Disabled Persons (Badges for Motor Vehicles) (Amendment) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2000

Statutory Rules of Northern Ireland

2000 No. 59

ROAD TRAFFIC AND VEHICLES

Disabled Persons (Badges for Motor Vehicles) (Amendment) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2000

Made

6th March 2000

Coming into operation

1st April 2000

The Department for Regional Development(1), in exercise of the powers conferred by section 14 of the Chronically Sick and Disabled Persons (Northern Ireland) Act 1978(2) and now exercisable by it(3) and of every other power enabling it in that behalf, hereby makes the following Regulations:

Citation, commencement and interpretation

1.—(1) These Regulations may be cited as the Disabled Persons (Badges for Motor Vehicles) (Amendment) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2000 and shall come into operation on 1st April 2000.

(2) In these Regulations—

“medical practitioner” means a registered person within the meaning of the Medical Act 1983(4).

Amendments

2.  The Disabled Persons (Badges for Motor Vehicles) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1993(5) shall be amended as follows—

(1) In regulation 3 (form of badge)—

(a) in paragraph (1), after the words “diagram 1” insert the words “or diagram 3”; and

(b) in paragraph (2), after the words “diagram 2” insert the words “or diagram 4”.

(2) In regulation 3A (manner in which badges are to be displayed) in paragraph (3) sub-paragraphs (a) and (b), after the words “Part I”, insert the words “or the front”.

(3) After regulation 3E (display of support organisation badges when vehicles are parked) insert the following regulation—

“Signature of badges

3F.— (1) Subject to paragraph (2), every individual to whom a disabled person’s badge is issued shall forthwith sign it in ink with his usual signature.

(2) Where the disabled person is—

(a) a child under 12 years of age; or

(b) unable because of a disability to provide a consistent signature, the usual signature of the person responsible for the disabled person’s welfare who is a parent or legal guardian or that of a medical practitioner shall be acceptable.”.

(4) In regulation 5A (duplicate badge)—

(a) for paragraph (1) substitute the following paragraph—

“(1) When a disabled person’s badge has been lost or stolen or has become so mutilated or faded as to cease to be effectively legible when displayed on a vehicle, a new badge may be issued marked ‘duplicate’ on the front.”.

(5) In regulation 9 (exemptions for vehicles displaying disabled persons' badges from provisions in certain instruments)—

(a) in paragraph (3), for the words “the vehicles to which paragraph (4) applies” substitute the words “any disabled person’s vehicle which displays a disabled person’s badge issued by the Department”; and

(b) delete paragraph (4).

(6) In regulation 10 (revocation and transitional provisions) after paragraph (2), insert the following paragraph—

“(3) Any badge issued in the form shown in diagram 1 or diagram 2 of Part I of the Schedule on or before 31st March 2000 shall be valid for a period of 3 years from and including the date on which it is issued.”.

(7) In Part I of the Schedule after diagram 2 insert the diagrams specified in the Schedule to this Order.

(8) In Part II of the Schedule insert the following—

“Specifications for badges issued on or after 1st April 2000

(1) The badge shall measure 148 millimetres by 106 millimetres and shall be coloured blue.”.

Sealed with the Official Seal of the Department for Regional Development on 6th March 2000.

L.S.

J. Carlisle

A senior officer of the

Department for Regional Development

Regulation 2(7)

SCHEDULE

Diagram 1 Form of badge for an individual issued on or after 1st April 2000

Diagram 2 Form of badge for a support organisation issued on or after 1st April 2000

Explanatory Note

(This note is not part of the Regulations.)

These regulations further amend the Disabled Persons (Badges for Motor Vehicles) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1993.

The principal amendments are—

1.  A new form of disabled person’s badge is prescribed for issue by the Department on or after 1st April 2000 (Regulation 2(1) and (7)). Prescription of the new badge implements Council Recommendation 98/376/EC of 4th June 1998 (O.J. No. L167, 12.6.98, p. 25).

2.  The badge shown in diagrams 1 and 2 of Part I of the Schedule will cease to be valid with effect from 1st April 2003 (Regulation 2(6)).

3.  It is now a requirement for every individual to whom a disabled person’s badge is issued to sign it forthwith in ink with his usual signature (Regulation 2(3)). That regulation also prescribes the circumstances in which a guardian may sign the badge on behalf of the holder where the holder is either a child under 12 years of age or unable to provide a consistent signature.

4.  It is no longer a requirement to display a parking disc while availing of a parking concession in relation to a prohibition of waiting (Regulation 2(5)(b)).

(1)

S.I. 1999/283 (N.I. 1) Article 3(1)

(2)

1978 c. 53 as amended by S.I. 1981/154 (N.I. 1) Sch. 7, para. 21 and S.I. 1997/276 (N.I. 2) Art. 55, Sch. 8, para. 3 and Sch. 9

(3)

S.R. 1999 No. 481 Article 6(d) and Schedule 4 Part IV

(4)

1983 c. 54

(5)

S.R. 1993 No. 202 as amended by S.R. 1995 No. 332 and S.R. 1998 No. 297