Parking for disabled people

johnb1948

Can you help me, I would like to get more signatures for a petition I started on change.org.

 

Since the scrapping of the tax disc on cars councils and hospitals have no way of knowing who is exempt from paying vehicle tax and is therefore eligible for free parking. I raised this as a problem for disabled people with my MP before car tax discs disappeared but to no avail.

 

What is happening now is councils are saying that road tax exempt disabled drivers must pay for an annual parking pass as they are unable to check the tax status of a vehicle. This pass would only cover one unitary council so if, like I do a disabled person lives in a conurbation covering several councils they may need to buy a pass for each council depending on their needs.

 

The link for the petition is;

 

https://www.change.org/p/government-councils-free-parking-for-severely-disabled-people?recruiter=185676111&utm_source=share_petition&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=share_email_responsive

 

I hope you can help?

Zoegb1

Signed  I've shared it on Facebook and Twitter too 

nanof6

DOESNT THE BLUE BADGE COVER THAT?

johnb1948

Not at all. The blue badge covers people for parking in disabled bays and also on some yellow lines on the highways. Some disabled people are so disabled as to need a vehicle or they would be housebound. These people receive higher rates of DLA & PIP and are exempt from vehicle tax & also eligible for free parking in most council car parks & hospitals. The scrapping of the vehicle tax disc means that councils & hospitals cannot easily check whether a vehicle is tax exempt and are therefore withdrawing the free parking for these disabled people. DVLA say it is not their problem and it is up to councils & hospitals who they allow to park free. This is just a cop out by DVLA and another financial burden on the most disabled people. 

Zoegb1

Both Ormskirk hospital and their car parks are no longer free for disabled people. They stopped that over a year ago it's disgusting that we have parking bay's but we are changed the same as everyone else which yesterday cost me £3 to go for my PIP interview in my mobility car, but I had to display my badge! Stupid

Mawgwr

This is in my opinion a complete con by the councils & hospitals, etc, in a bid to make a fast buck out of people with disabilities. As I understand Current English Law on this matter, it does not matter whether a vehicle is tax exempt or not, as to whether or not one gets free parking! It is the medical condition of the PERSON that determines whether or not a person is allocated a blue badge! Therefore, as long as the blue badge & the person who uses it for free or concessionary parking are in the vehicle, the tax status of the vehicle is irrelevant! & anybody who tells you otherwise is wrong (IMHO). If it were not so then the blue badge would be issued against the CAR! I'm sure we have all seen vehicles which look as if they need a blue badge, but the tax exemption status of the car is a red herring. However, if the council / NHS Trust has passed local byelaws to make it an offence to park a non tax-exempt vehicle in disabled bays, even though the person who is driving, or the passenger, has a blue badge, then that is another matter. Because then that council or NHS Trust can make it an offence to park in a blue badge space, in a non tax-exempt vehicle & therefore issue the relevant documentation towards fining the vehicle driver. There are a number of answers to this problem, but only two that are really worth considering. 1) Get onto other blue badge holders & form an action group to keep up the pressure on the council over this, until they stop charging. Also get onto Central Gov't & kick up a fuss. Get onto your MP & DEMAND they get off their fat arses & earn their pay & do something about it. The other thing you can do is to go to the local / national papers, radio stations & TV stations. If there is one thing councils & especially councillors HATE its bad publicity, especially as it may cost the councillor their council seat next election time!! ie. Name & Shame! 2) Park on yellow lines wherever & whenever you can do so LEGSLLY. Do NOT cause an obstruction, remember emergency vehicles need to get through. But, you could possibly make a point of blocking in official vehicles, or at least make it extremely difficult for the official vehicle to get to where it needs to be. Particularly, if it is the leader or CEO of a council's, vehicle. I'm sure there are many other tactics that could be thought of & put on here for the enjoyment & education of all of us. 

