Nottingham pensioner fined £35 for 'upside down' badge

[Cobbydaler]

They'd be better employed pursuing people who truly abuse the system

A disabled pensioner has been fined for displaying his blue badge upside down at a Nottinghamshire council car park.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england...shire-13891422

[Halcyon]

Don't officers of the law realise what a joke it makes them look pursuing stupid cases like these when they could be tackling more important things.

[Sirius]

Originally Posted by Halcyon

Don't officers of the law realise what a joke it makes them look pursuing stupid cases like these when they could be tackling more important things.

It was a traffic warden not a copper

Rushcliffe Borough Council said the warden was correct to issue the ticket under the regulations.

[Maggy J]

Pettyfogging and just a means of the council raising revenue.

An online government guide for the blue badge said it must be visible and the information on it must be legible.

So someone couldn't turn their head to the side to read it?

[nffc]

I'm failing to see what contravention they legitimately got him on.

---------- Post added at 22:32 ---------- Previous post was at 22:32 ----------

Originally Posted by Halcyon

Don't officers of the law realise what a joke it makes them look pursuing stupid cases like these when they could be tackling more important things.

Parking is decriminalised in most authorities and enforced by CEOs.

[devilincarnate]

This is wrong as the officer should have been walking on his hands an then more would have got done for been upside down?

[Gary L]

It could have been worse. it could have been sideways.

In the real world they would have put in the help file something about "please try to make sure that the badge is displayed the right way up when positioning"

but as with most things nowadays, it read something like "if it's not the right way up we will fine you"

[Graham M]

They should have the book thrown at them for such a heinous offense!

[Welshchris]

My uncle got a ticket for parking in a Disabled Bay where he lives in Truro even tho his badge was on show and even showed quite clearly in the picture taken by the Warden. The reason the ticket was given was the the warden was to short to see the badge on the dashboard and therefore couldnt see one displayed.

[denphone]

Originally Posted by Sirius

It was a traffic warden not a copper

Typical over zealous traffic warden who has got nothing better to do but take it out on some poor pensioner.

[j52c]

http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/disabled...ort/dg_4001061

Displaying the Blue Badge

You should display the Blue Badge where it can be clearly read through the windscreen of your vehicle. The front of the badge should face upwards, showing the wheelchair symbol.

You should be sent a parking clock with your Blue Badge. The parking clock must show your time of arrival and be displayed next to your Blue Badge when you park either:

* on yellow lines
* in other places where there is a time restriction

If there is a time restriction, the clock should be set to show the quarter hour period during which you arrived.

When no parking concessions are being used, Blue Badges should be removed from view.

A few years ago my wife, who has a blue badge, parked in one of the town car parks along with the ticket she got from the machine, blue badge holders have to pay to park in our town. What seemed to happen is that a she closed the car door the ticket covered part of the blue badge, hence we got a letter from the council sying that she was being fined for incorrect display of the badge because the car park attendant could not read it.

I went into the council offices and after quite a few heated words they decided to drop the case, admitting it could have been handled much better.

One thing that the wife does not do is park on yellow lines, although I have on the odd occassion when I have taken her into town knowing she will only be in the building for a few minutes, ie like the bank etc.

[techguyone]

looks like its good old targets again 'meet your targets or else!'

[nffc]

But the contravention is failing to display the badge. The badge was displayed so no contravention occurred. Any council official refusing an appeal is a moron because if it goes to PATAS the CEO's photo taken when the ticket was issued will clearly show the badge is issued and any appeal would be extremely likely to win... no doubt followed by ass-whippings of the person issuing the ticket and the one refusing informal reps.

[Sirius]

Originally Posted by denphone

Typical over zealous traffic warden who has got nothing better to do but take it out on some poor pensioner.

fully agree

[AdamD]

A simple note/warning suck to the window should've sufficied, or a note sent to his registered address.