Blue Badge Scheme

[Bazooka Boo]

Do wish I could sleep!!

 

Try "Syndol", take one or two an hour before you go to bed, make sure you visit the loo before you tuck yourself in for the night!

[Surfer01]

Hello. I had an RTA four years ago suffering back injuries. I was hit by a stolen lorry so after 4 years I am still waiting for Motor insurance bureau and my insurers nominated Solicitors to decide compensation etc. I have continued in full time work but on light duties with frequent long periods of sick leave. Up until now though sheer bloody mindednes and pride have refused to apply for a blue badge although I walk with a stick only very short distances. I do not claim DLA as I am employed and will not claim until not. I am now on long term sick and am applying for early retirement. My GP, colleagues,family and friends seeing how I struggle suggest I apply for a Blue Badge which I did and was refused by Kent County Council. I will appeal but before I do has anyone on the forum had this problem.

Many thanks

Contact your local Jocentre for a DLA form. They will date it and give it to you straight away. Then contact DIAL see Dial UK - Disability Information, Disability Rights, Disability Policy and ask them to help you complete it. I wasn't bothered with it until I was made redundant and have recently being awarded DLA although I must admit I woudl rather ben healthy than be claiming DLA. You get DLA whether or not you are in work which is something i did not know and it does not count as income for any other benefits.

[keefyboy]

I am afraid that most of the Supermarkets WON'T do anything to enforce the law with regards to the abuse. I have tried with Tesco's, Safeway (Now Morrisons) and they just duck and dive, I even went to the extent of Photocopying the rules regarding Blue Badges and sticking them on the windscreens of cars not displaying Blue Badges, they called the Police to have me removed from their car park... would you beleive it...

 

What you can do with people who you think are abusing the badge scheme is, remember that sometimes confrontation causes problems, and you are disadvantaged, if it gets violent you can't run away, take the Badge Number and Issuing authority, registration number of the car and if possible, why not wait and photograph the person using the car, and report all those details to the Issuing Authority, and they can compare the photograph from their copy of the application form and the picture you supply them. It works, they do withdraw badges from abusers.. it's a desperate measure to have to take but for an example, in our Local Tesco's my wife and I have seen a Jaguar XJS car, which is very low to the ground displaying Blue Badge, we waited and watched 2 middle aged people (same age as myself 54) walk from the main entrance back to the car carrying very filled bags, lean down to put the bags into the car, then BOTH of them bent down to slide down into the car...

Now how can someone who is obviously NOT disadvantaged with walking and bending problems, get down into a low slung sports type vehicle, and be able to hold Blue Badges ? I want to see what is recommended with blue badges, to show the Photograph of the holder on the FRONT of the badge, and that should have been from the change over from Orange to Blue Badges. So please be careful if you confront someone who isn't the holder. By the way, you have No legal right to see the photograph, that can only be done by a Police Officer or Council Parking Enforcement Officer.

[Surfer01]

I have a Blue Badge and the parking bays availible in supermarket car parks is a convenience and are not mandatory as the Blue Badge is only valid on designated highway roads not private property. Did thbsi old ouple struggling have a blue badge? They are only issued to people with mobility problems.

I agree that people should not be abusing it but to bring in a law regulating where people park on private property is plain ridiculous. I would be the first to raise an objection as it opens a can of worms. Imagine parking skew on your own driveway and then getting a ticket for it. Anyway such a law would clash against contract law and create an even bigger problem. Next we will have a law for no smoking or drinking on your own premises.

[keefyboy]

Hi Surfer01

As a section in the DDA states that a supermarket MUST supply blue badge holder bays and " they must enforce that they are not abused", but the problem is, who makes them enforce it ? Thats not clear at all. Most supermarkets don't care a toss, when we lived in Nth Wales, Tesco built a new store in Porthmadog and they used Europarks (or something very similar) to enforce the bays, he was abused, spat at, threatened with violence and in the end he was physically attacked and hospitalised for trying to enforce the DDA.

The biggest joke is, the supermarket is right next door to the POLICE STN..

In the end the car parking company withdrew from the site, as Tesco were not prepared to support them in any way.

