Disabled Living

Tag: disabled parking

Baywatch Results Reveal Disabled Parking Abuse

Disabled Living are pleased to support Disabled Motoring UK’s Baywatch Campaign. Read all about the latest results below.

In August, DMUK asked the public to help us with our Baywatch Campaign by completing a survey on their parking experiences over the past 12 months. The results have now been calculated.

DMUK would like to thank everybody who participated in this year’s Baywatch Campaign. This year we had the biggest number of responses that we have ever seen which goes to show how important the problem of disabled parking abuse remains. The total number of responses was 777. We would also like to thank all our sponsors, the British Parking Association and BBFI Public Sector Investigations, and our supporting organisations that promoted the campaign and encouraged their members/supporters to take part. Without them the campaign would not be so successful.

Traditionally the Baywatch Campaign asks the public to survey supermarket car parks for levels of disabled parking abuse. We were unable to undertake this type of campaign in 2020 because of the Coronavirus pandemic. Instead we asked the public to complete a survey from home which asked them questions on their more general parking experiences. This allowed DMUK to expand the scope of the campaign to other parking settings.

Findings

Local Authorities

One of the most alarming statistics that came from the survey results was that 95.6% of participants did not think that local authorities were doing enough to tackle Blue Badge abuse. This is a very high percentage, but not at all surprising to DMUK. Every year the ‘Blue Badge Statistics’ are released and every year the number of local authorities actually prosecuting Blue Badge fraud is disappointingly low. The Baywatch Campaign also showed that only 20.8% of Blue Badge holders had ever been asked to have their Blue Badge inspected by an official and that 96.4% of participants supported more inspections of Blue Badges.

The disabled community has spoken, and local authorities must do more to support their parking needs. DMUK wants to see far more Blue Badge inspections and enforcement of the on-street concession.

Supermarket Parking

With the data gathered we cannot do our usual supermarket league table with who is performing best and worst. However, the results have shown that 53.4% of participants either find it ‘Difficult’ or ‘Very Difficult’ to find suitable disabled parking in general at supermarkets. Also 86.8% found that disabled parking bays were either ‘Often’ or ‘Very Often’ abused. (Abused is defined as vehicles parking in disabled bays not displaying a Blue Badge.)

These statistics show that supermarkets are not doing enough to support their disabled customers. Disabled parking is not managed properly, disabled parking bays are clearly not enforced, and abuse of the bays is rife.

Looking specifically at enforcement DMUK asked the question: When parking at the supermarket do you ever see signs of enforcement? In response to this 55.1% of respondents said No. The next question asked was: If you have reported disabled parking abuse to a member of staff, do they take action? 86.7% of respondents answered ‘No’ to this question. This is distressing and shows that when a disabled customer asks for help their concerns are ignored by supermarket staff.

General Findings

The survey also asked participants about parking on their everyday journeys, not just at the supermarkets. On these types of journeys 74.8% of respondents said that finding suitable disabled parking was either ‘Difficult’ or ‘Very Difficult’.

Also, generally when parking 87.7% of respondents said that they ‘Often’ or ‘Very often’ saw disabled bays being abused.

These statistics are appalling. Being able to drive and park at their desired destination is imperative to the independence of disabled people. The figures show that disabled people are being disadvantaged and prevented from living independent lives because of the state of the nation’s disabled parking provision and enforcement. These statistics should be the wakeup call that the parking industry needs to once and for all provide adequate parking provision to disabled motorists and make sure it is enforced correctly. The level of deterrent needs to reflect the importance of keeping disabled bays free for genuine users and at present the deterrent clearly isn’t enough.

The Impact of the Coronavirus Pandemic

Earlier in the summer we started to receive anecdotal evidence that disabled bays were being removed from car parks to make room for socially distanced queuing. As lockdown restrictions eased, this became a more common problem. We posed the question in our survey: Due to the COVID-19 pandemic have you seen disabled bays being removed? Eg, for queuing. 65.8% of respondents answered ‘Yes’ to this question. Once again the needs of disabled people have been pushed to the back of the queue and equality has been forgotten.

