I became ill five years ago. It was a shock. I'd been full of life and living life to the max. It's complicated but in the main Degenerative Disc Disease and Osteoarthritis have destroyed my spine. Fibromyalgia and ME, Underactive Thyroid, Fibromuscular Dysplasia and various other conditions all now mean I take in excess of 30 tablets a day to try to alleviate the pain. Some days are worse than others. Some days I am bedridden, some housebound, some days I walk with two sticks, some one, some days you would look at me and think there is nothing wrong with me at all. But there is. I am in constant pain and exhaustion. I don't tell you this for sympathy, merely to put it into context and to show it can happen to anyone at any time.
One of the worst parts of being ill is the way other people see me. It has opened my eyes to how thoughtless able bodied people are towards disabled people and I have to admit so was I. I can't change people's attitudes but I hope I can at least make one change.
Disabled parking bays are wider so that people with mobility issues can open their doors wide in order to get in and out of their vehicle more easily.
Designed like this for disabled people, they are regularly taken by able bodied people exacerbating pain and exhaustion for disabled people. In my local town there are 13 disabled spaces, today five were taken by cars without disabled badges and this is the norm wherever I go. Although illegal, the fines are so minimal and ill-enforced that people just don't care. The signage is so small most people don't even realise. I want to see tougher penalties for drivers breaking the law in both public and private car parks. I want councils and retailers to have to enforce the penalties in their own car parks and increase the size of signage. I want it to become second nature that able bodied people don't even consider parking in disabled bays.
I wish people were more thoughtful and respectful to others, but unfortunately that's not the society we live in, so until that day (yes, I live in hope!) we need the law to support us in living life as pain free as possible. Please sign this petition to help disabled people live a fuller life.