Regards. . . .

johnb1948

Well this is a thought that I have some sympathy for but I have decided the more peaceful approach of a petition at present. The reply I received from DVLA was.....
Dear Mr Butcher
Thank you for your email of 8 September to Chris Grayling MP, about parking
concessions for disabled people. I should explain that due to the large volume of mail Mr Grayling receives he is unable to respond personally. Correspondence is therefore forwarded to the Department or Agency with responsibility for the subject of concern.
It may be helpful if I explain that the objective of displaying a tax disc was to show
that vehicle excise duty had been paid and not to facilitate parking arrangements.
Prior to the tax disc being abolished, the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) enhanced its online Vehicle Enquiry Service (VES) to include the tax class of all vehicles. This allowed anyone, including local authorities and car park operators to identify vehicles that qualified for certain parking concessions based on the disabled tax class.
A number of customers with vehicles taxed in the disabled tax class contacted the
DVLA with concerns that this information allowed anyone to make a link between the disabled tax class and the receipt of certain benefits. As a result of this, references to the tax class of vehicles were removed from the VES. However, vehicle keepers can still access information on the tax class of their vehicle if they provide the reference number from their V5C Registration Certificate. This ensures that only those with the right to access the information are able to do so.
I can assure you that the DVLA has listened to the feedback from a range of
stakeholders and customers affected by the change. DVLA have concluded that we cannot find a solution that meets the needs of this diverse group.
I understand that some local authorities are compiling a database of vehicles in their vicinity that are entitled to free parking. However, I should confirm that establishing entitlement to parking concessions remains a matter for the relevant local authorities and is not a responsibility of the DVI_A.
I hope this is helpful.
Yours sincerely,

This letter negates the DVLA responsibility passing the buck completely to the local authorities and health authorities similar to your thoughts Mawgwr.
I thought this petition would quickly gain support but I am up against people with comments like 'I don't see why disabled people should park for free' and 'A lot of people using badges appear to be using other peoples badges from the way they walk'
Indeed in Tesco's just yesterday I asked a couple returning to their car if they realised they were parking in a disabled bay. They got very aggressive and threatened me asking if I was a policeman and said they had a blue badge and I didn't realise what problems they had. The male was raising his fist at me despite me walking with 2 walking sticks.    

Mawgwr

Please believe me, I understand about the aggression side of being disabled & parking spaces. I've been sworn at, threatened, spat at, punched, kicked, etc, all for ASKING them to vacate a disabled bay, they were parked in but had no entitlement to. One bloke had a go at me, & I split his face open (I have a half brother who was a boxer in the Royal Navy & he taught me a few tricks). The police were called & they had to restrain him from attacking me again. It was classed as self defence by the police. But the guy went ahead & took me to court, himself. I called the police as a witness & the Judge found in my favour, at which point this guy erupted & threatened to kill me.  He was arrested & refused to back down or apologise & spent a week in jail. At the end of which he still refused. So the Judge fined him £600 & bound him over for 2 years to keep the peace on the sum of £3000.00 & all because. . . .  As above.
Don't get me wrong, I hate violence, but I know how to & will defend myself, where I can! 

Mawgwr

Just an idea! But how about including a bit extra info on the blue badge, which will give the info needed to prove whether the vehicle is tax exempt or not. How about the vehicle registration, which will allow that vehicle the exemptions, but if the blue badge is used in another vehicle it will not! Or something similar

Regards. . . .

nanof6

i cant see how that would work, ive had a blue badge for years, now im in a wheelchair and can only use my adapted car to travel, but before, i could get a lift in any car and use my badge, and we use to have 2 cars and i would use the blue badge when ever i was in anyone of them.where i live in west wales i get a free ticket to go over a bridge, they use to put the car number on each ticket, but if you change your car, all the tickets had to be changed, so now its a ticket without the car reg on.

Matilda

You can be eligible for a Blue Badge without being tax exempt.  You need 12 PIP getting around points to be tax exempt but only a minimum of 8 to qualify for a Blue Badge.  And disabled people who don't claim PIP/DLA (e.g. were over 65 when they became disabled) can apply for a Blue Badge.