With regards to the elderly couple with the Jag, yes they did have a blue badge displayed in the windscreen, but you could not see the name of the person it was issued to or the date of expiry or even the issuing authority, all nicely covered up with the clock... where have a seen that before.. and if a person can get down so low to get into a low car like the XJS, gives rise to suspicion as to wether they are entitled to a blue badge. The reason I say this is, I have been disabled since the early 1980's and have been told to attend 3 medicals, and on each of those I failed miserably, the Dr who was taking the exam spoke to me afterwards and said that there was so much abuse by some people who claim back and walking disabilties, that after you go, they watch you leave the centre, either out the window or on CCTV to see you walking to your car or mode of transport and then very carefully watch how you get into it. He said it would really open your eyes and they catch no end of people abusing this way.

I have heard of a few cases where the elderly persons goes to the Dr and they sign his form which then issues them with a badge, some, and I am only pointing the finger at a very small amount of elderly people, think it their right to have a blue badge, even though they have no disability which would qualify them for a blue badge.

A lot of badge holders don't realise that if they fail to display the badge correctly, badge and clock set at the correct time etc and not displaying all the information on the front of the Blue Badge, can have their badge withdrawn and get a £1000 fine.

Edited February 4, 2009 by keefyboy

[EYEBALLS01]

Thanks for all your interest. Submitted further letter from GP and still waiting to hear. Had to go to Asda`s `after it had snowed and was icy. Place was packed so had a bit of a slippery nervous walk. Once again disabled pays full,some displaying some not! I think it`s a sign of the times and shows total lack of respect. I see people park in the mother and toddler bays with no kids. Struggle as I might I refuse to do this. What a world eh!

[flyingdoc]

At the risk of being abused (nothing new there) as an able bodied (ish) driver I some times get frustrated by the amount of spaces that are assigned to disabled/mother&baby.

On a retail park near me a full 1/4 of the available parking is designated for disabled and mother baby (about 2/3 disabled 1/3 mother baby) and these spaces are never more than 1/2 full - when the rest of the carpark is always crammed full and it is almost impossible to park there.

 

It is situations like this that encourage the abuse of disabled bays and some common sense should prevail in these situations.

[Bev250264]

Hi Eyeballs

 

Just came across this thread and it really hit a chord. I have Rheumatoid Arthritis and have had since I was 11 (I'm 45 next week!!) I've had my hips replaced 5 times and am on a lethal cocktail of drugs.

 

I have a Blue Badge and have had since 1993 when at the age of 29 and with a 6 month old baby and a 2 year old, I had a hip replacement that went wrong and I was left unable to walk for almost a year. I was refused DLA the first time round but with the support of my care team (GP, social worker, consultant) I was awarded it on appeal at the Higher Rate and consequently qualified for a Blue Badge. Even though I am obviously disabled (I walk badly - pride stops me using a stick more often than I should) I still get yelled at by people. I was in town one day recently with a friend of mine who has a young baby. We parked in a bay and she was getting the pushchair out of the boot. A lady pulled up beside me and had such a go at us. She had an elderly passenger sitting beside her. My friend tried to explain but she didn't want to listen. I was really upset. I hate being disabled. I've struggled for over 30 years to lead as normal a life as I can but sometimes I need help. I don't park in disabled bays if I'm having a good day and sometimes I even manage to walk my dog (like this morning although I'm paying for it now!)

 

The trouble is that so many people abuse the system that those of us who really need it are also tarred with the same brush. I've even been told that I'm lucky!!! Because I get to "park where I want and get a 'free' car" Some luck eh? I'd rather have to walk a mile to the shops and drive an old jalopy if I could have my health back.....

[Surfer01]

Thanks for all your interest. Submitted further letter from GP and still waiting to hear. Had to go to Asda`s `after it had snowed and was icy. Place was packed so had a bit of a slippery nervous walk. Once again disabled pays full,some displaying some not! I think it`s a sign of the times and shows total lack of respect. I see people park in the mother and toddler bays with no kids. Struggle as I might I refuse to do this. What a world eh!

My first application for DLA was rejected because i completd it myself trying to be clever. The second one was completed by DIAL who asked me all the correct questions and then I realised why I had been rejected the first time around. I had been very conservative with my answers and did not fully answer the DLA question.

Once you have the DLA I suggest you apply for a motability car as this is a big bonus. Unfortunately we cannot do this as we currently have a car on finance and to sell it at this stage we would incur a loss in excess of £1500, however we can claim for free road tax via the DLA.

[Surfer01]

Hi Eyeballs

 

I have Rheumatoid Arthritis and have had since I was 11 (I'm 45 next week!!) I've had my hips replaced 5 times and am on a lethal cocktail of drugs.

