A Burntwood Labour councillor has called for more to be done to tackle abuse by drivers using blue badges.
Cllr Eric Drinkwater told a recent meeting of Lichfield District Council that authorities needed to do more on the issue.
He said: “I have every sympathy with people who need a blue badge, but the system is being abused.
“Some drivers think that just because they have a blue badge they can park wherever they damn well want – whether it’s on double yellow lines, corners or anywhere else they want.
“I’m not accusing all blue badge holders, but agencies are not doing enough to stop it.”
But Cllr Drinkwater’s view drew a swift response from Conservative Cllr Natasha Pullen.
She said: “As a family who need a blue badge, we go out of our way to park safely, but sometimes if we need access we will need to park in certain places.
“It’s a shame people who don’t have a blue badge continue to abuse disabled bays and force people to park elsewhere.”
As someone with a disabled partner who has a blue badge, we find the problem is lack of disabled parking bays. All too common is the fact that disabled bays are full, not always with people who have badges but lately families with pushchairs who think they can use them as parent and child bays. This means blue badge holders are forced to park on the roads close to where we need to be.
Yeah, you tell them Cllr Drinkwater!
Why are they even bothering to venture out at all?
Far easier to have a pop at blue badge holders, rather than the larger proportion of motorists who abuse disabled bays by parking in them “just for a few minutes”.
I bet you think speed cameras are just a tax on poor, victimised motorists too, don’t you?
Nice to see that Cllr Drinkwater is focusing on the key issues that really matter. People who don’t return library books on time or who abandon supermarket trolleys are equally guilty. And don’t even get me started on those who read newspapers back to front, paint their front doors green or squeeze toothpaste from the middle of the tube.
Actually, disabled badge holders are entitled to park on single or double yellow lines. Perhaps, if we could really focus on the things that matter rather than trivia, it might help create a credible Labour presence.
I agree that there are bigger issues to concern ourselves with. However, the number of blue badge holders who allow their badges to be used by others is becoming an issue, unless the threshold has changed of late because the number of able bodied people parking up is increasing. There is a particular 4×4 that parks locally and I have never seen anyone in it other than a very able looking mid twenties guy……………..yes they may be the exception, but credit to Cllr Drinkwater to raising it.