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‘We won’t pay parking fines’
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| Parking fine anger: Janet and Hayden Roberts. |
IRATE disabled motorists have vowed not to pay fines which they claim were slapped on their vehicles incorrectly by Wyre Forest's new-style traffic wardens.
Angina and emphysema sufferer, Hayden Roberts, of Stourport, was furious when he was given a £30 fine for parking in a restricted time zone in the town's High Street by a civil enforcement officer.
As a blue badge holder, he is allowed to park on double yellow lines and although he knew that disabled parking was not allowed between 8am and 9am and 4.30pm and 6.30pm, he did not realise it was also banned between 11am and 3pm.
Mr Roberts, 64, who was forced to give up his job as a carpet worker after a heart bypass operation, claimed the signs on the buildings were not obvious and should have been on posts by the kerbside.
"I have been driving for 48 years and my wife for 52 years - that's 100 years in all - and we have never had fines for anything. I've parked in the High Street on many occasions without any problems and I could see the warden when I parked but I couldn't see the signs," he said.
He is planning to take his appeal to the parking adjudicator in Manchester but a Wyre Forest District Council spokesman said restriction plates could be placed on highway furniture such as lampposts, freestanding posts or adjacent buildings every 10 metres.
Meanwhile, Stourport pensioners, Audrey and Ian Grant, of Mill Road, are appealing against a fine they picked up in Worcester Street, Kidderminster, for not displaying a blue badge.
They claim the vehicle's disabled tax disc, making them exempt from paying the annual road fund fee, should have stopped the issuing a ticket.
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| The offending sign. |
The disabled time clock was on display but the blue badge belonging to 76-year-old Mrs Grant, who suffers from rheumatoid arthritis, angina and diabetes, had run out and a replacement was on order.
Mr Grant, 75, a retired electrical engineer, said: "In some parts of the country, the blue badge is not recognised but the disabled tax disc gives certain rights on parking and this should have been known by the warden."
A council spokesman said: "An excise disc that is issued to a disabled person does not restrict the driving of that vehicle to a disabled person only, therefore it is not possible for the civil enforcement officers to ascertain whether there is an entitlement to a valid blue badge or not, simply from viewing the tax disc."
He added that a valid blue badge should be displayed at all times when the permit holder is present and the vehicle is parked in a restricted area.
1:17pm Thursday 8th May 2008
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CommentPosted by: FMC, Bewdley on 2:27pm Thu 8 May 08
The new Wardens are ticket happy and show no concern whatsoever to the disabled people of Wyre Forest. I saw one issue a ticket to someone trying to get into their car from a motorised scooter clearly showing a disabled badge but not "in the designayed bay" as this was full. It appears our Wardens have no common sense or are they discriminating against disabled people ? If this ridiculous policy of Wyre Forest is designed to drive the disabled out of town then well done because its working !!!
The new Wardens are ticket happy and show no concern whatsoever to the disabled people of Wyre Forest. I saw one issue a ticket to someone trying to get into their car from a motorised scooter clearly showing a disabled badge but not "in the designayed bay" as this was full. It appears our Wardens have no common sense or are they discriminating against disabled people ? If this ridiculous policy of Wyre Forest is designed to drive the disabled out of town then well done because its working !!!
Posted by: vinnie, Kidderminster on 3:47pm Thu 8 May 08
I do sympathise with the couple in the article to some degree, as some signs are not clear at all, However on the other side of the coin many disabled badge holders feel they can have a'park where they like'attitude,causin
g problems for other road users often on double yellow lines blocking direct access to frontages and close to junctions. The Highway code (for all drivers) states you should not park within 10metres of a junction. This is often ignored.
At the end of the day - if people aren't displaying what they should be in the window it isn't the fault of the person issuing the ticket as they are simply doing their job.
I do sympathise with the couple in the article to some degree, as some signs are not clear at all, However on the other side of the coin many disabled badge holders feel they can have a'park where they like'attitude,causin
g problems for other road users often on double yellow lines blocking direct access to frontages and close to junctions. The Highway code (for all drivers) states you should not park within 10metres of a junction. This is often ignored.
