Supreme Court Ruling and disabled parking

In the UK, the Supreme Court has recently ruled that disabled passengers have a right to priority access over the wheelchair space on a bus. This was heralded as a victory for disabled people's rights as drivers are now required to ask passengers blocking the disabled space to move.

Although this ruling was about the wheelchair space on the bus it made me think if this would have implications for the parking industry. Although most car parks have designated disabled bays these are frequently taken up by people who are not disabled. I believe that in the same way that bus drivers must now ask non-disabled people to move from the wheelchair space, all parking operators must now ensure that the disabled bays are kept free for disabled people. I believe that failure to keep these spaces free for those that they are meant for could lead to legal action by disabled people.

Although many parking operators do have enforcement there are still some that don't which can make parking for disabled people very difficult. I have always believed that if disabled bays are provided they must be kept free for those people they are meant for otherwise they are next to useless. This is why enforcement of disabled bays is essential for any car park receiving my "Good for disabled people" accreditation from People's Parking.