 

We parked in a bay and she was getting the pushchair out of the boot. A lady pulled up beside me and had such a go at us. She had an elderly passenger sitting beside her. My friend tried to explain but she didn't want to listen. I was really upset. I hate being disabled. I've struggled for over 30 years to lead as normal a life as I can but sometimes I need help. I don't park in disabled bays if I'm having a good day and sometimes I even manage to walk my dog (like this morning although I'm paying for it now!)

 

The trouble is that so many people abuse the system that those of us who really need it are also tarred with the same brush. I've even been told that I'm lucky!!! Because I get to "park where I want and get a 'free' car" Some luck eh? I'd rather have to walk a mile to the shops and drive an old jalopy if I could have my health back.....

 

I truly understand what you are going through as I have rheumatoid arthritis and some days it is extremely painful and you can hardly walk. Other days not so bad but either way carrying anything any distance is virtually out of the question. I hate having to take the dose of medication eah day and then again once a week as you are right when you say it is lethal.

[keefyboy]

I sympathise with you all, I was a fireman and in the 80's was involved in a RTA whiched started all my problems, I now have arthritic, both knees, both hips, and now the shoulder and then if that wasn't enough on 2001 i got a Hernia and it all went wrong during the operation and that left me with serious nerve damage from my left knee up to my waist and from my belly button round to my spine. I hate being like it, I was a really active person before that RTA and now I have to virtually beg to be able to live.

 

The bays issue has been and will be for years to come a very explosive subject, the abuse is widespread and no one cares, you can even BUY a Blue badge in some locations, Price was £250... stolen obviously...

The supermarkets can do things to stop the abuse,but wont because they don't want to upset their customers. There is even a £5000 for them if they fail to monitor them, but no one enforces it... we just cant win. What is the point of having the law to benefit us when they don't enforce it.

 

I know what the Flying doc means, you will often find that older people will park in mother and baby bays because the Disabled bays are full and visa versa.... and when the car park is full (surely not that often though) using a bit of common sense I agree, but if you allow one, everyone does it. A prime example was a new supermarket Tescos built in Wales, they put blue badges bay across the front of the store to the right, mother and child bays to the left, in the centre of the car park another 10 Disabled bays, fine very good for us all, but..... they put the cash machines at the end of the disabled bays on the right of the store, the end 2 bays were as good as useless and when you challenged them they even got violent, saying thinks like I am only going to be a couple of minutes, I wont be a minute, you know all the pathetic little excuses, if they went into the car parking area there were at least 10 bays so close to the machine, the distance, about 15 metres, "No mate, thats too far to walk" was one excuse I heard...

[Bookworm]

At the risk of being abused (nothing new there) as an able bodied (ish) driver I some times get frustrated by the amount of spaces that are assigned to disabled/mother&baby.

Can't speak for the parent/child spaces, but the ratio of disabled spaces is 1 per so many "normal" spaces, and as far as I am aware, is necessary for stores not to fall foul of the DDA, and despite what it may seem like, it isn't a high one. My local Tesco has about 20 disabled spaces (if that) for a 2000+ car park. [2p]

 

Edit - Just found this:

 

In the UK there is a legally government laid down ratio of normal car parking spaces to the minimum required number of disabled spaces provided.

The minimum number is 2 marked disabled parking bays or 6% of the total number of bay must be reserved for marked out for disabled parking.

Up to 34 bay the requirement is 2 disabled, above 34 bays 6% of the total number of bays must be marked disabled.

So there you go. ;-) Edited February 4, 2009 by Bookworm

[Surfer01]

Rather than waste time monitoring private lots, they should be monitoring proper disabled bays on public highways as the abuse there is beyond belief and the "popping quickly into store" herd mentality comes into force. As a blue badge holder, why should we drive around the block waiting for them to finish their "quick" shopping or business with the ATM? At least we are not so discourteous that we will stop in the lane waiting for the non blue badge holder to vacte the bay and hold up all the traffic behins us. I challenged a gent who was parked in the disabled bay on a public highway at 7pm and his response was that it was no longer a disabled bay after 6pm! In his mind your disability disappeared between 6pm and 8am! PLONKER!

Even though you may have a blue badge, there is no requirement to display it and there are no signs stating that the blue badge must be displayed on a private car park. I still maintain that it should not be enforced on private land as it will have a knock on effect that will affect every body including those with blue badges and will lead to more big brother laws reagrding private land.

