What is the point in disabled parking spaces if they are routinely ignored.

apb123

I am pretty ill. I need oxygen so parking spaces are important. Today I drove to a small supermarket and the last disabled space was taken by someone who didn’t have a blue badge, literally as I was about to park in it.

I parked further away and when walking past just pointed out politely that he wasn’t disabled and didn’t have a badge and had caused me a problem because of this. He said “I dont give a f***”. I spoke to the manager/cashier and she shrugged and said there is nothing she could do. I understand and would not expect the shop worker to challenge this gentleman, but perhaps would have expected a more understanding response.

Now when these shops are built there is a legal requirement to provide disabled spaces. What is the point if they are routinely ignored ? 

Is there some way of reporting cars officially, so people can be written to or warned.Maybe taking time stamped photos and uploading them to the DVLA…

poppy123456

Hi,
This happens all time, especially where I live. I was out a few weeks ago and was going back to my car when I seen a traffic warden giving a parking ticket to someone parked in a disabled bay without a BB. I did stop to talk to them and said it’s nice to this and it’s a shame it doesn’t happen more often.

Parking has nothing to do with DVLA, it’s your local Authority. You can report that vehicle but no idea if anything will be done. 

rubin16

Hi,

I'm pretty sure that becuase its private land nothing can be done really, its upto the supermarket to enforce the parking on their land. Most do this through 3rd parties who monitor car parks, if your supermarket isn't enforced or monitored then theres nothing can be done. I would raise a complaint to the head office of the supermarket as they should be enforcing rules.

The only way parking can be reported to your local authority is if they are parked on public road or a public car park, in which you could report them and a warden would come round and give them a ticket, but most supermarkets are private land.

Hope this helps

Cher_Alumni

Hello @apb123 How are you doing? I'm sorry you've come across such unhelpful attitudes and actions this morning, I can only imagine how frustrating that is.  

I've done a little research and as you've said, supermarkets have a legal duty to make adjustments to allow equitable access for disabled people under the Equality Act 2010 i.e. having parking spaces and disabled bay signage in situ.  However, management of the abuse of disabled parking varies greatly from one supermarket to another, falling under the regulations of contract law and 'off-street private parking' rules.

There were noises made by several 'big retailers' when the government reformed the Blue Badge scheme in 2011, promising to do more to prevent parking abuse but your story, and my own observations when out and about, suggests much more needs to be done.  

It might be possible to challenge a supermarket under the Equality Act 2010 for discrimination in the provision of services - see this Citizens Advice webpage.  While to speak to those more in the know, I'd recommend seeking the advice of the Equality Advisory and Support Service who are specialists in this field.

I hope you're feeling better now and managed to get yourself a treat from the supermarket while you were there