Woman with type 1 diabetes who treated hypo receives parking fine

A woman with type 1 diabetes has spoken out after being given a parking fine due to an episode of hypoglycaemia.
Vensa Hausmeister, from Norfolk, returned to her car after shopping on 11 December last year but was unable to drive straightaway because she was suffering a hypo (low blood sugar).
By the time Mrs Hausmeister felt safe to get behind the wheel she had exceeded the free parking time frame of two hours and was issued with a £70 fine, reduced to £40 if payable within two weeks.
The 59-year-old said she was “furious” after the firm responsible for the city’s Cathedral Retail Park car park refused to overturn the parking charge.
Speaking to the Eastern Daily Press, she said: “You can’t drive in that situation. I ate some sweets and waited for my blood sugar levels to return to normal. I was there for two hours 45 minutes. But I wanted to be sure I was safe to drive.”
Vensa was informed by the Euro Car Parks, operators of the car park, that she was still liable for the bill because she had not told the company before the charge was made.
She said: “I’m furious. There’s no phone number on the board even if I was able to call them but in that situation I couldn’t anyway.”
Mrs Haumeister, who has had diabetes for more than 40 years, believes she could have got behind the wheel sooner but did not want to take the risk. She keeps the DVLA informed of her condition.
Euro Car Parks did not make a comment despite being contacted by the Eastern Daily Press.
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