Inclusion Daily Express -- A Tale Of Two Tickets

Inclusion Daily Express Logo

International Disability Rights News Service
Click here for today's headlines & home page

Keeping advocates informed, inspired and connected since 1999.
Click here for daily or weekly delivery . . . OR
Try Inclusion Daily Express for ten days FREE . . .

A Tale Of Two Tickets
By Dave Reynolds, Inclusion Daily Express
January 2, 2008

HASTINGS & BRIGHTON, ENGLAND--It's a tale of two women, in two cities, charged with the same offense, but with opposite outcomes -- so far.

In Hastings, the East Sussex County Council has given Ann Teare a gift . . . of sorts.

As a "seasonal gesture of good will", Councilor Matthew Lock told the 84-year-old woman Wednesday that her parking ticket would be cancelled.

Mrs. Teare, who has osteoporosis, got the £30 ($60 US) ticket, not because she improperly parked in a zone reserved for motorists with disabilities, but because she had displayed her blue parking tag, or badge, upside down.

The decision to cancel her ticket came after the local Sussex Express newspaper reported on her situation.

Ann Knight, of Sudbury, has not been so lucky.

Officials with the Brighton and Hove City Council continue to refuse to cancel the £30 parking ticket that she received for parking with her blue badge hung upside down.

In fact, the council reportedly insists that Knight, 60, who uses a wheelchair because of motor neuron disease, must appear in person, even though she cannot move or speak.

"It is absolutely appalling and heartless," Knight's husband, Howard, told the Daily Mail. "The vehicle is obviously modified for a wheelchair user and there was a valid blue badge on the dashboard."

Officials with both councils reminded readers that holders of blue parking badges should be aware that they face fines if they do not display them properly. They said that when placards are displayed the wrong way it makes it harder for officers to tell whether they are genuine or fake.

Related:
"Council backs down over disabled pensioner's parking ticket" (Hastings Today)
http://www.inclusiondaily.com/news/2008/red/0102a.htm
"Paralysed woman fined for displaying disabled badge wrong way around" (The Argus)
http://www.inclusiondaily.com/news/2008/red/0102b.htm

Click here for top of this page

Purchase this story for your website or newsletter . . .

Here's what subscribers say about Inclusion Daily Express. . .

Keeping advocates informed, inspired and connected since 1999.
Click here for daily or weekly delivery . . . OR
Try Inclusion Daily Express for ten days FREE . . .

Get your news here!