Woman who parked in disabled spot banned for 6 months

Big C

€500 fine + ban,

Happy days

genericguy

Citation needed

Wishiwasa Littlebitaller

I didn't even know Boards had a car park.

Alf. A. Male

Good enough for her, delighted.

kneemos

Don't believe it.

BearBanjer

http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/sixmonth-driving-ban-for-disabled-bay-parking-30281430.html

A JUDGE has been praised by a disability organisation after imposing a six-month driving ban on a woman who illegally parked in a disabled spot.

He made his comment before banning Valerie Scullion of Bridge View, Roslevan, Ennis, from driving for six months.

Judge Durcan imposed the ban after hearing evidence from traffic warden supervisor, James Counihan that he found Ms Scullion's car parked in a disabled driving spot at Francis Street on December 30 last.

The judge said that "this is a serious matter" before imposing the six-month driving ban and the €500 fine. Judge Durcan also awarded costs of €100 against Ms Scullion who failed to attend yesterday's hearing.

The court heard Ms Scullion had previous convictions for illegally parking around Ennis, but none for illegally parking in a disabled driver's spot.

Enable Ireland welcomed what they described as the judge's "tough stance".

Communications officer Aghna Hennigan said: "If a parking space is unavailable, it can make an entire town inaccessible to a person with a disability."

Corporate affairs manager of the AA Conor Faughnan said: "Justice must be proportionate and I believe that most drivers would be baffled with the ban handed down as the penalty in this case is the same that would be handed down for a person convicted of drink driving."

Good enough for the stupid bint.

Rasheed

Delighted. Hope it happens more often.

Glebee

The law is most certainly an ass..

eviltwin

Seems a bit harsh when people who are actually a danger on the road get off with less however I'm glad to see she was punished, its a skanky thing to do.

MagicMarker

Ah yes, the Irish courts, consistent as always.

mickydoomsux

This is great. Some people are just so ignorant when it comes to this stuff.

When our main carpark in work gets full i often have people asking me if it's ok for them to park in one of the disabled bays.

When i tell them to park in the overflow carpark which is about two minutes walk from the building they do the usual huffing and puffing and "shur, what difference does it make if i park in the handicapped space" speil.

Greenmachine

Seems like an excessive punishment compared to those handed out for drink driving etc. Sure she deserves to be punished, I am sure if she appealed it would be reduced substantially.

Tin Foil Hat

Big C wrote: »

€500 fine + ban,

Happy days

Happy days my hole. Massive overreaction and possibly illegal - a parking offence is not a driving offence, afaik, so her license have fukkall to do with it. The way people go on about disabled spaces these days is nothing short of hysterical.

kub

I never really took any notice of or appreciated disabled parking spaces until I needed one. Well done to that judge, I see the lady didn't even turn up in court, well that says a lot.

Conor in the AA obviously believes that drunk drivers do not get enough punishment.

upstairs for coffee

werewookiee wrote: »

http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/sixmonth-driving-ban-for-disabled-bay-parking-30281430.html





Good enough for the stupid bint.

Why is she a stupid bint?

abff

Seems a bit harsh. I would have thought the €500 fine was sufficient punishment.

downonthefarm

Oh no,she parked in a disabled space
Throw her to the lions

abff

Vinz Mesrine wrote: »

The woman in question was in Lahinch yesterday at the beach instead. She's married to my cousin

Fully deserved ban and fine.

I hope your cousin doesn't see this or you could be in for a family row!

I don't have a problem with the fine. I wonder is the ban more to do with her not bothering to turn up in court than the original offence?

Big C

abff wrote: »

I hope your cousin doesn't see this or you could be in for a family row!

I don't have a problem with the fine. I wonder is the ban more to do with her not bothering to turn up in court than the original offence?

Typical of people who park illegally, she probably had a hair apportionment on the day of her court case, the women has priorities, (she now has a €500 fine and a six month driving ban to go with her priorities

orangesoda

John Terry got fined £60 for just parking on one once

BearBanjer

upstairs for coffee wrote: »

Why is she a stupid bint?

For parking in a disabled spot and showing complete ignorance and disregard for people with disabilities.

She could've been responsible for someone not being able to go about their business that day by taking a designated space she didn't need.

Satriale

Vinz Mesrine wrote: »

The woman in question was in Lahinch yesterday at the beach instead. She's married to my cousin

Fully deserved ban and fine.

lucky the judge didnt hear that or she would have got 6 months inside...

catallus

Well done that Traffic Warden and Judge. Parking in these spots is seen by many to be a victimless crime. Apparently there's a problem aswell with the misuse of those blue parking permits by friends and family of those they have been issued to. Iirc there's currently a big hullaballo about it in the UK at the minute.

emeldc

All I can find is €80 fixed penalty with 28 days to pay rising to €120 and then court appearance for parking in a disabled spot. I cant find anything about huge fines, driving bans, penalty points etc. I reckon she'll get off on appeal with a good excuse as to why she didn't turn up.
Can any of the legal eagles confirm that you can actually get a driving ban for illegal parking?

