Mayo town ready to tackle illegal parking with Back In 5 campaign

The Belmullet Irish Wheelchair Association Local Access Group is calling out illegal parking in disabled spaces.

“I’ll just leave my car in the disabled car parking space for five minutes,” is a common excuse people use to take up disabled car parking spaces they don’t need. And it’s illegal.

This Friday (October 4), at 10 a.m., the IWA Local Access Group will take this matter into their own hands on Main Street, Belmullet, through the Back In 5 campaign.

During this day of action, several wheelchairs will be parked unexpectedly in car parking spaces around the town to put the brakes on this illegal parking. The campaign will be supported by community gardaí.

There are currently almost 75,000 disabled drivers parking permits in circulation in Ireland. The availability of wheelchair-accessible parking spaces is an essential lifeline for motorists with disabilities. Yet far too often these spaces are occupied by able-bodied drivers.

Back In 5 reminds motorists that it is an offence to park in a disabled parking space without an official disabled drivers parking permit. Offenders are dealt a fixed charge notice for €150, rising to €225 if not paid in the first 28 days – which results in a very expensive five minutes.

National access programme manager with the IWA, Rosaleen Lally, commented: “The Back In 5 campaign will be rolled out nationally to highlight the abuse of disabled parking spaces. The campaign is a protest-style event designed to show able-bodied people the frustrations people with disabilities face when accessible spaces are abused.”

Service coordinator in Belmullet, Clare McNamara, added: “The availability of wheelchair accessible parking spaces is an essential lifeline for motorists with disabilities. Yet far too often these spaces are occupied by able-bodied drivers. The initiative involves a regular car space on the street being taken up by an empty wheelchair parked in it with a note pinned to the back with messages such as 'Be back in 5 minutes' or 'Just gone to the bank,' or 'Just running in for a coffee'.

“These are throwaway statements that people with disabilities encounter every day when people use accessible spaces that do not need them.”