New blue badge rules

ridler1234

My wife is in a wheel chair and needs a blue badge for her mobility.at the moment it is very difficult to get a dissabled parking bay. Councils will have to double dissabled parking bays to accommodate the new blue badge proposals.i cant see this happening .I think in future it will be nearly impossible to find an empty dissable bay.it is bad enough with people who are not dissabled using the bays ridler

Misscleo

Iv been saying that for a couple of years.
It's been bad but now there will be even more people who can walk without being in pain blocking disabled parking bays.
We would now need row after row of disabled bays and only a small portion will be disabled people. The rest could have parked in any bay but no they will block a disabled bay and there will be disabled people stranded without a bay to park in disgraceful

poppy123456

Misscleo said:

Iv been saying that for a couple of years.
It's been bad but now there will be even more people who can walk without being in pain blocking disabled parking bays.
We would now need row after row of disabled bays and only a small portion will be disabled people. The rest could have parked in any bay but no they will block a disabled bay and there will be disabled people stranded without a bay to park in disgraceful

As previously advised you do not need be in pain from walking to qualify for a blue badge. Clearly we have a member here @ridler1234 who's wife is in a wheelchair unable to walk but qualifies for a blue badge. Judging people with invisible conditions is wrong! BLIND and severely sighted people qualify for a blue badge. I rest my case!

chiarieds

Couldn't agree with you more @poppy123456. Disabilities come in all different shapes & sizes & hopefully this is recognized for those who should qualify for a Blue Badge. Altho' my walking is restricted by pain & I also have an 'invisible disorder,' I appreciate that the person parking next to us in a disabled bay may have a problem I'm completely unaware of.

HollyGCat

If people have been assessed as needing the badge, are displaying it, then they need it. If there are insufficient bays, that should be the complaint, not one person with a disability attacking another’s on an assumption that their need is greater.

Invisible disabilities are not ‘fictional’  and in some cases they cause a limitation of that persons movement so severe, that they never leave their home, leading to complete isolation. 

I think if this forum doesn’t realise that there is not a hierarchy for disablement, what hope is there to challenge the discrimination most disabled people face. 

poppy123456

HollyGCat said:

I think if this forum doesn’t realise that there is not a hierarchy for disablement, what hope is there to challenge the discrimination most disabled people face. 

It's not the forum itself....

AnkyieSpon

If I'm not mistaken if disabled bays are all taken you can still use your badge in any bay so as long as its still in a comfortable walking distance. My local lesuire centre only has 3 disabled bays I don't see them adding more because more people will be offered badges when they are full I use others. Same at hospital I was told I could do that either that or we have to be patient for someone to move. My disabilities are invisible..... does not mean I need the space less then anyone else it's just my pain does not show. 

poppy123456

If the disabled bays are taken and you use any other bay, there's no need to display the BB.

It annoys me when people discriminate others. What should be looked at are the ones that use the disabled bays without displaying a BB which happens a lot where i live.

HollyGCat

poppy123456 said:

It annoys me when people discriminate others. What should be looked at are the ones that use the disabled bays without displaying a BB which happens a lot where i live.

I think this is correct that enforcement of misuse is an issue. Poppy122345.  

A forum is a medium where ideas and views on a particular issue can be exchanged. Which is why I used the term. 

OverlyAnxious

poppy123456 said:

 BLIND and severely sighted people qualify for a blue badge.

I'm not sure blind people should be driving.  I'm all for equality but that's going a bit far...  



On a serious note though, with regards to parking in a non-disabled bay but still displaying the badge.  I assume that is to qualify for the disabled rate of payment, as it's usually reduced or even free?  You'd probably have to check the small print on the signs as to whether that's allowed or not though, I wouldn't just assume it to be the case across the board.

poppy123456

OverlyAnxious said:

poppy123456 said:

 BLIND and severely sighted people qualify for a blue badge.

I'm not sure blind people should be driving.  I'm all for equality but that's going a bit far...  

Well naturally a blind person wouldn't be driving BUT you don't need to be a driver to have a blue badge, which was the whole point of my comment lol

Government_needs_reform

To add to this? I had a blue badge, and get PIP and entitled to a new blue badge but I've not bothered to renew it as I can never find a space to park in.

Most car parks near me still charge for parking in non disabled parking spaces even if you have a Blue Badge.

Also to add, some car parks will still charge you if you park in a non disabled space, but free in a designated disabled space.

As @poppy123456 has also mentioned check the small print as all areas have different rules regarding it.

newborn

So far, thirty badges for every space.....now how many?

   I always object to the wheelie logo. It confuses the public. A woman  walks half a mile to the supermarket pushing a child's  buggy.  Another wheels half a mile to the same place, using an electric chair or scooter.   

On arrival,  they both notice that if they had come by car, it is assumed they cannot move the distance  from one part of the car park to the door, so they can have special priority for the precious parking nearest the door.   Mostly for kiddies  but some for blue badge users.

Meanwhile,  someone  must park on the far side, who struggles to walk at all but uses a stick, crutches, zimmer or even nothing.

newborn

By the way, l would rather have a certainty of finding a vacant space, than have freebies.  It is a perverse inducement to misuse scarce spaces, if they are not o ly near the door, but also free or reduced.

Suppose there are 5 blue badge bays within your physical ability to reach the door.  Fifty other spaces  are available  for those who can move further, or who have no disability.  Those fifty charge a pound an hour. 

 Straight choice, would you prefer to see choice One:
         The  5 b.b. ones charging double, at 2 pounds, which means there is at least  some hope you would be able to go to the building, at the time you need to?

