What Punishment Should Disabled Space-Hoggers Get?
We see it all the time, hurried shoppers that want to quickly dash in and out of a supermarket to get a ‘few bits’ taking up disabled parking spaces. We may have even done it ourselves before, what’s the harm in parking in a disabled spot for a couple of minutes and running in right? You might think nothing of it but to a disabled person it it can really ruin their day. Disabled spaces are few and far between and during peak times at supermarkets, it can be difficult to find a disabled space, let alone a regular bay. Everything you do in life requires a little more effort to do if you are disabled, so while it’s convenient for you to simply pull up in a disabled space Renault Kangoo, for a disabled person this saves a huge amount of time and effort.
So what to do with these unfair offenders, ignorance is by no means an excuse, disabled spaces are clearly marked and anyone not beying the law should be dealt with accordingly, there should be a no tolerance rule which means offenders are prosecuted whatever the circumstances. Offenders can be clearly identified because anyone authorized to park in these spaces is issued with a blue badge. The punishment for breaching the rule is also already in place, offenders get slapped with a hefty fine for blocking wheelchair cars
The main issue is going to be enforcing the rules, traffic wardens in residential and shopping areas have the power to dish out fines and warnings, but do you ever see traffic wardens in supermarkets? Probabaly not. Many big supermarkets are locate out of town and do not fall within the wardens patrol area. This means supermarket offenders can get away with parking in disabled car spots nine times out of ten. Until supermarkets start employing enforcement officers who have the power to penalize the problem will continue, and with tories rafy of spending cuts about to be introduced this idea is deda in the water. Next time you are at the supermarket and in a hurry spare a thought for those less fortunate than you, don’t park in disabled bays.