Blue Badge 'police'

KxMx · 2 August 2010 at 8:20PM

Like the elderly gentleman today, who had gone up 2 steps no trouble to sit at the back end of the bus, saying to a friend " young people never give up their seats for us nowadays", well that may be true sometimes, but I am 23 and need my seat, I have 3 chronic life long conditions (all hidden) and I have a need to sit down too, especially as I have just paid full fare!

simpywimpy · 2 August 2010 at 8:28PM

This happened to my son who is 24. He hadnt even got out of the car before a woman with an elderly passenger started ranting at him that she needed the space. My son does have a disability but she judged him from the head only. She even had the cheek to take his registration number and threatened to report him.

She tried to get him to explain to her what was wrong with him to which he replied it was nothing to do with her in the end he gave her a mouthful and she left. He shouldnt have to resort to that though but people are so judgemental.

Oldernotwiser · 2 August 2010 at 10:55PM

KxMx wrote: »

Like the elderly gentleman today, who had gone up 2 steps no trouble to sit at the back end of the bus, saying to a friend " young people never give up their seats for us nowadays", well that may be true sometimes, but I am 23 and need my seat, I have 3 chronic life long conditions (all hidden) and I have a need to sit down too, especially as I have just paid full fare!

But how was he supposed to know that and not to think that you were just being thoughtless?

lyniced · 2 August 2010 at 10:56PM

simpywimpy wrote: »

This happened to my son who is 24. He hadnt even got out of the car before a woman with an elderly passenger started ranting at him that she needed the space. My son does have a disability but she judged him from the head only. She even had the cheek to take his registration number and threatened to report him.

She tried to get him to explain to her what was wrong with him to which he replied it was nothing to do with her in the end he gave her a mouthful and she left. He shouldnt have to resort to that though but people are so judgemental.

I thought we lived in a tolerant society - obviously not.

daska · 2 August 2010 at 11:04PM

lyniced wrote: »

Sometimes I sit in the car when my daughter goes to the shops for me (if I'm feeling too tired to use the wheelchair) with my head down, not wanting to make eye contact with anyone in case I get disapproving looks.

pwales wrote: »

you better re check that because official site says thats missuse and liable for £1000 fine see below...

This subject was argued about quite recently on a different thread. So I e-mailed to double check. This is the situation in England (the rules vary in other parts of the UK/abroad)

bluebadge_<bluebadge&#64 wrote: »

The rules are slightly different in England to the Blue Badge rules in Wales and Scotland . I suggest that you contact the authorities in Wales and Scotland for information on advice publications that they may have about the use of a Blue Badge.

The Blue Badge is for the direct use and benefit of the Blue Badge holder and therefore the advice given in the booklet on page 7 is that the badge and its concessions are just for the badge holder’s use. The parking regulations, attached, give the rules for using a Blue Badge to park and as you will see the badge holder must be present when parking the car or is being collected at the place where the car is parked. In some cases if a badge holder is remaining in the vehicles it may appear as if the have allowed an able bodied person parking concessions available only to them. It isn’t illegal for the Badge holder to remain the vehicle, however, if the Badge holder is not getting out of the car there isn’t a need to display the Blue Badge as the Blue Badge holder doesn’t need to park close to the destination as they do not need to get out of the car.

Please feel free to contact me on the advice line if you wish to discuss this further.

Kind regards

[name deleted]
Blue Badge Advice Assistant
The Blue Badge advice line is provided by The Community Transport Association on behalf of the Department for Transport, Blue Badge Scheme Division.

CTA
Highbank
Halton Street
Hyde
SK14 2NY
Tel: 0161 367 0009
Fax: 0870 774 3581

[Deleted User] · 2 August 2010 at 11:07PM

My dd is insured to drive my vehicle, and sometimes if I am not feeling too good she will drive me to the local supermarket .She has had folk banging on the window as well even though I am in the car beside her.She gets out and tells them she is just getting a chair from the store for me I am the wrong side of 60 and have a mobility problem that means there are times when my joints just won't work very well.We just wait until the ranter has slowed down then I produce my badge plus my two walking sticks and silently raise my eyebrows .That usually works quite well.
I once had some chap at the hospital back in the winter yelling abuse at me as I had parked quite legally in a disabled bay but as there was a covering of snow he thought I had just double parked my car.As I hobbled out to go into the hospital I did say 'actually its a disabled bay and I have a badge' His wife who was following him whacked him smartly about the ear and said 'why don't you think before you open your mouth' I went into the hospital smiling at his obvious discomfort.
Unfortunately there are some folk who just don't think.

daska · 2 August 2010 at 11:08PM

Oldernotwiser wrote: »

But how was he supposed to know that and not to think that you were just being thoughtless?

Conversely, why did he automatically assume that the person was being thoughtless and wasn't in fact disabled - that's true ageism.

Maybe all disabled people should be legally obliged to wear the official 'disabled' icon stitched onto our jackets.

mumps · 2 August 2010 at 11:23PM

I don't understand why people get so much grief, as I said earlier DH has had BB for 20 years, at first it really wasn't that obvious that he was disabled and as we had a toddler and bump you would think we would have got some of this aggro. Maybe I am just oblivious to people glaring at us or maybe down in sunny Devon people are less aggressive. I think its a shame people can't live and let live a bit.

I_know_my_ABC_and_my_CMYK · 3 August 2010 at 12:07AM

I have had abuse at using my badge too, to the point that I couldn't bring myself to renew when the date was running out.

I don't bother going out of the house much these days.

Oldernotwiser · 3 August 2010 at 12:34AM

daska wrote: »

Conversely, why did he automatically assume that the person was being thoughtless and wasn't in fact disabled - that's true ageism.
.

I don't think age comes into it. So many people on buses don't give up their seats to elderly (and disabled) people these days that seeing a young person not offering his seat it would be far more likely to assume thoughtlessness rather than disability.

Anyway, it's a free world and anybody can make a comment to a friend - it's hardly abuse.

Blue Badge 'police'

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