At the end of the day - if people aren't displaying what they should be in the window it isn't the fault of the person issuing the ticket as they are simply doing their job.
Posted by: FlipC, Stourport on 4:31pm Thu 8 May 08
[quote][signs] should have been on posts by the kerbside[/quote] At which point pedestrians will complain about clutter and legitimate users will claim damages when they bump into them.
Heck it might seem like I've a heart of stone, but unlike vinnie I can't even sympathise with the first couple here. The signs aren't some new addition and are big enough and bold enough to be seen by anyone who bothers to look for them.
Now if this was York Street it'd be a different story, where the heck are the restriction notice signs there?
should have been on posts by the kerbside
At which point pedestrians will complain about clutter and legitimate users will claim damages when they bump into them.
Heck it might seem like I've a heart of stone, but unlike vinnie I can't even sympathise with the first couple here. The signs aren't some new addition and are big enough and bold enough to be seen by anyone who bothers to look for them.
Now if this was York Street it'd be a different story, where the heck are the restriction notice signs there?
Posted by: davsee, Kidderminster on 11:22pm Fri 9 May 08
I think that in both cases above the Wardens are justified in issuing the tickets. As a blue Bagde Holder you should be aware of where you can and where you can't park - it is clearly stated in the leaflets that are issued with the blue badges. If you can't be bothered to read the rules then don't complain when you get caught.
Also there are too many people using wide disabled bays that do not need them. As my wife is a wheelchair user if there are no wide bays available then we cannot park as a 'normal' bay does not have enough room to get the wheelchair alongside the car to allow entry or egress. I also find it particularly annoying that a particular market trader parks his white van all day in one of the disabled spaces outside the Town Hall every Saturday. Although he displays a blue badge he has no problem walking back and forth loading his van at the end of the day (I know because I sat in Tchibo Cafe and watched him).
[bold]I say WELL DONE to the parking wardens, keep up the good job.[/bold]
I think that in both cases above the Wardens are justified in issuing the tickets. As a blue Bagde Holder you should be aware of where you can and where you can't park - it is clearly stated in the leaflets that are issued with the blue badges. If you can't be bothered to read the rules then don't complain when you get caught.
Also there are too many people using wide disabled bays that do not need them. As my wife is a wheelchair user if there are no wide bays available then we cannot park as a 'normal' bay does not have enough room to get the wheelchair alongside the car to allow entry or egress. I also find it particularly annoying that a particular market trader parks his white van all day in one of the disabled spaces outside the Town Hall every Saturday. Although he displays a blue badge he has no problem walking back and forth loading his van at the end of the day (I know because I sat in Tchibo Cafe and watched him).
I say WELL DONE to the parking wardens, keep up the good job.
Posted by: markjl36, wolverley on 9:26pm Sat 10 May 08
i have blue bage need a wide space to get wheelchair out if i visit high street sos theres parking on left but i have to get out into the passing traffic with the risk of traffic taking my door off- there are no carparks nearby i use to park back of market but thats gone so no wonder people who have mobility problems park where perhaps they shouldn't i think there needs dialogue between council and local disabled people to see what can be done when at the ed of the day the peoplr grtting bookrd just want to pop to the shops like any one else
i have blue bage need a wide space to get wheelchair out if i visit high street sos theres parking on left but i have to get out into the passing traffic with the risk of traffic taking my door off- there are no carparks nearby i use to park back of market but thats gone so no wonder people who have mobility problems park where perhaps they shouldn't i think there needs dialogue between council and local disabled people to see what can be done when at the ed of the day the peoplr grtting bookrd just want to pop to the shops like any one else
Posted by: FlipC, Stourport on 12:11pm Mon 12 May 08
davsee and markjl36 out of curiosity do you consider the bays in the Raven Street car-park wide enough to allow wheelchair access?
davsee and markjl36 out of curiosity do you consider the bays in the Raven Street car-park wide enough to allow wheelchair access?
Posted by: davsee, Kidderminster on 10:38pm Mon 12 May 08
That's where I do park in SOS as on-street parking is almost impossible if you need wheelchair access.
That's where I do park in SOS as on-street parking is almost impossible if you need wheelchair access.
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