Parking in hospital car parks

Half_way

If your using a disabled bay, and you dont have a blue badge, then as far as im aware, to quallify under the disability laws ( equalities act) you must have a long term condition, ie something for more than 12 months that affects your mobility.

As for overstaying in a pay car park, you should pay the costs, if you pay in 30 minute blocks and you over stay for 20 minutes, then all you owe is the cost of the first up to 30 minute block, as its no more right to take something without paying/use a service without paying, as it is to demand a ridiculous penalty then you should by rights offer the car parking company the cost of parking for whatever time you were over, as your compensating them for their losses.

lilibet1

Good job dh has had problems since 2003 then eh

lilibet1

Oh femur broken from a rta, drill accidentally left in during op and even though he could have claimed all sorts he just carried on working 18 hrs a day in severe pain hey ho

Half_way

Do you or does dh qualify for a blue badge, theres no requirement to show it, but if dh does have one, and you want to stop to nasty letters the parking company , or the Hospital should stop when you remind them of their obligations under the Equalities act, if dh (abreviation for something?) doesnt have a blue badge, but is covered under the Equalities act then you should still make a complaint.

lilibet1

No myself or dh (darling husband) have a blue badge and i think he is too proud to apply for one, but I have found the info on here useful. Thankyou

Stephen_Leak

lilibet1 wrote: »

No myself or dh (darling husband) have a blue badge and i think he is too proud to apply for one, but I have found the info on here useful. Thankyou

Check to see if his condition is one of those covered by The Equality Act. If so, he doesn't need a Blue Badge. No more than he needs to ring a handbell and shout, "Unclean".

Coupon-mad

'Protected' conditions are not listed in the Equality Act, they can't be as everyone is different.

But it's not actually difficult for a PPC or service provider to get it right, the definition is clear:

http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/disabledpeople/rightsandobligations/disabilityrights/dg_4001068



''A person has a disability if:

• they have a physical or mental impairment
• the impairment has a substantial and long-term adverse effect on their ability to perform normal day-to-day activities

For the purposes of the Act, these words have the following meanings:

• 'substantial' means more than minor or trivial
• 'long-term' means that the effect of the impairment has lasted or is likely to last for at least twelve months (there are special rules covering recurring or fluctuating conditions)
• 'normal day-to-day activities' include everyday things like eating, washing, walking and going shopping''

Of course, a service provider only has to make available a particular 'reasonable adjustment' (like a disabled bay) to a disabled person who needs it, not to every disabled person per se. So, that would exclude someone with a stammer, for instance. Such a person would be potentially protected under the Act - but not in this instance because unless the person had another condition, such an adjustment would not be needed.

But they cannot pretend that a disabled person like lilibet1's husband is not protected by the Act, because he is, and they can't pretend that he can't use a disabled bay on private land, because he could. To discriminate and harass him for using this provision would be unlawful.

And it is not just about mobility issues because someone who is taking a mentally disabled person shopping or to hospital, or wherever, can use such a bay as well (it would seem to me to be a reasonable adjustment to let such a visitor park in special bays nearest to the store/service - if it were me taking such a passenger out, or taking a blind person somewhere for example, I CERTAINLY would use a disabled bay).

On this forum we are still waiting for the first disabled person who gets a fake PCN in this situation to actually sue the service provider over it. All they would have to do before filing a claim IMHO would be to write one initial letter to PPC and service provider, explaining the long term condition and suggesting that they were entitled to use the disbled bay.

If the PPC/service provider continue with their harassment when armed with information about a person's longterm condition (such as lilibet1's husband's condition) they break the law. The remedy is compensation.

esmerobbo

Besides the law aspect of disabled parking I think the whole point is consideration. I have a blue badge and if I drive myself to hospital or anywhere else I use a disabled bay if possible and display my badge. Even in a private car park. However sometimes my daughter drives me, now I can still use my blue badge to park but if I can avoid it I don't, I ask my daughter to drop me off and go and park in a normal area. Then when I have finished off she goes and then picks me up.

As in Coupon mad's example above if the disabled person needs assistance then parking in a disabled bay is fine but if possible I think if the driver is able bodied and the disabled person is able to manage the bays should be left for someone who needs them.

Coupon-mad

Yep, that's as it should be and in the main most people do follow that line I suspect.

It's just the PPCs who protest otherwise, and Mobilise (DMUK) who engineered their 'Baywatch scheme' which has completely fooled the press into telling everyone that disabled bay 'abuse' in private car parks is rife. And so the Daily Mail reading public believe it.

In reality it's an myth - like anything you do get a few selfish people but generally that's not the case.

give_them_FA

I do a lot of shopping (don't ask) and I concur that abuse of disabled bays is very rare. The only time you really see any is late at night when the bays are pretty much all empty anyway so that it doesn't cause anyone a problem.