Graham Footer, CEO at DMUK, said: “DMUK is delighted with the level of support it has received for this year’s Baywatch campaign. However, we are very concerned about the levels of disabled parking abuse in all parking settings. The parking industry and local authorities all need to do more to support disabled people. Accessibility starts in the car park and without proper parking provision and enforcement of disabled parking, disabled people find it increasingly difficult to live independent lives. DMUK demands that this issue is taken seriously”

Baywatch Appeal

To help DMUK to continue campaigning on the issue of disabled parking abuse we have a fundraising initiative called the ‘Baywatch Appeal’. This is a fundraising appeal which will help the charity raise vital funds to keep advocating the need for proper management of disabled parking bays. The charity encourages all supporters of the Baywatch campaign to donate if they are able. Please visit https://www.disabledmotoring.org/donate

November 3, 2020
DMUK Baywatch Campaign

This is a guest blog written by Heidi Turner on behalf of DMUK for Disabled Living.

DMUK’s Baywatch campaign, which looks into levels of disabled parking abuse at supermarkets, is changing format for 2020.

A common problem for many disabled motorists is not being able to park at their desired destination, especially at their local supermarket. The major complaint is that the disabled bays are all occupied with cars not displaying a Blue Badge.

Disabled Motoring UK’s Baywatch campaign seeks to address this. This campaign researches the level of disabled parking abuse at supermarkets, by asking disabled motorists to survey their local supermarket car park. Specifically, they count how many disabled bays are provided and how many cars that are parked in them without displaying a Blue Badge.

We launched this year’s campaign in March 2020 with a great response from supporting organisations and the campaign’s sponsor, the British Parking Association. DMUK is so pleased with the positive response it gets from its members, the public and organisations. Last year was our best campaign yet with record numbers of participants. However, this was before the world was swamped by the current Coronavirus pandemic. Even though many areas of the UK are seeing a decrease in infections and deaths from Coronavirus, and the government are easing lockdown restrictions, DMUK has decided that it is not appropriate to ask individuals to physically go to a supermarket car park and count cars not displaying a Blue Badge which are parked in disabled bays. This could put participants in a position where they find it harder to social distance and we would never ask people to put themselves at an increased risk of catching the virus.

Join our Survey

Instead we will be running a survey for the month of August which participants can complete without leaving their home. DMUK will ask individuals to think back over the last 12 months to consider their general parking experience and ask them to answer some questions about this experience at supermarkets and on their everyday journeys. We will use this data to tackle the supermarkets and other parking providers over their disabled parking policies. As a thank you for taking part there will also be an opportunity for one participant to win a £25 M&S voucher.

The survey will be printed in the August issue of Disabled Motoring and there will be an online version going live in August which can be accessed through the website: https://www.disabledmotoring.org/baywatch-2020

We hope that in August 2021 to have this pandemic long behind us and run our usual Baywatch Campaign.

The campaign has support from Baroness Tanni Grey-Thompson, she commented: “It’s so sad that Disabled Motoring UK has to run its Baywatch Campaign. Disabled bay enforcement should be mandatory, especially for the big supermarkets that can afford to invest in policing their car parks. I see disabled parking abuse every day, it’s never a surprise to me, including at my local supermarket. There is a real lack of understanding about how essential these bays are to disabled people and I applaud DMUK’s Baywatch Campaign as it plays a vital role in highlighting the issue of disabled parking abuse at supermarkets.”

Heidi Turner, Communications and Campaigns Director at DMUK, said: “Baywatch is one of the charity’s longest running campaigns and is really important to draw attention to the parking problems that disabled people face when just trying to do their everyday grocery shopping. The charity has decided to change the format of Baywatch this year in order to keep our supporters safe. Nevertheless the new survey will provide us with some really useful data to keep the pressure on the supermarkets to do more to manage their disabled parking bays properly. Disabled motorists face parking problems in all aspects of their life and the new survey will also encompass some more general parking questions which will expand the scope of the DMUK Baywatch Campaign.”

DMUK Baywatch Appeal

In October 2019 DMUK launched its Baywatch Appeal as a way of raising additional funds to support the charity’s campaigning efforts. Since its launch the charity has raised an extra £5740.58 in added donations. Any extra money the charity can raise to support campaigning is so helpful. We understand that many people are under financial pressures at this time and ideally the best thing that individuals can do is to fill in the Baywatch survey in August, but if you can help with a donation too that is very much appreciated. Donations can be made through our website www.disabledmotoring.org or by calling 01508 489449.

DMUK Baywatch Sponsor

DMUK has worked for many years with the British Parking Association (BPA) to improve parking for disabled motorists. The BPA sponsored the campaign in 2019 and is once again sponsoring it for 2020.

