Taxi Driver Online

Fury over parking penalty for helping blind woman

A good Samaritan has spoken of his anger after being snapped and fined by a mobile camera vehicle while helping a blind elderly woman find her daughter.

Private hire driver Dave Barry, of Mentmore Crescent, Dunstable, is a friendly face to the town’s senior citizens, who he drives to the GP’s surgery and back again.

But it was while transporting a blind elderly woman, who has mobility problems, to the surgery in West Street, that Dave was caught out by a mobile camera vehicle and issued with a parking penalty notice.

He said: “I am just so incensed by the injustice of it.”

The fine happened on March 21 shortly after Dave had dropped the woman off at the doctors. She had arranged to meet her daughter outside the clinic and asked Dave if he could spot her.

Dave said: “What happened was I was looking for her daughter. I reversed the car by about three feet just to see if she was coming down the street, and for a second hit a zigzag line.

“At that very instant a camera car went by and I must have been caught while there.”

Within three weeks, Dave was issued with a parking penalty notice.

He said: “I feel so incensed because I’ve been taking dozens of elderly ladies to the doctors. The oldest one I take is 96 and they’re glad for a friendly face to take them there.

“It’s got nothing to do with the money. It’s the fact that common sense doesn’t even apply. They seem completely oblivious to the fact of whether you’ve got a Blue Badge on there or not.

“It’s put me right off and I’ve said to the surgery I won’t be dropping them off there any more. The sad thing about it is the lady in the car phoned me up last week for a lift there, and I had to say sorry but I daren’t risk it.”

A Central Bedfordshire Council spokesman said: “We understand that Mr Barry was assisting a disabled lady, but the law states that you are not allowed to stop or park on a zigzag line on a pedestrian crossing as it is a significant safety risk.

“There is no exemption for Blue Badge holders. We received a cheque from Mr Barry to cover the cost of his fixed penalty notice and the matter is now closed.”


source: http://www.dunstabletoday.co.uk/news/lo ... -1-6699048

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Think of how stupid the average person is, and realize half of them are stupider than that.
George Carlin

He'll get that dropped I'm sure.

He won't, he's already paid it.

Yes we know that it is.......but - was it? The law as ever is an ass.

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Common sense........is just not that Common.