Guidelines

Car Parking

Cars are the only practical method of transport for some disabled people, whether they drive themselves or ride with someone else, therefore it is vital to provide accessible parking with unhindered access to building entrances. The level of provision will depend on many factors e.g. location and use of the bulding.

Parking bays for disabled people should be conveniently located and clearly signed. They should have additional transfer space to allow people with reduced mobility to get into and out of their cars with the minimum of difficulty. Where on-site parking is not available, good practice would suggest maintaining a record of nearby accessible bays. In addition, an approach could be made to the local authority for the provision of on-street parking.

Any parking control equipment should be positioned so that it can be operated conveniently by disabled people, some of whom will be in wheelchairs.

Number of designated parking spaces

Where parking is provided, at least one bay designated for disabled people should be provided as close as possible to the principal entrance of the building.

Minimum recommended number of bays in off-street car parks (based on BS 8300)

Car park used for:

Workplaces
Where the number of disabled employees is known:

Once space for each known disabled employee plus one space or 2% of total capacity (whichever is greater) for visiting disabled motorists

or

Where the number of disabled employees is not known:

At least one space or 5% of the total parking capacity, whichever is the greater.

Shopping, recreation and leisure facilities
Minimum one space for each employee who is a disabled motorist plus 6% of the total capacity for visiting disabled motorists.

Sport England recommends 8% for some sports facilities and for 50m swimming pools.

The numbers of designated spaces may need to be greater at hotels and sports stadia that specialize in accommodating groups of disabled people.

Disabled parking bay abuse
In the UK, non-disabled drivers routinely abuse car-parking spaces specifically allocated to disabled motorists. This generates frustration, anger, resentment and leads to real problems for disabled drivers, carers and parking providers alike.

Disability Discrimination Act
From October 2004, Part III of the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 came into effect within the UK. This legislation places a legal requirement on service providers to ensure that disabled people do not find it unreasonably difficult or impossible to enjoy the service in the same way as non-disabled people.

Legal Requirements
Whilst the earlier parts of the Act focussed primarily on disabled access into buildings, Part III now looks closer at the issue of car parking. A key element of Part III is that service providers that operate a car park now have to 'monitor' their disabled bays to prevent abuse by non-disabled drivers. Failure to provide monitoring could result in a heavy financial penalty, as disabled drivers exercise their rights to compensation under the terms of the Act.

Points to be considered include:

Parking

Roadways and pathways

Acknowledgement

The above information was collected from the following sources:

Legislation

Further information:

Other information:

Picture acknowledgements