Grrr - blue badge

arcalis

Rebel wrote: »

Errrrr since WHEN did GP's get to decide who is or is not entitled to a "blue badge"?

I have a question for the peron who implied people with wheelchairs or electric wheelcheirs should get precidence over other disabled people, I will need to be careful with my language because I don't wish to be banned, but ANYONE in an electric wheelchair is far more mobile than a genuine disabled person who chooses not to use a wheelchair even if they have been advised they should so why should wheelchair users get precidence?

I hve been a blue badge holder for a number of years, I also get free RFL I have problems walking due to spinal injuries and am in constant pain, but I cannot use a walking aid since I have little sensation down one side of my body as a result of the spinal injury.

I have also had a couple of heart attacks and had heart surgery which helped but by no means cured my problem, I fall over regularly without warning (spinal chord damage) and yet according to skcollobcat10

My reply is ******** if you are in a wheelchair you can travel a darn sight further than I can and I am in constant pain whereas while you are in a wheelchair and MAY not be in pain at all (NOTE I SAID MAY NOT BE IN PAIN) it is equally possible you are in pain so it would be wrong of me to make generalisations just as it is wrong of you to do the same.

I had to undergo numerous medical examinations before my DLA was granted and after a number of years when it was obvious I was getting worse it was granted for life, why should anyone in a wheelchair be given priority over someone in my position? Especially when the battery in their electric wheelchair means they can travel miles and not yards.

As for the people confined to manual wheelchairs, did you see the athletes in the special olympics playing basketball and the like FROM THEIR WHEELCHAIRS, they certainly don't need priority over people like me yet they are also wheelchair users.



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If life is so much easier and mobile in an electric/manual wheelchair i suggest you get yourself in one.

Plus picture the young wheelchair user whizzing around now and compare that to what they and their shoulders/arms are going to look like in 30 years time. Letting them park closer to the store/hospital/high street etc now might just save them pain and sufferring in the future.

Extra space for wheelchair users in blue badge bays though is a bigger priority than proximity to the destination as it doesn't matter how close they get to the place if they can't get out of the car. Not something some blue badge holders need to consider.

Babshubbie

Haven't we got enough to do to convince the "establishment" that services are needed for disabled of whatever age, rather than arguing between ourselves about youth versus age, or wheelchairs versus walkers?

Tiddlywinks

pepperwhitemini wrote: »

I was under the impression that blue badges are not given out willy nilly.

My mum challenged a young woman who parked in a disabled bay and ran to the bank machine - it turned out that she had a badge because she was deaf ?

Yes, being deaf is a disability but does it affect mobility? Should you be given a blue badge?

I'd be interested to see if anyone knows the answer.

Babshubbie

Tiddlywinks wrote: »

Yes, being deaf is a disability but does it affect mobility? Should you be given a blue badge?

I'd be interested to see if anyone knows the answer.

Yes. I know the answer and it is NO!

Tiddlywinks

Babshubbie wrote: »

Yes. I know the answer and it is NO!

But she had a badge with her photo on it and she could run???????

daska

There are all sorts of other wrinkles to the wheelchair and non-wheelchair debate. I can't use a manual wheelchair or any other walking aid - so I get challenged by people who see the babyseat - but I need to open my door fully in order to get in and out of the car. I can just about manage to get my scooter in and out of the boot (on a good day) but on a bad day I couldn't walk from the nearest bay to the cust service desk to borrow a scooter... The fact is that we all have different abilities and needs.

But, yes, I'm confused as to why someone who can run should qualify for a BB. My sister is deaf but wouldn't dream of parking in a disabled bay unless I'm with her!

Rebel

arcalis wrote: »

If life is so much easier and mobile in an electric/manual wheelchair i suggest you get yourself in one.

Plus picture the young wheelchair user whizzing around now and compare that to what they and their shoulders/arms are going to look like in 30 years time. Letting them park closer to the store/hospital/high street etc now might just save them pain and sufferring in the future.

Extra space for wheelchair users in blue badge bays though is a bigger priority than proximity to the destination as it doesn't matter how close they get to the place if they can't get out of the car. Not something some blue badge holders need to consider.

WHO the hell said life was so much easier in a wheelchair?

Or do you just see things YOU want to?

I agree with you spaces should be bigger for the people that need to be able to open doors wide enough to get their chairs in/out of their vehicles

I DO NOT AGREE THEY TAKE PRIORITY OVER OTHER DISABLED PEOPLE.

I have been in a wheelchair thank you very much, I would rather not go out at all than be in one and anyone that does use them has a great deal more courage than me read into that whatever the hell YOU wish.

Rebel

Maybe a bit of both if I'm honest also you should add foolish/stupid to the mix:o

My first marriage broke up as a result of the accident that caused my problems (The EX said I was no longer the person she married) I lost my home as well as my wife and children and everything else I had worked for and to top it all I was treated like I was some kind of imbecile whilst I was in a wheelchair just because I was in a wheelchair.

I am sure many people who have been in a chair know what I mean, people you know stop talking to you, they talk to the person pushing the chair, you know what I mean "how is he today" type comments whilst I'm right there in front of them:mad: :mad: :mad: strangers did the same- oh dear what happened to him then? type comments.

I have to admit to getting a very short fuse over that I went against medical advice and pushed until I could stand on my own again, and eventually walk albeit with a heavy limp, it started again after I had further spinal surgery a few years later but I refused to go back in a wheelchair and I mean even when I was in hospital! (37 operations as a result of one road traffic accident caused by an idiot who had to much to drink but still drove a car and collided head on with my car)

Vain? - maybe, stubborn?- yes, a martyr?- no just pig headed and more than a little foolish. I swore to myself I would never ever at any point in my life go back in a wheelchair whatever the cost, and I meant exactly that. As I said earlier in this thread, the people that carry on with their lives from a wheelchair are far braver than I could ever be.

PS I also refused a wheelchair when I was taken into hospital after my heart attacks, the wife (married a 2nd time by then) explained I would be more stressed by being forced to use one than if I walked or was helped too walk to the trolley/bed she was right and the hospital aquiessed, thats why I said add foolish/stupid to the mix:o .

PPS Even though we know when we are being stupid, we cannot always help being the people we are.

Tally-Ho_2

Tiddlywinks wrote: »

But she had a badge with her photo on it and she could run???????

And that is exactly why the whole Blue Badge scheme needs a complete root and branch shake up. Even more so when in certain parts of the UK people over a certain age automatically qualify for a blue badge whether disabled or not (and remember badges issued in those areas can be used nationally). Just think, Sir Jimmy Saville who still runs marathons at age the age 82 would qualify for a blue badge if he lived in those local authority areas and could use it not only nationally but across Europe as well.. The scheme is now completely discredited to the point of being a joke.

It is also why some places have rather draconian regulations such as a car must have a disabled tax disc in order to park in a disabled bay or park free of charge, purely in an attempt to weed out cases such as the poster above mentioned (ie no mobility impairment) and leave the spaces available for those that do have a mobility impairment.

To my mind, other than the three automatic qualifications (Registered Blind, High Rate DLA Mobility and War Pension Mobility Supplement) all other applicants for a blue badge should be examined by an independent assessor and the criteria set at the same level as for an award of High Rate DLA Mobility.

Only then would the scheme have the true credibility we as disabled people need.

Tally

tenacioust123

I have to agree with you Tally-Ho.

The criterea for having a blue badge is the same as HRM, so no badge should be supplied without, unless I'm missing a very good reason!!