Kelvin Reynolds, British Parking Association, Director of Corporate and Public Affairs, said: “We wholeheartedly support DMUK’s annual Baywatch campaign. With one in every five disabled parking bays being misused at supermarkets, this campaign is a great way to raise awareness of the importance of only using disabled bays if you are a Blue Badge holder. We encourage as many people as possible to participate in the survey.”

August 4, 2020
Baywatch Campaign Changing Format for 2020

Disabled Living are proud to support Disabled Motoring UK’s (DMUK) latest Baywatch campaign which looks into levels of disabled parking abuse at supermarkets, Baywatch, is changing format for 2020. DMUK tell us all about the campaign coming up in August 2020 and how you can support.

A common problem for many disabled motorists is not being able to park at their desired destination, especially at their local supermarket. The major complaint is that the disabled bays are all occupied with cars not displaying a Blue Badge.

Disabled Motoring UK’s Baywatch campaign seeks to address this. This campaign researches the level of disabled parking abuse at supermarkets, by asking disabled motorists to survey their local supermarket car park. Specifically, they count how many disabled bays are provided and how many cars that are parked in them without displaying a Blue Badge.

We launched this year’s campaign in March 2020 with a great response from supporting organisations and the campaign’s sponsor, the British Parking Association. DMUK is so pleased with the positive response it gets from its members, the public and organisations. Last year was our best campaign yet with record numbers of participants. However, this was before the world was swamped by the current Coronavirus pandemic. Even though many areas of the UK are seeing a decrease in infections and deaths from Coronavirus, and the government are easing lockdown restrictions, DMUK has decided that it is not appropriate to ask individuals to physically go to a supermarket car park and count cars not displaying a Blue Badge which are parked in disabled bays. This could put participants in a position where they find it harder to social distance and we would never ask people to put themselves at an increased risk of catching the virus.

Instead we will be running a survey for the month of August which participants can complete without leaving their home. DMUK will ask individuals to think back over the last 12 months to consider their general parking experience and ask them to answer some questions about this experience at supermarkets and on their everyday journeys. We will use this data to tackle the supermarkets and other parking providers over their disabled parking policies. As a thank you for taking part there will also be an opportunity for one participant to win a £25 M&S voucher.

The survey will be printed in the August issue of Disabled Motoring and there will be an online version going live in August which can be accessed through our website https://www.disabledmotoring.org/baywatch-2020

We hope that in August 2021 to have this pandemic long behind us and run our usual Baywatch Campaign.

The campaign has support from Baroness Tanni Grey-Thompson, she commented: “It’s so sad that Disabled Motoring UK has to run its Baywatch Campaign. Disabled bay enforcement should be mandatory, especially for the big supermarkets that can afford to invest in policing their car parks. I see disabled parking abuse every day, it’s never a surprise to me, including at my local supermarket. There is a real lack of understanding about how essential these bays are to disabled people and I applaud DMUK’s Baywatch Campaign as it plays a vital role in highlighting the issue of disabled parking abuse at supermarkets.”

Heidi Turner, Communications and Campaigns Director at DMUK, said: “Baywatch is one of the charity’s longest running campaigns and is really important to draw attention to the parking problems that disabled people face when just trying to do their everyday grocery shopping. The charity has decided to change the format of Baywatch this year in order to keep our supporters safe. Nevertheless the new survey will provide us with some really useful data to keep the pressure on the supermarkets to do more to manage their disabled parking bays properly. Disabled motorists face parking problems in all aspects of their life and the new survey will also encompass some more general parking questions which will expand the scope of the DMUK Baywatch Campaign.”

DMUK Baywatch Appeal

In October 2019 DMUK launched its Baywatch Appeal as a way of raising additional funds to support the charity’s campaigning efforts. Since its launch the charity has raised an extra £5740.58 in added donations. Any extra money the charity can raise to support campaigning is so helpful. We understand that many people are under financial pressures at this time and ideally the best thing that individuals can do is to fill in the Baywatch survey in August, but if you can help with a donation too that is very much appreciated. Donations can be made through our website www.disabledmotoring.org or by calling 01508 489449.

DMUK Baywatch Sponsor

DMUK has worked for many years with the British Parking Association (BPA) to improve parking for disabled motorists. The BPA sponsored the campaign in 2019 and is once again sponsoring it for 2020.

