Disabled parking bays ‘open to all motorists’
Disabled pensioner Lorraine Richardson whose car was blocked from a reserved space by an able-bodied motorist on Wednesday
ANY motorist can park in the majority of ‘disabled’ car park spaces in the centre of Portadown, it emerged this week.
Disabled pensioner Lorraine Richardson – whose car was blocked from a blue-badge space by an able-bodied motorist on Wednesday – was told by a traffic warden that the man acted totally within the law when he parked there.
Mrs Richardson – a passenger in the family’s Toyota Avensis driven by husband Gordon – was informed that a number of ‘new’ disabled spaces in the town have not been commissioned by the NI Assembly, three years after they were created in the public realm scheme. The warden added that anyone could legally park in them until they were registered.
“He said he could do nothing about it. He claimed that the other driver knew he wasn’t breaking the law and parked there often,” she added. “The warden was very courteous and apologised, but he was powerless to prevent it.”
Mrs Richardson, who has suffered three heart attacks, and has osteoporosis and arthritis, claimed that the driver “was rude and insulting to me and to my husband Gordon – his remarks really hurt me. He even questioned my right to have a disabled card”.
The Richardsons had planned to park the car in a bay marked with the ‘disabled’ sign at Church Street opposite St Mark’s Church so that Mrs Richardson could do a message nearby, but a vehicle was parked there “which we suspected wasn’t being driven by a disabled driver”.
Gordon got out and discovered there was no disabled card at the windscreen, searched out the man, who came out to the vehicle “and point blank refused to move it – he confirmed that he was within the law and wasn’t for budging”.
Said Mrs Richardson, who lives in Derrytrasna, “He was very rude towards me and said I didn’t look disabled. He taunted Gordon to hold onto me while we crossed the road in case I fell. I felt so hurt and insulted.
“We have a ‘Christian’ sticker at the rear of the car and he even questioned our Christianity, claiming that I wasn’t disabled and should renounce my pains. But I get very breathless when I’m out walking, and the cold wind on Wednesday really went for me.
The pains are hard to bear at times.
“I wonder if this man watched the Paralympics and if he was touched by the athletes’ efforts. I have a son who is quadriplegic, due to a road accident, and it affects me so much that I just couldn’t watch the games on TV. This incident has really hurt and annoyed Gordon and me.”
Mr Richardson said, “It annoyed me just as much as Lorraine, maybe even more to see my wife insulted like this. Nobody knows more than me how much she suffers. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. The warden was so apologetic, but there was nothing he could do within the law. It’s a disgrace that the bays haven’t been commissioned.
“The driver refused to vacate the bay, so I had to run Lorraine to the shop in question, do a lap of the town and then collect her. It was terrible.”
The Richardsons have called in DUP politicians to sort it out, via the constituency office in Edward Street. And Stephen Moutray MLA – a member of the DRD committee at Stormont – is taking up the issue with Minister Danny Kennedy.
“This is scandalous. It seems incredible that these parking bays aren’t commissioned,” he said. “If this is the case, they might as well not be there if anyone can park in them. Portadown has been plagued with car parking charges and other parking issues, which our party is trying to resolve. This is an unbelievable new departure. I’ll be writing to the Minister to establish all the facts and get this sorted out as soon as possible. The disabled deserve better than this.”
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Weather for Portadown
Wednesday 19 June 2013
Today
Sunny spells
Temperature: 9 C to 19 C
Wind Speed: 9 mph
Wind direction: North west
Tomorrow
Cloudy
Temperature: 12 C to 17 C
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Wind direction: South east
