirement for a bay is 6.6 meters. But even on a web page I visited it clearly showed a photograph of a car in a street side bay that was only big enough to accommodate one vehicle.

Does anyone have any information on this please?    

Misscleo

Really interested in this please keep us informed

poppy123456

HI,

You may find this link helpful and is has some useful information. https://www.britishparking.co.uk/write/Documents/Library 2016/Bay_Sizes_-_Jul_2016.pdf

Take note of this part here

On-street baysThe Traffic Signs Regulations and General Directions (TSRGD) 2002 prescribed a series of white bay markings to delineate areas of carriageway reserved for specified classes of vehicle or specified uses. In TSRGD 2016 the dimensions for bay markings have been relaxed, apart from those for disabled badge holders. Whilst a minimum width of 1.8 m is specified, there is no longer a maximum width, nor a minimum or maximum length.1The intention is to allow traffic authorities flexibility in determining the bay or parking space size appropriate both for the intended vehicle type and the surrounding street environment. Bay markings and parking spaces should be of sufficient length and width to fully accommodate the vehicles for which they are intended. In cases where larger vehicles, for example 4x4 type vehicles, cannot fit fully within the marking, it is recommended that traffic authorities use discretion over enforcement.

Hope this helps but i think you're local council maybe making their own rules.

ledrat9

Hi Poppy

Thanks for the reply.

Yes I have looked at that before and on that site it also states the minimum length is 6.6 meters. The sentence that bothers me is 

"In TSRGD 2016 the dimensions for bay markings have been relaxed, apart from those for disabled badge holders."

That would indicate to me that 6.6 meters is an enforceable length for the bay.

On this site

 https://tsrgd.co.uk/pdf/tal/1995/tal-5-95.pdf

If you scroll down there is a photo of a car parked in a bay which is clearly not 6.6 meters!

I can only guess that these dimensions are not statutory?

poppy123456

I'm unsure what they mean by 6.6 meters minimum because that's clearly not correct, that's a huge amount of space required.

ledrat9

Yes I'm in agreement with you there Poppy. Based on observations of every bay I've ever seen none are of that size.

Also when they did the works for the controlled parking zone they erected sign posts that were not there before. Also they have placed disabled parking only signs where required to existing bays.

I may be able to argue that these would constitute "new installations" and they are not 6.6 meters! So in fact they can install a bay when it suits them.  

OverlyAnxious

ledrat9 said:

In fact everywhere I've ever been I've never seen a single bay of 6.6 meters in length. That's almost enough to take four cars. My car being 1.8 meters in length.  

What car do you drive?  1.8 metres is only 6ft, that would be a very short car!  

An average car like a VW Golf or Ford Focus is around 4-5 metres long so I don't see 6.6metres being unreasonable, especially if it needs to house a wheelchair adapted van for example.  You have to remember that even if you have a disabled space placed outside your house, it does not belong to you and must be accessible to anyone with a Blue Badge.

ledrat9

6.6 meters = 21.65 feet long
And my car is 4.7 meters long (1.8 meters wide)

Yes I am well aware that the space can be used by anyone with a blue badge.

skullcap

Thank goodness that we have sorted out the length of the car.
Most family type cars are around 4.8 - 5.0 metres in length. My neighbour's is 5.2 metres.
So a 6.6 metre bay is a little on the long side. I would imagine that it should be 6 metres.

wilko

I think you will find if you have a disability parking space outside your house it is not for your sole use, it can be used by any motorist badge holder or not. The parking space has to have a sign stating solely for blue badge holder only. If no sign it’s a free for all and most councils ask you to pay for the marking of the disability parking bay, I was quoted by my council £400 and only after an assessment was carried out for suitability.

poppy123456

wilko said:

I think you will find if you have a disability parking space outside your house it is not for your sole use, it can be used by any motorist badge holder or not. The parking space has to have a sign stating solely for blue badge holder only. If no sign it’s a free for all and most councils ask you to pay for the marking of the disability parking bay, I was quoted by my council £400 and only after an assessment was carried out for suitability.

This thread was started in March and the member hasn't been active since mid March, hoepfully the issues they had have now been sorted.

ledrat9

Hi Poppy and Wilko

The issue is still on going. Below is a copy of the latest email I sent to one of the borough Councillors and we are waiting for a reply!

 

Dear X

Please thank (Anon) for attempting to answer my questions which I have been trying to get answered for a very long time.

Firstly.

Enforceable disabled parking bays should be accessible to any and all who have a requirement for them and can display a valid blue badge. They are not for individual usage. Therefore they must meet the minimum  required length of 6.6 meters as stipulated in the TRSGD regulations of 1984.

Attached is a picture of the disabled parking bay outside 84 (address omitted). This bay measures only 5.3 meters in length. This bay must be lengthened to meet the requirements of TRSGD. I would like Mr (Anon) to inform us of when this will take place.

 Secondly let me address Mr (Anon) three points and show why they are fallacious.

1. The length of space outside no. 97 (Address omitted) does not meet the minimum length specified by the TRSGD of 6.6m
2. The area outside 97 & 99 (Address omitted) measures 20 meters in length. 20 meters is over 3 times the length of 6.6 meters. I have a BSc in mathematics so I don’t think my arithmetic is wrong in this,
3. Installation of a disabled bay outside 97 (Address omitted) will affect turning visibility of residents at 95 (Address omitted)
4. Had the bay been installed in the place opposite and instead of the residents bay outside 74 (address omitted) this would not have been a factor.
5. Due to an existing resident's bay outside 74 (Address omitted), an additional bay outside 97 (Address omitted) will obstruct the traffic flow along the street
6. No residents bay existed outside 74 (Address omitted) at time of application and approval (April 2019), The bay was not installed due to lack of funding. Funding did become available when the parking restrictions were due to be put in place but it seems that priority was given to a resident parking place outside 74 (Address omitted) over a disabled bay outside 97/99 (Address omitted). Further more a bay outside 97/99 (Address omitted) would have facilitated greater ease of access and egress to the cul de sac turning for large vehicles than the current arrangement.  

 To summarise

Mr (Anon) needs to declare a date of when the disabled bay outside 84 (Address omitted) will be compliant with TRSGD 1984. Also I would like him to address my three counter points.

Yours sincerely