DMUK continues pressure with wider reaching Baywatch Campaign

DMUK hopes to make 2021 bigger and better than ever before and has a number of organisations supporting the Baywatch campaign this year.

The Baywatch Campaign is run annually and this year will take place in August.  Disabled motorists will be able to participate online by visiting the DMUK website www.disabledmotoring.org

Baroness Tanni Grey-Thompson said: “It’s so sad that Disabled Motoring UK has to run its Baywatch Campaign. Disabled bay enforcement should be an imperative, especially for the major supermarkets that can afford to invest in policing their car parks. I see disabled parking abuse regularly, There is a real lack of understanding about how essential these bays are to disabled people and I applaud DMUK’s Baywatch Campaign as it plays a vital role in highlighting the issue of disabled parking abuse at supermarkets."

Graham Footer, Chief Executive, at DMUK, said:  “Baywatch is one of the charity’s longest running campaigns and is really important to draw attention to the parking problems that disabled people face when just trying to go about their daily lives. It is now an annual campaign for the charity and we hope this will allow us to gather momentum and keep the pressure on the supermarkets and other car park owners to do more to support their disabled customers. It’s fantastic that the campaign has support from Baroness Grey-Thompson again this year.  This campaign relies on public participation and we hope her support will encourage others to get involved.” 

Last year DMUK changed the format of the parking survey so that participants could fill it in at home allowing the charity to expand the scope of the survey to gauge opinions of other aspects of parking and the Blue Badge Scheme.

Record numbers participated and the data collected was extremely useful, not just tackling supermarkets, but also highlighting problems in the wider parking industry.  Consequently the charity has decided to permanently change the format of the Baywatch Campaign.  Participants will no longer be asked to go to a supermarket and count vehicles not displaying a Blue Badge which are parked in disabled bays, but to think back about parking experiences over the last 12 months and answer a series of questions.

Information and results from the Baywatch Campaign 2020.