Parking for Cars Used by Drivers with Disabilities
PARKING is a problem in many cities. In developed countries there are reserved spaces for disabled badge holders. Some of them are intended for regional badge holders only (e.g. London, UK). In most places that I visited, an improvised handicapped sign (
)
with a note like ''disabled tourist'' is OK with most (not all) policemen.
On the other hand, since some countries suffer from ussge of fake badges,
using an improvised one may lead to unpleasant incidents.Please read also the following note from Carol Randall:
There have been many advances in opening up travel opportunities for persons with disabilities. One such advance benefits the increasing numbers who wish to take driving vacations in Europe.
In 1997, the European Conference of Ministers of Transportation (ECMT) passed a resolution that will make it easier for persons with disabilities to operate private vehicles in Europe. When travelers park, they display a document that shows the international symbol for persons with disabilities, as well as the name of the holder of the document. Starting January 1999 a traveler in a ECMT country with a parking document can get the same parking facilities as a citizen of that country, provided the traveler is from an ECMT member country or from an associated member country. Since an increasing number of motorists with disabilities are coming to Europe from the United States and Canada, the resolution recognized parking permits issued to drivers from these countries as well. (Taken from the spring issue of the Canadian Transportation Agency`s publication ''Moving Ahead'').
A very detailed page about parking for disabled British drivers in the EU is provided by the UK Department for Transport. See also the EU Parking card statement.
In the Blue Badge Scheme document from Essex (UK) the following text was found: A system of reciprocal arrangements exists, under which disabled visitors from the participating countries can take advantage of the concessions provided in the host country by displaying the badge issued under their own national scheme. As of April 2000, such reciprocal arrangements exist between: Austria Germany Italy *Norway Belgium Greece Jersey Portugal Denmark Guernsey Liechtenstein *Spain Finland Iceland Luxembourg Sweden France *Ireland Netherlands. No schemes currently exist in Gibraltar, or
We are not sure if all the above-mentioned arrangements (outside the EU) are valid today.
An updated document about reciprocal arrangements in the EU was published by the ITF (International Transport Forum, which is a part of the OECD). It says:
...All Member Countries of the ECMT would grant the same parking concessions to people with disabilities as they offered their own nationals. These concessions usually allowed special parking in areas reserved for people with disabilities, or allowed longer parking periods or exemptions from charges... In addition to all the Member countries of ECMT this Resolution now applies also to the ECMT Associated Countries (Australia, Canada, Japan, Korea, New Zealand and United States). This means that disabled motorists from all ECMT Member and Associate countries are now entitled to the same parking concessions as nationals in all ECMT Countries. The only condition is the display of a badge showing the international wheelchair symbol.
The province of Nova Scotia (Canada) has specific Reciprocating States Regulations with specific USA states and Puerto-Rico.
In 2019 we find the interesting page Disabled Person Parking Permits for Florida Visitors. It starts with the declaration:
Florida recognizes license plates and parking permits displaying the international symbol of accessibility that has been issued by any state or foreign country.
Other badge holders may have to pass a long procedure to get a temporary parking permit.
I would like to suggest that the UN will design a unified disabled parking permit (badge) that will be issued and recognized by all UN members. The badge should be personal (not containing specific car's number). It must contain some elements against counterfeit.
Address:
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Revised: 4/2020.
