ABUSE OF DISABLED PARKING SPACES

Early day motion 1432, tabled 30 June 2004 by Harry Barnes (Labour). Signed by 85 members.

That this House congratulates the Daily Mirror on its recent special feature, Parking Space Pirates, by Matt Roper, which graphically exposed the widespread abuse by able-bodied drivers of disabled parking spaces in supermarket car parks and lent support to www.baywatchcampaign.org, which was founded by the Disabled Drivers' Association, The Disabled Drivers' Motor Club, the British Polio Fellowship and Disability Now, with the support of the big four supermarkets, the Department for Transport and the RAC, and which argues that the abuse of car-parking spaces for disabled motorists generates frustration and anger and causes real and practical problems; supports the need to extend penalties to off-street parking for such selfish and needless abuse of the rights of disabled drivers and passengers in supermarket car parks and more widely in, for example, pub car parks; and, in the meantime, urges all drivers to respect disabled drivers' parking bays.

Signatures by party: Labour 51, Liberal Democrat 12, Labour/Co-operative 7, Conservative 4, Scottish National Party 4, UUP 3, DUP 2, Plaid Cymru 2.