We'll be driving mainly in the English countryside, York being the only big city we'll be driving in. What is the handicapped parking situation like? Are they as plentiful as in the US? We have a Pennsylvania placard we can take.
Posted by
Northamptonshire, England
32746 posts
Around large businesses like supermarket car parks and council run car parks there will be plenty of spaces reserved by a wheelchair symbol.
In rural areas not so much. A lot of help a parking space 10 feet closer is when you then have to negotiate loose gravel instead of a hard surface.
The problem is that the UK uses the EU common blue badge and does not, as a whole, recognize non-EU badges. Some places individually will accept them, others you risk a ticket.
This has been discussed fairly recently here - if you search for those threads you will get the benefit of those discussions.
Posted by
Oxford, United Kingdom
5326 posts
This is the advice issued by the Department for Transport:
Disabled parking badges from countries outside the EU vary in design and it would be hard for local enforcement officers to verify their authenticity. DfT advise people visiting the UK from non-EU countries that they should bring their disabled parking badges with them and check with the local police or local authority in the areas they intend to visit to see if the badge would be recognised, but emphasise that this entirely at the discretion of the police and local authority.
Posted by
Hampshire, England.
1069 posts
As mentioned above, the term used in the UK is "disabled", some people may find " handicapped" offensive (apparently).