Free Traffic Legal Advice

Hey all,

Thank you for all your responses and sorry for the late reply.

I attempted to understand all of what was said; it's all so confusing! Is this why people end up paying?

Luckily, the council PCN is less confusing than what I am currently going through with a private PCN. 

I received the notice to owner through the post today. It has 2 double-sided pages. Do you want me to take a photo of all sides to put on here, or will one side suffice?



[ Guests cannot view attachments ]

Hello,

Thank you for your help!

Yes, I am waiting for the notice to the owner to arrive and will make my formal appeal. Others have said that if they reject the formal appeal, the tribunal's part should be in my favour. In the formal appeal, do I include both challenges?

In my informal appeal, I appealed under the Equality Act, but that was rejected. My private parking ticket rejected my formal appeal when I tried to do it under the Equality Act; thus, I am sceptical that the Equality Act exists.

Thank you for offering to represent me, I will def take this up if the next stage rejects my appeal. I don't understand the process yet. So I need to go and do some research.

I have my V5C; I only got my car at the beginning of this month, so I know the correct address is there.

Sorry I forgot about the correspondence letter, which should be above. Thank you.

Since purchasing a car and receiving my blue badge, I have received 4 tickets because the parking information is not autism friendly.

As an autistic person, I encounter challenges understanding information designed for neurotypicals, including parking rules and signage. Researchers (e.g. Professor Kate Cain from Lancaster University and Professor Jane Oakhill from the University of Sussex), have shown that reading comprehension involves more than just recognising words; it also requires connecting different text parts to grasp the broader context. Unfortunately, individuals like me, who experience weak central coherence, may struggle to compile information effectively, hindering our understanding of complex instructions, such as parking guidelines.

While attempting to comprehend the parking rules, I diligently conducted Google searches to decipher the meaning of "clearly marked and signed." However, my efforts were in vain, as the available information did not provide the clarity I needed. It was difficult for me to discern what a "reserved disabled bay" looks like, leading me to assume that it would be labelled as "reserved for specific blue badge holders." I included a screenshot of my search history as evidence of my attempts in the appeal.

Upon further investigation, I discovered an essential piece of information in The Traffic Signs Regulations and General Directions 2016 that was unavailable on the H&F website. According to the regulations, where a bay is reserved for an individual disabled badge holder, an alphanumeric identifier, possibly followed by the word "ONLY," should be added after the term "DISABLED." This addition would have been immensely helpful for someone like me, as it would enable my brain to comprehend the alphanumeric identifier as a combination of letters and numbers, thus making the sign more interpretable.

The correspondence officer rejected my initial appeal, stating that the parking signage met statutory requirements; in other words, enough signs were clearly visible. However, my vision is not the issue, nor did my appeal mention the lack of signage. I specifically mentioned it was the clarity of the information provided. Nonetheless, after researching the regulations, I do not believe they have been updated to consider hidden disabilities. In addition, as highlighted by the National Autistic Society (NAS), despite introducing the Autism Act 2009, the only act for a specific disability, autistic people (myself included) are still facing challenges with services in understanding what autism is and how it impacts us. For example, the NAS 2016 report indicates that only 16% of autistic people and their families feel the public understands autism. With this, I am unsure if there is any point in appealing my ticket further and instead focus on trying to make some changes by contacting the local government social care ombudsman. Implementing changes is more important to me, and I would rather not waste my time and energy if this appeal isn’t in my favour.

I appreciate your help and guidance on this appeal + any other people to contact about making the driving information more accessible. As an aspiring autism researcher who is also autistic I believe I could offer some cost-effective and easy-to-implement solutions.

Photos:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Jdn1vdcDXcoH1m6VNiVrHMuzU5rmWZnF/view?usp=sharing
Correspondence letter: https://drive.google.com/file/d/19Js3bsqcTq1MgI8lGG5pa6ebzKFxHnCv/view?usp=drive_link

Street view link:
https://goo.gl/maps/EBhevWA4ahL7tDix5