[keefyboy]

They have to conform with the DDA with the amount of spaces, the problem is with the policing of it, just before Christmas my step son got a call from an agency asking if he would be prepared to do car park duties at our local Tesco for 4 days as they knew it would be manic, he willingly done this and he "ASKED" to be able to monitor the disabled bays, and because he knew how I and many other people feel, he policed the disabled bays, when he got someone park in a bay who wasn't displaying a blue badge he asked them if they had forgotten to put it up on the dashboard and also asked people to make sure they displayed the front of the badge so it could be clearly seen, and as that we had done some real deep hunting, we found the relevant parts of the DDA with regards to parking before he started, pointing out the offences they would be commiting and the fines that could be made, he asked them nicely, and if they were not a holder then they were asked to park elsewhere, and it worked. Everyone complemented how good it was to have someone police it, but after the 4 days, back to the dole for him... stupid as he loved the job.

[Bazooka Boo]

I admit, that I was one of those infuriating uneducated morons who would readily swear at anyone who challenged me for parking in a disabled bay...."if they wanna be treated the same as everyone else, they can walk miles like everyone else"

That was until I had a near fatal car accident three years ago, and now the shoe is firmly on the other foot! I have a blue badge even though I no longer drive, and to be honest it is only used if friends or family take me out, and even then if I am having a good day, I won't let them park in the disabled bays.

And it really isn't until your in that position of needing the spaces nearer to where you want to shop etc that you are aware of just how abused the system really is.

I found this website Disabled Stickers

And have bought one packet of these 24 x Gottcha Stickers Sticky Back

And I've just had to restock on these ones 24 x Dropped Kerbs Stickers Sticky Back

I happily stuck one onto a Police Van that was parked on double yellows, on a junction, and parked over a dropped kerb. I have the photo to prove it!

[keefyboy]

I like the stickers, I do have one that has a lovely picture of Mickey Mouse on it with a single digit displayed, but the wording is a lot stronger than their ones. Did you read the BBC article they reffered to, especially the part where Tesco referred to their responsibilities in the upcoming DDA act in 2004... It is a big shame that Tesco don't adhere to their own comments about enforcement of the act..

With regards to your comment about driving, I am in the same boat as you, I was stopped driving 7 years, cause of the side effects of all the drugs I now have to take to be able to be able to live a REDUCED pain existance and thats only on good days. If when we get to a supermarket there are no spaces available for me, then we either find the closest space that is wide enough to enable me to open my door wide and to get into my wheelchair. Some people have looked when we have parked in the middle of 2 spaces and said, "there aint much wrong with him, he looks alright to me", how I wish I could let them feel like I feel, even on a good day, let them have it for 1 day and then see what they say ! But I always display my badges to try and show the reason for me doing it.

[EYEBALLS01]

Hi everyone. Success!! Got a pristine blue badge with my ugly mug on it this morning. GP showed me what she put initially which she maintains should have been adequate. She sat and wrote a really strong letter in front of me and faxed it off.

One battle won now ro DLA,IB,Council Tax,ill health retirement before the war is won!!

[Bazooka Boo]

One battle won now ro DLA,IB,Council Tax,ill health retirement before the war is won!!

Oh yeah, now the fun really begins! I'd start the ball rolling with DLA, as it will boomerang itself back to you on numerous occasions, IB has changed it's name, in order to weed out those fraudulently claiming it. It's now called the Employment and Support Allowance - eligibility : Directgov - Disabled people

Any of us who are already on the old style IB will be transferred, (seamlessly:)) to the new ESA between 2009 & 2013!

And then your Council Tax, but if your council is anything like mine for the first 18 months they had to be watched like a hawk as they were always paying the incorrect amounts, and then threatening me with legal action because of their own inept admin and staff. I still have to keep them in my sight, as they can't quite get to grips with the green X code!

[flyingdoc]

Congratulations Eyeballs - about time sense prevailed.

 

Cheers

 

FD

[Bookworm]

 

 

 

(By the way, nothing you can about the ugly mug pic, it's like a law or something, you have to look like that on your BB!!!

)

[keefyboy]

Hey Bazooka Boo

well done my friend, it pays to persist at them... as you say now comes the battle of the big boys (sorry should say Persons to be PC) oh well who cares.... good luck.