Disabled parking bays and being considerate to Blue Badge holders

Picture the scene – it's raining and you're driving around a shopping centre car park trying to find a space.

Suddenly you see a row of spaces near the entrance. They're disabled bays but there's quite a few free, so you park up, run between the raindrops into the centre, and go about enjoying your day shopping without getting soaked or paying for parking.

The problem with this scenario is that not only do you not have a Blue Badge on show in your car, because you're not disabled, but you've taken a space from someone who may genuinely have needed it. You could also land yourself with a fixed penalty notice of up to a £1000 fine.

We hope that all motorists who buy car insurance for women and men from insurethebox are aware that parking in a disabled bay without an authorised Blue Badge on display in the vehicle is an offence, but some UK drivers, it seems, either don't realise or don't care.

What's worse is that some people even use fake Blue Badges to get free parking near their destination when they are not entitled to it.

At the beginning of 2012, Transport Minister Norman Baker stated, "Motorists who pretend to be disabled to get some free parking are frankly disgraceful."

Frustrated that some road users forge disabled parking badges new ones were introduced which could not be easily copied by fraudulent motorists.

However, there are still some drivers who park in disabled bays because they don't see a problem with such behaviour.

More than 2.5 million disabled people who drive themselves around or are driven by a carer make use of these designated spaces every year but, unfortunately, because of fraud and ignorance these spaces are often in use by able-bodied motorists who should have parked elsewhere.

Men and women drivers should be careful not to park in bays which are specially marked out for disabled people. Occasionally the markings on a space are badly worn, but usually, at a glance, it's easy to tell that the bays are for use by Blue Badge holders only – some councils even have the spaces painted blue so that there are no mistakes made.

Car insurance for women and men who don't misuse disabled bays
If you are respectful enough not to park in disabled bays and are safe and considerate out on the roads too, then you could save money on your car insurance with insurethebox.

Our car insurance for women and men is aimed at young or low mileage drivers and if you fit into either or both of these categories then it's well worth clicking on our get a quote button or phoning 0333 123 1308 to find out more about how our telematics insurance works.