Cars with a disabled tax disc

Pete268

amanda40 wrote: »

I have just returned from holiday in Dorset and a lot of the car packs there only allow free parking for blue badge holders if they are exempt from paying road tax! I had never seen any thing like that before = they must have traffic wardens with magnifying glasses to check them all!

It has been like that where I live for the last couple of years now. It has also spread to neighbouring council areas as well.

I think it is councils desperate for cash, but still wishing to be seen to offer some concession to disabled people. I think that if they thought they could get away with making everyone pay they would and they see the 'disabled tax discs free' as a sort of 'halfway house' on route to that. However I agree with the poster above, in that if everyone else has to pay then I don't mind paying either (providing they provide the wider spaces etc). Yes, I am a BB holder as well.

I think overall the days of any free parking for the disabled on council car parks are numbered.


Edit - just read in the local paper - the adjoining council area is going to make everyone pay w.e.f. 1st October!!

devon_guy

I don't really have a problem with paying for parking etc. Just because someone is disabled it doesn't automatically mean they should get free parking or that they can't afford it. Take for example the bridge to Wales, it's free to cross for blue badge holders. I fail to see why.

And before anyone kicks off, yes I do have a blue badge! Yes offer special parking facilities but getting it free isn't a right it's a priviledge.

Zebra

A friend of mine has a blue disabled parking badge but doesn't drive anymore.

I do most of the driving, but I'm not sure about the rules for using the badge. Most of the time we park in supermarket car parks etc which are straightforward, but what's the position for parking in other pay-for car parks, meters, other roads etc?

Pete268

Zebra wrote: »

A friend of mine has a blue disabled parking badge but doesn't drive anymore.

I do most of the driving, but I'm not sure about the rules for using the badge. Most of the time we park in supermarket car parks etc which are straightforward, but what's the position for parking in other pay-for car parks, meters, other roads etc?

Hi,

The best advice really is to check the signs, particularly on Car Parks as it really does vary from place to place.

On the road in England/Wales you should be able to park on single and double yellow lines for three hours (provided there are no kerb markings) and you do not cause any obstruction and in England and Wales you must set the clock showing the time parked. You should also be able to park 'unlimited' in limited waiting areas. But again please do check the signs wherever you park. Some parts of central London and such as Airport roads are not part of the Blue Badge Scheme and there are seperate rules.

There is more info here: http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/DisabledPeople/MotoringAndTransport/DG_4001061

Peter

Zebra

Thanks Peter, that's very helpful.

I should add that obviously I only use the badge when she's in the car with me, and to be honest I don't actually like using it as she's only in her forties and appears fit and healthy.

Invasion

I don't have a problem with paying for parking, but I do appreciate it when you can get the time you pay for reduced, it takes longer to get round a shopping centre in a wheelchair, or when you're disabled, takes time to assemble and un-assemble my electric wheelchair. Quite a few of the car parks around here charge only for 1 hours parking for BB holders, or take time off your ticket in the automated ticket machines with barricade, they'll take an hour off if you were under 3 hours, and can half the price of all day, or something similar.

Zebra, if your friend needs the badge then don't worry about what she looks like... She obviously has it for a reason, and should use it! I'm 17, and I look fit and healthy, apart from the wheelchair and crutches! BB means I can sometimes manage to get round one small shop on my crutches because it significantly reduces the distance from car to shop, which makes the difference between crutches and wheelchair.

julietiff

Zebra wrote: »

Thanks Peter, that's very helpful.

I should add that obviously I only use the badge when she's in the car with me, and to be honest I don't actually like using it as she's only in her forties and appears fit and healthy.

That seems a bit of a strange quote

I too am in my forties, may look ok, but need a walking stick now and
suffer from FM, what difference does it make to you how she looks?-
If it wasn't needed surley she wouldn't have got a blue badge?

Jojo_the_Tightfisted

I'm sure you don't mean to, Zebra, but if I were the lady concerned (I'm in my 30s and have RA, so don't 'look disabled' at first glance) and I knew that you felt funny about using her badge, I'd be quite hurt, wondering if you were ashamed to be seen with me because I was disabled.

Like I said, I am sure you don't mean anything by your comment, but perhaps you could consider how your discomfort could be interpreted by someone in her position...

tiamai_d

I have never looked at a tax disk except to check it's in date And only then it's been one nobhead from across the road who hadn't bothered renewing it in over 6 months.

I don't often look for disabled badges on cars either, unless it is a council car park and in a disabled spot. Once I see it I don't much care who is driving/getting in and out either.

So, I don't get why it upsets you so much and why you think people will approach you?

Trialia

julietiff wrote: »

That seems a bit of a strange quote

I too am in my forties, may look ok, but need a walking stick now and
suffer from FM, what difference does it make to you how she looks?-
If it wasn't needed surley she wouldn't have got a blue badge?

Jojo_the_Tightfisted wrote:

I'm sure you don't mean to, Zebra, but if I were the lady concerned (I'm in my 30s and have RA, so don't 'look disabled' at first glance) and I knew that you felt funny about using her badge, I'd be quite hurt, wondering if you were ashamed to be seen with me because I was disabled.

Like I said, I am sure you don't mean anything by your comment, but perhaps you could consider how your discomfort could be interpreted by someone in her position...

I feel the same way - I, too, have FMS, and I'm 23 and look perfectly healthy at first glance unless I'm using my cane (which I do quite a lot, but occasionally simply because I feel too emotionally tender to endure the number of glares I get when using disabled facilities without it). Like Jojo said, I would feel very angry and hurt if someone had that reaction to using my badge while they were with me.