End to double yellow line parking in Scotland?
Monday, July 19th, 2010
Scottish ministers are considering changing the rules which allow Blue Badge holders to park on single and double yellow lines.
Councils across Scotland have told the Scottish Executive that soaring numbers of Blue Badge holders and increasing congestion mean the current rule which allows holders to park on yellow lines is making some roads unsafe.
Local authority bosses want ministers to ban badge holders from parking on double yellow lines and restrict access to single yellow lines to three hours.
Motorists who break the new rules would face fines of up to £100.
There are now 270,000 blue badge holders in Scotland – nearly twice as many as a decade ago.
But there is growing public unrest over the level of Blue Badge fraud.
In Edinburgh alone it is estimated as many as 70 per cent of the 18,000 blue badges currently in circulation are being misused in some way.
In response, the Executive wants to beef up fines for misuse of the badges from £1,000 to £2,500, as well as introduce independent medical tests to verify disability claims.
The move to change the yellow line rules was backed by The Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents, which claims the ‘no parking on double yellows’ rule should apply to all road users.
But campaigners for the elderly and disabled warned the plans could unfairly hit genuine Blue Badge holders. Mobilise will be strongly opposing this proposal.
A public consultation on the Executive’s plan will run until October. if you would like to respond to the consultation CLICK HERE