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Bermuda's Disabled and Physically Handicapped Parking scenario

Places, procedure and problems caused by deliberate violators

By Keith Archibald Forbes (see About Us) a Bermudian disabled international advocate and activist, exclusively for Bermuda Online,

To refer to this webfile, please use "bermuda-online.org/BPHA2" as your Subject.

Disabled Persons Parking Badges

For residents, details on how to obtain a Disabled Person's Parking Badge (DPPB) should be requested from Ann Lindroth or Pauleter Stevens at the National Office of Seniors and the Physically Challenged (NOSPC) of the Ministry of Health - phone 292-7802. They can supply details of the procedure. One is issued by the Corporation of Hamilton. It has many such parking spaces.  Another version is issued by the Corporation of St. George. It has one Disabled Persons Parking Badge Permit parking space.

To be eligible, persons must have signed written verification from a doctor that the person has a severe physical disability that severely impairs mobility. If under 65 years old, they must also get - at a nominal cost of $1 - a Special Persons ID cards. Persons/caregivers should never park in a Handicapped Parking by Permit Only or Handicapped Parking area until they have actually received and affixed their Permits to their vehicles. 

To be valid, Disabled Persons Badges must be renewed by 31 January each year, with the previous year's Badge surrendered to the Corporation of Hamilton.  Overseas, it is a very serious offence to park illegally - without a Permit - in a Handicapped Parking by Permit Only and Handicapped Parking area. Doing so illegally carries penalties galore.

A DPPB of this type is unique to Bermuda. It must be emphasized that it is NOT valid in the UK or USA or Canada, (where different criteria apply to qualify to obtain one, including that a disability must be of a permanent type recognized by a relevant disability authority , the application must be supported by the applicant getting a Disability Living Allowance or USA or Canadian or European equivalent -  and the application must be approved by a competent local authority). Local qualifiers going overseas should check with the Corporation of Hamilton.

Disabled Parking for registered disabled visitors

There is no requirement for Bermuda to honor any disabled parking permits from any country, unlike in Canada, USA, UK and Europe where there are reciprocal agreements to honor those from certain named countries (which exclude Bermuda).  

Disabled /Handicapped parking spaces

Specially-marked parking for the disabled is available at the areas shown, only for locals and visitors with a valid Disabled Person's Parking Badge/Permit (or overseas legally accepted equivalent which they should bring with them if portable). While many places have "Handicapped Parking" signs, so far only the City of Hamilton, Bermuda International Airport and Southampton Princess Hotel have "Handicapped Parking by Permit only" signs. 

Only three places in Bermuda - one at the back of City Hall and two at the White & Sons Southside Supermarket - have spaces wide enough by ADA standards in the USA. 

All signs should show "Disabled Parking by Permit Only" instead of "Handicapped Parking Only" signs, as the former are now internationally adopted.

King Edward VII Memorial Hospital (KEMH) and other Bermuda Government owned facilities such as the Bermuda International Airport and Bermuda Aquarium are not private parking areas but public ones coming under the Parking of Vehicles (Designated Areas) Act 1973.

• Bermuda Aquarium, Museum & Zoo. 1. Coming soon!
• Bermuda International Airport, 2. Outside Arrivals.
• Bermuda National Library, 1. Queen Street, Hamilton. Provided by Corporation of Hamilton.
• City Hall, 2, behind, for one-to two hours only. Provided by Corporation of Hamilton.
• City of Hamilton, 8, public car parks. Provided by Corporation of Hamilton.
• Clocktower Mall, Dockyard.1. 
• Fairmont Princess Hotel, Southampton, 2.
• Jubilee Park, Parsons Road, 1
• King Edward VII Memorial Hospital, 3
• Lindo's, Warwick, 1
• MarketPlace at Shelly Bay, at e-mail shellybay@marketplace.bm. 2. It is suggested that Disabled Persons (Parking) Permit/Badge holders (DPBs) take a cellphone with them. If, when they arrive there, they or a caregiver sees a car without a DPB parked there, they should call the manager or in his absence the assistant manager and ask him to put on the public address system the number of the offending car and a request to the owner to move it immediately as a waiting registered person with a DPB is waiting to park there but cannot until he moves.
• Maritime Museum, Dockyard. 1.
• Reid Street, Hamilton. Outside Marks & Spencer. 1.Provided by Corporation of Hamilton.
• Shelly Bay Beach parking, 1
• Sonesta Beach Hotel . 2
• Town of St. George, 1.
• Transport Control Dept (TCD), 2
• White's, Warwick, 1

• Many locals who are not physically handicapped and or do NOT have a current Disabled Person's Parking Badge (DPPB) deliberately park their cars in places reserved for the registered physically handicapped. When Bermudians and residents park their vehicles in Handicapped Parking Only areas and don't have a DPPB, they do so in deliberate, contemptuous, open, blatant violation for the registered disabled with a DPPB.
• This does not compare well with places in the USA, Canada, United Kingdom and elsewhere, where there are disabled-friendly laws - and signs such as the one shown, from the UK, below, photographed by the author in late December 2002 - with heavy fines and more for parking in shopping centers whether public or private in defiance of Human Rights and anti-discrimination laws. In the USA and Canada, Police - in both public and private car parking areas - routinely ticket scofflaws and in some places give them from double to six times the regular fine for repeated offences, then take away their licenses. In the UK,  section 47 of the Road Traffic Act 1984) shows it is an offence to park a vehicle which is not displaying a DPB or equivalent. 

Sorry, no such signs and no such penalties exist in Bermuda

Problems here include:

• A wrong perception by some that illegal parking is allowed "just for a minute or two." 

• Lack of understanding that Handicapped parking spaces ought to be extra-wide so as to give adequate room to handicapped vehicles to park adjacent to each other but with enough room between them to allow for sideways exit and arrival of passengers in wheelchairs. 

• If the Bermuda Police Service do not come when requested by a registered disabled person to write a ticket for a vehicle parked in a Handicapped Parking area but without a Permit, make a formal complaint to the Police Complaints Authority, at e-mail depgov@ibl.bm and in writing. 

• Bermuda Police or traffic wardens will issue parking tickets only when the vehicles are on public, not private, property and when the Police do not have "more pressing priorities." 

• No support from hospital security staff for violations.

• Otherwise, no support from Police or Human Rights Commission, unlike the Police in USA and Canada who always react promptly to complaints from the disabled. There, the cars are promptly towed and in addition to the towing recovery fee the owners are fined up to 6 times the regular fine and also face Human Rights or Civil Rights violations court appearances. 

• No support either from The National Office of Seniors and Physically Challenged (NOSPC). 

Links

See those listed in Physically Handicapped/Disabled in Bermuda