Blitz on Disabled Parking Cheats by Supermarkets

tod123

jetta_wales wrote: »

How on earth do they actually come up with such a figure though?

No idea , but even if you settle on 25% for the sake of argument, then is still very abused.

I happen to think its somewhat worse to abuse a badge than simply parking in a disabled bay with no badge, as in the former , fraud is involved, where as the others are just rude and ignorant.

I think a photo on the disabled badge would go some way to stop families abusing them, that way we could all check to see there was no abuse, and if there was, out the people on the tannoy system and place stickers on the car

Richie-from-the-Boro

The figure come from surveys completed last year. During those surveys the process was followed from start to end point where the Blue Badge was actually revoked. The sad fact of the matter was we the disabled were the culprits, not as often believed those who claim its always someone else's fault and not our own.



- In England and Wales there are 2,450,000 blue badges on issue. One person in 20 in the UK has a blue badge, it varies by region :

- London: 30/1000 1 in 33
- North East England: 58/1000 1 in 17
- Stockton: 123/1000 1 in 8

(Source: DfT)

The DfT put the "monetary benefit of having a badge" at £5,644 for a regular badge user in London and £2,174 for a regular user in a city outside London

If the monetary benefit of a badge is worth £500 UK-wide and 50% are misused that's a national fraud costing £612.5M

Someone using a fake, lost or stolen badge in Central London will typically save over £5,644 in parking charges

If disabled people cannot park in wider disabled bays because they are full of selfish drivers misusing badges they may not be able to park at all. Some will simply abandon their journey and drive home.

All our team do is investigate blue badge-related offences and all our barristers and solicitors do for us is take people to court who should not be using a (lost/stolen/fake, etc.) badge.

All traffic authorities are losing millions in lost revenue. Only a few have dedicated counter-fraud teams and do a professional job.

If run properly these teams should be cost-neutral.

We are very highly trained and professional investigators and prosecutors. Call us in for free and we will design a way to tackle your blue badge misuse problem at no net cost to the council.

The Fake Fallacy [ see graphic above ]

Very few badges that are seized are actually fake. As this chart shows, the majority of badges are valid badges being used by 'friends' or family. Due to the constant change in design of badges it is difficult for enforcement officers to spot fakes.

In just over a year this company :

- convicted 167 people in 14 months
- the highest award is £2,500
- the longest ban from driving is 3 months
- the average ordered to pay is £563.00

In #1 I see no reference to mother & toddler bays, I make the assumption there is no need to respond to anyone seeking to gerrymander the thread by taking it off subject. On a personal note I wish it was put into legislation and made country wide immediately, they could finally find a legitimate use for the army of wheel noxious clampers.

Outpost

A sample of less than 300 blue badges of the two and a half million badges issued across the UK?

Hardly conclusive.

Richie-from-the-Boro

Outpost wrote: »

A sample of less than 300 blue badges of the two and a half million badges issued across the UK?

Hardly conclusive.

Agreed, but as I said in an earlier # very few have had the guts to run any trial .. .. let alone run a very expensive to~the~end trial. As this was a net cost to the council trial using largely real time info backed by the DfT's own stats its a good enough ' guesstimate ' to extrapolate the figures nationally. It's possible that the LA's without the need for additional legislation could finally get to grips with what is, always was, and will continue to be a problem for the genuinely disabled.

DX2

Outpost wrote: »

Goodness me, that's the most pathetic post I've read on here in quite some time. And the pride with which you admit to keeping a child seat on display in order to park in spaces reserved for parents with young children and lying 'the child is in the store' if challenged. At least fifty years old and behaving in such a manner.

What a pitiful individual you must be. Quite the role-model...

Sniff I smell a re invented troll God knows how many Ae's he is on now.

Outpost

DX2 wrote: »

Sniff I smell a re invented troll God knows how many Ae's he is on now.

Are you alleging that I am a troll?

I'm not a very good troll with over a thousand thanked posts am I?

DX2

Outpost wrote: »

I'm not a very good troll with over a thousand thanked posts am I?

If you wish to make an allegation to the abuse team then by all means go ahead, but I'm afraid your own opinion is less than meaningless to me.

:rotfl:You tube!
I was meaning the newbie to whom you replied to.

Jojo_the_Tightfisted

So supermarkets have agreed to start quizzing people as to whether they are really disabled - on request of the government?

That doesn't sound right to me.

liam8282

joster. wrote: »

I wouldn't have thought so.

But being serious, something should be done about the size of the parking spaces.

Many times I have seen others open their doors only for it to hit the car next to it.
Even my wife in times gone by has come back to find the rear quarter scratched with someone that couldn't park or reverse straight.

We are careful about other peoples property so expect others to be the same.

Can't you park further away and walk (all of 2minutes)? Generally the further from the entrance, the more spaces.

Then those that actually need the designated spaces will still have somewhere to park, and you won't have to worry about people parking too close.

Much better solution than being a moron, IMO.

liam8282

joster. wrote: »

I used to, but had a **llocking from the store for taking up two spaces like I do at Halfords & Homebase.

I don't do it because I don't want to walk, I do it because those spaces are the right size for my vehicle!

If you park further away, chances are there won't be too many cars parked around you.

Maybe it is your vehicle that is the wrong size and not the spaces?

joster. wrote: »

If you have a micro car like an Astra or a Focus, you are fine.

Micro car?! :rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

joster. wrote: »

I can't win can I?

Not really, because you sound too much like a troll in the majority of your posts.

joster. wrote: »

Park in the right place, in the right way and find the car covered in scratches from trolleys, car doors and people walking past, or do what I do because I just don't trust people to be careful around my property.

If your concerned, go buy a cheap micro car to go shopping in. If you can afford a £70k range rover, I am sure you could buy a little micro car to play bumper cars with in the supermarket car park. :rotfl:

joster. wrote: »

Anyhow this thread has nothing to do with parents & kids parking, although I appreciate I mentioned it earlier on.

As I have said, cut down the parking spaces and make them wider. That solves all of my problems and probably for many others as well.

All joking aside, this is a valid point.

If all spaces were made the same size as disabled / parent and child spaces, there would be no advantage (other than distance to the store), to make people want to park in these spaces.

But even so, you would still get people abusing the system no doubt saying their car was getting lonely being further away from the others, or something along those lines.