Or choice Two:   
          The 5 b.b. ones are free, or half price, which means the world and his wife scramble to get hold of a badge and there is never, at any time, the slightest realistic point in you thinking you can go to that building, unless you pay for a taxi  there and back?

david235

There is longstanding confusion as to the policy intent behind the Blue Badge scheme.

The Blue Badge scheme - and the Orange Badge scheme before it (I've still got some long expired Orange Badges somewhere!) - have only ever formally been about on-street parking concessions:

• the ability to use Disabled bays designated by Traffic Regulation Order (the ones with a "Disabled Badge Holders Only" sign - advisory Disabled bays that some councils paint without a TRO have no sign and can be used by anyone, Badge or not)
• the ability to use on-street pay and display or meter bays free of charge and without time limit unless there is a local Traffic Regulation Order to the contrary, and
  
• the ability to park on yellow lines so long as there is no waiting restriction and you are not causing an obstruction.

In some areas, councils allow Blue Badge holders to use residents' only bays - but you have to check the council's rules. In Central London (City of Westminster, City of London, Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, also parts of Camden south of the Euston Road) the only rights a Blue Badge holder has are to use marked disabled bays - the use of other parking bays requires a borough specific permit (which are only available to some people who live, work and/or study in the borough in question) and no yellow line parking is allowed. Westminster gives Blue Badge holders an additional hour beyond that paid for in paid on-street parking; I think the other boroughs do as well, but cannot remember.

Mostly these on-street rights are enabling, allowing Badge holders to do things that otherwise are prohibited. However, there is some element of financial concession in the ability to use paid-for on-street parking for free.

Some councils decided to offer Badge holders free parking in their off-street car parks to try to entice them away from parking on-street for free, potentially causing unnecessary but not unlawful obstruction. This represents a further financial concession.

I believe research consistently shows that the main reason people apply for a Blue Badge is for off-street parking concessions. Provision of off-street accessible parking is really a reasonable adjustment under the Equality Act 2010, with those entitled to use it arguably a broader group than those entitled to Blue Badges, but what attracts a lot of people to Blue Badges are the financial concessions offered by many off-street parking providers.

I remember once sitting in a car park waiting for a bay. I really needed an accessible bay to cope with my wheelchair. This car park was the only long stay car park remotely near where I needed to go - and it offered Blue Badge holders free parking in three accessible bays out of several hundred. I waited for a long time and eventually gave up on an accessible bay because my meeting was about to start. I struggled to unload my wheelchair in an ordinary bay and had to ask a member of the public to buy me a ticket from the inaccessible ticket machine. Whilst I was unloading my chair someone left one of the accessible bays and an elderly man parked in it. For all I know, he had a hidden disability and I certainly am not questioning the validity of his Badge - but he walked without any sort of aid and seemed to cope OK without opening his door wide. He perhaps didn't need the wider bay - bearing in mind the length of time he waited for that bay and the availability of other bays that likely would have met his physical requirements, it seems he wanted it merely because he didn't have to pay to park there.

As @newborn indicates, the demand for accessible parking stands no chance of being met in many locations if parking in accessible car park bays is free or at a reduced rate whilst Badge holders pay full price in all other bays. What do we want most - free/cheap parking, or a better chance of an accessible parking bay where we need one but having to pay for parking?

There are something like 3 million Blue Badges in the UK already - approximately a ten times increase from when I first had an Orange Badge in the early 1990s. The latest change in the rules for England will result in even more Badges going to those who have a genuine need for parking near to their destination. However, this means there is a vast pool of people fighting for a limited number of bays.

I understand that not everyone has a Mobility component (DLA, PIP or AFIP). Some who qualify for Blue Badges do not meet the tougher standard for a Mobility component, whilst others choose not to claim benefit or do not qualify for a Mobility component because they first became mobility impaired over state pension age. Those who do have a Mobility component often have that money fully committed to providing a vehicle via Motability or privately. Disabled people are often living on benefits or limited budgets, so do not have much spare money for parking. Paying for parking might make a journey unaffordable.

My personal belief is that it would be better to remove many of the financial concessions attached to Blue Badges. This would not only make it more likely bays were available when needed, but it would remove much of the incentive for fraud and Badge theft. However, I appreciate that removal of all financial concessions would cause genuine hardship to many.

newborn

I agree.  
You mentioned a place with three disabled bays , out of a car park for several hundred. In theory theres a minimum proportion.    Enforcing  equality law is up to the individual,  so that's easy, just as long as the individual is as rich as Bill Gates, to employ lawyers bigger and better than the mega organisations to be battled against. 

You mentioned  correctly the probability of poverty is greater for disabled people.   But it isn't cheap to be forced to take taxis everywhere.   How else can the disabled person attend a given place at a given time, or at all?  I wouldn't  have an equal cost, for places near the door.  The  only way to reduce the attraction is to make it more expensive than alternative spaces.  The same goes for time limits.  It does need to be, say, 3 hours maximum in spots where others are expected  to  complete  their visit in two hours. But the extra time shouldn't  be free, or it is an incentive to misusers. 

You rightly point out the particular need of a wheelchair user often  is the extra room, for loading.    Designing spaces could make use of, for instance,  loading onto a wide walkway or a corner of the carpark out of the path of other traffic.   Once the person is in the chair,  he often doesn't  need to travel a particularly limited distance.  

Some walking aid users do need to open their door extra wide, some don't,  especially  if they use a very small  car.  In that case, they could use a normal sized bay, just needing it to be near the destination, so they don't  exceed their walking distance before they get there.