Most of the car parks near me in the UK charge for the disabled spots AFAIK. Some of them specifically say on the sign “Blue badge holders must pay fee”.
According to a wheelchair user friend, the major reason UK parking is usually free to disabled drivers is actually because the coin slots in the meters originally installed in council owned car parks were simply too high up for use by someone using a wheelchair. This meant that some people who could drive a modified vehicle were unable to use the machines to pay, so complained that they were not accessible. The most cost effective solution at the time was simply to declare that anyone with a disabled badge didn’t have to pay, as not many people were affected so that was cheaper than re-designing and replacing all the machines. Most people turned out to be OK with this, figuring that the inconveniences of disability made free parking a fair enough perk, so it’s largely just stuck, as deliberately getting machines that are usable by wheelchair users and requiring them to pay now comes across as picking on the disabled, rather than accommodating them.
Dunno how true that is, but the meters in private car parks here which do require disabled users to pay are certainly lower and differently designed.
Not quite true. Unlimited parking on double yellows is for Scotland only. Elsewhere it’s three hours (and less in some areas like the City of London and Westminster). The Blue Badge scheme That’s why you get a “clock” as part of the Blue Badge.
The parking spaces are not always free, as that link states.
Car parks (even at hospitals) almost always charge the same amount for disabled spaces as any others, IME. Some allow you extra time for the same money, but they’re rare.
Parking in spaces that aren’t specifically marked for disabled users may attract a fee (doesn’t say that in the links, that’s just my own experience). On-road metered parking is free (partly because most residential streets don’t have specific disabled parking spots available to any disabled user; they might have marked ones for specific residents but they really are just for those residents) but that doesn’t apply to car parks.
But it’s much harder to get a Blue Badge in the UK than it seems to be in the US, and there are no temporary disabled permits.
I’m going to also assume the main driver for this is ADA. If you offer handicap parking without a meter you avoid requiring the meter and surrounding area the meter is installed in to meet ADA requirements. I’m guessing the minimal revenue a city would gain from meters at handicap spots is significantly lower than the costs of installing ADA compliant meters (if even such a thing exists) and potentially modifications to the sidewalk/medians where the meters are installed. Put a standard meter in and hello ADA lawsuit. 
:applause:
I see the SDMB has morphed into a version of an online comments section. Oh, well.
Your post #11 pretty much opened that up.
Your link is for parking violations, not parking meters, which is in agreement with my post.
I emboldened the part you may have missed of my post.
In general the ideal is that parking meters go to pay for the metering system, signs and parking enforcement (which includes salaries of ‘meter maids’).
This makes sense as that is to the benefit to the driver to pay, as that ensures you can get a parking spot. Also not overcharging for parking makes the businesses happier as it’s not a discouragement beyond what is needed to ensure turnover. So it is the goal of most metering systems however skimming revenue does happen in some places. Though gaining revenue this way is punitive and there is no reason to punish a person for not doing anything wrong.
The real revenue from such a system comes from tickets, which your link supports.
Going back to the OP, a handicap person need a close spot, and can’t afford to hunt around for a long term parking spot. We as a society entitle them to a primo spot. So that spot many times is for them both long term and short term, so no need to time them, this no need for meters for them.
I’ve got no problem with free parking for the handicapped, but life doesn’t make parking rules. People do. If it’s fair, it’s the people who made the rules being fair. If it’s not, it’s the people who made the rules being unfair.
In many places more from the fines than from the meters.
You’d think San Fran would be liberal on this, but not really. On one very short street it turns into a “No stopping” zone at 3PM, for no discernable reason. Four metered spots, three handicapped spots. @ 2:50, three or four tow trucks line up and at 3:01 they cite and tow, including usually 2-3 handicapped parkers.
At some point in the not so distant past, when folks were much more civil, my post would have been responded to by someone, such as Kanicbird, who kindly did provide an explanation and a justification for untimed, and unpaid parking spots. Now, that statement is responded to with “You’re an asshole for bringing that up!” Don’t worry, young fella, we’ll all be out of your way soon.
This is completely bunk. Many towns consider parking fees a major source of revenue.
Parking meters? Cities still use those? In, for instance, Portland, they rely on time-stamped tags that you buy from a kiosk in the middle of the block. The kiosks take coins, bills or charge cards, meaning you no longer need a coin holder in your car, and they are portable: if you buy two hours of parking, you can use two hours of parking, anywhere in town. Seems more fair and practical than the old meter system.
It’s been many years since I’ve been in SF (courier service driver) but I’m assuming it’s still to provide more traffic lanes during rush hour.
If you qualify for the handicap spaces, life has dealt you enough grief, why not allow free parking? It doesn’t really cost anything.
Do you also dislike veterans discounts? I know there are people that resent those for some reason.
There are many lanes in SF (and other cities) that are used for parking during off hours, and become a driving lane during commute hours.
ETA: oops, running coach already said that.
Nm
That would make sense and usually it is for that reason but this was a small short side street.
$40 = $0 if the shoppers decide to go elsewhere.
Our local town had meters on the main street and a block away during the 1950’s-1970’s. They never received a penny from my family, who deliberately parked two blocks away or went to the free-parking mall. In the 1980’s, largely at the request of the merchants, the city removed all of the meters, and there are no meters anywhere in the city (or county) today. Let that be a lesson to all of us.