NewApproach

Does any news story any way connected to the motoring industry ever go to print without the input of Conor ****ing Faughnan of the AA?

Grayson

werewookiee wrote: »

http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/sixmonth-driving-ban-for-disabled-bay-parking-30281430.html

Corporate affairs manager of the AA Conor Faughnan said: "Justice must be proportionate and I believe that most drivers would be baffled with the ban handed down as the penalty in this case is the same that would be handed down for a person convicted of drink driving."

I think that maybe we need to increase the penalty for drink driving then.

I may be a tree hugging hippy liberal who thinks that we imprison people far too often, but in this case the woman has multiple convictions for the same offence. If she can't be trusted with a car, take it off her.

Shakespeare's Sister

NewApproach wrote: »

Does any news story any way connected to the motoring industry ever go to print without the input of Conor ****ing Faughnan of the AA?

He's rent-a-guest on those kinda stories all right.
Will give his view to college radio stations and everything! In fairness, a lovely guy - and happy to give time to anyone.

tayto lover

They need to look into the whole "disabled parking" situation.
There is one very close to my door and the amount of people who park there and run into shops, pubs etc is amazing. They display these stickers but are clearly not disabled and abusing the system.
Maybe they have a member of their family who is disabled but the disabled parking places should only be used when they are driving the disabled person.
The whole thing is being abused imo.

Omackeral

All I can gather from this case is that she must have not had the Hazard Lights on and that's why she's gettin the ban. Everyone knows if you have them on you're entitled to go into the shop for a minute or two or maybe even kill someone.

MagicMarker

There's a person in senior management where I work that takes the biscuit. We have some parking spaces in front of the building, one of which is a disabled spot, this is located next to a ramp that leads up onto the path that is also the same size as a parking space. There is no shortage of parking spaces btw.

This person decides to park her pointless 4x4 on the RAMP next to the disabled spot. So, great, wheelchair users have somewhere to park, but they won't be able to get into the ****ing building unless they can lift themselves up a high curb.

suicide_circus

NewApproach wrote: »

Does any news story any way connected to the motoring industry ever go to print without the input of Conor ****ing Faughnan of the AA?

Haha
In fairness he is probably the most articulate, practical, down to earth and sensible talking head in the irish media.

Grayson

suicide_circus wrote: »

Haha
In fairness he is probably the most articulate, practical, down to earth and sensible talking head in the irish media.

Thank you for that input conor

rat catcher

Great bit of news! I dont feel sorry for her one bit! I often sit in the car when shopping with her who must be obeyed :rolleyes: and it really gets up my nose when people who are not disabled use the parking spaces. Its about time something was done!!:D

foggy_lad

catallus wrote: »

Well done that Traffic Warden and Judge. Parking in these spots is seen by many to be a victimless crime. Apparently there's a problem aswell with the misuse of those blue parking permits by friends and family of those they have been issued to. Iirc there's currently a big hullaballo about it in the UK at the minute.

Just look at the number of "Chelsea Tractors" parked in the FREE disabled spaces at the airport and you would think every disabled person is away on business or holidays!

While I don't think a ban is warranted in this case I do think that anyone found abusing a disabled parking permit should be jailed for at least a month!

ProfessorPlum

Grayson wrote: »

I think that maybe we need to increase the penalty for drink driving then.

I may be a tree hugging hippy liberal who thinks that we imprison people far too often, but in this case the woman has multiple convictions for the same offence. If she can't be trusted with a car, take it off her.

No, she doesn't. According to the article she has multiple previous parking violations (like many people) but none for parking in a disabled spot. She should get a big fine, but banning her from driving is ridiculous and disproportionate.

mickydoomsux

ProfessorPlum wrote: »

No, she doesn't. According to the article she has multiple previous parking violations (like many people) but none for parking in a disabled spot. She should get a big fine, but banning her from driving is ridiculous and disproportionate.

I'm sure she has been fined for her previous parking violations or there wouldn't be any record of them. Clearly she isn't getting the message.

This is the next step. Maybe being banned from actually being able to drive and therefore park her car will get through her ignorant skull.

Pwindedd

It seems quite harsh, but every now and then an example has to be made. She has been effectively "disabled" for 6 months, but she does have an able body to get about in. Hopefully this will be a lesson to her. And will make other people think twice.

