The Gomel State Traffic Inspectorate conducted a raid on the parking lots of large shopping centers last weekend. Together with representatives of the Social Protection Committee and the regional public association “Spinal Disabled Persons”, inspectors conducted a preventive campaign “Stop Parking!” and clarified who can still park in disabled spaces.
The traffic police noted that every year “there are more and more conscientious citizens” who do not allow themselves to park in spaces intended for the disabled, but there are still those who neglect traffic rules.
According to statistics from the Gomel Regional Traffic Police, since the beginning of 2023, more than 550 violations have been registered in the region for parking in places specially allocated for people with disabilities.
“Unfortunately, on the roads you can often find drivers who, contrary to traffic regulations, park their vehicles in places intended for disabled people, often explaining this by saying that they were “in a hurry” and had no time to look for another parking space or “to “quickly run to the store and leave,” the traffic police said following the results of the raids.
The inspectorate emphasized that such violations “show a disrespectful and selfish attitude towards people with disabilities,” who, according to them, “already face a huge number of difficulties every day, including on the road.”
To reduce the number of such cases, the State Traffic Inspectorate conducts such raids, regularly and, as a rule, without preliminary “announcements”, so drivers should remain vigilant and simply make it a rule: never leave their car in such parking spaces. Of course, if you have no reason for this.
Who can still park in handicapped spaces?
The Gomel Regional Traffic Police explained that the following categories of drivers can park a car in a place marked with sign 7.17 “Disabled”:
- all disabled people of groups I and II,
- persons transporting disabled people of groups I and II,
- disabled people of group III with musculoskeletal disorders,
- persons transporting group III disabled people with musculoskeletal disorders.
It is a yellow square 15 by 15 cm with a black image of the “Disabled Persons” road sign symbol (as a rule, drivers use special stickers). Let us note that paragraph 203 of the traffic rules states that the driver can install this sign in his car at his own request, however, paragraph 147 clearly states that the driver faces punishment for parking without an identification sign installed on the car.
Special stickers are not enough?
Meanwhile, the traffic police especially emphasized that the special “Disabled” sign alone is not enough to legally park in spaces for the disabled (after all, in fact, anyone can buy it – they are freely sold in stores).
“A sticker alone does not give you the right to park in handicapped spaces. It only serves as an identification mark for traffic police officers and other road users,” the traffic police explained.
In addition to a special yellow sticker, the driver or passenger of a car parked in the area covered by sign 7.17 “Disabled” must also have a disabled person’s ID card with them, which would confirm their medical conditions. It is these documents that traffic police inspectors check during such raids.
What does a driver face for parking in disabled spaces?
According to Part 2 Article 18.18 Code of Administrative Offenses of the Republic of Belarus, for illegal parking in a place reserved for parking vehicles of disabled people, the driver can be punished with a fine of two basic units (today this is 74 rubles).
However, parking in such a place can result in big troubles for the driver, because according to the law, traffic police officers have the right to take an incorrectly parked car in a tow truck to the impound lot. In this case, the car owner will have to pay not only a fine, but also pay for towing and storing the car in the parking lot.
Earlier, Telegraph told us what to do if your car suffers this fate and how much “services” for evacuation and a day in the impound lot cost.
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