motability scratches and kerbed wheels?

Ah, yes I can see that that's different to what we think of as 'the bus pass' up here.

Lanzarote1938 wrote: »

Strange isn't it how ALL disabled people with motobility cars insist they would be sitting looking at 4 walls all day, unable to do anything that would involve travel but certain disabled people advocate taking away pensioners bus passes. So it's OK for oldies to have no transport concessions but OK for others to get a brand new car pretty well of their choice every three years.

What about we do away with mobility DLA cars and offer free bus passes instead. after all there is always wheelchair space on buses.

If that was the case why did that poor blighter sue his bus company when the harridan yummy mummy refused to disturb her sprog in a pushchair so he could use the wheelchair accessible space ?

Also I take it you aren't a wheelchair user ...trust me they rarely bother to stop for wheelchair users "sorry love he mustn't have seen yer". Also add into the equation pain and fatigue of longer journeys than via car (e.g changing buses or needing to go places not on bus routes or having to wheel up hills instead of driving because the bus stop is at the bottom of a hill, poor blighters on chemo being forced to stand in the rain waiting for buses etc etc) just shows how ill thought out this suggestion is.

leveller2911 wrote: »

The problem with the motorbility scheme is that it can be abused. I don't have any problems with funding travel for the genuinely disabled but there is a sizeable minority that do not need/deserve motorbility.

I'm sure many of us know of people who abuse the scheme,I know 3 people who do not need the help but claim it.One person manages to walk a mile along a river bank carrying 60kg of fishing equipment and yet claims for a bad back.Another person manages to climb a 6ft fence,work under cars when they need repairing and rides a 900cc racing motorbike.They all claim motorbility.

Many of the cars in the scheme should never be in it such as BMW,s Saabs etc.My own opinion is if someone needs a car then it should be a basic model and they should get the car free for 10yrs and be responsible for repairs,servicing etc.Cars depreciate the most in the first 3 years and someone along the line will pay for the depreciation.

Why would someone need a £17k VW Golf when a £12k Skoda Octavia will do the job better, give them the car for life but they should pay for the upkeep.

The crux of the problem is when people are seen in nice shiny new cars subsidised by the taxpayer and the system is abused by a sizeable minority you will alway get resentment.The Government needs to find a way that is fair to the recipient and the taxpayer whilst giving long prison sentances to those bottom dwellers who abuse the system.

Considering I am a full-time wheelchair user and can only walk the length of my car, yet PIP initially awarded only standard care & mobility (wrongly, I am told, it's being overturned - but it was the initial award right enough) I doubt very much anyone will be abusing the system now and this makes me VERY happy, as I am sure it does you.

To say a disabled person should not have a saab or a BMW is just ridiculous. Gone are the days (much to your despair I suspect) where disabled people feel they have no choice (in prescription clothes, shoes, wheelchairs, cars) and we are now fully fledged members of society with choices, interests and preferences like everyone else. Hell.... we can even get shiney new BMWs if we save up enough.

Motability cars are worked out on their COST and many manufacturers reduce this in order to make sales of certain cars (my last car was a Volvo S40 with a very low advanced payment matching a 'basic car. Much to my delight as the leather seats, which come as standard, are perfect for sliding to get out and also easy cleaning thanks to my children, it also has seats with the perfect tilt for my leg, which many other cars didn't have, so I can drive for longer) but many cars come with a premium advanced payment, this is to offset the choice you have made with the standard award. EVERYONE GETS THE SAME AWARD - everyone gets the same BASIC CAR funding, you pay if you want a better car or if you are lucky get a manufacturer deal to get more for your money.

Must I also point out, that not everyone who gets DLA doesn't work? In fact, in a lot of cases Motability allows them to work, with a car that will always keep them mobile and there is a back up services should it breakdown - this means no disabled person is stuck unable to get prescriptions, to doctors, to work or hospital appointments - because they can't always get on a bus like everyone else when their car breaks down - this makes our standard of living the same as an able bodied person.

And another thing, just because we are disabled, does not mean we should not be entitled to a new car or a posh one. I am sick and tired of this second grade life we should have in the eyes of people like you, where we should only have hand me downs and basic supplies of horrible looking shoes, wheelchairs and cars. DLA is there to give us the same standard of living as majority of the UK - if not better. That is a privilege that for many (myself included) makes life worth living at a time when life is extremely hard. Without my car, I have no legs. I have no freedom. Since I need adaptations, I can't buy or afford standard cars and adaptations so Motability is my life line.

Just to finish, not all disabilities are in wheelchairs. Many people get out a car on a good day and their disability isn't always in your face, some it is very much internal and not always wheelchairs and crutches. Heart problems, Cancers, Muscle Diseases - all of which on some days can cause them unable to lead a very basic life or get out of bed, on their good days that car becomes a life line.

So please, be kind - because you just don't know when Karma might catch up and allow you the PRIVILEGE of joining the Disabled Club :beer:

Don't be jealous, for every BMW on Motability, someone suffering every day just to get it.

teddysmum wrote: »

It is a fact that people who become disabled after 65,lose out, as was illustrated a few years ago, by a media story where a lady lost a leg at 66, was wheelchair bound and her husband struggled with this, as he had arthritis. They dreaded when their ancient car finally died, as they would both be housebound.


Another point is that help with mobility was given on claims made before 65,enabling people to be able to work (Those becoming disabled later,obviously didn't need to go out),but,if things are left as they are,there will be an increasing range over which working age people will also get no help, as the State Pension age rises.

There is attendance allowance for over 65s, however this is more for care required than mobility. I think if it was based on mobility, 95% of over 65s would be eligible - so possibly too many to sustain? The bus pass is great IF you can get on a bus, I know many elderly people who can't - I give a lady near me regular lifts to the shops, doctors and town - because she can't manage to bus.