Grrr - blue badge

cymrubaby

arunadasi wrote: »

I have a question I hope you can help me with.
My husband has a Blue Badge. The streets around my home are constantly parked full between the hours of 8.30 and 5.00, so if I am away and come home within that time I usually can't find a place to park. Yesterday I was away with mu husband and when we got home again, everything was full. So I parked on the double yellow lines and walked him home. I forgot to put out the badge, forgot to return to the car immediately, and when I did return about an hour later there was a parking ticket on it.

Can I appeal, even though I had forgotten to put out the badge?

Can I can apply to get a diabled parking bay outside our home?

I doubt you could get the parking fine waived just because you forgot to put the badge out - annoying I know.

You can apply for a disabled space to be put outside your home but I think you have to pay for it (don't quote me on that) BUT other disabled badge holders will be allowed to use it too, so although it'll be primarily your space - it can still be used. If anyone without a badge parks there you can report them but ensure you take a full pic of them in the space and a pic of their windscreen proving no badge was out because you'll need it as proof.

cymrubaby

p00 wrote: »

What exactly are the rules for getting a blue badge?
My neighbour has a blue badge and has a wheelchair in his campervan boot for assesment days but rides a cycle, mows his lawn and walks to the pub inbetween.

It seems that this neighbour of yours is proverbially taking the michael BUT he could have bad days I suppose.

Maybe someone should take pics or report him if he's really taking advantage.

Where I live you have to be in receipt of DLA to apply for a blue badge, though I'm not sure if it has to be only higher rate for mobility/care. I had a blue badge for my son when he turned two and I was receiving higher rate of care DLA for him. It was only when he turned 3 that we could claim higher rate of mobilty for him.

I assume it's for people who have conditions that either make it difficult to walk any distance or cannot walk at all.

arunadasi

cymrubaby wrote: »

It seems that this neighbour of yours is proverbially taking the michael BUT he could have bad days I suppose.

Maybe someone should take pics or report him if he's really taking advantage.

Where I live you have to be in receipt of DLA to apply for a blue badge, though I'm not sure if it has to be only higher rate for mobility/care. I had a blue badge for my son when he turned two and I was receiving higher rate of care DLA for him. It was only when he turned 3 that we could claim higher rate of mobilty for him.

I assume it's for people who have conditions that either make it difficult to walk any distance or cannot walk at all.

In my husband's case, he did not meet several of the conditions. Since he is German and gets his disability benefits from there he did not meet the DLA criteria. Also, he can actually walk quite far. I encourage him to take long walks as much as possible, as it is good for him. BUT... he has extreme difficulties getting in and our of cars, as his body is so stiff he can hardly bend his knees. He's like a sack of concrete. Just now it took him about five minutes to lift his feet from inside the car to outside it, and once he gets in the car he kind of sits there half in and half out, unable to move down the seat. I always have to stand there in the wide open door to help him get in and out.
I wish they add "diffivculty getting in and out" to the criteria list!

We got the badge anyway because his occupational therapy put in a word for him.

cymrubaby

It's good that your OT did this as I'm sure there are plenty of people who stiffen up a lot when they've been sitting but once they get going they're relatively fine. I definitely think this should count because they are technically having difficulties with mobility and so it makes sense to park in a wider space (to enable you to give assistance) and so the entrance to wherever he needs to go isn't too far. That way he has time to 'get going'.

GlasweJen

I suffer from black outs and have been injured before collapsing in car parks when i'm trying to get to my carers cars, you wont believe the speeds some people do around car parks. Local council sympathise but only give people with epilepsy/blackouts blue badges if they're over 75! Seems like age discrimination to me

MrsA1939

The council in my area have done away with the majority of disabled bays in favour of taxi ranks. The bays that are there are out of town. Also the hospital have cut down on the disabled bays, I think that there about 10 if that.

Also we have to be assessed every 3 years for BB renewal, I don't know if this applies to other authorities or not.

Babshubbie

MrsA1939 wrote: »

Also we have to be assessed every 3 years for BB renewal, I don't know if this applies to other authorities or not.

Yes that's normal, I believe. However I doubt the value of the assessment judging from pOO (post#289 above).

MrsA1939

Babshubbie wrote: »

Yes that's normal, I believe. However I doubt the value of the assessment judging from pOO (post#289 above).

I agree, over the the last 12/18 months many have been refused, one instance a double amputee was refused renewal because he was able to walk short distances, also an 88 years old man who has many disabilities was refused because the wind blew his hat off in the car park and he was able to bend and retrieve it,

black_paw

i find it more stress full just having a blue badge ... as i know where to park with it then self doubt with worry if im wrong , . the more i use it the more confident i will become .. i got this from local council :


The first thing to always remember with your Blue Badge is that when you park you must display your badge with the right side showing. On one side of your badge are your photograph and your name, on the other side there are details of who issued you with the badge, the expiry date and the I.D. number. Always display your badge with the expiry date and I.D. number face-up, so that this information can be clearly seen, as shown below.
Always display your Blue Badge this way up.

You can park in a ‘Pay & Display Only Bay’ for free, with no time limits. You must have your Blue Badge displayed.

You cannot park in ‘Permit Only Bays’ or ‘Resident Permit Only Bays’ with a Blue Badge - unless you also have a Residents Permit for that zone too.

You can park in a ‘Shared Use Bay’ for free, with no time limits. You must display your Blue Badge. A ‘Shared Use Bay’ is a where you can park with a permit OR a pay & display ticket. This information will be on the sign for the parking bays.
You can park on double yellow lines for a maximum of 3 hours. You must display both your Blue Badge and your time clock. Don’t forget to set your time clock for the time that you arrived on the double yellow lines.

You cannot park on double yellow lines if there are also kerb markings or kerb ‘blips’ next to the double yellow lines. This is called a Loading Ban.

You can park in ‘Disabled Bays’ for free. Some disabled bays have time limits – usually a maximum of 3 hours parking, but some allow you to park for longer. Always check the information on the sign for the bay you are parked in. You will need to display both your Blue Badge and time clock, with the time clock correctly set – the same as when you park on double yellow lines.


You cannot park in bays that are for the following: Taxis, Loading, Ambulance, Police, Doctors, Bus Stops, and Coaches.

daska

arunadasi wrote: »

I have a question I hope you can help me with.
My husband has a Blue Badge. The streets around my home are constantly parked full between the hours of 8.30 and 5.00, so if I am away and come home within that time I usually can't find a place to park. Yesterday I was away with mu husband and when we got home again, everything was full. So I parked on the double yellow lines and walked him home. I forgot to put out the badge, forgot to return to the car immediately, and when I did return about an hour later there was a parking ticket on it.

Can I appeal, even though I had forgotten to put out the badge?

Can I can apply to get a diabled parking bay outside our home?

Write them a very nice, humble, apologetic letter. Explain where you live, why you parked where you did, the difficulties parking, your concern with getting your husband home safely that day and what happened to make you forget to go back to the car. Explain what steps you are going to take to ensure the problem doesn't happen again e.g. put the blue badge on the dash when you go out rather than try to remember it when you get back. Ask them if they can suggest anything that might make parking less problematic and how you apply for a disabled bay. Enclose photocopies of your badge (both sides).

I can't guarantee that they'll waive the fine but I've appealed this way in more than one authority with success (1 failure in 5 appeals). On one occasion I rang the council to explain that my illness has meant that I'm not going to be able to return to a time limited bay and they've contracted the traffic wardens to stop them ticketing me.

Good luck.