On the other hand I do occasionally park in parent and child spaces - but only if I'm out with my mum or my teenage daughter.

shot2go

great news, these spaces are vital to wheelchair users. i have a 5 year old in a wheelchair sometimes we have to turn around and go home because all the spaces are gone 50% of the people parking in them have no badge displayed.
these spaces are much wider then normal spots for a reason.

radia

Seems to me that the driving ban is the more appropriate part of the sentence than the fine. It means she's inconvenienced in the same way as the disabled people she displaced from the parking spot; she can't just scoot up in her car, park and head in to wherever she wants, but will instead have to plan her journeys and be more reliant on others for transport. Might give her an appreciation of how important it is not to hijack parking facilities for the disabled. Make the punishment fit the crime and all that.

Cienciano

It's a bit over the top penalty purely because it's a one off and it's something that's never policed. But I'd love to see it properly enforced and more big fines.
I only once parked in a disabled spot (had no choice), normally never do. In my local shops there's a massive car park which is never full, but the 5 disabled spots are always full. It's unbelievable that so many people want to avoid the 15 second walk past 2 rows of cars.

ProfessorPlum

mickydoomsux wrote: »

I'm sure she has been fined for her previous parking violations or there wouldn't be any record of them. Clearly she isn't getting the message.

This is the next step. Maybe being banned from actually being able to drive and therefore park her car will get through her ignorant skull.

Isn't s parking violation an automatic fine? And afaik records are kept regardless of the punishment. The punishment is unprecedented and unexpected. It is not the logical 'next step'. There was no message for her to get. Punishment is only a deterrent if you know what the scale of the punishment may be.
I think that parking in a disabled spot is a scummy thing to do, but loosing your licence (and therefore maybe your job for many) is completely disproportionate, especially considering it is not an expected punishment. I would image she will get a reduction of the punishment in appeal. I hope she does appeal it.

foggy_lad

THis woman has previous convictions for parking offences meaning she has previously ignored fines and been summoned to court, and possibly didn't turn up like this time.

Does anyone think for one minute that she will stop driving because she has been banned?

Cienciano

radia wrote: »

Seems to me that the driving ban is the more appropriate part of the sentence than the fine. It means she's inconvenienced in the same way as the disabled people she displaced from the parking spot; she can't just scoot up in her car, park and head in to wherever she wants, but will instead have to plan her journeys and be more reliant on others for transport. Might give her an appreciation of how important it is not to hijack parking facilities for the disabled. Make the punishment fit the crime and all that.

Exactly, the driving ban part of penalties mean it will affect everyone. If you're on 150k a year you'll think about doing it, where if it was just the fine it's not a big deal.

Boombastic

radia wrote: »

Seems to me that the driving ban is the more appropriate part of the sentence than the fine. It means she's inconvenienced in the same way as the disabled people she displaced from the parking spot; she can't just scoot up in her car, park and head in to wherever she wants, but will instead have to plan her journeys and be more reliant on others for transport. Might give her an appreciation of how important it is not to hijack parking facilities for the disabled. Make the punishment fit the crime and all that.

wouldn't a more fitting punishment be to order her to carry out her daily tasks in a wheelchair for the next 6months with no access to disabled parking?

diomed

Crush her car.

looksee

If people who park in disabled bays when they have no right had any idea of the difficulties involved for disabled people they would not do it. I drive my husband to an appointment and if there is no disabled bay or it is occupied (even with a disabled person's car, but that cant be helped) I drop him off and leave him there complete with oxygen and unable to walk more than a very short distance while I go off to find parking, find the fee machine (I do not use the disabled spot if he is not still in the car) then walk back to him, and the same in reverse. The argument that it is 'only for a minute while I just...' is stupid. Independent people with wheelchairs have even more issues as they cannot park in an ordinary space and still have room to get the wheelchair organised.

Be grateful for your mobility, be prepared to walk a few yards!

Duck's hoop

foggy_lad wrote: »

Just look at the number of "Chelsea Tractors" parked in the FREE disabled spaces at the airport and you would think every disabled person is away on business or holidays!

Disabled parking spaces are not 'FREE' at the airport. The fees are charged at long term rates while the spaces are in short term car park.

This is for obvious pragmatic reasons.

There are maybe 40 spaces there btw. I don't think it's impossible that 40 people with disabilities be flying the same day or week from a country's main airport.

But there certainly is abuse.

Mellamella

anybody who has had the pleasure of meeting the woman in question will agree that nobody likes her. She had this coming. Its called KARMA. Now maybe she wont be so quick to gossip about others and tell nasty lies and stories

henryporter

diomed wrote: »

Crush her car.

With her in it

What amazes me about people like this is how offended they get when someone points out their transgression to them as if it were more a crime to be told they were parked illegally. These morons would drive into the shop if they could.

Tar.Aldarion

Multiple illegal parking, doesn't turn up to court...of course she should get a harsher punishment

Boombastic

Mellamella wrote: »

anybody who has had the pleasure of meeting the woman in question will agree that nobody likes her. She had this coming. Its called KARMA. Now maybe she wont be so quick to gossip about others and tell nasty lies and stories

I heard what was said about things