Kelvin Reynolds, British Parking Association, Director of Corporate and Public Affairs, said: “We wholeheartedly support DMUK’s annual Baywatch campaign. With one in every five disabled parking bays being misused at supermarkets, this campaign is a great way to raise awareness of the importance of only using disabled bays if you are a Blue Badge holder. We encourage as many people as possible to participate in the survey.”

For more information please contact:

Heidi Turner

Communications & Campaigns Director

Heidi@disabledmotoring.org

01508 489449

July 9, 2020
Have Disabled People Been Forgotten in the Era of Social Distancing?
This is a guest blog post written by Disabled Motoring UK (DMUK). Disabled Living are proud to support their campaign again this year to help raise awareness of parking bays for disabled people during Covid-19.

As the UK’s shops and retail outlets begin to open DMUK is being contacted more and more by its members who are frustrated about their needs being forgotten with new measures being introduced resulting from the Coronavirus pandemic.

DMUK does support the government in the need to keep people safe and encourages everybody to follow the appropriate guidelines. We have seen socially distanced queues outside retailers of all natures and these are necessary in order to keep people safe. However, these organised queues often need to take over parts of the retailer’s car park in order to accommodate them. Often the disabled parking bays are nearest to the entrance and are therefore the automatic choice to be cordoned off for such queues.

DMUK understands the predicament many retailers find themselves in and they need to put in place measures that protect everybody. However, we also want to see retailers think about their disabled customer’s needs. We encourage all retailers to think carefully about the position of queuing systems and the removal of disabled parking bays should be a last resort. If there is no other option, DMUK would like to see the suspended bays resited to an appropriate place in the car park, sign posted correctly and managed properly so they are kept free for genuine Blue Badge holders.

Campaigning

DMUK has a long campaigning history when it comes to protecting disabled parking and this is the latest situation where we have seen the needs of Blue Badge holders neglected. Disabled parking bays are always the first to be cordoned off for construction work, temporary toilets, storage and the list goes on. Social distancing is just the latest excuse to use these bays for which they are not intended. A disabled bay is a life line to a Blue Badge holder, and without one it could mean a dramatic loss of independence.

Dave Smith, Head of Public Affairs and Communications at the British Parking Association, said:

“Parking operators should work with landowners to ensure that disabled motorists are not unfairly penalised by a reduction in designated parking bays due to social distancing requirements. This means continuing to meet their obligations under the Equality Act and making reasonable adjustments where necessary. It’s also important that spaces allocated for Blue Badge holders continue to be effectively monitored to ensure they are not abused”

We have also been contacted by members who have had difficulties when they are in shops, because the staff refuse to give them the assistance they require – citing health and safety concerns as the reason they cannot help at this time. For example staff refusing to lift things off high shelves or assistance with carrying shopping to the disabled person’s car. This is not acceptable and retailers should put in place the provision to give assistance to disabled customers whilst still keeping their staff safe. We’d also like to see a national policy that would exempt disabled people from queuing at retail outlets. Most retail outlets do not have the capabilities to put adjustments in place which would allow disabled people to queue, for example providing seating. A reasonable adjustment would be to let them go straight to the front.

Disabled people who are shielding

There is a common misconception that all disabled people are ‘clinically vulnerable’ and will be ‘shielding’ at home for as long as the Coronavirus is with us. This is certainly not the case and many disabled people are eager to get back to their everyday lives. However, they cannot do this unless the retailers put in place reasonable adjustments so that they can access goods and services just like everybody else.

Protecting health for everybody also means protecting independence for everybody.

DMUK’s asks to retailers:
- Disabled parking bays should not be removed to provide a space for socially distanced queues.
- If cordoning off disabled parking bays is the only option for a retailer these bays should be re-sited to another place in the car park, signposted and managed properly so they are kept available for genuine Blue Badge holders only
- Blue Badge holders should be exempt from queuing at retail outlets
- Disabled people should be able to access the assistance they require when shopping
Heidi Turner, DMUK Communications and Campaigns Director, said:

“DMUK has always been a champion for the independence of disabled people and there is a real danger that as we come out of lockdown this will be eroded. We are asking retailers not to forget their disabled customers when putting social distancing measures in place so that everybody can access their services. Not all disabled people are considered ‘clinically vulnerable’ and will desperate to get back to their ordinary life. However, they may be prevented from doing so if the correct reasonable adjustments are not put in place to help them do so.”

For more information please visit the DMUK website: www.disabledmotoring.org

To share your news with Disabled Living please email: info@disabledliving.co.uk
June 24, 2020