Free Traffic Legal Advice

Hello everyone,

This windscreen PCN was placed on my father's vehicle when he went for a hospital appointment at Whittington. I am posting here on his behalf because he isn't computer-literate nor has good command of English.

As my mother was accompanying him, he used her blue badge in a disabled bay that he thought was okay to use. He clearly displayed the disabled badge and the time wheel on the dash, and the CEO had taken photos of them. However, my father didn't realise that the disabled bay was a dedicated bay which is reserved for a specific disabled permit holder. The code 16 PCN was thus issued.

PCN & CEO images: https://photos.app.goo.gl/2Vfw89Uoj6QpMDsG6

Any advice?

@elucidate please read the guidance here https://www.ftla.uk/civil-penalty-charge-notices-(councils-tfl-and-so-on)/read-this-first-before-posting-your-case!-this-section-is-for-council-tfl-dartme/ and re-post the PCN without any redactions.

Also please give us a link to the exact spot on google street view. The last two cases I've had where I've dealt with one of these "special" blue badge bays, it turned out the traffic order didn't exist at all.

The road markings and intra-bay markings are a bit out (and I think the sign's wording is a bit misleading) but this won't be a winning defence IMO.

IMO, the key issue is that the ISA wheelchair symbol is NOT on the traffic sign and this is perfectly correct because it is pure and simple a permit parking bay reserved for permit XXX*. The fact that one of the council's qualifying criteria for this permit is that the person must hold a BB is neither here nor there, after all for most permits one of the qualifying criteria is that the person must be a resident, but this doesn't mean their address is included on the traffic sign or painted on the road!

Let's hope the skew-whiff signage and markings are indicative of sloppy council procedures and that there isn'ta traffic order which supports the bay as configured. 

*-the driver mistook 'disabled permit' for 'disabled badge holder'. Personally I don't like the inclusion of 'disabled' because it's pure and simple a permit, but I can't see this trumping the absence of the wheelchair symbol.

I think a contrite plea for discretion is going to be the best approach here but I need to check a couple of things first. Did you father look for / check the sign? If so, what did he think it meant / why did he misunderstand it? Has you father ever come across a dedicated disabled bay before?

I'm sorry for not running it by you first but by the time I got round to your post, the official discount period had already run over but they hadn't yet increased the charge so, before it got too late, a contrite plea was sent with the following words:

I do not dispute the occurrence of the contravention. However there are some mitigating circumstances which I hope you will consider as reason to cancel the PCN. On the day in question, I had an appointment at the nearby Whittington Hospital for gallstone removal. The gallstones had been a cause of severe pain for me for some time now and, along with me being at the age of 72, I am sure you would appreciate I was quite anxious about the surgery. My wife therefore accompanied me to the hospital and I used her blue badge to park at the location in question. English is not my first language. I am writing this challenge to you via my son's translation. He had told me the night before that there are plenty of bays around the hospital where I can park, and when I saw that the place I parked had "Disabled" written on the signplate and the road, I did not think there would be a problem. On all the occasions where I have travelled with my wife anywhere, this is the first time I have come across this phenomenon. Although the surgery itself had some temporary side effects, the surgery gave me a sense of relief that I will not suffer from gallstone pain anymore. Finding the PCN on my vehicle removed that sense of relief from me. I am a retired pensioner who is currently on recovery from surgery and I have a disabled wife at home. Recently, carers have started to attend my home 4 times a day. This PCN is causing me severe distress on top of my situation I would kindly request you to grant me some alleviation by cancelling this PCN. I will not make the same error again. To help you in your decision, I attach a PDF of my hospital appointment letter, and also a copy of his pre-assessment notes. I look forward to hearing from you soon.

And they rejected it quite speedily.

Is there any chance the NTO will arrive before the end of the discount period?